<h4>Chapter 69.1: Labyrinth Investigation</h4>


    ◆Valkyrie, Shizufae


    「SHIZUFAE!! WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO HASN’T BEEN CALLED BY YEE!!」


    Novis was loudlyining to me.


    Since our gathering ce was the central za in the Republic of Ariadya, his loud voice had gathered the attention of the people around us.


    「EVEN IF YOU SAY THAT, YOU DIDN’T EVEN KNOW ABOUT THE PARTY UNTIL A FEW SECONDS AGO!!」


    I replied to him.


    It was currently noon so there were many people around. I wished he would lower his voice a bit more so we don’t bring so much attention to ourselves.


    Novis was pissed off since I didn’t invite him to the evening party that took cest night. In the first ce, he didn’t even know that there was an evening party taking cest night until we told him about it today.


    「Sorry for enjoying the party on our own, Novi-kun.」


    Madi apologized at once even though there was no need for her to do that.


    In the first ce, I’m sure that Novis would only have spoiled the mood of the party if he’d attended. It was also the reason why I didn’t invite him.


    I also knew that he would be pissed off once he found out that he was the only one that hadn’t been invited to the party.


    Thus, he’de to this ce toin.


    「You don’t need to apologize to him, Madi. The one who told him is big sis Keyna after all…」


    I shot a re at big sis Keyna.


    「My bad for telling him, Shizufae tehepero…」


    Though she was apologizing to us, her face and gestures didn’t feel like she was apologizing at all.


    「In the first ce, state your business, Novis!! Don’t tell me that you came all the way to this ce just toin to us!!」


    I mean, if he’d really juste toin then I guess he has a lot of free time on his hands.


    「No… I mean… I’m just worried if that hero is asking something strange from you.」


    Novis turned his face away while mumbling something.


    Sure enough, we’re about to head out to join hero-sama and co for the investigation. But, rather than everyone splitting up and doing their own thing, it’s much better for everyone to gather in one ce, which is why we’d met in this za.


    Currently, everyone was already gathered here except for Leylia-san.


    「Ha~h, what are you talking about?」


    Just what in the world was Novis trying to tell me.


    「A~h. Poor Novi-kun.」


    「Indeed…」


    For some reason, Madi and big sis Keyna were saying the same thing.


    By the way, Nora wasn’t participating in our conversation since she thought that it probably wasn’t interesting.


    「What are you two talking about. Do you know something?」


    I looked at Madi and big sis Keyna.


    「Well. let’s just say that Novis wants to help Shizufae.」


    Big sis Keyna spoke as she looked at Novis.


    Novis turned his face away, pouting.


    Was he really just wanting to help me? If that’s the case, I guess I’ve got to thank him.


    Anyhow, the more people we get on this, the easier the investigation will be.


    「Is that so? Thanks a lot, Novis.」


    I hugged Novis as I thanked him.


    Though Novis was weak when it came to doing something along the lines of investigating, his strength was the real deal. We could always rely on him during battles.


    「W-… Well, it’s not big deal anyway!!!」


    Novis replied happily as if his pouting a while ago was a lie.


    「Uwa~h, he’s so easy.」


    I heard Madi speak with a dumbfounded voice.


    「Well, only Leylia-san left then.」


    I looked around to find thest member of our party.


    Thereupon, my gaze caught upon a certain person.


    「Eh? Isn’t it that man?」


    It was the man I’d met before.


    I’d forgotten his name, but there was no way that I could forget his face. It was the baggage carrier who’d gotten punched by Novis.


    「Oh? I forgot that man’s name but wasn’t he the attendant of Kyouka-sama back then?」


    Big sis Keyna who followed my line of sight saw that man too.


    「But he’s with a different woman right now. I wonder who that woman is.」


    Just as Madi had said, that man was currently walking besides another woman who was hiding her face with a hood. Despite hiding her face, the giant bulkiness around the chest was indication enough for anyone that the other party was a woman.


    「Hou… despite hiding her face, she’s got a really nice face huh.」


    Nora-san spoke with a smile on her face.


    If even Nora-san said so, there was no mistake that the hooded woman was a great beauty.


    The woman’s clothes were made of superior materialspared to the clothes of the man beside her. The beautiful golden embroidery on the veil that was used to hide the woman’s face even further reflected the sunlight.


    Was she a high-rankingdy from somewhere?


    I’ve got no idea of thedy’s name, but for some reason, she looks a bit familiar to me.


    「Just what in the world is their rtionship?」


    Madi wasn’t the only one worrying about that, in fact I’m worrying over the same thing too.


    「Who knows. They look like a master and her retainer at nce, but there’s this intimate air around them. Oi.」


    Novis was looking at them with a vulgar smile on his face.


    If we only see the fact that the man’s attire was made of cheaper materialspared to the woman’s extremely exquisite dress, it might be natural to mistake them as master and her retainer.


    But, thedy was walking while linking her arm with the man. The way they walk was way too intimate for a mere master and retainer rtionship.


    It was as if they’re in the middle of a date.


    「Come to think of it, have you apologized to that man, Novis?」


    「Apologize? What are you talking about, Shizufae?」


    I unintentionally face palmed at his response.


    「NOVIS!! FOLLOW ME TO APOLOGIZE TO THAT MAN NOW!!」


    I pulled Novis by hand as I walked towards that man.


    「W-WAIT A MINUTE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, SHIZUFAE!!!?」


    I ignored his protesting and continued walking towards that man.


    「Wait, let me to join the fun.」


    「Me too!!!」


    「Me too. I want to see that beauty from close by.」


    Big sis Keyna, Madi and Nora-san ended up joining along.


    「Uhm, excuse me!!!」


    I called out to the person.


    Those two then turned around.


    「What? who are you people?」


    Thedy replied with a displeased voice as she looked at us.


    Such a beautiful voice… Just like Rena-sama’s.


    From the tone alone, thedy seems to be pissed off.


    Maybe having grasped thedy’s emotion, the man besides here came forward in a hurry to stand between us and thedy.


    Such a beautiful voice. Just like Rena-sama’s voice.


    「Hahaha, it’s nice to meet you again. How’s the injury on your head?」


    The man spoke to me with a smile on his face. His tone was the exact opposite of thedy behind him.


    And then, though I had no idea what he was talking about for a moment, I recalled what he meant right at the next moment.


    He might be referring to the time when I met Goddess Rena-sama.


    This man definitely saw the moment when I was being carried to Rena-sama’s temple with my head injured.


    But, I never expected that he would be worrying about that.


    「Yes, it has been healed by a certain personage…」


    I replied a bit vaguely. There was no way I could tell him that it was healed by the Goddess-sama herself. Not like he would believe me even if I told him the truth.


    「Well, that’s great then. By the way, may I ask your business with me?」


    The man wasn’t angry like thedy. He was all smiles as he spoke with us.


    「No… It’s just, Novis want to apologize for what he did to you.」


    The man made a puzzled look on his face upon hearing my words, and then he made a face as if recalling something.


    「Aah, that matter, huh. It’s okay. I received ap pillow thanks to that incident after all.」


    The man was waving his hands as if to tell us not to worry about that matter.


    Though I was now wondering what this p pillow” he was talking about was, it had nothing to do with Novis apology.


    「Novis!!」


    I walked in front of Novis.


    「Yeah, my bad.」


    Novis apologized bluntly.


    Wait a minute!! That’s not how you apologize to others.


    I grabbed Novis by the head and forced him to bow his head to the man.


    「My apologies. I’ll give this guy a whole lot of scoldingter.」


    I bowed my head together with him.


    「No, I really don’t mind it any longer you know.」


    The man seems to really have forgiven Novis already.


    「Hey, big brother. Can you tell me about the one who’s with you? Is she rted to the hero?」


    Big sis Keyna had finally asked the question on everyone’s mind.


    In fact it’s been weighing on my mind since a while ago.


    He was supposed to be Kyouka-sama’s servant. If that was the case, it was only natural to guess that thedy beside him was rted to the hero. And quite an important one to the point that she went as far as hiding her face.


    「She is… actually… she is my wife.」


    But, the answer we got from that man thwarted all of our expectations.


    Everyone said 「OOOOH!!」 in unison.


    Novis even muttered, “No way!”.


    「Yeah, I’m his wife.」


    Thedy puffed her chest proudly. Her gesture caused her already overwhelmingly huge breast to shake even more.


    I felt Novis’ gaze focusing on those shaking breasts.


    「Well then, we shall excuse ourselves then. I mean, I’m in the middle of sightseeing Ariadya with my wife.」


    After bowing to us for thest time, the man took his leave along with his wife.


    「No way, he is a… married man.」


    Madi nodded, agreeing with Novis. Sure enough, the wife didn’t give that kind of air at all.


    「Nevertheless, they seem to be an extremely intimate couple. I’m really jealous of them…」


    As the believer of the goddess of marriage, I always yearned for such an ideal married life.