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“First… I was the one who summoned you to this world from the other side.”

The god had said in their message, that they had been summoned. So, Loukis was the one who did it. Although, Kanata had already expected that for some reason.

“As for why I summoned you, well…”
“Could… could you wait a bit before that?” Sakura interjected, when Loukis was about to continue his explanation.
“What is it?”
“Erm… my mom… how… how is she doing in our original world? Kanata and I suddenly disappeared…”
“Oh, about that. While you are in this world, it will appear as if you never existed in your original world.”
“I… I see…”

Sakura and Kanata were saddened, but at the same time also a bit relieved. If they had gone missing like that over there, they would’ve been deeply worried.

“Erm… there was another boy who arrived with us in this world, but… he isn’t here, so could we look for him…?” Kanata asked, spurred on by Sakura’s question.

That other boy was, of course, Shuu, but the reply Loukis gave them was unexpected.

“What are you saying? I only summoned two people from your world, you know? In other words, it’s just the two of you. You’ve probably mistaken something else for him.”
“Huh…”

They didn’t make a mistake, that much was sure, but Kanata felt that it was currently impossible to persuade the man to go and look for Shuu.

“Then, back to the main topic, as for why I summoned you…” Loukis continued speaking again, when he saw the kids fall silent. “Well, the reason is simple. There is someone we want you to defeat. No matter what we try, it is impossible with our power.”
“Why would we be able to defeat them?” Sakura was doubtful at his statement.
“Our royal family¹ has for generations held the power to connect to other worlds. People summoned from another world gain special powers. We want to rely on those powers. On that note… people summoned from other worlds are called sages.”
“Then, is anyone fine, as long as they are from another world?”
“I think that’s a rude way to put it², but… that’s how it is.”

Kanata and Sakura were immediately reminded of their skills and titles. The fact that they had been summoned indiscriminately was hard to swallow.

“Then… what about the opponent we need to defeat?”
“You don’t need to know that at this point,” Loukis replied, as if he didn’t want to touch that subject. “When we arrive at the castle, I’ll first give you a tour of the interior. You’re probably confused since everything happened so suddenly, so you can relax today… From tomorrow on, we’ll…”
“Could you please wait for a moment?” Kanata interrupted him.

Loukis opened his eyes widely in surprise for a moment.

“…What is it?”
“We… before we came to this world, we were at a funeral. The funeral of… Sakura’s sister.”
“…uh.”
“Oh, so I accidentally picked a bad time to summon you. My apologies. And…?”

While reclining on the sofa, Loukis’ eyes, which had been narrow from the beginning, narrowed even further and intently stared at Kanata.

“…What I’m trying to ask is…” Kanata swallowed and continued talking. “Why are you talking as if it’s a given that we’ll cooperate with you… Sir?”
“Oh ho? Why would you think so?”
“Because we won’t do that. We were at a funeral, then you summon us against our will to this world and tell us to defeat some foe. That’s crazy, isn’t it? You gave us a reason to resent you, not to cooperate with you,” Kanata replied, putting his anger into his gaze, while he was fighting against the mysterious dread being emitted by Loukis.

“That certainly is true… but…” Loukis pulled out a sword from within his clothes and pointed the blade not at Kanata, but at Sakura. “You… for some reason, you seem to be worried about that girl… If you tell me, you won’t cooperate, I might be inclined to tie her up here and now and torture her, as a warning to you, little brat³.”

“Wha-!?”

Kanata immediately got up and stood in front of Sakura, as if to shield her. Still, his legs were trembling. She was also shivering in fear.

“Ha-ha-ha… Aren’t you passionate? So, is she that important to you? In that case, listen to what I tell you. If you listen obediently, both of you will be treated warmly and returned to your original world, once we no longer need you. Can you do that?”
“Could you… let us consult on this for a moment?”
“Very well.”

Kanata plopped down onto the sofa, as if he had lost all strength. Then, he took Sakura’s hand, who was in dread after hearing what Loukis had said, and brought his mouth to her ear. Usually, Sakura would’ve pulled back her hand and called him an idiot, but she currently didn’t have the energy for it.

“(Sakura… it looks like we have no choice but to take what he told us at face value…)”
“(…Right. It can’t be helped.)”
“(Sorry. If only I really held the powers of the chaotic darkness⁴…)”
“(What are you saying in a situation like this, you idiot?)”
“(At any rate, we have to cooperate with that Loukis guy.)”
“(Yeah.)”

Kanata stopped whispering to Sakura and looked at Loukis.

“Did you decide?”
“Yes, we will cooperate with you.”
“Right, that’s good… We’ll arrive at the castle in about two hours. Until then, you can relax here.”

Loukis disappeared somewhere inside the carriage.

TL notes:
I guess now we know what changed in slavery central for them to start a war with Mephilad. This also indicates that these events happened some time before the current Alim & Mika chapters.

1. So, he’s part of slavery central’s royal family? I guess that explains his attire and the huge protective detail. Though I don’t think this bodes well for the kids.
2. Not sure about this sentence, it might mean something else.
3. Sure didn’t take long for the mask to come off, but I guess that’s better than them being deceived by the royals.
4. And there’s Kanata’s edgelord to Sakura’s tsundere.