I gave Finn and the others a punishment that was too harsh. Leon cast recovery magic on them, so they recovered from their fainting spell in about five minutes. There don't seem to be any after-effects, so they should be okay now.

"Well, version 2 was too much. But at least the disobedience will be gone now."

"Sasha, you're merciless even to your allies. I don't ever want to smell that again."

"Agreed."

"Sae and Tsutomu are also ready. Let's go. We'll treat those kids to a ton of ramen later."

Sae and Tsutomu are around 25 years old, and they seem more like a married couple than a hot and heavy couple. Sae looks gentle on the outside, but she seems like a strong-willed woman. Tsutomu has a gentle demeanor and seems somewhat unreliable, but he gives the impression that he can make cool-headed decisions when the situation calls for it.

"Saria, Tail, let's go!"

"Yes, it's been a while since we've seen Sae and Tsutomu."

"Let's go!"

We'll see Sakuragi-kun and the others again, so let's cancel our disguise.

Now, shall we transfer?

________________________________________

This is the High Elf palace.

When we transferred, Sae and Tsutomu, the Elf King and Queen (I don't know them, but I can tell by their atmosphere), Burn-san and Riffia-san, and Sakuragi-kun and the others, who were looking at me with wide eyes, were all there. It's been a while since we've met like this. It's only been a little over a month, but it feels like we haven't seen each other in years.

"Shimizu!"

"Akane!"

"Hey, why haven't you explained that Sasha is Shimizu Akane, to all the Heroes who are surprised?"

"It's because of Saria! I wanted to say it myself. But until I met Domitorius, I didn't know anything about Saria's appearance, personality, or strength. If I had revealed my real name, the cover-up would have been lifted and there would have been a risk of Saria finding me, and in some cases, even a risk of being killed. So I didn't explain the situation to Sakuragi-kun and the others and disguised myself only to those in the Thermia Kingdom's royal castle."

"Really, it's all Saria's fault. For me, everything about Sasha is because of Saria-sama."

That's right! Everything is Saria's fault when it comes to me.

"Okay, I got it. I don't want to be punished anymore. I'll also participate in the demon subjugation. Originally, it was something that Demogorgon, Sphere, and I caused."

When I looked around, everyone was listening to our conversation and was stunned. Oh, Sakuragi-kun, Ryusaki-kun, Kubo-kun, Mika, and Yumi finally arrived.

Haruto: "Shimizu is Sasha! What happened with the evil tribe?"

Mika: "Akane is Sasha! What happened with the evil tribe?"

Shinya and Yoshiteru: "Shimizu, you're alive!!!"

Yumi: "Akane, you're alive!!!"

Huh?

Aren't they saying different things? Do Ryusaki-kun, Kubo-kun, and Yumi think I'm dead?

"Um, anyway, I'm still alive. Long story short, I became part of the evil tribe, but I became the highest-ranking evil god. After that, I saved too many people and changed classes to a goddess."

"Huh!?"

Well, I guess that's the kind of reaction I'd expect.

"By the way, why am I supposed to be dead?"

"Eh!?"

Sakuragi-kun and Mika reacted in surprise.

Ryusaki-kun, Kubo-kun and Yumi slowly turned their heads towards Sakuragi-kun and Mika, their necks making a "gigigigi" sound.

"Haruto, Mika, you have some explaining to do!!! Until now, we all thought Akane was dead!!!"

"Um, well..."

Ah, I see what's going on now. In that incident, it was made to seem like I was dead. It's better for everyone's morale and unity that way.

"Listen, I'll explain everything properly later. You can ask Sakuragi-kun and Mika at that time. Everyone else is just stunned."

"---Right. Haruto-kun and Mika, we need to talk about this slowly."

"Yeah."

Hahaha, all three of them are really angry.

"Anyway, I'm glad Akane is alive. It was wrong to deceive everyone, but we've been unable to contact each other since then, so we were worried. We tried to search for you, but there was no information available, and we even thought you might really be dead."

"Yeah, sorry Yumi, Yoshiteru, and Shinya. I haven't seen Akane since then, so I don't know what's going on either. Like Haruto, I even thought she might be dead. But now we've been reunited. Akane is alive!"

"---That's right, Akane is alive! We were told by Haruto-kun and Mika that she was dead, so I didn't think we'd be able to talk like this again. Thank you, Akane, for being alive."

"Yumi is right. I also thought both Yoshiteru and I were dead. It's good that Akane is alive."

"Oh yeah, the other classmates will be happy too."

Hahaha, everyone is crying for me. ---I'm happy.

"---Anyway, I'm really happy that Akane is alive, but I want you to explain the situation soon. We and even the King and Queen have been watching Akane through the insects, but we couldn't hear her voice, only see her image. Only Sae-san and Tsutomu-san know the whole story."

Oh right, I remember that now.

"Ugh, it's such an emotional reunion, Saria-sama. Oh, hello Sae-san and Tsutomu-san, long time no see."

"Hey, Sae, Tsutomu! Why didn't you let us hear her voice? We couldn't understand just by her image!!"

Two men and women who had been staring blankly, came forward, prompted by Tail and Saria's voices.

"Nice to meet you, Sasha. I'm Sae Azuma. And hello Saria, long time no see. There's a good reason why we haven't explained the situation. When we were monitoring Sasha, we felt the killing intent and intimidation coming from her from time to time. Tsutomu and I almost died several times. We thought we'd be killed if we upset her even a little. That's why I thought it would be better for Sasha to explain everything to everyone rather than us explaining it to everyone without her knowing."

Oh, that's right, during the dungeon raid, I was playing with Sae and Tsutomu during my free time. Oh no, I wonder if that's why I implanted fear in Sae and Tsutomu.

"Sasha, did you really do that?"

"Well, you know, while I was exploring the dungeon, I leisurely played around by monitoring people. I could have defeated it right away if I wanted to, but I didn't know Sae-san and Tsutomu-san's circumstances at that time, so I left them alone. Well, since I was monitoring people without permission, it was kind of like a punishment game."

"Sasha, nice to meet you, I'm Tsutomu Morimoto. I apologize for monitoring you. We were curious about what was going on in the lowest level of Olympus, which we had not visited. We thought that if we went there, we could understand why Saria was kicking Sphere out. After Domitorius and Saria explained to Sasha, and we realized that we had only judged Saria from the top. Saria, I'm sorry about that time."

"I should have been more sympathetic. Saria, I'm sorry."

"W-What?! Don't apologize to me out of nowhere! W-Well, if you understand, I'll forgive you!"

"If that's the reason, I forgive you too. Well, first we need to explain everything to Sakuragi and the Elf King and Queen from scratch."

Everyone is confused, so it will take time, but let's talk about my journey so far.

"Well then, let's go to the office and have a drink while Sasha tells us."

Yes, since the story will definitely be long, it's better to have a calm place. Let's move right away.

During the move, I thought Sakuragi-kun and others would talk to me, but Sakuragi-kun and Mika were bombarded with questions from Yumi, Kubo-kun, and Ryusaki-kun. What did they say about me? Let's listen a little.

"Haruto-kun, Mika, please explain. It's great that Akane was alive! Was what happened at the royal palace an act?"

"I want you to explain. You declared in front of the whole class that you 'killed her yourself.' Tell us the clear reason why you kept it a secret from us, your friends!"

"Oh, Yoshiteru is right. Explain a reason that we can understand!"

Ah, Sakuragi-kun made it look like he killed me and settled the situation. What kind of acting was it? I'll ask later.

"Everyone, calm down and listen. This was something Mika, Marcus-san, and I decided. First, there was a letter where the Caprice Box was, and Shimizu wasn't there. The contents of the letter were that she became an evil tribe, but her appearance hadn't changed. However, if Shimizu came back to us, there was a possibility of causing a lot of trouble with the goddess Saria, so it was written to live quietly in the Thermia Kingdom if she did come back."

"Wait a minute. At that point, she was in the capital, right? Why didn't you bring her back?"

"There are also people in the royal palace who were killed by the evil tribe. If Shimizu came back, she could be assassinated at worst."

"Uh, that's certainly possible."

"Then why didn't you tell us after we left the capital?"

"As Shinya said, we didn't want Saria to suspect anything."

"Sorry for not telling you everything!"

It seems that everyone is convinced.

"Saria-sama, you severed the bond between these people out of spite!"

"Ugh! I feel guilty about what I did."

"Hey, everyone, are you convinced~~?"

"Oh, sorry! After I separated from Akane, a lot happened."

"That seems to be the case. I reconciled with Saria and brought her to the surface like this. This little one here is the spirit Tail."

"Saria.----It seems like I caused trouble because of----- my fault.----- I'm sorry."

"I'm the spirit call me Tail!"

Maybe Mika and Yumi are the type of girls who like tsundere like Saria...

"Wow, this child is really cute! This is Saria! She's not at all what I imagined! I thought she'd be a more arrogant 20-year-old woman. Tail-san is also great, and the combination is perfect!"

Oh yeah, Mika and Yumi really love this type of tsundere girl. They've been gradually getting closer to Saria. They've been watching a school anime where tsundere girls are the main characters since before they were summoned to Spheretalia, and Mika and Yumi were quite hooked on it. Of course, there's no way such a girl (14 years old) exists in reality, but Saria fits the bill perfectly.

"What's going on?! Sasha, these two are weird."

"They're not weird. Mika and Yumi are perfectly normal. They're just playing with Saria."

"What were you going to say just now?!"

"Hug me~"

"Eek, why are you hugging me?!"

"Sasha-sama, didn't you just say 'sacrifice'?"

"Well, you were causing trouble, so it's a light punishment game."

Let's leave Mika and Yumi to Saria's care. Now we can talk to Sakuragi-kun.

"Shimizu, I'm glad you're still alive."

"I'm sorry I couldn't say anything. I didn't know what would happen at that time, so I had no choice but to do that. There are also other reasons why I didn't tell everyone. By the way, did everyone change the way they address each other?"

"Oh, we decided to call each other by our first names instead of our last names to strengthen our bond."

In that case, I'll do the same. But it's a little embarrassing to call him by his first name.

"I see. Then can I also call you Haruto-kun?"

" ---- ah, ah, yeah, of course. Then I'll call you Akane too?"

"Yes, that's fine."

Hmm, it's still a little embarrassing.

"Well done, Haruto. Your declaration in front of everyone was worth it."

"Yeah, both Shinya and Yoshiteru were surprised by that."

What did he declare?

"Oh, hey, you don't have to say that now! If you want to say it, I'll say it directly to Akane!"

"Oh, well, do your best."

"I understand what you want to say to Sasha-sama. Good luck, Haruto-san!"

Shinya-kun, Yoshi-kun, and Tail are looking at me and Haruto-kun with a smirk, and it's bothering me. Even Tail seems to have unknowingly hit it off with the two of them.

I wonder what exactly Haruto-kun declared?

○○○

Meanwhile, the Elf King and Queen (who look like they're in their 40s) were being completely ignored.

[Hey, aren't we the king and queen? Aren't we being completely ignored?]

[Same here. I was thinking the exact same thing. We weren't even introduced.]

[It's probably best not to say anything, right?]

[As soon as you do, we'll probably be burned to a crisp]

[We're about to start a meeting with Sasha-sama. To be honest, I feel like running away. My legs are still trembling.]

[Me too. I've been monitoring her for a long time. The moment I came here, I was prepared to be burned to a crisp.]

[I understand how you feel, Your Majesty, My Queen. Both Burn and I know Sasha, but we haven't spoken a word to her yet.]

[Well, I guess it can't be helped. It's better not to upset the two goddesses, even if the two high elves are okay. I thought it was bad to monitoring them silently, but I never thought that they could transmit their power just by looking at us through a bug. Sasha was playing around and intimidating everyone except for Haruto and his friends during the dungeon raid. Naturally, we and the king were also there, and I felt the fear of being killed many times. Maybe she's still angry about it.]

[Well, she's been monitored for days, so of course she's angry. When you arrive at the office, apologize first.]

I was listening carefully, but I doesn't seem angry at all. I just forgot about their presence. Also, it seems that Burn-san and the others were watching too. It was troublesome, so I just played with a little intimidation and killing intent, thinking that it didn't matter what happened to anyone other than Haruto and his friends. Hmm, it seems that I have planted fear in Sae and Tsutomu as well.

I'll apologize to Burn-san and the others too.