Vol 5 Chapter 51 – New Master and Disciple【Vol 5 – What Happened After】

After that, things progressed at breakneck speed.

When I found Shion, I apparently also blew away the crown prince in the process, and the half-dead crown prince was arrested on the spot. Not only for Shion’s case, but as his involvement in the suspicious deaths of nobles that had been occurring was revealed one after another, he was sentenced to public execution.

The current king was also held accountable and dethroned, with Nagisa returning to become the new monarch in his place.

Moreover, Crown Prince Vacanamessh had apparently purged the old royal family when he usurped the throne, so as the sole survivor, Nagisa became a true monarch rather than the fake crown prince she’d been before. Considering Nagisa was currently my maid, she’d accomplished an unprecedented rise in history—from assassin to maid to monarch.

Well, only we knew that fact.

After the incident was resolved, we safely returned to the Succubish Kingdom, but two things had changed.

One was that Nagisa the maid was gone. Well, given the circumstances, that was natural.

And the other was Koshion’s existence.

There was no way we could leave something like a homunculus of the current princess unattended, so Koshion was brought to the Succubish Kingdom with us.

Shion offered to make her a member of the Succubus Knight Order, but I opposed it. After all, Koshion was a dead ringer for Shion in her childhood. And naturally, many people in the capital knew what Shion looked like back then. There was no way we could publicly announce a homunculus of Princess Shion. Even if neither of them was at fault, there was no telling what kind of speculation it would invite.

—So after discussion, I ended up taking in Koshion.

Besides, I’d originally promised to make Koshion my disciple, and realistically, after continuing self-study, Koshion should properly learn from a master once. For various reasons, it was best for me to take in Koshion. Or rather, there was no other choice.

And then.

When my life of instructing the Succubus Knight Order as an advisor during the day and training Koshion as her master after returning home began. I was immediately made to realize Koshion’s talent.

“Koshion, how should I put this, you’re really—”

“? What is it, Master?”

“…No, I’m just thinking how you haven’t broken down until now.”

“What do you mean, Master!?”

Koshion’s talent was so overwhelming, pure, and dazzling that I found myself having such conversations. The moment I let my guard down, wouldn’t that intense talent burn Koshion herself to ashes? I seriously worried about such things. That was the decisive difference between her and everyone in the Succubus Knight Order.

Overly intense talent often burns itself out too.

I suddenly remembered. Long ago, I’d taken Shion as my disciple for the exact same fear.

To put it extremely, even without me, everyone in the knight order would continue growing slowly, if not quickly. That was normal. But Koshion was different. When blocked by her own limits, she’d attempt to break through with talent alone and recklessly end up seriously hurt. That was her type.

That’s precisely why someone needed to look after her as a master. To think she was the same as Shion even in this regard—perhaps that was to be expected of a homunculus. That detestable crown prince might have been skilled as an alchemist after all.

Being a master for the second time, instructing Koshion progressed smoothly.

Koshion achieved breakthrough after breakthrough and grew explosively stronger, each time rushing over with sparkling eyes saying “Master! Master is truly amazing!” and hugging me. Her playful puppy-like behavior was exactly like Shion from days past.

—So.

Before I knew it, I came to think about training Koshion day and night, around the clock, and raising her to the end. Perhaps that was a desire to redo Shion’s training that had been forcibly terminated midway.

Well, in any case.

Once things settled down, I resolved to eventually leave the Succubus Knight Order and spend my days training with Koshion alone in the remote mountains like before.

And that opportunity came surprisingly soon—

Vol 5 Chapter 52 – Post-Expedition Celebration【Vol 5 – What Happened After】

One day after training, Shion told me there would be a banquet that had been postponed and asked me to definitely attend.

“What’s this banquet?”

“The First Knight Order’s feast—the expedition’s consolation party. We should’ve held it ages ago, but thanks to that idiot crown prince’s fabricated engagement story, it’s been postponed until now.”

“Ah, so it’s a drinking party to celebrate the expedition.”

I recalled the rugged bunch from the First Knight Order. They’re not bad people, but maybe because Yuna-san from the First Knight Order became my disciple, they’ve been involving me in everything. Moreover, apparently there’s a rumor quietly circulating in the military that I infiltrated the Sebas Empire to save Princess Shion and dealt divine punishment to the crown prince.

Given the facts alone aren’t wrong, it’s extremely troublesome. I’m sure this is what’ll happen—if I attend this banquet, I’ll be surrounded by bearded muscle men with eyes sparkling like boys, interrogated left and right without fail.

“…I’m fine, so why don’t you just go alone, Shion?”

“Rejected. If I don’t bring Master, I’ll be extremely uncomfortable—well, that aside, there’s also the aim of showing both internally and externally that the nation’s two top military forces, the Succubus Knight Order and First Knight Order, are friendly. On top of that, this time the king and prime minister are specially participating, so Master can’t skip out alone.”

“Then I guess there’s no choice… But why are such important people attending?”

“That’s of course because I summoned them to show off the strong master-disciple bond between Master and me… absolutely not that, um, well, to demonstrate how friendly the current regime and knight orders are… or something?”

“Why the questioning tone?”

We had that conversation, but naturally I couldn’t refuse, so I ended up participating.

And on the day.

The banquet held in the royal castle’s grand hall was vastly different from the casual after-party I’d imagined—it was attended not just by First Knight Order members who participated in the expedition and us, but also by high-ranking nobles from throughout the country.

All the men wore ceremonial military dress, and women wore gowns. Though the only female participants were Shion and Yuna-san, both were incredibly beautiful with outstanding figures, so they drew exceptional attention. Both wore rather revealing dresses, but while Shion’s skin was translucently white, Yuna-san’s skin as a dark elf half was beautifully tanned, creating a striking contrast.

Since everyone else besides those two was male, it was no exaggeration to say all participants couldn’t take their eyes off Shion and Yuna-san in their dresses. And the moment those two swiveled their heads as if searching for something and spotted me from afar.

“Master, thank you for your service!”

“Master, I’m glad you came!”

In this country, they use that phrase for both superiors and subordinates… I thought about such trivial things as the two walked straight toward me and firmly held both my sides.

From an outside perspective, it looked like a blessed man with Shion on his right arm and Yuna-san on his left, in an arm-linked couple formation with two beautiful succubus girls. But don’t be fooled. These two were naturally locking my arm joints. While most men directed jealous emotions toward me, the few elite knights who realized the truth turned pale. Understandably so.

“Shion, what are you planning…?”

“If we don’t restrain you together, you’ll immediately escape, Master. Saying the royal castle is uncomfortable.”

“This current situation is maximally uncomfortable though!? Yuna-san, please let go too!”

“I’d love nothing more than to follow Master’s orders, but Senior Disciple insists that if I let go now, Master will escape.”

“I-I can’t deny that…!”

“So to keep Master from escaping, we’re staying like this all day!”

“Sorry about this, Master.”

Looking at Shion’s oddly delighted face and Yuna-san’s apologetic expression while never loosening her restraining grip, I gave up resisting.