Re-Tale of a Hero - Chapter 14. Reunion

Kaito and Tina were enveloped in a flash of light. When the light subsided, the two went back to how they looked in the morning when they first met Al and the others.

“Here I was, wondering when you’ll notice, but to think it would take this long. Well, my face looks quite different, so I guess it couldn’t be helped.”

His fearless face was replaced by a youthful one, and the fierceness that was there before was gone. Though his stature had mostly remained unchanged, whether they looked alike was rather ambiguous. His blue hair and eyes, however, remained the same as before.

“The aura surrounding you was completely different. It’s no wonder they couldn’t figure it out.”

Tina, on the other hand, looked completely different. Her voluptuousness was nowhere to be found, leaving behind a rather disappointing chest. Her voice had changed to that of a child’s, and unlike before when she was taller than an average adult woman, she had shrunk. The only thing that remained the same was her golden eyes.

“Says you. No one will think you two are the same person…”

“I had no other choice. If I had appeared on Earth in that form, I would’ve captivated everyone and caused a disturbance wherever I went, meaning we wouldn’t have been able to lead a normal life.”

While listening to their exchange, Al suddenly turned pale and prostrated before them.

“Your Magnificence, Her Majesty the Demon Lord, please forgive my insolence until now!”

Lucius and Ryiru similarly bowed their heads and begged for forgiveness. Kaito sighed when he saw this.

“Dude, I told you it’s fine…”

However, Al remained unconvinced and remained unmoved.

“Even so…”

“What a pain. Since I’m a student of Tenou High, we’ll see each other many times from now on. If you keep using honorifics when referring to me in front of the others, they’ll grow suspicious of our relationship.”

“Indeed. We don’t intend to reveal our true identities to our friends for the time being.”

Kaito tried to persuade them to stop using honorifics and to treat him as a friend. However, the three knights still felt reluctant, forcing Kaito to resort to his strongest card.

“Fine, think of this as an order from you Duke. Please, I can’t have them know the truth yet.”

Al finally relented seeing Kaito go so far as to bow his head.

“Underst–I mean, okay. So I should just speak casually like before?”

“Yeah. I might be asking too much of you given your position, but to be spoken to in honorifics by someone I regard as a friend doesn’t sit well with me.”

With Al giving way, Lucius and Ryiru also returned to their previous manner of speech.

“Even so, Kaito, Tina-chan, what’s with the sudden shift in personalities?”

Kaito responded to Al’s inquiry.

“Ahh…well…as you probably know already, qi is connected to one’s life force, whereas mana is connected to one’s mental capacity.”

“So?”

“When you have as much mana as us, you start affecting your surrounding in a negative way. That’s why we have to suppress our excess mana, which also suppresses our minds. That’s why people often think I’m always calm. In reality, my emotions are simply being kept in check. As the saying goes, mana is the power of the mind. By suppressing your mana, your mind and will also get suppressed,” he explained with a shrug.

Tina also shrugged before explaining her situation.

“The same applies to me, but unlike Kaito’s emotional suppression, my spirit regresses a little and makes me look like a child. The side effects are probably different for each individual.”

“You were always like a child though.”

“In your case, it’s probably better for all the women in this world if your emotions are always kept in check.”

The three knights were awed by what the two had said.

“I wonder how much mana is required to have to suppress it with your mind…”

Al’s mutter reflected how the three of them were feeling at the moment.

After that, Kaito and Tina expressed their desire to talk to the acting Duke. As such, they were guided to the communication room of the airship with the highest degree of security in the area.

While they were being guided there, members of Lucius’ unit approached them in a state of panic.

“Acting Captain! And the two Vice-Captains! Thank God you’re all safe!”

“Yeah, we’re fine.”

“Captain, who are those two behind you?”

It was a matter of course that the members were on alert. After all, three of their captain-level executives had disappeared one after another, and just when they thought they’ve found them, there were two strangers with them. They had to make sure the captains weren’t being forced or manipulated.

“No need to be alarmed. These are very important individuals. That’s all I can say for now.”

“But…”

One look was all it took to know that Kaito and Tina weren’t ordinary people as the amount of mana they had was truly extraordinary. Furthermore, as they were in their adult forms, the aura of an overlord and an empress flowed out of them.

Hence, they couldn’t help but be wary of these strangers.

“Enough. We need to use the communication room to contact the Madam.”

“Right, but…”

“The Madam herself will guarantee you that they’re not spies, which is all the more reason to use the communication room.”

“…Understood. May some of us be present as well?”

This was probably just in case the worst came to pass. Lucius was about to reject the request, but Kaito nodded.

“I don’t mind. I’ll allow a few of them to be with us.”

“But…Understood.”

After saying this, Lucius and the others discussed for a short while before selecting some of the particularly tight-lipped members of their troop to accompany them.

“I apologize for their rudeness, Your Excellency.”

“It’s fine. Since they were just attacked by an unknown entity, it’s a natural attitude to take.”

Kaito accepted Lucius’ apology as a Duke would. They soon arrived at the communication room, and preparations such as erecting a sound isolation barrier were completed.

“Since it’s late, the Madam is probably asleep. I believe the head maid, Finne-sama, would be the one to answer the call.”

“If Kuzuha finds out it’s a call from me, I bet she’ll wake up in a panic. Finne, huh? That elf onee-san…Hey, don’t tell her about me and Tina.”

“Pardon?”

Kaito issued this order while laughing mischievously.

Lucius naturally made a face that said he couldn’t understand Kaito’s intentions.

Speaking of Finne, she was Kazuha’s maid who came to live in the duchy after Kuzuha formally left the elf village.

Kaito initially thought there was something special about her because she had big breasts despite being an elf. However, he now knew that the idea of elves having small breasts was probably a misconception and that sizes differed among individuals.

‘Well, I’ve had a good taste of those wonderful breasts.’ Kaito thought in his head.

After a while, a beautiful woman with bountiful breasts, pointed ears, and gold hair appeared on the communication device.

[I’m glad to see that you’re safe, Acting Captain Lucius. So, what’s the matter? It’s quite late, not to mention it’s a confidential call that would usually go straight to the Madam. Am I right to assume something big has happened?]

Her eyes said that she’ll curse him to death if he had woken her up just to report that he was safe. In response, Lucius made a report to Finne while kneeling on one knee.

“I have a piece of news that will probably make the Madam jump up from her dreams.”

[Oh, and what would that be?]

Since Lucius wasn’t the type to make jokes, Finne’s interest was roused, and she smiled a little.

“A certain person visited our camp…”

[You mean a troublesome noble has caught wind of the news…]

That was something Finne had been concerned about. She frowned. Other than the Duke’s family, only a few top-level imperial officials should know about Tenou Academy’s transfer, but nobles with formidable information networks might have been able to learn of it from somewhere.

“No, they’re not from a hostile force.”

Finne was getting annoyed by how secretive Lucius was being.

[Speak. Who is it? If it’s someone from Tenou Academy, have them return tomorrow.]

Thinking it was time, Kaito and Tina moved in front of the communication device and smiled mischievously.

“Since we’re someone from Tenou Academy, I guess we should return tomorrow.”

“You’re right.”

Saying this, they turned away and made their way back to the school.

For a brief moment, Finne thought she was hallucinating, but she called them back in a great hurry with tears in her eyes.

[Master! Her Majesty the Demon Lord! Please wait! I’ll go wake up Kuzuha-san right now!]

She quickly disappeared, forgetting to even put the call on hold.

Soon, she returned along with a beautiful girl. The girl had silky, soft gold hair that stretched down to her waist and a dazzling pair of blue eyes. She looked dignified and lovely at the same time, worthy to be called a peerless beauty. Judging from her long ears which had pointed tips, she wasn’t a member of the human race.

She appeared to be in her mid-to-late teens, around the same age or slightly younger than Kaito who was attending Tenou High.

[Finne, who is it? A visitor at such a late hour…that Lucius…Onii-sama!]

Finne was apparently in such a hurry that she forgot to tell Kuzuha who it was that had called.

Kuzuha was taken aback for a moment when she learned who it was and called out to Kaito in surprise.

[When did you return?]

Kaito gave Kuzuha a nostalgic smile before answering her.

“Today. I was actually planning on returning to Enefia a bit later, but here I am,” he said while looking slightly embarrassed.

Kuzuha cried tears of joy and relief.

[So…you were planning on coming back…I’m glad…]

Tears dripped down as she said so. Kaito smiled and looked at her with kind eyes.

“Of course, I’ve promised after all.”

Kuzuha wiped her tears and welcomed them back with a bright smile.

[Welcome come, Onii-sama. Welcome home, Onee-sama.]

“Umu. I’m back.”

Tina looked at Kuzuha tenderly as she viewed her as a younger sister.

“That said, though this is nice as a surprise…”

[Is this about how Tenou Academy was suddenly transferred here today?]

As expected of the Acting Duke. Kaito nodded in satisfaction and decided to get down to business.

“Yeah. I have something I wish to consult with you about. But first…”

Kaito looked around and once again clad himself in the aura of an overlord as he ordered the troop members around him.

“I’ve just returned, but I’ll be giving my first order as a Duke. Please leave this room. Tina and I will be the only ones to remain inside. In addition, a gag order will be put in place regarding my return. Now’s not the time to reveal this news, so don’t tell anyone about it.”

From how Kuzuha was behaving, the members knew they were looking at the legendary hero and one of his companions. As such, they performed a salute and left the room.