Chapter 2: Power-Leveling
Chapter 2: Power-Leveling
The day after Rion was Summoned, our party visited Sangria Forest, a dungeon in Parth’s vicinity that housed relatively high-level monsters. The aim was to power-level our new arrival by taking advantage of my Experience Sharing skill. The party member who delivered the final blow would normally get the bulk of the XP, but this skill allowed everyone in my group to receive an equal amount of points, no matter who did what. As a result, even a Level 1 adventurer would benefit from the same influx of XP, as if they had personally killed the monster.
“This really does feel like a dungeon!”
“Um, Master...why have we accompanied you?”
“Mommy, the forest is all dark! Why is it so dark even though it’s daytime?”
I had brought Ellie and Ruka along as well. Although the two of them were not meant to be combat personnel, this was a world where danger lurked around every corner. I wanted them to at least be able to protect themselves if the need ever arose.
Their current Statuses were as follows.
Ellie (28 y/o, Female, Human, Maid)
Level: 5
Title: None
HP: 13/13
MP: 18/18
Strength: 5
Endurance: 5
Agility: 11
Magic: 4
Luck: 12
Skills: Service (Rank F), Cooking (Rank D), Cleaning (Rank E)
Ruka (10 y/o, Female, Human, Apprentice Maid)
Level: 1
Title: None
HP: 7/7
MP: 5/5
Strength: 2
Endurance: 1
Agility: 2
Magic: 1
Luck: 2
Skills: Service (Rank F), Sewing (Rank F)
For extra security, I had created a number of golems — the same ones that had made brief appearances during my fight against the Heroes — using Green Magic, and then assigned them to guard duty. Setsuna had cut them down like they were nothing, but she was a special case. Under normal circumstances, these golems had the strength of Rank A monsters.
I had assigned two improved prototypes to watch the front gate, four were stationed in various locations around the garden, and six more were distributed throughout the mansion itself. After creating them, I simply had to give them routine maintenance — during which I liked to modify them as well — and top up their magical batteries every once in a while. Talk about convenience. It was a bit of a secret, but tinkering with the golems had turned into a hobby of mine lately.
However, while having security was good and all, the Statuses of my new maids gave me little confidence in their ability to handle themselves if things ever went sideways.
“We need to raise your level, and Ruka’s too.”
“But Master, I have never fought any monsters before,” Ellie replied with a worried look.
“And I’ve only helped out a little with a hunt before!” added Ruka.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. All you have to do today is hang out here. Before anything else, we need to give you three the necessary levels and skill points as a foundation to work from.”
Obviously, I had no intention of having Rion, Ellie, or Ruka actually fight in a place like this. It was going to be Gerard, Sera, and Clotho’s job to go into the dungeon and harvest the XP while these three remained on standby at the entrance and simply received their share of the points.
Sangria Forest was a Rank B dungeon, which meant that we wouldn’t be bothering anyone, as there were no other adventurers from Parth strong enough to brave the dangers. Efil, Melfina, and I were also staying behind to serve as guards.
“Kel-nii, I’m on standby too?”
“I’m sorry, but today, yeah.”
“I see. Well, I guess rushing in isn’t going to help anything. Maybe we can just talk instead!”
“Yes, let’s talk, let’s talk!!” cried Ruka with sparkling eyes.
“Settle down, you two. That’s what I planned on doing from the start.” After all, just standing around waiting is a waste of time. Might as well use this opportunity to teach them some things about being an adventurer.
“Well then, we’ll be off, my king.”
“Gerard, want to have a little competition and see how many monsters we can each defeat in an hour?”
“Interesting. Is this meant to be a sort of rematch from yesterday?”
“Yes! It’s decided, then. Ready — start!”
“What the —?! That’s cheating!”
“Loser has to carry everyone’s luggage on the way homeeee!”
Sera’s voice faded into the distance as she took off into the sky. Despite being a beat late, Gerard wasted no time and quickly barreled into the depths of the forest after her.
Sera thinks she’s suggested a contest in which she would have the advantage thanks to her mobility, but has she forgotten about Clotho? When it comes to Rank B monsters, even Clotho’s clones would be strong enough to hold their own in a fight. In other words, it’s Team Slime against the other two.
Clotho’s main body was sitting nonchalantly on Efil’s shoulder as usual, but I could sense numerous clones already spreading out through the forest and initiating battles. We usually just have Clotho carry everything in Storage anyway, so I’m not sure the bet is worth much, but whatever gets them fired up, I guess.
“All right, how about we get started as well?”
I took out a notebook that would serve as a makeshift textbook, and Ruka made a doleful face. Muahaha, who said we would just be chit-chatting? I’m going to talk, all right...as a part of your studies.
◇ ◇ ◇
Roughly thirty minutes after Sera and the rest had set out, Efil was keeping a lookout from up in a nearby tree, Melfina was smiling as she listened to me talk, and I was deep into my lesson.
“There are a total of five skills that deal with magic. Red Magic involves fire and lightning, and boasts the highest attack power. Blue magic uses water and ice, and is more focused on supporting your allies and interfering with opponents. Then there’s Green Magic, which focuses on wind and earth and, thanks to being quite well-balanced, provides the most flexibility in dealing with any situation. White Magic is incredibly powerful when it comes to destroying the undead and healing. And last but not least is Black Magic, which can control the dead and contains many crafty or sneaky spells. Of course, White Magic has attack spells too, and Red Magic also has buff spells. Take what I’m saying as a general impression and be aware that there will always be exceptions.”
“Kel-nii, the sound of fanfare that’s been going off inside my head non-stop is making it really hard for me to concentrate.”
“It means that you’ve been gaining a lot of levels. You three, want to take a peek at your own Statuses to see?”
“Um, ‘Status’...whoa! I’ve already leveled up that much?!” Rion cried with delight.
Ellie’s eyes widened in surprise as she quietly murmured, “Oh my...”
Ruka, whose head had practically been giving off steam just now from the misery of our study session, suddenly seemed to come back to life as she excitedly tried to show me her screen, going, “Me too! Master, look at it, look at it!”
Seems like things are going well on the hunting party’s side. Just as I was about to pat Ruka’s head, a telepathic message came in from Efil.
::Master, there is a shadow wolf heading in our direction. It is alone and might have strayed from the pack.::
A stray monster? An idea suddenly came to me. This might be a good opportunity to show off my Summoning skill. We could do with a guard dog at the mansion, too.
Don’t shoot it. Let it through, I instructed through the Network, closing my textbook with a soft thump.
“Something the matter, Kel-nii?”
“It seems like a monster is coming out of the forest and heading in our direction. Rion, do you like dogs?”
“Dogs? Um, I guess? I never really had a chance to be around one in my previous life.”
“In that case, have a seat and wait for a few.”
Three faces looked back at me in puzzlement.
It wasn’t long before the figure of a shadow wolf emerged at the edge of the clearing. With its inky black fur, red eyes, and muscles twice the size of wolves in Japan, there was no mistaking it. Ahh, this sure brings me back. How many of these did we face when Efil first joined the party?
“M-Master! It’s dangerous!” Ellie shouted in alarm. She knew how strong I was, but this was her first time facing a Rank B monster, which residents of this world considered extremely dangerous. I was grateful for her concern, unneeded though it was.
“Not a problem. Mel, can you take up a position in front, just in case?”
“Sure thing.”
The shadow wolf directed its eyes my way. It would make things easier if it were to head straight for me, although the end result would be the same regardless.
After a brief face-off, the wolf let out a loud snarl and began charging towards me.
“Air Pressure.”
I activated my go-to spell for immobilizing opponents, carefully keeping an eye on the creature’s remaining HP with Analyze Eye. Once the bar dropped below 50%, I let the spell dissipate and established a Contract with the beast. Half of my MP disappeared in an instant, and I was assaulted by a mild sense of fatigue.
“All right, it glowed. That’s a success, then.”
“Kel-nii, what was that?”
“What you just saw was the Contracting part of my Summoning skill. The wolf has now become one of my Followers. It’s been absorbed into my magic pool and is currently waiting there.”
Ellie blinked a few times. “So, that was Summoning? It’s my first time seeing it used in person.”
“Master is so strong!” gushed Ruka.
Oh, right, this shadow wolf wasn’t a Named Monster. Let’s have Rion give it a name once we get back to the house.
::Master, there’s an adventurer party approaching from behind.::
Other adventurers? This place sure is busy today. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any adventurers here besides us. Do you recognize them, Efil?
::They...appear to be Uld-san and his party.::
◇ ◇ ◇
“Here we were, wondering who was in front of us, and turns out to be you, Kelvin! Uh, what are you doing with a cloth spread out in the middle of the entrance to the forest?”
As Efil had reported, the party approaching us had been Uld and his friends. And here I was thinking no one would be here to bother us.
Efil had descended from the tree and was now standing beside me.
I laughed awkwardly. “We, uh, thought we might have a picnic. It’s great weather and all.”
“A picnic in such a dangerous place?” Uld asked with an astonished expression.
Well, it’s technically true, so what can I say? “What about you, Uld-san? You don’t usually come to Sangria Forest, do you?”
“Our party finally fulfilled the requirements for taking the Rank B promotion exam. We’re here to carry it out.”
For their exam, they were to kill ten blood mushrooms, ten elder treants, and ten skull honeybees. Only after bringing back the relevant parts of the monsters as proof of the subjugations would they officially be promoted to Rank B.
Now that the dungeon boss wasn’t around, the creatures in the forest were relatively docile. Considering the strength of Uld’s party, they should be able to pull it off if they stayed focused and alert. However, this was an exam that all of them needed to undergo. In other words, the subjugation requirements listed were per person. With them being a party of four, it was going to take quite a bit of time to reach the numbers they needed.
This was one way in which normal quests differed from promotion exams. While the former tested the strength of the party as a whole, the latter tested the strength of each individual. Of course, since we happened to be here anyway, we could certainly lend them a bit of help as well, at least with anything outside of direct combat.
The fighting, of course, they would have to do themselves, as it was impossible to falsify exactly who had subjugated which monster, even for those within the same party. This was because anyone with Analyze Eye at a high enough rank could actually check the identity of the person who had delivered the final blow. Naturally, this was something that the Adventurer’s Guild would look over very thoroughly. Lying about it and having that lie be exposed would be a huge problem.
“By the way, I see some new faces. Efil I know, of course, but who is this pretty lady and the cute little girl beside her?!”
“Oh, um, yeah. Ellie and Ruka are newly hired maids who will be working at our house, so they’re not really in my party.”
Ellie lowered her head slightly in greeting, and Ruka copied her.
“Dammit, I’m envious!”
“And here we are, a party of only guys...”
“You mean to say that Efil-chan and Sera-san aren’t enough for you?!”
The three adventurers standing behind Uld-san glared at me with a measure of resentment. Although not quite on Efil and Sera’s level, Ellie was certainly beautiful. And Ruka had inherited a lot of her genes.
I was not familiar with Uld’s companions, but Analyze Eye told me that, including Uld himself, it was a well-balanced party with a warrior, a swordsman, an archer, and a mage, all in their thirties. All of the men were extremely macho, for some reason, which gave the party an overly testosterone-charged atmo— no, a very gallant, manly atmosphere.
“Calm down, you guys! Don’t get flustered over something so petty!”
“Sorry, Uld-san. I don’t know what came over me.”
Uld — who actually seemed quite flustered himself — had appealed to his friends, thankfully with some measure of success. That’s Parth’s most veteran adventurer for you. Let’s take this opportunity to get the greetings out of the way.
“Oh, right, I haven’t introduced these two yet. This is Mel, and over here is Rion.”
“It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Mel,” said Melfina, radiating a sort of holy-looking backlit glow.
Rion, in contrast, offered her greeting with a touch of nerves, possibly from a lack of experience in speaking with adults. “M-My name is Rion. I, um, am Kel-nii’s little sister. Nice to meet you.”
“ULD-SAN! Life is shit, you know that?!”
“He’s got a cute little sister now too?!”
“And some kind of saint-like girl!”
“Hold on, you guys. I understand how you feel, but hold on!”
“As if someone with a wife and kids could possibly understand the feelings of us bachelors!”
“Hear, hear!”
“That’s right!”
For some reason, the voices of protest from his party grew even more heated. Now I’m worried about whether he can hold them back. How did things start spiraling so fast?
Luckily, Melfina’s halo and white wings were currently nowhere to be seen. Or rather, those parts of her artificial body were merely magical constructs, which meant that she could materialize and dematerialize them at will. Thankfully, she’d had the presence of mind to make herself less conspicuous. Otherwise, we would have had a lot of explaining to do.
::Master, I don’t think Uld-san is going to last much longer.::
You’re right. Guess I should provide my supp—
“We just got back, Kelvin! Uh, what’s going on here?”
“What is this chaotic situation, my king?”
It seemed an hour had passed since the start of their contest, and Sera and Gerard had returned from their hunt. Clotho’s clones could also be seen hopping along behind them.
“Hold on, is this not Uld-dono that I see?”
“And that voice is...Gerard-dono! What perfect timing. Please help me to calm these idiots down!”
Oh, right, Gerard and Uld struck up a friendship at the celebratory dinner after we defeated Viktor. With Gerard as reinforcement, it looks like Uld has been spared from a cruel and unusual death at the hands of his companions.
Sera tilted her head in puzzlement. “Sooo...who is that guy? An acquaintance of Gerard’s?”
“You don’t remember him?”
“I haven’t a clue!”
“Well, I suppose you did get pretty smashed during that party. Even though you only had a single cup that time...” I sighed. “You really shouldn’t ever drink again, okay?” Looking after you was an incredible challenge, both physically and mentally. Good thing it’s now just a fond...well, it’s a memory, at least.
Soon enough, Gerard finished suppressing the macho group’s outrage. I returned my attention to the conversation just in time to hear him say, “Look, you guys, I might not know what the situation is, but you’re clearly putting Uld-dono in a tough spot. Calm down and rethink the matter with cooler heads.”
Uld bowed slightly. “Gerard-dono, I’m sorry for having pulled you into this. I should have done a better job keeping my men in check. Thank you for the help.”
“Ah, it’s give and take, as they say. I’m indebted to you for having once saved my king’s life.”
“Oh, come on, that was nothing.”
By “debt,” Gerard was referring to the time that Uld had rescued me from Sera’s neck choke. Oh, no, no, no, that incident was hardly “nothing.” I can safely say that was the closest I’ve been to dying since coming to this world. If he hadn’t spoken up, I probably wouldn’t be here today.
“And you guys! Have you forgotten that we are about to take on the challenge of Sangria Forest, a Rank B dungeon?! Do you think you’ll be able to pass your exams if you let yourselves get distracted so easily?!”
Sera looked over. “Exam? What exam?”
“We are in the middle of our Rank B promotion exam,” Uld replied. “We must each subjugate a certain number of monsters within this dungeon.”
“Ah...”
“Ah...”
Hold on, why did Sera and Gerard both harmonize on that worry-inducing “Ah”...?
“That’s gonna be a problem, isn’t it?” murmured Gerard.
“It is a problem indeed,” Sera replied.
I looked at the two of them suspiciously. “What did you guys do?” And why do I have this sudden sense of foreboding?
“Master,” Efil interjected, “I don’t see any monsters within the forest. I think maybe...”
Hold on, my Presence Sensing isn’t picking up anything either. If Efil can’t make out any monsters with her Farsight, it can only mean...
Sera laughed awkwardly. “Um, yeah, we’ve completely cleared out the entire dungeon.”
◇ ◇ ◇
“I’m so sorry, Uld-san! It seems my friends got a bit carried away!” I cried, prostrating myself and grinding my forehead into the ground in apology.
“Please raise your head, Kelvin. If this dungeon really has been emptied of monsters, that’s a good thing for Parth. Clare and every other citizen will be able to sleep even safer tonight!”
Apparently, Gerard, Sera, and Clotho had returned to us not because the one-hour mark had passed, but because they had already annihilated the entire monster population of Sangria Forest. Sera had confirmed this fact with her detection skills while they were still inside, so there was little room for doubt. The three of them had reconvened, and after agreeing that the competition was a wash, they came back out for lack of anything better to do.
Although unintentional, we had still ended up hindering Uld and his party’s promotion exam.
“Once I explain things to Rio, I’m sure he’ll understand. Our exam just got a rain check, is all. And it seems like my guys need some time to get their heads back in the game, too, so I should be thanking you instead!”
“Uld-san...” What a big heart he has! Both he and his wife are just the nicest people ever.
“In any case, your party is incredibly strong. I know that’s not new, but I feel like this has really put it into perspective for me,” the older adventurer laughed as he ran a hand through his beard. “I suppose it really is about time for you guys to have your Rank S exam.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“You’re having your Rank S promotion soon, right? Rio said so.”
What the hell? It’s my exam, and I’m the only one who hasn’t heard about it yet?
“Aha! He’s probably keeping it a secret from you while he makes the preparations, so that he can spring it on you without warning.”
“Well, that would be obnoxious. That damn raccoon dog...” I can easily imagine him doing something like that.
“I haven’t actually heard the details of the exam, but it’s probably not going to be easy, being a Rank S promotion and all.”
I laughed weakly. “Probably not.”
“Then again, it didn’t seem like he was in any particular hurry. You should use the time to make your preparations.”
Fair enough. We’ll do what we can, I suppose. Oh, and since I’ve bumped into Uld, I might as well tell him about our new home.
After chatting for a while longer, we all headed back to Parth together. By “all,” I mean both Uld’s party and my own, as it was now impossible for them to carry out their subjugations.
I should probably also put in a word with Rio to ask for a new assignment for their exam.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Still, a new promotion exam...” I muttered. “With all the promotions I’ve received as ‘a special case,’ it feels like it’s been a while since I’ve actually taken a test.”
Scrub, scrub, scrub.
“Are you feeling nervous, Kel-nii? No matter what the content of the exam is, I can’t imagine you struggling with it.”
Scrub, scrub, scrub.
“Arf!”
Scrub, scrub, scrub.
“Come on, Alex!” Rion scolded. “Stop struggling! We’re trying to wash you!”
Scrub, scrub, scrub.
“I’m rinsing him off now,” I warned.
Pshaah.
“Master, here is a towel.”
“Thanks, Efil. Alex, we’re going to towel you off n—”
Shake, shake, shake!
“AAGH! Stop shaking yourself dry, I said we’ll dry you off with a towel!”
“Ahaha, you’re all drenched, Kel-nii!”
It was just after lunch, the time of the day when everyone gets a little sleepy, and I was in the garden of my estate with Rion and Efil. The three of us were washing Alex (named by Rion), the shadow wolf I had Contracted with in Sangria Forest the day before. Having lived in the wild up until now, he hadn’t exactly smelled like a bouquet of roses.
“Gah, looks like I’ll need a shower myself after this.”
Wipe, wipe.
“All right, that should do it. Ready, Efil?”
“Any time, Master.”
Efil used Red Magic to warm up the air, while I used Green Magic to give it direction. And voilà, our brand-new cooperative spell, Dryer! The must-have Life Magic spell had been developed through a lot of trial and error on our part. Thank you once again for your Parallel Processing, Miyabi!
This collaborative routine of ours was something we had started tinkering with as an aside to our nighttime...ahem, efforts at deepening our relationship. Afterwards, we would mess around with our magic a bit for fun, and this spell was essentially a byproduct of that.
“It really does work like a dryer,” Rion marveled.
“The sad thing is, Efil and I can’t use it on ourselves,” I replied with a wry smile. After all, the spell required very intense concentration. Our most frequent customer was Sera, but because it was quite a tiring process, we only did it for her once in a while. On this occasion, it was meant as a welcome bonus for our newest member.
“Look at how fluffy your fur’s become, Alex!” Rion crooned as she stroked the shadow wolf’s black coat. Belying the creature’s appearance, its fur was actually quite soft. Almost addictively so, in fact.
“And lastly, we just have to get this collar on and...all done!”
The collar with Alex’s name on it — which I had handcrafted myself — fit comfortably around his neck. Yeah, okay, now he just looks like a big dog.
Efil narrowed her eyes in appreciation. “What wonderful craftsmanship. Now no one would mistake Alex for a wild monster.”
“That’s right. And he’s been prettied up as well.”
“Kel-nii, Efil-nee, I’ll go take Alex for a walk now.”
Uh, does a wolf need walks? Well, why not. “Just make sure to be back by dinnertime.”
“Rion-sama, I wish you an enjoyable outing.”
Efil and I watched as Rion and Alex ran out through the front gate. My “little sister” was so polite that she even waved to the golems on guard duty. Then again, our golems were so high-specced that they waved back in response, so I suppose it wasn’t that strange.
There was no knowing if Rion’s Companionship skill had anything to do with it, but she and Alex had immediately bonded. Their levels were similar too, so it was my hope that they would motivate and support each other going forward.
“How are Ellie and Ruka progressing?”
“Thanks to yesterday’s excursion, both of them have undergone remarkable growth. In regards to their skills, I let them choose whatever they wanted, just as you instructed.”
“Good, thanks.”
As with Efil, I did not want to impose in any way. I strongly believed that choosing one’s skills was a right that belonged solely to each person.
“If there’s nothing else, I will go prepare the bath. It will take a while. What do you plan on doing in the meantime, Master?”
“Melfina and Sera are having a practice match in the training room now, aren’t they? I’ll go watch them. After all, I still need more data on Melfina’s fighting style.”
It hadn’t been long since I’d Summoned Melfina to join us. Although I knew the technical details from her Status, it was no substitute for actually watching her in a fight. I needed to carefully observe her in order to get a better idea of how to best include her in our teamwork during battles. For now, my focus was on understanding her strengths and methods. Then the trial and error could begin.
“Very well. I will come down to the training room to fetch you when the bath is ready.”
“Sounds good.” A mischievous idea flashed through my mind, and I gave voice to it. “Since it’s been a while, would you like to go in together?”
Efil’s pointed ears perked up, and her face grew redder and redder with each passing moment. “Ah, um...the sun is still up, so I’m only going to wash your back!”
Despite being calm and composed most of the time, she was still quite shy regarding such matters. Efil-san, your ears are betraying your thoughts.
◇ ◇ ◇
“They sure are going at it,” I noted as I entered the room.
In the middle of our now-familiar training hall stood Melfina, surrounded by numerous flowers made of ice. It was a whole field of artificial flowers, which she had created with her Blue Magic, each one of them proudly blooming works of art.
Ah, a spell cast on the environment itself. As for Sera...
My demon companion, in contrast, was running towards the goddess’s location by smashing her way through the flowers with fists wreathed in an aura of Black Magic. With every flower she touched, her HP — which I was monitoring with Analyze Eye — dropped slightly.
So, it’s a kind of magic that deals damage with contact. I could have acquired detailed information on the artificial flowers if I’d used Analyze Eye, but I had decided to adopt a spectator’s point of view for the time being. Let’s ask Melfina about it later.
“Brrr...I can feel the cold even from this far away.”
“That’s ’cause you’re wearing so little, Master!”
“Oh, hey there, Ruka.”
The kid was wearing a coat over her maid uniform. Covering her head was a hood with cute animal ears the same shade of chestnut brown as her own hair. I bet either Efil or Ellie made it for her.
“This spot is free!” Ruka offered, patting the ground next to where she was sitting.
“Guess I’ll take you up on that. You’re all done with your work?”
“Yep, it’s my break time! Grandpa Gerard was here a minute ago, but then he went off somewhere.”
“Leaving you all alone? That doesn’t sound like him.” Given how much he dotes on her, I can’t imagine him leaving her side of his own accord.
“Rukaaaa! Grandpa has brought you snacks! I hope you li— Why are you in my seat, my king?”
“Er...don’t mind me.” Yeah, okay, that’s the Gerard I know. He’s even starting to act like this with Rion now, too.
“Did you also come to watch Princess and Sera’s match, my king? It’s quite the spectacle, isn’t it?”
“Mm, I’m quite interested in seeing how this plays out. Both of them use a good balance of close-quarters combat and magic, but while Sera likes to go on the offensive, it looks like Melfina prefers to focus on recovery and buffs. It’s a pretty interesting match-up.”
I continued exchanging predictions with Gerard while Ruka and I stuffed our faces with cookies. Their equipment and skill loadout are generally evenly matched, but I suppose Sera’s stats leave her at a bit of a disadvantage. Sure, her strength is off the charts, but Melfina is even further ahead thanks to Sympathetic Resonance.
“Looks like things are about to get interesting,” I noted.
Gerard nodded in agreement. “I think so too.”
◇ ◇ ◇
Once Sera finally managed to smash her way through the flowers, she headed straight for Melfina. Both of her hands were bleeding profusely, and it was clear that she had already suffered a lot of HP damage. There was an abundance of blood staining the flower fragments that were scattered in a trail behind her.
In contrast, Melfina had yet to lose a single point of health. With a composed smile, she said, “The power to smash through Frozen Vajra Briar is impressive indeed, but your fighting style is far too straightforward, Sera.”
“Giving your opponent advice? Somebody’s taking it easy.”
“And somebody’s yet to land a single hit on me, so...pretty much.”
“Fair enough. But you do realize that you are now within my reach, right?” Sera replied just before disappearing.
Wait, no, she just leaped up into the air so fast that it seemed like she disappeared.
Melfina’s eyes, however, could clearly keep up with Sera’s movements just fine. “Sub-zero Rampart!”
Without losing her smile, the goddess calmly cast her next spell, making a wall of ice materialize between her opponent and herself. This Blue Magic counterpart to my Adamantite Rampart stretched as high as the training room’s ceiling.
“I’m sure you could destroy this with three or four serious punches. But the few seconds it will take you to do so are going to cost you the match,” Melfina commented, bracing her spear.
If Sera was to charge straight in from the front, she would end up impaling herself. Yet even faced with such an obstacle, the demon’s eyes continued to blaze with self-confidence. Melfina quickly picked up on this and grew suspicious, but it was a moment too late.
“Jin Scrimmage, right arm only!”
Magic the color of night and Sera’s red blood mixed together instantaneously and sank into her right arm.
“Isn’t that Viktor’s move?!” cried Gerard.
I whistled in admiration. “So, she knows how to use it. What’s more, her activation speed is much faster than Viktor’s.”
Gerard’s astonishment was understandable, as he was the one who’d had the most practice matches with Sera so far, and she had never used that move during any of them. Surprise also filled Melfina’s face for the first time. No one besides Sera herself knew whether this was something she had learned only recently or if she had been hiding it all along, but one thing was clear: her proficiency with the spell was even greater than Viktor’s had been.
Sera chortled. “Since you mentioned it, let’s see how many of my ‘serious punches’ this can really take!”
The giant arm made of pitch-black magic had razor-sharp claws for fingers and looked ominous and incredibly tough. A grotesque monstrosity — the appearance of which practically screamed ‘Danger!’ — it rushed through the air and slammed into the wall of ice.
◇ ◇ ◇
The Rank A Blue Magic spell Sub-zero Rampart was so tough that even Rank A monsters wouldn’t be able to leave a scratch on it. In addition, it was enchanted with the same HP-draining abilities of Frozen Vajra Briar, which meant that anyone trying to break through with half-assed attacks would only be hurting themselves in the process. For Melfina, whose basic battle strategy centered around defense, this was an all-purpose spell useful for both damaging her enemies and protecting herself.
It crumbled to pieces with a single attack from the demon.
Crash!
Sera’s arm, which had been transformed by Jin Scrimmage, slammed into the wall, causing deep cracks to spider through it almost instantly. The point of contact caved in, then the rest of the barrier collapsed, with ice fragments flying in Melfina’s direction.
As she parried the hail storm with her spear, Melfina analyzed what had just taken place. She didn’t receive any noticeable damage from making contact with the wall. From this, I gather that black arm of hers not only increases her damage output, but serves as a form of armor as well. In this case, should I focus on destroying the arm, or should I target the unaffected parts of her body? Under normal circumstances, the latter seems the obvious choice, but...
“Destroying that aberration seems like a nice challenge!”
“You’re more passionate than I gave you credit for! I like that!” Sera rotated in midair, then used the momentum from the spin to brandish her right arm in a sweeping attack. Her claws were spread wide, rushing towards Melfina as if to tear her into pieces with their deadly sharpness.
“Divine Aspect!”
Pure white wings sprang into being on Melfina’s back, emitting a brilliant holy aura that flowed through her armor and into her spear.
During their practice matches, Kelvin’s friends would use weapons that were easily broken and made to be as non-lethal as possible. Consequently, Sera and Melfina were not using their main Rank S weapons. It was a measure adopted partly for safety reasons and partly to avoid unconsciously growing overly reliant on exceptional gear.
Naturally, it stood to reason that these flimsy practice weapons wouldn’t be able to withstand techniques and magic beyond a certain level. In fact, the knuckle dusters that Sera had put on at the start of the match were now completely destroyed thanks to her activation of Jin Scrimmage (although in this case, her arm had also grown too big for them to fit anyway). Gerard, of course, couldn’t actually change his equipment, so he would be debuffed before matches instead, so as to remain more or less on his partner’s level.
This particular fight was no exception. Before long, Melfina’s glowing spear was giving off worrying sounds of snaps and creaks, but she paid it no mind. The shining weapon was thrust forward to meet Sera’s approaching arm.
“Hah!”
“Hmph!”
Black and white collided, creating a shockwave that reached even Kelvin’s position. A moment later, the two colors blended together as Melfina’s spear dug into the palm of Sera’s mutated appendage. But it was Sera who burst into a grin.
“This spear is now mine!”
Having already been on the verge of falling apart, the blade had not done much damage to her despite having pierced her artificial hand. She clenched her fist and, after a brief struggle, successfully managed to crush the offending spear into pieces.
With that, Melfina had lost her only weapon and was quickly reduced to a defenseless state. The goddess tried to back up several steps to regain her balance, but Sera accelerated forward with the Flight skill to close the distance and deliver a final blow. The unexpected upset convinced Kelvin that the latter now had the match in the bag.
“I really am surprised. You have grown a lot!” said Melfina as a smile returned to her face.
PANG!
“What the —”
With a loud sound that brought to mind the smashing of porcelain, Sera’s Jin Scrimmage crumbled away. She had no idea what had just happened. Naturally, neither did those who were spectating from the sidelines.
“Divine Aspect is not a buff. It is a spell that envelopes my body with a holy aura that purifies everything abnormal. It affects not only debuffs, but also buffs and transformations. And its target is not only myself.”
Clang!
What was left of Melfina’s spear had, along with the disappearance of Sera’s Jin Scrimmage, fallen to the ground. It flickered a few last times before going out entirely.
“Wait, you let me grab your spear on purpose?!”
“Even though you were in direct contact with the spell, it took some time for it to dispel your magic. If that arm of yours had lasted just a few seconds longer, it would have been my loss, Sera.”
Thanks to the demon’s acceleration, the two were now in close proximity — close enough to each unleash an attack. Since they had both lost their buffs, it was going to be their basic abilities that would determine the outcome of the fight.
Melfina’s magic glowed a bluish-white, then was unleashed tow—
“It’s not over YET!”
Something invisible slammed into the floor, after which Sera’s direction changed abruptly. The magical attack Melfina had unleashed merely grazed her cheek and disappeared into the distance, leaving a frozen trail along the ground.
That was her tail! The one that’s currently invisible! Melfina realized in surprise.
As a demon, Sera had horns, wings, and a tail. However, these physical characteristics were currently hidden by the Clip of Camouflage that she wore. Having used up all its power to cancel Jin Scrimmage, the Divine Aspect effect had failed to offset the effect of the clip.
By stabbing her invisible tail into the ground, Sera had managed to evade the otherwise unavoidable attack. She had also succeeded in distracting her opponent for the briefest of moments.
Ignoring the crackling ice on her skin, the demon poured all of her strength into her next and final assault. All of the blood spread across the ground from the start of the fight was suddenly charged with magic. Where it had been in contact with parts of the Frozen Vajra Briar — and this was more than half of the scattered blood — it instantly sucked the magic out of the shards of ice and sent it all straight to Sera’s fist.
“Crucifixion!”
The trajectory of the demon’s fists painted an inverted cross the color of fresh blood. It was an attack that would grow more powerful the more magic that was absorbed and the more Sera bled.
A crimson flash slammed squarely into Melfina’s abdomen and stained her blue armor red.
“Oof!” she cried as the air left her lungs.
The goddess who had descended to the mortal plane had been brought to her knees by a demon.
◇ ◇ ◇
“It was a great fight, you two. Are you still hurting anywhere?”
“Kelvin, calm down. You covered everything already when you healed us just now.”
“I’m fine, too. Thank you, honey.”
In the end, the fight was treated as a draw. The moment Melfina had crumpled to her knees, Sera had also expended the last drop of her strength. With both of them unable to continue, there was nothing for it but to call it a wash.
“Sera, you did great just now. If I didn’t have the advantage in stats, I would have lost for sure.”
“Nah, come on. You still haven’t gotten used to that body of yours yet either, right? And if you had gone full throttle from the start, I wouldn’t have been able to cut it that close.”
Aren’t friendships developed through crossing fists just beautiful? Plus, I’m glad to see both of them staying humble and objectively analyzing their own shortcomings. I really have found myself great companions.
“So...you two went at it pretty hard just now. Was there any particular reason?”
“Mel, you want to tell him?”
“Oh, that. Honey, we were betting for the right to sleep next to you tonight.”
“I’m sorry, what?” This is my first time hearing about it...
Sera puffed out her cheeks a little. “Efil is always sleeping on your right side, after all. If that spot is reserved for her, then it only leaves your left side open!”
“After realizing that several hours ago, the two of us came up with a bet to decide who would claim that position. Unfortunately, the match was a draw.”
“Uh...”
“Mel, what do you want to bet on next?”
“Hmm...how about whether dinner tonight will be, as Honey refers to it, ‘Japanese-style’ or ‘Western-style’?”
I think I’m getting a headache. First of all, Efil and I aren’t just sleeping next to each oth— cough, cough, cough.
“Grandpa! I can’t hear anything if you cover my ears!”
“You’re still too young, Ruka.”
◇ ◇ ◇
Quite out of character, I found myself waking up in the middle of the night. Before my brain had fully turned on, I registered a familiar smell that put me at ease and a soft warmth against my skin.
“Zzz...zzz...”
Efil was asleep on my chest. Normally, I would be sound asleep until she woke me up, so this was a rare occurrence. It had been some time since I’d last seen her sleeping face. As always, it was an angelic sight.
After having had my fill of staring at her face and enjoying her warmth, I gently lowered her head to the bed and tried to slide away. However...
Squish.
There was something extremely soft touching my back. Then white arms suddenly snaked around my neck.
“Hehehe, I’m all full already...but I’ll have seconds toooo...”
Although her manner of speaking was different at the moment, the owner of the voice was most definitely Melfina. She seemed to be talking in her sleep. Hey there, goddess, you’re drooling. DUDE! Don’t wipe it on my pajamas!
The question of why Melfina was in my bed immediately came to mind, but then I remembered the answer. After winning the “What cuisine is tonight’s dinner going to be?” bet with Sera yesterday, she had crawled into my bed that night. I mean, she’s got a 900 Luck stat, so that figures, right?
Efil had simply said, “If that’s what you want, Master,” and readily accepted the arrangement. I was swept along for the ride, and that’s how the current situation came to be. But to be clear, there was no funny business. Melfina was probably pressing her breasts against me because she thought I was a pillow or something. I repeat, nothing happened.
Although, admittedly, her bountiful breasts did feel quite heavenly.
After that infamous party where Sera had tried drinking for the first time, I developed a bit of an aversion to someone putting their arm around my neck from behind. However, the one doing it this time was Melfina, so there was nothing to fear.
I slowly and gently detached her and managed to free myself. It was not the easiest task as she had, in an obstinate attempt to glue herself to me, thrown her legs over me as I was attempting to slip away. She sure is forward even in her sleep.
I looked back at the bed with a sigh. “She moves around quite a bit in her sleep...”
“Ah, so this...is the legendary...sushi!”
“What kind of dreams are you having?!”
Oops, I said that out loud. You’re good, Melfina, getting a retort out of me even while fast asleep. But still, to be thinking of food even in her dreams...
It was a bit surprising, but Melfina had turned out to be the party member with the biggest appetite. On a good day, she could eat double Gerard’s portion easily. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how all that food actually fit into her petite 160 cm frame.
“Zzz...nn...”
“Zzz...honey...”
I affectionately caressed both of their heads. Staring at them for a moment, I realized once again just how unbelievably beautiful they both were.
“Never would I have imagined being in such a situation in my previous life. I mean, I don’t think I would have. Not that I remember.”
Although I had retained general knowledge from my previous world, I couldn’t remember a single thing about myself. Preferences and hobbies could be deduced based on the types of knowledge I possessed, but anything that might identify who I’d been as a person, including information about my family and friends, was a complete blank.
I wasn’t particularly bothered by it, though. After all, it was my previous life. What I did remember of that world felt more like someone else’s memories, if anything.
My place was here, in this world. Melfina, who had helped to arrange my transmigration, was here. Efil, who had supported me almost from the start, was here. And there were more and more companions filling up my life, one at a time. It was here, with all of them, where I planned to continue living.
“And if anyone wishes us harm, they need to be exterminated.”
Looking out the window at the moonlit landscape, I finally directed my thoughts to the real reason I had woken up at this time of night.
◇ ◇ ◇
When I reached the second floor and stepped out onto the balcony, I saw that a few others had arrived before me.
“You’re late, Kelvin!”
Waiting there were Sera, Clotho, Rion, and at their feet, Alex.
“Good morning, Kel-nii! Or is it still ‘good evening’?”
“Good...something, everyone. Sorry, I only just woke up.”
“Hmph! Who knows what you were doing before this,” muttered Sera as she averted her gaze.
Am I imagining it or is she in a bad mood? “What’s the matter, Sera?”
“Noooothing.”
“You sure?” Well, no matter. We’ve got bigger issues to worry about right now. “All right, then, getting down to business. You guys being here means you felt it too, right?”
Sera’s face turned serious, and she nodded. “There are people moving around the estate. They number fourteen in total.”
Our property was currently being surrounded by a group of strangers. Normally, no one would be out and about this late at night, and even if there were people wandering the streets, they wouldn’t all be staring at our home.
I had woken up because Presence Sensing had picked up the unusual life signs. They were currently peering in from outside our walls, but it felt like they were going to make their move soon.
“Sera-nee is the one who told me and Alex. Embarrassingly, we didn’t notice anything at all.”
“Arf!”
Alex had been given a big cushion in Rion’s room, and that was where he slept. Both of them had likely been woken up by Sera at the same time.
“Efil and Melfina seemed pretty tired, so I let them continue sleeping.”
“I’m tired too!” grumbled Sera.
I could have woken up Efil at any time, if necessary, but Melfina was another matter. Specifically, she was so bad at waking up that no one could actually shake her awake. She claimed to be a “serious and responsible goddess,” but from my observations, she was actually a bit...um, slovenly, here and there, especially when she didn’t think anyone was looking.
“How about Gerard?”
“Already took up position in front of Ellie and Ruka’s room,” Sera confirmed.
“Good call. With him on guard, we won’t have to worry about them.” Not that I have any intention of letting the intruders get that far, of course.
Just in case, I commanded three of the golems within the house to fortify the area around the mother and daughter’s room. Then I turned from my companions to direct my gaze outside.
“So...from what I can see, they don’t look all that strong. Most of them are around Level 20. Oh, there’s a Level 26. He’s farthest in the back, so that’s probably their boss.”
“You can see that far, Kel-nii?”
“I borrowed Farsight from Efil,” I explained, raising my right Skill Eater gauntlet slightly.
From this distance, Farsight was more than enough to help me see all of our presumed intruders. The fact that they were all masked certainly didn’t help their case.
“Rion, Alex, you two think you can handle this?”
“What? Me?” Rion looked completely caught off guard.
Her reaction was understandable, as she hadn’t had any significant experience with actual battle so far. What’s more, our current opponents were other humans, not monsters. But I felt this was something she needed to get used to if she was to continue living here as an adventurer.
Fortunately, she had already earned a whole lot of skill points and had assigned them based on her own preferences. Among the skills she had picked up was Nerves of Steel, which would go a long way toward helping her steady her mind.
We also had the advantage as the battlefield was our own home. All things considered, the conditions were perfect for Rion’s first experience in taking on other humans.
“That’s right. I’ve cast Silent Whisper on our outer walls, so you can make as much noise as you like without having to worry about bothering the neighbors. I’ll order the front gate golems to vacate their posts. I want you to take care of each intruder as they enter the grounds. The rest of us will keep a close eye out and provide support if the situation ever gets dicey. You think you can do it?”
Rion and Alex looked at each other. It lasted for only a moment, but the two of them seemed to have had an entire conversation within that time. Then Rion smiled and said with determination, “All right, I’ll do it!” as Alex’s red eyes sharpened in a sign of combat readiness.
“That’s my sister! Clotho, please give her a clone.”
The slime obediently created a tiny clone that would provide her with access to both the Follower Network and Storage, and directed it to leap onto her shoulder. With this, Rion was linked up to the rest of the party. It should also help her to communicate with Alex even more effectively than before.
I gave her a quick rundown on how to use her brand-new Clotho terminal.
::Test, test...um, can anyone hear me?::
Loud and clear. I’ll add the information that I gathered from Presence Sensing and Farsight to the map. I hope it helps. Good luck!
::Wow, this is super convenient! Thank you, Kel-nii!::
Go forth, young Hero!
◇ ◇ ◇
There was a man leaning against a wall in a dark alley in Parth. Between his common Parthian attire and the wine bottle in his hand, he looked every bit the part of a drunkard nursing his drink.
The man’s eyes, however, were far too alert. What’s more, they were also fixed on a specific point: the entrance to Kelvin’s estate. The man watched as the guards at the front gate shuffled inside.
There’s a limit to how much information I can gather from all the way back here. It’s too far to use Analyze Eye on those guards. But with them gone for the moment, it seems like the best time for our raid.
Coming to this conclusion, the man immediately sent instructions to his subordinates using hand signals: Infiltrate the place while using Covert Action.
While waiting for news, the captain was left alone with his thoughts. The adventurer who’s recently risen to prominence and is living within this estate colluded with the Heroes of Deramis in the arrest of Christoph-sama. It would have been the Heroes who ultimately bested our champion, but this upstart adventurer could become a threat to Trycen one day too. And being an accomplice in the heinous framing of Christoph-sama as a bandit chief is absolutely unforgivable! We will assault him in his bed, and, if possible, force him to give us information on the Heroes. This is what the Black Ops was gathered to do. We might not stand a chance in a frontal assault, but at this hour, we are vengeance personified!
These men who had disguised themselves and were currently surveilling Kelvin’s home were spies from the country of Trycen.
Crown Prince, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for granting us social outcasts this great opportunity!
Long ago, at the end of the great war that had ravaged the Eastern Continent, the remaining four countries had signed a ceasefire with each other. The militant country of Trycen had been one of those nations, despite being the most aggressive and violent member of the group, and the country with the greatest propensity for invading others.
As time passed, the Black Ops branch of Trycen’s army, which had been greatly feared and respected during the war for their ability to assassinate key foreigners, gather information, and commit grand acts of sabotage, had been reduced to a shell of its former self. Its standing within the Trycenian forces had continued to fall over the years, and the scale of their operation was now nothing compared to what it had once been.
It was in the midst of such desperate circumstances that Prince Azgrad, the crown prince of Trycen and general of the Dragon Knight Order, had presented them with a special mission. This particular Black Ops captain had leapt at the chance, seeing it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the rest of the army recognize their importance once again.
We will succeed with this mission and show them all!
But Azgrad, the man who had given the order, had done so without knowing a rather important piece of information. And this Black Ops captain and his men, despite now being on site, were none the wiser either. Not a single one of them had an inkling of the power of the absolutely inhuman individuals who dwelled within the estate that they were about to invade.
◇ ◇ ◇
In front of the fountain that decorated the estate’s garden stood a lone figure.
“They’re here,” Rion murmured, keeping an eye on the moving red dots as they moved around the map displayed inside her head.
Three from the front, four coming over the left wall, and another three from the right, she thought to herself. Seems like the remaining four are on standby. Hmm, looks like I can’t take too much time dealing with each of them one by one. It would be a problem if any were to get away...
Rion tapped into the Follower Network to reach out to her canine partner.
::Alex, looks like our first battle is going to be a race against time. Let’s finish this quickly and impress Kel-nii!::
::Arf!::
::Good answer!::
Looks like Alex is fired up. I’m also in my best possible condition. Everyone is watching over us from the house. We can do this.
She took several quick hops in place. Unlike in her previous life, the body she had transmigrated into felt extremely light. It was free of disease and, thanks to her having picked up the Acrobatics skill, capable of incredible stunts that she had only ever seen on TV before. Her past self would never have dreamed that any of it was possible.
This world really is a dream come true. Efil-nee is kind and makes the greatest food, and Kel-nii feels strangely familiar and puts me at ease. With Sera-nee and everybody else around all the time, every day is a blast.
The opponents tonight were not monsters, but humans, and Rion wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of harming them. However, the weight of her uncertainties paled in comparison to the importance of her new family. Fortunately, the Nerves of Steel skill that she had picked up was contributing greatly to keeping her cool. And as for resolve...she had already made up her mind.
Since she hadn’t learned any magic yet, this fight was going to be pure close-quarters combat. However, Rion did not think of that as a handicap. She drew the sword she had received from Kelvin, then directed her gaze forward.
::Alex, let’s take care of the front first. Off we go.::
Her feet touched the ground after several more hops, and she abruptly dashed forward. She would fight to protect this warm place that had become her new home.
◇ ◇ ◇
“She’s doing much better than I expected,” I commented.
Sera nodded in agreement. “Her fundamental swordsmanship still needs quite a bit of work, but she’s taken quite well to the Rank S Sword Mastery. Once Gerard gives her some proper instruction, her growth is going to shoot through the roof. Her coordination with Alex is also quite impressive.”
The instant that Rion had taken off for the front gate, three intruders had vaulted over the walls and into the grounds. Though they weren’t very good at it, they were all using Covert Action, which did make their presences slightly harder to detect. However, it wasn’t much of a problem for Rion and Alex, who already knew their opponents’ locations thanks to the information I had shared with them beforehand.
One man was cut down before his feet even reached the ground, and another had his throat torn wide open. No time to scream. Good, clean job.
“Looks like she won’t have the opportunity to show off her Unique Skill tonight.” Then again, we couldn’t lose to this trash if we wanted to. Even if they had managed to attack us in our sleep, we still would have won.
“They went to the effort of coordinating a simultaneous attack from multiple directions, but at this rate, not one of them is even going to reach the house,” Sera observed.
“I’d be surprised if any of them manages to remain standing after thirty seconds.”
The demon sighed. “No showtime for me, then.”
“Master...”
“Oh, hey there, Efil. Sorry, did we wake you?”
Efil, who had already changed from her negligee into her customary maid uniform, joined us at the balcony. Kudos to her for even arriving with her bow in hand.
“Anyone would notice with all the noise. Except for Melfina-sama, I suppose. She is a bit special...”
Ah, right. Silent Whisper is stopping sound from escaping the grounds, but we’re still hearing everything just fine in here. Melfina...well, she’s just tired! Yep!
I gave Efil an update on the situation, after which she offered, “Would you like me to snipe the targets who are still lurking on the street? They’re the ones marked on the map in the Network, right?”
“Nah, better not,” I replied. “Not that I doubt your shooting skills. I know you’d hit them for sure, but we are still inside the city. There could be some unrelated civilians wandering around. And, if possible, I want to interrogate their leader, so we’ll need him ali—
“Ah, it seems like Rion’s already finished up while we were talking. Clotho, Absorb all the bodies. If you come across one who’s still breathing, give him the most basic treatment and take him into custody. Given how thoughtful Rion is, I’m sure she’s left at least one or two alive, even if barely. We’ll hand them over to the guild tomorrow.
“In any case, it seems like everything’s been taken care of, so I’m going to nab the ones still outside nice and quick. Efil, stay here for when Rion comes back. I think she’ll probably want a bath.”
“You’re heading outside...alone, Master?” Efil asked before turning to give Sera a look.
“Gotcha. Kelvin, I’m coming along.”
“Uh, I’m perfectly fine going alo—”
“No, you may not.”
“Oh no you don’t!”
C’mon, you two. You worry too much!
◇ ◇ ◇
They’re late, thought the Black Ops captain.
It had been a while since his subordinates infiltrated the grounds, but there had been no word from them since. Even stranger, no sounds had been heard from inside the estate. The darkness that had seemed so familiar and empowering mere minutes before now felt increasingly foreign and ominous with every passing moment.
Don’t tell me they failed?!
Standard procedure was to immediately retreat if an execution unit should fail to check in by a predetermined time. Slowly but steadily, that time was drawing near.
Shit! We’ll have to cut them loose. The captain signaled for the others on standby to beat a retreat. Hm? That’s strange. Why is there no response?
He repeated the signal a few more times, but the only thing that came back was the sound of the wind.
What’s going on? It’s almost as if I’m the...only one...left...alive...?!
A cold sweat ran down his back as he came to that terrible conclusion. He didn’t want to believe it. His thoughts spun in circles, and he was no longer in any state to make decisions. The only feelings in his head now were bewilderment, terror, and confusion.
Hold on. What if it wasn’t the Heroes who defeated Christoph-sama...
His uncertainty did not last for long. Before he knew it, he had far bigger problems to worry about.
“Oh, hey, you didn’t run away. Are you still here because you’re worried about your comrades? Kudos to you, Otto-kun.”
◇ ◇ ◇
The nation of Trycen, situated on the eastern side of the Eastern Continent, was by no means a bountiful land. Aside from the capital and its immediate surroundings, most of the country was desert, and food was in short supply all year round.
In addition, due to having been founded by mercenary groups that had banded together, the country was known for being politically belligerent and was very hostile towards foreigners.
During the era of the great war, Trycen had expanded aggressively for the sake of securing additional resources and expended an enormous amount of slave labor in reclamation efforts. Ever since the signing of the ceasefire agreement, the country had at least made a token effort at seeming peaceful. However, its relations with its three neighboring countries were notably weak.
At the moment, the military kingdom was in a precarious position. It was under censure first from Toraj, then Deramis and Gaun as well after what was now known as “The Black Wind Incident.”
An adventurer, Christoph, who Trycen had extolled as a “champion,” had been exposed as the chief of a bandit gang and was determined to be responsible for kidnapping women and children and selling them as slaves. The Heroes of Deramis, who had saved the gang’s victims, had given their recorded testimony, forcing Christoph and his companions to confess their plans to send slaves to Trycen. There was no way for Trycen to talk its way out of their predicament.
At present, the top echelons of the country were gathering in the Roundtable Room of Trycen Castle, where the most confidential matters of state were discussed. Only royalty and a limited number of nobles and top military personnel were allowed in.
At the center of the room was a heavily ornamented round table made of wood. Currently, it was occupied by the king of the country, King Zel Trycen, and the generals of the various branches of his military forces.
King Zel was the first one to break the tense silence. “Thank you for gathering on such short notice, everyone.”
“That bastard Clive isn’t here yet, old man.”
The person who had called the king “old man” was Crown Prince Azgrad Trycen, general of the Dragon Knight Order. He was in his seat not because of any favoritism on his father’s part, but because he himself had earned the respect of the entire nation with his achievements and unparalleled talent.
Trycen had five princes, of which he was the only one who held the post of general, the highest position in the army. The contrast between him and Tabura — the fifth prince and the one who had gotten a solid beating from Kelvin — served as proof beyond any doubt that within this meritocratic kingdom, blood relation alone was not enough to reach the top. Azgrad’s well-trained body far surpassed that of any common military commander’s, and he also displayed exemplary proficiency with riding dragons.
“Then again, he’s probably just drowning himself with women in his room. The fact that he’s considered capable enough to share the table with us makes me want to puke,” Azgrad spat as he shot a glance at the only empty chair.
“There’s no time. We’ll begin without him. As I’m sure you all know, Christoph has been apprehended by the Heroes of Deramis. Our plans were only just taking off, too, so the timing couldn’t be worse.”
The original idea had been to use the cover of the bandit gang Black Wind to acquire slaves through kidnapping. Everything had gone swimmingly with the subjugation of the original gang leader, the highly conspicuous announcement of Christoph’s feat, and the brainwashing of the gang’s remnants. Yet even after all their detailed planning, this fiasco was the result.
“The idea was yours, Tristan.” Zel’s sharp eyes were directed at Tristan Faaze, general of the Mixed Monster Order and scion of the prestigious and noble Faaze family.
Although the word “monster” was in the name of his branch, it included not only tamed monsters, but demihuman slaves as well. This man, who was in complete agreement with the country’s ideology of human supremacy, was the one who had suggested the Black Wind plan to King Zel in an effort to bolster his own forces.
“How embarrassing, really. I had expected quite a lot from them, too. I suppose that’s what I get for putting my faith in barbaric, uncivilized adventurers,” Tristan replied, raising his hands and shrugging in a dramatic fashion.
“Tristan, we have no interest in your smarmy self-justifications. What His Majesty wants to know is how you plan to take responsibility for this scandal. Because of this incident, our country has been cast in an extremely unfavorable light. The other three nations have begun talks of an alliance!”
It was the old knight Dan D’Alba who had snapped at Tristan. He was a battleworn warrior who had served Trycen long and well. Now, he was the general of the Steel Knight Order, a branch of the army that included a wide variety of troops, including heavy infantry equipped with steel armor, cavalry specialized for mobility, and squads that handled siege weaponry. It had also been Dan who had taught Azgrad the sword, and the trust between the two was strong.
“No need to get all crabby, General Dan. It’ll shorten your lifespan, you know?”
“What did you say?” Dan stood up slowly, glaring daggers at Tristan. Most men would have pissed themselves faced with the furious aura that he was emanating, but Tristan merely returned the glare with a lazy half-smile.
“Stand down, you two. Remember that you sit before His Majesty,” a voice that seemed very much out of place in the room rang out.
“But Shutola-sama...”
“General Dan.”
“I — as you wish.”
After a brief moment of silence, Dan sat back down.
The name of the young girl who had quelled the old knight’s anger was Shutola Trycen, Zel’s only daughter and Trycen’s only princess. Her appearance was so beautiful and elegant that all the troops and citizens harbored serious doubts that she and Tabura had been birthed by the same mother.
It was with her quick wit and sharp mind that she had become not only the first female general in Trycen’s history, but also the youngest. The branch that she headed, Black Ops, had been in decline year by year, however. Whether Zel had appointed her to this position merely to appease the nobles or because he actually had high expectations of her was something that only he knew.
“Heh, you’re as soft on the princess as ever,” Tristan snorted with a provocative smirk. When he saw that his opponent had decided to merely ignore him, he sighed in disappointment. “Well, that’s no fun.”
“That’s enough horseplay, Tristan. Dan is right; our country is in a very precarious position. We have already revoked Christoph’s status as a champion and denied our connection with him, but I don’t expect it to be enough. If we handle this badly, we could end up in a war against all three of our neighbors at the same time. That is, unless you, as a general, take responsibility here.”
The king’s killing intent was undisguised, and his words carried the weight characteristic of a monarch.
Even so, Tristan remained unmoved. “Then how about...let’s do it? War, I mean.”
“What?”
“Since the signing of the ceasefire, our country has been steadily amassing military strength. Ever since, what, my grandfather’s grandfather’s...grandfather’s time, I think? Well, that’s not important.” Tristan cleared his throat briefly. “Think about it. While we’ve been doing everything we can to expand our forces, what have the other nations been doing? They’re busy spouting empty platitudes about peace and twiddling their thumbs! Those weaklings could come at us all together and still not be our match. Is there any better time to realize our age-old dream of unifying the continent? I say, let’s decide this with a Vote of the Generals!”
“It is true that the unification of the continent is our ultimate goal.”
“Oh, so you agree with me, Shutola-sama!”
“However, I do not think that now is the time. The other nations are not as complacent as you make them out to be. If Trycen is to make a move, it should be the generation after ours.”
Tristan skillfully enacted exaggerated expressions of delight and despair in response to her words. “How saddening it is to find Shutola-sama, she who commands such adoration from the masses, in disagreement with my lowly self! Is your conclusion based on the information that your little birds bring to you?”
“Who knows?”
“I am in support of going to war.”
“Esteemed Brother?!”
It was Azgrad who had just thrown in his vote. Shutola was so caught off guard that her composed face gave away to astonishment.
“I’ve participated in several tussles with Gaun’s troops, and they did not feel all that powerful. I hate to say it, but our country’s power has shot up considerably since that bastard Clive joined us. In addition, my Dragon Knight Order has...well, you know all about it.”
Tristan nodded with glee. “Right, right, the one you spent so much money to purchase? That makes two ‘for’ and one ‘against’!”
Shutola clicked her tongue. “Evoking a Vote of the Generals for something like this...”
The Vote of the Generals was a system employed by Trycen where its five generals could vote on a matter to ask the king to consider. The final decision naturally lay with the monarch, but the influence of the system could hardly be scoffed at. After all, dismissing out of hand something that the majority of the generals had agreed upon meant alienating more than half of the country’s military forces.
On the other hand, the generals could not invoke the system lightly, either. If the one who brought up the matter could not manage to gather a majority vote, he would be subject to punishment as decided by the king. At times, such a penalty might be fairly light, but in the worst case, it could mean death.
Considering the topic of the vote this time around, the repercussions of failure would be anything but light. Tristan’s behavior was casual, but in truth, he was betting his life.
“I am naturally against the idea! You two must be mad!” cried D’Alba.
“Ahh, what a pity. That leaves us at a tie. The remaining vote lies with General Clive, but he’s not here. Whatever shall we do?”
As everyone’s gazes turned towards Clive’s empty chair, the king burst into mirthful laughter.
“Turns out you have some real nerve, Tristan! Very well. With your life on the line, I’ll acknowledge the Vote. Someone bring Clive here at once!”
◇ ◇ ◇
“Ugh, why do I have to come to a place like this?” sighed Jin D’Alba, lieutenant general of the Steel Knight Order. This man, clad in a shiny, silver suit of armor, was the son of General Dan D’Alba.
General Clive Teraaze had shown no sign of heeding the king’s summons, so Jin had been tasked with visiting the Magic Knight Order’s headquarters to fetch the truant general in person. This was normally a task for someone much farther down the chain of command, but as Clive was being called to the Roundtable Room, which most personnel were strictly forbidden from entering, the assignment had fallen to someone of the lowest possible rank allowed into the room.
That person just happened to be Jin.
“In the past, I would have loved the opportunity to come take a peek, but...”
The Magic Knight Order, a cornerstone of Trycen’s army, was composed entirely of females. Many of them hailed from prominent families and therefore had demure personalities and exquisite features. Within the otherwise male-dominated army, this branch had been like a flower on a high peak, a Shangri-La that was so close and yet just out of reach. Until that man had come along.
Jin imagined the irritated face of his waiting father as he continued to plod forward. He eventually found himself before the door to Clive’s room. Along the way, he had passed several female knights in the corridors, but they had simply bobbed their heads in greeting. Several months ago, every one of them would have stopped to give him a sharp salute, as they were supposed to do in light of his rank.
What’s more, they all seem distracted, as if their minds are elsewhere. It’s like their eyes are devoid of light, I guess? Or like they’ve been drained of vitality? I’m not quite sure how to put it.
Jin shook his head to pull himself out of his thoughts as he sharply rapped on the door. After a brief moment, a voice came from within.
“Who’s that...? It’s not locked, come on in...” Although the voice itself was clear and beautiful, the tone was listless and had a lazy drawl.
Jin heaved another sigh, then placed his hand on the doorknob. “Pardon me, I’m entering the room!”
He threw open the door, revealing a dim chamber filled with incense smoke that gave off a strange smell. Danger Detection set off alarms inside the young knight’s head, and he resolved to finish his business and escape as quickly as possible.
The curtains were closed, with the little bit of light spilling through the cracks being far from enough to illuminate the room to any satisfactory degree. At the far end of the chamber was a gigantic bed, on top of which were wriggling movements that Jin could not see clearly from his position. The articles of female clothing strewn all over the floor were quite unmistakable, however.
“You’re...not a subordinate of mine. Who’re you?”
A humanoid silhouette appeared from the darkness, with the head alone turning his way. The height of the figure was roughly 180 cm, which was about the same as Jin himself. The well-toned muscles did speak to a significant amount of training, but it was the face that was the most eye-catching. A face that seemed carved with the world’s most perfect proportions, made to steal the heart of any village or town girl with nothing more than a smile.
Not that noble women would stand much more of a chance. After all, there’s at least one lying in the bed, isn’t there?
“Sir! I am Lieutenant General Jin D’Alba of the Steel Knight Order!”
“Uhhh...ahhh, from Dan-san’s place,” Clive replied, striking an “I remember now!” pose.
“His Majesty has issued a summons to a Roundtable Conference. General Clive, you are obliged to attend with the utmost urgency!”
“Whaaat, so troublesome! I’m quite busy right now, you know?” Clive disappeared back into the darkness, and the bed started creaking rhythmically.
Jin was nearing the end of his rope, but he took a breath and reminded himself that anything rash would reflect badly on his father.
“A Vote of the Generals has been called. The topic of the vote cannot be disclosed here, but it is currently at a stalemate.”
The creaking stopped abruptly. “Who invoked the Vote?”
“I am not at liberty to disclose it here.”
“Hmm...guess it can’t be helped, then,” the general drawled as he pulled himself out of the bed. “I hope it’s Shutola-chan!”
In the dim light, Jin thought he saw the perfectly proportioned face twist into the mask of a monster.
◇ ◇ ◇
“And that’s about all the information that we managed to get out of him,” I said.
“Hrm. Looks like Trycen’s finally making their move,” murmured Guildmaster Rio.
After successfully capturing the man who seemed like the leader of last night’s intruders, I had asked Sera to do the same thing she’d done to the Black Wind bandits. As a result, the guy had sung like a lark.
This man, Otto, turned out to be one of the captains of the “Black Ops” branch of Trycen’s army. According to him, his country had a total of five divisions, each of which had a hierarchy of general, lieutenant general, colonel, and captain.
Otto’s own squad was a small-scale one. Not that I was surprised to hear it — there wasn’t much point in spies conducting assassinations or espionage missions in large numbers. Funnily enough, this fellow had actually believed Christoph to be a true champion and that his exposure as the chief of Black Wind had been a frame job. And for that, boy oh boy did he hate me and the Heroes very much.
The fact that a captain — admittedly the bottom of the ladder as far as their organization went, but a leadership position nonetheless — was so misinformed led me to believe that only the top echelons knew the truth. Information control sure is a scary thing, isn’t it?
Once we had extracted all of the information we could, Sera cast an even stronger version of Hypnosis on the guy, and we threw him into our makeshift jail under the house. Then we went to inform Rio of our findings, and that’s where we were at the moment.
“Despite their vehement denials of any connection to Black Wind, and their ardent efforts to smooth things over, to turn around and plan an assassination! The mastermind behind this seems to be Crown Prince Azgrad, as far as I can tell, but I don’t have enough information to be sure. Hmm, should I — all right, I should probably tell you. Actually, there’s been quite a lot of movement on Trycen’s borders as of late.”
“Meaning?”
“Trycen and Gaun have had little skirmishes along their border every now and then, but none of it has been all that conspicuous or large-scale. Trycen also seems to have been making an effort not to touch Parth, as the City of Peace, and Toraj, from whom they import most of their food.
“Lately, however, they’ve been conducting rather forcible ‘reconnaissance missions’ and have become more obvious about their abductions and enslavement of foreign civilians. I believe that something must have happened within the country that has radicalized their moderate faction. At this rate, Trycen could very well sound the drums of war again.”
“An actual war...”
“Likely so.”
After the Black Wind incident had been blown wide open, Toraj, Deramis, and Gaun had joined forces to rebuke and censure the warmongering kingdom. The official reply from Trycen had always been one of feigned innocence, but there was too much evidence for them to worm their way out of it. And now it seemed like that violent country, finally backed into a corner, had decided to say, “Screw it!” and take on the rest of the continent all at once.
Anyone with a logical mind can see how ill-advised their train of thought is.
“Everything I’ve just said is only my personal prediction, so take it with a grain of salt,” Rio continued. “However, you should probably look out for yourself. Based on what this Otto fellow said, it looks like you have a target painted on your back, Kelvin-kun.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.” At any rate, it wouldn’t hurt to stay vigilant. I should probably pick up the pace on finishing Rion’s gear.
“Oh, by the way, I happen to have a quest for you, Kelvin-kun.”
“A special quest from you? Feels like it’s been a while since the last one.”
“Actually, this time it isn’t coming directly from me. It’s from Leonhart Gaun, the Beast King.”
Rio produced an almost excessively fancy envelope from his chest pocket with the nonchalance of retrieving his pipe for a smoke.