Heroes and Machine Girls Looking at Profiles

10 – Premonition

The city of Bluerunt, belonging to… no, once belonged to the Halfas Empire.

It’s referred to in the past tense because after the Demon King subjugation battle, the city Bluerunt was transferred from the Halfas Empire to the neighboring nation, the Zorne Principality.

At the time, the strength of the Halfas Empire, which had lost many cities to the demon king’s army, was significantly weakened.

Thus, in the late stages of retaking almost all cities during the Demon King subjugation, there were no resources to send soldiers to follow the hero’s party to recapture the cities.

On the contrary, thanks to its location in the slightly rugged mountains and not having a wide territory, Zorne Principality, which had not suffered great damage, had relative leeway.

As a result, the troops sent to support the hero’s party at that time were from the Zorne Principality, and the Halfas Empire, unable to still manage the reclaimed Bluerunt, transferred the sovereignty of Bluerunt to the Zorne Principality.

Of course, there were objections to handing over a city just because troops were provided.

Hence, it was decided to hand over the city’s sovereignty in exchange for financial and resource support from the relatively prosperous Zorne Principality.

There was a lack of resources needed to rebuild the reclaimed cities, so it was chosen to give up one city to revitalize the others.

In that Bluerunt, a young woman had come.

A noble-looking girl with beautiful light brown long hair and a white dress.

She was watching the process of the city’s reconstruction as she took a tour of Bluerunt.

“Miss, the reconstruction is going smoothly. The preparations for the mayor’s dialogue are finished as well.”

“Alright, Let’s go back.”

She is none other than the princess of Zorne Principality, Princess Milene Erlen Zorne.

On behalf of her busy father in the capital, she was inspecting the city completely handed over after finishing the negotiations with the Halfas Empire.

Once the inspection is over and after the dialogue with the mayor, she intended to return to the capital of the principality.

“Sigh…”

“Miss, are you alright?”

“I didn’t know dealing with people would be this exhausting.”

Somewhat bitterly smiling at Milene’s fatigued appearance, the servant was well aware of the reason why the princess was in such a glum state.

Prince of the Halfas Empire, Freud Ira Halfas.

When Princess Milene visited the capital of Halfas Empire for negotiations, the prince was assigned as her escort.

If he had only acted as an escort quietly, there would have been no reason for this exhaustion.

“I knew he was a womanizer, but I didn’t expect him to lack dignity so much!!”

“Princess…”

“Sigh… I’ve never wanted to swear at someone’s face this much.”

…Although she couldn’t do so because he was the prince, Princess Milene, who grew up in a harsh kingdom, might have resisted the urge to beat him multiple times.

“And what the hell was that at the end? I get the feelings, but the target is all wrong!!”

She knew the prince had always been like that, so she could finally be liberated on the day she left the capital.

However, as she was trying to leave the palace, certain individuals appeared before Milene.

Anies, Ciella, Alessa.

The wives of Prince Freud and former members of the hero party.

They appeared before Princess Milene, who was trying to leave the palace, and scolded her fiercely.

She heard all sorts of things, but if I had to summarize their words in a line, it would be this:

‘Don’t seduce our beloved His Majesty in a vulgar way.’

One couldn’t know just how flabbergasted Milene was.

Strictly speaking, it was Prince Freud that twisted Milene to his whims, and Milene herself rather declined the prince’s proposal and suffered so much trying to avoid him.

Yet those women still, they harshly criticized Milene and even left after threatening her.

The shock that Milene received at the time was industrial.

Initially, for Milene, the hero party was also an object of admiration.

How much she had looked forward to meeting those girls.

The first meeting with them was literally the worst of the worst.

“I didn’t know that the members of the hero party could be such vile women!”

“Ah…miss…”

With the princess’s angry words, her servant looked around startled.

However, first and foremost, the city of Bluerunt was freed thanks to the hero party’s achievements.

There was a concern that if anyone heard someone insulting a member of the hero party, they might bring about trouble unnecessarily.

Fortunately, there was no sign of anyone paying attention to the princess’s remarks.

As there was no reaction from the surroundings, the servant let out a sigh of relief.

“Let’s…let’s quickly go, miss. Mayor Nolte is waiting for you.”

The city hall of Bluerunt city.

Mayor Nolte greeted Princess Milene, who had just arrived, with a smile.

“Welcome, Princess Milene. I’m really glad to meet you.”

“Likewise, I’m pleased to meet you, Mayor Nolte.”

Mayor Nolte was a slightly overweight middle-aged man.

The two exchanged greetings, sat down opposite each other, and discussed the city’s restoration plan while drinking the tea the servant had prepared.

Mayor Nolte discussed the progress and budget needed for the city’s restoration.

And when the discussions were over, Princess Milene would report the necessary budget and resources to the kingdom.

The report was complete.

“I understand the situation in the city. It matches what I observed. You’re doing an excellent job.”

“You’re too kind.”

“Restoration seems to be going smoothly, and nothing else seems to be the matter. Anything else unusual?”

At Princess Milene’s words, the mayor seemed to think for a moment.

There was something…seeing his face, Milene made this judgment.

“It seems there’s something.”

“Did it show on my face…? I’m really sorry. I was wondering whether it was something you should worry about…”

“No matter how trivial it is, please tell me.”

At Princess Milene’s words, Mayor Nolte nodded his head.

“…Actually, I received a report that bothers the hunters hunting around the city.”

“The hunters…?”

“Yes, actually… We received reports of demon sightings.”

“…Is that really true?!”

Princess Milene jumped up from her seat, her eyes wide in shock.

After the subjugation of the Demon King, demons hadn’t been seen – there was even talk they’d died out.

Therefore, sightings of demons were not a normal situation.

Especially in this city of Bluerunt, adjacent to the land where the demons lived.

“…Well, the guy was so surprised that when he looked again he was nowhere to be seen, so he supposed it was a mistake because he was tired…still, it’s nagging at me.”

“I’m relieved if it was a mistake…but I hope nothing happened.”

Millenn swallowed hard.

Something’s going to happen soon. She had a bad feeling.

There was someone secretly listening to their conversation.

It was the aide who worked in the town hall, who had brought the princess and the mayor their tea.

She stood quietly at the door, listening to the voices coming from within.

“… whoever it was seems to have been noticeable, managed to get away quickly.”

The aide sighed.

Being at the frontline, we had to thoroughly scout our surroundings, so it was only natural that we’d attract some attention.

But there was something even more important.

“And, it seems certain that the city of Bluerunt is no longer part of the empire… I should report this to the demon king.”

The aide working at the town hall… no, the demon disguised as an aide.

The Succubus Queen Luri, quietly concealed her form inside the town hall building.

Meeting the girl, Ortlinde, in the ruins underground, Naw and Reinforce.

We couldn’t stay in the place, nor could we leave her, so we came above ground with her.

As soon as we got above ground, we confirmed that the secret passage leading to the underground from behind the goddess statue had closed, and left the ruins.

Along the way, sensing a strange presence, we hid, and saw the parishioners of the church running from afar.

Perhaps they had noticed the unusual happenings in the ruins when Ortlinde awoke, which created quite a vibration.

Even if they went to the ruins now, the chances of them finding anything with the passage closed are slim.

Returning to the camp where I had stayed the night before, I let Reinforce graze and sat Ortlinde down.

And, I sat across from her.

“Um…I have many questions to ask…”

“If you have questions, I will answer as best I can.”

“Then… Who are you?”

“I am Ortlinde, your sword and shield.”

“…No, not that…um…”

Change the question.

“What the hell are you?”

“…? I don’t understand the meaning of your question.”

“…No, not that.”

Ortlinde, with a pretty and cute face, but emotionless, tilts her head.

At a loss for what to say to her, Reinforce spoke up.

“Miss Ortlinde…? The hero is asking what kind of being you are.”

“…Is that so?”

“Uh…yeah.”

Ortlinde nods and opens her mouth.

“I am Ortlinde. I am the third warrior of the nine warriors created by Miss Erda.”

“…Erda?”

Come to think of it, she did say she was the third child of Eruda within the ruins.

Eruda… a name I’ve never heard before.

I’ve read various books to investigate the relics of the goddess, but I’ve never seen that name.

Nine warriors… now that sounds like a story I’ve heard somewhere.

When was it, it feels like something I heard a long time ago…

“Ms. Ortlinde, by ‘made’, do you mean you’re something like a golem?”

Upon Reinforce’s words, I looked at Ortlinde again.

A golem, if you think about it, it truly seems plausible.

The fact that she remains unblemished despite the passage of time, and the lack of vitality from her.

…but, would it be right to say she’s a golem, even then?

During my journey to subjugate the Demon King, I’ve seen golems made by mages several times.

No, in fact, I’ve even ridden in one.

Most golems are made of iron or stone, and mainly resemble giants without legs crawling around.

The very best golem, which was created by the tower’s owner, who is also the most skilled mage and Alesa’s teacher, was an iron golem imitating the appearance of a quadruped beast.

…But no matter how I look at Ortlinde, she appears more human than a golem.

I still don’t feel any vitality, but now I can even feel the sound of her heartbeat and breath.

If such a golem existed, all the mages in the tower would be absolutely floored.

“What is a golem?”

As I expected, it seemed that Ortlinde was not aware of the existence of golems.

“…A golem is a battle doll produced and animated by magical technology.”

“Magical technology… I don’t exactly know what mana is, but if you mean an animated combat doll, we might have something in common.”

“Ah…mana is…”

To help her understand, I materialized some mana on the palm of my hand.

Although it seems simple, to materialize it subtly and stably like this is indeed a quite sophisticated skill.

Looking at the lump of mana floating on the palm of my hand, Ortlinde nodded her head.

“So you call Ether mana nowadays.”

「Ether?」

“The energy to which you’re referring. My body operates using Ether. So in that respect, I might be similar to this ‘golem’.”

Looking at Ortlinde as she said this…

…no matter how I look at her, she only looks human. The technology of the ancient times must have been incredibly advanced.

Well, if think about the automatic iron door in the underground ruins, it might not be that surprising.

“…Ugh, never mind. Let’s eat first and talk later.”

In fact, I hadn’t eaten anything since I woke up this morning, entered the ruins, found Ortlinde and came to this place.

From the pile of belongings in the corner of the campsite, I took out a chunk of smoked meat, sliced a few thin pieces, placing it with some vegetables between bread to make a simple sandwich.

It had a slightly rustic taste since there was no sauce, but it was not bad to fill the stomach.

As I returned to my spot and began to eat the sandwich, I felt a gaze on me.

Ortlinde was staring intently at my face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Even though Ortlinde said that, her gaze remained fixed on me.

“No, it’s specifically moving toward the sandwich in my hand, nearer to my mouth.

“…Can you consume food?”

“I can convert the consumed food into ether. Bottom line, I can eat.”

“……”

“……”

I made another sandwich.