Are you saying I’m lower than a banana?
Well, I can’t completely deny it.
Basically, it’s a clash of egos, about not letting you decide things arbitrarily.
And this time, I just happen to be the one dangling in the middle.
A banana is probably superior to me since you can at least eat it.
“You—”
As the prince’s gaze sharpened further, I stood up, thinking it would be quicker to just punch him and settle this.
This is too much Chaos even before the actual Maiden of Light arrives.
This is what happens just from exchanging a few greetings.
Suppressing a sigh, I carefully put strength into my right hand.
Hoping to get away with just an orbital fracture or knocking him out.
“If it were in front of my friend—”
Alright, let’s punch him quiet.
“You’re late, disciple!”
“You’re late, Senior Disciple—!”
The fist I’d clenched became a blindfold to shield my eyes from the reality I didn’t want to see, and the power I’d gathered was completely spent just trying to keep my knees from buckling.
The Iniquity who threw open the door without the owner’s permission spoke.
“Men who talk too much are disliked, you know.”
“Disliked, you know—!”
My beloved home is filled with Chaos.
I’d gladly aim for the depths of the Demon Realm naked if it meant driving these two back to Faltar.
Fondly recalling the peaceful home I’d surely had just moments before.
I let out a deep sigh.
＊
Do you know what happens when you add Chaos to Chaos?
If you thought ‘utter confusion’ or something similar, congratulations. You still don’t know what true Chaos is.
Savor that happiness.
The answer is that peace arrives.
It’s the same phenomenon where seeing someone more flustered than you are when you’re flustered actually calms you down.
Everyone must have thought, ‘This is bad.’
With the intrusion of Master and Elza, we all regained our composure at once.
“What’s wrong, My Bride? Did that guy say something rude to you? If someone lacks respect, it’s better to punch them, not stomp on them.”
Seeing Erica stepping on the man, Master brandished her Barbarian logic, and Erica gently removed her foot, returning to my side.
“No, he mentioned that his back muscles were stiff from the long journey, so I was just helping him loosen them up by stepping on them, Barbara-sama.”
When Erica replied with an elegant bow, Master dismissed it with a simple “Hmm.”
It wasn’t that she believed her; she probably just didn’t care.
Even the man in Armor, who should have been enraged, stretched ostentatiously, saying, “Ahh, that feels much better,” and the prince nodded in satisfaction.
Everyone, including me, was praying that Master wouldn’t display any strange acts of kindness.
Only Shara looked bewildered.
Incidentally, Elza seemed indifferent from the start.
That’s a real help. I love that about you, Senior Disciple.
Chaos was defeated before greater Chaos and dissipated like mist.
However, that didn’t mean everyone was calm.
No one had noticed that a certain person who should have been there was missing.
Erica was the first to realize.
“Um, aren’t you two her escorts?”
Although Erica’s question was brief, the doubt it raised was enough to make the prince and the man in Armor turn pale.
“It’s fine. Elza used her magic to put the whole carriage inside an iron box.”
When Master mentioned, as if it were nothing, that she had trapped the Maiden of Light in an Elza-made iron box, the prince and the man in Armor rushed out in a panic.
Seeing that, Elza muttered discontentedly, “But I made sure to use iron that lets light through…” but that wasn’t the point.
Amidst the sounds of voices calling for Elza from outside and the banging on something hard…
Erica’s terribly calm voice saying, “I’ll prepare some Tea,” lingered in my ears.