第６５３堀：壊れた宝玉の行方 (Part1)
### Chapter 653: The Whereabouts of the Broken Jewel
**Side: Yuki**
Good grief.
There really isn't a single decent one among those who call themselves gods.
*“You’ve done well to bring me back. I shall praise you, Enol.”*
“I don’t feel the slightest bit happy being praised by you!”
This is bad. This is really bad.
At first, I thought it would be convenient to have an AI for automatic core control, but no. That was a massive miscalculation.
The intelligence part—the thought process of that useless goddess—is just too flawed.
If anything, she’s the type to be a hindrance.
Moreover, she’s the kind of person who forcibly twists results to fit her own narrative.
That’s why she never reflects on her actions and just keeps barreling down her own path.
She is incredibly troublesome.
And so, I have decided that the Core AI Control Project is permanently canceled.
This is exactly how rebellions start.
Honestly, I don’t know how Sota-san and Enol-san managed to travel with her for so long.
If it were me, I’m confident I would have shoved her into some dark corner of the rear guard.
As I was thinking this, a figure suddenly appeared before me...
“U-um, Yuki?”
“Hm? Oh, Kagura. Rulua, was there any problem with her body?”
Standing before me was Kagura, who had changed out of her shrine maiden robes.
For the record, about thirty minutes had passed since that commotion.
It seems that while Kagura and that useless, good-for-nothing goddess Hairen were bickering, Rulua had promptly begun a medical examination.
She had finally finished and returned. Rulua was standing right behind her.
“Yes. There were no particular issues with Kagura-san’s physical condition. As of now, there are no abnormalities in her magical power or her mental state.”
“I see. Kagura, if you feel anything strange, tell me immediately. Also, you are forbidden from acting alone. You seem to have a constitution that makes it easy for troublesome things like gods to manipulate your body.”
“Oh, um, I’m sorry. I understand.”
“Yeah, sorry. It’s not that it’s your fault, Kagura. Shrine maidens are naturally chosen for having that kind of constitution. I suppose you should say your talent as a shrine maiden was excellent. But personally, I cannot tolerate a friend—let alone a stranger, or even an acquaintance—lending their body to someone else. You never know what kind of trouble that might cause.”
If she were a shrine maiden from another organization doing as she pleased, that would be one thing, but Kagura is our subordinate.
I don’t want her being used and discarded on a whim.
Besides, I had already formed a hypothesis regarding the possibility of this incident.
Well, I’ll talk about that later. First, securing Kagura’s safety is the top priority.
“Vilia, Dressa, Hiiro, Amanda, Mikos, Solo.”
“““Yes!!”””
They rushed over the moment I called them.
Perhaps because of what happened, Vilia and her other friends had been watching Kagura nearby, looking worried.
It’s a natural reaction for friends.
Yes, and that is exactly why they are useful.
“I’m leaving Kagura’s personal protection to you all. I’ll have the Goblin squad watching from the shadows, but I’m entrusting the closest protection to you, her friends.”
“Leave it to us.”
“Yes. I will protect Kagura-san.”
“...Leave it to me. I will protect big sister Kagura.”
“Please leave it to us. Kagura is our friend.”
“Leave it to Mikos-chan and the others!! Yes!”
“Yes!! We will definitely protect our senior!!”
“Everyone... thank you.”
Every single one of them was brimming with motivation.
Well, they haven’t had much of a chance to shine lately.
Kagura’s eyes welled up at their words.
Nice. It seems friendship actually exists.
Unlike a certain goddess and a corpse-woman who were just busy trying to dump a "punishment game" on each other.
“Alright, first order: take Kagura to the bath. She threw up, so get her cleaned up.”
“Eh!? Do I smell? I already changed my clothes.”
“Ah, you do smell a little.”
“Yes. As Onii-sama said, it might be best to go to the bath once.”
“...Washing it off is best.”
“That’s true. We broke a cold sweat too, so let’s get refreshed.”
“Yeah. When Kagura’s hair turned red, I was so surprised I was sweating buckets.”
“Yes. I was surprised too.”
Led by Kagura, they all started sniffing themselves and each other.
They’re girls, so I’m sure they’re self-conscious about it.
But was the smell of vomit really that strong? I thought that, and started to lean in toward Kagura to check the scent, but...
*Swoosh!!*
They all backed away in unison.
“I, I get it! So, don’t come any closer!!”
“Yuki. You should be more considerate about things like that.”
“Onii-sama, that was a bit much...”
“...I think it’s natural for Onii to be curious, though.”
“I understand what Hiiro is saying, but she’s a girl, you know.”
“Ahaha, Yuki-sensei. I don’t think that’s okay for a girl.”
“It’s not okay, you know?”
Ugh, I feel a pang in my heart, as if I’m being scolded by high school girls for having no delicacy.
Well, from an outsider’s perspective, I’m just one guy approaching a group of high school girls, so it would look incredibly suspicious.
And on top of that, I was trying to sniff them. If this were Japan, I might have been reported on the spot.
“My apologies. Anyway, you haven’t dealt with the clothes yet, right? Go get cleaned up, including that.”
“Yeah. We’re going.”
With that, Kagura and her entourage began to move.
By the way, at the main headquarters, they were turning the dungeon into a defensive position to welcome Sota-san and the others.
So, Kagura and the others would use that gate to move to the dungeon in the mountains of the headquarters, and then return to Weed to change.
It’s a hassle, but it’s necessary for security management.
Well, the inspection is the only annoying part; the gate travel time is practically non-existent, so they should be back in Weed in less than ten minutes.
They can relax in the bath, wash off the sweat, and have a delicious meal... though maybe not, since they just ate.
Now that the people I didn't want listening are gone, let’s move forward with the conversation.
“Now that Kagura is gone, there’s something I want to confirm. Are you listening, you useless piece of junk?”
*“W-who are you calling junk!! I heard it from Sota! Junk doesn’t just mean a machine that doesn’t work! You’re making fun of me!!”*
“Of course I am. I’m calling you that because I am making fun of you. To think you’d actually use Kagura... I’m stunned. Good grief, it’s an insult to the title of goddess.”
*“Who’s a goddess!! I’m just a human! Everyone else just worships me on their own! I’m not relying on the power of gods like you, whoever you are, some high-ranking deity or whatever! Besides, that battle wasn’t even our fault!!”*
Hmm.
So her inner self is actually quite grounded.
Well, if she weren't, Sota-san and the others would have abandoned her by now.
“That’s the point. How much do you know about our situation?”
*“Eh? Sota and Kagura-chan and the others teamed up to come and stop the Mad King, right?”*
“Are you forgetting about our existence?”
*“Huh? Come to think of it, why are you working with a Dungeon Master? Where did this guy come from?”*
As I thought, calling her a piece of junk is perfectly accurate.
Thinking that, I began to explain the circumstances up to this point, including Sota-san, Enol-san, Princess Carrie, and Princess Stasia in the conversation.
*“Haa. So Yuki-shonen is having a hard time too.”*
Hairen said this, having been carefully and thoroughly explained why I was here, and having accepted it quite readily.
...She is innocent, for better or worse. In other words, she’s an idiot.
Well, it’s convenient for me. Proving who is an enemy and who is an ally is an incredibly tedious task.
*“But, as expected of you, Carrie-chan. You managed to succeed in the summoning. It seems the summoning ritual I left behind was useful.”*
“Yes. Thanks to Hairen-sama, we overcame the difficulties and were able to reunite with Stasia-oneesama and Age-oneesama like this.”
*“Ah—but if we had been doing our jobs properly, Stasia-chan and Age-chan wouldn’t have been hurt, would they? I’m sorry about that.”*