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Act 3-22.1: Captive Regena
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The ogres had left and Velos had regained its peace once again. Fortunately, no one died in that raid.
Shirone believed that this was all thanks to Kuroki. Things would have descended into utter chaos if Kuroki hadn’t stopped the ogres. And though Kyouka was present, her powers might have ended up destroying this kingdom since she couldn’t control them.
That said, however, Kuroki was still now gone. He had left with that silver haired girl. Shirone was really curious about her identity since she had vanished with Kuroki last night.
（Come to think of it, she was an extremely beautiful girl. Just who in the world is she? She doesn’t seem to be a normal human girl either. Could it be that she is the one who made Kuroki act like a complete villain?）
Shirone recalled what Chiyuki had said before she had traveled north with Kaya and Kyouka. She had said that there was a magic drug that could be used to manipulate people. Anyone who ingested that drug would become an automatic yes man. Shirone pondered on the matter as she walked along the corridor of the Velos Royal Palace.
Eclas was now leading them towards the medical wards. Though no one had died during the incident, a few people had still been injured. These injured had been offered medical treatment in the royal palace. Many priests roamed around the ward, using their healing magic and their expertise with medical herbs to take care of the victims.
However, the number of priests present was not enough for the amount of injured. They were currently shorthanded and thus, Shirone, Kyouka, and Kaya, who felt responsible for the incident, offered to help out with the healing process.
Though it wasn’t as powerful as Sahoko, Shirone could use simple healing magic, and Kaya had a spell that raised a victim’s natural healing mechanism.
Eclas readily agreed upon hearing their offer. He also wanted to help them ease their guilt for being the reason behind last night’s incident. That was why he was currently their guide. However, since he also had yet to recover from his slipped disk, he ended up walking while being propped up by his wife, Corfyna.
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「Well then, this is the place Young Ladies. My apologies, but I’ve to go back first since there are a lot of documents waiting for me…」
Eclas bowed to Shirone and the others as they arrived in front of the medical ward.
「Rest assured that we’ll do our utmost to help those people. Please leave it to us and continue with your duties as king.」
Kyouka said to Eclas with a haughty tone.
（Kyouka-san, the one who’s going to do all the work is Kaya-san and me though…）
Shirone entered the medical ward with a wry smile on her face upon hearing Kyouka’s remark.
The medical ward was truly spacious with many beds arranged neatly, and currently, all those beds were occupied. The ones with minor injuries had to lay down on cloths spread on the floor since there weren’t enough beds.
Upon a closer look, they realized that most of the patients were soldiers of Velos Kingdom. Almost no invited guests were injured during last night’s incident. But since Eclas said he wanted them to heal the invited guests first, Shirone and co. headed towards the place where the invited guests were gathered.
It was fairly easy to find them since all of them wore luxurious clothing. In addition, most of them were only suffering from minor injuries. Shirone assumed that most of the injuries they got were from slipping while running from the ogres.
Shirone looked around, trying to find anyone with a serious injury and in need of her help. As she scanned the premises, her eyes noticed a familiar figure.
「Eh, Omiros-kun?!」
That person was none other than Algore’s prince, Omiros. Shirone ran towards him.
「Hello, Shirone-sama.」
Omiros bowed to Shirone when she arrived in front of him.
「What happened? Are you injured?」
Shirone felt guilty since she had left him right after the party had started. A second later, she noticed that someone else was sitting right beside Omiros. She finally realized that he wasn’t alone. A girl sat by his side on a chair, her ankle raised on his thigh and covered with a wet cloth. Seeing the situation, Shirone assumed that Omiros was treating her injury.
「She twisted her ankle as we were escaping from the ogre…」
「Hee, I see.」
Omiros was obviously putting great care when tending to the girl’s injury. Shirone’s impression of Omiros rose a lot.
（Omiros-kun is quite a natural. Did he already give up on Regena-san?）
Shirone was looking at the girl’s face as she pondered about such a question.
The girl was quite a beauty.
「Uhm?!」
Shirone suddenly noticed.
「P-Princess Regena?!」
Shirone couldn’t hide her shock upon seeing the woman’s face.
「AH! HERO’S WIFE!!」
The woman who was being treated by Omiros, Regena, muttered upon seeing Shirone.
Shirone and Regena had only exchanged greetings when they had first met, then Shirone had left the country. However, they still remembered each other ‘s faces. Especially Regena, she remembered Shirone was one of the hero’s wives.
「What is the hero’s wife doing in such a place…」
「That’s what I wanted to know, Regena. Weren’t you supposed to be exiled to the goblin’s nest? Why are you here in Velos kingdom?」
Omiros cut in and asked Regena before she could finish her question.
「About that…」
Regena seemed like she was hesitating about something.
「AH! A REALLY KIND PERSON WHO HAPPENED TO PASS BY SAVED US! I have to return to his side as soon as possible…」
Regena tried to move on her own, and fell down due to her injury. Omiros quickly caught Regena and propped her on a bed.
""
「Don’t force yourself when you can’t even walk properly, Regena.」
Omiros said with a worried look on his face.
「Are you alright?」
Shirone applied healing magic on Regena as she asked that question.
「Eh? My ankle is healed?」
Regena let go of Omiros’ shoulder as she tried to stand by herself. Her injury was light one, thus even Shirone’s healing magic could heal her.
「T… Thank you very much. Well, I shall excuse myself the—」
And just when Regena was about to leave.
「REGENA WAIT!!」
「Sorry Omiros! I can’t go back to Algore anymore!!」
But, Omiros didn’t let go of Regena’s hand.
That moment, something fell off from Regena’s waist.
「You dropped this, Regena-san.」
Kaya who was looking at the side until now went and picked up the thing that was dropped from Regena’s waist. It was a short sword in a beautiful sheath.
「Thank you.」
Regena thanked Kaya and stretched her arm to take the short sword from the latter.
Yet, Kaya suddenly pulled her hand back right when Regena was about to touch the short sword.
「Eh?」
Regena couldn’t hide her shock upon seeing that.
「Kaya… what are you doing?」
Even Kyouka and Shirone were equally surprised upon seeing Kaya’s unusual reaction. Kaya was not the kind of person who would do something like this for no reason. Thus, they thought that there must be something that made her do this.
Kaya unsheathed the short sword under everyone’s watch. All of them watched as the black blade got revealed, encased in black flame.
「This black flame… what is the meaning of this!!!」
Kyouka was the first one to speak.
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「I felt something was amiss the moment I held this short sword but… it turn out that’s the case…」
Shirone stared at the black flame upon hearing Kaya’s remark.
「Kuroki’s flame.」
And muttered those words.
Regena couldn’t hide her shock upon hearing Shirone’s remark.
「Why do you know my dear master’s name…」
「Eh?!」
Shirone was really shocked upon hearing that.
Regena reflexively closed her mouth with her hand upon realizing that she had inadvertently revealed something she shouldn’t have.