156 – The Ster Sister takes the Lead – II


    "Oh Holy Beast-sama! You''ve returned safely!"


    "Wan. It was a fun adventure, wan."


    Ste stared at the scene in front of her with a nk stare while hugging Wata as emotional support.


    It was a blitz of activity.


    Afterforting Norn nee-chan who had been practicing in the rain on the other ship and scolding Onii-chan about neglecting her, Ste went back to her room to take a nap. A lot of things had happened and she was exhausted, so she took the time to get some proper rest.


    And it was the right choice considering the current situation.


    Dorudia vige. The home of the Dorudia Beast Race tribe within the leaves of the Great Forest.


    ...For some reason, Ste had a shback to a loud-mouthed and ramen loving ninja, but she set that aside.


    In any case, when she woke up, they had already arrived. In fact, they had arrived for a while, long enough for Ste to be tucked into a cozy warm bed.


    But shortly after that, Onii-chan came to grab her and her new puppy to meet some people.


    Which led to the current situation.


    Ste''s new puppy sat in the middle of a formal banquet hall, licking his white fur.


    That much wasn''t too strange. But the fact that there were over a dozen big and burly onii-chans with dog ears kneeling in front of the puppy was. And stranger still was the fact that there were even more people waiting outside, straining to take a look inside the building.


    Including Toni and Sena, who were peeking in from a back window barely out of sight.


    ''...This feels like a yakuza meeting.''


    It reminded Ste of something she saw by chance once in the past. A high-profile yakuza member had been released from prison and a group of men in suits had knelt down before the guy, weing him back.


    ...Actually, now that she thought about it, wasn''t this how the White Knights reacted whenever they saw her?


    ...Oh. Right. Since Onii-chan was a Demon Lord, which was kind of like a yakuza boss, that would make her a princess... or something? A yakuza princess? After all, she was the youngest. And then Norn nee-chan would be the scary tomboy big sis... meaning that Aisha nee-chan is probably the smart secretary type who''s secretly the scariest?


    "So you are the hero we have been waiting for!"


    A gruff old male voice.


    Ste blinked and saw that someone had walked over while she was thinking.


    It was an old man wearing tribal clothing with some red face paint. He had fluffy white ears and a full face beard with hair just as white. He was also still in great shape despite the wrinkles on his face. Like a retired army ojii-san.


    He ced a fist into his left palm and gave a deep bow. "Thank you for saving my granddaughter along with the other children of our tribe, Hero."


    Ste''s puppy turned around to look at her and barked. "Wan! See? She''s really a hero! Wan."


    Wata finally spoke up at that and red at the puppy. "Stop trying to act cute and talk normally, you mongrel!"


    "I don''t know what you mean. ...Wan."


    Wata pointed at it and said, "There! That! You hesitated! You almost forgot the ''wan''!"


    Ste sighed and patted Wata''s head. "Ignore him, Wata. He has an image to uphold, you know?"


    "Hmph." Wata huffed and crossed his arms, leaning back in Ste''s embrace.


    The old manughed and said, "The hero is beloved by the spirits as well, I see?"


    Ste puffed her cheeks and said, "Who are you, old man?" After that, she looked off to the side at Rudy and said, "And why am I here, Onii-chan? Couldn''t you have talked with these people by yourself?"


    Rudy looked up from writing in his journal at a table off to the side and then said, "I could have. But this mess isn''t my fault for once, so I''m just taking some notes."


    "Aren''t you supposed to help out as my Onii-chan?!"


    Rudy waved his hand and said, "Don''t worry. I''ve chatted a bit already and you''ve just be a sort of messiah figure for the Beast Race folk. It''s nothing new."


    "Nothing-!?" Ste paused, thinking about her Onii-chan''s current status.


    ...Right. There wasn''t any point intoining about the spotlight to someone like that.


    Ste sighed and then patted Wata''s head again.


    Wata preened and then looked over at the puppy with an arrogant smirk.


    The puppy grit his teeth, but endured and pretended to be happy and cute.


    "Anyway," Ste said. "What do you mean that I''m a hero? Exin it to me like I''m five."


    Maybe they were just talking about it in the sense of her being their benefactor? Someone who saved their children and was honored because of it?


    The old man looked confused for a bit. "Are you not...? No." He shook his head and then looked Ste in the eyes. "As you wish Hero. You see..." The old man smiled, eyes sparkling with excitement. "Lady Ste... You are the hero who Holy Beast-sama has selected as his lifelongpanion. The one he will aid in the future to prevent the destruction of the world. Lady Ste... you are this world''s savior!"


    "Pft."


    Ste sent a death re at Rudy.


    Rudy smiled back.


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    ...This damned family of cliched archetypes...!


    -SNG-


    "...And then he justughed at me the entire time!" Ste smacked her small hand on the table and said, "Isn''t that mean, nee-chan?!"


    Norn smiled and said, "It is a bit mean."


    "Right?!" Ste reached out and chugged her cup of hot cocoa and said, "It isn''t fair!"


    Miko idly sipped on her own cup of hot cocoa and said, "W-Well..." She shifted her gaze to the side and smiled. "...It is a bit funny."


    "Not you too, Miko!"


    Miko''s smile widened and she giggled. "I mean..."


    Ste puffed her cheeks and then finished the rest of her hot cocoa.


    A few days had passed since they arrived at Doduria vige. During that time, Ste had been busy trying to deal with being hailed as ''the chosen one'' or ''the world''s savior.''


    That, and she had to sort through all the gifts she was being given for saving all of the Beast Race children PLUS the ones that she was apparently entitled to as the hero.


    Onii-chan thought it was hrious, and his ero wives thought it was cute.


    Unlike them, however, Ena and Eos were helping Ste out by sorting through all of that for her. Wata and Fai were helping too, so it shouldn''t take too long.


    As for thest member of their family, Rnd... after hearing Ste being proimed as the hero and seeing her walk around with Holy Beast-kun (a.k.a Leo per Rnd''s suggestion), he was acting a bit weird.


    So because of that, Ste bugged Onii-chan for some hot cocoa and went to drag off the few people that she could actually unwind and vent to.


    Ste reached over for the giant thermos of cocoa that Rudy made for her and poured some more into her cup.


    At the moment, she, Norn, and Miko were sitting in a small one-room house on the outskirts of the vige. A little hideaway that she prodded Onii-chan to make while Eos and Ena were cleaning up the dedicated Hero apartment for her in the middle of the vige.


    Sipping on her cocoa, Ste looked outside the window and frowned. "It''s still raining, huh?"


    Norn sipped on her own cocoa and nodded. "Mmhm. Apparently, it won''t stop for another few months."


    Ste''s eyes widened. "I thought it was just a few weeks?! Are we going to stay here the entire time?!"


    Miko shook her head and said, "Mister Rudy said that it''s only a few days." She sipped on her cocoa and then tilted her head. "Didn''t he tell you?"


    Ste crossed her arms and said, "Of course not! Ever since we''ve got here, he''s beenughing at me being a hero and run off to do whatever he wants!" She looked at Norn and said, "It''s not fair, right, nee-chan?! Onii-chan should be ying with us!"


    Norn frowned and said, "...I do want to y with Rui. But he''s really busy..."


    Ste mmed her hands on the table and said, "No! I''ve had enough!"


    Norn''s eyes widened. "S-Ste?"


    Ste hopped off her seat and grabbed Norn''s hand, dragging her away. "We''re going toin to Onii-chan! Mikochi! Youe too!"


    "M-Mikochi? A-Ah, wait, Ste-!"


    -RNG-


    "So this is the sacred tree, huh?" I looked up at the glittering bronze tree and thoughtfully rubbed my chin.


    "That''s right, Dad." Rnd walked over to my side and said, "You called it something else in the future though. I think ''Yggdrasil''?"


    "The World Tree? Hm... Well, I guess something like this qualifies."


    Since my cute baby sister was being coddled by the entire Doduria vige and my wives were catching up with Ghyine, I took the chance to survey in detail what it meant for her to be the hero. And by that, I meant take a look at the ritual site that the leader of Doduria Vige, Gustav, was talking about.


    Speaking of Gustav...


    The old warrior looked around with wide eyes and then muttered, "To be able to cross such vast distances in an instance..." Gustav looked at me and said, "...Are you truly human?"


    "...It''splicated." I ran my hand through my hair, dissolving the disguise magic dyeing it brown. At the same time, I removed the magic changing my eye colors and took a closer look at the surroundings.


    Although the outside was still a torrential downpour, about a mile around the base of the Sacred Tree, it was perfectly calm and sunny.


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    It was also a bit eerie because of it. The water that should be flooding in was kept at bay by an invisible force, and even the thunderous sound was muted.


    Moreover, the dark surroundings were lit up by a mysterious green light. And that was separate from the towering bronze tree in front of us that was emitting its own soft golden light.


    Gustav''s eyes widened when he saw my changed appearance and said, "That appearance-"


    "This is a sacred ce, right? It''s the least I can do to show my true self. Now..." I crossed my arms and stared at the sacred tree. "...Is there a sword in the tree that Ste''s going to have to pull out? A de of pure mana that can control the fate of the world? A sword of light forged to defeat pure evil? Or maybe some great ultimate light magic meant to destroy an iing meteor?"


    "...What?" Gustav shook his head. "No, nothing like that."


    I turned to look at Rnd.


    Rndughed. "You were disappointed then too, Dad."


    "...I see."


    Damn. There goes the hope that I could get some more useful stuff to smack Being W from behind-


    Wait.


    I narrowed my eyes and took a closer look at the sacred tree.


    Glowing bark that seemed to be carved from bronze. Fluffy white leaves with a bit of gold tinged around the edges. Warm and holy mana...


    ...Uh.


    "...Hey, Gustav."


    "Yes, Lord Rudeus?"


    "Just Rudeus is fine. But, um..." I tilted my head, mentallyparing the tree I made for Mom, the forest of trees I had in Arcadia, and the sacred tree in front of me. "...Is the sacred tree that special?"


    "Special?!" Gustav threw his hands out and said, "The Sacred Tree is the guardian of the world! Thest resort against the wicked scheming god that destroyed and usurped the creator god himself!"


    "Riiight. Then is it a bad time to say that I''ve made about a hundred more trees like this back in the Demon Realm?"


    "...WHAT?!"