Map Of The Mercator Continent

Konoha’s Skill, Fabrication, was an ability of false appearances. Put simply, nothing about her had actually changed. Her numerical stats merely appeared to have dropped dramatically; in reality, Konoha still possessed abilities befitting someone called the “Demon King.”

“Ukyahhh! The egg… I messed it up…”

“Good grief, missy. You can’t even crack an egg?”

“S-sowwy…”

“Hey!! Don’t cry, don’t cry! Can’t be helped! I’ve been a cook for thirty years, so I’ll turn you into a first-rate chef myself!! You’d better keep up!”

“Y-yes! I, Kushibiki Konoha, will do my very best, Master!”

“Good! That’s the spirit!”

Her master nodded happily. Watching Konoha and the cook from the shadows were her three friends: Karen, Kisaki, and Chidori.

“She, um… looks like she’s having fun.”

“Y-yeah. Guess there wasn’t anything for us to worry about.”

“Still, don’t you think that cook is standing a bit too close to Konoha-chan? I’m getting a little jealous.”

“Chidori, that man has a wife and children.”

“Karen’s being unusually sensible…”

Nine days had passed since then. Konoha had started working in the kingdom’s kitchen as a cook. Of course, since her Cook Class was completely fabricated, Konoha possessed no actual cooking ability whatsoever. Even so, she seemed to be working hard with an attitude that practically screamed, At least nobody can beat my smile!

Incidentally, for those of you thinking that she should at least know how to crack eggs because she made breakfast every morning: Konoha’s breakfasts generally contained bits of eggshell. She was surprisingly clumsy in that regard.

Now then, many things had changed over those nine days. First was the matter of the Hero, Funagata Koya. He was currently training under Commander Legato to improve his abilities as the Hero. His behavior, however, had not improved in the slightest. In fact, the moment he gained authority over his classmates as the Hero, it became even worse.

“Hey, useless combat Class! You’re in my way, move!”

“Gah! I-it hurts… stop…”

“Huh? Can’t hear you! Take this!”

And so, aside from the noncombatants who stayed behind, such as Konoha and Sasa-chan-sensei, the others had started suffering direct harm from him. The worst off were the boys who had ended up with awkwardly intermediate combat Classes. People like Shirataka Gatari and Tendo Reiji, who had straightforward combat Classes such as Spearman and Martial Artist, could resist the Hero to some extent. But those with Classes like Summoner or Mage, who needed time to learn techniques and magic, ended up becoming convenient punching bags for him.

Konoha knew nothing about this because she spent her time in the kitchen. Had she known, given her personality, she probably would have used the Demon King’s power to stop him.

The classmates had also gained a certain amount of knowledge about this other world.

The continent they were currently on was called the 【Mercator Continent】, the most technologically and culturally advanced continent in the world. Apparently, it had already begun colonizing other continents as well. Now then, let us introduce the major countries.

“Whoa, it’s huge! This is way bigger than the library near my house!”

“K-Kushibiki-san! Don’t get so excited!”

As a noncombatant, Konoha was occasionally given free time. Ordinarily, even if someone’s primary Class was noncombat-related, they would still participate in combat training if their Secondary Class was useful in battle. In Konoha’s case, however, even her Secondary Class was noncombat-related, making her a genuine noncombatant.

And so, Konoha used that free time to visit the Royal Library with Mogami Sasano-sensei, whose Class and Secondary Class were both noncombat-oriented as well. Incidentally, Sasano’s status looked like this.

“So this is a map of the world.”

“Come on, let’s look! The 《Language》 Skill is so convenient! I can read every book here!”

First, in the western part of the continent lay the 【Sacred Kingdom of Parsia】, where Konoha and the others were currently staying. It was what one might call a thousand-year kingdom and had flourished as the birthplace of numerous cultures. Its capital was Paris Palace, the City of Flowers, which served as the headquarters of the 【Church of the Full Moon: Fortuna Sect】 and as a base for many Guilds. The magnificence of Barijis Palace, home of the Parsian royal family, could only be described as splendid beyond measure.

In terms of territory, its scale was reminiscent of the Roman Empire. In recent years, however, the rise of the empire and federation in the east and the united kingdom in the north had redirected its expansion toward the southern continent. Apparently, most of the southern continent’s coastline had already become kingdom colonies. It was the hegemonic state of the continent, boasting overwhelming military strength.

“So colonies still exist in this era… I wonder if there’s anything we can do about that.”

“I’m afraid that’s simply the course history has taken here. As someone who knows the history of imperialism in our own world, it does make me uncomfortable.”

“It’s not something we can fix with our power anyway… Ah, but I want to meet demihumans! They have animal ears and stuff, right? Like rabbits and cats.”

“Apparently demihumans are heavily oppressed as well. Look, it’s on the next page.”

Several small states were scattered east of the kingdom, but among them was one country that had managed to secure a relatively large sphere of influence. That was the 【Lilvitze Empire】. It was a nation founded two hundred years ago by a collection of mercenary companies and a knightly order known as the 【Akane Knights】. Today, under Emperor Langer III, renowned as a wise ruler, it was apparently expanding its colonial holdings on other continents.

Its largest city was the imperial capital, Berndt, which had developed as a base for combat-oriented Guilds. The Imperial Guard was also stationed there, so public safety was said to be quite good. However, the empire was known for treating demihumans extremely poorly.

“Do they eat the rabbits?”

“I-I think ‘treated poorly’ means as laborers, Kushibiki-san. Probably.”

“If it’s raccoon, I’d kind of like to try it… raccoon stew, drool.”

“Kushibiki-san!?”

Beyond the small states farther east lay the 【Slovia Federation】. Most of its territory was covered in permafrost and its soil was poor, so it constantly invaded neighboring lands and continents in search of fertile territory. It devoted considerable effort to exterminating demons, and apparently had a Hero of its own as well. Their abilities remained unknown.

South of the Slovia Federation was the 【Eastern Commonwealth】, the birthplace of philosophy and still home to many great scholars. Its merchant and craft associations held considerable political power. A similar place also existed within the Sacred Kingdom of Parsia: the 【Neutral City of Lichten】. Guilds for merchants and craftsmen were concentrated there, and powerful mercenary companies protected the city, so damage from demon invasions was said to be virtually nonexistent.

Meanwhile, north of the Sacred Kingdom of Parsia lay a large island. The nation built around that island was the 【United Kingdom of Brutein】, a maritime state possessing more colonies than any other country in the world.

Although they were not introduced individually, demon-controlled territory on the Mercator Continent was substantial. Demons had gathered at five major locations, establishing spheres of influence that were still expanding. All of it was supposedly being done in preparation to welcome the resurrected Demon King.

(What would happen if they found out someone like me was the Demon King…? Ugh, scary. I absolutely can’t let anyone find out.)

“Well, I think that covers most of it. Ignoring the fighting, another world does seem somewhat exciting. Though the level of civilization leaves something to be desired… Ah! Of course I still want to get everyone back to Japan! I really do!”

“I know~. I want to go home too. But I also want to see famous places in another world and try the local specialties. All right! Sasa-chan-sensei! Let’s go traveling!”

“Ab-so-lute-ly not! Defeating the Demon King comes first right now.”

“Boo! Boo! Sasa-chan-sensei, you’re so strict!”

She complained like that, but inside, Konoha was anything but calm.

(Sorry, Sensei. I’m the Demon King. But there’s no way I can tell anyone something like that. Karen-chan, Kisaki-chan, and Chidori-chan would all be confused. But if I just endure this, there won’t be any problem… I have to keep hiding it. No matter what.)

Konoha pasted a smile onto her face and turned back to Sasano. Sasano felt a brief sense of discomfort at that unnatural smile, but quickly convinced herself that she was imagining things. Konoha was always cheerful, so based on everything she had seen until now, Sasano assumed she simply was not the type to bottle things up.

At that moment, Sasano spotted someone.

“Huh? Isn’t that Mamuro-san over there?”

“Huh? Hiiragi-chan? Where, where? Ah, there she is!”

Mamuro Hiiragi. The blond, lone-wolf delinquent girl. She had attended the same elementary school as Konoha. They had hardly spoken, though. More accurately, Konoha had tried approaching her many times only to be brushed off. Even so, Konoha wanted to use this opportunity to finally become proper friends with Hiiragi.

“Hiiragi-chaaan! Heeey!”

“K-Kushibiki-san, this is a library! Keep your voice down!”

She had not actually shouted that loudly. Still, Mamuro Hiiragi seemed to notice them. Normally, she would have simply looked away, but because Sasano was there this time, Hiiragi came over.

“…What?”

“Mamuro-san, what happened to training?”

“…Skipped it. I don’t wanna follow that gorilla’s orders.”

“Gorilla? You mean Funagata-kun? Does he really look that much like a gorilla?”

“Ah… Kushibiki Konoha.”

Hiiragi stared fixedly at Konoha. Even Konoha felt embarrassed when someone stared at her from so close for that long.

(Hiiragi-chan really is cute. Though her hair wasn’t blond back then.)

“U-um, what is it?”

“Nothing. I’m leaving.”

Once again, she turned away. But when she saw Konoha looking disappointed, Hiiragi turned back as though remembering something and approached her again.

H-huh? Konoha panicked as Hiiragi leaned close and whispered into her ear.

“You shouldn’t keep everything bottled up by yourself. That fake smile of yours… it’s painful to look at.”

“What!?”

“…See you.”

With that, Hiiragi took her book and left the library.

Konoha, left behind, felt anything but calm.

(Huh? Huh? Did she figure it out? No, there wasn’t anyone around when I opened my status screen… Was she just worried about me? More importantly, ugh, am I really that easy to read?)

Sasano watched the exchange with a blank expression.