Chapter 43: Finishing Noodles and a Not-So-Heavy Backstory
The hot pot disappeared astonishingly quickly.
Before I knew it, the mountain of vegetables and Rockbird meat had been reduced to almost nothing, leaving behind only a rich, fragrant broth infused with all their flavors.
Hijiri leaned back in his chair, rubbing his noticeably fuller stomach while picking at his teeth with a toothpick.
“Man… hot pot really is best when you eat it with a crowd.”
“Should we finish things off with some rice porridge?” I suggested. “We still have some leftover rice from the cooking duel—”
“No.”
“Absolutely not.”
Raphiel and Hijiri answered in perfect unison.
Both wore completely serious expressions.
I blinked.
“…Why?”
“Because the rice in this country is terrible.”
Hijiri didn’t hesitate.
“I agree,” Raphiel added immediately. “It’s completely different from the rice at Eight’s house.”
“Wow, you two are harsh.”
I looked at the pot.
“Then should we just skip the finishing course?”
“No need.”
Raphiel raised a hand.
“When I went to inform Eve that we would be returning tomorrow instead of tonight, I brought some dried noodles from your cupboard.”
“…You raided my pantry?”
“I borrowed them.”
“That isn’t how borrowing works.”
And so the final course was decided.
Noodles.
I tossed the dried noodles into the remaining broth.
The rich stock, already saturated with the sweetness of vegetables and the savory essence of Rockbird meat, eagerly embraced them.
As the noodles softened, they absorbed every drop of flavor.
The aroma alone was enough to make everyone hungry again despite having just finished dinner.
Raphiel was the first to take a bite.
Slurp.
“Delicious.”
She nodded repeatedly as she swallowed.
“Raphiel-chan, you’re surprisingly good at slurping noodles.”
“I am highly dexterous.”
She puffed out her chest ever so slightly.
“Hijiri is also skilled.”
“That’s because I’m Japanese.”
Hijiri shrugged.
“It’s practically part of the operating system.”
As I ate my noodles, something suddenly occurred to me.
“Oh, right.”
I turned toward him.
“Hijiri-san, how did you end up becoming a bureaucrat in the Kingdom of Elde?”
“Hm?”
Hijiri twirled his chopsticks.
“That’s kind of a long story.”
“Is it… a heavy story?”
“Not at all.”
“Then I want to hear it.”
“Alright.”
Hijiri smiled.
Then began talking about his past.
“Have you heard of the Lazar Empire?”
“The military superpower next to Elde, right?”
The village chief had talked about it many times.
The Lazar Empire was one of the few nations capable of rivaling the Kingdom of Elde.
The two countries had been enemies for generations.
Apparently, they had even gone to war several decades ago.
“That’s the one.”
Hijiri nodded.
“I was summoned there.”
“Summoned?”
“By the empire.”
He took another bite of noodles.
“Oh, I wasn’t a Hero, by the way.”
“There’s a difference?”
“Of course.”
Hijiri pointed upward.
“Heroes are people acknowledged by the Goddess.”
Then he pointed at himself.
“We were simply invited into this world.”
I hadn’t known that.
Apparently, being recognized as a Hero and being summoned from another world were separate things entirely.
Then one word caught my attention.
“We?”
“Yep.”
Hijiri smiled.
“About eight years ago, my entire high school class got summoned together.”
“WHAT!?”
I nearly dropped my bowl.
“Then there are other Japanese people in this world?”
“There were.”
The answer came casually.
Far too casually.
“I killed every last one of them.”
“…Excuse me?”
For a second, I thought I’d misheard.
Killed?
Did he just say killed?
“Did you know?”
Hijiri continued as though discussing the weather.
“People summoned by the Goddess usually possess special powers.”
“Skills?”
“Exactly.”
Kirara had mentioned those before.
“For some reason, while everyone in my class received powerful abilities…”
He smiled.
“I got nothing.”
“Oof.”
That had to be rough.
Being the only powerless person in a class full of chosen heroes—
I could already imagine how isolating that must have been.
But then Hijiri continued.
And the mood changed instantly.
“The Lazar Empire apparently decided that someone like me wasn’t worth treating as a human being.”
My chopsticks froze.
“…What?”
“They used me as an example.”
He casually added more noodles to his bowl.
“To keep the others obedient through fear.”
The way he said it was so matter-of-fact that it somehow sounded even worse.
“W-What do you mean by example?”
“Oh.”
Hijiri smiled.
“Basically?”
He held up a finger.
“Public beatings.”
A second finger.
“They’d have my classmates attack me under the pretense of training their skills.”
A third finger.
“Stuff like that.”
I stared.
“…You said this wasn’t a heavy story.”
“It isn’t.”
“IT ABSOLUTELY IS.”
“Not really.”
Hijiri slurped another noodle.
“I got revenge.”
That sentence somehow made things even more terrifying.
Then he told us everything.
The empire’s nobles and officials had treated him like garbage.
His classmates had initially defended him.
But over time, they stopped resisting.
Eventually, they joined in.
Some out of fear.
Some out of convenience.
Some because it was easier than becoming the next target.
And finally—
“My girlfriend cheated on me with an imperial prince.”
“Wow.”
That somehow managed to be the least horrifying part.
“What happened after that?”
“Hm?”
Hijiri tilted his head.
“I got angry.”
His smile widened.
“So I killed them all.”
The room became very quiet.
“…How?”
“There were ornamental monkshood flowers growing in the imperial palace garden.”
He sounded almost nostalgic.
“I chopped up the roots and mixed them into the food.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Everyone silently listened.
“Honestly, it was kind of beautiful.”
His eyes turned distant.
“The knights and soldiers who’d spent years tormenting me started dropping dead one after another from a single meal.”
He chuckled.
“And because they thought I lacked the courage to poison anyone, they eliminated me as a suspect immediately.”
“W-What about your classmates?”
“Oh, don’t worry.”
His answer came instantly.
“The ones who merely stood by and watched were allowed relatively painless deaths.”
The room somehow got even colder.
I swallowed.
“…And the ones who participated?”
“Want to hear it?”
His smile remained unchanged.
“You’ll probably regret asking.”
I shook my head so violently it nearly detached from my neck.
Absolutely not.
No thank you.
I valued my ability to sleep at night.
At that moment, Raphiel fixed Hijiri with a distinctly annoyed stare.
“Hijiri.”
“Yes?”
“Stop discussing topics that ruin one’s appetite.”
“But Eight-kun asked.”
He looked toward me.
“Did I scare you?”
“There is nothing in existence that frightens me.”
Raphiel crossed her arms.
Then added quietly:
“…Except thunder.”
“That’s oddly specific.”
Even after that warning, Hijiri continued.
Apparently, after torturing and executing both his girlfriend and the prince she’d run off with, he’d delivered their severed heads as gifts before defecting to the Kingdom of Elde.
I decided not to ask for details.
My mental health was important.
“And now?”
I cautiously asked.
Hijiri shrugged.
“Sometimes the king asks me to deal with troublesome nobles or bandits.”
“Deal with?”
“Yes.”
He coughed theatrically.
“Poison them.”
“YOU DIDN’T EVEN TRY TO HIDE IT.”
“Then they embark on a long journey to a distant place.”
“You mean the afterlife!”
This man said horrifying things with the brightest smile imaginable.
“Oh, and another thing.”
Hijiri casually waved a hand.
“One day I happened to rescue the First Princess of Elde from some bandits.”
“And?”
“We hit it off.”
“And?”
“We got engaged.”
“WHAT!?”
I nearly fell out of my chair.
“Hold on! The princess!?”
My brain struggled to keep up.
“Wasn’t King Zigkun into younger boys or something!?”
“That man?”
Hijiri laughed.
“He may seem strange, but he’s actually very responsible when it comes to royal duties.”
Apparently, King Zigkun had a proper queen.
And not only that—
“He has two princes and two princesses.”
“…”
I stared blankly.
“That is somehow the most shocking revelation I’ve heard all day.”
The image of the king in my head shattered completely.
Apparently he was a much more competent monarch than I’d given him credit for.
Then another realization struck me.
“Wait.”
I pointed at Hijiri.
“If you’re engaged to the First Princess… doesn’t that mean you’re basically joining the royal family?”
“More or less.”
Hijiri shrugged.
“I already hold the rank of viscount, so I’ll probably just get promoted to count or marquis and be handed some territory.”
“That’s amazing.”
I couldn’t help it.
“That is seriously amazing.”
“Show some respect, Eight-kun.”
Hijiri smirked.
“One day I might become the lord governing the region where your beloved Papel Village is located.”
“In that case, I’ll make you some really good food.”
“I gladly accept bribes.”
“You say that way too honestly.”
The more we talked, the more Hijiri seemed less like a terrifying mastermind and more like an easygoing older brother.
Sure.
His past was horrifying.
His methods were horrifying.
His smile was horrifying.
But as a person?
He was surprisingly easy to talk to.
Maybe the suspicious aura was just part of his face.
◇ ◆ ◇
Night.
Deep within a deserted alleyway of the royal capital.
Two figures met beneath the cover of darkness.
One was a woman wearing a robe thrown loosely over an outrageously revealing bikini.
The other was a mysterious individual hidden beneath a hood pulled low over their face.
The moonlight barely reached them.
Only fragments of their silhouettes could be seen amid the shadows.
The woman gave a low whistle.
“Honestly, I never thought you’d actually accept our proposal.”
“I didn’t come here for idle conversation.”
The hooded figure’s voice was cold.
Emotionless.
“So serious.”
The woman shrugged.
“Here I thought you simply wanted to get back at that master of yours, Tardolf. The one who never acknowledged you.”
Silence.
The hooded figure’s fists clenched beneath the cloak.
Then—
“Tomorrow.”
The voice cut through the darkness.
“The man who defeated Tardolf will return to the castle.”
Eight.
“The timing is perfect.”
A faint killing intent seeped into the air.
“If you intend to kidnap him and use him as bait to lure out the Saint, tomorrow is your chance.”
The bikini-clad woman grinned.
“Then we’ll leave the inside work to you.”
“Hmph.”
Without another word, the hooded figure turned away.
Their form blended seamlessly into the darkness of the royal capital.
And then they were gone.
As though swallowed whole by the night itself.
The woman remained alone in the alley.
A wicked smile slowly spread across her lips.
The pieces were moving.
Schemes overlapped with schemes.
In the shadows of the kingdom, an unseen conspiracy had already begun to turn.
And neither Eight nor his companions had the slightest idea that danger was drawing ever closer.