It would have been okay if it was his mother, his father, or even Nodoka. It would have even been okay if it was a policeman, who had suspected Yasuo of hara.s.sing Shouko. Basically, Yasuo would have preferred anyone other than the person who had just appeared.

But, appear she did. The person who was the main reason his life was thrown into chaos, Dianaze Krone.

"Yasuo! I'll save you right away. Please just wait over there! I won't forgive anyone who intends to harm Hideo's family!"

"W-Who are you?"

Shouko looked at Diana and said that while looking genuinely bewildered, but Yasuo felt like even he didn’t know the answer to that question.

"Yasuo! Are you okay?"

He was, until she came along.

While thinking that, Yasuo understood that Diana had judged Shouko to be a suspicious person (even though it was actually the opposite). His brain began to process information at a speed uncomparable to when he was taking exams, and he quickly shouted:

"This person is not the enemy! The shadow that just attacked us went over there!"

Yasuo thought that he must have looked like a fool for shouting something like that in a loud voice. However, the next instant:

"The black… shadow!"

Diana ran off towards the direction Yasuo was pointing more faithfully than a s.h.i.+ba Inu runs after a toy or a thrown rubber ball.

Diana's behaviour and speed were definitely not normal, so Shouko gazed after Diana who had run off into the darkness.

"…What was that about?"

"Uhh, well…"

"Was she someone you know, Yasu-kun?"

Well, of course. She had shouted his name at the top of her lungs, after all.

"That girl's staying over at my house right now, she's an acquaintance of my Dad's."

"Huh?"

Shouko once again turned in the direction that Diana had run off in.

"An acquaintance of your Dad's? Not yours?"

"…For better or for worse."

Judging by Diana's appearance and age, it would have been more believable if Yasuo had said that she was his acquaintance.

Shouko refused to let the matter drop, and ruthlessly continued speaking about her.

"Didn't she say something about protecting you, Yasu-kun? Or am I mistaken?"

Unexpectedly, it seemed Shouko had paid attention to what Diana was saying.

Diana could speak j.a.panese like a native, and without an accent. Yasuo also knew that she was a soldier. Shouko had been the target of her killing intent for a brief second, and it seemed that she had picked up on that.

Looking at Shouko's face, it was clear that the experience had left a negative effect upon her.

"She's from a country where things aren't as peaceful as they are here, so she must have misunderstood something."

"…It looks like you're going through a much rougher time than I had imagined."

"Well, I guess so, yeah."

"Is she connected to that explosion incident in any way? Yasu-kun, you said something like 'enemy' as well."

"…No, probably not."

In contrast to the friendly atmosphere from earlier, Shouko's words now carried a hint of sharpness, and Yasuo's lie came a beat too late.

He didn’t know how Shouko had perceived his words, but she eventually gave a small sigh, lowered her shoulders, and replied in a hard tone.

"Well, it would be a ha.s.sle if that girl comes back and misunderstands something, so I'm leaving now. Goodbye."

Shouko said that curtly and walked away quickly, without waiting to hear Yasuo's response.

Yasuo was left holding his Slimphone that he had taken out while being happy about getting to exchange contact information with a girl.

After the few minutes of happiness, the return of his helpless feelings made him angry enough to want to smash his Slimphone against the ground, but:

"It looks like the shadow got away. Yasuo, are you okay… Huh? Where did that other person go?"

Yasuo managed to control his anger because Diana chose that moment to come back, and then:

"Haaaaaaaaaaah…."

Yasuo let out a sigh that sounded like his anguish, desire, and all other emotions from the past few minutes were being let out in a concentrated form through his breath.

※

She was sitting on her knees, on top of the chair.

It's not that rare these days to see people from western countries who can use chopsticks, but there shouldn't be many such people who can comfortably sit on their knees for a long time.

It was debatable whether Diana, who came from a different world, Ante Lande, could be considered a person from a western country, but in any case she looked thoroughly uneasy sitting on her knees.

"Even I can't find a way to pull you out of that mess."

After hearing the whole story, Madoka put on an amazed expression and lowered her shoulders.

"You can't expect someone to believe that Diana-chan, who speaks such fluent j.a.panese, has just come over from a country that is not peaceful."

"I couldn't think of anything else to say in that instant, okay?"

"I'm really… so sorry… I did something horrible to Yasuo's friend… Auuu".

It looked like her feet were going numb already.

The chair Diana was sitting on started to make small noises in concert with the trembling of Diana's body.

While Yasuo may not have thought it through properly, his quick actions kept Diana from injuring Shouko, or doing something worse. However, it looked like Shouko had picked up on Diana's strangeness, and perhaps she had also picked up on Diana's hostility.

After Yasuo had grabbed Diana by the collar and ran back home, he exhaustively explained the details behind his meeting with an old friend, and the result was Diana's self-imposed kneeling.

"I didn't immediately notice that you had left the building earlier than I expected… so, I feared you had been kidnapped by someone, and then I heard loud voices that sounded like they were arguing… so I lost control."

Although it was technically night, it was far too early for people to go to sleep, and there were plenty of people on their way back home. What kind of kidnapper would argue with his captive in the middle of the street at such a time? He wished she could have stayed calm and thought about it for a minute.

By the way, Yasuo was no longer concerned about the fact that he had ended up skipping prep school again.

"I'm just glad it wasn't me…"

Nodoka had come downstairs after hearing the noise caused by Yasuo's return, and after hearing the reason behind it, she openly scowled.

It seemed that Nodoka had not stepped out of the house at all today.

"Well, after the incident yesterday, I can understand why Diana-chan was being so wary. So how about it? Were you able to smooth things over your friend?"

"…Nope. I'm pretty sure I failed."

If nothing else, she must have plenty of doubts regarding Yasuo's clearly strange shout regarding a shadow going somewhere else, and Diana's att.i.tude and behaviour.

He was already feeling sorry for having forgotten about her, and now this.

"Well, we can only pray that the enemy doesn’t cause any more trouble."

"I'm really, really very sorry- Auuu."

"You need to understand how Diana-chan feels, though. Something like that happened right after she had decided to go back home, so her feelings of wanting to protect our family no matter what must have caused her to get ahead of herself. I didn't expect something like that to happen either."

Yasuo felt that those words, 'I didn’t expect something like that to happen', perfectly summed up the past three days.

"But for you to forget about one of the precious few girls around you, can you really afford to be like that?"

"I didn’t forget about her, I just didn’t recognize her because she had changed so much."

"No, even that is pretty NG for a girl, you know? Hmm, her name was Tatewaki-san? Tatewaki-san… I feel like I've heard that surname before… "

It was a pretty unusual surname, so it wouldn't be weird if his mother remembered her name as she was once one of his cla.s.smates.

However, the incident with Shouko was already something of the past, it could not be fixed no matter how much they discussed it here. Rather than that, there was something far more important that he wanted to clarify.

"Hey."

"Y-Y-Y-Yes…."

"So what was that strange black thing from yesterday? Was that some kind of monster sent here by that Demon King Kaul that you were talking about?"

"Well… yes……. Eh?"

Diana was attempting to answer while enduring the tingling in her feet, so it looked like she took a while to process Yasuo's question, but once she was done processing it, she realized what that meant.

She even forgot about the discomfort and stared dazedly at Yasuo.

"You're… willing to believe me? The things I said about myself… and Ante Lande…"

"After seeing that thing yesterday, and the state of our front door, and Mom as well… after seeing all these things and more, I have no choice but to believe you. And besides…"

Yasuo lowered his head like he had remembered something unpleasant.

Earlier, Yasuo had shouted about 'The black shadow', in order to get Diana away from Shouko. At that moment, Yasuo thought about the appearance of the mysterious humanoid monster that had destroyed their front door yesterday. This was an indication that he had already started to believe Diana without realizing it.

"I thought it's okay to believe that you're serious about protecting me and my family from some strange threat."

"Yasuo… Thank you so much! For believing in me."

"……"

Hearing her say that with such a happy look on her face, Yasuo's feelings of guilt intensified.

"You could just say you believe her now instead of trying to sound cool, what are you getting all embarra.s.sed about?"

He didn’t know how Nodoka had read his action of turning away from Diana, as she said some half-hearted things. For now, Yasuo pretended that he hadn't heard her and continued to speak.

"Well, please don't go out of control again in the future like you did today."

"Of course! T-Thank you very much! Thank you- wah!?"

Diana was moved by emotion and attempted to stand up, forgetting about her numb legs.

"Ouuuuuch!!"

She fell off the chair, and hit her numb feet hard against the ground in the process, letting out a wailing cry

This was supposed to be the Magitech Knight from another world with superhuman strength who had fought off the shadow monster last night? What a joke.

In any case, Yasuo realized that as long as he kept denying the existence of the world known as Ante Lande, he would not be able to deal with the restless atmosphere that was creeping up around his family. He had to face it properly.

Scary monsters aside, he didn’t know when Diana or some other Ante Lande-related incident would throw his life into chaos again, so he had to be ready.

"N-Numb… I'm sorry, please wait for a bit… Aaaah!"

"Ok, ok. Mind if I go put my bag away in the meantime?"

"P-Please go ahead……"

"Yasuo, the was.h.i.+ng machine is already full of blankets I'm going to be was.h.i.+ng tomorrow morning, so don’t put anything else in there, okay?"

"Got it."

After replying to his mother, Yasuo returned to his own room. Listening to the sounds made by Diana downstairs,

"Kuku."

He laughed because he found it funny, and then:

"…….Haaaaaaaaaa."

He let out a sigh after imagining what would happen from tomorrow on.

Diana had showed hostility towards Tatewaki Shouko, and was about to attack her. Even after Yasuo had managed to turn her away, she ran off with superhuman speed.

Saying that Diana was on edge because of the attack by the shadow last night might have been enough for the Kenzaki Family, but Shouko would definitely not be satisfied with that.

Would she still be willing to talk to him when they met at prep school again?

In any case, Yasuo could see nothing but dark clouds in his future with the beautiful girl who had treated him with affection and was about to exchange contact information with him, and his mood took a bigger drop than before.

"Yasuo…"

Yasuo left his bag and the contents of his pockets in his room and came back to the living room, only to find that Diana had recovered from her numb feet and was waiting for him there with a depressed expression on her face.

"I'm so sorry. On top of my earlier actions, I showed you such a pathetic side…"

"No, don't worry about it."

"Haah… If my colleagues saw me acting like this, I wonder what they would say…"

"Well, considering that you came here to escort the Hero back, but ended up having to kneel because of your mistakes…"

"Uuu… I have no excuses…"

Diana began to turn red, but…

"Onii-chan, are you really in a position to say that so arrogantly? During the last memorial service, your legs got so numb from sitting on your knees that you fell over once the ceremony was complete."

"S-Shut up."

Nodoka's comment wasn't malicious, but it was now Yasuo's turn to turn red.

"Fufufu… In any case, I will do my best to explain what the shadow from yesterday night was, and what exactly is the nature of the evil that is descending upon Ante Lande. If there is anything you don't understand, or any terms you don't recognize, please feel free to ask questions."

Due to Nodoka's comment dissipating the tense atmosphere, Diana relaxed and gave a small smile, and then immediately corrected her posture and put on a serious expression.

"I'd like to hear a detailed explanation as well. At first, I was sceptical when I had heard about the threat of Kaul's return, but then something like that attacked our house. It looks like my husband and I will need to have a more serious discussion."

Madoka also faced Diana with a serious expression on her face. Yasuo sat down in his usual chair, took a deep breath, and prepared himself.

He was the one who would decide if he should believe it or not. However, considering the things he had seen, and the fear he had felt, he could not discredit everything she said.

After looking at Yasuo's expression, Nodoka understood the situation and sat down next to him. She looked slightly worried, but from prior experience, he knew that if he tried to cheer her up or touch her in this kind of situation, she would not only a.s.sault him with verbal abuse, but also order him not to come near her for a month, so he ignored her and waited for Diana to start speaking.

"…It begins with the story of the Grand Duchy of Torjesso, which was the first to be conquered by Demon King Kaul."

The Demon King Kaul, who had once thrown Ante Lande into fear and chaos, was said to have appeared 'from beneath the ground'.

The stronghold of the demons led by Kaul was in the mountains of the coldest region of the Grand Duchy of Torjesso, which lies to the north and most of the land has a cold climate. Once it appeared, the stronghold grew in size at an accelerated rate, like a bamboo shoot.

From that stronghold, demons began to appear one after the other, as though there was a pipe that connected the demon realm below to the surface of Ante Lande. The Grand Duchy of Torjesso was utterly destroyed, the Archduke and his household were slaughtered, and the citizens scattered to different parts of the world.

The various countries of Ante Lande were being routinely defeated by the demons of unknown nature when the saviour appeared. He was Kenzaki Hideo, who was eighteen years old at the time.

The youth, Hideo, wielded one of the five legendary sacred treasures, the Holy Sword of the Wind, Liutberga, and saved Diana's mother, Erijina, who was the Captain of the Mage Unit of the Kingdom's Knights at the time.

"One question. What's the difference between 'Knight' and 'Magitech Knight'?"

"'Knight' was once the basic t.i.tle given to feudal lords who governed a piece of land, but the word is now used to refer to soldiers of the Kingdom. 'Magitech Knight' is a concept that came into being after the advent of Hideo, before that the army on the battlefield had many different types of soldiers, such as swordsmen, pikemen, and archers who fought on the frontlines, and magicians who fought from the rear…"

After saying that, Diana took out the mysterious grips that had produced the s.h.i.+ning blades of light.

"There was a revolution in the creation of arms and armour due to the widespread use of a weapon based on the one one Hideo brought into our world. The use of swords, spears, and the bow are still taught as part of the basic curriculum, and all soldiers need to be proficient in their use, but soldiers of the Magitech Battalion of the Kingdom's Knights mainly use 'Techno Weapons' based on their compatibility."

Diana stood up, moved a little distance away from the other three people, and produced a blade of light from one of the grips.

The blade of light was about the same length as the distance from Diana's elbow to her fingertips, and looking at it closely, the grip had an elaborately designed emblem carved into it, perhaps it was the emblem of the Resteria Kingdom.

However, what drew his attention was the fact that the grip had a muzzle like that of a gun, and something that looked like a trigger attached to it.

After seeing that, he recalled that Diana had shot out 'something' last night when she was fighting the shadow, and that 'something' had pulverized the coat rack.

"The 'Techno Weapons' used by the Magitech Knights have a mechanism that makes it easy to shoot magic. Before the fight with Demon King Kaul, magic was something that was wielded by a few people who had special talent, and it was used mainly as a large scale, high powered weapon that took a lot of time to prepare. However…"

"It took far too many resources to protect those precious few people with special talent, namely magicians, and keep them from coming to harm."

Their mother continued from where Diana had left off.

"For quite some time during our adventure, I too was unable to fight unless I was protected by a large number of people…. There were even people who died to buy me the time I needed to fire my magic."

The words she spoke were far heavier than expected, and both Yasuo and Nodoka became dejected.

"I've heard that Madoka's words had a strong influence on the development of Techno Weapons. Umm, regarding those people who pa.s.sed away…"

"Baskin Grindhelm. He was a veteran spearman from Resteria's Mage Unit. He had been telling everyone that his third child had just been born. He talked to me about all kinds of things before we went into battle, like how he wanted to earn more recognition and glory through combat. Although it has been thirty years, I can't forget about the man who died with a smile on his face while protecting me."

Their mother's words were full of remorse and nostalgia that she was unable to hide.

"With Madoka's proposal, and the weapon Hideo brought added to it, the very nature of magical attacks was changed. The Techno Weapons that I use are of a type that is a direct upgrade from the ones created by the engineers of the past, and are among the most commonly used. The one in my right hand is called 'Castor', and the one in my left hand is called 'Pollux'."

"They look identical, but they have different names?"

"The only difference is that one is meant to be used by the right hand and the other by the left, but they are cla.s.sified as different weapons nevertheless."

Diana replied to Nodoka's question, and put away the blade of light. As Yasuo watched that, he felt it slightly strange to hear about 'cla.s.sification of weaponry' in the context of another world.

"Lifting the cover will produce a blade of magic. The grip has a trigger and a muzzle to shoot magic from, but technically speaking, there is no need to load ammunition, and even the trigger is pretty much just a decoration. However, apart from knowledge, imagination also plays a big part in activating magic, so by having a muzzle to fire the magic, reinforcing the thought that the magic will be fired in the direction the muzzle is pointing in, and that magic can be activated by pulling the trigger, the process of firing magic can be simplified to a great extent. 'Magitech' is a word that signifies the use of specialized tools that trick the mind into simplifying the process of activating magic, but the magic that is fired from here is not capable of wiping out armies with one strike like the magic in olden times. Instead, it can have many effects, such as constraining the movements of an enemy, or directly injuring them to reduce the speed of their movements."

Basically, it appeared that the paradigm had s.h.i.+fted from using heavy battles.h.i.+ps that hit hard to using small, highly mobile forces.

"The strategy of using powerful magic that has a long range and causes widespread destruction has not completely been abandoned, but currently, using a large number of soldiers armed with Techno Weapons that have limited firepower but a high rate of fire to suppress an enemy through sheer numbers is the preferred tactic."

Moreover, by increasing the rate of fire, and prioritizing stopping power over the ability to kill, it would be possible to plan more efficient attacks.

"Of course, back in those days when the war with Demon King Kaul was still ongoing, people with overwhelming power and talent such as Hideo, Madoka, my mother, and many of their comrades used their swords and magic to defeat the Demon King and his demonic generals…"

Since she had to move on to explaining the current threat, Diana closed the topic of discussing the fighting from thirty years ago.

"As Yasuo and Madoka saw, the enemy is a shadow with substance. There have been many sighting of such creatures all over Ante Lande, and they are causing heavy damage. While inspecting the reports of the damage, it appeared that the attacks were related to Demon King Kaul after all, and this incident is being treated as the second coming of Demon King Kaul. The general term for those shadows in our language is 's.h.i.+', which means 'Revealer of evil spirits'."

"Evil spirits? What, is this like some kind of horror story?"

Although Nodoka usually seemed to be calm, she actually hated scary things like horror stories, and she looked a little pale. Nodoka then tried to laugh it off as if she was making a joke, but Diana nodded seriously.

"It's exactly as it sounds. Without exception, the shadows all the take the shape of 'creatures that died in the battle between Demon King Kaul and humans'."

"What!?"

The person who was shocked by Diana's words was their mother, Madoka.

"At the beginning, we received reports that ghosts of the family of the Archduke of Torjesso had been spotted. They were among the first people to be sacrificed to Demon King Kaul. Not just the Archduke himself, but the members of his household, and the citizens who were killed during Kaul's initial a.s.sault. They appeared from below the ground like the Castle of the Demon King did all those years ago, and began to attack the people in their surroundings."

"Has that been confirmed?"

"Unfortunately, there can be no doubt. We've been receiving similar reports within the Resteria Kingdom as well. The 's.h.i.+' have the appearance from when they were alive, except that their bodies are covered by something that looks like a black flame, and they attack all creatures, humans included, with power that is not at all inferior to what they had when they were still alive. Without exception, the victims of their attacks have had their hearts taken."

"What!? They're totally zombies! I've heard enough!"

Yasuo and their mother took a deep breath, and Nodoka let out a wail.

"Among the s.h.i.+ that have appeared, many of them are phantoms of civilians that are not good at fighting. Magitech Knights armed with Techno Weapons can put them down for good by taking some special measures after immobilizing them, but in the meantime the number of casualties continues to grow. However, the real problem is that… the s.h.i.+ are not all human-types."

Earlier, Diana had said that they took the shape of all creatures that had been killed in the battle with Demon King Kaul. Which meant…

"Not just humans, s.h.i.+ with the appearance of animals, and even demons that were under the command of Demon King Kaul have been sighted. The entire world is in a state of panic due to these incidents. Compared to the time when they fought the army of the Demon King, the armies of all the nations have been reorganized and are much stronger than before. However, even though they are s.h.i.+, the fact that demons are popping up again means…"

After hearing that, even Yasuo could guess what came next.

"Even Demon King Kaul might be reincarnated as a s.h.i.+, right?"

"That possibility cannot be denied. There have not yet been any sightings of powerful demons like the Demonic Generals or the Demon King Kaul himself, but the number of victims continues to rise steadily. There has also been an increase in the sightings of demon-type s.h.i.+. That's why…"

Yasuo and Nodoka looked at each other without intending to. If what Diana said was true, then it was only natural for the people to reach out to the Hero who won the war and brought peace to their lives thirty years ago. Even if he could no longer fight like he did back then, there might be people who wanted to install the old Hero as a leader.

Although Yasuo was a lot more willing to believe Diana's words compared to the day before yesterday, there were a number of points that he could not ignore.

Firstly, Hideo and Madoka might not be able to deal with the large changes in technology and strategies that must have taken place in the military since the time when they were active.

Secondly, from Diana's words, it felt like the people of Ante Lande only had a makes.h.i.+ft solution in place and no other concrete plans.

Another point that had Yasuo concerned, was that 'The weapon that was brought by Hideo' served as a blueprint for the construction of Techno Weapons, instead of regular swords and spears.

Looking at Diana's Techno Weapons, which could release a blast of energy through a muzzle by pulling a trigger, the weapon that Hideo must have taken over there must have been a gun. However, his father had only been eighteen years old at the time, so why did he have a gun with him?

And finally, there was the thing that bothered him the most:

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Setting aside the s.h.i.+, and other mysterious phenomenon that have been occurring,"

Yasuo asked his question, while looking at his mother's face,

"Since the day before yesterday, you have been implying that the Hero, Hideo, appeared one day in Ante Lande during the battle with Demon King Kaul's forces. How exactly were Dad and Mom summoned to Ante Lande? Did someone use that Gate Tower or whatever it's called to summon them?"

From what Diana had told them last night, traveling between from j.a.pan to Ante Lande, or vice versa, would require an immense amount of energy and funds. However, judging by what Diana has said so far, it didn’t seem like his father and mother had been intentionally summoned over by the other side.

Although they were currently important people who had saved the world in the past, and therefore it made sense to send someone to escort them back to the other world, both his father and mother were still teenagers thirty years ago, the same age as he was now.

At the very least, neither of them came from a bloodline or family that was involved with things like magic and different worlds. To say it in more detail, his father's house followed the Soto school of Buddhism, whereas his mother's house was from the Jodo Sect.

Also, Diana's words implied that his father had possessed that Holy Sword of the Wind right from the start.

"Actually… we still don’t know why the two of them were summoned to Ante Lande."

""Huh!?""

"Yes, that's right."

Brother and sister shouted in unison, and their mother nodded with a fed-up expression on her face.

"I don't know about your father, but until I went to Ante Lande, I hadn't so much touched anything related to a fantasy world. Games weren't as realistic back then as they are now, so only hardcore fans played them, and unless you were in the habit of reading books written by foreign authors, you wouldn't be able to read any fantasy stories. Also, my family didn't have any history of training Onmyouji or the like either, so I've never really understood why it happened."

"The 'Gate Tower' used to travel between worlds had been developed at the same time that Demon King Kaul appeared, and existed in Ante Lande before Hideo and Madoka appeared. However, it was initially just a device created to find out exactly where the stronghold of the Demon King had come from. Since it had come from underground, people thought that there might be a different world populated by demons beneath the ground, and this was a gigantic measurement device built to confirm that theory. Although it eventually helped us find the other world known as 'j.a.pan', the Gate Tower only succeeded in finding j.a.pan half a year after Hideo had appeared in Ante Lande. So it's not possible that someone used the Gate Tower to summon Hideo and Madoka to our world."

"Both your father and I have no memories of the time time just after we appeared in Ante Lande. We also can't remember what we were doing just before we were summoned there. The most accurate description would be to say that, it felt like we fell asleep, and when we woke up, we were in that world."

After hearing her mother's unsure words, Nodoka asked in a tense voice,

"Are things going to be okay? Is it possible that we could wake up to find that you and Dad have vanished again, unrelated to Diana-san coming here to escort you?"

Although Nodoka hadn't shown that much interest in matters related to Ante Lande since the beginning, she asked this question without even bothering to conceal the worry on her face.

"About that…"

"I can't say that it will definitely not happen, but in the thirty years since we've returned here, nothing like that has happened even once… The s.h.i.+ didn’t appear just recently, right?"

"The first s.h.i.+ was sighted more than three years ago. The plan for summoning Hideo was put forward so that we could do something about this threat before things got to the point where we had to resort to drastic measures, like we did thirty years ago. However, things just seem to be getting worse with each pa.s.sing day, and most of the people agree that we have no more time to waste."

"By the way, who is the current King of the Resteria Kingdom?"

"His Majesty, Borad IX, is still the King, and he is in good health."

Perhaps because she knew that name, his mother's eyes widened in surprise.

"How old is he now? Even back then, I got the impression that he had been on the throne for quite some time."

"There was a short ceremony a few days ago, to celebrate his having reached the long life of 93 years. I've heard that he still thinks about you and Hideo from time to time."

"I see… He was already a respectable old man back then…. But since he has first-hand knowledge of the battle with Kaul, he gave you the mission of summoning Hideo, correct?"

"H-Hey, Mom."

Since his mother had started to immerse herself in nostalgia, Yasuo felt a sudden sense of impending danger.

He wondered if the memories from her past would cause her to give her consent for sending Hideo over to the other world.

However, his mother shook her head decisively.

"It's okay. I won't agree to send your father to Ante Lande because of my history. Considering the fact that our house was attacked, there might be someone behind the s.h.i.+ who knows about us from back then. Neither I nor your father will leave the both of you behind and go off somewhere in a situation like this."

"…Yes, I see."

Diana nodded with a slightly downcast expression, but her expression seemed more like she was thinking of something painful, rather than having had her hopes dashed.

"That's right, Mom! Were you able to contact Dad? After hearing about what happened yesterday, shouldn't he be coming back home in a hurry? Or rather, shouldn't Dad have contacted us after watching the news!?"

At that moment, Nodoka realized something important and began to speak. However, her mother made a stern expression and pulled something out of her ap.r.o.n pocket that they had not expected.

It was their father's Slimphone.

"Hey Mom, is that…?"

"Yes it is. He forgot to take it with him. Can you believe that man?"

"Huh? Dad, what the h.e.l.l are you doing!?"

At this turn of events, both Yasuo and Nodoka were flabbergasted.

"Does he have an official mobile phone with him or something? Or maybe we could contact his office, or the hotel where he's staying?"

"I don't know his official phone number. I usually call him on his personal phone, after all."

Although Yasuo was angry with his father for forgetting his phone at a time like this, no one had expected that the situation would change so suddenly after he took a business trip. Besides, his father was a seasoned businessman who was used to taking trips, the fact that he had forgotten his mobile phone showed just how much he had been affected by this incident.

"I finally called his office because I had no other choice, but they wouldn’t tell me where he went, even though I'm his wife. They just said, "We will will inform your husband that you called", and hung up."

It's true that companies have become overprotective of their employees' private information lately, but that kind of response was completely unwarranted considering it was a family member who called.

"I didn’t expect that he would forget his mobile phone now of all times, so I didn't ask what hotel he would be staying at, and I'm sure he was drinking late into the night with his colleagues, so he probably didn’t see the news. I'll try calling his office again tomorrow morning, but we should probably consider that he'll come back late tomorrow night, as per his original schedule. That person has always been like this, he can't be reached at important times, or he lets his guard down at the crucial time."

"Eeh!? What the heck, what are we going to do if something like last night happens again?"

Although Nodoka's worry was perfectly reasonable, Yasuo was more worried about something else.

"Rather than us, isn't Dad in bigger danger?"

"Eh?"

"From what we've heard so far, these 's.h.i.+' creatures were killed during the battle with that Demon King Kaul, so wouldn't they be more attracted to 'Hideo, the Hero' instead of us? In that case, it's possible that Dad could be attacked by those shadows as well."

"Since the s.h.i.+ have appeared in this world, I cannot deny that possibility. There are still many things we don’t know about their nature, so…"

Diana seriously nodded in answer to Yasuo's question, and for some reason, she stopped talking for a moment.

"Even several Magitech Knights who have earned great fame in the Resteria Kingdom have fallen victim to the s.h.i.+. While it is true that there is no one in Ante Lande who has skills equal to that of the Hero, Hideo, in the worst case, he might be defeated. The sooner we are able to contact Hideo, the better…"

While sympathizing with Diana's fears, Yasuo felt a tremor deep in his heart when he heard that his father was still considered a peerless soldier in the other world.

He believed that his father and mother experienced some incredible adventures in a different world.

He believed that Diana and her home were in dire straits.

In that case, since his father wished to help solve the problem, should he stand aside and let him go?