It’s been six days since I began training.

A lot of things have progressed quite well, we’ve built wells, huts, and farms, including defensive barriers… but still, there’s a lot to do before we’re done with everything.

Athena hasn’t been talking much either ever since I gave her the task, she would often give Nuzma’h directions through my head.

I was doing training along with goblins, it was rough but every moment and second was crucial to master.

At the end of the day, I would also do the cooking and go early to bed.

But there was Belle… I did not know what to say to her… I could try with “sorry” but… I don’t know…

And so the night came after he ate his dinner somewhere alone, Kazuma began retreating early to his bed in the newly constructed huts (the reason was their house was in the middle of an upgrade), and then he heard footsteps approaching. The door creaked open, and Isabelle stormed in, her face flushed, arms crossed, glaring at him.

“Kazuma,” she snapped, her voice sharp enough to make him sit up immediately. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

He blinked, confused. "Uh... what do you mean?"

“You’ve been avoiding me for days!” she exclaimed.

Then she took a step closer, narrowing her eyes, and continued, “Is this about the other night? Is that why you keep running off like a coward?”

Kazuma felt his face heat up, his heart racing. “W-Well, I mean… I wasn’t sure how to… you know, deal with what happened... I didn’t mean to... I thought maybe you needed space?”

She was scoffed by what he said as she now stands right in from of him.

“Space? You practically ran away! Every time I see you, you act like I’m a ticking time bomb or something!”

Kazuma rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Well… you were always flustered and mumbling…I wasn’t sure if you were mad or—”

Then she interrupted him…

“I’m not mad, Kazuma! Embarrassed? Yes. Flustered? Absolutely. But you avoiding me for days like some guilty little thief is driving me crazy!” Isabelle responded as she uncrossed her arms and sighed in frustration.

Then she continued saying, “Baka, if you’re going to act like that, at least be upfront about it. What happened... it wasn’t entirely your fault. I didn’t think what you meant by your sickness was a sexual habit”

Kazuma rattled in embarrassment, as he was completely caught off guard. “What can I… I just had it… ever since I was a child I had this subconscious urge… that’s why I told you we can’t sleep together because the body goes all like that…”

Then she replied… “It’s my fault… for not giving you a chance to say anything…”

Kazuma blinked as he asked, “So... you’re not mad?”

“Not anymore,” Isabelle said…

Although her cheeks still had a faint pink hue.

She said, “I just want us to talk. You hiding away like this makes it ten times worse. I’m your wife now, remember? I just feel like… I need some time before I get myself in an activity like that.”

He exhaled with a sigh of relief as he felt the weight of days of awkwardness finally lifting off his shoulders.

He said, “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to make things worse.”

There was a brief silence, but Isabelle’s gaze lingered on him a moment longer than usual. Then, her eyes flashed with mischief as she stood up slowly, leaning down close to his ear, her breath warm against his skin.

“And Kazuma,” she whispered.

Her tone was suddenly sultry, “Next time you decide to get a little... bold, maybe try it when I’m not asleep.”

(Huh!?...)

She leaned back, winking at him, her smile now playful.

Then she said, “Who knows? I might enjoy it more when I’m fully awake.”

…

Kazuma’s heart nearly stopped, his face burning red as his mind raced to process her words. He sat there, frozen, as Isabelle turned to leave, the door closing softly behind her.

As she walked out, her voice floated back through the door. “Goodnight, Kazuma~”

Kazuma collapsed back onto his bed, his thoughts a complete whirlwind.

He didn’t know whether to feel excited or terrified or perhaps both but one thing was certain nothing gonna be the same from now on.

…

[The Next Day]

( ( “Kazuma-sama… wa.. Kazuma-sama… ke… Kazuma-sama… wake up…” ) )

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Ugh…

I sat up rubbing my eyes as they opened

“What’s up with Athena so early in this morning? She has never been like this…”

(Athena what is it?)

( ( “Kazuma-sama… I’ve found the information about the war… there is going to be an attack on a Town named Emeraldorr in the next 17 days followed by the invasion of Livenia.” ) )

(Huh!? 17 days? There isn’t much time then?)

( ( “Yes, according to Gehrwin… Muza’rn is one of the current demon lords who is now the current head of Gudza’rn family.” ) )

(“Then what about Gudza’rn?”)

( ( “According to Gehrwin, Gudza’rn has been missing since 400 years…” ) )

(“So what about the war? “Will Muza’rn be partaking in it?”)

( ( “No, the one who’ll be leading in this war would be the General Helfernia, Troop Command Sigrum, Vice Command Nebrodd.” ) )

(“So the coward demon lord won’t show himself so early…”)

( ( “Yes Kazuma-sama” ) )

(“Also… what’s up with calling me Kazuma-sama? I heard you even once talking like that…? You sure ain’t sick or got bugs in that system?”)

( ( “No, I simply felt like it…” ) )

(“Alright Athena you do you, but if there’s any problem or request you want to ask… don’t hesitate.”)

( ( “Yes Kazuma-sama, Understood.” ) )

…

Jeez, man I sure jinxed myself when I said, “(It's not like I’m gonna be in some hell after my arrival.)”

First was a dungeon and now war…

“What am I gonna do…”

Sigh…

I should tell Belle about it…

Belle…

Thinking of what she said last night…

I should just behave normally… If I think a bit too much about it my nose would start bleeding.

…

As usual, Belle was overseeing all the farm work.

I could see her smiling softly, as she saw me approaching her.

There was still a glimmer of playfulness in her gaze after what she said last night.

Things were finally looking but I had to talk about the upcoming war first.

“Ara~ Kazuma-kun were you able to sleep last night,” Isabelle said with playfulness.

Scratching behind my head I said, “He… He… sure it was fun! Let’s talk about this in private.”

“Ara~?” She was confused by my remark but I wanted to tell her alone…

And so I continued.

After I finished explaining the dire situation, Isabelle's eyes widened, and she exclaimed, "17 days? There isn’t much time left!"

She paced for a moment, her face grim with concern.

“After seeing how wild Rhibert went when we first saw him use that drug... He gained an unmatched strength. If they manage to build an army of soldiers like that, no town or kingdom would stand a chance.”

Her fists clenched as she continued, "Gudza’rn was ruthless, a manipulative bastard. If Muza’rn is the one pulling the strings, I’m sure he’s going to be just as ruthless and deceptive as his father. But where the heck did Gudza’rn disappear to for all these years?"

So I nodded, sharing her frustration.

Isabelle stopped pacing and looked at me, her voice softened but still laced with determination. “We need to protect the people from them, but the problem is... how will we get there in time? We can’t risk sending our residents into war when you and I are enough. We even have Rogu... but there’s no way to get there fast enough."

She let out a sigh, clearly grappling with the weight of their situation.

Then Athena suggested something.

( ( “Kazuma-sama, it is possible to cover the distance between 10-12 days by using the undead horses you conjured from the “Cursed Chariot Boss” at floor 50.” In addition, you can use Kaiser for traveling at night to avoid any unnecessary threats.” ) )

“That’s right! We can use the undead horses to travel during the day, and Kaiser can help us cover the ground at night. We might just be able to make it in time.”

Belle’s expression also softened as she sighed in relief then said, "I guess that... could work but we need to move fast though. We can’t afford to waste a single day."

And so without wasting our time… we planned our next move and how we’ll be able to deal with it.

We could’ve just left right from there but now I had responsibilities and people to look after so we went back to where everyone was working to make an announcement.

The most important thing was whom should we leave the village in care. Nuzma’h could protect from external threats if there's that popped one. but we need someone who could work together and maintain the balance in our absence.

At first, I thought of Korobing but he’s a perverted senile old coot so he was out of the list right away. It was either Rhibert the red orc leader or Numhart the leader of blue lizardfolks. I guess… Numhart would be a good choice, I don’t have an actual reason but I feel like he would fit well for the job.

So we told all our residents about the details and why we had to leave. In return, they offered us the best of their wishes to succeed. At the same time, I appointed Numhart as the Village chief in my absence and he was honored for giving him that opportunity.

Nuzma’h said while kneeling, “My lord, leave the village and constructions under my care, when you return we’ll rejoice with a feast in celebration of your victory.”

Thus, we packed ourselves with some edibles, tools, and some of clothes then began our journey.

And since we had no map we had to rely on Athena’s sense of direction.

We could hear all the villagers cheering and giving us their goodbyes.

But…

“Why the heck is that rat coming with us!?” Isabelle yelled in annoyance while riding.

“Wha-!? I’m not a rat! I’m a fox and a mythic one.” said Rogu who was sitting on the horse I was riding.

(I realized it was going to be noisy once again…)

…

As soon as we reached the forest's edge, we were met with a grim sight of skeletons scattered everywhere.

“What the heck!? Rogu! Are those the demons your group killed?” I shouted as my frustration boiled up at the sight of the bones littering the ground.

“Huh!? Are they?” Rogu replied, clearly confused.

Belle sighed, crossing her arms. “I knew it, this guy is way too careless.”

I shook my head, feeling my irritation grow. “Rogu! Why the heck did you forget to clean up this mess afterward? What if other demons saw all these bones? I thought you didn’t want any attention! Thank goodness there aren’t any humans crawling around.”

And then our ranting continued…

…

The horses were galloping so fast we didn’t realize where the heck we… but Athena said we were on the right track so I wasn’t worried the other two were since they don’t know about Athena, they find it creepy how I was empty of thoughts at one time then at the same time I had the knowledge to deal with everything… (Wait did they think I was dumb back there?)

Well, I feel like, Rogu has some knowledge or suspicions about Athena since he met her while he failed to possess my body maybe it's better if Belle doesn’t know it… how Athena is the one taking care of most of the hard work…

It feels wrong not to tell them but it's better this way…

And then the night arrived as the sky began to dim.

I thought of resting for a bit before taking the flight high up, so we found ourselves in some woods…

But then I got a sudden urge to make a campfire…

So I began gathering some wood.

“Ara~ Kazuma-kun what are you doing?” Isabelle asked me as she saw me making some fire.

I responded, “I’m making a campfire Belle.”

Meanwhile, Rogu was making some contact with spirits and animals who were present in the woods.

“Campfire?” she asked.

So I replied, “Well obviously to make some light and also to enjoy a little bit of camping…”

“Huh… why are you rubbing those sticks?” she asked in confusion.

“You don’t know? To make fire of course.” I answered.

“But can’t you simply use fire magic for that?” Perhaps she was wondering…

“Well obviously I can’t use magic that and there’s no fun in lighting the campfire just by cheap means.”

Isabelle gave a small sigh and said, “Well if that’s what you like to do…”

(I guess she wasn’t introduced to the concept of camping…)

Hisssss!

And so the fire lit.

Looking at the fire made me realize something, “Ara didn’t I have some fish from before?”

As soon as I pulled out multiple fish and put them to roast both Belle and Rogu got their attention towards me.

And so the three of us spend some time around the campfire eating fishes.