Volume 3 - CH 24

Act 3-24: Saving Regena

「Regena got arrested?」

Back in Nargol, in Kuroki’s mansion, it was only in the morning that Kuroki finally received a report about Regena’s arrest. Her attendant, who had gone to Velos too, reported that she had seen Regena being taken away in a carriage. Thus, she returned to Nargol in a hurry and gathered the rest of the clan. They all then headed to Kuroki’s quarters to plead for him to save Regena.

It was also then that Kuroki found out other pieces of dire information. It turns out that Regena’s mother was a former noble of Velos Kingdom and, what was worse was the fact that she was the Velos’ King’s former fiancee, the one who had eloped with Algore’s previous king.

Her clan also told him that Regena bore a great resemblance to her mother. Bringing her to Velos might have just caused her more harm than good. Moreover, it seemed like Regena’s childhood friend, Omiros, had been there as well. It was literally as if he was asking them to arrest Regena.

Kuroki cursed his own carelessness. If only he knew about this earlier, things wouldn’t have turned as complicated as now. One of the reasons why he had never inquired about her past was because he didn’t want any trouble.

His second reason was because he had found Regena and her clan in the Goblins’ nest and had found out at the time that they were sent there by the new king of Algore.  Regena and her entire clan was almost wiped out by goblins because of that and only a few people, including Regena, had survived the ordeal. Kuroki felt that Regena hated the people who drove her and her clan out of Algore and was afraid that she would want revenge.

Naturally, Kuroki would never support that. That’s why he had never asked nor investigated her circumstances.

That was his blunder.

「Please, please save Milady…」

""

An elderly woman bowed to Kuroki, asking him to save Regena. The elderly woman was Regena’s wet nurse and was the one who went to Velos with her. However, she hadn’t infiltrated the Royal Palace with them, rather she had sayed in the city and waited for them to return.

「Milady might be executed once they arrive in Algore… Or worse… Please Master, please save Milady.」

Regena’s wet nurse pleaded with tears in her eyes. The other clan members followed suit and wailed with her.

「Don’t worry, at least her safety is guaranteed.」

Regena’s clan members were surprised by Kuroki’s remark.

「How can you be so sure…」

「The one who caught her is the Hero’s comrade after all… That’s why she should be alright. At the very least, Shirone will protect Regena. Anyone who tries to hurt her has to face Shirone first. So you can rest assured about her safety for the time being.」

The Shirone in Kuroki’s memories was an ally of justice; a human who always sided with the weak. Thus, Kuroki believed that Regena would be protected by Shirone.

「Kuroki, you speak as if you know that woman very well…」

Kuna, who stood by his side, spoke while pouting. Her cheeks swelled up as she looked away from him.

「Is something the matter, Kuna?」

「It’s nothing, Kuroki! HUMPH!」

""

Kuna looked away again after replying to Kuroki and stomped out of the room. Kuroki tilted his head, bewildered. He didn’t understand what was happening to her.

「Will she really be alright?」

Regena’s wet nurse asked Kuroki again.

「Of course. I’ll also be the one going there to save her. That’s why rest assured and wait for my return.」

「Y-Yes!」

Regena’s clan members bowed to Kuroki and left the room, leaving him by himself.

「Well then, what should I do now… According to Kuna, we should just entrust Regena to Omiros but…」

Kuna had once mentioned to Kuroki that they should return Regena to Algore. She had told him that Algore’s Prince, Omiros, would be able to take care of her better than them as he held affection towards her.

Omiros had yet to return to Algore when they had banished Regena, thus he was unable to do anything to save her. He was against the punishment they had enforced upon her and had thus gone to the Goblins’ Nest many times to look for her.

If that really was the case, returning Regena to Algore was a better choice indeed. In the first place, he wanted Regena to return to the human realm too. However, Kuroki first had to make sure that Omiros was truly a person he could trust.

「The problem is Goz. He is masquerading as Parsish, Algore’s brave warrior. Whatever it is, I don’t think he has any good intentions behind this deception… Should I do something to eliminate him? But, my options are limited since Shirone and the others are there… What should I do now…?」

Kuroki was truly at his wit’s end right now. It was a state he never showed to anyone.

He might have been able to pull some strings if only Velos Kingdom and Goz were involved. But, now even Shirone and her companions were involved, which was bound to make things messy.

Shirone would definitely keep watch and wait for Kuroki to come. Kuroki knew that he couldn’t make his move carelessly. He felt that Shirone might now hate him since he was the one who hurt her boyfriend Reiji.

Kuroki had always been hostile to Reiji, but he knew better than anyone that hurting him would make him the girls’ enemy. He understood deep down that they would make him suffer with their hatred. Unfortunately for him, Shirone was one of those girls.

Kuroki had once imagined Shirone looking at him with a gaze filled with hatred. He had felt awful and uncomfortable.

Thus, when he came to this world and had gotten the opportunity to fight Reiji, he had done so while hiding his face with a helmet. It was the only way he could do whatever he wanted to the man he hated most while diverting the women’s hatred to someone else—the Dark Knight.

Yet, his identity had still gotten revealed.

Thus, he felt that they were better off never meeting again rather than having to see Shirone looking at him with hatred.

「I’m such a miserable coward…  hiding my identity in order to avoid their hatred while picking a fight. I really am such a miserable coward. Maybe this is the reason why Shirone chose Reiji. Maybe it would’ve been better if Regena was saved by Reiji.」

Kuroki knew that Reiji would have definitely come in a flash to save Regena, unafraid of the hate that might come to him.

Regena was only a normal girl who was sent along with her clan to die in the Goblins’ Nest, she had seen many of her clan members die for her along the way. It was such a cruel unimaginable fate that Kuroki, who had lived in peaceful Japan, could never imagine.

Yet, he was the one who ended up saving her.

「Seeing that I’ve already saved her life, I should at least be responsible for her happiness. I guess I have to pull some strings even if my methods are less efficient than Reiji’s…」

Kuroki looked at Algore’s direction as he muttered.