[…. Thank you for the meal.]
Says the little girl, Yukino, as she claps her hands together after eating the bentou. 

Haruka and I took the little girl to the town square. There was still some time before our rendezvous with Lizette. In the meantime, I decided to let Yukino have her fill and listen to her story.

Is she── Yukino Cloudy Dragonchild── really a summoned person? What is the current state of the capital? Here in the frontier, information on either is valuable to us.

[…. You wish to hear about the capital, yes….?]
She says after taking a sip of water from the wooden flask.

[Let’s see. Things have calmed down a bit there. Soldiers and governors are gathering from all over the country as a countermeasure against the 『Cult of Awakening Contentment』, and bandits and other menaces have apparently decreased as a result. The roads leading to this place were relatively safe as well.]
[So public order is being restored, I take it?]
[Indeed. Things may gradually get better from now on.]
[They’ve got Dragon Emperor-sama and the Ten Wise Men-sama after all.]
[… If it’s about the top brass, then I’ve got no idea.”

Yukino acts as if she is thinking for a while and then says,
[Surely this mayhem will subside eventually── anyway, this is merely a rumor! There’s no way someone like me would be acquainted with the top brass and governor-sama!]
[You don’t have to get worked up over the details…]
[…..Uuh]

Perhaps she thought she had talked too much, Yukino’s face is dyed red as her head hangs down in shame.

Judging from every word she had said, I believe that Yukino is a reincarnated person from another world. However, she herself hasn’t noticed that I am of that opinion. In the first place, the people of this world aren’t allowed to know about the existence of reincarnated people. 

[To begin with, we’re just asking because we’re curious about the capital. For us here in the frontier, the 『Cult of Awakening Contentment』 is more problematic.”
I change the subject.

[We’ve got no choice but to leave this 『Cult of Awakening Contentment』 to the Governor-sama.]
[Right. Even though I tried to help…]
[Speaking of which, Yukino, I believe you said you, 『had a plan』?]
[Yes.]

The little girl, Yukino, gives a vigorous nod. She swing her aqua-colored hair in a cool manner as she arches her body back──

[Even though I look like this, I can use water and ice magic. As such, I specialize in offense and support and I can disrupt the enemy. Since the 『Cult of Awakening Contentment』’s stronghold is on the mountaintop──]
[If you block the mountain path, you can divide the enemy, right.]
[Wi, with my magic, I can block the enemy’s line of sight──]
[In the meantime, they can be surrounded. They could also be set against each other.]
[…………]
[You could, for example, create a lump of ice with which to block the mountain path. Question is, how would you escape after that? No, since you can disrupt them with water magic, you probably could also create a fog as a means of subterfuge. Then the matter could be settled quickly. You could use that interval to escape, and the divided enemy force would crush it self.”
[The people of this world sure are amazing!]

She is totally shocked.

Well, I studied up on this sort of knowledge during my chuunibyou phase.

In the setting of 『Kiryuuou Shouma』, due to influence from the ushering alignment of the stars during the epoch of Aquarius, the 『Abyssal Demon’s Army』 was about to be resurrected from the 8^th hell.

Therefore── to confront the upcoming danger, I read and studied military records and strategy books. In lieu of actual battle, I held war simulations with mamono as the units. My intention was to master the fundamentals. Although I had been planning to use that knowledge as the base of my strategy for taking down the cult’s stronghold──

[… Surely things will be much easier with Yukino around.]

If this little girl really is a summoned person, she must’ve gotten powerful skills. As far as I’m concerned, she’s a talent I certainly want.

[My strategy, it couldn’t even reach the feet of the people of this world….]
However, the little girl, Yukino, hangs her head in dejection.

[I couldn’t get hired by this world’s Governor-sama…. Knowledge-wise, I easily lost to a person in this world…. I, I thought my existence would be a cheat in this world, but….]
[Don’t let it get to you. Aniue-sama is just that special.]

Pon, Haruka pats the little girl, Yukino’s, shoulder.

[Surely you wouldn’t know, but Aniue-sama is──]
[Haruka.]
[(Omitted) is incredibly strong and cool, that’s why!]
[I don’t quite get it, but that’s amazing!]

The little girl, Yukino’s, eyes open wide.

That was dangerous.

Haruka, it’s good that you’re honest, but there are some things you should think harder about.

…… I don’t want the legend of 『Aberrant Overlord [Kiryuuou Shouma]』 to spread any further in this world.

[….. Can I ask you something?]
I changed the topic. Or rather, I’ll get to the main subject now.

The little girl── Yukino, is she really a summoned person?
── Where are the other summoned people?
── If good results are achieved, we’ll be resurrected back in our original world. But how does this system work?
── Other than the goddess 『Rukia』 that I’ve met, are there any others?

I’ve got a lot of things to ask, but….
[Do you have anywhere to go after this?]
I set those things aside for now and ask about a different matter instead.

[….. No.]
The little girl, Yukino, shakes her head.

[I, refused to serve the lords that were previously presented to me. As such, I have no choice but to search for the [True King] now.]
[The 『True King』.]
[When I first came to this world── no, this country, a certain someone told me to choose a lord that I would serve. Upon choosing, that person would then arrange an introduction. I can’t go into the details.]
[…..Is that so.]

That probably was the censorship system[1] placed on the officially reincarnated people.

Apparently, upon summoning, a list of candidates was presented to the reincarnated and they get to choose and serve someone from among them.

[And then, your answer was?]
[I said, I myself will choose the lord I would serve.]

How cool.

[And because of that I was driven out from the capital.]

　── Except it was thoughtless of her.

…. Such is youth, I suppose. How amazing.

---

[1]A system of censorship was put in place so that a reincarnated person can’t discuss their previous life/world. If a reincarnated were to discuss this topic, their voice will be automatically silenced so long as they were still on the topic. This is why Yukino changed course by saying that she came to the “country”, instead of the “world”.

<Chapter 25.2
Chapter 26.2>