Ankoku Kishi Monogatari (WN)

◆ Omiros, Prince of Algore

Two beauties wrapped in beautiful dresses were standing in front of us. They're princess Shirone and princess Kyouka, our dancing partners for today’s ball.

「My best regards for today, princesses.」

Parish gave his regards and then took the hand of princess Kyouka, the little sister of the hero.

I ended up being charmed upon seeing the rose-colored dress that truly matched her overwhelming beauty.

When someone as beautiful as princess Kyouka was paired with someone as handsome as Parish, it looked as if the scene came out of a painting.

Naturally, I know that Parish’s eyes were completely focused on princess Kyouka’s breasts.

Though I want to rebuke him for doing so, I would, in fact, be doing the same if I were in his position.

Parish, who had received the chance to dance with such a beautiful woman, will be receiving envious stares from all the men participating in the ball.

But the target of those envious stares wouldn’t only be Parish. I'm sure that I'm going to suffer the same fate.

I looked at the girl standing in front of me.

「My best regards for today, princess Shirone」

Saying so, I took the hand of the girl in front of me.

She is also beautiful.

Different from the high born-like princess Kyouka, a cold beauty who will make any person hesitate to take her hand.

According to the rumors, she is one of the hero’s wives. I think taking the hand of someone like that will bite me in the future, but there's no use fussing over that matter right now.

「Well… Best regards… Lord Parish」

Princess Kyouka replied to Parish.

She didn't seem to be enjoying this, as opposed to Parish.

Maybe someone as handsome as Parish wasn't enough to please her because she was used to watching the hero, an extremely handsome man.

「Best regards, lord Omiros」

Princess Shirone responded to me, too.

I noticed that princess Shirone wasn't that displeased being paired with me. Was it because they have different personalities?

「Well then, everyone. It's about time」

The maid of princess Kyouka, Kaya announced the start of the ball.

She wasn't participating in the ball since she was going to help with the preparations and will be on standby in the venue.  That's why she was going to act on her own from this point.

「Well. Shall we go?」

We headed toward the venue after Parish took the initiative.

The venue wasn't just limited to the hall, due to the sheer number of participants the courtyard was also open for the guests.

Being decorated with flowers and illumination magic, it transformed into a gorgeous yet brilliant venue.

The royalties and nobilities of various countries had gathered. The ladies and gentlemen who wore various colored clothes enliven the royal court but, the gathering wasn't limited to just  royalties and nobilities. It seems that influential citizens and famous merchants had also gathered in this venue. I don't know the accurate number, but a considerable number of individuals seemed to be participating in this ball.

As expected of a rich kingdom like Velos. It is the exact opposite of Algore.

In the first place, the goal of this ball was to strengthen the bonds between people of different kingdoms. A ball was held in the monster-infested region like this to ease the cooperation between various kingdoms in this region.

Another reason was for bachelors to find a marriage partner.

Women had especially made themselves look like dolls in order to find marriage candidates.

A certain bachelor young noble and a prince were the most popular. Those noble girls were desperately wooing to gain the attention of that young noble and prince.

Even if, by some chance, they managed to gain the prince’s or young noble’s attention and got a chance to dance with them, they couldn't dance with the same person two songs in a row and had to change their partner.

And then, in case one gained the attention of the other party, they could slip out the ball with just the two of them or have a rendezvous later on.

The most pitiful ones were those who receive no dance offers.

Not getting anyone’s attention despite dressing themselves up, the men and women who received no dancing invitations and just became wall decorations were truly pitiful.

It was my intention from the very beginning to recede to the background after a dance with princess Shirone. I'm not that keen on receiving invitations from women, and it's not like those women are eager to invite me, either.

If it's princess Shirone, it might be better since I won't cause any trouble to her dancing partner.

After the speech from king Eclas, the ball began with the first tune of the music.

Princess Shirone who was walking by my side suddenly halted.

「What's the matter?」

When I looked at her, she was looking at something somewhere else.

「Lord Omiros」

「What’s the matter?」

「My apologies, I have some business to attend to. Thus, it seems I won't be able to dance with you」

Princess Shirone apologized to me. What happened just now?

「Shirone-san, did something just happen?」

Instead of me, princess Kyouka beside me was the one asking that question.

「Uuhn, it's alright. Not a big deal. You can continue the dance, Kyouka-san」

After saying so, princess Shirone stooped down and secretly left the venue.

◆Sword Maiden, Shirone

I moved in a hurry to leave the venue while holding the cuff of my dress. I had summoned my sword with magic because I felt an extreme killing intent directed toward the venue. Thus, I ran along the corridors of the Velos kingdom royal palace toward the direction of that killing intent.

「Shirone-sama!」

Kaya-san chased after me.

It seems Kaya-san felt that too.

「Did you feel that killing intent too, Kaya-san?」

Kaya-san nodded in affirmation to my question.

「That was quite a powerful killing intent.」

I agreed with her. We felt a powerful killing intent directed toward the venue of the Velos kingdom.

That's why me and Kaya-san, who could use danger perception, left the venue and are rushed toward the source of that killing intent.

After jumping over the rampart, I flew in the air with my wings. Kaya-san’s running was so fast it looked like  levitating on the ground.

The sun had set, and our surroundings were already dark, however, we could still move without any problem even if we couldn't see beyond a radius of 10 meters due to our superior senses.

The huge and expansive forest that lies ahead, covering this area including Velos kingdom, is hailed as the Blue Forest.

We felt that the killing intent was coming from deep within that forest.

Kaya-san and I seemed to have finally arrived at the source of the killing intent.

I descended in the middle of the forest and Kaya-san caught up with me a moment later.

Since the trees around this area are tall and dense, not even the light of the stars reached the insides of the forest.

Though the figure isn't too clear, there's a dark siluet waiting in front of us. That figure is the source of the killing intent.

「You really came, huh」

The figure in front of us spoke.

「WHO ARE YOU?! WHY ARE YOU RELEASING THAT KILLING INTENT TOWARD VELOS!」

Kaya-san was shouting at that figure.

「Huhm, it seems you're misunderstanding something here. My aim has been you guys all along. I'm going to kill you guys for killing my cute Zengu!」

We finally understood the situation after arriving at the source of the killing intent.

「I see, it’s revenge. Well then, I assume that you're an ogre?」

The person before us looked too small for an ogre. Was this person changing it’s appearance with magic?

「Indeed! I'm known as Ogre Kujig! Zengu was such a kind and gentle child. I'm going to reward you properly for killing my cute Zengu!」

Even if she said so, I don't believe Zengu was such a good ogre since he ate humans.

「What kind of a reward might it be? Do you, an ogre who eats humans, have the qualifications to say so?!」

Having refuted the ogre’s claims, Kaya-san leapt toward Kujig.

「HIIII!」

The voice of the person in front of us suddenly changed while  he was falling on his rear.

The voice changed to that of an old man, completely different from the old woman-like voice from before.

Maybe because she heard that voice, Kaya-san stopped her fist right before it hit.

Right after that, the extremely powerful killing intent that we felt until then suddenly vanished. It was as if the person in front of us became a completely different person.

「… It’s you?」

「It's me, Kaya-sama! It's Echigos!」

Though I couldn't see him clearly since he wore a robe from the very beginning, it seems that Echigos was a subordinate of the ogres.

「Why are you here?」

Kaya-san interrogated Echigos to find out why he was here.

「It's because that ogre, Kujig, took over my body… That's why…」

Echigos replied to Kaya-san with a flustered voice.

「Could it be possession magic?」

Possession magic is the magic that’s used to occupy the body of a target living being.

Rino-chan can use this magic too, however, she’s quite reluctant to use it.

I heard that possession magic consumes quite a lot of magic power. On top of putting the body of the user into an inanimate state for the duration of the magic, the other demerit is that it's useless in battles since the user can use only half of their original power through the possessed person.

「Maybe. Currently, I can't feel the power from before from this man」

Kaya-san replied to my question.

「But wh-…」

If she wanted to fight us, there was no meaning in doing so with possession magic since she couldn't even exhibit half of her original power.

「It seems this is just a trap to lure us out. Let's go back immediately」

I nodded to her decision.

「Uhm, I… Can't see anything in this darkness. If you leave me here…」

Echigos pleaded with us. The current him, being released from Kujig’s magic, was just a mortal human. However, we had no spare time to babysit him.

「I'm worried about my lady」

Even without showing any change on her usualy expressionless face, I could hear the impatience in Kaya-san’s voice.

Maybe Kujig was aiming for Kyouka-san. She had probably lured us away from the venue to use that chance to attack Kyouka-san.

I had heard a lot of stories about this Kujig from the people of the Koki kingdom. It seems she's an ogre witch with nine sons.

If Kujig had come, the other sons had, most likely, come too.

They might prove to be too much for Kyouka-san who can't control her magic power.

「Yup, let's go back. I'll go first, Kaya-san」

Unfolding my wings, I took flight towards the sky. Kaya-san started to run, too.

「WAI～～～IT」

I completely ignore Echigos’s scream.

「EH!?」

After flying for a certain distance, I reduced my flight altitude since I felt something out of place.

「Shirone-sama!」

Kaya-san called for me from below.

「There's an invisible wall… It seems this wall was made to imprison us…」

It might be barrier magic. Our path was blocked by this barrier.

「CEH! It seems we need to do something about this barrier!!」

It was rare to see Kaya-san in such a hurry. Naturally, the reason was Kyouka-san’s safety.

I was feeling impatient, too.

If it's against the ogres, Kyouka-san can fight them with ease as long as she felt like it.

But, Kyouka-san wasn't that good at using magic.

If Kyouka-san’s magic runs rampant, the Velos kingdom will be in great danger.

If we don’t return to Velos as soon as possible, the kingdom might be engulfed in a sea of fire.

At times like this I wish we had Chiyuki-san and Nao-chan here.

Chiyuki-san might have been able to crush this barrier in an instant.

If we had Nao-chan, we wouldn't fall into this kind of trap.

Until now, I've been fine as long as I could swing my sword as the vanguard. That's why I am having a hard time when it comes to performing the duties of a rear guard.

It seems Kaya-san was also struck in the same dilemma as me.

「Shirone-sama, shall we rip this barrier apart?」

Kaya-san proposed to destroy the barrier. Though it's possible to smash this barrier with brute force, it might be even faster to destroy it with magic. Kaya-san has a similar amount of magic power as me. That's why I might be a better choice to smash this barrier.

「It might be a simple matter for Chiyuki-san, but it might take a while for me to tear this barrier apart」

This barrier isn't that powerful, but it might still take a while for me since I'm not that skilled in demolition type magic.

Charging my magic power, I held it overhead in preparation to smash the barrier.

◆Goblin Prince, Goz

The mellifluous music piece was wafting inside the venue.

It seems a goblin would run as fast as possible as soon as they heard the tune. Even though my mother’s goblin blood is running through my veins, the song seemed to have no effect on me since I'm a human.

Human females wearing dresses in a multitude of colors were dancing along to the tune.

All of them were top-notch beauties, but they will never beat the one in front of me.

The human female called Kyouka was devastatingly more beautiful than those other females.

I could feel a sense of superiority dancing with this female and I knew the men around us were looking at me with envious gazes.

I'm sure that they never expected the little sister of the hero to be present at this ball.

I recalled the hero’s visage.

A beautiful and powerful man.

No one could stop feeling jealous when they looked at him.

A man who always induces hostility from another man.

The hero is surrounded by various kind of beauties waiting to serve him. That alone was already annoying enough, and yet he even tried to reach with his hand toward Regena.

Unforgivable!

But, the hero is powerful. Despite being unable to stomach his actions, I'm no match for him.

Looking at the female in front of me, she resembles that hero, indeed. Well, that's just natural, she's the hero’s little sister, after all.

It would be the best if I made this female yield to me in bed.

Wouldn't that scene look like the hero himself yielding to me?

This desire of mine might turn me into the hero’s enemy, but I just couldn't suppress the thought once it cropped up.

This female didn’t come to Algore previously.

I've seen the female called Shirone before. She came along with the hero to Algore.

What was the business of that female called Shirone, did she want to go somewhere? And that poor Omiros who didn't get the chance to become her dancing partner disappeared to somewhere.

Though the whereabouts of that Shirone is weighing on my mind, I have to focus on this Kyouka before me.

I looked again at the female called Kyouka. I could see a deep valley from the opening on the chest part of Kyouka’s dress. Though I really want to fondle those breasts, I have to be patient for now.

It seems that this female doesn't have a favorable impression of me. She didn’t even look at me for a while now. She was dancing with me only because it was inevitable.

The female who danced with me yesterday was looking at me with a feverish look. That female just came along the moment I invited her. That's why I gave her my love for the whole night.

Parish’s figure should look like a charming prince to the eyes of that female, but Kyouka’s eyes are freezingly cold. She might be able to see through my disguise.

In that case, I have to use the aphrodisiac from my chest pocket. As long as I use this, irrespective of whether she can see through my disguise or not, she's going to gasp like a sow in heat underneath me.

I'm going to invite her for dinner in a separate room after the end of this dance and then I'm going to find a gap to make her drink plenty of this aphrodisiac.

I've drank this aphrodisiac in the past; I couldn't live without women for two days, and I needed five days before the effect of this drug dissipated completely. I ended up having a sex party with dozens of female goblins at that time. So, this drug would definitely be effective on this female.

The dance of the first song has ended.

Those males were coming toward us. Naturally, their aim was to have a chance to dance with Kyouka.

I'm going to step out to protect her.

「My apologies, but princess Kyouka is going to have dinner with me. So may I ask you, gentleman, to hold back?」

Naturally, there was no such plan. But Kyouka didn't seem to be willing to dance with them. Thus, I came up with that plan to slip out from this place.

Thinking so, I looked at Kyouka.

But, Kyouka didn't even seem to spare a glance for the men that came for her.

Kyouka was looking in a different direction. There was a much larger crowd of men than the one gathered around her.

I barely managed to sneak a peek from the narrow gap between those males.

There was a pair of male and female dancing in the middle of that crowd. I received the greatest shock of my life the moment I saw the face of the female.

「Silver… Witch」

I unintentionally muttered that name. Despite wearing such a beautiful dress, there was no way to mistake that beautiful face and that silver-colored hair for someone else.

I'm absolutely sure that she's the silver witch who I met in the goblin nest. I don't think I saw her before the first song. There's no way I missed such a beautiful woman, after all. Why the hell is this woman here? Could it be that she chased after me?

I was told that she's not my enemy by mother, so she might have nothing to do with me. In that case, I think I should just leave her alone.

「That person. It feels like… I’ve met him somewhere before」

Kyouka was muttering so in a low voice. The one Kyouka was looking at was the man beside the silver witch. He might be her dancing partner. Who the hell is he?

But it's not my place to worry about that matter. I have to leave this place ASAP.

「Let's go there. Please lead the way」

But, Kyouka seized my arm and dragged me along towards the silver witch. What the heck is with this monstrous power? She might accidentally tear my arm off if I resised her.

The men in the surrounding steped aside due to Kyouka’s pressure.

It became a straight line walk toward the silver witch.

Someone, please help me.

Naturally, no one was coming to save me despite me screaming inside.

Thus, I ended up getting drawn into this mess.

◆Dark Knight, Kuroki

I was glad I came to this place as soon as I looked at Kuna wearing her dress.

The gems and the blue frills furnishing the deep blue base brighten the dress. Kuna was dangerously cute in this dress.

Well, I did get clothes from the dwarf worker when Kuna was just born. But this dress that was amongst those gifts never had its chance to see the light of day – until today.

Kuna’s short stature aside, this dress is a perfect fit for her. This dwarf-made dress seems to be raising my lovely Kuna’s charm to the maximum.

I can see Kuna’s rich cleavage from the small opening of the chest part of her dress. But it doesn't become a vulgar scene, rather the flower-shaped light blue-colored gem converts that scene into a refined one. And then, her glossy indigo long skirt flows down brilliantly from her tight waist.

Those dwarves did a fantastic job in that part.

I expressed my gratitude to the dwarf artisan who conceived and made this dress.

It all began two days ago when Kuna said that she wanted to go to the ball in Velos. It seems she was really interested in the ball dance due to the story in the children’s book which I read for her before.

Well, one could say that her interest in the ball is normal since Kuna is a girl too.

To be honest, I wasn't too interested to attend such an event when she asked me to attend the ball along with her. I'm really not comfortable in this kind of showy place.

But, when Kuna made that pleading face, I decided to go to the Velos kingdom since I wanted to see her happy.

I learned to dance from Regena. She told me that it's her late mother who taught her how to dance since it might be useful in the future. Though her mother passed away three years ago, Regena perfectly memorized what her mother taught her.

Though there wasn't that much time, Kuna somehow managed to learn it. The only problem was that Kuna was always pouting when I danced with Regena while training.

Thus, Regena decided to come to this ball, too. She might be interested in this kind of ball.

Though Kuna was frowning when she found out that Regena was coming along, since she taught us how to dance, she agreed to that with the condition that Regena would not be dancing with me.

Well, although she couldn't dance with me, I don't think she would be incapable of finding a dance partner; she's a beauty, after all.

On the appointed day, I gasped in shock upon seeing Kuna in her dress. Kuna is originally a beautiful girl. She became resplendent in this dress.

I'll go to balls no matter how many times if I can dance with this beautiful girl.

Thus, we headed toward Velos.

It was quite simple to participate in the ball of the Velos kingdom. Anyone could participate as long as they paid a certain amount of money.

It seems this was the suggestion of the queen of Velos. For this reason, there were many merchants from various kingdoms at this party.

The economic goal of this ball looked good. It seems they were using the special products of their kingdom for this ball’s food, and not just limited to food, they were also using this occasion to promote other new products.

The queen called Corfyna seemed to be a bright person.

The queen also seemed to be popular amongst the citizens of this kingdom. I heard that she rescued this kingdom from being ruined by corrupt merchants by ruling from the shadows. Thanks to her policies, the price of the commodities went down to only a fifth of the original price.

I also heard that traffic management is also far better than before. Thanks to her policy, the economy of this kingdom was experiencing a rapid growth.

But, despite the rapid economic growth, the same things couldn't be said for the public order. Even people like us could easily sneak into this kingdom. Since we could participate in this ball because of that gap, I guess we should just enjoy this.

I entered the ball venue along with Kuna. It seems we arrived right when the first tune began.

We started to dance along with the music.

I took Kuna’s white hand, wrapped my other hand around her slender waist, and started dancing.

Despite the huge number of dressed up women all around us, I didn’t even intend to glance at them. I just looked at Kuna.

「Kuroki! Kuna is happy! I'm really happy to be able to dance with you!」

I was also smiling happily along with Kuna. Surely, I don't think there would be any girl who would be this happy to dance with me back in Japan. Maybe Shirone would have danced with me out of pity.

But I have Kuna in this world. That's why I'm glad I came to this world.

I’m really happy since I can dance with a beautiful girl like Kuna.

I stared at her.

「What's the matter, Kuroki?」

She was asking that question since I kept staring at her.

「Kuna is really beautiful」

Her face became beet red upon hearing those words.

What's with this cute creature?

After the first tune ended Kuna and I smiled at each other.

Thereupon, our surroundings became noisy. When I looked around, we were surrounded by numerous men. What the hell?

「Uhm, princess… Will you grant me the privilege to dance with you?」

「No, with m-…」

「By all means, please dance with me」

A few men were already quarreling for a chance to dance with her. Subsequently, I noticed the situation in our surroundings.

Kuna had become the center of attention of this venue.

When I strained my ears to listen to their voices, I heard praises and envious statements directed towards Kuna such as 「I wonder which kingdom’s princess she is…」, 「How beautiful!」, 「How can such a girl…」,  or 「Short stature, tight waist, and abundant chest, that's cheating…」

「Do you know them, Kuroki?」

Kuna was looking at those men with a curious face. It seems she had yet to understand the current situation.

「It seems they want to dance with you, Kuna」

「Why? Kuna doesn't want to dance with anyone but Kuroki」[Ed: sooo cuuuuute :3]

Since one couldn't dance with the same partner two songs in a row, it might be better if we took a break for the next tune. It seems that's possible since that means we're not breaking the rule in that way.

「What is that?」

There was a slight commotion from outside the perimeter of those men. A path suddenly opened and a pair of man and woman were walking on that path.

I was shocked the moment I saw that woman.

Midou Kyouka!

Reiji’s little sister. Why was she here? Reiji and the rest were supposed to go to the western part of the continent.

I took a quick look around at the participants of the party. It seems that Reiji and his girls weren't here.

In that case, why did she come here by herself? I didn't know the reason but now I'm curious about it.

Then I recalled the man by her side. He's the son of Datie, Goz. It seems he goes by the name of Parish in his transformed form. It shocked me when I heard that from Kuna. Just what was he planning, staying in Algore?

I'm wondering why he’s with Midou Kyouka.

I knew that Goz was at this party. But, I don't understand why he’s with Midou Kyouka.

「Kuroki, I'm curious about what that guy’s doing here. Can I chat with him for a while?」

Kuna was saying so while looking at Goz. To be honest, I'm also curious about his motives. I’m also curious about the reason why Reiji’s little sister is in this place.

「Fine then, take him to a separate room」

After hearing that, Kuna went towards Goz. She might be able to get some information from Goz with her magic.

「I want to talk with you. Follow me」

I could feel Kuna using her magic. Domination magic. From the disappearance of light in his eyes, it seems Goz’s magic power wasn't enough to resist Kuna’s magic so he had turned into her puppet.

Kuna took the dominated Goz to a separate room.

After that, there were a lot of men surrounding me and the hero’s little sister who was left behind.

Midou Kyouka was staring daggers at me. She was not even sparing a glance at the kidnapped Goz.

Despite her companion, Goz, being forcefully taken away from her with magic she didn't seem to mind that much…

Well, she obviously didn't care about him.

「You over there! Have we met somewhere before?」

Midou Kyouka asked.

Of course, we have. Our first meeting happened in Holy Republic Lenaria. She should’ve caught a glimpse of my face at that time.

From the way she asked that question, she didn't seem to be aware of my identity as the dark knight. Come to think of it, she wasn't amongst those who fought me at the Holy Dragon King’s mountain. I don't know why she wasn't there, but that saved me from trouble now.

「No, this is our first meeting, Kyouka-sama」

I bowed to her while spouting such a lie.

「Oh my… So you know my identity」

「Yes, you're the little sister of that famous hero, after all…」

I replied in a roundabout way.

Midou Kyouka pondered for a while.

「That's a bit unsettling, you see… But whatever, will you dance one song with me?」

Saying so, Midou Kyouka presented her hand to me.

Now, I'm in deep trouble since she says that she wants to dance with me. I never had any intention to dance with anyone apart from Kuna.

But then, I need information regarding the reason for her being here. It might be better for me to accept her invitation. That's why I decided to dance with her.

「With pleasure, my lady」

I accepted Midou Kyouka’s hand.

It was a fine and slender hand. Naturally, it's not just limited to her hand. Midou Kyouka herself is an extremely attractive girl.

That's why I was really honored to be able to dance with her.

If this was Japan, dancing together aside, I wouldn't even have the luxury to speak with her.

The music began.

It's the second tune.

We started dancing as soon as the music started.

「Did you come to Velos by yourself?」

I asked while dancing with her.

「I came with Kaya and Shirone-san. It seems they went somewhere else just now though…」

I was shocked by her response. Shirone had come, too? I also realized from her words that Reiji didn’t come along. Though I made sure to monitor Reiji’s movements, it seems I fell behind with monitoring the movements of the other girls.

Taken aback, I looked at Kyouka’s face. She kept staring at my face since I met her. Just by being the little sister of that handsome Reiji, she was also the owner of an attractive face. My heartbeat was rising just by looking at her.

「It's strange… You seem to be well informed about us」

Her eyes pierced through my face.

「Hahaha is that so…」

I laughed to deceive her. She might suspect me if I talked to her any more…

Let's be quiet for a while.

Though I was solely focused on Kuna until now, it seems I had to mind the way the people around us were looking at me.

When I payed attention to our surroundings, it felt as if those men were going to kill me with their stares. Since Kuna just left, you might even say that Kyouka was the brightest star in this ballroom. I could feel the killing intent of the men who were looking at me dancing with such women. But I had no leeway to worry about such trivial matters.

I mean, I was worried that my identity might be exposed.

It seems that Midou Kyouka wasn't aware of my identity, but there's no doubt that she was suspecting me.

So we continued dancing while I monitored her reactions.

Despite the elegant tune, her breasts were shaking non-stop.

I even thought ‘Isn't the opening on the chest part of that dress actually too stimulating?’ I was really troubled with where to look.

I don't want to look at her with a perverted gaze, but looking away from your dancing partner is also a breach of danc etiquette. That's why I have to make sure to not look away from her while looking her in the eyes.

We danced while I struggled against the worldly desires running amok within me.

But my efforts were for naught since those breasts kept jiggling around along with our steps.

I suddenly noticed her looking at me.

「Uhm, what's the matter?」

「Well, it seems you've passed. You're less than my brother, but you're nice enough to go along with me after the end of this song」

It hurt me a little when she said that I lost to Reiji.

I mean I know that I lose when compared to him, but please don't say those words right to my face.

「I’m sorry. I wish to refrain from your request, my lady. I mean, I don't want to receive the grudges of these men for monopolizing you」

I declined her offer with such a lie.

Moreover, I couldn't stay too long here since Shirone and Kaya would be here anytime now.

I felt bad for Kuna, but we had to go back to Nargol immediately.

「Quite reserved, aren't you? But, I like that attitude of yours」

Midou Kyouka was smiling as she said so but, I didn't have any intention to be reserved at all.

In the first place, my status was way below her’s. She was better suited to dance with the king of some kingdom rather than someone like me.

「KYAAA!!!」

Suddenly, loud screams resounded throughout the entire venue.

「What?」

「What's the matter?」

Kyouka and I were looking in the direction of the scream.

「IT'S THE OGRES!」

「WHY ARE THEY IN THIS PLACE?!」

「KYAAA!」

Screams resounded from all corners of the venue.

When I glanced around, I saw eight big shadows blocking the exits of the venue.

The race surrounding the venue was one of the races I saw a long time ago. They were the demi-human race with heights reaching 2~3 meters and pointed tusks growing from their mouths, the ogre race.

Those ogres were barging into the ball all of a sudden.