Chapter 4: Declaration of War

After consecutive days of merrymaking, the City of Peace was beginning to settle back down. With the official festivities over, the majority of visiting VIPs had already set out for their home countries, and the number of those who had stayed a while longer to do some sightseeing was dwindling by the day.

Unbeknownst to almost everyone, there was a secret room beneath the venue where Kelvin’s promotion ceremony had been held. There a clandestine conference was currently taking place.

“So, you are in agreement with them, Tsubaki-dono?”

“Indeed. There have been skirmishes on our own border as well, in spite of our long-time relationship as active trading partners. It does make me curious, though...given how harsh and unforgiving their land is, how did Trycen manage to gather sufficient reserves to feed themselves without commerce?”

The voices belonged to King Leonhart Gaun of Gaun and Queen Tsubaki Fujiwara of Toraj. The crystals that had been used to project their voices during Kelvin’s promotion ceremony were now placed atop a table, allowing them to communicate privately.

“It is hard to imagine that the recent appearance of unnaturally powerful monsters and Trycen’s concerning movements are mere coincidence. It is only logical to infer that the Demon Lord has indeed been born there.”

“The Adventurer’s Guild also thinks this extremely likely. The various branches within Trycen have reported significant interference and pressure from the country, which is greatly inhibiting the movements of their members.”

These other two voices were those of the Oracle of Deramis, Colette Deramilius, and Rio, the guildmaster of Parth, who was representing the entire Adventurer’s Guild. As far as the public knew, Colette had already returned home using the teleportation gate. In truth, however, she had made her way to this underground chamber, representing her country in an off-the-record conference between the major powers of the Eastern Continent.

As a tradition that had remained unbroken ever since the signing of the treaty after the Great War, this conference would normally see the attendance of a representative from Trycen as well. However, that seat was currently empty.

“How long has it been since Zel-dono last made an appearance at these meetings?” Tsubaki asked in a small grumble. “He has always been a man to keep your guard up around, but I had thought him wiser than this foolishness. No matter how much he has expanded his army, attempting to take on the entirety of the continent is reckless and ill-advised.”

“According to the records, those who become Demon Lords have been corrupted by malice,” Colette replied. “The same goes for intelligent monsters, as it does also for merciful humans. In all likelihood, the King of Trycen is...”

“I know, I just wanted to complain a little. My scouts have told me something along those lines already. Leonhart-dono, it looks like they went at you in a rather flashy way, did they not?”

“I could say the same to you. The Black Wind incident was not that long ago, was it? But aside from the large-scale invasion of the Village of Elves, the usual skirmishes we have with the Trycenians have also gone up significantly. To keep it short, I share the suspicions the three of you are harboring. Trycen’s movements of late have been truly irregular. Ever since Kelvin protected the elves, I’ve been having my sons patrol our borders. They’ve succeeded in capturing and questioning several Trycenian officers to date, and the information gleaned has been rather disturbing and worrying. If we do not move soon, the damage we suffer will only continue to grow. Although Trycen is a fellow signatory of the treaty, it’s high time we took action. We do not have the leisure of gathering indisputable proof that Zel is the Demon Lord before proceeding.”

A hush fell for a time. No one spoke up to offer either support or a refusal of Leonhart’s words. They all knew the truth, even if they did not want to admit it. They could feel that the time for dialogue had passed, and the time when war was the only remaining recourse was nigh.

Finally, Tsubaki broke the silence. “If we are to strategize based on the assumption that Zel-dono has become the Demon Lord, we will need the power of the Heroes of Deramis. Colette-dono, where are they now?”

The Oracle answered quietly. “As per the prophecy bestowed by Melfina-sama, they are...currently on the Western Continent.”

“The Western Continent?” Leonhart echoed with some alarm. “It’s going to take a fair amount of time to call them back!”

“Deramis will not be calling them back. For us, the prophecies from the Goddess are absolute. Until the Heroes discover the meaning behind Melfina-sama’s request that they journey to the Western Continent, we will not initiate any action from our side.”

“But Oracle —”

“Hold on a moment,” Tsubaki cut in, interrupting Leonhart’s protest. “A missive from Trycen has just reached me.”

“And its contents are?”

The sound of paper crinkling could be heard over the communication crystal, followed by a heavy sigh. In a grim tone, she replied, “It’s finally arrived. Leonhart-dono, Colette-dono, I believe you shall be receiving the same in short order.”

“Are you saying...”

“Trycen has declared war on us all.”

◇ ◇ ◇

The capital of Trycen — a sprawling city surrounding Castle Trycen — was currently packed with the country’s citizens. They were there in response to the sudden summons the king had sent out by way of the soldiers a short while earlier. Dragon knights circled the sky in a display of vigilance, and the people were buzzing furiously with speculations about the irregular situation.

“Silence! The glorious King of Trycen will be speaking presently! Silence!” shouted a highly decorated officer.

As his voice rang out, the gathered masses quickly grew quiet, and they adopted the Trycenian salute in perfect synchrony. Naturally, this included the women, children, and elderly. As a result of the national education that had been pounded into their bodies and minds from a young age, there was no hesitation whatsoever in the movements of the nation’s people.

The generals and lieutenant generals in attendance nodded in satisfaction at the sight. After an officer confirmed that all the citizens had been gathered, he turned to signal the castle. The King of Trycen soon appeared on the balcony above. Beside him was his daughter and General of the Black Ops, Shutola Trycen. Someone gulped loudly enough to be heard in the silence. Here, the royal family was an absolute authority. Even the slightest disrespect was punishable by death.

“My beloved subjects, today I bring you a matter of great urgency.”

Every word uttered by King Zel resounded in the people’s hearts. He was not shouting nor was he using a magical item that amplified his voice. Despite this, the entirety of the city could clearly hear what he was saying from where he stood near the top of his home. It was almost as if he were speaking directly into their minds.

“Just the other day, General Clive Teraaze of our proud Magic Knight Order was ambushed by Gaunian forces and killed in the line of duty. At the hands of the vicious demihumans, no less, in the middle of a patrol to preserve the peace of the citizens that he so loved! It has been confirmed that the cowardly assault happened in the dark of night, when the entire camp was fast asleep with fatigue after a full day of subjugating monsters.”

The masses gasped at the shocking news. King Zel’s speech had, of course, taken significant liberties with the truth, but those listening were none the wiser, having no cause to doubt the veracity of their ruler’s words.

“Clive-sama is gone? It can’t be!”

“How appalling!”

Naturally, none of those present were privy to the late general’s true nature. To the public, he was a charming youth gifted with both intelligence and looks who had been making a meteoric rise through the ranks.

“I understand your anger. Indeed, I feel as if I am on the verge of losing myself in righteous fury. We demanded that Gaun turn over those responsible so that justice could be served, repeatedly attempting to find a way to resolve this in a peaceful manner. However, the Beast King has rebuffed all our attempts. Not only did he refuse to deal with us as equals, he had the gall to cut down our noble messengers! This is as unforgivable as the behavior of Toraj and Deramis, who are keeping our champion, Christoph, behind bars, branding him a bandit of all things! My dear citizens, what do you think of this?!”

“Down with the cowardly demihumans!”

“Show no mercy to the beasts of Gaun!”

“Deramis and Toraj are just as guilty!”

“No country that accepts demihumans can be trusted!”

Once one man uttered his anger, those around him exploded with similar sentiments. Zel raised a hand to silence the crowd, continuing his speech.

“You are correct. We might be a patient and understanding people, but that does not mean we will allow other countries to trample all over us. Long ago, after the Great War, we signed a treaty in hopes of peace and reconciliation. However, this peace turned out to be an imperfect one. This is the moment when we must strike out onto the path that leads to true peace. We, the country of Trycen, hereby declare war on all of our neighbors and must commence the unification of the entire continent!”

◇ ◇ ◇

As a strange air enveloped the country of Trycen, and its capital shook under the roars of the people and the cheers of the soldiers, Shutola retreated into the castle and walked off alone, the king’s speech still booming behind her. Although she knew for a fact that his words were fabrications, the power of his voice was even seeping into her mind, making her doubt herself, attempting to twist her own understanding of reality. She could not bear to be out there for a moment longer.

Has General Dan successfully made contact with Lunoir yet?

Shutola had charged Dan, the person she trusted most, to deliver a letter to the girl who had changed her name to Sylvia. The contents of that message had been a warning to leave the Eastern Continent as soon as possible. Or, to be precise, the letter had contained whatever thoughts Shutola could come up with to convince her old friend to make her way to the Western Continent without actually alerting her of the coming war. She had not only done this for Lunoir, but had also been pulling strings in every one of their neighboring countries.

Once the war begins, even the Adventurer’s Guild will become our enemy. And by extension, Lunoir too...

It was true that Shutola did not want to cross swords with Lunoir and Ashley because of their past friendship. However, there was a calculative motive there as well, as it was her duty to eliminate everything that would harm Trycen’s future efforts, and there was no telling how much damage a Rank S adventurer and another of similar strength could inflict.

Look at me, seeing my friends as mere pawns on the battlefield. What a terrible person I’ve become.

As the princess continued walking, she found a man standing in her way.

“Esteemed Brother Tabura, this place is off limits to those without express permission to be here.”

“Hmph! You’re as arrogant as ever, Shutola.”

The man who was acting so high-handedly towards her was the only one of her elder brothers with whom she shared both a father and mother with. This was the very same prince who had once caused a commotion in Parth and been knocked down a peg for it by Kelvin.

“It will be on your own head should Father find you here. I will pretend that I did not see you. Now would be a good time to take your leave.”

“You sure about speaking to me like that? Even though I bring information that would be valuable to you and the Black Ops?”

“Information, you say.”

“Listen and be astonished! I have information on Kelvin, the man who was recently promoted to Rank S in Parth! Based on what Father is saying out there, Trycen is declaring war on the other nations, right? In that case, the Adventurer’s Guild is bound to move as well. Since this Kelvin has only just reached Rank S, I doubt you have all that much information on him. But you can rest assured with my help. After all, I have had my eye on him for quite some time —”

“Your concern is unnecessary. I have collected every piece of information available on him since Christoph was taken into custody, so I doubt I need anything that you can provide.”

“That’s right, which is exactly why you should be grateful to me and listen — wait, what did you say?”

“I already know everything there is to know about him from the guild, his presence in Parth, and his presence in Toraj. Every detail about him is most certainly remarkable. However, with his Status under constant Concealment, there is much that seems to require further confirmation, but...in any case, I do believe that I already possess any details you might have gathered.”

“I-In that case, how about information on other Rank S adventurers? I have a huge stock based on the digging I’ve been doing on these people for quite a while now. I managed to sneak one of my men into the stands to watch the practice match the other day. We can start with Goldiana and the other Rank S adventurer who just appeared in public for the first time, Sylvia —”

Shutola sighed heavily. “Esteemed Brother, aside from Kelvin, the Rank S adventurers present that da— never mind. Satella.”

“Present.”

“What?!”

At Shutola’s command, Satella, a black-clad woman who served as the lieutenant general of the Black Ops, seemed to appear out of nowhere.

“My brother wishes to return to his room. Kindly escort him.”

◇ ◇ ◇

Yesterday, Deramis, Gaun, and Toraj announced Trycen’s declaration of war. With this, the peace obtained at the end of the Great War was shattered, and the Eastern Continent was once again plunged into a maelstrom of conflict.

Parth was no exception; the same missive had reached the City of Peace. Significant mayhem soon broke out amongst the residents of the city, but it settled down before long thanks to clear and easy-to-understand explanations from each country regarding the countermeasures being planned. Even so, there were a number of residents and adventurers packing up to move to Deramis, the farthest location from their new enemy.

Today, the highest-ranked adventurers currently residing in Parth had been called to the Adventurer’s Guild in order to work out the details of our collective response to the impending threat. Naturally, I, having been promoted to Rank S, was in attendance, as was the rest of my party.

Also in attendance were Prettia, who had remained in town after the recent festivities; Uld-san and his party of veterans, who had finally reached Rank B not long before; and Sabato, a Rank A adventurer who headed a six-member party of his own. All of them were beastkin, and their specialty was close-quarters combat using their impressive nimbleness and speed. True to his rank, Sabato was as strong as Touya had been back in Toraj, as far as I could tell.

“Oh, man, you’re actually Kelvin! I saw your match! If you’re here, it means Parth’s safety is guaranteed!”

“Being told that straight to my face is kind of embarrassing. Uhh, we haven’t actually met, have we?”

“Ack, look at me, forgetting to introduce myself. I’m Sabato. I might not look like it, but I’m Rank A. My party and I were going through the new dungeon discovered by that pretty companion of yours over there — it’s now been named Shrine of the Puppets, if you didn’t know — when we got caught up in this whole mess. What a terrible day, right? Ha! Ha! Ha!”

Ah, the new place that branches out from Clayworm Passages. I’ve been thinking about visiting it myself, but it seems like he’s beaten me to it. And wait, Sera is considered the person who discovered it?

My demon companion looked up. “What? Me?”

Even she sounds surprised by that.

“Man, you really are surrounded by beauties on all sides. I thought they were just escorts you hired when I saw them with you at the promotion ceremony.”

“I’m aware that I’m pretty privileged in that regard.”

“Can’t tell you how jealous I am, man. My party only has this gorilla-like wom—anpffftt!”

Sabato was promptly sent flying with a punch from the beastkin woman he was pointing at. She looks plenty cute, though, beast ears and all. Although clearly, she does have gorilla-like strength.

“Huff, huff, huff...ugh...you see what I mean? Goddammit, Goma.”

You still look pretty energetic for someone who just crashed head first into a wall. I guess that’s to be expected of a Rank A adventurer.

“Even I can tell that was your bad,” I said. “So, aren’t you guys adventurers from Gaun? You sure you don’t need to return home? They’re also under attack, right?”

“You’re gonna move on just like that? Uh, Gaun has the Beast King, so it’ll be fine. He’s as much of a monster as you are, after all. Parth is the place with the least amount of fighting strength, so that’s why we’re staying to help out here!”

Talk about a larger-than-life personality. Are all beastkin like this? On a different note, aside from our party, everyone here sure makes for a total sausa— never mind, scratch that.

Upon seeing that all the players were present, Rio began his speech. “Thank you for gathering on such short notice, everyone. I’m sorry for the lack of warning, but I’m sure you understand the urgency of the situation.”

“Oh, psh, none of us mind, Rio-chan,” Prettia replied reassuringly. “Trycen’s picking a fight with us all, right? I imagine the other countries are scrambling about in the same way.”

“So, what is it you want us adventurers to do? And what’s the exact situation?” I asked.

“As I’m sure you have already heard, even Parth has received a declaration of war, despite the treaty expressly forbidding it. What I think you don’t know, however, is that Trycen dispatched their military forces at the same time they sent the letters. They certainly aren’t pulling any punches.”

“Already?!” When speaking of Trycen’s army, the Mixed Monster Order that we encountered at the Village of Elves comes to mind. Oh, right, and then there’s Clive, the general of the Magic Knight Order who I allowed to escape. I think we did quite a number on those two orders already, didn’t we?

“Trycen’s attack is three-pronged. First, they have their Steel Knight Order heading towards Gaun. Next is their Magic Knight Order, which is marching on Toraj. The one that they are sending to Parth is their Dragon Knight Order.”

So, the Magic Knight Order is already back up and running? Clive sure is a tough customer.

Uld stroked his chin. “The Dragon Knight Order is the one led by Trycen’s Crown Prince Azgrad, as I recall. That’s the fastest one among the three orders they are sending out. I’ve also heard that Azgrad himself is quite the warmonger. Are they planning on finishing us off as quickly as possible in order to raise the morale of their troops on the other two fronts?”

Sabato crossed his arms. “So, we’ll be fighting just outside the city?”

“According to reports, they will reach us in a week’s time.”

Dragon knights? Trycen sure has interesting-sounding troops. The only experience I have with fighting dragons would be the evil one in Toraj and the whelp, Mun-chan, from Touya’s party. Although they are said to be one among the trio of “most powerful races” in this world — along with angels and demons — I haven’t had much trouble dealing with them so far. The one we killed was technically Rank S, but I guess it wasn’t a proper dragon in the full sense of the word?

::Honey, want me to fill you in on the different kinds of dragons?::

Yes, please, Melfina-sensei!

::Ahem. Dragons are classified based on their maturity levels and the elements that they are best at. There are also subdragons, races that bear a resemblance but are much weaker than true dragons. Here, I’ll list them according to strength.::

A memo popped up on the Network: Subdragons (Rank C & lower) ≦ Young Dragons (also called whelps) (Rank C ~ Rank B) < Dragons (Rank A) < Ancient Dragons (Rank S) < Dragon Kings (Rank S).

::From there, the races are further broken down according to their elemental affinities. The beast that you defeated in Toraj was a subdragon. Although its stats were higher than normal, its intelligence was severely impaired.::

Right, it was a pretty easy battle because it basically relied on brute strength. So, what’s the difference between ancient dragons and dragon kings? You listed them both as Rank S.

::Dragon kings are the most powerful ancient dragons, those that stand at the top of their races. There is one dragon king for each element, which means there are eight of them in this world.::

There are eight “top” dragons? Sounds like they’re going to be a pain to deal with.

::In case there is any confusion, allow me to rephrase: there is one king for each elemental race. Furthermore, while there are those like the Flame Dragon King, who inflict terror and disaster, there are also those like the Water Dragon King, who is worshiped as a guardian by Toraj. Not all of them are necessarily hostile towards humans.::

Okay, I see. We have a personal score to settle with the Flame Dragon King, so we’re definitely going to beat his ass up on sight, but I suppose that means we wouldn’t have to fight the dragons that are friendly to us. We...wouldn’t have to fight them...right...

::You sound disappointed.::

A bit, maybe. But anyway, let’s get back to the meeting. This high-speed instantaneous communication thing is great and all, but I should probably focus.

Rio was still talking. “Unfortunately, we have almost no standing army here in Parth. All we have are those guarding the walls and patrolling the streets. As such, the adventurers will need to form the backbone of our forces. Gaun and Toraj will be shoring up their own defenses with their respective armies, but Deramis is going to be sending us troops to reinforce our front. That said, chances of them arriving before the Dragon Knight Order does are almost zero. Our mission, therefore, is to buy time using the forces that we currently have available.”

“So, basically, being peaceful has come to bite us in the butt,” I murmured.

The teleportation gate popped into my mind, but I immediately dismissed the idea, recalling its ridiculous MP cost. It was highly unsuitable for moving entire armies. If Deramis is to use the gate, they can only send us a small group of their best and finest. But sending too much of their strength to another country isn’t a smart thing to do right now. Although the two are technically in a ceasefire, Deramis also has Rizea constantly looming at its back.

“Buy time? Can’t say I like the idea. We have two Rank S adventurers on our side. Why don’t we bring the fight to them instead?” Oh, hey, sounds like Sabato and I might get along.

“Oh my, you sure know what to say to make me happy! But I might not be as strong as you’re imagining, dearie.”

“You make a fair point, Sabato-kun,” Rio replied. “I also believe we have enough fighting strength to deal with the matter. However, what we don’t have are the numbers, and this is a defensive battle. The best compromise would be for a small group of elites to strike off and engage the Dragon Knight Order some distance from the city. You watched Kelvin-kun’s practice match in person, yes? Can you imagine what would happen if attacks of that level were to be unleashed close to Parth? Without the protection of the Oracle’s barrier?”

“Ahhh...okay, that would suck.”

Why are you looking at Prettia and me like that, Sabato? If you want to make Rank S yourself, you’ve got to stop looking up to us and try to be more like us, you know?

“So, I’m thinking of separating all of you into a defense group and an interception group. The defense group would be, as its name implies, the one that remains in Parth to serve as the final line of defense. The adventurers ranked C and lower will all be stationed here. The job of the interception group is to hit the Trycenians with guerrilla attacks and delay them as much as possible. Needless to say, that is the more dangerous role by far.”

Rio, can you not stare right at me while explaining the role of the interception group? I can bet you’ve already made up your mind about who you want to assign where.

Prettia spoke up first. “I would love to stay with Gerard-sama, but unfortunately my abilities are much more suitable for defending than for attacking. Looks like I’ll be volunteering myself for defense.”

“Having been promoted to Rank B only recently, dealing with subdragons is the most we can do,” Uld said. “If we were to join the interception team, we’d only get in the way. Therefore, our place is also with the defense group. If it comes to it, we can help to guide the residents in case of an evacuation and guard them along the way.”

Guess we won’t have to worry about the city if they’re staying behind.

“We’ve gotten through our fair share of battles, but admittedly, we can’t measure up to what we saw during that match the other day,” Sabato confessed before whirling towards me. “But still, this is a priceless and irreplaceable opportunity to see a Rank S adventurer fighting up close. Kelvin, feel free to use us for odd jobs or whatever you need! Please allow us to come with you!”

Wait, so it’s a given that we’ll be in the interception group? I mean, I was planning on volunteering for it anyway, so I guess there’s no problem.

“If you feel like it, you can even take Goma to bed — oh wait, you wouldn’t need herrrrrrr?!”

Damn, right out the window? Cool demonstration of the Doppler effect, though.

◇ ◇ ◇

Ultimately, the interception group ended up being my team and Sabato’s party. According to our estimates, it was going to take the Dragon Knight Order a week to reach Parth, which meant that we still had a bit of time. So, after parting with Sabato’s group, we returned home for a strategy meeting.

Sera might be rolling around on the sofa, and Melfina might be wolfing down baked snacks, but this is definitely still a strategy meeting!

“You will be heading out to battle, then, Master?”

“Master, are you okay?”

Ellie and Ruka looked rather worried as I finished bringing them up to speed.

“If our enemies are on the level of the Mixed Monster Order that we fought off last time, there’s absolutely no cause for concern. But honestly, even I can’t say how things are going to go here. The scouts reported seeing several figures that could be ancient dragons.”

All in all, it sounded like the order had a wide variety of creatures at their disposal, including a large black one and a rock dragon that ran on the ground. The majority of the troops, however, were riding subdragons like wyverns, so it wasn’t as if they were all paired up with “proper” dragons.

Either way, it’s hard to say anything definite before we take a look for ourselves.

“Oh, right. I should add you two back into our party. Should help you gain quite a few levels, I imagine,” I offered, sending the party invitation command to the mother and daughter.

“We would be much obliged for the chance to earn levels without doing anything, but are you sure about that, Master?”

“Don’t sweat it. After all, your Statuses aren’t suitable for battle. Indirectly acquiring XP through the party system is pretty common, isn’t it?”

The only way to earn more skill points was to level up. However, most people lived normal lives behind city or village walls and had no experience at all with fighting monsters. So how were they supposed to gain levels? It was a simple matter: they had to hire an adventurer party who would temporarily let them in and then go kill monsters for them. It was such a commonly accepted practice that the people of this world had even made an annual event of partying up children who had recently come of age.

Normally, the person who delivered the final blow to a monster would receive the most XP, after which the remainder would be distributed among the other party members according to their individual contributions. The members of the party who did nothing would get only a miniscule portion of the points, but it was still a significant amount for those at the lowest levels.

It was possible to get as high as Level 5 with this method, which was commonly referred to in gaming as “leeching.” There was a sharp jump in the amount of XP required for Level 6, however, which made it impractical to level any further as the amount of points trickling down was the bare minimum, regardless of the level of the monster being killed. Consequently, it was generally understood that if one wanted to reach Level 6 or higher, one would need to directly participate in the fighting in some way.

“When you do it, however, Master, you tend to go overboard.”

In our case, we basically have all the benefits of that method without the negatives, thanks to the Experience Sharing skill.

“Well, if you want, how about we give you two a bit of combat training sometime? For self-protection.”

“My king, I can teach them the sword!”

“The sword! Will you teach me, Grandpa Gerard?!”

Both Ruka and the knight seemed extremely excited about the idea. Why do I feel like it wouldn’t stop at just self-protection? Which wouldn’t really be a problem, I suppose. Oh, well.

“In that case, I’ll also lend a hand!” Rion offered. “Let’s learn how to shoot Agito together!”

“Yay! Agitoooo!” Ruka started doing pretend practice swings in an impressive imitation of Gerard. Maybe a future where our maids are capable of sending flying slashes all over the place isn’t that far off.

“This is for after we successfully protect Parth, though. While we’re gone, feel free to use the golems in the house as you see fit, Ellie. I don’t think it will actually come to it, but there might be troops who manage to slip past the defensive line. Sera, stop dozing off. Mel, stop staring at that empty plate; you already ate everything on it. It’s about time we get this strategy meeting started for real.”

I signaled for Efil to spread out the map we had borrowed from Rio, which showed the area around the border of Parth, then we got serious about discussing our game plan for the coming battle.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Sabato-sama, are you really taking us along?”

After Kelvin had told them, “Once we get a few things in order, we’ll contact you,” and they had parted ways at the guild, Sabato and his party had returned to their inn to kill a bit of time.

“We have no choice but to believe in Kelvin for now, right? Instead of us racking our pea-sized brains, it’d be much more efficient to wait for his group to do the thinking and follow their lead.”

Goma sighed. “You’ll never become the next Beast King if you keep saying things like that, Sabato. Even now, our brothers are at the border, fighting against Trycen.”

“Oh, get off my case already. We said we were leaving on a journey to get stronger; we can’t just show up back home without actually having achieved anything. And it is true that Parth’s in a crisis right now. What kind of Beast King candidate would abandon people in trouble?”

“Currently, we’re the ones causing Kelvin-san trouble, aren’t we?”

“Goma-sama’s hit the nail on the head!” guffawed a beastkin man who, with scars all over his body and half an ear gone, looked every bit the part of a veteran warrior.

“Godammit, I can’t beat her with words.”

“You can’t beat her in physical combat either, Sabato-sama. Ouch!”

A clear slap resounded as the beastkin who had just spoken pressed down on the top of his head, a wounded expression on his slightly doltish face.

Just then, the bell at the door of the inn clanged loudly, signifying someone’s entrance. The six beastkin turned to look, expecting it to be Kelvin arriving to pick them up.

“Excuse me, is Sabato-sama a guest at this inn?”

Instead, it was a pretty lady wearing a maid outfit. The first thing she did was head for the innkeeper and ask for Sabato by name.

Goma narrowed her eyes. “Isn’t that the same outfit worn by the maid in Kelvin-san’s party?”

“Ohhhh, it is, it is! There’s no doubt! I remember her ’cause she was super cute!”

“Guin, I agree with you there, but I believe what Goma-sama meant to say is that this maid was quite possibly sent here on Kelvin-dono’s orders.”

“Ahhhh! Both Goma-sama and Akgas-san are so damn smart!”

“You’re just slow on the uptake. So, Sabato-sama, what wi—”

“I’M SABATO!” Sabato shouted and leaped up before Akgas could finish his sentence. His behavior was reminiscent of a dog who had finally been told to eat a treat after being made to sit and wait first.

“I guess it’s true that idiots are always the first to move,” Goma murmured, sighing once more.

Both the innkeeper and the maid flinched at Sabato’s shout. He had succeeded in surprising them for no reason whatsoever.

“I-I see. My apologies for not recognizing you. I am Ellie, a maid in Kelvin-sama’s service.” The woman bowed, trying to regain her composure.

“It’s fine; it’s totally fine! So, what is Kel—vuunpeh!”

Guin continued to slurp his noodles as he watched Sabato fly through the air. “Wow, that’s the third time today, Sabato-sama! You’re on a roll!”

“I’m not sure that ‘on a roll’ is the right phrase here,” Akgas replied under his breath.

“Sorry about that,” Goma continued with a bright smile. “So, what is your business here?”

At this point, the maid was as pale as a sheet. With trembling fingers, she held out an envelope. “I-I am here to deliver a letter from Kelvin-sama. H-Here you go.”

“A letter?”

“What’s it say?”

“Gulp. Delish. Hey, I wanna see too!”

“Huff, huff...me...too...”

◆————————————————————◆

To Sabato:

Turns out we don’t have as much time as we thought, so we’re going ahead to the interception point first. Once you’re done making your own preparations, come meet up with us. We’ll be at the Grand Scarlet Canyon on the Parth-Trycen border. Let’s give it our all! See ya then!

◆————————————————————◆

The entire group froze as the same thought ran through each of their minds.

We got left behind?! they screamed inwardly in disbelief.