Battle War; Magic, Sword and Dragon

True Enemies

After hearing the question that shocked everyone, Kuro lowered his head in front of Clara. He then smiled gently.

"Clara, do you understand what you just said?"

Clara pointed her lips as if she was thinking what Kuro meant.

Meanwhile, although in everyone's eyes Kuro is a Lady Killer type man, yet surprisingly enough he is able to attract the attention of a little girl.

But if remembered again, Kuro is quite familiar with small children. Even young children are dominated by girls.

(For some reason, I have a bad feeling.)

And I don't know why Laila often feels it's the end of this. He just hopes Kuro doesn't stir up anything weird.

"...certain. Getting married means I'll wear a wedding dress at church with my sister."

"Yup, I don't think that's so wrong. But if you already understand about it, you must also understand before wearing a wedding dress, the two people must love each other. Do you have that feeling?"

"...."

Clara fell silent and glanced at Lia like asking for help.

But Lia seemed to care less and like letting Clara solve her own problems.

"..you don't have the love I mean, so for now we can't get married."

"Can't?"

"Yup. Even if you don't understand now, one day you'll understand what I mean. And you must have known that big sister was going to get married, but she was going to marry Laila. It is he I love."

Clara then glanced at Laila. And for some reason other than an innocent gaze, he also showed an aura gaze full of competition.

(It's very bad. Rivals increased and this time my own sister.).

This is nothing but a disaster. A great and unexpected disaster. Laila wanted to cry, but she refrained from looking pitiful in front of her sister and all her rivals.

Clara is currently 8 years old. He was a kid. Although the intelligence is above average, but love is an experience that is not easy to understand even though using a formula. That's why even though the moment in Clara's heart arises a sense of love or like, but she still can't express what she feels.

As a result of that, the word closest to love, 'marriage' is something that arises from ignorance of his feelings.

"Oh. true too. Brother and sister Laila love each other. It's only natural that you're getting married. I'm glad to know that."

"Yup."

Laila explained. If he doesn't do it, he feels it will lead to something unwanted.

Laila lowered her head beside Kuro and looked at the innocent face of her sister.

"Clara, are you coming to my wedding?"

"Of course I'll come. How could I have missed your marriage."

Clara smiled sincerely. He looks like a blinding little angel.

"Clara, that's enough to annoy your sister-to-be. Can you come back."

Lia called out because she felt she had enough and did not want to cloud the increasingly heavy atmosphere by the girl in love.

"Good, Mama."

Clara came back and sat down next to Lia.

"Laila, Kuro sit down. You don't forget that we have an important guest right now."

Is correct. They had almost forgotten the existence of the princess, Riana.

Laila then sat on an empty bench. Laila and Scarlet sat side by side. Due to the comparison of the number of men and women who were too far away, for some reason the atmosphere became strange.

"I'm sorry for being disrespectful, Riana's daughter. Please understand our family's habits."

"I hope not to be too formal, Auntie. I've known you since childhood. Can't you just treat me like a stranger?"

But Lia showed no sign she would take away the formal attitude. The reason

"Princess Riana may know our family, but you're a guest at the moment. You came as an imperial princess instead of coming as a friend. If I omit the manners, I will be considered disrespectful to the members of the empire."

Riana immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Lia is known to like to do as she pleases, but is also known to act at the right time. In other words, he can distinguish when playing games and it's time to be serious.

Riana sighed.

(I should have done this from the beginning.)

"Auntie, I'm coming to play."

After hearing that, Lia smiled slightly. A smile is like a child getting a new toy.

"You finally said it, Riana. You know I hate being formal. Are you happy to torture me?"

"Of course not, Auntie. But right now I have a few things to say to Kuro and Laila. You could say I was a guest and at the same time came to play. Besides, I also want to meet Clara."

Realizing her name was called, Clara smiled with complete innocence.

"..then it seems like this is not the time to chat. Then I'll excuse you first. Clara, I'm let's go shopping."

Without saying much, Scarlet stood up and at the same time, Lia and Clara prepared to leave the living room.

"Everyone, we'll excuse us."

Scarlet looked down in exchange for a farewell.

Not long after, in the living room only left Kuro and the girls.

".....alright, it seems like Lia and Scarlet are giving us time to talk, but before that, .....what is your purpose here and why are you bringing this woman?"

For some reason, they had almost forgotten about Otome. Could it be that his presence is that thin?

💠💠💠

Although there was a lot to talk about, the first thing they explained was the initial reason why they had all met Kuro and Laila.

Starting from an invitation, they asked Electra about the whereabouts of the two. Of course, as usual, Electra did not immediately answer and only told to go to the capital using teleportation magic.

When they arrived at the capital, they were shocked because Riana herself was welcoming them. Then after asking a few questions, they finally confirmed that Kuro and Laila were in the capital with the aim of finding Lic (Izriva).

"At the end of the day, this is just a joke from my grandmother... I don't want to involve anyone else in our problems, but he's always throwing a tantrum."

A devious woman will still be a devious woman. Their impact on Electra will never change. But Kuro is curious why Electra sent them. Electra must have known Kuro and Laila went to the capital instead of playing.

(I don't know what he's thinking.)

Laila held Kuro's hand and smiled.

"Come on, don't get mad at Kuro. We did make that decision, but that doesn't mean they're going to get involved. They just came to the party and came back, didn't they?"

Laila looked at Charlmilia, Alva and Alvi, but there was no sign of them answering the question.

"It's a good opportunity to help Kuro, isn't it Alvi?" Alva.

Alvi just nodded.

"When I decided to help. So don't try to refuse our help. Especially after what happened to Kuro, where might I just keep quiet."

Charmilia clearly showed her desire to get involved. He was already involved.

"I'm so grateful that you saved Kuro, but we still don't think we can get anyone involved in this. So I'm asking you not to try to help us. Go home after your business is done hus hus.."

Despite the expulsion, they knew there was no ill will from Laila.

"Laila, I understand you don't want to involve your friends because you don't want them to get hurt, but I hope you rethink after seeing this."

Riana took something from her pocket. It was some kind of crystal. From the crystal came the image of the masked person who had fought Kuro.

Because it's a magic object, Riana must be careful not to eliminate the effects of magic in the crystal. The ability to control the good is necessary, and he's not very talented at it. But he managed to do it.

"This is the figure of our current enemy, the homunculus. No, I guess if it's more suitable to be called their creation."

"The homunculus?"

"Oh yes ..I haven't told you about the enemy I fought. The one I fought was not a human, but a homunculus. They really created a troublesome thing."

Laila's eyes widened after hearing that from Kuro's mouth.

"As Kuro put it, the homunculus seems to be the enemy army this time around. What I'm about to tell you is a state secret, so I want everyone to promise not to leak it. But I'm sure Kuro already knows, so I guess this rule applies to you guys."

Everybody's listening.

"Homunculus was first created by an alchemist called Q. His name and identity were never known, but other than being known as a genius, he was also known as the right-hand man of the Demon King."

Hmm...why did that person's name appear again? Is this a coincidence?

"Laila, don't daydream."

"L-yeah, I'm just being too serious."

Riana continued.

"Then as you can guess, Q created a homunculus to fight in Light War and at that time the number of casualties was not small."

"Wait, I just heard that the homunculus was in a war that happened 400 years ago?"

What Charlmilia said was not wrong. Alva and Alvi even showed their confusion.

In the history books, it is widely mentioned that the Demon King has a terrible army. Hell Beast, Necrodra, Demon (Devil), evil witch and many more like monsters. It was with such great power that the Demon King almost destroyed the world.

"Never believe a history book!"

"That word is quite surprising coming from your mouth, Laila."

"Ge.-What do you mean say that? Do you want me to punish?"

"Princess Riana, can you continue before the couple further sows their affection?"

"Kuro, did you hear that? It was the word of the envious."

Charlmilia immediately felt pierced.

"Fufu.but as an adult, I have to understand him. Having you is a lot of trials.."

"..."

Kuro would not comment.

But he never saw Laila provoke him first. So maybe this is a challenge for all of them.

And of course they all accepted the challenge.

Sparks emerged from the four of them. They vigorously fought over one man. Meanwhile, Riana leisurely sipped tea in the middle of that hostile atmosphere.

Women are scary.

"...Ehem. back to the topic. As Laila said, the history books that are widely circulated today have largely been changed because the actual history is very dangerous if it is known to be true. Such as the existence of a homunculus."

"But isn't a homunculus like an artificial man or a clone right? I still don't really understand what the danger of that is? What else am I fighting is even easy to beat."

Charlmilia still clearly remembered the ability of the homunculus that attacked Kuro in the city of Ruigars. Perhaps they had abilities like magicians of the sacred element, yet they were slow and easy to attack. In other words they were slower than normal magicians.

"They're weak, but it's because the opponent is you."

"What do you mean?" ask Alva.

"What Kuro said is true. They were weak because the opponent was Charlmilia. The advantage of homunculus when compared to clones or other artificial humans is that they can be created depending on who they will fight."

Charlmilia immediately understood the meaning of that explanation.

"so apparently. They deserve to be weak. They were not created to fight me. But they must know Kuro isn't weak, I'm sure it's useless to make a homunculus against Kuro."

Kuro has always shown incredible strength. In the battle at Dragonia, Charlmilia remembered that Kuro used high-level attacks and even magic. If anyone tried to guess how much power Kuro had, perhaps it was one of the impossible things in the world.

In other words, how often the enemy made a homunculus to match Kuro's abilities, their actions would be useless.

At least that was what Charlmilia thought, but no one showed a calm expression. Understandably enough, despite his overwhelming strength, Kuro almost died.

"The problem isn't that, Charlia. The real problem is if the enemy doesn't just create a homunculus, it's not against me. Besides, there are 'it' people in their group... Laila, to be honest this matter is getting complicated."

"Just calm down, Kuro. I'm sure we can get through all the obstacles with the power of our love."

The two stared at each other and created a world for both of them.

"Laila.."

"Me too..."

Unfortunately, Kuro and Laila ignored Riana's words. They seemed to close the room that was filled with pink aura.

"...I think it's useless to bother them, but Riana's daughter, if what Kuro said is true, doesn't that mean this country is in great danger?"

"Alva, that's why I'm talking about this with Kuro, after all he's the key to all this stuff."

"How come? Could it be because Kuro has a relationship with the Demon King?"

"...it's not entirely true, but it's not entirely false. His relationship with the Demon King had a huge influence, but right now the most important thing was not that, but Kuro who was a former Shadow Knight and Laila's lover."

"I understand that because we have the same opinion. Kuro is Kuro. But.-"

Riana then took out another crystal and activated it. This time a picture of a young man appeared.

The young man looked ordinary. Not too handsome or have something impressive that makes people interested in him. But the young man had black hair and black eyes that reminded them of Kuro.

"What's wrong with him?"

"This young man is the mastermind of all these events."

Charmilia and the others widened her eyes.

"Hm? Wait, Riana, do you know who's behind all this?"

Laila was finally able to leave her world. Kuro also returned to focus on the conversation.

"When Izriva was kidnapped, we were already investigating anyone who had any intention of doing so. This young man was one of the most suspected, and our suspicions turned out to be true. Not only that, we also found out that this young man was involved in other crimes such as the incident involving White Sun one year ago."

Once again they were shocked, but this time Kuro also reacted like a shock. This is something rare for Kuro.

"But this young man, after all, looks very ordinary." Alvi said after taking a closer look. "Hey, is he really the culprit of all this?"

Riana actually glanced towards Kuro with a thin look.

"...If he was, I'm pretty sure he could do all this."

"...Uh?"

Kuro's reply made everyone even more surprised.

"After all, he's my best student."

💠💠💠💠

Meanwhile, at the restaurant located in the elite region, Scarlet, Lia and Clara were enjoying their lunch at a leisurely pace. There were no other customers besides them because they had already booked the restaurant just for lunch.

Of course it does not cost a little, but for their families, renting a luxury restaurant for only a few hours is not a big problem.

They made several layers of protective magic at once soundproof making them free to speak anything even though it was a secret thing.

They are talking about that.

"Clara ..do not play with your food and quickly spend it. I told you not to choose food, right?"

"..Uuu's.."

With a displeased face, Clara ended up swallowing a vegetable she did not like.

After making sure Clara's plate was clean, Lia smiled happily. He then focused on Scarlet who was sitting opposite to him.

"Mom looks happy today. Could this have something to do with the future son-in-law (Kuro)?"

Lia covered her face with a fan to hide her smile.

"Looks like I was right. But is that the reason?"

"Come, but what do you think after seeing 'he' in person as a King?"

Of course Scarlet does not say Kuro is a king (King), but King is the name of the holder of the white sword. The white sword is also referred to as the Sword of King and the Sword of Calamity

Meanwhile, Queen is a name for the girl who became King's lover.

In this age it is not very well known and only a romantic fairy tale, but for predecessors such as Scarlet, King and Queen have more meaning than that.

"He's attractive. As mother said, a King has an aura that makes everyone follow him. I can feel it from Kuro, but as far as I've heard, wasn't the previous King any better than him?"

"....i don't know which is greater, but a man nicknamed King is one who has no limits. That's what makes them special. But I don't think this is our problem right now. Looks like we should talk about this with Leon."

"Mother, how much 'seal' damage did you make?"

"You realize it, worse than you think.... Maybe soon we'll meet the real 'he."

💠💠💠

"Your disciples?"

"really. Laila, you know I have some students. Yui and Hana were just one of them. both learned battle techniques from me, but I only showed and theorized how they did it. Next it depends on their own efforts how to develop it."

Kuro does that because each person or witch has her own way of fighting and using their powers.if Kuro gets too involved, she fears hindering them.

"But Itsuki is very different. He learned all my techniques and was able to imitate them perfectly. You could say he's my twin."

"Everything?"

"Yes. Everything except for a few things like my eyes, he can do everything I do. That's why if he wants to destroy this country, then he can do it."

All dumbfounded. It was not because they were aware of how powerful their enemy was, but were aware of what Kuro could do.

Riana sighed as if she had expected this.

"Kuro has the power to destroy this country if he wants, which is why no one wants to deal with him. But it also happens the opposite. If he can destroy it, then he can protect it too." Added Riana.

With the strength of hundreds of dragons he conquered coupled with the strongest Dragon King, Kuro is like having a personal army balanced with a country. Naturally coupled with unlimited money and connections from several countries that he could ask for help.

Demon King or not, Kuro is still a dangerous existence.

"I don't really care right now, all I want is a normal life."

But that was when Laila showed a thin and cold look to Kuro.

"...Kuro, don't tell me why you didn't say anything about our relationship is..-"

As a father, Leon would definitely give you a word or two. Moreover, his prospective son-in-law was one of the most dangerous people. For that reason, rejecting Kuro was an easy matter.

So far, Leon has been silent.

"Maybe it's like that..."

Laila then sighed and put her hand on her forehead. His head was dizzy and surprised at knowing such a shocking fact.

"Kuro is amazingly capable of making the strongest Paladin bend its knees."

"Oey..Alva, you make me sound like a monster."

"""""We don't want to hear that from you..."""""

"...huh?"

Kuro did not expect the five would be compact.

"Ehem.well, the point is that Itsuki is able to do everything I do. Not only that, he also has the ability to think like me. That's what makes it dangerous."

Kuro had to change the topic immediately.

"Itsuki's codename is "Black Shadow. The name was taken because he was able to imitate everything that other people did." Riana.

Everyone went back to silence. Though ordinary, Itsuki is more terrifying than it seems.

Just like his teacher, Kuro.

Alva raised her hand.

"I want to ask, could it be his special ability? If so, wouldn't that be almost the same ability as the Immortal Witch?"

Imitating the magic of others. That's Alice's magic or the Immortal Witch. Of course the information is actually secret, but Alva and Alvi have a connection so know it. In addition, the battle in Dragonia became the main topic until now, no wonder if the enemy's abilities could be known.

Despite that possibility, Kuro shook his head.

"No, Itsuki's ability is Steal. The ability that makes him know the logic of each technique and imitate it. With that incredible ability, then he was chosen to be one of the members of the Shadow Knight."

"So when Kuro says he can do all the things you can do it means he can do it. But if it's like that, why is he now the mastermind of all this?"

"...that's what we don't know. According to the data, a year and a half ago he was on a mission, then after that he was declared missing. Of course since he was a Shadow Knight, then the certainty of his death was indispensable, yet he disappeared without a trace."

"In other words we don't know if he's planned everything, or he started this plan after it.. But the point of our problem is what we should do, right?"

"You're right, Charlia, but it's not me who decides, it's the princess."

Everyone glanced towards Riana.

"By telling me all this, what do you want, Princess Greed?"

From the beginning Kuro and Riana were on two different sides. Their purpose is also different. Kuro and Laila just want to get Lic back. Besides, they don't care about anything else. On the other hand, Riana wanted to stop Itsuki's plan at all costs.

Riana showed a thin smile.

"Kuro, Laila, I don't have to explain what I want from you. All I want to ask is what you're gonna do next."

In short 'Yes' or 'No'.

Notifying all information is a sign or arguably a request to cooperate. Kuro and the others had been conscious from the beginning and knew the meaning of Riana.

"I can't believe our princess grew up so much. You really surprised me."

"Well, there are some things that happen. You could say that."

Not only Kuro and Laila, Riana also said that a change also happened to him. This is called a process to maturity.

Everything makes sense now. Riana had prepared everything for today.

"...one thing I want to ask, is it any good that we both worked with you?"

"I think you can guess the profit you get if you cooperate with the government, Kuro. Should I call Akashi?"

Laila wanted to say something, but she held back. Charlmilia, Alva and Alvi are also the same.they are all aware at the moment all the decisions are in the hands of Riana and Kuro.

No one thought a simple conversation would end in a negotiation. But this is proof that the problems they face cannot be solved by Kuro alone.

"You may have great power and power. I admit you're someone I don't want to be an enemy to, but don't forget it's still under our control. The point is you can't use it without our permission. And I think you must have realized that we knew all the secrets, including everyone around you. For example, the waiter in your house."

Hearing that, Kuro immediately narrowed his eyes.

He understood what Riana meant. They knew about Boris and all those who worked under his orders were partly criminal members. Naturally under Kuro's orders, they had all stopped and were enjoying their lives now.

Unfortunately, the government won't care about it. They could use reason to catch them.

Of course Kuro doesn't really care about other people's business, but he has a bond and the reason why they've all been next to Kuro all this time.

"...do you want to threaten me?"

"No. Don't get me wrong, I'm just adding an excuse so you can make a decision easier, Kuro. I've decided to protect this country by risking it all. After all, this country is his dream."

Hearing that, the aura suddenly rose sharply from Kuro. Everyone could feel the powerful killing intent that Kuro had never let out before. This is proof that he is angry.

But all of that disappeared as if it were just an illusion.

"....don't tell me you've been....."

"Yes, that's also an additional reason why I'm asking for your help, King."

After that, Kuro fell silent like he was thinking of something complicated. This is something that Kuro rarely shows how big the problem is.

This was quite surprising with just a few words already making Kuro like that.

"Kuro, why do you insist on refusing cooperation with Riana? I know you have high self-esteem, but I don't understand why you're resisting. I'm at the moment anyway.."

"Don't get me wrong, Laila. All this time I may have acted alone, but that doesn't mean I never ask for help from others. It was precisely because of the help of others that I was able to get to what I am today."

Kuro can't take care of all his business and business alone. He allowed all the servants in his house to take care of everything, yet all the decisions were still in his hands. This is how Kuro can have money in amounts that cannot be counted.

With that money he searched for information by paying some informants. That information is not cheap.

"Only, I still don't understand why the government wants to work with us. With their strength, they should have been able to more quickly find the clues to find Lic."

All of them looked at Riana with gazes as if asking if what Kuro said was true, yet Riana still did not show her calm expression.

"But if the government does everything it can to recruit us, it means they are in trouble or in trouble. I right?"

"Dearly enough. Everything you thought was wrong. We had no trouble or problems finding the location of Izriva. The reason why we asked for cooperation is not to ask for cooperation to help us, what we asked for is your cooperation to not disturb us."

Kuro and Laila widened her eyes.