Leaving the palace, Natsuki rubbed his ears, still ringing from the loud din caused by their 'preposterous' request. I mean, c'mon man, I'm the flicking hero! Isn't it a common trope for heroes to have the saintess as part of their (harem) party. And no, I'll never have a blonde gyaru-oh as a member–
Ouch!
"Who the frick on earth smacked me poor noggin– oh, it's you..."
Eyes blazing in fury, Natsuki turned around, trying to figure out who bitch-slapped him from his dreams, only to realise that it was Vylara herself. He did not know how, but she somehow knew what he was thinking. Dammit, is she a telepath or something!?
"No, I can't read your mind: you had that same lecherous grin upon your face, like all men do when they're thinking of something stupid. Just to remind you again:
We, as members of the Bureau Of Reincarnation, cannot associate too deeply with the populace of the world we are in
This has been the ironclad law for aeons, stretching far back to the creation of the Bureau itself. The last time someone broke this law, it did not end well..."
Vylara cast her eyes down, as if not wanting to recall the incident. Heck, even Scaramond, the robotic clown, tipped his hat in condolence. Not wanting to go down this rabbit hole (wise choice young one...), Natsuki tried steering the conversation somewhere else. "So, does anyone know where the Church is...?"
Smack!
Taking a steel griddle from who knows where, Vylara smashed it hard onto the back of Natsuki's head. "OW! What was that for–"
"Look, if you wanna steer the conversation elsewhere, try to bring up topics which will actually make us think, and not to dumbass questions that we all know the answer to–
I mean, we all see the tall spire shooting into the sky! Heck, even a three-year-old would look at you as if you're a retard if you ask a stupid question like this!
Phew! Anyway old man, why're you looking at the palace? Let's go back to the inn to rest, and go to the Church tomorrow, shall we?"
Although confused at why the old man was staring at the palace, Vylara chalked it up to old, single men's habits, something which she knew of deeply (I mean, have you seen Scaramond's collection of mahou shoujo figurines!? They're large enough to fill 10 rooms!).
"Nothing really, let's return..."
Still unable to shake this uneasy feeling Knoxis followed the trio home, unwilling to stay any longer...
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As soon as the hero group left, the originally rambunctious hall instantly froze, the people turning into silent sculptures. Then, the great erasing began:
Slowly, bit by bit, pixels began appearing before the crowd, flashing in the air before said person evaporated into digital hell. Though slow initially, it quickly gained momentum as fewer and fewer people remained in the throne room. Just as 10 people were remaining, a sudden screech reverberated across the the throne room.
"yU sh@3ll all b03 d[1n to da grape SHADOW MONARCH! ALL WILL BOW–"
Just as the elongated forms of the king were about to finish his oath of allegiance, a soft sigh was heard beside the throne, before the shadowy slender-like man burst like a pinãta, dispersing his ashy fragments everywhere.
Please...hurry up...
I don't have much time left