Maoyū Maō Yūsha - 3

"Where Have You Been?"

I need to get my hands on an RPG, stat. Also, who knew potatoes were poisonous? I eat them all the time, even when they're sprouting...

Speaking of potatoes, it turns out that this miracle crop was Maou's secret weapon all along; she used it to convince the Village Elder to change his agricultural methods, and a few months later the village is reaping the benefits of the bountiful vegetable. So much so, in fact, that Maou thinks it's time to expand; she and Yuusha travel to the Lake Country in order to get the Church of the Light Spirit to spread the holy word... of the potato that is. That isn't an insult to religion though; historically the Church has been a place of study, and it did educate people where they would otherwise receive no education at all. A miracle crop is something the Church would definitely want to teach people to use because it lessens the chance of starvation. Maou once again shows great judgement about these sorts of things, though her plan backfires slightly when the nun she speaks to turns out to be an "old flame" of Yuusha's, the Female Knight.

Luckily the Female Knight doesn't pose too much of a threat to Maou and Yuusha's relationship, but she does reveal some information about her former comrade, the Female Mage, that worries Yuusha: the Mage has gone deep into the Demon World by herself, searching for him after rumors of his death (started by Maou) caused the group of heroes to lose their jobs (they even got paid severance money). On the way home, Maou teases Yuusha about both women, but she also brings up the topic of their plan, and just how much the Church will benefit them in the long run. It seems that the biggest threat to their experiment lies in the existence of a group of merchants, known as The Economic Alliance of Free Merchants and Southern Independent Cities, which holds a lot of political power. However, the Alliance is greedy (they once tricked Yuusha into giving a propagandist speech for only fifteen coins and the attention of some court ladies, for example) and seeks only to improve their profits, which makes war a necessity for them. For the time being, Maou (undercover as the Crimson Scholar) has bribed them with a new style of compass, but the Merchants themselves aren't content knowing that other groups may get a hold of the invention, and there's even a threat of assassination in the air...

A separation for the two lovers-to-be lies in store, however. Worried about the Female Mage, Yuusha is going off to the battlefield next week as the Black Knight, with Maou's reluctant blessing. That's a bit of a shame, considering how well these two fit together, but it seems we'll be taking the slow road in progressing their relationship, regardless of Head Maid's attempts to push them together (which border on sexual harrassment for Maou). It's probable that we'll be seeing some action from here on out in exchange, as Maou has asked Yuusha to help keep the rowdier demons in check while she's away, but I will miss the relationship dynamic in the meantime.