Chapter 08-10  : Grunt of Light

“Listen well! You guys are the leftovers!! Trash that didn’t make the cut!! That’s why you were brought here! Understood?!”

“”“Yes ma’am!!”””

“From now on, I will be making you useless trash into the strongest and all-purpose trash!! By the time I say it is already okay, you guys should have become trash that won’t lose to anyone! Can you keep up?!”

“”“Yes ma’am!”””

“Then, question! Where’s this?!”

“””The kitchen of the light church! Ma’am!!”””

“That’s right! And I am the one in charge of the light church’s kitchen, the head chef, Angan Regine!! For you guys who have been sent here to do subordinate work, I am the captain, I am the God!! Understood?!” (Regine)

“””Yes ma’am!!”””

“This is the place that governs all the meals of the light church! The priests, knights, the founder-sama! The food we make heads to those people in their holy line of work!! If you see it lightly as some miscellaneous work, we will drown you in the sea of Bejimait! Breakfast is a battle! Lunch is a battle too! And dinner is a war!! There are times when we have to prepare emergency food for the Knight Corps when they depart after all!! If you guys exert yourself here, you will become splendid cooks of Light!!”

“””Yes! Ma’...am!!!”””

“Y—Yes...ma’am!”

Yes, Kuromiya Haine here.

Given the element board to hold, the needle, that was supposed to point one of the five elements, broke because of the Dark God soul I had inside this body, and I was splendidly rejected.

And so, the place I was send to is the kitchen of the light church’s main headquarters, and it seems I will now be made to work as an apprentice to become a Light cook.

It wasn’t only me. The people that didn’t have the needle of the element board pointing at the light element were forcefully send to the church’s numerous miscellaneous duties.

We were being placed to work right away like work-horses.

* * *

“...This is not how it was supposed to be.”

Is what the guy at my side said.

By the way, he was ordered together with me to peel potatoes and we were currently moving our knifes at the back of the kitchen.

“In my plans, the me that was supposed to have passed the exam with flying colors would enter the Aurora Knight Corps, immediately stand out, show achievements one after the other, get popular with the girls, and have a flowery lifestyle. And yet, what’s this about peeling potatoes? This doesn’t turn into a career at all.”

“Don’t say that in the presence of Regine-san. You are gonna get a shoulder throw from that.” (Haine)

His name is Frost.

He is a newcomer like me that accepted the recruitment of the light church, but the needle pointed at an element other than light and was rejected from entering the knight corps.

And so, he was send to the kitchen as a miscellaneous worker, but it seems he is sent to do a majority of things I am also send to do, and now, we have completely become friends with each other.

“There’s no need to be so pessimistic about it. Even this potato peeling, if you get serious about it, it can be unexpectedly fun, you know? Just how well can you peel it as perfectly as possible...” (Haine)

“What I want to peel is not the skin of a potato, but the clothes of girls!” (Frost)

“As long as you continue saying things like that, I think that even if you become a knight, you won’t be popular.” (Haine)

If we exclude the part about his perverted way of speaking, he is a good guy, and we were soon able to become good friends.

‘So the humans have evolved in a variety of manners’, is what I have realized.

In that sense, the wild actions of that Regine-san person were also likeable.

Let’s write what happened today in a letter and send it to mother and father.

“Anyways, Haine, why are you here?” (Frost)

“What’s with that sudden and weird question? Was that a philosophical question?” (Haine)

“No, it is not the type of question asking where we have come from and where we are headed to. What I mean is...you are pretty famous within the newcomers. In the time when they were recruiting newcomers, there’s talk that you got into a fight with the captain and send him flying. Even I have heard about it.” (Frost)

“...I didn’t send him flying. I was stopped right before I sent him flying after all.” (Haine)

“Geh, then the part about you fighting him was true?! Moreover, from how you said it, you were 90% in the winning side?! ...Well, there’s the matter about the entrance exam. Even if the element is different, you could have gotten send to a better place than this. Or more like, isn’t it fine to have you enter the knight corps?” (Frost)

So that’s what he meant by that ‘why are you here?’.

“I am plenty satisfied here though. Cooking is fun.” (Haine)

“You are a man lacking in ambition! If you are a man, even if you are to fall in a place like this, at least have a goal like having a date with sis Regine!!” (Frost)

“Eh? Frost, you are aiming for her? For that Regine-san?” (Haine)

“...How...old is sis Regine?” (Frost)

“Based on the information I have, 32 years old.” (Haine)

“32 huh. Barely in my strike zone.” (Frost)

Is he seriously going to aim for it?

I was beginning to feel fear towards my new friend, but well, it has nothing to do with me, so I concentrate in peeling potatoes.

“Hoh~, there’s a guy with interesting taste here.”

“Uo.” “Hiaaaa?!”

A shiny bald head suddenly appeared.

It is the vice captain that was in charge of the entrance exam, Grades.

“Just a warning, pair of newcomers. You better give up on that amazon. There was a formal light knight who stroke the ass of Regine as a joke while she was working as a waitress, but...” (Grades)

“W-What happened?!” (Frost)

“He got an axe kick on his head and is groaning on his hospital bed even to this current day.” (Grandes)

Wouldn’t it be a good idea to have that woman enter the light knights?

Well, let’s leave that aside for now...

“Did you have some sort of business here, vice captain? To suddenly appear at the back of the kitchen like this, could it be that the knight corps have nothing to do?” (Haine)

“That’s a cold way of putting it. Well, it is that, there’s also other girls in the light church that you shouldn’t anger. Last time, I messed up with that person, so I have come to make a recovery.” (Grades)

“?”

“Haine, I have brought something nice for you...... There’s no one here aside from you guys, right?” (Grades)

“Well, it is the back of the kitchen. If it is inside the kitchen, there’s a lot of people though. Should I call them?” (Haine)

“Stop it! I only have business with you!” (Grades)

The bald vice captain looks warily around before putting his hand inside a hemp sack.

“Oh, what is it? Is it something erotic?” (Frost)

Frost judges the wariness of the vice captain in this way, and gets excited.

“Shut up. It can’t be helped, so I will show it to you too. Don’t tell anyone about me walking around with this, okay?” (Grades)

What came out from the hemp sack was a rectangular box-looking thing that was slightly big to carry around.

“...What’s this? It doesn’t look like something erotic at all.” (Frost)

“That’s just your own assumption. You see, this is an element measuring device.” (Grades)

Element measuring device?

According to the explanation of vice captain Grades, it seems this element measuring device is used to estimate the element amount of a person. <Duh>

‘Isn’t that the same as the element board used at the entrance exam?’, is the retort I gave out, and the vice captain makes a supplementary explanation as if biting the words.

“This is something superior to the element board. With ethereal energy, it measures elements with a lot more detail and accuracy.” (Grades)

“Ethereal energy?! Isn’t that a machine then?!” (Frost)

When Frost lifted his voice, vice-captain Grades glares at him.

“That’s why I said not to tell anyone! Okay? Don’t tell anyone! Especially people like the captain!!” (Grades)

Frost was startled by the anger of the vice-captain and slowly withers down.

There’s parts that I can’t get the outline of from the conversation between the two, but for now, let’s leave that aside and...

“In other words, we can have a better measurement of our element compared to the element board?” (Haine)

“That’s right. Showing is worth more than a thousand words. Hey, you are the one that came from the Reustor village, Frost, right?” (Grades)

“Eh? Yes!” (Frost)

It is unexpected to see someone high-up like a vice-captain knowing the name of Frost.

“I was the one in charge of the entrance exam. I have properly gone through the list of newcomers. I will be using the element measuring device on you, Frost.”(Grades)

At the surface of the element measuring device there were five frames, and at the same time this was directed at Frost, shining words appear inside the frames. Rather than calling it words, they were actually numbers.

[Earth: 105] [Water: 130] [Light: 128] [Fire: 214] [Wind: 309]

“Ooh?!”

“Frost is more specialized in wind than fire huh. 309 is quite the high number, you know. If you had gone to the Wind Church of Ludora, you would have been placed in the Whirlwind Raid Corps, no doubt.” (Grades)

“Seriously?! I will go now!!” (Frost)

“Can’t. You have already joined the Light Church, so we won’t be letting you escape.” (Grades)

“Eeeeh?!” (Frost)

If it were the element board, it would only point the strongest element, but the element measuring device will show you in numbers how much of an affinity you have with each element huh.

It is true that the amount of information obtained is completely different.

“...Uhm, vice-captain Grades, is it okay to ask a question?” (Haine)

“What?” (Grades)

“Frost’s strongest element is the wind element, but I think the second one, the fire element, also has quite the high number.” (Haine)

“Right. With a 214, if it were light element, it is a numbers that’s plenty enough to enter the knight corps.” (Grades)

“No waaay!” (Frost)

Ignoring Frost who was beaten up by reality, I continue the talk.

“Doesn’t that mean the people that didn’t have the light element pointed in the entrance exam, could have had their second strongest element as light, moreover, there’s the possibility they had a good enough number to get a pass?” (Haine)

Vice-captain Grades answered this question with a heavy tone that he hasn’t used until now.

“...It’s exactly as you say. The element board is, in the end, something that simply points the highest elemental affinity one has. To put it in another way, even if the light element is only a 100, if the other numbers are all lower than 99, you would get a pass. On the contrary, even if you have a light element number of 300, if there’s at least one other element that has a number of 301, you will end up rejected.” (Grades)

“What’s with that? Isn’t that weird?” (Frost)

“It is just as Frost says. But that’s the current state of the Light Church...no, the current state of the whole world.” (Grades)

The current state of the whole world.

I felt an unpleasant ring from those words, but I had no choice but to leave it aside for now as well.

“More importantly! The main issue is you, Kuromiya Haine! I will be using this element measuring device on you!” (Grades)

“I see! The element board had its needle broken, but if it’s this device, there might be a result appearing, right?!” (Frost)

“Exaaaactly! Am I not a genious?!” (Grades)

“You are a genius! Oh~ brave, hero! Please let me enter the knight corps!” (Frost)

“Hahahaha! Caaaan’t!!” (Grades)

What’s this, these two guys are hitting it off pretty smoothly. Is there sympathy or something there?

“No, but I–!!” (Frost)

“Gotta test it out! Now then, using this element measuring device...” (Grades)

And so, the numbers that were shown...

[Earth: 000] [Water: 000] [Light: 000] [Fire: 000] [Wind: 000]

“Okay, retreeeeat! Retreaaat!” (Frost)

“I was stupid for expecting anything! Thinking Haine-kun was a capable child was only an illusion of mine!” (Grades)

Even if you tell me that...

I will be repeating myself here but, I am the reincarnation of the Dark God. My element is absolutely ‘darkness’.

This element measuring device most likely doesn’t have enough functions to perfectly measure a person’s element.

If this measuring device had a sixth entry, it would probably have the numbers 999 there.

“Hm? But having element numbers all 0 should be impossible. No matter how low it is, you would normally have 100, you know?” (Grades)

“Seriously?! Haine, are you okay? Did you eat something bad?!” (Frost)

There’s no way food would be a deciding factor for elements.

Humans are beings that were created with the divine powers of six Gods. That’s why six elements exist.

In truth, it would be ideal to have a good balance of 6 elements mixed in, and leaning too much onto one would be bad.

“...Could it be...the element measuring device broke because of Haine just like the time with the element board? Isn’t this bad? Hey, this was a rented one, you know?!” (Grades)

“Now that you mention it, vice-captain Grades, the lowest number is around 100, but what would be the highest in terms of element number?” (Haine)

I kind of got interested in it and tried asking.

“Hm? The upper limit for the element number huh. Generally speaking, around 400.” (Grades)

“No way! Then my 309 in the wind element is high isn’t it?! Damn it!!! If only I had gone to the Wind Church!!” (Frost)

“But you see, there’s always exceptions. For example, the light hero, Karen-sama.” (Grades)

Karen.

The girl that was the very person who invited me to the Light Church.

I have not seen her since the time we separated at the entrance exam but, I wonder what she is doing.

“Listen and be amazed. The element number of Karen-sama is apparently around 700.” (Grades)

“S-Seven hundred?!”

A 400 is supposed to be the upper limit, and yet, she has 700?!

Impossible. If a person had that much inclination in an element, this would be in a level that would affect their very life. It would be another case if there’s the soul of a God inside just like me though.

“Even within the church, they can measure a detailed number for their elements, after doing a complicated ritual that takes around 1 week, that is. Karen-sama was chosen to be the light hero based on that strong element number. And so, our job as the knight corps is to support the hero-sama!!” (Grades)

I see. In other words, heroes are the strongest ones in the knight corps.

With an elemental affinity of 700 in the light element, power follows.

A group that fights with the hero as the centre. That’s the knight corps.

But being a combat organization means that there’s obviously something you are fighting against, right?

While I was thinking: ‘What are they fighting against?’...

“So you were in a place like this!!”

“Hm? Eeeeh?!”

By the time I noticed, there was a beautiful girl in white armour standing there.

“Hero-sama?!” “Hero Karen-sama?!”

Grades and Frost were extremely flustered.

“Vice captain Grades was also here? I said this before, didn’t I? Haine-san can add to our fighting force immediately, so let him enter no matter the element. And yet, why is he doing mere miscellaneous work in the kitchen?!” (Karen)

“No, well...this is work as well, you know. It is not like I can do anything I want, you know!!” (Grades)

“Please don’t call it ‘mere miscellaneous work in the kitchen’! If Regine-san heard that, we would be seeing blood!” (Frost)

The two got incredibly scared.

“Karen-san? Why are you in a place like this?” (Haine)

“It is obviously to look for you! This is an emergency! This may be sudden but, there’s the need of Haine-san’s assistance!” (Karen)

Karen-san takes my hand and forcefully pulls it.

“Vice captain Grades as well, return to your station as soon as possible and command the knights! Haine-san and I will be heading out first! Please tell that to the captain while you are at it!!” (Karen)

“Wa?!” (Haine)

While I was confused on what was going on, I got pulled by Karen-san and change the location.

At the place we arrive at, there was something there I didn’t know what it was.

“...Uhm, what’s this?” (Haine)

“A small flying motorcycle machine powered by ethereal energy.” (Karen)

“?”

“Because it is a flaptor type, only one person can ride it, but in exchange, it has speed. Also, this little one is especially modified for my use, so it is the number one model for speed. 37 times faster. Well, that’s only the written specs though.” (Karen)

“???????”

I didn’t understand what she was saying at all.

What’s in front of me is probably the same type as those ethereal cars that are running all around the city and the element measuring device that the vice captain Grades had.

How to say it, it is as if it was made with a cradle as its design, looks like it would be incredibly fast. And from both sides, there were wings coming out from it, and it looked like it was possible to fly. And it seems it is big enough to have people ride on it. <Definitely a Laputa reference>

“It is not made to have two people ride it, but since circumstances are circumstances; Haine-san, please hold tightly to my back.” (Karen)

While saying this, Karen-san straddles onto the so called small flying machine, as if riding a horse.

“Now! Haine-san too!” (Karen)

“Y-Yes!!”

Following the same movements as Karen-san, I straddle onto the back of the flying machine, and wrap my arms around her body.

She told me to do it. And she had an atmosphere saying she won’t be taking a no for an answer.

“Place more strength into it! You will get thrown off like this, you know!” (Karen)

“Eh? Like this?” (Haine)

“...I didn’t tell you to grab my boobs.” (Karen)

“Sorry!” (Haine)

I kind of know what’s going to happen now.

“Takeoff! We are going at full speed!!” (Karen)

“Oooooohhh?!!!” (Haine)

The flying machine we were riding really flew.

Moreover, at an incredible speed. The air was hitting me with terrifying density, and it is certainly true that I was about to be thrown off by it.

“K-Karen-san! Karen-saaaan!!” (Haine)

“What is it?! If you talk, you are going to bite your tongue!” (Karen)

“Uhm, I don’t understand the situation at all though?! Or more like, where are we heading to, even going through the trouble of flying in the sky?!” (Haine)

The Grand Church is already at the far distance.

Karen-san who was driving the flying machine said this without turning to my direction,

“As I said, it is an emergency! They have appeared!” (Karen)

“They?” (Haine)

“The enemy of the Aurora Knight corps and the threat of us humans; monsters!” (Karen)