Chapter 3: Toraj, the Country of Water

Thud...thud...thud...

Touya’s thoughts felt unusually sluggish. What is that sound? It’s loud but seems kind of far away.

“Listen, listen...so, my mommy, she makes the moooost delicious stew in the world. You have to try some!”

I’m hearing a little girl’s voice now. Where have I heard that voice before? I can’t remember...

“Well, that sounds like something to look forward to. But, just saying, our Efil’s cooking won’t lose, all right?”

And now it’s a man’s voice. That voice...where have I...ugh, my head hurts.

“No! My mommy’s is the best! But since you don’t believe me, how about I try them both and compare them myself!”

What was I doing earlier, anyway? I...feel like it was something terribly important...

“Ruka, I told you not to bother the honorable adventurers, didn’t I?”

What’s happened to Setsuna, Nana, and Miyabi? The last thing I was doing...

“Hahaha, I don’t mind at all. It’s still quite a distance to Toraj. I welcome the conversation.”

The owner of that voice...I was last...Setsuna and the others...!

“Hey there, man, you’re finally awake.”

Touya felt his consciousness slowly return to him. Opening his eyes, he saw a clear blue sky entirely devoid of clouds. Very, very slowly, he sat up, his mind still foggy. He tried to focus on the faces in front of him, one at a time. There was the little girl who had been a captive in Black Wind’s hideout, the girl’s mother, and —

“Touya, right? You feeling any pain anywhere?”

— the black-robed man with whom he’d been fighting until the moment he’d blacked out.

“YOU! Get away from the girl!”

“First of all, calm down. You probably shouldn’t get up yet. Rest up for a little while longer.”

The instant Touya recognized the young man, he had tried to spring up and lunge at him. In response, the stranger threw out a nonchalant gesture, and an invisible force pushed him back down. Having only just recovered, the Hero was incapable of resisting what felt like a powerful air pressure spell. To his utter frustration, he was easily pressed back down.

“Goddammit, I won’t lose to you again!”

“You know, going all out might be the right choice sometimes, but this really isn’t one of those times. Take a better look around you. Also, if you strain yourself too much, you might reopen your wounds.”

Touya was about to exert himself further in a show of defiance, but the stranger’s words prompted him to stop and take a closer look at his surroundings. The black-robed man was sitting cross-legged, and nestled in his lap was the little girl.

“YOU SICK BASTARD! YOU WOULD EVEN LAY YOUR HANDS ON A LITTLE GIRL?!”

“Of course not, you idiot! I meant take a look at what Ruka’s holding!” said the man as he pointed at the little girl’s hands. Touya thought he felt the air pressure on him increase a bit.

Jiggling in Ruka’s arms was the slime supposedly belonging to the adventurers who had saved the captives that Touya and his friends had encountered in Black Wind’s hideout — a group of victims that had included Ruka and her mother.

“That slime...it belongs to the adventurers we went to save...”

“That’s right. Its name is Clotho. And I’m that adventurer. The name’s Kelvin,” replied the man, flashing his gold guild card in response to Touya’s confusion.

“Th-That can’t be. The adventurers we went to save were the big man and the woman with the magical jewels that you —”

“It’s true!” cried the little girl. “I said it was big brother who saved us, didn’t I?! Those other two were friends of the bad bandits!”

“Ruka, don’t raise your voice, all right?” admonished the girl’s mother. “Esteemed Hero, please forgive my daughter’s lack of manners. However, what she says is the truth.”

Touya stared at them, speechless. In light of the testimonies of the rescued victims themselves, there was nothing he could say. Now that he’d had time to cool down, he realized that the man had never once identified himself as a member of Black Wind. In fact, judging from the circumstances, he was likely the one who had taken down the real Black Wind. Even the slime that had asked the Heroes to “back up its master” was happily obeying the guy’s orders. Putting those facts together, Touya arrived at the only logical conclusion.

“So you’re the adventurer who went ahead?!”

“Yes, as I’ve said several times already,” Kelvin answered, finally dispelling the pressure around Touya. “So can we put this little misunderstanding behind us?”

“Ah, yes, I’m terribly sorry —”

Touya’s dazed mind finally registered the heavy, rhythmic thuds that he had been hearing in the background until then. He suddenly grew aware of the gentle rolling of the floor beneath him. His mind had been so occupied by other concerns that only now did he realize they were clearly in motion.

“Where are we?”

“Do you remember the black golems you guys fought? We’re currently riding one.”

“I’m...sorry?”

Touya apprehensively took stock of his surroundings. He was in an open space the size of a room in a small apartment. The floor was black and there were safety rails surrounding the edges. Heavy footsteps could be heard at regular intervals, immediately accompanied by a feeling of the floor rolling forward.

“To be honest, I hadn’t fully thought through the transportation of the people we might be freeing. I’m so glad that golem creation magic ended up working in a pinch.”

“Jeez, big brother’s such a klutz.”

Touya could only stare blankly as Kelvin, the mother, and the girl laughed together. After watching them for a while, he suddenly started.

“Wait, Setsuna and the others! And the other rescued captives! Where are they?!”

“I put them onto another golem with my party members until we could work this out. And now that I’ve cleared things up with you, their leader, I guess you guys should meet back up. Hang on a second.”

◇ ◇ ◇

Sera, I’ve worked things out with Touya. Can you bring the other Heroes over?

::Sure thing! I was just starting to get bored. I’ll carry them over all at once.::

I turned back to the puzzled Hero. “My companion is bringing your friends over right n— ah, looks like they’re already here.”

“What?”

I looked upwards, prompting Touya to follow suit. Something was drawing closer to our unusual “carriage.”

“We’re here!”

With an explosive sound, Sera made quite an entrance, falling from the sky with Nana and Miyabi under her arms and Setsuna clinging to her back. It was easy to forget that Sera, as a demon, had wings. Thanks to her Clip of Camouflage, those wings were normally invisible, but they still retained their function. Paired with her Flight skill, she pretty much had complete freedom to fly wherever she wanted.

“Ughhh, I feel like I might throw up again...”

“That was...a new experience!”

In contrast to Nana, whose face was pale as she pressed a hand to her mouth, Miyabi’s eyes were sparkling like stars. It was like the difference between someone who loved roller coasters and someone who couldn’t handle them at all.

“I was bored, so I came as quickly as I could! Let’s have tea, Kelvin!”

“Looks like you brought more than just the Heroes with you.”

“Efil thoughtfully prepared these snacks for us to enjoy. She really does listen to everything you say, doesn’t she? I invited her to come along too, but she said she’d continue keeping a lookout instead. Don’t you think she’s a bit too serious sometimes?”

“I want to eat some too!”

“Ruka, honey, how many times do I have to tell you...”

Speaking of which, I had indeed asked Efil to keep an eye out for us with her Farsight. I should probably do something to make it up to her when we get back to Toraj.

“Uh, Touya, so...you heard everything?” asked Setsuna as she hopped down from Sera’s back.

“Yes, I have. Turns out it was all a misunderstanding. Setsuna, Nana, Miyabi, I’m sorry for dragging you into my mess.” Touya bowed his head to his friends in apology. Then he turned towards me, getting down on his knees. “Kelvin-san, I’m so sorry for taking such extreme actions based on a misunderstanding and causing you so much trouble in the process.”

As Touya got into position to prostrate himself, the other Heroes behind him followed suit. I quickly moved to stop all of them, feeling totally flustered. After all, I was the one who set things up to play out that way, based on a whim. Then again, the blind sense of justice that these Heroes possess is a little worrying, so perhaps this incident has given them some food for thought.

“There’s no point in dwelling on it. What matters more is that you guys keep your word regarding the prize we agreed on. If you do this one thing for me, I’m more than happy to let bygones be bygones.”

With that, I explained the circumstances surrounding Black Wind’s defeat in full. Having been given a basic rundown by Mist-san beforehand as well, the four readily agreed to cooperate.

“If our identities as Heroes can be of help to someone, then to answer that need is our duty. However, it would not serve as our punishment. Kelvin-san, do you not have anything else that you want us to do?”

“Anything else? Uh...something I want you guys to do...” My words trailed off as I shot a quick glance at Sera and Ruka, who had apparently already started digging into the food. Come on, you guys started without me? I mean, it’s fine, but still.

“Ruka, you have any good ideas for punishments?”

“Punishments? Mmmmm...what about seiza!”

“Seiza?”

“In Toraj, bad boys and girls are made to sit in a pose called seiza while they’re being scolded. It’s very tough!”

“Well...all right, then. You lot, sit in this seiza pose until we reach Toraj.”

“Umm...how long would that be, Kelvin-san?”

“Riding on this golem? About half a day.”

Touya and Nana froze in shock. Sensing their reactions, Setsuna turned to them and said worriedly, “I’m used to it, myself, but...will you two be all right?”

The last Hero, Miyabi, had apparently never even heard the term before. “Setsuna, you know this? What is seiza?”

Sitting on the rhythmically rolling floor of the great golem as it strode towards Toraj, the Heroes learned that their true trials had only just begun.

◇ ◇ ◇

Soon enough, we had successfully returned the rescued captives to Toraj. Since the transport golem would have attracted undue attention strolling up to the city gates, we dismounted a distance away and covered the last leg on foot. Aside from Setsuna, all of the Heroes were completely exhausted, so I brought them back to their feet with the help of White Magic. It seemed like Miyabi had been slightly traumatized by the seiza ordeal, but...well, there was no magic cure for that.

As the Adventurer’s Guild had already sent word to the Queen of Toraj, I had expected us to be welcomed back with a huge festival and the whole city out in full force...but no. There was a representative of the royal palace at the guild, however, and we found him anxiously conversing with Mist-san when we arrived.

Upon seeing us, the representative scanned the faces of the women we had saved, then made a beeline for one in particular. Both of them burst into tears as they hugged each other fiercely. As it turns out, the two of them were engaged and it was one of those stereotypically emotional homecoming scenes.

The woman had gone missing just the other day while on her way to Parth, prompting her fiancé to issue a missing person quest to the guild. By sheer coincidence, he had ended up being the appointed representative when Mist-san contacted the queen about the sensitive Black Wind situation. Ever since, he had been stopping by the guild day in and day out, repeatedly checking for updates.

The couple wept profusely, thanking me again and again.

The other women, including Ruka and her mother, Ellie-san, were placed under the protection of the guild, which would be helping to confirm their identities in cooperation with the higher-ups of Toraj. It probably wouldn’t be too long before Parth, Deramis, and Gaun caught wind of the incident and sent inquiries to Trycen. We had the Heroes’ testimonies now, so there was no way that Trycen could squirm out of it.

“See you again soon, big brother!”

“Thank you so very much, esteemed adventurers and Heroes.”

After parting with Ruka — who energetically waved her arms and shouted “Bye-bye!” the whole time until she disappeared from sight — my party, the Heroes, Mist-san, and I were escorted to Toraj Castle. It seemed the queen wanted to thank us in person.

I knew this was the meeting that would determine whether I could finally get my hands on rice. According to my earlier conversation with Mist-san, this specific strain — the description of which sounded extremely similar to that of modern Japanese rice — was harvested only in Toraj. Although it was a local staple and therefore served at inns, it was not an exported product, and only permanent residents of Toraj were allowed to purchase it.

I, of course, wanted to be able to eat it every day. I doubted that I’d be able to say, “All right, gimme rice!” right up front, but I thought I might have a chance depending on how negotiations went. Please grant me a special purchasing permit!

Toraj Castle stood upon a small, remote island off the coast. Like the city itself, its architectural style seemed to have a slight Japanese influence. The beautiful body of water that faced the city was called the Dragon Sea, rumored to be home to the Water Dragon King. There were many related stories and legends, such as how, during a past war, a storm had sprung up to sink approaching enemy ships, or how a gigantic dragon had appeared to chase their enemies away. As a result, Toraj worshiped the Water Dragon King as their national guardian and greatly cherished the sea.

Our procession boarded a boat at the local port, which was the only way to reach the castle. Throughout our journey, Sera’s eyes practically sparkled with her first experience of traveling by water.

“From up close, the water looks so clear and beautiful...”

“It really is beautiful,” agreed Efil. “And it’s so clear that even the fish are visible from here.”

“What? Fish? Where?”

“Over there. Ah, there are some over here as well.”

“I’ve got pretty good eyesight myself, but I can’t see anything.”

Efil pointed towards the spot she’d been referring to. However, like Sera, I couldn’t even make out the silhouettes in the water. Then again, that was hardly surprising given Efil’s Farsight skill. In the absence of any obstacles, she was capable of seeing...well, very far. I bet if she raised the skill to Rank S, she could even see past the horizon, I thought jokingly. Luckily, she could adjust the distance of her sight at will, so the skill did not impair her day-to-day life.

As we drew closer to the castle, the Heroes began to chat about our destination.

“So that’s Toraj Castle. It looks a bit like a Japanese castle,” murmured Touya.

“You think so too, Kanzaki-kun? The dragon decorations on the roof look sort of like shachihokos, don’t they?”

Hm, I thought the same thing. I suppose we Japanese folks would have that impression.

“According to the legends, the founder of our kingdom was summoned from another world, just as you were. It could be that his hometown was the same as yours,” offered Mist-san.

“The same as ours...was he summoned by an earlier Oracle of Deramis, the same way Colette summoned us?”

“The Oracles only summon Heroes, so I believe our founder reached this world through another means. Although such individuals are rare and not much is known about other forms of transmigration, there are credible records that attest to their existence.”

Setsuna looked pensive. “That sounds like what we would call ‘being spirited away’ in our world. Who knows, maybe there are such people closer than we imagine.”

“Ahaha, Setsuna-chan, what would be the chances of that?” laughed Nana.

“You’re right, I suppose. That would be quite far-fetched, wouldn’t it?”

Ahaha, but there is one right here. This Setsuna seems pretty sharp. Is it just me or does she somewhat suspect me of being an otherworlder too?

I had long since revealed my origins to my own party members after being exposed by Rio. Although I’d had to drum up quite a bit of courage to come clean, all of them took the news in stride.

“Um, Master is Master. My loyalty to you will never change.”

“Well, can’t say I’m surprised. After all, my king, your strength is unnatural by all accounts! Ah hah hah!”

“Otherworlder? Sure, why not. More importantly, is my new gear ready yet?”

That was pretty much how the whole conversation had gone. If I didn’t know any better, I might have suspected them of possessing Nerves of Steel. And about these other transmigrators, they were probably the victims of some god or goddess’s whim, weren’t they? The topic’s pretty interesting, though. Maybe Melfina can shed some light on it when she returns.

“Didn’t meet others in Deramis. Encounter chance lower than Touya’s lecher luck disappearing,” chimed in Miyabi.

“I really am sorry about those accidents! Speaking of which, it hasn’t happened at all lately.”

“Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen or heard of any such accounts since we reached Toraj. What, are you in a slump? I would much prefer it if you’d stay this way forever.”

“Setsuna always cleaning up. Touya always causing trouble.”

“It’s not like I do it on purpose...”

Oho, this topic sounds interesting too. Damn, I’m totally eavesdropping on them right now. But if I’m understanding the conversation correctly, the big Hero has that disposition so common to male protagonists in romantic comedy manga, huh? Hahaha, how about you explode and die while you’re at it? Wait, so that Absolute Gospel skill that he possesses...is this its effect?

The thing about Unique Skills was that they couldn’t be acquired with SP, which meant I couldn’t look them up to read their descriptions. Even when I knew the name of one, I had no way of confirming what it actually did.

“Normally, by this time, you’d have tripped over nothing and taken a dive into Nana’s chest, forgotten the time and walked in on Miyabi bathing, or ‘accidentally’ harassed a random female passerby. Thankfully, I have the Danger Detection skill, which helps me to avoid all of that nonsense. But still, this must be the first time you’ve gone so long without doing anything inappropriate.”

“Come on, Setsuna, you know I can’t help it! And I always make sure to apologize properly...”

“Hey, Hero, I’m gonna need you to sit a bit farther away from Efil and Sera,” I warned.

“You too, Kelvin-san?!”

Yep, sounds like my guess about his skill is spot on. I take back what I said during the game: he’s the most dangerous one of them all. For some unknown reason, that shady skill doesn’t seem to be in effect right now. But I will not be letting down my guard. After all, there’s no telling when more of his stereotypical protagonist bullshit might kick in.

With everyone present activating their detection skills for various reasons, our procession finally arrived at Toraj Castle.

◇ ◇ ◇

Once inside the castle, we were escorted to a room the size of a standard Japanese banquet hall. I specifically liken it to a Japanese banquet hall because tatami mats covered the entire floor. In addition, the room had paper sliding doors and hanging scrolls for decorations. In just about every way, it looked like a room from a traditional ryokan inn back home.

At the far end of the chamber sat the sovereign of our host country.

“Well met, adventurers and Heroes. I am Tsubaki Fujiwara, the current queen of Toraj.”

To my surprise, the queen was a young girl. In fact, her appearance suggested that she might be even younger than the Heroes. However, the overwhelming aura of dignity and confidence that she emitted left no doubt about her status. With her floor-length, glossy black hair and resplendent kimono, she looked like a princess straight out of ancient Japan.

I’m pretty sure she’s the first person I’ve met in this world who has a family name. Not that I’m surprised, though, considering all the Japanese influences around here.

In this world, only nobility and royalty had family names. This was a custom shared by all of the countries. I had peeked at quite a number of Statuses with Analyze Eye, but I had yet to see anyone else with a family name. Supposedly, a high-rank skill called Naming was required to grant peerage to someone who wasn’t previously a noble, but that was irrelevant at the moment.

I got down on one knee and lowered my head. “We are deeply honored for this audience, Your Majesty. My name is Kelvin, and I serve as the leader of this party. As we are but lowly adventurers, the opportunity to be presented to Your Majesty is an enormous honor. Behind me are Efil, Gerard, and Sera. All of them are my trusted allies.”

I did not have Clotho Summoned at the moment. According to Melfina, Toraj had once been left on the brink of collapse by another Slime Gluttonia. Although Clotho was much smaller, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to err on the side of caution. It was imperative that I afforded the queen every courtesy in order to establish a good relationship with her.

Efil used her Service skill practically every day and Gerard had been a knight in the past, so I wasn’t worried about either of them. The loose cannon, as I saw it, was Sera. Although I had talked with her about it beforehand, would her pride as a demon prevent her from showing respect to a human, even if said human was the ruler of a country?

::Don’t worry! I was a princess, okay? I learned how to greet other royals as part of my education. And...well, I wouldn’t do anything that’d cause you any trouble.::

The sudden telepathic message from Sera prompted me to shoot a look in her direction. She was down on one knee and in a proper pose of respect. In fact, she seemed to be radiating dignity and elegance to match that of the queen.

Look at you being a perfect princess. Why don’t you do this normally?

::Because it’s super tiring!::

Is that so.

In spite of the friendly jab, I found myself feeling thankful to her yet again. All said and done, she was often considerate of me in her own way.

Next, the Heroes made their introductions, after which the queen relaxed her expression.

“Be at ease and raise your faces. I, too, dislike standing on ceremony. Feel free to rest a bit. I have arranged enough seats for all of you, so let us enjoy a nice long talk together.”

The Heroes began to whisper excitedly amongst themselves. I didn’t catch it all, but I did hear Nana saying, “Kanzaki-kun, those are floor cushions! They’re so nostalgic! They’re so soft!” and Touya responding with, “I know, right? I never imagined I’d have the chance to sit on a floor cushion in a tatami room here!” The group appeared to be on a strange high, possibly a lingering effect from the seiza ordeal while riding the golem.

“I do notice, Kelvin-dono, that you and your party seem quite well-versed in courtesies, in spite of your status as adventurers. The majority of adventurers that I’ve met had no concept of basic etiquette. The contrast is not lost on me.”

We’ve made a good first impression. Nice.

“We are unworthy of such words, Your Majesty.”

“Do not put yourself down unnecessarily,” the queen chuckled. “Judging from the collar on your maid, she is your slave, is she not? All of her mannerisms, be it her walk or gestures, indicate a deep understanding of what it takes to treat you, as her master, with respect. Having educated a slave in such excellent etiquette is a testament to your worth.”

Uh, Efil learned all of that stuff herself, though...still, this young girl sure picked up on a lot in the short time since we entered the room. She really does live up to her title.

“When it comes to Sera-dono, I feel like I am facing a noble. As for Gerard-dono, his appearance seems to indicate that he is a knight. That said, I understand that prying into an adventurer’s past is frowned upon, so I will not press. What matters most is that you are the champions who have brought down Black Wind.”

“We are deeply grateful for your consideration.”

“Say no more of it. Well then, Heroes of Deramis, I heard that you were of great assistance to Kelvin-dono during his raid of Black Wind’s headquarters. Your swift decisions and prompt actions upon receiving word from Mist-dono are worthy of commendation.”

“Uh, we didn’t —”

“Indeed, the Heroes saved us from a truly precarious situation.”

“Uh, hold on a — what, Kelvin-san?!”

Just hush and take the credit, I thought with an internal sigh. If you’re serious about defeating the Demon Lord in the future, establishing connections with other countries is extremely important. Consider it also to be an apology for all the trouble I caused you.

“Splendid, splendid. Both parties have indeed served our country well. However, I am afraid I have some disappointing news.” Here, the young queen’s face adopted a troubled expression that seemed to better fit her age. “Under normal circumstances, this would be an achievement worthy of rousing the entire city in celebration. However, given how deeply Trycen is involved in this matter, we will not be able to publicly release the details any time soon. I still wish to repay all of you for saving our country’s precious citizens, though. Tell me, what do you desire?”

The queen looked at Touya and me in turn. Touya spoke first.

“We ask for nothing in return. In spite of what Kelvin-san has said, we did not contribute anything to the Black Wind subjugation. All credit and rewards should go to his party instead.”

“How do you feel about that, Kelvin-dono?”

Well, can’t say I’m surprised. I thought he might refuse the credit.

“In that case,” I ventured, “I have heard that Toraj has a grain rumored to be absolutely delicious, but it can be purchased only by the citizens of this country. May I be so forward as to ask for a purchasing permit?”

“That is all you wish for? You may have status, fame, and money if you so choose. There is much within my power to grant. Are you sure of your decision?”

“We are adventurers who enjoy our freedom. Accepting a status unbefitting of our station in life would only shackle us. Given a choice, we would much prefer to fill our stomachs with delicious food.”

Gerard and Sera nodded in agreement while Efil simply smiled.

The queen chuckled, then burst into delighted laughter. “What curious company indeed! Here I was, expecting you to be ruled by desire as the Champions of Trycen were. I stand corrected, much to my entertainment and surprise. Kelvin-dono, do not concern yourself with a purchasing permit. You shall have rice by the sackfuls. When you run out, simply send me a letter and I shall arrange for more to be delivered to you at no cost to yourself.”

“Were you testing us, Your Majesty?”

“Not with any untoward intentions, of course. Had you chosen to accept money or status, I would have given you what you asked for without belittlement or trickery. All this means is that I have taken a liking to you.”

The queen’s laughter rang out pleasantly once more in an obvious display of good spirits.

Looks like the negotiations have gone quite well.

“Touya-dono,” the queen continued, “you are indeed the Hero they say you are. You possess a simple honesty and a straightforward personality. These are wonderful traits in moderation. When taken too far, however, they will lead you to an early death — likely in a manner that will not allow your allies to escape unscathed, either.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” replied Touya, clenching his fists.

“That said, do not be so hard on yourself. We all learn as we live. What matters most, Touya-dono, is our experiences and applying the lessons that we learn from them. Setsuna-dono, Nana-dono, and Miyabi-dono, make sure that you support him as needed.”

“I shall take your words to heart, Your Majesty.”

“Good response. Well then, although modest, I have made arrangements for a celebratory feast tonight. I pray you will all enjoy it.”

The queen clapped her small hands together once and several screens on the side of the room slid open, revealing female servants bearing a large assortment of dishes.

Nana’s eyes sparkled. “I can’t believe it! They’ve got sashimi and takikomi gohan! And is that a pot for nabe also?! Amazing; it’s all Japanese cuisine!”

Setsuna looked deeply impressed as well. “From what I can see, the ingredients are not quite the same, but this is undoubtedly Japanese cooking...”

“I have heard that you Heroes hail from a country called Japan, which is where our kingdom’s founder, Toraji Fujiwara, originally came from. He left behind much of his unique culture in this country, so it is my hope that tonight may serve as a small reminder of your homeland. As for Kelvin-dono, feel free to take this as an opportunity to taste the rice that our country is so proud of.”

“I shall gratefully take you up on that offer.”

Moments later, I had taken my first bite of rice since coming to this world. The sensation was unbelievably delicious and terribly nostalgic.

◇ ◇ ◇

After the audience at the castle, my party and I checked in at the inn where the queen had arranged rooms for us and, for the first time in quite a while, just lounged about. I read a book; Sera was sprawled out on her bed, sipping on fruit juice; and Gerard polished his beloved sword. Efil was making dinner for us in the kitchen downstairs, a tiny clone of Clotho once again sitting on her shoulder. The Heroes were in their own rooms.

“Oh, yeah. Sera and Gerard, do you guys not have family names?” Back when I had Contracted with each of them, I had checked their respective Statuses. Neither of them had family names listed.

Sera looked over. “Where did that come from?”

“The topic just struck me when we met the queen and she included ‘Fujiwara’ as a family name. If I remember correctly, it’s only nobility and royalty who have family names here, right? Sera, you being a princess means that you were royalty; and Gerard, you being a knight means you had peerage back then, right? So why do you only have first names?”

“Ahh, that’s what you mean.”

“Hmm, how can I explain this? You know of the Naming skill, my king?”

“In a general sense, I guess. I only glimpsed it for a second while scrolling through the Skills tab on my Status screen. That skill is how family names are added, right?”

Naming was quite literally used for naming people and things. At a low rank, it gave the wielder the ability to name their own personal items, with the restriction that the item’s rank had to be the same as that of the skill or lower. At a higher rank, it could be used to name someone else’s items with the owner’s permission. At a high enough rank, even spells and other people’s names could be changed. The only problem was that names altered through this skill would show up in blue text on the Status screen, so all in all, it was not a skill that would see much general use.

“That is correct. When a country welcomes a new member of the nobility, an official who possesses the Naming skill at a high rank must be present during the ceremony. It is this official who bears the duty of bestowing the new family name. I am not sure of the exact details myself, but I believe it requires the skill to be at Rank A or higher.”

“Rank A? In other words, one would have to be blessed with both Talent Points and Growth Points just to get this one skill at such a high rank. Sounds like quite a burden.”

“That is why there are entire families who do whatever they can to produce Rank A Namers from one generation to the next, keeping their hold on a position of power and honor, and their place at court secure. To hear such families tell it, nurturing a successor is also one of their responsibilities.”

“We demons are a bit looser with the whole Naming thing,” Sera added. “It was mainly just weirdos who acquired a non-combat skill like Naming and went so far as to raise it to Rank A. Most demons are highly ambitious and willing to do whatever it takes to become nobility. Consequently, it wasn’t uncommon for demon races to break out into war over a single Namer. That’s why demons settled on a simple rule: if you acquire a family name through someone in possession of the Naming skill, you’re a noble! And each skill holder can only Name one person; first come, first served.”

“Is that why so many Demon Lords come from the demon race? In the first place, what’s to stop someone from mass-producing Namers?” What are you demons, warring barbaric tribes?

“Really? I thought you’d like that rule, Kelvin. In any case, I only learned all this through books, so the reality might be entirely different. Not to mention a lot of time has passed since my days as a princess.”

“The way we handle Naming in the human world is completely different,” Gerard offered. “Family names are bestowed only during a specific ceremony that each country hosts twice a year. Those who possess the Naming skill are forbidden from using it without express permission from their governments. Each country keeps strict records of those with family names, and it is a crime to declare oneself a noble out of the blue.”

Interesting, interesting. Hey, wait a moment. If I remember correctly, that pig of a prince who picked a fight with me back in Parth didn’t have a family name, either. Why was that?

“What about children born to noble parents? Do they not inherit the family name from birth?”

“No, they do not. All children must undergo a Naming ceremony to receive the family name. The particulars depend on the family, but the general practice is to do this when the child is ready to move out and become independent.”

Which means Little Piggy wasn’t independent yet, huh. Well, things might be different for royalty for all I know.

“I see. Thanks, I think I get the gist of it now. So, to wind the conversation back a bit, Sera and Gerard, are you two not nobles?”

“I’m royalty, which is different from nobility. In spite of everything that happened, my father was a king, after all. The thing is, he left me unconscious while enacting my escape, so even I’m not sure how or why my family name is gone.”

“Sounds to me like your father got the demon who Named you to undo it, lass. If you had kept your family name, it would have drawn a lot of unwanted attention, no? Namers can revoke any Naming they’ve performed with the permission of a blood relative of the Named person.”

Considering all the trouble Demon Lord Gustav went to when he sealed Sera away, including setting it up so that other demons couldn’t touch her chains and making sure that she had the Clip of Camouflage to disguise herself, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he had her family name erased as well.

“Gerard has a point. Lone nobles make great targets for bad people.”

“Well, anyone who targets me will eat my fist, so I should be fine.”

That’s...not quite what I meant.

“As for me,” continued Gerard, “although I originally came from a family of peasant farmers, I did indeed receive a family name when I was appointed Knight Captain, thanks to the generosity of the King of Alcahl. If I had to guess, I probably lost my family name when I returned as a Black Spirit Knight. Being transformed into a monster must have undone the Naming.”

“In other words, there are ways of losing a family name beyond it simply being revoked by the Namer.”

“I guess,” replied Sera. “In any case, I’m just plain old Sera now. And this very reliable shield is plain old Gerard. Things worked out fine, don’t you think?” She gave us a peaceful smile as she turned face down on the bed and started flapping her legs. Although I was reluctant to admit it, I felt my heart skip a beat.

Knock-knock.

The reserved rap on the door indicated that it was Efil on the other side.

“Master, dinner is ready. I have learned how to properly cook rice and have memorized all of the Japanese recipes that the chef sent by the queen could teach me.”

“Well done, Efil! I’m so glad we didn’t have to rely on the very limited bits and pieces of cooking knowledge in my memory. Now I can enjoy rice every day, even after returning to Parth! You. Are. The. MVP!!”

Without thinking about it, I lifted up Efil’s slender body and started spinning her round and round. What? I might have the lowest Strength stat in our party, but even I’m capable of this much! Even being at the lower end of my party’s strength still places me higher than your average adventurer!

“M-M-Master, I’m getting dizzzyyyyy!”

“Hahaha! And what’s wrong with that?! This is cause for celebration!”

“But it’s embarrassinnnggggg!”

Of course, I did not stop. I’m going to keep spinning forever!

“Ohhh, it’s been quite a while since I last saw such a spontaneous reaction from Efil.”

“Really? That’s her being spontaneous? Well...I guess it is kind of different from her usual cool self.”

“She started paying attention to her mannerisms after becoming a maid. Her cute reactions right now are how she was in the beginning.”

“M-M-M-Master, STOP IT! Sit!”

“What am I, a dog?!”

Efil’s excited shrieks continued for a little while longer.

“Hey, guys, what’s going on here...uh, what are you doing, Kelvin-san?”

Touya had come to investigate the source of the noise. He was alone since, at Setsuna’s request regarding the sleeping arrangements, he had been assigned to a separate room all by himself.

◇ ◇ ◇

As we had gone to the trouble of traveling all the way to a different country, Efil, Sera, and I were going to spend the day sightseeing in Toraj. Gerard went off on his own, saying that he would be helping the Heroes to pick out new equipment. So it was just me out and about with a beautiful lady and a cute girl by my side. It made for a rather conspicuous sight, to put it mildly, and we encountered a number of hoodlums who attempted to accost us. Each time, the merciless Sera would jump straight to using her fists, so it fell to me, as the weakest member of the group, to gently rebuff all such advances. To avoid causing any further trouble, we eventually settled on checking out some relatively vacant stores.

“Kelvin, Kelvin, buy this for me! Just look — it’s so artistic!”

As we were poking around an antique shop, Sera emerged from the back holding a suspicious-looking decoration that bore a passing resemblance to a Buddhist statue, but with a design so demonic that I could imagine some shady cult member trying to convince me it was their one true god. Oh, right, this girl is a demon...

“What do you plan to do with that?”

“Uh...ward off evil?”

“I can only see it attracting evil! Go put it back where you found it!”

“What?! But it looks so cool!”

Since we were planning on buying something in particular, we did not have too much money to burn at the moment. Also, although we did have some spare cash, me letting Sera buy whatever she wanted would not have been conducive to her education. She pestered me relentlessly but I hardened my heart.

“Master, over there...”

“Hm? What is it?”

This time, it was Efil who was talking. It didn’t sound like she had found something she wanted, though. Rather, there was a troubled expression on her face as she pointed at the front window of the store.

I’d buy anything Efil asked for on the spot, of course.

“Kelvin! Our conversation is not over yet!”

“As far as I’m concerned, it was over ages ago!” Seriously, how about you talk about something more constructive? “So, Efil, what are we looking at?”

While attempting to placate Sera’s indignant protests, I turned to look outside and immediately recognized the figures of Touya and his party. Possibly having gotten separated somewhere along the way, Gerard was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the teens were currently accompanied by one of the groups of hoodlums we had turned away earlier. Looks like I was a bit too gentle before.

“You bastard! First that other guy, and now you’re bringing such cuties around?! You people doing this to spite us or something?!”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Would you mind explaining a bit —”

“Shut up! I’ve had enough. Lemme start by fixing that pretty boy face you got there!”

“Calm down! How about we talk this out? Don’t worry, I’m sure we can come to understand each other!”

“Touya, that attitude is only going to provoke them more —”

“Annoyance. To be eliminated without delay. Let’s do it.”

“You BRATS!”

“Someone help! A fight’s broken out!”

What the hell am I watching? Look how naturally Mr. Hero and his friends got caught up in a fight. These thugs are hardly the kinds of opponents they’d need my help with, but I didn’t think the state of Toraj’s public order was this bad. Could this be “normal” for all Heroes? Or is this happening specifically because of Touya’s disposition? Either way, this single episode is enough to show me how tough Setsuna has it every day.

“Should we not help them?” asked Efil, removing her bow from Clotho’s Storage.

“Nah, there’s no need. I can’t imagine gaining anything from dealing with such low-tier enemies, and it’s not like the Heroes can’t handle them on their own. Besides, getting involved with Touya’s business is probably more trouble than it’s — uh, where’s Sera?”

Our other companion, who had been whining noisily next to me just moments before, was no longer in the store with us. The demonic Buddhist statue that she had been so hung up on was carelessly rolling about on the floor.

“Master, outside. Over there.”

“Where?”

Efil once again pointed out the window, so I looked back over.

“Stop right there! Why would you bully the weak that way?! Looks like you need to be taught some manners!”

Surprised by her sudden entrance, Touya cried, “Sera-san!”

“Who the f— hold on, you’re with the black-haired dude from just before, aren’t you?! You’re out of luck having bumped into us again!”

“Please wait. ‘Weak’ refers to them,” chimed in Miyabi. Then, with a derisive snort, she added a short, “Weaklings!”

“This silver-haired bitch!”

“How about we all just calm down! I don’t want to have to resort to violence either!” cried Touya desperately.

Seeing Sera’s entrance, Miyabi provoking the hell out of the gangsters, and Touya’s unintentional throwing of oil onto the flames, I ran out of the store in a hurry.

“What the hell do these guys think they’re doing?!”

◇ ◇ ◇

Blue sea, blue sky, white sand. After resolving the earlier hiccup, we had all decided to head for one of Toraj’s famous beaches together. With the exception of our little shopping spree, we had been spending most of our time on nothing but quests lately, so I wanted my friends to enjoy this rare day off to their hearts’ content.

“Um, Master...what do you think?”

When I finished changing into my swimwear, I found Efil waiting alone outside, dressed in a pale one-piece swimsuit that perfectly complimented her porcelain-like skin. There was a slight blush on her cheeks, perhaps due to the embarrassment of showing more of her body than usual. Her bashful expression was like an arrow through my heart. In contrast to when I had bought her, her gaunt body had filled out in a healthy way.

“It suits you very well, Efil. So much so that I want to take you home with me right now.”

“Thank you very much! Um, but we’ve only just arrived at the beach.”

The way that Efil would reply to my jokes with such a straight answer was one of the many things I loved about her.

“Speaking of having just arrived, where’s Sera? She went to get changed with you, didn’t she?”

“Sera-san has already gone ahead to the sea. She looked extremely excited.”

“I...see...”

That Sera, she couldn’t bear to wait any longer and already went off to swim? I understand being excited about visiting the beach for the first time, but she could have at least waited for everyone to get changed first...

“Efil-san, where is the meetup point?” Setsuna’s voice called out.

“Chest...overwhelming difference in power...”

Setsuna, Nana, and Miyabi also emerged in their swimwear. Miyabi had her hands on her own chest and was muttering something while looking back and forth between Nana’s and Efil’s bodies. Don’t worry, yours are not small, they are modest. That said, comparing yours to Nana’s — seeing as hers are about the same size as Efil’s in spite of her young appearance — is not going to end well.

Setsuna’s body, on the other hand, was well toned thanks to her daily training. She was not too muscular, and her chest was also rather sizab— whoa, hold on, what the hell have I been thinking this whole time?! I’m too young to be a pervy old man. Get yourself together, Kelvin!

::With you being in the prime of your life, my king, such thoughts are hardly unusual given all the pretty girls in swimsuits before your eyes. I would be worried if you weren’t paying attention to them.::

Gerard...stop reading my mind.

This grandpa had ended up rejoining us shortly after the incident with the hoodlums. In fact, he had shown up with such perfect timing that I half suspected he’d been watching from the sidelines and had waited to make his appearance. According to him, he had been separated from the Heroes after becoming too engrossed in looking through the various equipment displays.

At the moment, he had returned to my magic pool after his usual refusal to remove his armor. I had tried baiting him with all of the fun activities that one associates with the beach, including fishing, but he had firmly turned them all down.

Wait, could this swimsuit thing be the reason why?

::Hahaha, this may be eye candy for you, my king, but for me, it is akin to watching my grandchildren playing in the water. If I’m being honest, I’m staying here more to poke fun at you than anything else.::

All right, how about I Summon you inside the sea?

::Now, just hold on! I was joking! Only joking! I’ll rust in the water!::

Oh, don’t worry, your armor isn’t weak enough to rust in mere seawater. You would sink though.

::Clotho, say something to your master for me!::

The slime was also resting inside my magic pool. I very much wanted to let it out to play with us, but just like during our audience with the queen, it was hard to bring such a creature out into the open in Toraj.

I’ll treat you to some great food when we return to Parth, so please bear with me for now.

::See, my king, even Clotho is backing me up!::

All right, all right. I don’t get what’s so fun about watching me, but knock yourself out.

::Seeing youngsters enjoying themselves is a favorite pastime of elderly folk. In any case, don’t worry about me. You go enjoy yourself too, my king.::

I guess if this is considered “resting” for Gerard, then why not.

“Umm, thank you for waiting for us,” said Nana.

“I know it’s a bit late to bring this up,” Setsuna added in a slightly apologetic tone, “but are you sure about us joining you, Kelvin-san? We’re not imposing, are we?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. When it comes to beach trips, the more the merrier, right?” Plus, I get an eyef— nope, I said nothing.

Efil seemed occupied as she examined her swimsuit. “Master, the concept of this article of clothing is amazing. To think, it’s actually designed for getting wet!”

I had been surprised myself when I learned that this world had swimsuits too. Apparently, they were specialty products made by merpeople who lived in a settlement in the Dragon Sea, located within Toraj’s borders. Their methods of production were an absolute mystery, and they traded with Toraj in exchange for the kingdom’s protection. I was told that if I was lucky, I might happen upon a merperson walking around the city. Do they use magic to grow legs or something?

“The colors seem a bit bland compared to what we had back in Japan, but these are of the same quality in every other way.”

“Mystery technology.”

Our unconventional first impressions aside, the Heroes bumping into my party here in Toraj was probably some stroke of fate. I thought it would be a good idea for all of us to use this time at the beach to get to know each other a bit better. However...

“Kelvin-san, how could you leave me behind?”

“Ahh, sorry about that. I just couldn’t wait to see the ocean.” Touya, your Absolute Gospel warrants the utmost vigilance here.

I had gone to the meeting point ahead of him, intending to forestall any possible incidents. As I had feared, Efil had already been waiting there all alone. If this were a romcom manga, there’d be no telling what sort of crazy trouble Touya might have caused. He was a perverted bomb that could go off at any moment. Sorry, man, but I’m going to keep all of my detection skills on full alert for the duration of this trip.

::My king, I don’t think you need to be that concerned about the lad...::

If I’m doing this, I’m going all out.

Once everyone arrived and I had renewed my resolve to keep Touya in check, we headed towards the water together. When we reached the shoreline, we found a certain someone waiting for us, arms crossed and legs spread.

“Kelvin! I don’t know how to swim! You’ll have to teach me!”

Sera was wearing a bikini that showed off her perfect hourglass figure. Her appearance was so stimulating that it drew the eyes of every single man who walked past and invoked a genuine look of despair on Miyabi’s face. There stood the Demon Lord’s daughter, her fire-red side tail blowing in the coastal wind, a look of absolute confidence on her face.

It did not slip my notice that her swimsuit was slightly wet. In other words, she must have already tried diving in and then given up.

“Sera, if you can’t swim, why did you get into the water by —”

“I overestimated myself!”

“Master, I’m ashamed to admit it, but I did the same as well...”

You too, Efil? But you looking embarrassed is cute, so all is forgiven.

“Hey, Heroes, I’ll be teaching these two how to swim. You four go on ahead and have some fun in the meantime.”

“If you need a hand, I can also help teach —”

“No, thanks!”

“Oh, no you don’t!”

My quick refusal overlapped with Setsuna’s shout. It struck me that this must be the responsibility that Setsuna was always shouldering. Such a heavy burden at such a young age...

Once we entered the water, Sera mastered the ability to swim in less than five minutes, without all that much teaching from me, and started doing the butterfly stroke all over the place like a pro. The thought, Don’t her wings add extra resistance when she swims? briefly flashed across my mind, but it didn’t seem to be an issue.

By the time we packed up to go home, Efil had become as proficient at swimming as the average person. My concerns about Touya’s Absolute Gospel skill proved to be in vain. All in all, it was a very enjoyable day off indeed.

◇ ◇ ◇

About a week had passed since Christoph and his companions had been apprehended and charged as the primary culprits behind Black Wind’s activities. According to the Heroes’ original schedule, they should have been out on the open sea bound for the Western Continent by now. However, the civil officials who would normally process the seaport’s paperwork suddenly found themselves having to handle the fallout surrounding the gangsters, part of which included procuring the Heroes’ testimonies for both Toraj and the guild’s records.

While those officials scrambled around in a frenzy, Touya and his friends found themselves with a week or so of downtime and nothing much to do.

I couldn’t very well sit by and let them waste that time twiddling their thumbs. So, after our joint day at the beach, I used the rest of the week to give them a bit of training inside a nearby dungeon.

At Rank A, Dragon Sea Cave was the most dangerous dungeon in the vicinity of Toraj, so much so that everything inside it could kill an average adventurer in a single blow.

Based on the “game” I had played with the Heroes the other day, I knew that they were certainly stronger than Christoph and his buddies — in other words, stronger than experienced Rank A adventurers. Consequently, they were going to need a dungeon like this to get anything worthwhile out of their training.

As for why I was doing the training...well, there wasn’t any particular reason. I suppose it was partly because they were the group that Melfina had gone to the trouble of bringing over, and also partly because they were Japanese too (not that I’d told them about myself).

Although it had only been a few days since we first met, I was familiar enough with them now that it would prick my conscience if I heard about them dying horribly somewhere. They seemed to be serious about defeating the Demon Lord, so this was my way of giving them a little boost. Personally, I wanted to fight a Demon Lord too, but self-restraint is important sometimes.

“Damn, it’s so soft and springy that I can’t cut it with my sword!”

“Touya, be careful! Octogigants can emit electricity!”

“Miyabi and Nana, stay focused! Being in support roles, you should always keep an eye on the overall situation! If it looks like the front line can’t retreat in time, make a path for them by freezing the water! That should help a bit!”

“Understood, Kelvin-san!”

“Touya, think of better ways to use your White Magic! Fighting doesn’t only involve charging forward with your sword and spamming spells left and right!”

“Yessir!”

In this way, I was having the four Heroes fight against actual monsters while giving them pointers along the way, and stepping in myself when things got too dicey.

The creature that they were currently facing was a Rank A monster called an Octogigant. This enormous green octopus had extremely slimy and flexible skin that was highly resistant to physical attacks, as well as antenna-like horns all over its body, each capable of releasing high voltage electrical blasts. Since nearly the entire battle zone was covered in water, that ability was especially troubling, creating a need for imaginative and flexible thinking when facing off against it.

After several rounds of fighting against similarly powerful monsters, I would allow them to get some rest. Not willing to let even that time go to waste, my party and I spent the breaks drilling fundamentals into them. Gerard took charge of the sword fighters while Efil and I handled the two mages. In the beginning, I had tried asking Sera to help out but quickly learned that she wasn’t well suited to teaching others. Apparently, her brilliance allowed her to pick up things intuitively, which in turn meant that she wasn’t good at breaking them down for others.

“This is where you brace yourself like: ugh, then boom! After that, you go bam! See? Easy, isn’t it?”

“Uh...I’m sorry, what?”

“As I said, watch closely, you go ugh! Boom! Bam! The rhythm is important.”

“Kelvin-san, can you help interpret?”

“Sorry, I don’t really get what she’s saying, either.”

Even when Sera tried to explain things in more detail, her sentences were so riddled with onomatopoeia that nobody could make heads or tails of what she was trying to tell them. My original hope was that, as a fellow user of Black Magic, Sera would make a good instructor for Miyabi, but some things just don’t work out the way you expect.

After I released her from teaching duty, my hyper companion dove into the depths of the dungeon with a Clotho clone that was specialized for battle, simply to “kill some time.” Every once in a while, a fanfare rang out inside my head, which I took to mean they were making good progress. For what it was worth, I did tell her to come back once she found the dungeon boss.

The rest of us were heading for the depths of the dungeon as well, albeit at a much slower pace. In the meantime, the Heroes continued gathering level-ups and experience as they completed match after match with the monsters along the way.

Fortunately, all four Heroes were well blessed in the stats department. My main goal was to help them get used to actual combat. Up until now, they had likely been able to get by thanks to their high stats, powerful skills, and the protection of the Holy Order of Knights. In order to reach even greater heights, however, they were going to need to step out of their comfort zones and explore their own paths. Helping them to shore up their fundamentals would enable them to do just that. Whether or not they could reach the next step of their growth as Heroes afterwards would be entirely up to them.

Something else that could potentially give them a leg up was knowledge of other skills that were out there. Even I didn’t understand it all, but for what it was worth, I told them about the doubling skills. I wasn’t sure how cost effective it would be for them to pick up those particular abilities given their rather expensive costs and the fact that all four Heroes were already nearing Level 60. But I shared the information with them just in case, and drove home the fact that this should be treated as the most classified of all secrets and that under no circumstance should they share it with anyone else. Still, I was slightly worried. If anything happens, let’s make them sit in the seiza pose again.

As an aside, Sera, Gerard, and Clotho had been unable to acquire the doubling skills — those options simply didn’t show up on the Skills Tab of their respective Status screens. The reason for this was unclear. Seeing as Efil had been able to pick up those same skills at Level 1 without a problem, we theorized that there could be race restrictions on certain abilities.

After probing our surroundings with Presence Sensing and confirming that there was no danger nearby, I announced, “All right, you guys, time for a break.”

“Hnngg, I’m so tired...”

“We are moving pretty fast,” agreed Touya. “The last time I was this exhausted was when we did that special training regimen in Deramis, I think?”

“That’s just because you guys slack off on training all the time.”

“My stomach...growling...”

“Oh, you’re right, it’s already noon. I do tend to forget the time when inside a dungeon. Efil, can you start preparing lunch?”

“Yes, Master.”

“I’ll go take first watch, my king.”

“Thanks. I’ll switch with you a bit later.”

Efil retrieved a picnic basket and a large sheet from Clotho’s Storage. After carefully laying the sheet on the ground, she deftly set up the meal in a matter of seconds.

“I’ve prepared the rice that Tsubaki-sama sent us in an easily packable style. It is a traditional dish called ‘onigiri.’ All of these contain the standard fillings used in Toraj.”

When Efil opened the basket, cheers went up from the Heroes.

“It really is onigiri!”

“It was so nice getting to have rice at Toraj Castle, but seeing it in the shape of onigiri is really taking me back...”

“I think I might be crying.”

“The side dishes also look like picnic lunch boxes. This reminds me of lunch break at school again.”

I was also quite surprised. It seemed that Efil had learned a lot more than just Japanese cuisine back in Toraj. Good job indeed! I patted her head more than I usually did. As for the Heroes, though...

“Don’t forget that we’re still inside a dungeon. What if all that cheering just now had attracted monsters? Never let your guard down.”

“Oh, that’s right...we’ll be careful.”

“Memoed in my heart.”

Well, there were a lot of things that they still needed to learn aside from combat. This time, however, I had secretly erected a Silent Whisper barrier beforehand, just in case.

“All right, then, let’s dig in.”

“Thank you for the food!” the four of them said in unison.

“Mhm, I hope you all enjoy it.”

I took a bite of the onigiri in my hand. This...is...! Inside my mouth, the rice that had been pressed together all fell apart, opening up the way for a refreshing sour taste that rushed out from the filling in the middle. The flavors were in perfect harmony, attaining godly heights that exceeded even that of the most impeccably prepared rice dish in Japan. Never had I imagined that there would be dried plums in this world! The founder of Toraj sure knew what he was doing.

What also surprised me was how, despite having learned this recipe only yesterday, Efil had already mastered the pressing of rice with a proficiency normally exhibited by veteran sushi chefs with decades of experience. Wait, that’s strange, I can’t see well with all this water in my eyes...

“Ahem, uh, Efil, it looks like you’ve gotten even more skilled than before. This is so delicious that it’s making me tear up.”

“My Cooking skill has finally reached Rank S. I put a lot of love into making this!”

Seriously? So this is how food made with Rank S Cooking tastes! Haha, I’m so touched that my body is shaking...wait, I really am feeling warmer!

“Hang on, I just got some sort of buff. Is this from your food, Efil?”

When I checked my Status, I found “Rank S Cooking/Magic Increase (Large)” in the Passive Effects area. When I trained Analyze Eye on it, a timer on the effect also popped up, currently counting down from 23 hours 59 minutes. Damn, this buff lasts an entire day?! As a test, I took one more bite.

“Mmm...so good...”

Okay, but do my eyes really have to gush with tears every time I take a bite of Rank S cooking? In any case, it doesn’t look like I received any other buffs. Maybe buffs from cooking can’t be stacked.

“Efil-san, thank you. Thank you!”

“I will never forget the taste of this onigiri.”

“I can’t stop crying...”

“Goddess Efil.”

“Uh, um...I’m glad everyone seems to be enjoying it?”

The four Heroes were also crying rivers of tears as they expressed their heartfelt thanks. You guys, it’s fine to feel grateful, but how about expressing it in a way that doesn’t freak Efil out?

Amidst the chaos, Sera returned with Clotho bouncing about on her shoulder.

“You guys started eating ahead of — whoa, what on earth is happening here?”

“Don’t worry about it. How were things on your end?”

“There was a monster room on the way, so we wiped out everything inside. Sadly, it wasn’t an infinite spawning room. I was just getting warmed up when I ran out of things to kill.”

“Monster room” was a term that showed up frequently in dungeon crawler games in reference to a special chamber where monsters would spawn in huge numbers. As a result, the monster type specific to that dungeon would appear to be “infinitely spawning.” Combined with the fact that they would proactively attack the people unfortunate enough to stumble across the room, it wasn’t hard to understand why this feature was considered the most deadly trap any adventurer should keep an eye out for. Or at least that was the general opinion. Sera, of course, had casually cleared one such room in a Rank A dungeon with only a tiny slime for backup. Little wonder I’ve been hearing the level-up fanfare going off again and again.

“Oh, and I also found the bo— what is this?! It’s delicious!”

The rather important-sounding information she’d been about to share was left unspoken in the face of Efil’s onigiri.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Phew, I’m stuffed,” sighed Sera, rubbing her belly in satisfaction after having her fill of the food. “Sooo, what were we talking about again?”

“I believe you were in the middle of telling us that you found the dungeon boss?” It’s already completely slipped her mind, hasn’t it.

“Right, right. I found a monster that kinda looked the part,” she answered, proudly puffing up her very prominent chest.

Come on, you just made Miyabi cough up blood with that move, the poor girl.

“What did it look like?”

“It was a water dragon. I’ve seen one in a book before.”

Hmm...so we’ve finally encountered a dragon, one of the top three most powerful species in this world alongside demons and angels. I think even the Heroes can currently handle a low-tier dragon, but if it’s the boss of this dungeon, we’re most definitely looking at a Rank S opponent. It’s still a bit early for them to take that on.

“Colette mentioned that monsters all over are becoming more vicious and powerful than usual due to the Demon Lord’s impending resurrection,” said Touya. “That probably goes for this dungeon boss as well.”

“Colette? Is that the Oracle of Deramis?”

“Yep, she’s the one who brought us to this world. When we first arrived, we couldn’t make heads or tails of anything.”

“Right, right, we were just chatting as usual in our classroom after school when a magic circle suddenly appeared on the ground beneath us. Everything went black, we met a goddess in a dream, and when we woke up, we found ourselves in the middle of the Great Cathedral of Deramis.”

What a clichéd way to get called over. Not that my road was any less clichéd, to be fair.

“So, how much do you guys actually know about the dungeons in this world?”

This time, it was Miyabi who spoke up first. As if reciting by rote, she said, “Dungeons are places with high magic density, dangerous regions, or abandoned buildings where monsters have taken to wandering about. Although they are called ‘dungeons,’ they vary greatly in form, some examples of which include labyrinths, caves, and forests. While dangerous, they also contain valuable items and precious treasures that make them very attractive to adventurers. Within the deepest part of each dungeon is a boss monster. Bosses are frequently the target of subjugation quests issued by the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“All correct. Sounds like you’ve read up on this.” She’s a bit of a strange girl, but she seems to have a sharp mind.

“Back when we were in Deramis, we dove into a few dungeons and took out the bosses inside,” added Touya. “They were mostly Rank C and lower, though.”

“So you guys do have experience with fighting boss monsters. All right, next question. Why do you think the guild issues subjugation quests for them?” I asked.

“Um, because the bosses are strong and therefore a greater threat to the adventurers who enter the dungeon,” offered Nana.

“And,” added Setsuna, “the spawn rate of monsters in a dungeon becomes higher when the boss monster is present, leading to more of them escaping. In effect, this makes the surrounding area more dangerous than it would otherwise be.”

Touya snapped his fingers. “After the boss is defeated, the other monsters in the dungeon become less ferocious for a while, right? Though I’ve also heard that the bosses revive again after a set period of time.”

“Full marks to each of you. The guild frequently issues subjugation quests for boss monsters for all of those reasons. Under normal circumstances, it would take a dungeon boss anywhere from one year to several decades to revive, but as of late, that time frame has been growing shorter and shorter, and the bosses themselves are getting stronger, some to the point where their strength is exceeding the rank of the dungeon they are in.

“The monsters in the vicinity of Parth — where I’m based — are by and large weaker than those found throughout other parts of the continent, but recently, even we had a Rank A monster on our hands. A lot of people are raising a fuss, claiming this to be a portent of the Demon Lord’s resurrection.”

In fact, it had sort of become my responsibility to take care of all the monsters that were Rank B and higher in the area around Parth. Fortunately, their numbers haven’t been all that high, but Rio is definitely a bit of a slave driver.

“Final question. This dungeon that we’re clearing right now, the Dragon Sea Cave, is a Rank A dungeon. That makes the boss...?”

“A Rank S monster,” finished the Heroes meekly.

“We’re almost out of time before you depart for the Western Continent, so we’ll be making this the final leg of your training. Sera, lead the way.”

“Sure thing. Right this way!”

Our procession followed along behind Sera, ducking into secret passageways and passing by destroyed traps. Thanks to her already having cleared the monsters along that route, we didn’t encounter any on our way.

“Whoa, look at this. Is this the room you mentioned?”

We could see a large cave surrounded by water. The closer to the wall, the deeper the water. In all likelihood, it was from the murky depths that the monsters continuously emerged. Close to where the water met the land, there were mounds of carcasses, with a few floating lifelessly on the still surface, staining it with blood.

In order to drive home the point that a room like this was extremely dangerous, I had telepathically ordered Clotho not to Absorb the bodies just yet. The plan was for my slime to do the Absorbing through a clone after we passed the chamber again on our way back out.

“This is unbelievable! Several Octogigants are already enough of a threat to us. How many monsters are there in here?!” Touya exclaimed.

“The corpses are all torn apart, so it’s hard to tell, but, several dozen — no, several hundred?” murmured Setsuna.

“Clotho and I split up the work, so I don’t know the exact number,” Sera said dismissively. “I stopped counting halfway through.”

Several Octogigant corpses lay scattered throughout the piles of bodies. This was a feat only possible thanks to Sera and Clotho’s abnormally high power levels. If it had been the Heroes who had come across this room, they would have been done for. The ability to spawn overwhelming numbers was a fearsome power in and of itself.

“If you guys ever have to take on a monster room, do not charge straight in like an idiot. Whenever your usual fighting style clearly can’t cut it, use your heads instead. Rearrange the situation to your advantage in any way you can. If you don’t want to let your friends die, that is.”

“Did you just indirectly call me an idiot?” Sera demanded.

“I did not, so please put down your fist.” I appreciate your ability to lighten up serious situations, but now is not the time. So...uh...can you lower your fist now? Please?

◇ ◇ ◇

“Master, I see it. It’s sleeping at the bottom of the lake.”

“I see it too.”

“So do I, my king.”

“It’s just uselessly bulky, if you ask me.”

We were inside the boss room, staring at an enormous subterranean lake. Pale blue light shone through cracks in the rock wall, giving the place a mystical atmosphere. A huge silhouette lay at the bottom of the dark depths. There was no mistaking it; it was indeed a water dragon.

“Stay behind the rocks and don’t stick your faces out too far. Even though it seems to be asleep, there’s no telling what might set it off.”

The four Heroes gawked wordlessly at the dragon’s massive form.

“So, as we discussed earlier, dungeon bosses are generally a bad thing for nearby settlements. In this case, leaving the water dragon alone for too long would be dangerous for Toraj. As the Heroes, what should you do?”

This was my last test for them. So, guys, how will you handle this one?

“Well, we can’t beat it with our current strength. We should run away.”

“You sure? Even if doing so means potentially leaving the people of Toraj to an untimely demise?”

“I can’t let Setsuna, Nana, and Miyabi die. Yes, I’m a Hero, but before that, I’m their friend. Even if people condemn my choice, I wouldn’t ever engage in such a reckless fight again. We should get stronger, come up with a plan, and make every possible preparation before coming back.”

Touya’s words drew nods from all three of his companions.

“Nice job. You pass. Make sure you never ever forget that attitude.”

◇ ◇ ◇

“I promise I will never forget,” Touya swore solemnly, looking straight into Kelvin’s eyes. This vow was proof of his separation from the person he had been before — an enthusiastic young Hero drunk on an unflappable sense of justice, rashly charging into every situation without a second thought.

Touya found Kelvin to be a rather enigmatic person. Although he had nearly been subjected to false charges based on Touya’s own misunderstanding, the adventurer had turned around right afterwards and chosen to coach them. He was so strong that the four Heroes together had been unable to take him down. All of his allies, in spite of their individual quirks, were also incredibly nice and in possession of equally unfathomable levels of strength.

“Glad to hear it. Well then, this is where our job begins.”

“What job?” asked Nana, echoing Touya’s thoughts.

“Come on, guys, we’re adventurers too. What else are we going to do after trekking all the way to a boss room? Tsubaki-sama came to us last night.”

“Uh, you mean...”

“That’s right. Time to have some fun!” shouted Sera, diving straight into the lake without a shred of hesitation.

“Look at her go. What I would give to be young again...”

“Gerard-san, please leave the melancholic nostalgia for when we get back home. Master, I’ll be providing support fire as planned.”

“Sounds good. Gerard, off you go. Shoo, shoo.”

“Good grief, is that any way to treat an elder?”

But even while muttering his complaints, the knight descended from the ledge. I thought that Efil-san was just around to take care of Kelvin-san, but she can fight too?!

“Master, I’m off.”

“Go ahead. We’ll wait for you to deliver the first blow.”

An instant later, Efil disappeared. Touya hadn’t looked away. In fact, he had been keeping a close eye on her as well as the other members of Kelvin’s party. Yet he had lost sight of her distinctive maid outfit in the blink of an eye. He couldn’t even sense her presence any longer.

“She disappeared!” exclaimed Nana. “Can you tell where she is with your Presence Sensing, Setsuna-chan?”

“Covert Action?”

“It’s no good, I’m getting nothing. She’s completely erased her presence. If it’s Covert Action, her skill level must be super high to be capable of pulling this off even while we were watching!”

Even Setsuna can’t detect her?! “Kelvin-san, where is Efil-s—”

Touya’s question was interrupted by an explosion so deafening that it sounded like a pile of dynamite going off. Peering over the edge, Touya saw that the lake itself was on fire.

“Looks like that’s where she fired from.”

“Whaaaaat?!”

Touya looked towards where Kelvin was pointing and, sure enough, there was Efil’s figure, perched on another ledge close to the rock wall, quite a distance away, with a new arrow already nocked and ready.

“What?! How did she do all that damage with a bow?!”

“She has her ways. In any case, it looks like it did the job. The monster’s awake now.”

A roar emanated from deep within the lake. Pure, unadulterated fear welled up in the very core of Touya’s body. He couldn’t stop trembling.

“Ahaha, and it’s kind of ticked off, too. Maybe that was a little too much noise and pain for a wake-up tap.”

In contrast to how Touya felt, Kelvin-san didn’t seem the slightest bit fazed. He even had the composure to crack a joke.

“How are you saying that so calmly?! It’s a Rank S monster!!”

“Calm down, man. Look, it’s rearing its head.”

The black shape grew larger and larger. In no time at all, the creature that had been lurking below burst up in a giant spray of water.

“ROOOOOAAAAAHHHHH!!”

The massive amethyst-colored bulk rose into the air, flapping its wings and unleashing such a thunderous cry that the ground shook and ripples spread across the surface of the lake. The dragon panned its head around as it hovered above them.

“My ears,” Nana whimpered. “It’s so loud!”

“I...can’t move,” groaned Touya, his body automatically curling up in fear. “That roar didn’t carry a debuff or anything, right?!”

“Who dares disturb my sleep?!”

“Well, that’s surprising,” said Kelvin with interest. “You have enough intelligence to speak despite being an evil dragon, huh? Did you happen to previously be an ancient dragon?”

Although it was a bit hard to understand, the beast was indeed speaking human words. Touya recalled that during their lessons with Colette, there had been a whole section dedicated to the dragon race. If I remember correctly, evil dragons are those who have succumbed to their desires for power or greed. They have better stats than normal dragons, but the trade-off is a marked degeneration of their intelligence. Since this one can still hold a conversation, it must have been a rather high-tiered dragon in the past, just as Kelvin-san asked.

“Hmph, looks like a few ants have wandered into my home. Do you puny beings think you can win by attacking in a group?”

“We don’t want to hear that from someone who can’t even gauge his opponents’ strength, you big lizard,” smirked Sera from a position slightly higher than the dragon’s eyes. She even followed up her comment with a provocative laugh.

“Whoa, Sera-san’s really amping up the tension...”

“Uh...Touya, are my eyes playing tricks on me, or is Sera-san also floating in the air like the dragon is? She’s not using Sky Walk the way I do, either.”

Just as Setsuna said, Sera was adopting her usual haughty stance, but this time in mid-air. Touya couldn’t tell what sort of skill she was using to do it, but he had a feeling she was capable of a lot more amazing things that he and his friends weren’t yet aware of.

“Howl all you like, little humans! I am a dragon who has attained unlimited power! The difference in strength between us is —”

“Hey, sorry to interrupt your very impressive speech, but your tail’s already ours.”

“Wait, seriously, Kelvin-san?!”

Before Touya knew it, Kelvin, who had been right beside him just a moment before, had crossed over to stand behind Sera. The same moment that he noticed that fact, another roar — this time a scream of pain — filled the air.

“ROOOOAAAAHHH?!”

“You have far too many openings, you know that?” commented Gerard as his sword sliced through the dragon’s tail at its root. With a splash, the powerful muscle tumbled into the lake.

“YOU ANT! THAT IS UNFORGIVABLE!”

The dragon breath unleashed by the beast was like a waterjet. A stream of high-pressured fluid that could bisect anything without mercy suddenly closed in on Kelvin and his party members.

However, the three of them managed to dodge the torrent with such coordinated movements that it almost seemed like they were reading each other’s minds. The second they had drawn far enough back, Efil fired. Crimson flames swirled around the red bow she was holding and had been gathering around the nocked arrow. Upon its release, the arrow rocketed forward as if propelled by the engine of a fighter jet.

“So that’s the sound I heard before,” Touya murmured.

Every arrow that Efil shot exploded with a deafening boom. What she was holding was no longer a bow, but a cannon. The sound generated by each arrow’s release and the resulting explosion upon contact with the water dragon were equally terrifying. In addition, despite practically spamming such incredible magic — it has to be magic, right? — she was showing no signs of MP fatigue at all. Is she really just a maid?!

“Roaaarrr!”

The dragon turned its head towards Efil’s position on the rock wall, but she was no longer there. Has she gone into hiding again to change her vantage point?

“Don’t look away during a fight!” shouted Sera as she delivered a follow-up blow to the back of the monster’s head. The impact of her strike caused the hulking form to crash back down into the lake at an incredible speed.

To be honest, from that point on, the encounter couldn’t even be called a fight anymore. Every time the creature attempted a spell, Kelvin would offset it with one of his own. When it tried to use brute force, it would lose to Gerard. Every time it took another punch from Sera, it would become even weaker, and every time it exposed an opening, Efil would carpet-bomb the hell out of it.

Touya laughed weakly. “Your master really is something, isn’t he? Do you think I could ever reach his level?” he asked the slime called Clotho. For all Touya knew, even this little critter that merely jiggled itself as if to say, “Who knows?” might be unbelievably powerful as well. Kelvin truly was an enigma.

◇ ◇ ◇

The day after the water dragon subjugation, the Heroes’ ship finally received permission to depart from Toraj. The preparations for the journey had been completed several days in advance, so the four teens were making their way straight to the port. My party and I also headed over to see them off.

“Esteemed Heroes! The ship is ready to leave at any time!” shouted one of the crewmen in an energetic voice.

Touya smiled wryly in response and gave a short laugh. “Please don’t do the ‘esteemed Heroes’ thing. Our cover story is that we’re normal adventurers, remember?”

“Ah, I’m sorry! How could I forget!”

“It’s fine, just be careful next time. We’ll be boarding soon; please give us a moment.”

After the sailor withdrew, the teens turned to us.

“Kelvin-san and everyone else, thank you so much for everything you’ve done for us.”

“Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t want to. There’s nothing to thank me for. By the way, you guys only got permission to cast off just now, right? You’re leaving so soon?”

“According to our original schedule, we should have been on that ship a few days ago. And we wouldn’t want to impose on you any longer.”

“As I said, you weren’t impos—”

From his position behind me, Gerard placed a hand on my shoulder. “This is the lad’s decision. Let’s accept it.”

“You’re as direct as ever,” I chuckled, pulling a few things out of Clotho’s Storage. I threw one to each of the Heroes, saying, “It’s my parting gift. Here you go.”

“Wha— ho— hup...Kelvin-san, what is this?” asked Touya, fumbling a few times as he caught the object.

Setsuna peered closely at hers. “It’s a pendant?”

I nodded. “Yep. Made it off the cuff. Just think of it as a lucky charm.”

What I had lobbed at each of them were pendants modeled after their respective magical affinities. The items provided a tiny stats buff plus a secret function of my own design. I didn’t expect them to ever actually need it, but it might prove useful in a pinch. The Smithing skill didn’t cover accessories, so I’d had to borrow the appropriate skill from a local ornament craftsman with Skill Eater.

“Tsundere archetype?”

“Really, Miyabi? Your response to getting a gift is to call me a tsundere?” I try being nice for once and this is what I get? Although, I guess that’s just part of what makes her ‘her.’

“Amazing! Mine looks like an ice crystal. Kelvin-san, thank you very much! I’ll take good care of it.”

“You continue working hard together with Mun, all right, Nana? That little whelp of yours is probably going to Evolve into a full-grown dragon soon. So watch out; it won’t be able to fit into your rucksack then.”

“Rawr!”

“Oh, Mun-chan, don’t say that!”

I couldn’t understand what the tiny reptile said, but apparently it enjoyed riding in Nana’s bag. Sounds like a dog that likes sticking its head out of the car window. Don’t they say it’s not good to over-pamper a pet?

Setsuna spoke up next. “I was able to have a rather easy time of it here in Toraj, very likely thanks to you, Kelvin-san. And you even helped us beat this justice-obsessed idiot into shape. I have no words to express how thankful I am.”

“When times get tough, you just need to hang in there. In spite of his faults, he’s still the leader of your party, right?”

Setsuna sighed. “I’ll do my best...”

“Can you guys not talk about me right in front of my face?!”

In fairness, Touya had grown quite a bit, both physically and mentally, what with everything that had happened this past week. I was hopeful that Setsuna’s burden had grown just a little bit lighter.

Touya clenched his fist resolutely. “No matter what happens on the Western Continent, we’ll do our best!”

“All I can say is, I hope you don’t end up running in the wrong direction again.”

“Ahaha, it wouldn’t hurt you to have a little faith in me...”

I’d already very, very strictly warned Touya and the girls to never, ever explain the effects of their Unique Skills to anyone, not even to me. People in possession of Analyze Eye at a high enough rank would be able to see the names of those skills but could only guess at their effects. Keeping that information hidden could prove to be an enormous advantage if used properly, so even I still didn’t know the exact details of what Absolute Gospel and Iron Cutting Authority did. My curiosity was a small thing in exchange for their lives, though.

“Well then, Kelvin-san, we’ll be off.”

“Oh, is it time already? Efil, now would be good.”

“Yes, Master.” She turned to the four Heroes. “Here you go. I have packed you each a lunch box with simple dishes. Please enjoy it during your trip.”

When she’d learned of their scheduled departure, Efil had quickly whipped up four lunch boxes packed with onigiri (leftovers from yesterday) and sandwiches for an unexpectedly modern meal.

Touya accepted the basket on the Heroes’ behalf. “Efil-san! You’re the best! Thank you so much!”

“Goddess Efil!”

“I didn’t think we would get to enjoy Efil-san’s cooking again once we left!”

“I’ll make sure to share it with Mun-chan!”

All four of them thanked Efil profusely while shaking her hand in a heartfelt manner. Goddammit, these kids. NOW you guys are all happy and touched? I mean, I know that putting myself on a scale against Efil’s cooking is just asking for heartache, but still! I too am a captive of her incredible food...but still!

“We’ll be setting sail soon! Those who need to board, please do so now!” announced a crewman loudly. The preparations for the ship’s departure had been completed.

“Go on, you guys don’t want to miss the boat.”

“AHHH! We need to hurry! Everyone, let’s run!”

“Wait for meeee!”

At once, the Heroes sprinted onto the ship, with Nana lagging behind slightly, but their faces soon popped back into view over the railing.

“Kelvin-san, I promise I will never forget everything that you’ve taught me!” shouted Touya.

“Let’s meet again someday!” added Nana, still panting a bit.

“We’ll grow strong enough to beat you next time! Thank you so much for everything!”

“Ditto. Next time, we win!”

The four of them continued to wave at us until their ship was out of sight. When I considered how badly I had messed with them at the start, being on the receiving end of such gratitude made me feel a bit guilty.

“Master really is a kind person.”

“Indeed, all those youngsters looked as if a burden had been lifted.”

“What nonsense are you two talking? The only thing that happened was me pulling them along on a whim. Anyway, it’s almost noon. We should go grab some lunch ourselves.”

“Master is cute when he’s feeling bashful.”

“I’m not bashful!”

And putting that aside...the Western Continent’s where they’re going? That’s where the Rizean Empire is...

Curious, I decided to send Gerard a private message.

Gerard, if — and I’m just asking for the sake of it — if we pick a fight with Rizea in our current state, would we win?

::Where did that come from?::

I was just thinking about my promise to you. We have to track down Jildora so that you can take revenge, right?

::Gah hah hah! So you remembered. And here I was, thinking that you’d forgotten.::

How could I forget something so important?!

When Gerard had agreed to become my Follower, I had promised that I would help him avenge his home country of Alcahl by taking down Jildora, the one supposedly responsible for its downfall. I had yet to make any progress towards that goal.

::Well, I’m not so sure since things might be quite different now than they were during the era in which I was alive. Jildora himself may have moved elsewhere, for all I know. In addition, Rizea used to be the largest country in the Western Continent. Judging from how that empire and Deramis are still continuing to tussle, it probably hasn’t lost all that much strength over the years. Although our party is indeed strong, taking on the empire itself would still be much too dangerous.::

I see...looks like we’ll have to start with gathering some information, then.

::I’m in no particular hurry. To be completely honest, even I had thought it would be impossible when I Contracted with you.::

What? And you joined up with me anyway?

::Well, the way I saw it was, instead of remaining behind in that castle, my chances were higher by going out into the world with you. That was the only degree of hope that I harbored at the time. But then I got to travel with you, my king. And then Efil joined us, and recently, so did Sera. Now, we are powerful enough to defeat Rank S monsters.::

Gerard looked up at the sky.

::My king, I am eternally grateful to you. The dream that I had previously thought impossible seems like it could actually be within reach. When you fulfill your promise, I shall acknowledge you then as my true king and master.::

Sounds good to me. I don’t mind remaining as your pseudo-master until th— oof.

Sera, who had leaped onto my back, asked, “Come on, what are you two talking about all secret-like?”

Efil, too, was looking up at me as she grabbed the sleeve of my robe. “Please don’t leave me out, either...”

“All right, all right, I’ll tell you guys! So you can get off my back now, Sera! And Efil, stop looking so sad!”

“Gahaha! Let’s grab some food first, my king!”

Gerard clanked on ahead and I hurried to catch up to him. With Sera still on my shoulders and Efil’s hand in my own, I felt the comforting weight of the bonds that I shared with my closest friends.

◇ ◇ ◇

We were in the kitchen of Toraj Castle. When the Heroes were all exhausted from the dungeon training, if Efil and I didn’t have anything else planned, we would get Tsubaki-sama’s permission to drop by. One reason for this was so that Efil could learn how to cook Torajian dishes. The other reason was so that we could build up our relationship with Tsubaki-sama herself.

“Be that as it may, your cooking is truly delicious, Efil. My head cook is now the one learning from you! Kelvin, can I not convince you to allow Efil to enter my service? Wait, I have a better idea. How about all of you enter my service! You and your party have proven yourselves with the evil dragon subjugation. I can make use of that strength of yours!”

“Tsubaki-sama, I have said ‘no’ many times now. Efil is my precious companion. And I love my own freedom, as I mentioned at our very first meeting.”

In the beginning, we had come to the castle kitchens strictly for the recipes. It was only several visits later that Tsubaki-sama began to show an interest in Efil’s cooking, probably after having been presented with samples of it by some of the castle guards or the servants.

Now that Efil had raised her Cooking skill to Rank S, the quality of her meals greatly surpassed even that of the castle’s head chef. Having only recently figured out how to make the most of her newfound ability, everything that she cooked was delicious enough to trigger a burst of tears with every bite. After hearing about this incredible cuisine and having tried some for herself, Tsubaki-sama started coming to the kitchen regularly to solicit Efil again and again. Clearly, the Japanese passion for food was another cultural tradition that had been passed down in Toraj over the years.

As a result, Efil herself was currently in a sort of teaching position at the kitchen. The time that she had once put aside to come and learn was now spent on her giving the cooks instructions and pointers instead.

Normally, there would be at least a voice or two of dissent in such a situation, but from what I’d heard, Efil’s lovely appearance, her kind, careful teaching style, and her overwhelmingly incredible cooking abilities had completely conquered the kitchen staff’s hearts. There were even some among them who would blush when they looked at her. She was basically their idol at this point.

“Mm, so it did not work. I know that what I am asking is a bit of a stretch, but still, what a shame...”

“Please don’t make that face, Tsubaki-sama,” said Efil. “As long as we are in Toraj, I will make sure to come here every day.”

“Do you speak truly?! I will consider that a promise!”

“Yes, it is a promise.”

Although Tsubaki-sama had exuded an extraordinarily formal aura during our initial audience with her, we had ended up on pretty friendly terms after speaking to her on several more occasions. She knew how to differentiate between official duties and private settings. When not in “work mode,” so to speak, she acted like a regular girl of her age.

At this point, she almost felt like an old friend to us. One time, she had even told us, “I give you permission to address me without honorifics. There’s no need to stand on ceremony with me!” But we had obviously chosen to refrain. No matter how close we had grown, there were eyes and ears everywhere. Perhaps she was testing us again; we’d probably never know. However, we believed it important to always show at least the bare minimum of respect merited by our differences in status. Even without dropping the honorifics, we had become informal enough with her already.

“Kind of sorry to mention this after the promise and all, but we were actually thinking that it’s about time for us to leave Toraj.”

“That’s quite sudden. First the Heroes and now all of you as well?”

“We can’t stay away from Parth for too long. Not with so many dangerous monsters appearing in the region lately.”

Although Rio had been raising the alert level, there wasn’t much that could be done about the fact that the strongest adventurers in Parth — aside from my party — were only Rank C. Yes, he had assured us that it would be fine to go on this trip, but Ange, Clare-san, Uld-san, and a lot of other people that I was familiar with were still in the city. If I didn’t get back soon, I would be the one who was starting to feel worried. Especially considering there had been no word from Melfina yet, either.

“As its byname of ‘The City of Peace’ signifies, Parth is the symbol of peace between our four nations. There is surely no more reliable guardian than you and your party, Kelvin. Even so...I cannot help but feel it is a bit of a shame.”

“Thank you for your words, Tsubaki-sama. Although we can’t promise much, we’ll certainly strive to heed your will.”

“I’m glad to hear it. If you ever change your mind, simply knock on the gates of Toraj Castle.”

Although I had no intention of taking her up on her offer at the moment, having built up such a close relationship with someone who stood at the helm of an entire country was a huge boon. Because of her standing, Tsubaki-sama did not have a lot of opportunities to speak with those her own age. I had every intention of maintaining our friendship going forward.

“Tsubaki-sama, we have just finished making a sample of a new kind of pastry. May we have the honor of hearing your opinion?”

“You just made a new pastry, Efil?! I will eat it! I will eat it immediately, and none will stop me!”

“Tsubaki-sama, you are still before your subjects, you know...”

This queen was perhaps a bit too casual even in her “private mode.”

◇ ◇ ◇

“Hey, we’re back!”

“We have returned.”

After saying our farewells to Tsubaki-sama, Efil and I had returned to the inn where we were staying. Gerard was still out, but Sera was already there.

“Oh, hey, welcome back. You two went to the castle again today?”

“Yeah. What about you, Sera?”

“I fished like a pro! As you taught me, I made sure to release the fish I didn’t need back into the water.”

“I...see...”

To fulfill the promise that I’d made the other day, I had found time here and there to teach Sera how to fish. In this, too, she exhibited her uncanny ability to master things in no time at all. Thanks to the wealth of detection skills she possessed, she could instantly determine where her prey was. With precise handling of the rod and strength disproportionate to her shapely arms, she developed a powerful style not bound by customs or common practices. All without even picking up the Fishing skill, by the way. At this point, she had made quite a name for herself in Toraj as “the mysterious, beautiful angler.”

“Today’s opponent put up quite a fight. It was about three meters long, I think!”

“Hahaha...that sounds like fun. I would have loved to see it.” No, but for real, that’s on the scale of Pacific bluefin tuna, isn’t it? What the hell are you putting your poor commercially bought fishing rod through?

“Don’t worry, I brought it back to serve as tonight’s main dish!”

“Uh...who’s gonna dress and fillet it?” So, this falls under your “need” category, huh.

“Efil, of course. I’ve already dropped it off at the kitchen.”

Leaving a fish that size in the kitchen is just causing trouble for the inn. And come on, even Efil wouldn’t be able to fillet a whole tu—

“Master, I’ve already taken a look at it. How would you like it? The locals seem to have several ways of preparing fish: sashimi, where they slice the meat into small pieces and eat it raw; nitsuke, where they simmer the meat in a condiment called ‘soy sauce,’ among other things; and tataki, where they sear the surface of the fish but leave the inside largely raw. I was actually just about to go dress and fillet it.”

“Ummm...yeah, I’ll leave that to your discretion.”

“Understood. I will do what I can.”

Since when has she mastered how to dress and fillet tuna? Did she learn that from the head chef of Toraj Castle too?

“My king, what was that in the kitchen?! Is it a new kind of monster?!”

Oh, Gerard’s back. And it seems like he’s gotten a look at dinner.

“How rude. I fished it; it’s a proper fish! I even heard from the locals that it’s a high-class fish.”

“Is it really...?”

“She’s right, Gerard-san. It is a high-class fish called naatu that lives in the Dragon Sea. I can’t wait to try my hand at cooking it!”

“Don’t worry, man. It’s probably really delicious.” I swear I’m not going to retort anymore. I’ll just say what I’ve got to say and move on.

“Since everyone’s here, I might as well make my announcement: tentatively, we’ll be heading back to Parth in three days’ time. Make all the preparations you need to.”

◇ ◇ ◇

Even after the Heroes of Deramis had departed for the Western Continent, my party remained in the city a while longer. During that time, Efil and I had gone in and out of the castle frequently, all at the invitation of the queen. Due to this, our faces had gained quite a bit of familiarity among those who lived or worked in the castle. However, not everything that came with this close relationship with the Toraji monarch was what we desired.

“By the way, Kelvin. Are you sure you don’t feel like serving Toraj? If you accept now, I can even appoint you to the Tsubaki Guard, the most desirable position of honor in this country. Such a wonderful opportunity might not come again!”

“As I have said many times, I like to be free to do my own thing. You sure don’t know when to give up, Tsubaki-sama.”

Once more, I was being solicited for my services by the young queen, this time in the tatami-lined room that was part of her own quarters. It was during a perfectly amicable chat over tea that she had brought up the topic yet again. The average person wouldn’t think of turning down a direct offer from the ruler of one of the largest countries in the world, but adventurers tended to highly value the freedom of not being beholden to anyone. The higher the rank, the more prominent this trait was, and I was no exception. In other words, it wasn’t a matter of the compensation; I simply wasn’t going to accept, period.

“That is one of my endearing traits, is it not? I want what I want, and I’m honest about it! I don’t compromise, and I don’t lose heart!”

“Where on earth has all that noble dignity you showed to the Heroes gone?”

In spite of the repeated rejections, Tsubaki-sama had no intention of backing down. Again and again, she brought the matter up. Round and round we went, with neither side willing to yield an inch. It was an infinite loop between an adventurer who valued his own path and a queen obsessed with recruiting those with talent.

“Master, what would you like for lunch today?”

“I’d love some grilled fish.”

For some reason, Tsubaki-sama had jumped in and answered the question instead. The queen had dropped all pretense of formality.

“If that is the case, I can use the fresh fish that Sera-san caught this morning.”

“Mm, that will do.”

“Uh...there’s a lot I want to comment on, but forget it. Efil, I’ll have the same.”

“Understood. I promise that the fish will be the perfect shade of golden brown.”

“With Efil here now, I can hardly wait for mealtime every day. The chefs in my employ have also improved across the board. Efil, well done! How would you like to become my personal chef?”

This was the fourth time that Efil was being solicited by the young monarch.

“The invitation is an incredible honor, but I am afraid I cannot accept. Both my body and heart belong fully to my Master. My will shall never change nor waver.”

“Did you hear that, Kelvin? As a man, are there any words that could make you happier?”

“Um, uh...”

“Oho! Are you embarrassed? Tell me, are you embarrassed?”

“Please...don’t poke fun at me, Tsubaki-sama. I’m just happy is all.”

I tried to play it off, but there was still a slight blush on my cheeks in a rare display of embarrassment brought about by Efil’s declaration and Tsubaki’s teasing. Naturally, there was no way that my incredible maid, who held me above all else in the world, would not notice this change.

“Master, your body temperature seems a bit high. Are you not feeling well?”

“Don’t worry, I’m feeling...very well. My chest is just overflowing with happiness right now...”

I heaved an internal sigh of relief that Gerard was not present. If the knight had been here, he would have followed up with something snarky, which would have led to knight and queen hitting it off and causing an even bigger headache for this poor cornered Summoner. And if Tsubaki-sama had proceeded to solicit him — well, in short, it really was a blessing that Gerard had not come along today.

After parting with the Heroes, Gerard and I had once again confirmed our bond with each other. No matter what Tsubaki said, he would have turned her down as emphatically as Efil had. Well...maybe he would have. It was hard to tell, as the knight had a...playful side to him that would sometimes spur him to do the unthinkable.

“You two sure drive a hard bargain. All right, best offer yet: how would you like to become my personal caretaker!”

“Tsubaki-sama, that sounds like a downgrade from the guard position you mentioned before...”

“No, no, hear me out. Depending on how you look at it, this would be an upgrade. If you became my personal caretaker, you would be helping me change in the mornings and bathe in the evenings. I know I may be tooting my own horn here, but I have a rather desirable appearance, do I not? If you are interested in taking matters in that direction...you would have a fighting chance!”

“Uh...”

Tsubaki threw out her chest proudly. She had finally resorted to putting herself onto the negotiation table. I furiously wracked my brain for a way out of this tricky spot.

“I see. So, in short, the duties of the position would be the same as what I do for Master.”

Tsubaki choked in response to the unexpected comment from Efil.

“Tsubaki-sama?!” both Efil and I cried in concern.

“D-Don’t worry, I’m fine. I was just a bit caught off guard is all. You don’t look like it, but Kelvin, you...you sure are a shameless man!”

Tsubaki-sama turned her face — which was now even redder than mine had been earlier — to the side. For being the monarch of one of the largest countries in the world, Queen Tsubaki Fujiwara was a surprisingly innocent girl.

“You were the one who brought the topic up, Tsubaki-sama. And Efil, please don’t mention that kind of thing in front of other people, all right?”

“Why not, Master? I did not say anything to be ashamed of.” There was no hesitation in her response at all.

“Even so, it reflects on my reputation. All right, then, let me put it this way: what we do when we are alone with each other is a secret just for the two of us. You can’t let anyone else know.”

“A secret only for the two of us! I understand fully, Master.”

Efil’s expression and tone were entirely normal, but her elven ears were a different story. The specifics will be abridged, but in short, those ears were as expressive as a dog’s tail. Apparently, the word “hesitation” just wasn’t in her book.

“So, this approach did not work, either. What formidable opponents you are...”

“Tsubaki-sama, may I ask something?” I inquired.

“You may.”

“Why are you so eager to recruit us? Toraj is a large country, and I have heard that it is even under the Water Dragon King’s protection.”

I had been wondering about this for a while now. Wanting to recruit rare talent was common for someone in a position of power, but Tsubaki’s persistence had gone far beyond what would be considered normal.

“Good question!” she replied before slowly correcting her posture as if to ramp the tension. After a dramatic pause, she declared, “Because it’s my hobby!”

“Efil, I think it’s about time we get back home for the day.”

“No, hold on! I was joking, of course. Well, half of it was a joke!”

In other words, she had been half serious. However, Tsubaki-sama seemed to understand that any further kidding around would be counterproductive. She quickly mustered some measure of the dignity that she had adopted while facing the Heroes of Deramis.

“This ‘Water Dragon King’ that you speak of is known as the ‘Dragon God’ among us. And it is as you said; we truly do believe that we have his blessing. When we were under attack by a massive fleet during a great war in times past, a storm sprang up that swallowed the enemy whole. When we were attacked by a terrible monster — an unbelievably large slime according to the history texts, if you would believe them — we were pulled back from the brink of annihilation by the timely arrival of the Hero of the age.”

“I...see. Right, big slime...”

I forced a smile and averted my gaze, trying not to feel guilty. Of course, one of my Followers, Clotho, was the exact same species of slime as the monster that Tsubaki had just described. Naturally, I had no intention whatsoever of bringing that up, although in Tsubaki’s case, hearing about Clotho would likely spur her to redouble her solicitation efforts rather than recoil.

“However, we cannot rely on the Dragon God for protection forever. I wish to bolster Toraj’s natural strength during my reign. That is my true motivation.” Tsubaki looked out her window at the country spread out below us and smiled fondly. “Deramis has the Oracle and the Heroes. Gaun has the Beast King and his children. Trycen has a whole army, as well as many remarkable generals who lead that army. The last one in particular seems to be making rather suspicious movements as of late, with the Black Wind issue that you helped to resolve being one such example. The more prepared I am now, the better off I will be down the line. Do you now understand where I am coming from?”

“Well...yes, I suppose I do.”

“Ohhhh! In that case...!”

Tsubaki was so excited that she leaned forward over the table, but I raised a hand to curb her expectations.

“However, the two matters are completely separate. My will remains unchanged.”

“Even after I have been this open with you?! The cruelty!”

My cold response — delivered while grabbing one of the orange-like fruits called “mikan,” which were laid out on the table — prompted Tsubaki to flare up again. While stuffing my face, I thought to myself, If I let her go on, we’ll just be repeating the same conversation all over again. Well, that, and, The other piece of fruit, the one that Efil squeezed a few times, was definitely sweeter and more delicious. In any case, I desperately tried to change the topic at hand.

“Speaking of the Water Dragon King, he should be quite strong, right? After all, he’s an older dragon and dragons are supposedly one of the most powerful races in the world. I would love to meet him even once.”

Although I wasn’t lying, I had left out a rather important detail. I wanted to meet the dragon because I wanted to see how it would be to fight him.

“Are you interested in the Dragon God? We can go visit him in the Dragon Sea if you so wish.”

“Wait, really?”

While casually picking out the white pith on her mikan, Tsubaki had just dropped quite a bombshell.

◇ ◇ ◇

Bordered by the Dragon Sea and blessed with fertile swaths of land, Toraj was a country with booming fishing and agriculture industries. By wisely leveraging local agricultural methods and unique shipbuilding techniques passed down through the generations, this Japan-like kingdom had secured for itself the position of foremost industrial nation in the world.

There was a system in place where anyone who made significant contributions — those who helped to support or push the country forward in some tangible way — were rewarded proportionally. This was as true for those running large farms as it was for those heading fleets of fishing ships, which would then sell their harvests or catches wholesale to the local market.

There were any number of ways in any number of industries to distinguish oneself. Taking the fishermen as an example, someone whose skills were publicly acknowledged would have his exclusive fishing area expanded, in turn giving him more access to rarer prey.

However, there was a certain area within the Dragon Sea that no fishermen — regardless of what sort of name they had made for themselves — were allowed to venture. This was the Dragon Path of the Vermilion Shrines, a series of vermilion torii gates that were seemingly floating over the ocean. This path, which actually led to the den of the Water Dragon King, was strictly off limits without express permission from the queen.

At present, Efil and I were standing in that very forbidden spot, having been brought there by Tsubaki-sama herself.

“Whooo! Look at the torii!” I gasped. “This scenery is amazing! And we have it all to ourselves!”

“It does seem overwhelming somehow,” Efil agreed. “It’s beautiful.”

There wasn’t a single fishing vessel in sight all the way to the horizon. On land, too, there was only myself, Efil, and Tsubaki-sama, with no one else as far as the eye could see. The crowds at the beach that my party had visited with the Heroes seemed like a distant memory when looking at the sight before us now.

“Even the citizens of Toraj are only allowed to come here once a year to worship during our annual festival. That is how sacred this place is. You understand? I have brought you two here only because it’s you, all right? This is a very special exception!”

“Thank you so much, Tsubaki-sama,” Efil said with a bow.

“Your heart is as wide as the sky and as deep as the sea. I stand in awe before you, Tsubaki-sama!”

More than satisfied with the praise, the Queen of Toraj threw her chest out and said, “I’m glad you’ve recognized that!”

However, this was where our problems began. Having arrived at the Dragon Path of the Vermilion Shrines was fine and all, but the all-important den was nowhere to be seen.

“Sooo...where exactly is the Water Dragon King?”

“The Dragon God? Right there!”

“Right...where?”

With a snap, Tsubaki-sama closed her folding fan and thrust it towards the interior of the torii. She was pointing at the depths of the Dragon Sea.

“Tsubaki-sama...”

“What is with those accusing eyes?! I have not lied to you! Normally, the sea would part along the torii in a breathtaking display, revealing a path straight to the Dragon God’s den. However, he is a bit of a whimsical being, and he opens the path only when he truly desires to do so. Even I have not had the honor of an audience for a long, long time. So...well, don’t take it personally!”

Tsubaki-sama chuckled loudly as she gave my back several heavy slaps. However, her attempt to gloss over the situation had clearly fallen flat. Just like a horse that had been baited with a carrot and then had it taken away, my shoulders drooped as disappointment radiated from every pore of my body. It was all too clear to anyone watching just how much I had been looking forward to the fi— I mean, the meeting.

Thanks to Efil wordlessly stroking my back, I eventually recovered enough to manage, “Well...guess I should be glad that I got to see this amazing scenery.”

“Oh, have you recovered? How starved for battle are you? I wish my soldiers had even half of your enthusiastic mindset.”

Tsubaki-sama’s words sounded like a joke, but chances were high that she was partly serious as well. Wait, would that mean less fun for me? No, but if they all come at me at once...

“Hey, if it isn’t Kelvin and Efil! Are you two here to fish as well?”

“What?”

A bright voice that I was all too familiar with prompted me to turn around. The beautiful woman standing in the distance, her Efil-tailored Chinese-style dress and fire-red side ponytail blowing about in the brisk sea wind, was none other than Sera. Apparently, she had been there all along, just out of sight in the shadow of a levee.

“Oh, hey, Sera. Why’re you here?”

“What do you mean ‘why’? Tsubaki told me that she knew a great fishing spot, so I followed her, and she led me here! Thanks to her, I’ve been able to catch a ton of really rare fish, and there’s no one else around, so I have the whole place to myself! Aren’t you two here for the same thing?”

Sera proudly shoved forward a container that was more like a bathtub than a bucket. Within it were a variety of freshly caught fish swimming around, almost like they were in an aquarium.

“Oho! They’re small but I spy naatu in there! Those are my favorites!”

“Is that right? We actually had naatu yesterday, so I was planning on letting them go. You want them instead?”

“Are you sure about that?!” The queen laughed merrily. “Kelvin, you sure have wonderful compa—”

I interrupted her by placing a hand on her shoulder. Tsubaki-sama seemed intent on wrapping everything up quite nicely, but sometimes, things just don’t work out that way.

“Tsubaki-sama, truthfully, why did you bring Sera here too?”

“Um, uh...I only told her about this place because this is a great fishing spot,” replied the queen. However, her eyes were shifting so furiously that they almost seemed to be swimming. Ahaha as expected of the queen of the Country of Water...she can make her eyes “swim” without even getting wet!

“Didn’t you say this is a deeply sacred place and therefore strictly off limits?”

“I...did indeed. I do not lie.”

“Oh, right, I remember now. Tsubaki asked me if I wanted to stay in Toraj as a general! I did turn her down on the spot, though!”

Sera’s words proved to be an indictment for the queen. Judging from her bright tone and cheerful expression, Sera clearly had not made the comment with any malice. Even so, the queen’s favor of offering this sacred ground as a fishing spot had been betrayed in the worst possible way.

“H-Hold on! That was meant to be a secret between the two of us —”

“Master, is that not Gerard-san over there?”

This time, Efil pointed in the opposite direction. Squinting my eyes, I could just make out a black armored figure lying on a beach chair far in the distance. Add a pair of sunglasses and it would have made the perfect summer vacation photo. Did he come here to get a tan? For his skin or for his armor? Even though his armor is already pitch black? Although it was true that he had become capable of materializing, what was the point if he was going to keep his armor on? There were a ton of questions that I wanted to ask the knight, but I pushed them aside. There were more pressing matters at the moment.

“Even you, Efil?” cried Tsubaki in the vein of “Et tu, Brute?” as she crumpled to the sandy ground. This was the moment where the queen learned Efil’s priorities the hard way — with yours truly at the very top of the list.

“It was quite a good idea, Tsubaki-sama, trying to recruit my party members directly without going through me.”

“K-Kelvin, hold on. Your eyes aren’t laughing...your eyes aren’t laughing...!”

Apparently, after a long round of negotiating, the price of a certain knight’s betrayal had been a full set of tatami mats and interior decorations for a Japanese-style room.

◇ ◇ ◇

With Tsubaki-sama’s guards leading the way, Tsubaki-sama, my party, and I slowly made our way down a flight of stairs that wound beneath Toraj Castle. We were heading for the teleportation room. As it turns out, this very convenient device so often used in works of fiction existed in this world as well.

“It’s my first time hearing about teleportation gates here,” I murmured as our footsteps echoed through the stairwell.

“That is surprising. And here I thought all adventurers knew about them as a matter of course. You...sometimes seem oblivious to the most unusual things.”

“Ahaha, my own party members have often told me the same thing. I can’t help it; I did grow up in the middle of nowhere, after all.”

Behind us, I could hear Sera giggling to herself, but I pointedly ignored her. After all, I really didn’t know about any of this stuff. If Rio knew that such a convenient method of travel existed, why didn’t he tell me earlier?!

“Well, to be fair, this isn’t something that an average adventurer could use casually. We are almost there. There’s no helping it; I’ll have to give you a rundown on the way.”

Am I just imagining things or does she seem a bit happy about this?

“The teleportation gate is, as the name implies, a gate-like device that teleports whoever passes through it. The destination can be any other teleportation gate in the world, but there are certain restrictions. First of all, activating the door requires a massive amount of magic, with the specific amount being proportionate to the distance to be traveled. At the moment, you are going to Parth, so the amount of magic needed is on the lower side.”

“I see. And are there teleportation gates in every city?”

“No, these are generally only found in each country’s capital and a few of the other larger cities. After all, they operate on technology that has been lost over the ages, so, while we have no trouble using them, there is no one alive who knows how to build new ones. Accordingly, each country keeps its own gates under strict management. This is one of several reasons the average adventurer would not be able to use them for casual travel.”

Fair enough; there’s no telling what mischief people might get up to if these were open to the public. If the gates in the other capitals are also located beneath their respective palaces, it would be like a permanently open back door situated in the heart of the country.

“The only people who can use these gates are those with a certain amount of status. In terms that you, as an adventurer, would understand, it would normally have to be someone at Rank A, who has been authorized by the gatekeepers on both sides. Do you remember when we asked for your guild card before? It was then that we applied Toraj’s authorization to it. In other words, you now have the right to use our gate. And look at your card — it carries my personal seal! Not only does that allow you to use the teleportation device, but you can also claim additional benefits all over Toraj!”

I took a closer look at my guild card and, sure enough, there was Toraj’s national emblem with the character “椿” (Tsubaki) in small font underneath, not written in the alphabet of this world but in kanji. My guild card served as my proof of identity and now it also bore Tsubaki-sama’s express approval. Based on the explanation that she just gave, though, that in and of itself probably isn’t enough to use the gate.

“Hang on a moment, please. Being acknowledged by you is an enormous honor, but I haven’t received any authorization from a ‘gatekeeper’ on Parth’s side. I would need that too, wouldn’t I?”

In the first place, I had never heard mention of such a thing back in Parth. I don’t remember ever seeing a gate like this, either.

“What are you saying? It’s right there on your card: the required authorization from Guildmaster Rio, the gatekeeper of Parth.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

I took a closer look at my guild card. There wasn’t anything that resembled an auth— oh.

“Are you referring to this symbol of a wing?”

“Indeed.”

“That’s what it’s for?!” And here I was thinking the symbol to be the guild’s mark all along. I mean, it was on the card when I first received it! Aren’t they a bit too loose with how they’re handing out these authorizations?!

The queen laughed with delight. “I finally get to see your surprised face! Worry not, Guildmaster Rio is not a man who hands out his seal left and right.”

“What do you mean?”

“That symbol is the crest of the Adventurer’s Guild in Parth. The Adventurer’s Guild here in Toraj uses a shield. The mark is printed on even Rank F adventurers’ cards, but only when imbued with magic does it actually take effect. Go on, try pouring some magic into your card.”

I obediently sent a small sliver of magic into it.

“Interesting...”

“So beautiful...”

Neither Gerard nor Efil could help but vocalize their feelings as they watched the golden light emanating from the wing symbol on my card.

“This is a phenomenon that only occurs with cards that carry Guildmaster Rio’s approval. That old geezer is an obstinate man, after all. He acknowledged you, but probably never bothered to actually explain it.”

“Nope, this is the first I’m hearing of it. In fact, he never even told me about the teleportation gate itself.”

“Hahaha! If I had to guess, he likely set it up when you turned your card in after your last promotion.”

As Tsubaki-sama laughed with merriment, a set of enormous doors came into view.

“We’ve arrived. This is the teleportation room.”

The doors opened, revealing a gigantic gate that seemed almost tall enough to touch the ceiling. At this size, even one of my golems could walk through it. Standing around the gate were seven people in mage-like attire.

“Everything is in order, Your Majesty. We have finished supplying the gate with magic. It is ready to be used at any time.”

An older man who looked like the head mage bowed at Tsubaki-sama, with the others quickly following suit. They were all breathing heavily, probably as a result of having used up all their magic.

“Well then, Kelvin. As you can see, the gate is primed and ready to go. All you have to do is select your destination and await confirmation from the other side. Do you see that stone pedestal over there? Place your guild card on it, then visualize where you want to go. Since you already possess the proper authorizations, the gate should open up automatically.”

What a fantasy-like way of operating the thing. All right, let’s give it a try. Guild card on stone pedestal. Visualize the landscape of Parth.

The device immediately roared to life.

“The gate has opened! Run on through! The portal only remains active for a limited period of time!”

“Wh-what the hell?!”

Please tell us important information like that in advance!

“Master, I shall go first just in case. Tsubaki-sama, I pray that we will meet again.”

“As do I. I look forward to the day I can taste your cooking once again.”

Without hesitation, Efil leaped into the twisting whirlpool of light. Tsubaki-sama clapped her hands to urge the rest of us forward.

“Go on, go on, in you go! The gate will be closing soon!”

“Oh my goddess, did it have to be such a hurried parting? Anyway, I guess we’ll be returning to Parth, then!”

“Feel free to call on me if you ever need anything in the future. I shall do my best to be of assistance. In fact, if you’ve changed your mind about serving Toraj, even now I —”

“See you later!”

It hurt my heart oh so much to cut off the queen mid-sentence, but the gate seemed like it was going to close soon, so I quickly darted over the threshold.

◇ ◇ ◇

Light filled my vision for a split second, then my feet touched solid ground again. I heard the sound of two more pairs of feet landing behind me, then the gate closed with another roar.

“Judging from the fact that you’ve returned by way of the teleportation gate, I take it you’ve made quite the name for yourself over in Toraj, Kelvin-kun.”

“And hello to you too, Guildmaster. I wouldn’t really say that I’ve ‘made a name’ for myself; I just sort of did what I wanted to do.”

Efil, having jumped through the portal first, was standing in front of me next to Rio, who had apparently been lying in wait for us.

“You knew that we were coming back?”

“Mhm, the Queen of Toraj contacted me personally. She sounded like she was in an extremely good mood, so how can I not come to...welcome you back in person?”

“Hahaha, I guess you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.”

“Hohoho, that I do, that I do.”

The air rang with our strangely nuanced laughter.

::Is it just me or is Kelvin acting kind of weird? What’s happening to him?::

::My king is quite bad at dealing with Guildmaster Rio. You can’t really blame him, as he’s been outmaneuvered several times now.::

Are you guys purposely using the Network’s open channel?! Not that Gerard’s wrong, but still!

“So, Kelvin-kun, how was your holiday in Toraj?”

“Very relaxing. I brought back a lot of souvenirs and even got to meet the queen in person.”

“And the Heroes of Deramis...I suppose that taking care of them was enjoyable too?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe how wet behind the ears they — wait...”

I thought I saw Rio’s monocle glint for a split second. No, I know that I saw it glint.

“Oh yes, I know all about that. You and your party were mistaken for Black Wind, and you had ‘no choice’ but to retaliate. And you managed to do so without dealing any significant damage to the Heroes. Well done, Kelvin-kun, well done.”

How does he already know everything in such detail?!

“But I wonder, was it really the Heroes’ misunderstanding? Or was this a setup by someone? And would that someone know how very much it had cost Parth to pull the wool over the eyes of the Deramisian spies? Did a certain someone consider the fact that if something had actually happened to the Heroes, it would have ended up becoming a diplomatic fiasco far beyond the scale of simply apprehending Christoph and his little group?”

Goddammit, I can’t win. How absurd is this old raccoon dog’s information-gathering ability?! Why am I finding myself having to apologize the very second I get back?!

After somehow working through this awkward moment while my companions looked on in amusement, I found myself forced to accept a gigantic reward — this is the bounty for taking down Black Wind, I guess? — and was sent on home with a final, “Just be more careful going forward.”

So...I suppose I should take this whole thing as proof of Rio’s trust in me?