"Okay, your registration is complete. The hunting festival starts tomorrow, so please rest as you like until then." The receptionist handed over a numbered plate, and Haruto, who'd successfully registered, stored the plate in his pocket with a nervous expression.
The hero party had come to Draupnir in search of more information after the events in Svel. Thanks to the hunting festival, all sorts of travelers, adventurers, and merchants were gathered here during this time. Hoping to catch some people who might know of Naru's whereabouts, Haruto and the others had decided to come and test Haruto's strength using the festival at the same time.
This place also happened to be the birthplace of the party's strongest member, the Sword Saint Plue. After deciding to meet and talk with Naru, the others in the party decided that coming back home might lift Plue's spirits, since he'd become as quiet as a puppy after certain events.
"There're so many different people around, aren't there?" Haruto said curiously as he looked around at all the people who'd traveled here.
There were hardened warriors shelled in full armor as well as women who were dressed like dancers. There were bearded old men with rabbit ears and knights dressed all in black, probably because the knight himself thought it was cool. Lastly, Haruto noticed a pervert, a muscular guy wearing women's bikini armor.
"There really are all kinds… Are all adventurers like that?"
Haruto sounded completely creeped out, so Cardin rushed to defend the other adventurers. "No, that's a pretty damn rare case. Please, don't lump us in with that."
At the moment, Haruto and his party were split into two. Cardin, Dove, and Larks were with Haruto as bodyguards while he registered for the hunting festival. The other half were running around collecting information. This party had Teuchi, Plue, Mitokado, Thrush, and the vice-captain Hana. The rangers that always followed them were diligently working to secure the entire party rooms at an inn.
"Oh! Look at that, Haruto. That group's full of beauties. I'm so jealous of the guy that's with them."
Trying to change the subject, Cardin pointed out a party that was in line. The party consisted of a clearly suspicious person completely covered in a cloak, a lewdly dressed bondage lady who was attached to the suspicious person's arm, a cute blue haired girl with pure-white wings, another cute girl with rainbow-colored hair who was standing next to her, an elegant pink haired gothic lady, a cool looking blonde guy wearing a white hoodie, a beautiful young woman with long wavy red hair in orange clothes, and a silent and stiff looking maid with short curly orange hair.
What the hell…? That party barely looks like a party at all with how disparate they are.
Ah, the blonde guy in the hoodie tried to get closer to the orange cloak but got punched by the maid.
"It's a weird group, but they're high level. That lewd girlie with the mean face… Oh man…"
"Y-yeah, they're all so beautiful."
"Right? By the way, Haruto, which one of them is your type?"
"Huh?! Wh-what do you mean? I-I don't have a type."
"Ha! Don't try to hide it, boy. I bet it's… That one. You either like the flugel girl or the one with rainbow hair. You like calm, collected girls, right?" Cardin locked Haruto in an arm-lock to force him to answer.
He's friendly and a really good guy, but this side of him is hard to deal with…
Something must have attracted Cardin's attention as he released Haruto and sunk into thought with a groan.
"Wh-what's wrong?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing much. I just feel like I saw them somewhere before. But I'd never forget a party filled with beauties like that. Maybe it's just my imagination…" Cardin tilted his head in confusion, but Haruto figured it was just his imagination.
Haruto would never say it out loud, but Cardin's memory wasn't very good. He'd even forget about an item that he'd obtained just a little while ago. Cardin was also the type of guy who wouldn't care and just forged ahead. That was why Haruto figured this was just some sort of memory thing.
"It's just your imagination. Come on, let's go."
"Maaan, I totally feel like I've met them somewhere… Where was it…?" Cardin still tilted his head this way and that, trying to knock something loose, so Haruto had to drag him along to where they were having dinner.
The two parties were unbelievably close, but they would not yet meet.
***
After registering, we regrouped back at Honda and decided to spend the night there. I considered booking rooms at an inn, but inns here meant a tent, and I just couldn't imagine them being very comfortable. The tents were probably preferred by beastmen sensibilities, but in my opinion, they'd make more money by considering what travelers would want.
Wendy, who was going to be the star tomorrow, went to bed early. Fiona was already in dreamland. On a whim, I decided to exit Honda and catch some night air while my normally unused mind pondered this country's defenses.
Laevateinn had Erza's barrier. Svel had Levia. Gjallarhorn had Hinata and her Pressure. Lastly, Blutgang itself was a mobile fortress, and it even had mass-produced Pennys, which meant that this country should have its own defenses as well.
Now that I think about it, all this stuff has been working out for me so far. Maybe I should prepare for the possibility that I'll have to face all these defenses as enemies. To the people of this country, I wasn't too different from the grimmfolk. I'd only be lumped in as a threat, just like them. This meant that there was a distinct possibility that whatever this country had as a defense would be pointed at me. I still didn't believe that I'd lose, but the real problem was if those defenses were pointed at Wendy.
With that in mind, I should devise a way to protect her. Now then… First, I should ask Haruka for information whenever she's free. She's fishy as all hell, but the info she gives is at least ninety percent accurate.
"Master?"
I heard a voice from behind me. I knew who it was, even without turning around. I stayed as I was and called out to my subordinate.
"Penny… What is it?"
"There is something I'd like to discuss with you, master," Penny said, walking up beside me.
Penny must have been much heavier than her appearance belied, but her light steps and movements told the exact opposite story. Looking at her from the side, Penny seemed to have a serious expression. No, I guess she's always like that… As always, her facial features were unchanging, but she spoke in a more serious tone than usual.
"I will not beat around the bush. Just what is that woman named Haruka? I have not restored my damaged data yet, but it is still easy for me to surmise that she was not there one thousand years ago."
"So you've noticed."
"Yes. I have also noticed that you have long realized this, master, and are hiding it from us."
I thought I'd been doing pretty good at hiding it, but apparently I was an open book to Penny. Well, the others aside, hiding it from Penny forever would've been impossible. I was a terrible actor, after all. And an idiot.
With a wry smile, I averted my gaze from my follower who wasn't even blaming me for keeping a secret. "Sorry."
"No need for that. I believe you had your own reasons for doing so, Master. But if I am to give you advice, I need to know your reasoning."
I glanced at Penny and sunk into thought.
Penny was probably the one I could trust the most right now, since she was immune to Haruka's mental manipulation. In other words, whether it be the Goddess or Haruka, neither of them could manipulate her. Even if Penny attracted the onerous eyes of the Goddess, she had no way to control the golem. The worst-case scenario was that the 'golems can't be manipulated' fact was a lie, but by my reckoning, that wasn't the case. If it were, there'd be no point to it, since it'd be faster to just take control of Penny and gain my trust rather than lie about it. The fact that hadn't happened was basically proof that it was impossible.
"Hmm… Then We shall tell you. To be honest, We still have not figured out almost anything about her. She does seem to be one of the Seven Grimms Destruction of the grimmfolk, but there's no way she's one of the grimmfolk herself, after all."
"Agreed. Just the fact that she can use divine power means she is not a grimmfolk or a vampire. But if that's the case, what is she?"
"From what We can tell, there is no doubt that she has some sort of connection to the Goddess. Whether she is similar to Kushina in that she used to serve the Goddess or if she is something even closer… she may be the Goddess herself in disguise, actually."
At this point, I was basically certain. I was certain that Haruka had some sort of relation to the Goddess. They were definitely connected under the surface somehow. I was sure the Goddess would be there once I'd unraveled Haruka's mysteries. What I didn't know was the extent of their relationship. Was she simply like Kushina, or something closer, like a right-hand-man or a close confidant? Or was she herself one of the Goddess's avatars…? I still didn't have enough information to make a call.
"Master, she is dangerous. I believe you should restrain her and interrogate her immediately."
"Don't be so rash. She'd just escape with teleportation. And once she did, we'd have no way of tracking her down."
"So you plan to let her do as she pleases…?"
"Maybe. We might be the ones being allowed to do things. Either way, she is our only clue towards the Goddess at the moment. It would be rash to let her escape."
It might have seemed as if I were in the palm of her hand, but there was one thing Haruka didn't know. And that was how much I'd 'awakened'. That was something that would only ever be known to me myself. Once, she'd even asked me if I was really a player. Now that I thought about it, she'd probably been trying to gauge how far I'd returned. It was embarrassing to admit, but the original me never even thought to doubt Haruka. Just the fact that I was thinking about this and pondering things at all meant that I was no longer just 'me.'
On the other hand, that also meant the other side wouldn't be able to tell just how much they were being suspected as long as I kept up my foolish facade. That was why I'd allowed this situation to go on. It was better that I acted the part of a thoughtless optimist.
"Also, several unnatural points start to stand out if We assume that she's a complete enemy."
"Unnatural points?"
"Yeah. It's true that Haruka led us around and moved as she pleased. There's no doubt in that. But… At present, none of those things have been bad for us. Based on how things have turned out, everything has been to our advantage. It's inscrutable."
If she'd only given a lot of positives and hidden the negative outcomes, then I'd have understood. That hadn't been the case, though. There hadn't been a single negative outcome to what she'd had us do. We'd reunited with Fiona in Svel. We'd retrieved Penny in the Black Empress's Grave. Gjallarhorn had seen Tayuya come back to the fold, and both Jaune and Anko had rejoined back in Blutgang. In each of the capitals, I'd also revived my relationships with the surviving Seven Maidens of Midgar. Everything has been good for me.
Isn't that weird? Lunaru Fenris should be an enemy and eyesore to the Goddess, right? Isn't that why she had me clash with the Seven Maidens of Midgar one thousand years ago, which ended up with me sealed? Then why assist in restoring the power of the person you'd tried so hard to neutralize? I just can't understand it.
This was the sticking point in my 'Haruka = the Goddess's avatar' theory that I was already 90% sure about.
Don't be hasty and make a mistake. Don't cloud your eyes with meaningless doubt. Something inside me told me to calmly examine the information I had. I was still missing something.
"It's hard to explain… We just feel like it's a mistake to corner Haruka at the moment."
"Feel? That's so uncertain."
"We know. But please just give it some time."
I wonder why this is? I'm not sure myself. Yet, I can't help but think that it's not yet time to confront Haruka.
I'd already gathered pretty much all the parts, and the puzzle had taken shape. Even without the last bits, I was already at the stage where I could see the final state of the puzzle. But there was the possibility that the last pieces I was missing had some hidden image that would change everything. If I had to make an analogy, that would be it.
Penny was silent for a moment. "Understood. If that is what you wish, master, then I will follow it."
"Sorry about this, Penny."
"It is fine. I am your tool. My only purpose is to support the path you choose to take with all my ability. Even if you make a mistake, my role is to blast it away."
"How reliable."
I truly am blessed with reliable subordinates. They're so reliable that they'll just decimate everything in my path, though…
At any rate, it's gotten kind of cold. I guess I should go to sleep already.