Chapter 3: Profession of Love

“Extra! Extra! The final brackets for the Beast King Festival have been deciiiided!”

The streets of the capital city were flooded with the news immediately after the two matches of the semifinals were over. The newspaper companies printed extras as quickly as they could and spread them everywhere, all of which were snapped up by the beastkin in no time at all. Regardless of age or gender, every last resident of the city was desperate to find out the results of the tournament. And of course, they invariably gasped with surprise at the unexpected matchup in the final.

“I didn’t expect the final to be tomorrow. I was definitely under the impression they’d finish the whole tournament today,” Kelvin murmured.

He was currently taking a detour with his companions in order to avoid the crowds on the large avenues. He had the hood of Astarte’s Embrace pulled all the way down, fully aware that it would cause a huge commotion if he, the very person the papers were talking about, was spotted. Sera, Gerard, Alex, and Dahak all had far too distinctive appearances, so they were within Kelvin’s magic pool for the moment. So was Melfina, who was currently sleeping blissfully after having grown sleepy from a full stomach. Efil’s and Rion’s looks were so attractive that they turned heads wherever they went, but they were able to mask their presence using Covert Action. That only left Shutola, who was getting a piggyback ride from Kelvin, with the maids and Ange bringing up the rear. Of course, this group was still rather eye-catching, but thankfully, the beastkin were too preoccupied with the news.

“They host the finals alongside the Naming Ceremony every year,” Ange replied. “And of course, spectators have to buy another ticket to watch tomorrow.”

Kelvin sighed and smiled wryly. “That Beast King sure knows how to do business. I mean, I’m sure the seats will be completely filled again, so I can’t exactly fault him, I guess.”

Gaun Mixed Fighting Arena was indeed quite large, but understandably, it could not seat the population of the entire country. Getting a ticket was probably a feat and a half, and many people would have to pull an all-nighter lining up.

“Ughhh...sniff...”

Kelvin heard a young girl’s muffled sob coming from his back. It had come from Shutola. Her body was quivering slightly, and she had her face buried in his black robe.

“C’mon, cheer up, Shutola. Your advice really did help us out a whole lot.”

“B-But...in the end, I d-didn’t get anything a-at all...”

Shutola had been in this state ever since the semifinals ended. She had renewed her resolve to be of help at the start of their matches but had found herself unable to keep up with the extraordinary fights. Kelvin and Gerard had stayed next to her to offer commentary, but hearing something being described and seeing it in person were very different experiences. There wasn’t much to say, as it was simply a matter of Shutola’s level and stats not being high enough, but the fact of the matter was that the situation had pained her greatly.

“Shutola-sama, please do not be sad. Being unable to follow along in the semifinals is normal.”

“But Rosalia, you and Huba could, right?”

“Rosalia is one thing, but I only very, veeeeery barely managed to follow along! There’d be zero chance of me keeping up if I had to fight on that level! It’d be an instant KO!”

“Sniff...”

Despite her personal maids’ attempts at consolation, Shutola’s head was still bowed.

Kelvin whispered in Rosalia’s ear. “Say, it’s only her memories that she lost and not her levels, right? Isn’t her level way too low for being general of the Black Ops? Especially compared to Azgrad’s. She hasn’t used any of her Skill Points either, it seems.”

Through Analyze Eye, Kelvin could see that Shutola’s level was fourteen, and this was something he had always thought strange. What’s more, although she had a rather impressive number of Skill Points, she had only dipped into them for the bare minimum of skills. Like Azgrad, she had plenty of talent. However, she was not taking advantage of it.

Rosalia replied in an equally soft voice, “Originally, the position of general was something completely unrelated to Shutola-sama as the princess of the country. Aside from going on an exchange to an academy on the Western Continent, she had almost never left the castle, much less experienced direct battle with monsters before. However, she is a genius who never forgets anything she sees. She would likely have racked up various achievements if left alone, but the previous king of Trycen went out of his way to install her as general of the Black Ops to give her a place to fully exercise her abilities. As for her skills, I’m afraid you’d have to ask her yourself.”

“She never forgets anything she sees? Really?”

Kelvin remembered hearing somewhere that there were indeed such people. That makes it all the more ironic that she’s now missing memories after what the Demon Lord did to her.

“Just checking, it’s not that Shutola is forbidden to raise her level, right?”

“It is not. However, as I said earlier, she is the precious princess of our country. I cannot endorse exposing her to unnecessary danger, particularly in light of her current mental state.”

“Uh...isn’t Azgrad precious too? He’s the crown prince, right?”

“He’s different. Just like you, Master, he would not listen anyway. He’s a battle junkie, after all.”

“Uh...”

Kelvin wasn’t sure whether to sympathize with Azgrad for the way he was treated or be glad for him for having the freedom to live the way he wanted. Kelvin himself got bad-mouthed too, in an indirect way, but as there was no way to deny his being a battle junkie, he had decided to embrace a “So what?” attitude about it.

That aside, Kelvin had the Experience Sharing skill. As a result, Shutola’s level could be raised without exposing her to any danger. The group could simply power-level her just like they’d done for Ellie and Ruka. Of course, if she wished to learn how to fight, they would be more than happy to teach her.

“Shutola,” Kelvin said, returning to his normal voice.

“Mm?”

“If you want, we can train you. I guarantee we can get you to a level where you can keep up with a match like that on your own.”

“You...will? Really...?”

“That’s right. Of course, that’s only if you want us to—”

“Yes, please! I want to be able to do many, many more things! And then! Then I want to help you and Rion-chan so much more!”

“R-Right... Well, after the Beast King Festival’s over, let’s go find a convenient dungeon somewhere.”

Shutola lifted her head and replied with such enthusiasm that it slightly took Kelvin aback. Looks like our little princess is a bundle of ambition, he thought wryly before noticing the hard stares he was getting from Rosalia and Huba. Eventually, he managed to convince them that there was no danger involved without bringing up Experience Sharing, thanks in no small part to Rion’s and Efil’s support. This was how the second round of “Let’s go all out in a dungeon!” was planned.

“Oh, looks like you’re all pumped up, Shutola-sama!” Ange commented. “As an older sister, I’ve got to gather my courage too! Efil-chan, I’ll do my best!”

“Huh? Uh...um, yes, please! Go for it!”

“All right! I got Efil-chan’s go-ahead!”

Efil wasn’t entirely sure what Ange meant by her declaration but expressed her support nonetheless. Here was another pair that wasn’t exactly on the same page.

◇ ◇ ◇

Afterwards, I Summoned Sera and the others, and we headed back to our inn after saying farewell to Ange. The high-class establishment we were staying at had a hot spring that, while not quite equal to our bath back home, was still quite lavish. Sera declared she wanted to go for a soak and immediately took off, bringing Ruka, Rion, and the now-cheerful Shutola along. Worried about leaving them unsupervised, Efil also headed over with the maids.

::Heh heh heh, I’m still only eighty percent full...::

The person blissfully sleep-talking within my magic pool was, of course, Melfina. There was no sign of her waking up any time soon. Judging by the limp forms of the chefs at the coliseum, she had truly eaten and drunk to her heart’s content. It was little wonder she was in such a good mood.

“Phew. This sure was a tiring day.”

I sat down on one of the sofas at the inn and leaned back with my arms spread wide. I’d had three bouts of fun today facing off against Jereol, Grostina, and Leonhart, getting poisoned and losing a ton of blood. It was a truly enjoyable time. I was extremely satisfied.

“So, I’m fighting Sera in the final match tomorrow, huh? She beats me almost every time in our close-quarters combat practice matches. I guess how much I can prepare before the fight will be key.”

While I was in the middle of my thoughts, I noticed one of the inn’s staff members hurriedly approaching me.

“Kelvin-sama, I was looking for you. These letters were left for you at reception.”

“What letters?”

The woman handed me two envelopes. One had a cute, girly design, and the other was a fancy design that I recognized—it looked exactly like the one I’d received from the Beast King for my Rank S promotion exam. A sense of foreboding rose through my chest.

“I will be taking my leave now.”

The beastkin lady swiftly made her exit.

“Hmm, and the other letter is from...Ange?”

The light-pink stationery told me that there was something she wanted to tell me, asking me to go to the coliseum through the back entrance at ten o’clock tonight. What’s she going to all this trouble for?

“As for this one... Seriously, what should I do with it?”

The letter from Leonhart seemed to reek of being a trap, but I had no choice but to open it. Inside, it said there was something he wanted to tell me, asking me to visit the castle at ten o’clock.

“Huh?! I’m double-booked?!”

◇ ◇ ◇

Late at night, the Gaun Mixed Fighting Arena was so quiet it was as if the tumult of the Beast King Festival had been a passing dream. Perhaps the place where the tickets for tomorrow were being sold was somewhere else, or maybe even the beastkin had to go rest after such a full day. Either way, I—deciding to prioritize Ange’s letter—found myself there alone.

I mean, I basically had to choose between Ange and Leonhart. I’m not someone who would willingly step on a land mine that I can see from a mile off. I’ll just apologize to Leonhart tomorrow. I’ll say I was already asleep. Even Efil and the rest told me to come here.

“Master, I believe you really should go see Ange.”

“There’s no need to give it another thought, Kelvin! No matter how it ends, closure is important!”

“I’d respect whatever your answer is, Kel-nii. Good luck!”

“Arf, arf!” (Good luck!)

That atmosphere had truly left me no choice but to go to meet her. Even Dahak, who had been out searching for Prettia as usual, and Gerard, who had been playing with his grandchildren, had said the same.

“Brother, you’re seriously amazing! Your charisma never ceases to impress me!”

“Mm, I knew that my eyes did not deceive me! My king, I saw this coming from the very start!”

And so on and so forth. I had no idea what my companions were talking about, but I figured it didn’t matter much. Um, the back entrance... Back entrance... Ah, there it is. Wow, there really isn’t anyone around at all. How could they not station guards here? Isn’t that a bit careless?

I walked through the contestant entrance that I had passed through multiple times that day, coming out onto the new stage that had been brought in after Sera and Prettia’s match. Moonlight fell gently, illuminating a figure on the stage. It was Ange, wearing the same outfit from the time I went on a date with her and Efil.

“K-Kelvin! Y-You really came for me!”

She’s actually stuttering. Ange-san, you’re stuttering.

“Well, you did send me a letter. What’s this all about? We saw each other just a little while ago, didn’t we?”

“Uh, th-th-there’s something that I r-r-really want to tell you...”

She’s getting even more flustered, and her stuttering is getting even worse.

“Hey, hey, hey, calm down. You can take your time; I’m not going anywhere. Take a deep breath.”

“O-Okay. Hee, hee, phew...”

Uh, that’s a breathing exercise from the Lamaze method, right? She sure knows all the clichés... Oh well, I guess I’ll just patiently wait for her to calm down.

I guided Ange to take a seat at the edge of the stage, then sat next to her myself.

“Ughh...I’m sorry, it wasn’t supposed to go like this.”

“Hey, it’s fine. I’m not bothered.”

“Mm, I’m okay now. I’m calm.” After a while, she turned to me, resolve in her eyes. “Kelvin, all this time, I—”

“What’s this? A secret nighttime date?” A young girl’s voice cut Ange off.

“Huh?” I turned around and found Bahl, the red-haired girl with a small build, standing in the middle of the stage with no emotion on her face. Both her hands were on her waist, and her long hair was fluttering in the night breeze. The most eye-catching part was the purple greaves she was wearing on both legs. They sparkled so radiantly it was as if they had taken in the moon and all the stars in the sky. Their characteristic appearance seemed all the more pronounced in the dark of night.

“Not exactly what I’d call it,” I returned. “How about you, though? What’re you here for? Not grabbing a seat for tomorrow’s match, right?”

I immediately stood up and stepped forward to cover Ange with my body. I had no idea why, but I could see that Bahl was wearing very high-ranked equipment. I did not remember doing anything to incur her enmity, but I would not be surprised if there was a situation related to Sera’s background. I naturally raised my guard.

“Kelvin?”

“Ange, stay close to me.”

“O-Okay...” Ange grabbed the back of my robe.

Fortunately, I had changed into my usual outfit. However, Ange’s presence was indeed going to be a handicap if a fight broke out.

“Who, me?” Bahl pointed at me. “I’m here to see you, Kelvin.”

“Me? Not Sera?” She’s asking for me by name? Seriously, what’d I do?

“That’s right, you. You see, I belong to a certain organization. And I’m here today to scout you for it.”

“You want me?”

“That’s right. I watched your fights today. You’re still a bit rough around the edges, but I’ve determined that you’re strong enough. You’re worthy of filling the lowest seat among our numbers. You still have a lot of room to grow, though. And you can also make your party members much stronger.”

Bahl raked her hair back. Even though her chest was quite modest, she still seemed strangely sensual for some reason.

“Well, I’m honored. Tell me more about your organization. What do you do? What is your goal?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Uh, what? Do you know how scouting works? What kind of idiot would just say yes without knowing what he’s getting into?”

“We have one condition if you are to join us.”

“You’re ignoring me?”

Bahl kept on talking, not caring about my protest in the slightest. “Namely, you must cancel your Contract with Melfina. If you do so, we will let you and your companions live.”

My eyes widened slightly. Why does she know about Melfina’s existence? Not only that, she even knows that we’re Contracted. Actually, no, the answer’s pretty obvious. I talked about this with Melfina once before, didn’t I?

“Is the goal of your organization something along the lines of resurrecting Elearis?”

“Tch.”

Ah, she looked away while clicking her tongue. She might be worse at lying than her appearance suggests.

“I see. Would there happen to be a guy named Jildora in your group? Scratch that. I’m sure there is.”

“Further conversation is unnecessary. Choose.” Bahl crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

She didn’t deny what I said, which probably means “yes,” right? So the big bad really is the previous Goddess of Reincarnation. Well, I don’t think I’ll be able to get much more information out of her.

“I refuse. I have no reason to join such a shady-sounding organization.”

“I see. So be it.”

Bahl tapped a foot on the stage, raising a soft metallic ting. Just as I braced myself in preparation for her assault, I felt myself being pulled backwards, with Ange’s face filling my field of view. She wore a complicated expression that looked sad and delighted at the same time.

“It’s a pity, Kelvin. But on the other hand, now your head’s mine.”

I felt a hot sensation flash through my neck. Then my vision turned round and round, first through the air, then...on the ground? In any case, the spinning soon stopped, and I realized I could not move my body. Rather, I could not feel anything except a deep, deep cold. What is...

---

You have died. Your Blessing of the Goddess of Reincarnation will now activate. You will be restored to your last condition before death. Remaining cooldown: 720:00:00

---

A screen that I did not recognize was in front of my eyes. Thanks to Parallel Processing, my brain instantaneously understood what had just happened to me.

“Huh? I’m pretty sure I chopped off his head.”

“Probably a blessing. Just do it again.”

I watched Ange speak to Bahl like they were close acquaintances. She was holding gleaming daggers in both hands. That’s right. I just got beheaded by Ange, who I thought I was protecting.

“Gosh! That’s not right, Kelvin-kun! Everyone only gets to live once! You shouldn’t go against the natural order of things in this world!”

Bahl sighed. “That line holds no water at all coming from a reincarnated person.”

“You’re the same as me!” Ange retorted.

I hadn’t the faintest idea where she had pulled it out from or when she had gotten changed, but Ange was now wearing a black coat with a hood that had cat ears sewn on. I backed up until I was standing roughly halfway between both girls.

“Ange, are you... Is that really you?” I asked.

“You wound me, Kelvin. Of course I’m me! It’s true that I’ve been Disguising my Status, but I’m every bit the Ange you know.”

“You done, Ange? Let’s get this—”

“No, no, give me a few more moments! There’s something I really want to say!”

“Tch. Hurry it up.”

Ange turned to me, looking like she wanted to pick up from where Bahl interrupted. “I missed my chance before, so I’ll say it now. Kelvin, I loved you. I don’t know if it was love at first sight, but I know that I came to love you. You see my coat? I made this to copy you, actually. Now we match! Then I sewed these cat ears on myself, hoping to be even a little bit cuter. What do you think? Are they cute? No, it’s okay, you don’t have to say anything. I know you’re strong, you’re kind, you don’t resort to violence, and you have the cutest smile. And that’s why...if you won’t join us, then at the very least, I want your head with that smile on it!”

Ange got all her words out with her usual smile.

Bahl sighed. “I’m Condemner of the Sixth Seat. If you want to curse someone for this, curse Melfina.”

“And I’m Assassin of the Eig— Nah, there’s no need for that. Just call me Ange like you always do, Kelvin!”

Killing intent exploded from both girls. It was so thick and ominous that I almost thought I could visually see it. A flock of wild birds burst into flight in the distance, almost as if they had sensed the advent of some terrible catastrophe.

Efil, Rion, Sera, can you guys hear me? It’s an emergency.

I tried to call out through the Network, but no reply was forthcoming. I noticed a purple barrier quite different from the one erected during the matches now surrounding the stage area, which likely served to isolate me. Even Summoning could not be used within; I tried, to no avail. In other words, these two had gone to the trouble of preparing something similar to the barrier that had gone up at Trycen Castle.

All I can do is hope someone will notice how I dropped off the Network. The only ones currently in my magic pool are Boga and Mdofarak. Then inside my robe is—

::This is an emergency indeed. Above all, the sin of killing you is something that I cannot forgive, even if it was Ange who did so.::

You’re awake, Melfi— Oh, right! You were sleeping inside me this whole time!

A sleepy Melfina was, on a bad day, as much of a threat to my life as a drunk Sera. This time, me being too lazy and tired to wake her up earlier had ended up working in my favor. Since she was here inside the barrier with me, I could Summon her without a problem.

::You seem pretty calm, honey.::

What do you mean? I may get excited in battle, but I always keep a cool head.

::No, I meant, aren’t you shocked about being betrayed by Ange, who you thought was a friend?::

Betrayed? Well, I’m shocked, sure. I did just get killed by someone I trusted. There’s no way I’m not shocked. But there’s a bigger part of me that gets it now. I’m not sure why, but everyone—including Sera and Rion, who were close with her, even Gerard—told me that she had feelings for me. And I have feelings for her...as a friend. But everyone’s talking about the other kind of feeling, right? The kind that someone has for a special someone. That was something that I couldn’t quite parse before.

I looked at the characteristic smile on Ange’s face. There were multiple times she had managed to quietly sneak up behind me with that very smile on her face. Each time, I was surprised and shuddered a little at how she had gotten the jump on me with her stats. It excited me to think of how much she could do, how much stronger she could get if she actually raised her level. All of which was moot now, of course, as she had apparently been fudging the numbers.

I...see. I get it now.

::What do you mean, honey?::

Ange’s feelings for me had been filled with so much madness that she wanted my head. Conversely, my feelings for her had included a longing to fight with a completed version of her. This was why I always felt that putting the common term of “love” to our relationship didn’t feel quite right. What we had between us was something very similar but fundamentally different. That said, in a way...

Maybe I really have been in love with Ange all this time.

::What’re you saying, honey?!::

The thought quickened my heartbeat and brought a grin to my face.

::That’s the best smile you’ve given in a while, and I absolutely love that about you, but I cannot overlook what you just said! How can you so blatantly declare your intention of cheating straight to your wife’s face?! I protest! I... I really do!::

Ange and I had been fated to be opponents from the start, two people who meant the world to each other. This way of putting it felt much more fitting. My heart continued beating faster the longer I looked at her face. This was something that I absolutely had to do, right here, right now.

::Ugh, I forgot you’re an absolute madman when it comes to battle.::

I keep telling you not to read my mind. But never mind, I guess that means you’re up to speed. Take care of Bahl for me. I have to answer Ange’s feelings.

::I also don’t like how you worded that, but because I am lenient and magnanimous, I will do as you asked. Since I’m your legal wife!::

Right after finishing my high-speed conversation with Melfina, I turned my back on Bahl to face Ange.

“Isn’t it an honor for a battle junkie like yourself to die in a place like th—” Bahl cut herself off. “Where’re you looking at?”

Ange tilted her head quizzically. “Kelvin?”

“Ange, I’m sorry it took me this long to realize how you feel. I will now answer your feelings with all that I have.” I reached into Clotho’s Storage, pulling out Black Staff of Disaster with my right hand and Mad Holy Sword Clive with my left.

“You’re ignoring me? Really?”

A high-pitched metallic sound rang out behind my back, but I blocked it out. It was the least of my worries now. After all, I had a trustworthy goddess protecting my six.

“What do you mean he’s ignoring you? Have you forgotten that your opponent is a Summoner?” Melfina asked as she appeared from a glowing magic circle, the tip of Holy Lance Luminary already pointed at Bahl.

“You’re...Melfina, the Goddess of Reincarnation.”

“I go by Mel when I’m here, though it won’t be long before I become Mel Celsius!”

“A goddess drowned in pleasure, then. As I thought, you are not fit to keep your seat. Very well. I shall carry out my duties as the Condemner and bring you judgment.”

◇ ◇ ◇

Three dark figures sped like the wind, dashing through the streets of Gaun. They were heading for the arena where Ange had called Kelvin.

“Gramps, is what you just said true?”

“Arf?” (Really true?)

“I swear it. These eyes saw the truth while peeking! My king and Ange are in danger!”

The trio was Gerard, Rion, and Alex. While everyone else had disconnected from the Network out of consideration, Gerard had taken advantage of Kelvin leaving his line wide open to peek at what was happening. Then he had suddenly gone around rousing everyone, causing a commotion.

“Just when Ange was about to profess her love to my king, that red-haired girl appeared! And that very moment, my view got blocked!”

“Kel-nii did say we have to stay vigilant against Bahl. If what you’re saying is true, this really could be an emergency.”

“Arf, arf!” (We should hurry!)

“Yes, we should! Gramps, we’re gonna go ah—”

“STOP! There’s someone up front!”

Just as Rion and Alex were about to take off, Gerard roared at Rion in an uncharacteristically sharp voice. The coliseum was already in front of them. However, there was a figure standing in their way. It was a man wearing torn, ragged clothing with a katana hanging at his waist. This, along with his disheveled black hair, gave him the appearance of an adventurer back from a long journey.

“Hey, there. We meet again,” he said, raising a hand in greeting.

Rion recognized him. She had seen him quite recently. “You’re my...”

This was the nameless swordsman she had defeated in round three of the tournament. His slack posture was the same as before, but he was now giving off an aura that made her hesitate to take him lightly.

“Rion, stay sharp. This man is strong.”

“Mister...you went easy on me when you fought me today?”

“Well, you see, I’m not so good with being the center of attention. And it’s not like I enjoy cutting young girls like you, so I surrendered before I knew it. Condemner did her best instead, so what’s the harm, right?”

The man looked down at the guard of his katana listlessly.

“Would you mind a little advice from this old man? Turn back. There are monsters fighting up ahead.”

At that moment, a thunderous roar blasted out from within the coliseum, sending a shock wave that washed over Rion and Gerard.

“See what I mean? Good children should be asleep at this time. It’d make me happy if you could do an about-face. This old mister wants to go home and sleep too.”

“I’m afraid we can’t do that, mister.”

“Grrrrr!”

“If you stand in our way, we’ll have no choice but to push past using force!”

The sight of Rion and Gerard drawing their weapons elicited a sigh from the man. “So we’re really going to do this? I guess I might as well introduce myself first. I’m Survivor of the Ninth Seat. Not exactly thrilled to make your acquaintance, but here we are.”

◇ ◇ ◇

“Debilitate Scrimmage.”

Blue magic that looked like the exact opposite of Sera’s magic gathered at Bahl’s feet, flowing into her purple greaves through every available crevice. The greaves seemed on the verge of blowing apart from the raging torrent but then suddenly harmonized with the magic and changed forms. In contrast to how Sera’s Blood Scrimmage clad her fists in red armor, Bahl’s Debilitate Scrimmage clad her feet in blue armor. Due to the ominous yet polished form of her greaves, her height had risen from being on par with Rion’s to towering above the eye level of a normal adult male. Although not as firm and robust as her foot armor, there were also demonic horns protruding from her head, along with wings and a tail at her back, all enveloped in blue.

“Divine Aspect.”

In contrast, Melfina materialized her holy angelic wings. Pulses of holy energy emanated from them and flowed to permeate all her weapons and equipment. It truly looked like the stereotypical scene of an angel and a demon facing off, bearing a surprising similarity to the previous match between Melfina and Sera.

“The fact that you can use that technique confirms you really are a demon. Are you perhaps Sera’s younger sister?”

“As I said before, further conversation is unnecessary.”

These words were immediately followed by Melfina’s holy lance clashing with Bahl’s blue greaves.

Hmm, I was watching their exchange through the Network with Parallel Processing, but...yep, Bahl is a demon. What’s more, she uses a technique that’s similar to Sera’s. Blood Scrimmage involves Sera’s Unique Skills of Blood Dominion and Bloodbending, so it makes sense to assume Bahl’s blue magic also has some special ability. All right, sort the information properly and...send to Melfina. Now it’s time for me to focus on my own fight.

“You’ll answer my feelings?” Ange parroted quizzically. “How? Will you let me chop your neck? Will you join my organization? I’d love it if so! Efil-chan could come along, and Rion-chan too! Ah, I’m afraid you’d have to leave Mel-san behind, but...”

“Sorry, neither works for me. There’s no way I can say yes.”

“Then—”

“What I can do, however, is accept you into my party. Come to my house. Ange, live with me.”

“Huh?!”

“I’ve only just realized how attracted I am to you, Ange. And I said I can’t let you cut my neck, but I meant that as in, I can’t let you do it for nothing. I’d want you to respect time, place, and occasion, but generally speaking, you can come for it any time, any day! Of course, I’m not going to just roll over and let you do it; no, I’ll fight back with all I have every time. So, what do you think? Oh, but if you want to chop necks, you’d have to limit yourself to mine alone—”

“W-Wait a—hold on, K-Kelvin, s-stop! STOP!”

I suddenly realized that Ange’s face had turned as red as a tomato. She had both hands thrust forward and was waving them around in a fluster.

“What’s the matter? There are still a lot of details about the rules for chopping my head and living at my house that I haven’t explained yet.”

“It’s already set in stone that I’d be moving in?! I-I mean, if those are the terms, then I, uh, I don’t really need to take your head anymore...”

Ange pulled her hood forward as far as she could, covering the top half of her face. However, the bottom half that remained visible was still so flushed that I could tell without having to squint.

“D-Do you mean it?” she asked.

“Every last word. If you come and live with us, Efil and Rion will be over the moon. Most importantly, it would make me very happy.”

Ange fell silent, and I waited for her. During that time, the melody of battle continued playing behind my back, flowing into my ears.

“What are you doing, Assassin?! Y—”

“Excuse me, I’m your opponent!”

“Tch!”

Even while trying to look into Ange’s eyes, I was using one train of thought under Parallel Processing to keep an eye on Melfina’s situation. Bahl just happened to be in the middle of launching a counterattack right after having blocked one of Melfina’s spear thrusts with her right leg. The unending barrage of white and blue was so fast that there was no time to breathe in between, gradually bringing the rhapsody reverberating throughout the arena to a crescendo.

Although only barely so, Bahl was managing to keep up with Melfina, which was actually a very impressive feat. Thanks to her Unique Skill, Sympathetic Resonance, all of Melfina’s stats were the sum of my stats split evenly. The important part here is that after my Evolution from human to daemon, my max MP had shot through the roof. Consequently, every last one of Melfina’s stats was easily over three thousand at the moment. This was even higher than Demon Lord Zel’s stats after his fusion with Clive. It was true that Melfina was currently probing Bahl and had yet to get serious, but for her part, Bahl clearly still had cards up her sleeve. There was no way to know how strong she really was just yet.

There was something else that bothered me. The aura from Divine Aspect was supposed to dispel all buffs and debuffs from both Melfina and her opponent, and this would normally apply to Bahl’s Debilitate Scrimmage as well. However, every time the two clashed, it was Mel’s Divine Aspect that was worn down. I couldn’t tell if it was due to Bahl’s ability, but the sight did remind me of the time Mel had fought Sera and—

Oh, looks like Ange’s about to give me her answer.

After the long pause, Ange finally spoke. “Kelvin, I... I’m very happy...I think,” she said, seemingly struggling to find the right words. “You see, I tried to make opportunities to tell you how I felt so many times, but it never went well. So it makes me really happy to hear you say all that.”

“Then come with me, Ange. All of us will welcome you with open arms.”

“Thank...you.”

Ange seemed to be doing her best to convey her emotions. As I stared at the face hidden behind the hood, I noticed her waving her left hand slightly. Something flew out.

FLASH!

The “something” exploded in an intense burst of light, proving itself to be an item similar to a flash grenade. However, it did very little to blind me, as I was wearing a Goddess’s Ring. As a result, I had no trouble seeing the dagger that flew through the light, heading straight for my neck. I dodged it with every ounce of speed I could muster with the help of the Sonic Acceleration spell I had cast on myself during the preceding moment of silence. Even so, the blade grazed me slightly, letting me know that I was still behind in terms of Agility. I cast Benediction Cure on the wound just in case the blade had been poisoned.

“Aha ha! But Kelvin, I can’t believe you! After all, I betrayed you! What you’re saying is just too good to be true. I can’t be tricked that easily!”

It was as if her embarrassment earlier had only been an act. The expression on her face framed by the hood with the cat ears told me how much she was enjoying this. More knives flew at me, all aimed at my vital spots, but I knocked them down using Mad Holy Sword Clive. However, the shock of the clashes traveled all the way up my arms. Clearly, I was inferior in Strength too. I couldn’t have been happier.

“I meant every word I said. You should know by now, given how long we’ve been together, I only do what I want and never do something because it’s the ‘right’ thing. All I want right now is you. I want you, Ange.”

“Wh—?!”

I knew the words weren’t enough to get through to her. Even so, I felt them shaking her heart just the tiniest bit. The door was still slightly open.

“Boreas Death Scythe.”

I converted Disaster into the grim reaper’s scythe, shifting to a two-handed hold. Clive floated in the air beside me in the same way I controlled Obsidian Edges, its tip pointed at Ange.

“I’ve said everything I want to say. All that’s left is to prove myself through my actions. Ange, I will now use everything I have to bring you back with me.”

“That’s...a self-serving declaration if I’ve ever heard one. In that case, I’ll also get serious about coming for your head. That was my original goal.”

“That would make me very happy.”

After all, this fight was one of my original goals.

◇ ◇ ◇

It was pandemonium inside the coliseum. Which part, you ask? All of it. As it turned out, the purple barrier surrounding the stage only served to curtail our magical range and block us from leaving. It did nothing to contain the damage caused by our attacks, magical or otherwise. Shock waves, for example, had no problem passing through.

Melfina, we’re about to start fighting.

::Oh? She rejected you that harshly? Do you want me to console you?::

As if. Ange and I are going to play together now!

::I know. I’m joking. I would love to be able to lend a hand, but they’re both full with my current opponent at the moment. Look out for yourself.::

Gotcha. Keep this channel open.

While accepting Melfina’s much-appreciated words of concern, I used both her point of view and mine to gain a thorough grasp of the state of the venue. Mel and Bahl’s fight was everywhere, shifting from the stage to midair in the blink of an eye as they tore apart their surroundings without discrimination. Naturally, the stage was ruined. Worse than ruined. It was in such a bad state that it was beyond words. The beastkin would likely jump out of their skins when they saw it in the morning. Especially the stage-changing team.

At the same time, Ange and I were in the middle of the most enjoyable game of tag ever, with me using Sonic Acceleration and Fly to zip every which way within the barrier and her staying hot on my heels. I had no time to entertain questions like “You’re running away after talking such a big game?” Ange was just that terrifying. The moment I entered her territory, my head would fly.

“Keeelviiin! Wait! For! Me!”

She stayed close behind me, her dagger held in a reverse grip at neck level. She would catch up if I stayed still for even a second, so I could only spam spells that could be cast quickly and without slowing down, such as Wind Shot and Impact.

None of them showed any signs of landing. She likely possessed Sky Walk, considering how she not only made impossible-looking turns in midair numerous times but even accelerated after doing so. She was so fast that I had to fully focus on all my detection skills just to keep track of her. Even now, she was easily making her way past the barrage of spells as if they were no more than hurdles on a track, slowly and steadily closing the distance.

Damn, is she faster than even the fastest two in my party, Efil and Melfina? Analyze Eye is still telling me she’s an average person with only one or two digits in each stat. That’s because of the thing she mentioned earlier, right? “Disguise”? I’ve no idea if that’s a skill or something else, but I probably wouldn’t be too far off thinking of it like the Beast King’s Metamorphosis.

“Can you handle this?” I cast Air Pressure on the entire area within the barrier. When facing opponents with speed, it made sense to first take away that speed. I adjusted the spell so that it wouldn’t affect Melfina and me and cranked it up high enough to the point where the stage almost started buckling.

“Mm, mm, mm!”

She’s even started humming?! And she doesn’t seem any slower. In the first place, being able to maintain that speed under Air Pressure is impossible. Even Gerard would be straining.

“Tch.”

After clicking her tongue to express her annoyance, Bahl returned to her fight with Mel. I noticed that she was slightly affected by my spell, which made Ange’s performance all the stranger, as I had expected Bahl to be the one with the higher Strength stat.

Well, thinking about it doesn’t help me now. Ange’s almost caught up.

“Clive, go.”

The longsword that had been floating in midair on standby was none other than Mad Holy Sword Clive—or as I referred to it, the Pretty Clive. This was the reforged version of the sword I had picked up during the fight with Demon Lord Zel, Mad Sword Clive. It had been quite the undertaking purifying a blade that was practically oozing curse energy as if all the curses in the world had been packed into its length. I had also shrunk it from its original massive form to a much more manageable size. Its appearance remained as black as before, but it was technically now a holy sword. Thus, its new name.

Of course, there wasn’t even the faintest scrap of Clive’s consciousness left inside the sword, so all that about being pretty was just pure nonsense. In fact, it was actually pretty repulsive since it still contained tightly packed curse energy deep within.

On second thought, I might rename it the Dirty Clive.

Either way, I was still reluctant to let Rion use the finished product, so I had decided to use it myself. And now, I commanded it to attack Ange at the exact moment she used Sky Walk to evade an Impact...right after she changed directions...from a blind spot.

“That—”

My timing was perfect. I had fired a whole barrage of spells so densely packed it should have been impossible to dodge. At the very moment she accelerated, Mad Holy Sword Clive rushed at her back...and passed straight through.

“—was a close one! Whew!”

For a split second, I had trouble comprehending what had just happened. Mad Holy Sword Clive had indeed pierced Ange’s body. However, she resumed her chase of me as if nothing had occurred. That was not Clive’s ability, obviously, which meant it was Ange who had caused the phenomenon.

“Kelviiin, could you not use this terrible, low-life philanderer against me? It kinda pisses me...off!”

While puffing her cheeks to make an angry expression, she took out a knife from the inside of her jacket and threw it at the sword that had just passed through her. The knife hit the weapon on its hilt with a sharp, metallic clang. This was immediately followed by an explosion as the knife, which had probably been set up to explode upon contact with its target, blew up along with Clive. In other words, it was a knife-shaped bomb. Dirty Clive plunged to the ground, badly damaged.

“That’s sterilized now. Did you learn your lesson, Kelvin?”

“Mm, sorry, my bad. I’ll only use Clive against guys and monsters going forward.”

“Good. Glad to hear it.”

Ange and I were conversing with smiles on our faces, but by now, there was almost no distance left between us. And before long, she did indeed catch up to me.

“Hey, there,” I said as she stood before me, entirely unaffected by both Boreas Death Scythe and the Helix Barrier I had deployed. There was no longer any room for doubt. She was capable of slipping through both physical matter and magic. That was her ability.

“Mm-hm! I’ve finally caught you, Kelvin!” Ange had a gentle yet iron grasp on my right arm, the one holding the scythe. I could feel her warmth through the palm of her hand. Her other hand, the one holding the cold, gleaming dagger, approached my neck as she pronounced my death with a gentle smile. “I’ll be claiming your head now.”

I grinned. “I told you, didn’t I? That I’d fight you with all I have? And I...am a Summoner.”

“Huh?”

A white light illuminated Ange’s back. Although I didn’t have the ability to go so far as to Conceal it, I had managed to finish constructing the Summoning circle in the nick of time. My decision to start working on it as soon as I saw Ange phasing through Boreas Death Scythe had paid off. What’s more, I had also asked my companions to make their preparations inside my magic pool.

Ange, the fact that we’re talking means sound is reaching you, right?

I cast Silent Whisper on my own ears. BOGA, ROAR AS LOUD AS YOU CAN!

“ROOOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!”

The massive sound wave breath attack that Boga unleashed the instant he emerged from the magic circle slammed into the arena, pounding it again and again until it started to crumble. Protuberances high up broke off and fell down, crashing into the spectator seats. That destruction led to further destruction, causing giant cracks that started running through the structure.

At the same time, the same thing was happening to Ange. She let go of my arm, screaming silently. Apparently, her ability to remain impervious to everything was not applicable to sound waves. Or perhaps she could shut out sound but hadn’t because she’d been taken by surprise. Either way, the breath attack infused with a stun debuff that Boga had unleashed at nearly point-blank range proved highly effective, leaving her body petrified and unresponsive.

Yeah, that attack really does a number when it lands squarely, regardless of Endurance. Did Ange’s eardrums get blown out? There’s no stopping now, though. This is the best opportunity I’ve had so far.

I propped my scythe against my shoulder and shifted to holding it with just one hand. I was going to attempt something that I had used only once in combat before. Back when I had fought the Heroes of Deramis, I’d borrowed Sera’s Combat Technique skill and only barely managed to use it in conjunction with my magic to imitate her fighting style. Now, although I was still far from reaching her level of proficiency, I could pull the move off all on my own. So I clad my fist in wind with Green Magic, stabilized it, and unleashed a punch while I still had control over the whole thing.

“Guh!”

My uppercut drove deep into Ange’s abdomen, delivering a chain of Hyper Impacts that went off inside her body in quick succession. As a result of packing a spell that would normally affect a large area into such a small space, the combined force dealt significant damage to her internal organs. The shock wave that followed threw her body into the air.

Boga, hold nothing back! Give it all you got!

Naturally, I was not stupid enough to refrain from taking full advantage of the opening. Just as Ange’s body reached the top of its trajectory and started falling back down, Boga’s powerful tail slapped her straight down towards the ground.

::Rooaar!::

As if that wasn’t enough, the rock dragon matched her speed and followed her down to deal several more of the same blows, effectively making her accelerate again and again. Judging by the thuds, the attacks were properly making contact with her.

I’m impressed by how skillful Boga’s gotten at moving. Is this thanks to Gerard’s instruction? Regardless of how he normally acts, he’s actually pretty good at teaching others. Everyone is just full of surprises.

Ange, who was now plummeting at incredible speed, had yet to show any sign of movement. At this rate, she would slam directly into the rubble-strewn ground. It was time for the next step.

Melfina, you good to go?

::Do you have to ask? I am one in body and spirit with you, honey. My timing is perfect.::

While Ange was falling, Melfina brought her battle with Bahl to the ground. Thanks to her skillful maneuvering, she now had the red-haired girl on one knee. Bahl was just about to get back up.

::Celsius Briar.::

The moment Melfina tapped the butt of Holy Lance Luminary against the ground, briars made of ice burst out and began eating the entire arena. No, “eating” was a bit misleading. The briars were actually reinforcing the crumbling structure by freezing chunks of it together and holding them up through the strength of their tendrils.

“You... How can a mere artificial body...be this powerful?!”

The arena was not the only thing that the briars swallowed up—the same fate had also befallen Bahl, who had been on the ground at the time, and Ange, who had fallen straight into the spell. The growth wrapped itself around Bahl’s greaves and enveloped Ange from head to toe. Celsius Briar replicated endlessly and dealt damage with the slightest contact. Escaping its hold was nigh impossible.

Hey, Mel? It just occurred to me that the “Celsius” in Celsius Briar is exactly the family name we’ll be taking on. What do you think about incorporating this into the design of our family crest? Like, adding some briars and—

::Yes, let’s! In fact, we definitely should! Honey, promise me you will!::

Okaaay...

I was only spitballing, but Melfina latched onto my idea with so much zeal that it scared me a little. I guess I’ll have to actually consider it for real. Gotta ask everyone for their opinion when we get back.

“And when we have that talk, you have to be there too, Ange. So don’t you die on me.”

I Summoned Mdofarak, making it so that she, Boga, and I formed a triangular formation in the air above Ange and Bahl.

Mdofarak, once we’re done here, you get an all-you-can-eat sweets buffet by Efil. So give me all you got. Boga, you’ll be allowed to have as many seconds as you want for your next meal.

::Rawr?! Awr, rawr!::

::Rooaaar!::

And that did it for motivating the dragons. Efil’s cooking was the simplest way to ensure they did their best. You greedy gluttons.

::Honey, what about me?! Don’t I get to have as many seconds as I want?!::

It was true that Efil’s cooking was a great motivator, but it was a bit of a double-edged sword when it came to our gluttonous goddess. She single-handedly kicked our household’s Engel coefficient all the way into space. However, tough times called for tough measures.

Just the next meal! So focus on maintaining the briars! It’s not like time actually stops when we communicate through the Network!

::Heh heh heh, looks like it’s time for me to demonstrate what I’m truly capable of!::

For some reason, I felt like I had just made a pact with a devil. In any case, Ange and Bahl were now properly locked down. After Melfina retreated a safe distance, I unleashed a massive flying slash with Boreas Death Scythe, Mdofarak let out her Trinity Breath, and Boga blasted his sound wave breath attack.

How’re you two going to handle this?

“Don’t you...take me lightly!”

It was Bahl who moved first. A high-pitched mechanical sound emitted from her greaves, which then became covered with glowing bluish-purple lines. To my surprise, the briars that were tying her feet down cracked and crumbled.

“Debilitate Slash!”

Bahl kicked twice, sending two blue crescent-moon arcs flying skyward. They increased in momentum after overlapping like the letter X, taking almost no time at all to clash into the combined attack unleashed by my dragons and me. The slash from Boreas Death Scythe managed to pass straight through, but the two breath attacks abruptly lost all their destructive power the moment they made contact with Bahl’s attacks, with both sides seemingly canceling each other out.

“Tch! I have bad compatibility with that one. Assassin, how much longer are you going to keep sleeping? That slash is going to kill us both.” Bahl turned to look in Ange’s direction, but no answer came. “Okay, fine! Brace yourself a while longer. I’ll pale the color of the ice briars and your debuff—”

“No need.”

After murmuring her reply, Ange abruptly sat up from within the mass of briars like it was nothing. Her ability to phase through things was back, meaning the Stun debuff from Boga’s attack had worn off. However, her wounds remain—

“Aha ha!” In the blink of an eye, she was again closing in on me, a bright smile on her face.

“What?!” That can’t be! She just woke up! The speed at which she’s kicking through the air’s even faster than before. Was she going easy on me earlier?!

My companions and I immediately threw attacks at Ange in an attempt to delay her, but she did not slow down in the slightest thanks to her godlike reflexes and ability to slip through everything.

Aren’t you still wounded?! You’re making me love you more and more!

She was making a beeline straight for me, entirely uninterested in the dragons. Her momentum was so great that she ended up phasing clear through me.

“Ugh!”

Even so, she made sure to leave me gifts while passing by. Her dagger left a deep, burning cut on my left arm as a poisoned kunai knife ended up in my stomach. I hadn’t the faintest idea how her coat worked.

“Don’t throw that many at me at once!” I silently muttered in awe. Even with Sonic Acceleration active, I had been unable to evade everything in time.

“Now, Kelvin! It’s about time to end this fight!”

After phasing through me, Ange instantly used Sky Walk to change directions and close in once more with her unbelievable speed. As before, she threw countless daggers and kunai my way. Although they were all quite small, their overall mass clearly exceeded what her coat could hold. And that was not the only thing.

FLASH!

There were even flash grenades scattered here and there within the rain of blades. As soon as you forget about them and all that, right? Whereas last time Ange had used only one, this time there were so many that they overwhelmed me even though I still had my Goddess’s Ring on. I ended up taking a kunai in the right shoulder and another directly in the wound previously made by the dagger in her hand. The latter served as a literal illustration of the phrase “gouging an old wound.” What’s worse, it was poisoned. Although I had a certain resistance to pain thanks to my normal everyday life, this was enough to make me grit my teeth. I activated an immediate antidote spell in an attempt to alleviate the symptoms, but it didn’t help much.

Ange, you should teach Grostina how to make this poison. I’m sure it’d make her super happy. But damn, I sure am getting poisoned a lot today.

::Bad news, honey. The way Sympathetic Resonance works, when you get poisoned, I get poisoned too. I’ve basically lost the edge I had over Bahl just now.::

Oh right, I forgot about that.

Melfina’s Unique Skill, Sympathetic Resonance, made it so that her Status reflected mine. When I buffed myself with a spell, she would receive the buff too. The same went for debuffs. In other words, she had actually been suffering quite a bit during my fights throughout the tournament. It hadn’t bothered her too much, as she had been occupied with eating the entire time. However, now that she was in the middle of battle, she was fully feeling the effects.

How bad is it?

::I’m now only on equal footing with her. Please just remember that the worse your situation gets, the more disadvantaged I become as well.::

On the ground, Melfina and Bahl were resuming their fight. Bahl now seemed unaffected by the Celsius Briars on the ground, seeing as she was easily trampling them and unleashing her kicks with graceful, flowing motions.

Does she have an ability that lets her ignore certain types of damage? I really need to finish this fight immediately. With me poisoned, the longer it lasts, the worse off both Mel and I will be.

::Grrrr...::

Boga and Mdofarak were watching closely from a distance, ready to provide cover fire should the opportunity arise. But Ange and I were too close to each other. Even then, Ange would probably just phase through their attacks, and I would be the only one to get hurt.

You know what? It’s time to go all in. I can use this.

I had no choice but to end things then and there. And there was only one way to do it.

Boga! Mdofarak! Shoot your breath attacks at me for as long as you can, over as large an area as possible!

::Roar?!::

::Rawr?!::

Your concern makes me happy, but it’s fine. Just do it! Ange’s nearly on me already!

Obediently, both ancient dragons unleashed the most powerful breath attacks they were capable of. They reached me at almost the same time Ange did.

“Aha ha! Did you go mad, Kelvin?!”

“Oh, I’m sane! As much as I always am!”

Despite possessing the ability to phase through things, Ange had dodged quite a few of my attacks so far. If her power had made her completely invincible, she could have come straight for me, ignoring everything I threw her way. And yet, that was not what she did. In other words, there were limits to her power, be it number of uses, duration, or MP cost.

What’s more, every time she attacked me, she invariably disabled her power. When she passed through me, my fingers had felt her for the briefest moment. In all likelihood—no, I was sure that her power only covered the volume of her body and equipment. There was no way for her to extend it to her weapon and attack with the weapon at the same time, and she was not using the power nonstop. There were definitely limits to her usage of it.

“I’m! Coming! For! You! Now!”

Thanks to having an abundance of MP, I was able to spam spells at her. She dodged them all, but that was fine, as they were only meant to be a smoke screen. My real attacks, the ones I was actually relying on to make her use up her phasing ability, were the flying slashes with Boreas Death Scythe that I was throwing at her among the spells.

We were now almost within arm’s reach of each other. However, there was something else that got to me first: the attacks from the dragons. The entire space around me was swallowed up in a multicolored torrent of energy. It made me happy to see how much stronger Mdofarak and Boga had become. How long can my Helix Barrier last?!

“ANGEEEEEEE!”

“Aha! Kelvin!”

It was time for our touching reunion. Boreas Death Scythe was unwieldy at such a close distance, so I disabled it and threw Black Staff of Disaster into Storage, exchanging it for the Black Sword Aklama that I’d made for myself while forging the two others for Rion so that I could have a matching weapon with her.

Now that Clive is hurt and barred from use, I’ll be using this to end the fight, Ange!

“Hn!”

For the briefest moment, Ange was actually hurt by the breaths. However, she simply reactivated the phasing ability without flinching. She had clearly resolved herself to taking damage in that brief window so as to pass through my Helix Barrier. The next time she let her body come back would be the instant she took my head.

“Huff, huff... No one else to come between us here in your barrier.”

“So it seems. It’s finally just the two of us.”

“Ah! There you go with those lines again!”

CLANG!

I blocked Ange’s dagger with Aklama multiple times. I couldn’t tell if it was because she was exhausted or flustered, but she did not use her special ability again.

“I’ll say it as many times as you want. I love you, Ange.” I plucked out the kunai still in my shoulder and threw it back at her. It stabbed her in the right thigh.

“Nn! I... I love you too! I came to...love you little by little! The feeling just got bigger and bigger!”

Ange’s kick landed squarely in my flank. The gouging pain that shot through my body told me that she had hidden a blade in the sole of her shoe.

“Guh! Then why?!”

I grabbed the leg she had just used to kick me and plunged Aklama into it.

“Ugh! But I betrayed you! I approached you at the start with ulterior motives! It was for a mission! But! But I...”

Ange used both hands to thrust her dagger into my left shoulder. She even started jiggling it around.

“So what? I’m all for fighting you. But Ange, I don’t want to be enemies with you! The only thing that matters is this love I feel!”

I grabbed her head, which had bowed forward when she stabbed me, by the back and forcefully pulled it towards me.

“Wh—? Mmmm?! Huh? We, huh?!”

I forcibly pressed her lips against mine. They tasted strongly of blood, but a faint sweet hint came through. For a moment, Ange froze and grew flustered. I hugged the very cute girl close to me.

Clotho, do it.

My slime buddy emerged from my robe, Astarte’s Embrace, and swallowed her up. I mentally apologized to Ange for being so pushy, despite the word “embrace” ironically being in the name of my equipment.

Without further ado, Clotho activated Absorption.

“Ah? Ugh... Kel...vin...”

“You can rest now, Ange. Let’s talk later. About our future together.”

The strength behind the knives in my side and shoulder drained away, leaving only Ange’s soft, warm body in my arms. Thankfully, her constitution wasn’t like Colette’s, and she simply got sleepy when her MP reached zero. I asked Clotho to remove the blades in me, took a deep breath, and cast recovery spells on myself. The stench of blood was fragrant, true, but I focused on healing properly.

I’ve knocked Ange out! Now it’s only Bahl left!

The moment I announced my victory, the barrier surrounding the arena shattered with a loud crash.

What happened?!

“It finally broke! Gosh, do you know how much blood I had to use? Oh, it’s Kelvin! Kelvin, I came to help!” Sera shouted from high up in the sky.

Reinforcements had arrived. My demon companion’s timing was impeccable, as always.

::Oh no, you’re badly hurt, Kelvin! And Ange too!::

Oh right, the barrier blocked the Network, so Sera and the others don’t know what’s going on here. Wow, credit to them for noticing I was in danger. Was it Sera’s exceptionally sharp intuition at work?

I pointed down below and spoke through the Network. Ange and I are fine. Sera, Melfina’s still fighting Bahl. Go help her, please.

If anything, I would have loved to jump right into my second fight of the night, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could stand up to Bahl in the condition I was in. Providing cover fire from a distance was the best I could do. I did have Ange to take care of too.

::Okay! Leave the rest to me!::

Sera charged forward, Blood Scrimmage already wreathing both arms.

Boga, Mdofarak, I’m sorry, I know you’re tired, but please continue providing cover fire. Remember, Bahl is really powerful. Don’t get too close, and don’t let your guard down.

::Rawr!::

::Roaaar!::

Their replies reverberated loudly through the Network, then the dragons soared overhead and began raining down their breath attacks. They did not seem to be exhausted in the least, probably because they were imagining their promised reward drawing closer by the minute. Dragons were easy to bribe. Then again, so were goddesses.

“Sera Baal?! How did you— Ah, you must have slipped past Survivor. As for Assassin...”

Ah, Bahl and I locked eyes. Hey, I may be too far away to hear you, but I know you just clicked your tongue!

“Bahl, this is checkmate,” Melfina declared. “Now, tell us what your goal is.”

“Melfina, Goddess of Reincarnation... It irks me to ask you for something, but make sure you take good care of Assassin. She’s a bit mentally unstable but a good girl at heart. If you mistreat her, I’ll kill you.”

“Huh? What do y— Wait a—”

Before Melfina could press her further, Bahl shot off towards one of the contestant entrances, blue wind blasting from the bottom of her greaves à la rocket propulsion. She was extremely fast, although not quite as fast as Ange was by the end of our fight.

::Argh, she got away!::

::Honey, I’m hungry.::

That’s not an apology. But I suppose I’m partly at fault this time.

I wanted to shout, “Chase her!” But I was still poisoned, which meant that Mel was also poisoned. Bahl’s speed was greater than what even Sera could manage.

::What should we do, Kelvin?:: the demon asked.

Hold on a moment. I want to get everyone on the same page first. The fact that you’re here means Rion and the others are also on their way, right?

I used Parallel Processing to sort through all the information on the Network while uploading what I had learned.

::Okay, here’s the info from Kelvin. Lemme see... Huh?! Ange did what?! Oh my g— Wait, A KISS?!::

Ah, I shouldn’t have put everything up there.

◇ ◇ ◇

The sound of blades clashing rang through the streets of Gaun. The avenue, which would be flooded with foot traffic come daylight, was normally quite lively late at night too. And of course, the hot-blooded beastkin loved fights and duels more than anything. In spite of all that, for some reason, there wasn’t a single spectator to be seen.

“Hmph!”

“Rah!”

Three black blades rushed towards a middle-aged man as shadows clung to one of his feet, rooting it in place. He managed to deflect two of the three attacks using his katana in spite of the situation, but the third one slipped through. It left a deep gash in his chest, drawing a fountain of blood.

“You two... Your power is simply absurd.”

“You’re one to talk...you monster.”

“Gramps, his wound is disappearing again!”

Halfway through Rion’s sentence, the wound on the man’s chest had already healed without leaving so much as a scar. During this fight, Rion and the others had dealt numerous fatal blows, including chopping off the man’s limbs, stabbing his heart, and burning him to a crisp with lightning. He should have died many times over, but he simply got back up again every time. Thanks to his absurdly effective regenerative power, all the injuries he suffered disappeared a moment later. It was almost as if he couldn’t die.

“I may look shabby, but I remind you that I was given the title ‘Survivor’ for a reason. I’m pretty good at stepping between life and death, if nothing else.”

“I think you’ve gone far beyond just being good at it...” Rion was starting to get impatient. It was true that she could just ignore this Survivor person and run past him, but he would likely chase her. Depending on the situation, that could end up worsening Kelvin’s plight. If possible, she wanted to take the guy down then and there. But even without his healing ability, his skill with the sword was nothing to scoff at.

“Arf? Aroo...” (What to do? He seems extra careful about blocking my sword too.)

“I have no idea. If only we could use the Network...”

“There’s no point fixating on what we don’t have right now, Rion. All we can do is continue trying to defeat him.”

Gerard adjusted his grip on Demon Sword Dainsleif. Every time the sword cut Survivor, it sucked up his MP, fueling the knight’s continued usage of his Unique Skill, Glory Within Mine Hands, and keeping him buffed. This cycle worked greatly in Gerard’s favor, but he wasn’t really feeling its efficacy when his opponent kept getting back up no matter how many times he was cut down.

“To be entirely truthful, I’m not a fan of pain,” said their opponent. “You sure you can’t just give up and go home? It would make this old man really happy.”

“Well, what do you think?” Gerard retorted.

“I... Fair point. All right, I guess it’s time for this old man to get a little serious, then.”

Survivor abruptly returned his katana to its sheath and changed his stance. Even though Alex was using Creeping Darkness to root his feet to the ground, he still managed to shift them, albeit somewhat slowly.

Hm? That pose looks the same as the one used by that Hero lass. Gerard recognized the stance. It was for iai, the quick draw technique used by Shiga Setsuna, one of the Heroes of Deramis he met in Toraj.

“You see, the basic premise behind the style I practice is to ‘cleave the flesh and sever the bone.’ I really mean it when I say I hope you don’t approach me.” The atmosphere surrounding Survivor turned tense and threatening.

“Rion, be careful.”

“Mm, I know. There’s probably no way to dodge the attack. And we don’t have any spells that can properly finish him o—”

Just as the battle seemed to reach an impasse, something flew in from afar with unbelievable speed.

“Hm?!”

Survivor’s sword flashed and bisected the projectile. The two halves of the arrow—for that’s what it was—shot past him and generated an incredible explosion of blue flames upon hitting the ground. As if that wasn’t enough, more followed in quick succession, all flying with incredible precision.

“No, no, no, no, what are... Hold on... What on—”

Survivor managed to cut down the first four arrows, but the fifth landed squarely on his forehead. Although it did not kill him, it did make his body arc back. With perfect timing, the arrow exploded as if to finish him off.

“Sera-san and I have finished examining the nearby buildings. They are all empty.”

Efil appeared from the cloud of dust rising from the remains of the very houses she just claimed to have examined, clad in her usual battle-maid outfit.

“Job well done, lass!”

“Both residents and tourists were distancing themselves from the area surrounding the coliseum in what appeared to be a form of mass hypnosis.”

“Um, Efil-nee...did you have to destroy those houses?”

“Master’s safety comes before all else. Sera-san has already gone ahead to the coliseum. I’ll help, so let’s finish things here as soon as possible and go join her!”

Blue flames roared as arrows—no, arrow-shaped bombs continued flying from Efil’s bow, Penumbra, in an unending bombardment. Rion realized this was one of the rare times Efil was actually on the verge of flying off the handle.

“Hold on, lass.”

“What is it, Gerard-san? Ah, should I make my flames even hotter?”

“He’s gone.”

Rion and Efil turned to look at where the explosive arrows had been landing. They were expecting to see Survivor’s recovered form, but he was gone.

CRACK!

Right at that moment, a loud shattering sound came from the direction of the coliseum.

◇ ◇ ◇

A young girl was leaning against a tree deep within the forest outside of the capital of Gaun. Her red hair, which was tied in a side ponytail, swayed gently in the night breeze. She had her arms crossed and eyes closed as if waiting for someone.

“You’re late, Survivor.”

“Aw shucks, looks like I made you wait a while. Thanks for not leaving me behind; I was actually kind of worried!”

A middle-aged man with a katana suddenly appeared in front of the red-haired girl, Bahl. The wounds he had suffered from Rion’s group had vanished without a trace, but his clothing had not gotten off unscathed. He was practically naked from the waist up.

“I swear I came as soon as I heard the mission was over. There’s just no beating you young’uns when it comes to spee—”

“Didn’t you start running before the barrier went down?” Bahl asked in a disinterested tone while tapping the ground with her greaves, which had reverted to their normal look.

“Goodness, your detection abilities never cease to impress me.”

“Whatever. Let’s head back already. We’re not safe here.”

“Sounds good to me.”

The pair took off, dashing southwest through the forest.

“So, that mission just now... Doesn’t it make you wonder why Our Lady sent three Apostles on a single assignment when there are already so few of us?”

“That’s how much of a threat Melfina is. Why else do you think She had both Assassin and Analyzer monitor her?”

“That may be true, but her Apostle...uh, Kelvin, isn’t it? The party he leads is really something. They’re all as powerful as Rank S adventurers.”

“Hmph! In any case, we’ve achieved the most crucial objective. Although we failed to kill the Goddess of Reincarnation’s Apostle, we still managed to slow him down. We’re in the last phase of the Plan now. Everything will be over soon.”

For some reason, Bahl sounded like she was in a bad mood.

“So, uh...we gonna just leave Assassin behind?”

“She has to make her own choice now. Either way, I’ll take the punishment for it. That’s all right with you, isn’t it?”

“When all’s said and done, you really are kind at heart. You won’t hear this old man complaining, but I do wonder what Arbitrator will say...” He scratched his head with a brief grimace, scattering dandruff around. “I’m the latest addition to the Apostles, so I don’t know the rest of you all that well, but I do know you two interacted a lot and got on well. Weren’t you friends?”

“You’re getting on my nerves now, you know that? It’s not like we were that close. She just kept talking at me, that’s all.”

“I may not look like it, but I have a few years under my belt. No one would think any less of you for crying now, you know?”

“Drop dead.”

“That’s a bit harsh!”

Bahl’s comment stabbed Survivor in the chest. It seemed as if psychological wounds were more effective on him than physical ones.

“Well...thanks for the concern. Not that we were friends. And one correction: I’m a lot older than you are.”

“Uh...seriously?”

“Mm. You can’t judge a demon by appeara— Why’re you looking at my chest?! I really will kill you.”

“I was only thinking that kids nowadays develop rather slowly...”

The first rays of sun peeked over the eastern horizon, breaking through the dark of night. At that exact same moment, the sound of something being squashed rang out from deep within the forest, sending a flock of wild birds into the air.

◇ ◇ ◇

After Bahl ran away, Sera, Melfina, and I immediately regrouped with Efil, Rion, Gerard, and Alex. There was a bit of a ruckus when Melfina dispelled Celsius Briar and the entire coliseum collapsed, but the girl in my arms meant much more to me, so I only sent word to the castle and pretended not to see the ruins around us.

On the way back, I noticed a few buildings and houses that seemed to have been blown up, but I pretended not to see them either. I’m sure Future Me will do something about all that. More power to you, man!

While Melfina and I had fought Assassin and Condemner—or Ange and Bahl—Rion’s group had been in combat with a swordsman who called himself Survivor. It took almost no time to get both sides back up to date after the purple barrier was destroyed and our access to the Network was restored, but the matter with Ange could not be resolved as easily. Before anything else, we brought her back to my room at the inn. She was still fast asleep, so I tucked her into bed, disarmed her, and placed special bindings on her just in case.

Immediately after that, an emergency meeting was held in my room. And that was where the problem began. The only ones there were the girls: Efil, Sera, Rion, and Melfina. I was made to sit in seiza pose on the floor.

Sera kicked things off. “So, what do you have to say for yourself, Kelvin?”

“About?”

“Kissing Ange, obviously!”

Uh-oh. Now I’m paying for not having fudged the data in time. It was great that Efil and Rion were smiling—cheerfully and wryly, respectively—but Sera was obviously outraged. As for Melfina...it was time for her nighttime snack, so her mind was somewhere else. However, I could sense through the Network that she was somewhat bothered deep inside.

“I thought it was the only way to reach her. When words don’t work, all that’s left are actions, right?”

That fight with Ange was incredible. Sadly, I didn’t get the opportunity to use my newly acquired Unique Skill, but it was still a wonderful time with the two of us being entirely open with our feelings and fighting all out. If the fight had lasted any longer, though, I was sure that one of us would have exhausted ourselves. Thus the kiss. Admittedly, part of it had been a calculated move to catch her off guard, but it had also been a demonstration of my resol—

“And the truth?”

“Ange’s cute face was really close. I couldn’t help myself.”

Okay, yes, I was only making excuses in the beginning there. The truth is that I gave in to temptation. Of course, I wouldn’t do something like that while in my right mind. I’m a gentleman, after all. But I was in battle at the time and highly excited. The blood had gone to my head. As a battle junkie, I just can’t help—

“Kelvin, you realize that makes you a terrible person, right? Yes, we all expected Ange to tell you about her feelings, but you shouldn’t have forced yourself on her! According to the information on the Network, she hadn’t given her consent at the time!”

“You’re entirely right. I am very sorry.”

Yep, doing this kind of thing against someone’s will is always wrong, no matter the situation. Even though Ange told me she had feelings for me, I was no better than a beast doing what I did.

“It’s Ange you should be apologizing to, not me. And Ange! How much longer do you plan on pretending to be asleep?!”

“I’m very sorry!” Ange shouted, leaping up in bed and immediately assuming the seiza pose.

You were awake? Damn, her acting was so good, even I got fooled. I guess there’s no getting past Sera’s detection abilities.

“It’s a pretty big deal that Ange killed Kelvin, but that doesn’t matter right now!”

“Huh? It doesn’t?” I feel like it kinda should...at least a bit?

“All that matters is how she feels. Ange, how do you feel about Kelvin?”

“Ummm...I did betray him and all of you, so I don’t really have the right to—”

“Do. You. Love. Him?!”

“Y-Yes, I do, ma’am!”

“So, what do you want to do now?”

“I... Honestly, I’m not sure.” She hung her head and started speaking haltingly. “I was, uh, monitoring Kelvin and Mel-san—I mean, Goddess Melfina, under Arbitrator’s orders. I was told to always keep an eye on where they were and how they were doing, and to beguile Kelvin if there was an opportunity. But, aha ha, I was the one who ended up falling for him instead.”

“How did this Arbitrator person know Mel and I would show up in Parth?” I asked curiously.

“I have no idea. All I do is follow her orders, so I don’t know where she gets her info from. What I do know is that Our Lady sometimes gives her prophecies.”

“Prophecies, hm?” Melfina murmured with a pensive look from where she sat next to a mountain of now-empty plates. “Ange, would Arbitrator happen to be a woman with silver hair?”

Melfina-sensei, we’re having a serious talk right now. Please restrain your gluttonous nature a little.

After a brief pause, Ange nodded. “Yes, she is. I guess it makes sense that you’d catch on. Her real name is Iris Deramilius. She’s a former Oracle of Deramis who summoned the Hero Serge Flore to defeat Demon Lord Gustav.”

“And the one she is now serving as Oracle, the one giving her prophecies, is Elearis, the previous Goddess of Reincarnation?”

“What? You figured it out too, Kelvin?”

“Pretty much.” Mere speculation not backed by any evidence, but still. Even I’m surprised by how Melfina’s and my empty guesses turned out to be so on point.

“Arbitrator is creating Apostles by borrowing Our Lady’s power to reincarnate souls that have died before. That’s what she did to me too. We were gathered to carry out Our Lady’s bidding—all of us were reincarnated. Several of us are quite incredible, really. That includes Creator, who you guys fought in Trycen.”

“Apostles, huh? How many of you are there?”

“There are a total of nine—oh wait, with me gone, it’s eight—oh no, it’s probably back to nine now.”

“Huh?” Why’s the number fluctuating so much?

“Regardless, be careful of them. I met Our Lady when I was reincarnated, though I don’t remember much of it. Reincarnated souls are granted skills so powerful they’re, uh, I think Protector calls them ‘cheats’? And I’m pretty sure the Plan is almost complete.”

“Cheats” as in for computer games? Hmm, so Elearis is creating the ultimate pawns for herself. But...

“Ange, why’re you telling us all this? You belong to this organization too, don’t you?”

“Well...I guess you can call this my atonement, maybe? Aha ha, I don’t even know. I do feel thankful to Arbitrator for giving me a second chance at life, but there’s an even bigger part of me that doesn’t want to betray you further. Frankly, after blabbing this much, I don’t think I’ll be able to make it back anyway. Looks like my connection to them has been cut off...”

Ange forced a smile onto her face. She looked extremely lost, as if she were at a complete loss for what to do with her life next.

“So you have already decided what you want to do now,” Sera interrupted.

“Huh?” Ange started.

“If you can’t return, all that’s left is to stay with Kelvin, who reciprocates your feelings! That works, right? Okay, it’s decided!”

Ange’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “S-Sera-san?”

I shot Sera a look. Sera, didn’t you just scold me for forcing people into things? Not that I’m going to protest against this, though. In fact, good job!

“Congratulations, Ange-san!” Efil exclaimed, clapping her hands. “Welcome to our family. As your friend, I couldn’t be happier.”

“Are you sure about this, Efil-chan? Why— Whoa, you’re crying?!”

“Because your feelings...finally got across...” Tears streamed down Efil’s face, leaving Ange flustered.

I cleared my throat. “Ange, all of us—including me, of course—love you very much. If you can’t return to your organization, then let’s stay together. We might have to take on Elearis and work to stop her somewhere down the line, but there’s no need for you to worry about that. I’ll take all responsibility for your life.”

“Why... Why are all of you being so nice to me?! I killed Kelvin!”

Ah, now even Ange’s crying. But that question’s a stupid one. Absolute nonsense. “You do know it was more like a reward for a battle junkie like me, right? Dying in a fight against someone I love and who is more powerful than me is the only way I’d want to go. Both Efil and Sera understand that.”

“Not that I’d ever let you die again!”

Thanks, Sera. I’m counting on you.

“Is Kelvin...sniff...a masochist?”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Ange. That’s a misunderstanding. I see where you’re coming from, but that’s definitely not it. I feel like you said that on purpose, though, didn’t you?”

Well, it’s nothing new—I still remember the times she pretended to be a big sister and teased me this way. Come to think of it, she was probably an Apostle back then too, but that smile had been entirely from her heart.

“Heh heh, I’m joking, Kelvin-kun! So then, um...would you have me?”

I was already hugging Ange before I knew it, wiping the tears from her eyes. Even though her voice was quivering a little, her smiling self seemed as dazzling as the first time I met her.

◇ ◇ ◇

Afterwards, we decided to have a small party to celebrate Ange joining us. Everyone brought over the snacks that they had bought as souvenirs, and we stayed up till the wee hours of the night. I suppose “slumber party” is an apt term to describe what it was—everyone was wearing their pajamas. Normally, we would have called Ruka and Shutola to join us, but it was very late at night, and they were already fast asleep. Shutola’s guards, Huba and Rosalia, were taking shifts protecting her, so they turned down our invitation as well. Pity.

Melfina had seemed deep in thought about something, but then her eyes began to sparkle once she saw all the new snacks. Part of me wanted to tell her to restrain herself, since she had only just finished her nighttime “snacking,” but I swallowed the words.

I’m sure her being the Goddess of Reincarnation means she has a lot more to consider in regards to what we’ve learned. I really should sit down to have a good, long talk with Ange and go through everything she knows.

Our newest member, the star of the party, sat between Efil and me from start to end, fully enjoying herself. Was it because her hesitation had disappeared or because she had gotten over what had happened? She gave off the cheerful aura that I remembered from our first date. It had been quite a while since I’d seen her this happy.

Unfortunately, happy times always seemed to fly by, and the sun was rising before we knew it. Everyone was emanating a “phew, everything’s over!” atmosphere, but the final fight of the Beast King Festival still awaited Sera and me. So we ended the party at a good time and disbanded to go get some sleep.

Hm? “Who’s sleeping in which room?” There have been a lot of stupid questions today. There’s no need to even ask.

“I-I-I-I’m sleeping with Efil-chan and K-K-K-Kelvin?!”

“Obviously. Why do you seem so surprised, Ange?”

“Of course, Ange-san.”

Everyone else headed back to their own rooms. Originally, it had been Sera and Mel’s turn to sleep with me tonight, but they had been considerate. I’m so thankful to them.

“Let me go, Sera! It’s my turn tonight! My turn!”

“Okay, all right, stop throwing a tantrum like a kid. You’re sleeping in my room tonight, Mel. Good night, Kelvin.”

“MY TUUUURN!”

Mel’s voice faded into the distance as Sera dragged her down the hall and turned a corner. I’m sure that’s her way of being considerate.

“All right, we gotta wake up in four hours to get ready. Let’s get to sleep already, Ange.”

There was one double bed in my room. In other words, the three of us had to share it. I dove in first. All said and done, I had been on the verge of death many times yesterday and had actually died once. I felt pleasantly fatigued, which made me very sleepy.

“I...I’ve dreamed of this for so long, I just... My heart! I’m not ready for— Huh?! Efil-chan, you’re so fast! You just slipped into bed like it’s the most natural thing to do!”

“Yes?” Efil, who had already snuggled up to me on my right and was about to sleep, lifted her head sleepily.

I patted the area to my left. “Come on, Ange.” I heard her gulping audibly, but I was only hanging on by a thread by then.

“O-Okay! Kelvin, I’m coming in!”

“Zzz...”

“Zz...zz...”

“You’re already asleep?! You’re both already asleep! Wait, I—”

Right before I blacked out, I thought I heard Ange’s flustered voice and felt a warmth that was different from Efil’s snuggling up to me.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Good morning, Master. We have wonderful weather today.”

Although I had only gotten a few hours of sleep, I woke up feeling great. As always, Efil had woken up earlier and already changed into her maid uniform. On my other side, however, Ange was still fast asleep. She had an arm loosely thrown over mine and was both drooling and mumbling softly. The sight almost made me doubt whether she was truly the same assassin who had taken my life the night before, but I’m happy to say she was. What’s more, she looked really cute.

Our original schedule had us getting up to eat breakfast and then heading over to the arena afterwards. As you might recall, however, the venue for the Beast King Festival was...well...no longer standing. During the intense fight last night, the place had been reduced to rubble. It had maintained its look somehow when Melfina had used Celsius Briar to prop it up, but as soon as she released the spell, everything had come crumbling down. Berating Yesterday Me wouldn’t be of much help. I had no idea what the Beast King would say, but I decided to accept my fate and to see him.

“Or at least, I’d planned to, but...”

“Looks like things got really out of hand.”

The area around the coliseum was completely swamped with spectators and soldiers alike, all raising a ruckus. Of course, the destroyed structure was a large part of it, but the commotion was also partly due to the mass of people who had found themselves moving for no reason last night, almost as if they had been sleepwalking. From what I picked up from nearby conversations, they had simply found themselves standing outside far from the coliseum with no memories of how they’d gotten there.

“Aha ha,” Ange laughed sheepishly, a cold sweat running down her back. “Looks like the Bewildering Incense we got from Creator worked a little too well. We’d hoped to avoid unnecessary commotion by using it, but I guess we didn’t think about the aftermath.”

She explained that the incense had been entirely odorless and that after it was scattered around an area, all living beings in the vicinity would fall asleep and move to a specified location. The size of the area it affected depended on the level of the person using it. It was a one-use item, but the more I heard about it, the more it alarmed me. And this was made by “Creator” Jildora, right? That man really is formidable.

“The final match of the Beast King Festival that was supposed to take place today has been postponed! Everyone, calm dow—”

The soldiers repeatedly shouted their announcement, but it was far from enough to calm the chaotic crowd. In fact, I expected the commotion to continue for a while, considering how the tournament had been a big enough event to stir the country into a frenzy.

I guess these observations might sound strange coming from me, someone who took part in destroying the place. But I’m sure the Beast King can handle things. Once the hubbub dies down, I can even rebuild the coliseum for him with Obsidian Fortress, so I hope he forgives me. Hmm, I feel like I’m forgetting something, but... Nah, I’m done here.

I decided to spontaneously give everyone the day off, and we dispersed. As I was wondering what to do for the day, Ange approached me, bringing Efil with her.

“Kelvin, do you have some time?”

◇ ◇ ◇

Before long, I found myself at a slave merchant’s place. It was located outside the city, so there wasn’t all that much foot traffic. And for some reason, there were no beastkin in the area. The shop itself was also a size smaller than the one I’d visited in Parth.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked.

“Mm.” Ange nodded.

Even though it was clear that Ange had already made up her mind, we had repeated this exchange many times. Efil did not seem against the idea either, so I suppose it wasn’t my place to say anything.

The portly merchant looked up when we stepped into the store. When I saw that he was human, it reminded me that while I was looking into Gaun before coming over, I had read that beastkin had a strong dislike of getting involved with the slave-trading industry. So that’s why I didn’t see any of them on the way here.

The moment the merchant laid eyes on me, he froze as if time had stopped. Several seconds later, he shouted, “K-K-K-K-K-K-Kelvin-samaaaa?!”

What’s with that face? You act like you’re looking at a monster. I’m not Prettia. Just saying.

::Kelvin, you really should be more aware of the fact that you’re a Rank S adventurer,:: Ange chided me. ::After yesterday’s matches, you got a lot more famous in Gaun, and a lot of people now recognize your face. You coming here is like a king dropping by a cafeteria for the masses.::

Oh, so that’s why he was so shocked when I pulled back my hood. At any rate, seems Ange’s already mastered how to use telepathy through Clotho.

“Hm? Is there something on my face?”

“N-No, sir! There’s nothing! I’m just surprised that such an incredible person as yourself would come to such a humble store...”

“Well, there’s something I need your help with.”

“What may it be, sir?” The merchant shot a quick look at Efil and Ange. “I’m really sorry to say this, but I don’t think our slaves are of a high enough quality to meet your standards—”

“I’m not here to buy a slave. What I want is for you to take care of the contracting procedure involved with making this girl my slave,” I said, placing a hand on Ange’s shoulder. “Can you do that?”

Earlier, Ange had expressed her wish to become my slave, just as Efil was. Naturally, I asked why. She had answered, “It makes me really happy that you and Efil-chan trust me so fully, but I can’t expect the same from everyone in your party. For example, Hak-chan had been really wary of me this morning.”

“You could tell?”

“Unlike you, Kelvin-kun, my line of work makes me pretty sensitive to that sort of thing.”

“Ugh... Hey, just saying, I’m not oblivious, I just pay attention to slightly different things than other people do!”

“If you say so...” Ange shot me a “gotcha!” look, so I averted my eyes.

Although it was true we had made up, it was still a fact that Ange had tried to assassinate me. I knew Gerard would get it, as he had been with me longer than even Efil had, but I also understood that it would be difficult for the newer faces, such as Dahak, to accept Ange on my word alone. She explained that she meant the slave contract both as a safety net and as a demonstration of her resolve to not harm me or cause me problems.

“Also, and I’m only sharing this with you and Efil-chan, but I used to be a slave too, before my reincarnation. It was a pretty bad place, and when I was a kid—nah, it’s not a fun story to tell, so I’ll abridge it. What I wanted to say is that because of my background, there was a part of me that really looked up to Efil-chan, because she looks like she’s having so much fun every day. So, make me your slave too, Kelvin.”

“Ange-san...” Efil murmured, bringing a hand to her mouth.

I can’t very well say no after she’s shared all that, now can I? “Ange, I promise I’ll cherish you.”

“Mm! Make sure you do. This body is still brand n— Nope, I didn’t say anything.”

Although I did catch the last part of what she had been about to say despite it having been almost a mumble, I decided not to pursue it. After all, it didn’t change the fact that I still had every intention of taking care of her as best I could.

“All right, let’s find ourselves a slave merchant, then.”

Along the way, I asked her for confirmation several more times, being the worrywart that I was, but her answer had remained the same. And after all that, we had finally ended up at a slave merchant’s place.

The merchant looked curiously between Ange and me several times. “A slave contract, is it? O-Of course, I can do that. But is this young lady here sure about it?”

“A hundred percent,” Ange replied. “More like, I can’t wait.”

“V-Very well...”

I could understand the merchant’s doubt, as there probably weren’t all that many people who asked to become a slave of their own free will. However, he did not question us further, likely having chalked it up to “the strange things Rank S adventurers do.”

He led us to the room where he transferred slave contracts to his usual customers.

“Can you use this collar instead?” I asked, producing a special one from Clotho’s Storage. It was a new piece of equipment that Melfina had made for Efil, but Efil had strongly rejected it, insisting that she wanted to keep the one she had, as it was the first thing she had ever received from me. Consequently, the collar had been left forgotten inside Storage until now. Since she did not want to exchange it, I had later strengthened Efil’s collar itself.

“Um, o-of course, sir. I shall discount the cost of the collar from the price, then,” the merchant replied, timidly accepting what I was holding out. “May I have some of your blood here, Kelvin-sama—”

Just like when I’d bought Efil, the merchant asked for some of my blood on a handkerchief, then dabbed the collar that had been clasped around Ange’s neck with it. He chanted a spell and the contract was complete. Ange was officially my slave.

“Efil-chan, now we’re a match! Ehe he!”

“We are indeed, Ange-san.”

As the two girls deepened their friendship, the slave merchant sent me a strange look. Of course, I ignored him.

◇ ◇ ◇

“So, Ange’s become my slave.”

“What do you mean ‘so,’ my king?!”

“How did that happen, brother?!”

I had gathered all my party members in one room to properly introduce Ange as our newest member, but Gerard and Dahak seemed strongly opposed.

What? What’s the problem?

“I knew she had joined us, my king. But even so! Even so!”

“Why’s she your slave, brother?!”

Oh, that’s what you were protesting?

I explained the sequence of events to the two men, who had gotten uncomfortably close to my face.

“Th-That’s why? I mean, I was planning to stay on my guard, just in case. But it’s not that easy to—”

“Now will you trust me, Hak-chan?” Ange asked.

“Don’t call me ‘Hak-chan’! Only people that I’ve acknowledged as being stronger than me are allowed to call me that!”

I mean, if that’s your condition, Dahak, then Ange clears it with plenty of room to spare. In the first place, you allow even little kids to call you by that name, remember?

Rion gave Dahak’s back a few pats. “Calm down, Hak-chan. She’s purposely saying that to break the ice with us. Right, An-nee?”

“An...nee?! Rion-chan, I love you so much!” Ange scooped Rion up in a huge hug. She was so happy about being called “An-nee” that she started furiously rubbing her cheek against Rion’s.

The sight seemed to have calmed Dahak down. He sighed and relaxed the tension in his shoulders. “That works, I guess. But brother, what’re you going to do when we return to Parth?”

“Indeed! What are you going to do about Parth, my king?”

“What’re you talking about?” They make it sound like there’s a problem. What’s the problem?

“Ange is a receptionist at the Adventurer’s Guild, isn’t she?” Dahak asked. “How’re you gonna explain things there?”

“Ah.” That IS a problem! It’s a huge problem!

“I can easily see rumors spreading about you having enslaved Ange to make her yours, my king. This was one bold move indeed.”

Dahak gasped. “You’re sacrificing your own reputation just to convince me, brother?! You’re just too good to me!”

Wait, hold on. Ange does have a lot of fans among the adventurers of Parth. If a rumor like that goes around, the reputation that I’ve built up will come crashing down. That’s bad. That’s very bad.

I started. “No, knowing Ange, I’m sure she already has the perfect solution in mind...right?” I looked in her direction with hope in my eyes.

“I’ve decided to quit my job at the guild and move in with all of you! I can’t keep working at the guild as a slave anyway, after all.”

“Wow! Is this what they call a felicitous resignation?! Congratulations, An-nee!”

“A felicitous what? I’ve never heard that phrase before, but I like how it sounds!”

“In other words, you’ll be with us all the time now, Ange-san? Then I really must make you a few outfits!”

Ange was already deep in conversation with the girls. Ugh, the only thing in her head now is her new life. No, this is good. I did say I would take responsibility for her. All right, I’ll let her fans punch me until they’re satisfied!

“Kelvin, you need some practice beforehand? I can lend you my fists,” Sera offered, starting to take Arondight out from Clotho’s Storage.

“Thank you for caring, but there are a billion other things you could do that’d be more helpful! I’ll die if I take more than a few punches from you!” What’s the point of knocking me out before our match anyway?!

Melfina, who had remained quiet all this time, suddenly spoke up. “Honey, this is a good opportunity. Can we ask Ange to tell us what she knows now? Ellie and the maids happen to be out at the moment, so whatever is said can stay within the party.”

“That’s a good idea. It has to be done sooner or later.” I nodded and turned to the girl in question. “Hey, Ange?”

“Yes, Kelvin-kun?”

As soon as I called out to her, Ange appeared at my side. I don’t think I’ll ever not be impressed by her speed.

“Sorry to bring this up out of the blue, but, uh...would you mind sharing everything you know about the Apostles and Elearis?”

“Well...I did join your side, so I guess I probably should. Okay, I’ll tell you everything.”

◇ ◇ ◇

Two figures landed within a pure-white space. The silver-haired saint, Arbitrator, peered out from the white temple that dominated the space and saw that it was Condemner and Survivor, the two Apostles who had just left Gaun.

With her hand still on the cradle at her side, she said, “Welcome back, Condemner and Survivor. You’re just in time.”

The two new arrivals looked around.

“That’s rare, seeing all the Apostles gathered,” Condemner commented. “How many years has it been? And looks like we have a new face too.”

Survivor whistled softly. “A new face that even I don’t know!”

Standing before the temple that looked as hazy as a mirage were four men and women and two stelae. The stelae were marked with “II” and “V” in the local language.

“We’re not all gathered, are we? Where’s Assassin, Condemner?”

The first to respond to Bahl was a voluptuous woman with a bountiful chest. She wore a very revealing outfit and every one of her gestures seemed to ooze sultriness. When she spoke, she brushed her golden hair back sensually and shook her breasts, holding Survivor’s gaze.

Bahl turned her face to the side and clicked her tongue just softly enough that it wouldn’t be heard, then replied, “She was captured by Melfina’s Apostle during the mission.”

“Oh my!” The seductive woman pretended to gasp. “In other words, you two abandoned Assassin and came back like nothing happened? Oh, you break Our Lady’s heart.”

“Shut up, Reviver,” Bahl retorted. “It’s true that we left her behind, but it was my call to make as the on-site commander. Survivor had nothing to do with the decision. I assume all responsibility.”

“You’re still in the wrong. Looks like a Demon Lord really doesn’t know how to raise a daughter right.”

“Are you trying to pick a fight with me, Seventh Seat?”

“We’re only one apart, Sixth Seat. What, are you scared, Baal-chan?”

“Don’t call me by a name other than the one Our Lady granted me, you old bag.”

“Oh my, oh my! I think I just heard someone with pathetic excuses for boobs talking!”

The explosive tension between Condemner and Reviver prompted Survivor, who had been right next to the former, to take a step back. I think this every time, but these two are like dogs and cats, he thought. Even he, who had managed to endure the furious assault of Gerard’s group, knew better than to stand in the middle of a fight between the two women.

“You two, leave it at that. What’s the point of two Apostles being at each other’s throats?” Creator of the Third Seat admonished them, his arms crossed and eyes closed.

“That’s right. If you don’t stop, Arbitrator’s gonna get angry,” Protector of the Fourth Seat added from her perch atop the temple, cheerfully swinging her legs. “In case you don’t know, she’s reeeally scary when she gets angry!”

The two women who were about to lunge at each other at the drop of a pin immediately straightened themselves. Bahl turned around and imperceptibly lowered her head in greeting.

“Protector, and...Creator? You changed your body again?”

“Hm? Ah, you haven’t seen me in this appearance yet? It belonged to a soldier from Trycen. It’s quite easy to move around in.”

“I, for one, think it’s an amazing improvement on your last one,” Reviver interrupted. “You look so young and virile, I just want to eat you up.”

“Ah, you are referring to experimenting with mixing human and vampire genes? That does sound interesting, but I have something else planned in that field. You’ll have to wait until I finish it first. What’s more, a good experiment will require proper machinery. I’ll have to prepare a few things.”

“On second thought, never mind.”

Seeing everyone fall silent, Arbitrator spoke up. “Condemner and Survivor, well done drawing the attention of Goddess Melfina and her Apostle. My heart overflows with joy at your return. In regards to Assassin, it is a huge pity, but I have already disabled her Key. She may spend the rest of her life until the promised time comes, short as it is, living in the bliss she has chosen. Furthermore, I have no intention of punishing you for what happened. You did well against one such as Melfina.”

“I see.” Bahl—no, Baal’s heart quivered slightly at the realization that Arbitrator already knew that Assassin had turned to Kelvin’s side. There was no way to tell what Arbitrator was really thinking behind the saintly smile on her face. After all, as a descendant of the line of Deramisian Oracles, her madness exceeded even that of Demon Lords.

“Well then. The reason I gathered all of you here today is because the day of the resurrection of Our Lady, Elearis-sama, is almost upon—”

“Uh, I’m sorry.” A man interrupted Arbitrator as he stepped forward, raising a hand apologetically. “I don’t mean to be rude, but before you get to the main topic, may I be introduced, it being my first time here and all?”

Aside from Arbitrator, the only people who knew the man in a dramatic feathered hat and garish military uniform were Creator and Assassin, the latter of whom was no longer present.

“I had planned on doing so afterwards, but very well. Everyone, this is the latest addition to the Apostles. He is Controller of the Tenth Seat.”

“Thank you for the introduction. As Arbitrator said, I am Controller. My power is Summoning. It is an incredible honor to be here.” He bowed elegantly, as a noble would.

But Baal could only see it as a performance. If she were to rely on her instincts—which she always did—this man could not be trusted. That half smirk of his really rubs me the wrong way. He’s probably just as malicious and blackhearted as Reviver.

Reviver was sizing up the newcomer as well. His looks aren’t bad, but he’s not really my type. Looks like the kind who’s interested in little girls. Maybe he’d make a good pair with Condemner? I suppose the best one is still Fifth Seat—that mature, gentlemanly aura always makes my heart skip a beat.

Condemner’s and Reviver’s first impressions of Controller were equally disparaging.

“So this old man finally has a junior! I’m so touched.”

Baal shot Survivor a look. “Be quiet. Let Arbitrator speak.”

“Now, now, if you get too hissy, it’ll be a waste of that cute face of yo— Sorry, not another word.”

“Glad to hear it.” Baal slowly lowered the foot she had raised high above Survivor’s head.

Protector giggled at the exchange from her position higher up, then clapped her hands to gather everyone’s attention. “Okay, that’s enough. Controller, your mission will be explained to you at a different time. Let’s get back to the main topic of the day.”

“Finally,” said one of the stelae. “Time is money. Please make this quick.”

“I agree,” said the other stela. “I’ve got quite a lot of things going on where I’m at too. Though I do feel sorry for hurrying the proceedings when I can only show up remotely like this...”

The voices coming from both stelae had sounded similarly mechanical and robotic, leaving no clue as to the identity of the speakers from beyond.

“Hey, why the hurry? It’s been a while since we got everyone here. How about we get to know each other—”

Arbitrator cut Survivor off. “Despite their busy schedules, both Selector and Analyzer have made time to join us, albeit through the stelae. Let us begin immediately.” She raised a hand, and black light gathered on top of her palm until it formed a black book.

“Let us talk about the final part of the process for summoning Elearis-sama’s soul to the current age.”

◇ ◇ ◇

“The aim of the Apostles is to resurrect Our L— I mean, Elearis as a goddess,” Ange explained frankly. “To be more exact, this involves summoning her not simply as a target of worship but as a full-fledged deity of this world. Then they plan on usurping the seat of Goddess of Reincarnation from Mel-san.”

This is pretty much in line with what I’d guessed, but now that it’s confirmed, the scale of it just blows me away. Ange said the main culprit is Colette’s ancestor, Iris Deramilius. I mean, even if the ruling goddess changes, the Oracle of Deramis wouldn’t go so far as to— Actually, no, I actually can imagine Colette doing something like this. It’s not a matter of can or can’t; if it’s for Melfina’s sake, she would do anything it took. Religious fanatics are terrifying.

I raised a hand. “By ‘full-fledged deity’ do you mean they plan on summoning her as she is without using an artificial body? Like I would Summon Melfina with her heavenly body?”

Even after Evolving to daemon, I still don’t have enough MP to do that. These gods and goddesses and whatnot have terrible gas mileage.

“Aha ha, truth is, Arbitrator was going to tell us the details of the final part of the Plan right before the resurrection. And I’m now here instead of there, so...”

“Huh?!”

“Sorryyy! All I know is how they plan on supplying the energy for the ritual!”

What terrible timing. Or could it be their Oracle foresaw Ange switching to our side?

Ange crossed her arms and groaned cutely as she racked her brain. “I mean, Arbitrator is more or less doting on this cradle, but there’s nothing actually inside it. An Oracle of Deramis might do something that strange for no reason, but it’s probably not unrelated...I think?”

Doting? On an empty cradle? Hmm... I guess... Hmmm... Even taking into account that this is an Oracle of Deramis, it might still be important information. Let’s at least make note of it. Just in case.

“Honey, even if Elearis is resurrected and I’m killed as I am right now, she still cannot become the Goddess of Reincarnation. At the end of the day, this is an artificial body, and my real heavenly body is in another dimension. Reaching it is much harder than killing me in my artificial body. Do they have something else up their sleeve? Ange, does Iris really possess the power of reincarnation?”

“Apparently Elearis gave Iris a portion of her power. I have no idea how it happened, but I myself was reincarnated, so I’ve never doubted it.”

“I...see...” Melfina replied. “Then she really did manage to pass her power along the instant she vanished...”

It’s rare to see Melfina so worried about something that she clutches her head, but with the problem at hand, there’s not much we can do. For what it’s worth, Mel, have my dessert. Get some sugar for your brai— Oh, it’s already gone.

“I do remember hearing that Arbitrator’s power is imperfect,” Ange offered. “Something about how she has to wait years between each use of it and only being able to reincarnate the same soul once. Protector told me that while we were chitchatting.”

Uh, that sounds like important information being leaked as “chitchat” there!

“By the way, Mel, what is the power capable of at maximum strength?”

“I’m sorry, honey. Divine Binding won’t let me say.”

“I see.”

“Oh, is that the restriction on your artificial body?” Ange cut in. “I can say it, then. The perfect power has no restrictions, like, at all! It can be used as much as she wants! Or at least, that’s what Protector told me. In another chitchat session.”

“Uh...” All this information the deities consider confidential enough to seal with Divine Binding is leaking like a broken tap in all these “chitchats” with this Protector person. Look, Melfina-sensei is clutching her head even harder. Here, have more sweets.

“And, uh, Gerard-san, I’m afraid there’s something I have to tell you. You might not like it.”

“Hm?” Gerard pointed at himself. “Me?”

“Mm-hm.” Ange nodded awkwardly. “So, you know how you guys were in Trycen trying to take down the Demon Lord, right? At the time, Arbitrator sent me on a mission with Creator. Does ‘Jildora, the dwarf riding a giant golem’ ring any bells?”

Barely suppressed hostility burst from Gerard’s entire being.

“Gerard,” I said just in case.

“I know, my king.”

Ange continued, “I was the one who saved Jildora from Blue Rage, the golem that you and the others destroyed, Gerard-san. I did it using my Unique Skill, Uncontainable, which enables me to phase through anything I want.”

“Hold on a damn minute!” Dahak exclaimed. “Even if you managed to get him out, I’m sure I infected him with a super potent poison. I completely filled the inside of the golem with it! There’s no way he survived!”

“Mm-hm, the dwarven body he was using at the time did die. But Jildora used his Unique Skill, Eternal Return, to adopt another body right beforehand. Umm...I’m kind of getting into my dark past now. I’m sorry if this repulses you, but I’ll share what happened that day through the Network.”

Footage was suddenly uploaded to the Follower Network. It was from the perspective of someone who was massacring an entire group of knights with daggers—presumably Ange.

“All of you were kind enough to accept me as I am. So I, uh...I want to be honest about my past and what I’ve done.”

The scene in the video changed to a room where a man wearing what appeared to be armor belonging to Trycen’s Steel Knight Order was captured. Then a dwarf came into view, grabbed his head, and collapsed.

I see, so that’s what happened.

“This man was Jin D’Alba, lieutenant general of the Steel Knight Order and son of General Dan D’Alba. This is Jildora’s new appearance.”

I do remember General Dan saying that his son had gone missing after the Demon Lord fight.

“So Jildora is still alive,” Gerard growled. “Talk about being tenacious!”

“I’m sorry...” Ange said in a small voice.

“There’s no need to apologize to me, lass. All is as my king decides. Here, catch!”

Gerard pushed Ange towards me, and I accepted her into my arms. She peered at me with a slightly downcast face filled with unease, tears in her eyes.

“I...also did a lot of other things. Things that taint my hands red with blood. Sometimes, I even enjoyed it. A-Are you disappointed in me now, Kelvin?”

“Have you ever killed anyone outside of the missions given to you by Arbitrator?” I asked. “For your own pleasure or because you got emotional?”

“I...have, just once. Back when I was a slave, I killed my enslaver and his lackey. I think that’s it.”

“That doesn’t count. If you didn’t do it, I might very well have done it for you. Although you’re not entirely innocent, you can live the rest of this life making up for what you did. And just saying, I wouldn’t let go of you because of something like that. You showed me your resolve, even going so far as to become my slave. That’s more than enough for me.”

“Thank you... Thank you!”

I wiped her tears away. I was a battle junkie too, after all. It wasn’t as if I was proud of it, but I was at least aware that I had a tendency to go quite far for the sake of my own enjoyment. I couldn’t lecture Ange as if I were any better, but I could walk the same path with her going forward.

And that’s enough, isn’t it? Honestly, though, I feel like Ange has already done more than enough to atone for her past. She can stop apologizing, really.

I kept her in my arms until she calmed down. After a while, she returned to her seat and continued her story.

“We had two objectives. The first was to help Jildora—who had been living in Trycen—to escape. Arbitrator—to be more exact, it was Selector, but that’s splitting hairs—had predicted the Demon Lord would appear in Trycen. This was why Jildora was dispatched ahead of time: to make this Demon Lord as powerful as possible.”

Sera frowned in confusion. “What for?”

“It ties into our second objective: to retrieve the Black Grimoire from King Zel’s private study. According to Arbitrator, it is how Elearis will obtain the energy needed for her resurrection. The Black Grimoire was planted in the castle long before I became an Apostle. The moment the book gets its energy”—Ange suddenly produced a small knife and jabbed it forward lightly—“is when life ends. The more powerful the being that dies, the higher quality and quantity the mana the Black Grimoire receives. When coming from a Demon Lord, the mana is simply off the charts. And of course, it was convenient that there was an all-out battle happening throughout the city. I’ve heard the Apostles have been manipulating things from the shadows since before the Great War, but this one day alone pushed the progress for Elearis’s resurrection forward so much that they’re just one last step away from being done.”

“So the very act of us killing the Demon Lord contributed to her resurrection...” I murmured.

“You serious?” Dahak clapped a hand over his eyes as Gerard groaned thoughtfully.

Uh-oh, the atmosphere’s turned really heavy.

“It might be strange coming from me,” Ange said, “but all of you did the right thing; there’s no doubt about it. Don’t regret your choice—be proud of it. If you hadn’t killed the Demon Lord, more innocent lives would have been lost.”

I suppose that’s true. And when Elearis is resurrected, I’ll not only get to fight a goddess, I’ll be justified in doing so. If I think about the situation like that, the future seems pretty bright.

“Ange, is that Black Grimoire a magic item from the Age of the Gods?” Melfina asked. “Even I’ve never heard of something that can send energy to a being who’s lost their form.”

“Sorry, I’m not actually that knowledgeable about them. Oh, right, ‘them,’ because Arbitrator had quite a few with her.”

“I see. That’s a pity...”

Seeing how down Melfina looked, I gently pushed more snacks her wa— Huh?! They’re all gone! In any case, the fact that Arbitrator possessed multiple Black Grimoires meant she had planted them not only in Trycen but in various places all over the world.

“Oh, right! Speaking of magic items, uh... Right, here it is. We Apostles have a base—I guess you can call it a base?—a place where we gather. You can’t just walk in, though. To get in...” Ange held out a white key. “You’d need a Holy Key. If you imbue it with mana somewhere in the vicinity of Crux Bridge, the super long bridge connecting the two continents, it’d teleport you there.”

Dahak leaped to his feet, eyes burning with motivation. “Which means we can go raid the Apostles’ hideout straight away!”

“Aha ha, that’s the first thing you think of, Hak-chan? But I’m sorry, this Holy Key’s connection has already been cut. Now it’s just a key-shaped accessory.”

“Whaaat?!”

In other words, Arbitrator already cut Ange off. Seriously, it feels like she foresaw this development coming from a mile away.

“This key used to have another function. As long as I wasn’t in a place that blocked the use of magic, I could use it to talk to anyone else who had one or those at our base through a Holy Stela. I guess it’s kind of similar to this Network you guys have through Clo-chan.”

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. “So you can basically talk through it as long as you can get a signal. Sounds just like a phone. An enemy that can transfer information so quickly is formidable.”

“Looks like this world’s phones are pretty advanced too!” Rion nodded.

Everyone else looked confused. As expected, only Rion understood what I was talking about.

“Lastly, I’ll share what I know about each of the Apostles.”

“Please and thank you.”

“First of all, their numbers: there are eight or nine of them now.”

Just like when she talked about this yesterday, we’re not getting a straight number. I’d chalked it up to her fragile mental state at the time, but looks like that wasn’t it.

Rion raised a hand. “Question, An-nee! Why is the number unclear?”

“That’s a good question, Rion-chan! As a reward, you get a hug!” Ange easily sneaked behind Rion and enveloped her in a hug, taking the opportunity to also tickle her sides.

“Ah! Aha ha ha! That tickles, that tick— You’re tickling me, An-nee!”

Ahh, Ange’s definitely the kind of older sister who will never grow out of doting on her younger sister. But still, where’d the heavy air from just now go? I mean, it’s not that I mind—a cheerful face is always better than a grave one.

“Recharging your little sister meter is great and all, but can you continue please?”

“Aha ha, I couldn’t help myself...” Despite looking abashed, Ange still picked Rion up and placed her on her lap so that she could continue rubbing her head. Rion pouted a little at being treated like a child, but the look on her face showed that she was actually enjoying the attention.

Ange cleared her throat. “Ahem. Right, the number of Apostles. To explain, back when I was an Apostle, there were nine of us. With me gone, the number should go down to eight, right?”

Pretty hard to get such a simple subtraction problem wrong, yep.

“But I heard that Arbitrator was planning on reincarnating a new Apostle. Schedule-wise, I think she’s probably succeeded by now. That’s why there are eight of them, but possibly nine. And the identity of that new Apostle—”

“Tristan, right?” I interrupted with a sigh.

“What?! Th-That’s correct! How’d you know?”

“He was clearly already connected to you guys somehow when we encountered him in Trycen. If you ask me who I think would be the most trouble as an Apostle from the people I know, it’d be him, hands down.”

Clive was another candidate I had considered, but I wasn’t sure what had happened to his soul after being turned into the monster Sera had fought and then further transforming into a sword that was fused with Zel. With Iris’s power being imperfect, I wasn’t sure he was even viable as a target anymore. And of course, Clive wasn’t all that capable as a person either.

“That makes sense. Okay, starting from the top, I’ll go over the names and ranking order of the Apost— Hold on, I heard the stairs outside creak.”

Sera looked up. “Someone’s coming. It’s...Ellie and Ruka.”

Both Ange’s and Sera’s detection abilities had picked up our two maids. I only realized then that it was about time for their return. Sure enough, a few moments later, I heard their footsteps approaching from the corridor outside.

Knock, knock.

“Master, we have returned.”

“We’re back!”

Just as Sera said, it was Ellie and Ruka. Both of them held paper bags in their hands, indicating that they had gone shopping. Judging from Melfina’s lack of reaction, the contents were not food.

“Welcome back,” I said. “How were things outside?”

“There were so many people near the arena!” Ruka replied cheerfully.

The beastkin are still milling around there? They sure like their commotions.

Ellie added, “And Master, you have a guest waiting for you downstairs. He appears to be a Gaunian envoy.”

Oh, that’s what I’d forgotten.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Sorry about dropping by this late, Kelvin. My old man insisted.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s my fault for forgetting about his invitation in the first place.”

When I followed Ellie down to the first floor of the inn, I found Sabato waiting for me. When I heard “Gaunian envoy,” all the trouble that I had caused came to mind and I had braced myself, but seeing a familiar face did reassure me a little. Of course, regardless of who came, it didn’t change the fact that it was still the Beast King I would be meeting at the end. It’s just that this was more preferable in terms of starting on the right foot.

::Do you think we’re being summoned because we’re in trouble for destroying the coliseum, Kel-nii?::

I mean, he summoned me before all that happened. Who knows, maybe this is for something else entirely. At least, I really hope so.

::I believe it would be more constructive to face reality, Master.::

Sabato was currently leading our group through the Castle of the Divine Spirit Tree. It would raise a huge fuss if my entire party were to show up at once, so it was only me, Efil, Rion (with Alex in her shadow), and Ange. Everyone else had returned to my magic pool.

::Aha ha, I got a bit too excited when I saw Kelvin’s face in the arena,:: Ange admitted. ::Um...sorry. And I think Condemner couldn’t afford to hold back either, not when facing Mel-san.::

To be fair, Ange hadn’t caused all that much property damage. Although she and I did kind of lose ourselves in our fight, it was really the breath attacks from the dragons that had dealt the final blow. And of course, I was the one who had ordered it.

Sabato shot us a look. “Why do all of you look so worried?”

“Nah, you’re imagining it. Ha ha ha... Right?”

Rion started when she noticed me looking her way. “Huh? Oh, uh, yeah! We’re fine!”

“Both of you look like you got ants in your pants.”

Curse you, Sabato! Rion followed up my monotone delivery with the most natural gloss ever but you went and wasted it! Guh, looks like even Sabato is growing. What an unexpected surprise!

“Hey, you’re thinking something really rude about me right now, aren’t you?”

“Haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”

“Stop it with the monotone lines. Sheesh, our country’s in a big ol’ mess from such a huge incident and you’re still the same as usual.”

Huh? It’s that big an incident?

::Master, not only was the entire coliseum destroyed, a whole crowd of people were controlled through mass hypnotism. I do believe that counts as a huge incident.:: Efil’s face turned red. ::And embarrassingly enough, I failed to hold back in my fight as well...::

Ah, so the torn-up pavement and the blown-up houses that I saw on the way back... Hold on, so we’re entirely in the wrong here?! Ah, fine! I’ll rebuild every last building!

“More importantly, that collar around Ange’s neck...” Sabato gave me a sideways glance. “She became your slave?”

“Well asked!” Ange interrupted. “That’s right! I’m now Kelvin’s property! Ehe he...”

What is with your knack for asking all the “right” questions today, Sabato?

“Kelvin, man...”

Stop it! I had braced myself for this, but still, don’t look at me with those eyes!

Sabato sighed. “I mean, it’s not like I have a problem with this. But there are a lot of people in Gaun who really dislike the whole slave system. Criminal slaves are one thing, but just...watch out, all right? Even if it was to make a popular guild receptionist your woman, using a method like this... Man...”

“I’m gonna clear the record right here and now: I didn’t do whatever you think I did! I can swear up and down that you got every part of what happened wrong!”

If anything, it’s more like a story of the realization of a love of many years. In other words, it’s a pure romance.

“I know, I know. Ange looks happy, and I guess that’s all that matters. All right, we’re here.”

After giving me a wry look, he pushed open the large door before us.

He probably still has it wrong. I don’t want this to cause any trouble down the road, so I really have to explain this to him proper— “Whoa, this place is huge.”

The room—no, hall—that Sabato had led us into stretched back quite a ways and was dimly lit. It was a royal audience hall, a king’s seat of power. All the walls were bark—as befit a place inside the Divine Spirit Tree—and decorated with giant fangs and hide that appeared to be monster-hunting trophies. And of course, with this being a royal audience hall, it had a throne. And the throne was, of course, occupied.

“Old man, here’s Kelvin and the others.”

“Your voice is too loud, Sabato. I told you to bring them in secrecy, did I not?”

At the back of the room was a grand throne. At its side stood Jereol, Yujil, and Goma in a line.

Hm? My comrade, Kilto, is absent. And here I was hoping to talk with him more than we had time to during that dinner party.

“Have you heard all the ruckus outside? It’s fine, don’t sweat it, old man. Kelvin, come on up.”

“Hey there. Feels like it’s been ages since yesterday, huh? Looks like you’ve got a pretty big incident on your ha— Uh, you’re Beast King Leonhart, right?”

I was approaching the throne, mixing my greetings up with a bit of a jab, when I laid eyes on Leonhart’s appearance and stopped dead in my tracks. Why? Because he was not in the appearance of a woman.

“Ha ha ha! Now that’s the face I wanted to see during our match!”

“Is that...your real appearance? It’s very...” I paused and looked over at Jereol to confirm that he was actually there. He was. In other words, Leonhart’s current appearance really was how he actually looked. “You look very young, Your Majesty.”

“HA HA HA! So I do! So I do!” The king roared with laughter, even though the bandages wrapped around his body indicated that he had yet to recover fully from the injuries I had inflicted on him yesterday.

What had taken me by such surprise was how much Beast King Leonhart looked like his son, Jereol. With his magnificent mane, he looked very much like a lion. I did manage to spot signs of him being older when I got a better look, but they only appeared to be about ten years apart. It seemed more correct to call them brothers rather than parent and child.

Sabato leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Honestly, it’s been years since I’ve seen my old man’s real face. Even I thought he was Jereol. To be blunt, it’s been so long that I’d completely forgotten what he looked like.”

“So it’s not just my eyes playing tricks on me,” I replied in an equally low whisper. “Not that it means anything, but still...whew.”

And also, seeing Leonhart in a good mood scares me.

“The match yesterday was such fun! But based on your reaction, I take it you don’t know about how Evolution changes your life span?”

“Our life span...changes?”

“Indeed. You have your Status Concealed, but I could tell from fighting you—you’ve Evolved from human into something more, haven’t you? I must confess, I did not expect you to achieve it before Sylvia. And Dahak turned out to be an entirely different race altogether...”

I guess Sera gets a free pass despite being a demon because she looks even more human than Prettia does?

“And how does that relate to our life spans?”

“So you truly don’t know. We humanoid races, such as humans, beastkin, elves, and dwarves, do not Evolve easily. In exchange, the chosen few who do gain enormous benefits. One of those benefits is an extension of their life spans. In short, we gain something similar to eternal youth.”

“What...” M-Melfina-sensei! Is what he’s saying true?!

::Yes, it is.::

It is?!

::To be more exact, it is an extension of your life span. You don’t become completely immortal. It’s just that your life span, which used to be that of a normal human, is now closer to that of an elf. And someone who’s originally an elf would live that much longer. Your body still does age, albeit extremely slowly.::

::Which means I can spend that many more years with Master?!::

Don’t cry, Efil! You’ll make me cry too!

::E-Efil-nee! I’m really shocked too, but hold it in!::

::Don’t worry, Efil-chan! After being reincarnated, I have a really long life span too! I’ll also be with you forever!::

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. Calm. I am calm. Suddenly having the fact that I’m no longer human thrust into my face took me by surprise, but I’m calm. Phewww. Giving Efil a big hug! Giving Rion a big hug! Giving Ange a big hug! Okay, I’m good now.

Seeing me turn back his way, Leonhart asked, “Are you done?”

“Mm. Sorry about that. I’ve calmed back down.”

I had never imagined I’d be hugging my girls in front of a king. However, I did not regret it. I had merely done what I wanted to do.

::Kelvin, me too! Me too!::

After we get back, Sera.

“So then, you Evolved from beastkin and your age no longer matches your appearance?”

“Indeed. I’ve been alive since the Great War. Partly due to me participating in numerous battles everywhere, I Evolved when I was around Jereol’s age. A lot happened, and here we are. Well, I only assumed this throne a decade or so ago.”

So he’s actually centuries old. I do remember him mentioning the Great War during our match in the tournament. Something about Gaun being in a terrible state at the time. Is it because he survived those times that he’s now going full Spartan in raising his children?

“You look like you have something to say.”

“You can tell?”

“Pretty much. I suppose I did mention it myself before. The phrase ‘like throwing a lion cub off a cliff’ is commonly used here in Gaun to describe trials for testing someone’s mettle. In my case, I throw a boulder as a follow-up and kick my children back down again after they claw their way up.”

Talk about ruthless... “What’s the point in doing all that?”

“It’s not as if I want them to become like me. In fact, if they did, this country would likely perish. There is a need for a straightforward man like Sabato sometimes. He is the kind of person others want to follow.”

Sabato’s eyes flew wide open. “I-I was praised?! By my old man?!” he exclaimed, as Goma covered her eyes and moaned, “Oh goddess, looks like it’s going to rain spears tomorrow.”

Leonhart, look at how unsettled you’ve made your children.

“All I want from them is a little intelligence and the ability to think outside the box. We beastkin are not entirely brainless, and we know to be wary when occasion calls for it. However, our straightforward nature makes it easy for us to forget ourselves when the blood rushes to our heads. That is why I have no recourse but to repeatedly brand the lessons into their hearts and minds. All to raise their chances of survival and success by the slightest increment no matter the situation.”

“I...am not sure I share your view.” But if this is just how they do things here in Gaun, it’s not my place to comment.

“But hey, it is a fact that the number of beastkin who can use magic like Kilto has gone up since my old man became king,” Sabato said. “And our military strategies are no longer just charging in head-on. The rule here in Gaun is: those who want these changes revoked must take my old man down. There’s always a whole line of contenders challenging him.”

“And yet he still occupies the throne,” Goma added. “That means there has been no beastkin so far capable of surpassing him either in physical prowess or strategy.”

“Before the actual fight starts, he fights you in a whole other way.” Jereol sighed.

Looks like they all have experience challenging Leonhart. If I know him, he probably used underhanded methods to throw his opponents off their game. I really wish he’d just stuck to the straightforward battle. Not that I have any interest in the Beast King throne in the first place.

“There are many situations where our wild instincts manifest easily. For example, we tend to be rather susceptible to temptations of the intimate nature. Honey trapping can prove quite effective in causing trouble among those of our race. Isn’t that right, Yujil? What country did your first love come from again?”

“F-Father, please spare me already...”

I had no intention of prying, but the context of the conversation indicated that Yujil had probably fallen victim to a plot of that nature, with the other side being Trycen or some other country. As such, the Beast King was closely involved with his children’s sexual education. Sounds tough, but all I can say is keep working at it. I know I am.

“If we’re talking honey traps—I imagine Prince Jereol is fine, having a wife and all—wouldn’t Prince Kilto be particularly susceptible?” I looked around. “Speaking of which, where is he?”

I can imagine him following a little child without thinking as soon as she said “Big brother!” and gave him one big smile.

“Ah, Kilto’s cooped up in his research lab at the moment,” Yujil answered. “He said he’s devoting himself to making a set of equipment that can best draw out all of Goma’s strength.”

Prince Kilto, you care about Goma that much?

Leonhart chuckled, smiling at me conspiratorially. “You would think so, but he’s actually rather resistant to that form of enticement in his own way. His love for Goma is greater than anyone else’s by a half. So I’m actually not worried about him on that front. And, depending on his achievements, I could be open to the idea of allowing him to wed G—”

“NO thank you!” Goma interrupted firmly. “That’s enough joking, father!”

My comrade, be the gentleman you are. I will always support you.

“Well then, that’s enough of the stiff and formal talk,” Leonhart said, changing the topic. “It’s about time to move on to the main reason I asked for you. As I’m sure you already know, someone destroyed the coliseum that’s the pride and joy of our country along with many of the surrounding houses. As everyone in the vicinity, including residents and soldiers, was hypnotized, there were no witnesses. I hurried over when I heard the sound of the arena crashing down, but everything had finished by the time I arrived. Unfortunately, with my injuries, my response time ended up being quite slow.”

“Uh...hey, how about I rebuild the coliseum for you with magic? I can make it look exactly the same if you give me the blueprints! And one of my companions is great at building houses!”

“I couldn’t ask for better. Are you sure you—”

I waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, don’t worry about it! I’m offering because I want to do it!”

I wouldn’t bet against him knowing the truth, no matter what he said. He’s Leonhart, after all. This way, I can at least keep the credit of having offered to help with the reconstruction before being asked. A lot of it was our fault, and the residents are mere victims in all this. In fact, I’d feel bad not doing anything. So sorry, Gaunians!

“Thank you, Kelvin. We are currently still investigating what happened. However, with the situation being what it is, I’m afraid it’s quite impossible to continue the Beast King Festival. The third place and final matches have been called off, and the Naming Ceremony will be carried out in a courtyard of the royal palace tomorrow.”

“Canceled...” It makes sense, but still, it’s a shame. I was looking forward to the chance to make up for all the times I’ve lost to Sera before. I guess I’ll just invite her to a match once we get home.

“Of course, we will award you the monetary prize that goes to the champion, Kelvin. After all, the champion would have been you or your companion. So rest easy.”

“That works for me, but...judging from the state of things out there, looks to me like you’ll have an uphill battle convincing your citizens to accept the outcome.”

Jereol sighed heavily. “We plan on opening the parts of the palace leading to the ceremony venue to the public tomorrow, but you’re right in that it’s probably impossible to satisfy them entirely.”

He looks like the member of the family who’ll get white hair first, and not just because of his age. Hang in there, man.

“During the Naming Ceremony, aside from granting you your family name, we will also be commending you for defeating the Demon Lord in Trycen,” Leonhart said. “Sorry it took this long, but we have finally gathered the bounty from each country and the Adventurer’s Guild. Look forward to it. And that is everything I wanted to inform you of today.”

A bounty... Honestly, we’re not particularly strapped for cash, but hey, we’ll take what we can get.

Afterwards, the detailed itinerary of the Naming Ceremony was explained to us, and then we were dismissed. When we turned to actually leave, however, Leonhart suddenly spoke up with a smile laden with meaning.

“Oh, right. Turns out, we do actually have one spare stage left. It just so happened to be in one of the courtyards here in the palace for safekeeping. Maybe we will have one last exhibition match after all.”

◇ ◇ ◇

After we got home, we had a lengthy discussion of the life span matter but eventually settled on “let’s first focus on the Apostles.” It would be putting the cart before the horse to get killed while worrying about a prolonged life span. I agreed that was the right place to leave the topic. Honestly, the scale of it was simply too massive for me to comprehend at the moment.

My companions and I were now in a VIP room in the palace, waiting to be fetched for the Naming Ceremony. Since this was one of the rare times we were to appear in public as part of an official function, we decided to show up in the formal wear that the Adventurer’s Guild had designed for us back during my Rank S promotion ceremony. After all, we almost never had occasion to wear such fancy clothes—might as well take the opportunity when it came along.

“I thought this during Master’s promotion ceremony as well, but...such a glamorous dress really doesn’t suit me.”

“There you go again, Efil-nee. You really should be more aware of how pretty you are! Try wearing outfits other than the maid uniform like Sera-nee does! I’m sure all of them would look great on you!”

“Since Colette isn’t around today and I don’t have to worry about being caught by her, I’ll be showing off this dress to my heart’s content!” Melfina gushed.

“I feel like my dress has gotten a bit tight around my chest...” Sera murmured.

Ange nodded with satisfaction upon seeing all of us in our outfits. “You look wonderful!” she exclaimed.

I was wearing a black suit, while Efil, Rion, Melfina, and Sera were wearing green, white, blue, and red dresses, respectively. All of our outfits bore the white wings of the Parth Adventurer’s Guild.

Ange was in her usual guild uniform, as she was technically still employed by them. She had a blue scarf wrapped around her neck to hide her slave collar. The plan was to officially resign once she returned to Parth, and I would naturally be accompanying her at the time.

When I imagine the hell that will be waiting...I’m gonna have to brace myself.

“C’mon, Kelvin! What’s that dark look for on an auspicious day like this?”

“I’m just not good at being in the center of attention like this. I was like this back at the promotion ceremony too. Do you not get nervous, Ange?”

“Says the person who went on a huge rampage at the Beast King Festival! How about taking a page from Gerard-san?”

“Gerard?” My eyes looked towards where Ange was pointing.

“GA HA HA HA! I look dashing, do I not?!” my knight companion crowed, fluttering his white cape in an exaggerated manner. “This is the special one I use for ceremonies!”

“The embroidery looks so beautiful!” Ruka exclaimed admiringly as Shutola studied him with an appreciative eye. “Your usual red one is wonderful too, but the white does contrast well with your black armor.”

With Gerard’s armor making him look like a Demon Lord, I thought his prancing around made him seem more like someone people would call the cops on, but I could tell at a glance that he was greatly enjoying himself. Thanks to Self-Modification turning into Self-Transcendence, he could now swap out what he wore at will. The only thing on his mind was impressing his grandchildren with how gallant he looked.

“See?” Ange said. “Try being confident like him.”

“To think the day would come when I’m taking Gerard as a role model...”

“Don’t worry, you look super stylish too, Kelvin!” Ange slapped my back a few more times to pump some motivation into me.

But still, when everyone’s standing around in formal wear, it makes me want to see Ange in a dress too. I should ask Efil to make one for her sometime. Ah, but then we’d need a suit for Dahak too. Uh...I honestly can’t imagine how he would look in a formal outfit. Speaking of which, he’s currently off grabbing seats for us as a pretext for going to see Prettia in her dress, right? That dragon sure stays true to his character.

“Kelvin-sama, it is about time. Please follow me to the courtyard.”

Ah, here’s the beastkin servant. All right, let’s go, then.

“Break a leg out there!” Ange waved at us as we headed out.

◇ ◇ ◇

“SILENCE!” Jereol said in a firm and authoritative voice on the fancy stage. “The Naming Ceremony will now begin!”

The courtyard within the Castle of the Divine Spirit Tree was overflowing with people. It was almost as if everyone who was supposed to sit in the coliseum had been packed inside this space. Actually, scratch that. Everyone from the coliseum definitely was here.

::This courtyard is indeed spacious, but there are simply far too many people in attendance,:: Melfina agreed.

The courtyard was located about halfway up the Divine Tree where a gigantic branch sprouted. It made me laugh a little seeing other species of trees planted as decoration despite this place being literally on top of a tree itself. The spectators were allowed to come halfway into the space, all the way up to where Gaunian soldiers were standing behind stanchions. Only relevant personnel were allowed on the other side. When we left the crowd and stepped through, we suddenly realized just how vast the area was.

Beside a certain something smack-dab in the middle of the venue that looked conspicuously out of place was a row of people wearing noble attire who were likely also there to take on their families’ last names. As we were considered “relevant personnel,” there were seats reserved for us at the end of the row.

“Congratulations, Sabato, Goma,” I said, turning to my side. “The fact that you’re here means both of you got permission to adopt the Gaun family name, right?”

Sabato grinned broadly and gave me a thumbs-up. “You bet! Even I couldn’t believe it when I was told the news. Looks like this isn’t just a dream!”

“Sabato, shush!” Goma hissed, bringing a finger to her lips. “If you really have to talk, at least do it in a quiet voice. The ceremony is starting soon.”

The royal siblings were sitting next to us. The pair talked about how confused they were by this arrangement, but it turns out the Beast King had properly acknowledged the strength that they had displayed during the tournament. Judging from results alone, they hadn’t technically achieved much seeing as they had dropped out in the second round. However, they had been up against Rion and Prettia, opponents whom even the other princes, who had already received the Gaunian name, would not be able to defeat. As such, they had been evaluated based on their efforts up to the second round and found worthy.

“We will now begin granting new family names! When your name is called, come onto the stage.”

Jereol called out a name, and the beastkin at the farthest end of the row of seats got up and climbed onto the stage. An old man in formal wear approached him and mumbled what looked like a spell.

So that’s how Naming is done. If I remember right, assigning family names can only be performed with the Naming skill at Rank A or higher. It makes sense for someone to focus on raising only one skill throughout their lives, but we’re currently in Gaun. For all I know, that elderly beastkin might have been some famous swordsman on the battlefield in the past as well.

::Kel-nii, it looks like Jereol is calling people up according to their position on the row.::

If that’s the case, since we’re on the far end, it means we’ll be the last to go.

I looked around restlessly, thinking, For events like these, I always prefer going first so I can be done with it and just relax. Now I have to deal with my nerves till the end of the ceremony. Why couldn’t they make Sabato go last? He’s royalty, so they should have ended on a high note with him, right? Oh right, let’s chat using telepathy to take my mind off my nerves. Good idea.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Next, Rank S adventurer ‘Grim Reaper’ Kelvin, ‘Black Meteor’ Rion, ‘Empress’ Sera, ‘The Smile’ Mel, ‘Bombing Princess’ Efil, and ‘Sword Guru’ Gerard! To the front!”

Time had flown by as we internally chatted up a storm, and it was our turn before I knew it.

C’mon, the discussion “how to make Bahl turn honest and call Sera ‘big sister’” was just getting underway! Oh well, there’s no point wailing about it.

We hit pause on the conference and I stood up with Rion before making my way to the stage. The two of us were the only ones receiving the family name. In light of their contribution to taking down the Demon Lord, Sera and the rest could have submitted requests too, but that was for me to work on down the line.

The old man looked down at the application that Ange had submitted for us, then proclaimed, “Kelvin and Rion, I bestow upon you the family name of ‘Celsius.’”

When he began chanting his spell, my Status window popped up on its own and the area to the right of my name started glowing. Eventually, the light took on the shape of letters, and when it faded, the word “Celsius” remained. I looked over, and it seemed like the same thing was happening to Rion too. With this, we were now Kelvin Celsius and Rion Celsius.

“Congratulations, Kelvin,” Jereol said. “I am sure the Celsius name will soon shake the whole world.”

“Thank you, Prince Jereol,” I replied.

Jereol turned back towards the audience. “Now then! This would normally be where the ceremony ends. Not the case today, though! We are now moving on to the conferral of the monetary rewards, awards, and titles granted to Kelvin by various countries for defeating the Demon Lord. You, bring it over.”

Wheels rattled loudly in the hushed silence as a cart was pushed in from the side of the stage.

“Uh...are you sure this isn’t too much?”

“It includes the amount that would have gone to the Hero who fought with you. But he’s already returned to his own world, correct? It only makes sense for you, his comrade in arms, to receive it on his behalf. What’s more, the reward for being champion and runner-up of this year’s Beast King Festival is also included.”

When the cart came into view, I saw that it was laden with a whole pile of gold coins. The scene was so ridiculous that it looked like something taken straight out of a manga or movie. The amount was probably enough to buy my mansion many times over.

“Next are the awards. From Gaun, this is the highest honor we can confer: the Beast King Medal. From Deramis, the Pope Medal and the Saint Medal. From Toraj, this is the Tsubaki Blossom Award. All of them are the most prestigious awards each country has to offer. And last but not least, Trycen has sent their Military King Award.”

“I am truly honored. That’s what I should say, right?”

Man, awards. I know these are meant to be distinctions to signify honor, but I honestly have no idea what I’m to do with them. Am I supposed to pin them to my chest or something?

“Last of all, peerage. I am aware that adventurers have a tendency to be averse to such offers. However, the Queen of Toraj insisted. You are hereby appointed Captain of the Tsubaki Gua—”

“Oh, I’m good, thanks. No, thank you.” In the first place, that’s probably not even a peerage.

“I’d thought you would respond that way. She never learns, does she? So, will you need our help delivering this reward to your house in Parth?”

“Thank you for the offer, but I’ve got it.”

I instructed Clotho, who was hiding in my robe, to extend a tentacle and suck all the gold coins into Storage. The beastkin spectators gave me a weird look, but given the distance and the fact that Clotho was half transparent, I hoped they merely thought I was controlling the wind through Green Magic.

After that, the big shots of Gaun—who were all super muscular for some reason—came over to offer me words of congratulations, and then the ceremony ended without mishap. It bothered me a little that the Beast King had not shown up, but there was little point in dwelling on it. Time to head back!

“Now then! It is finally time for the exhibition match specially hosted under the auspices of His Majesty the Beast King!” a girl’s voice shouted. Everyone’s attention was immediately drawn to her. She was standing atop a platform in the middle of the courtyard that had been bothering me ever since I’d arrived.

Ugh, I knew it. That’s the last stage left over from the Beast King Tournament, right? Made by Caesar-shi? And you, girl... You’re Leonhart, aren’t you? You look like the daughter of Elder Nellas from the Village of Elves, but you’re Leonhart, right?

The crowd buzzed.

“Did she just say ‘exhibition match’?”

“Was that on the schedule?”

“Well, it looks like fun. The tournament finals were canceled, so this works out!”

The confusion in the venue gradually shifted to excitement.

So this is the reason so many Gaunians were allowed in, to the point where they’re even filling up the entrances.

“Rank S adventurer ‘Grim Reaper’ Kelvin and ‘Empress’ Sera! Come up to the stage. Is this not the best stage you can ask for? You may fight to your hearts’ content!”

Although Leonhart’s tone and manner of speech were brash and authoritative, his mannerisms matched his appearance perfectly. He beckoned us over with a cute wave. The fever that had filled the coliseum the day before was back as all the spectators roared with exhilaration and their eyes shone with expectation. There was no way I could say no. The invention made by my comrade, Kilto, floated overhead, and the protective barrier surrounding the stage was already in place. Leonhart had been very thorough with the preparations.

“So we ended up here after all,” I said with a sigh, turning to Sera. “What do you think? Wait, you’re already wearing Arondight?!”

My demon companion had donned her black gauntlets, a sharp mismatch with her dress. Aren’t you a little too quick on the uptake?

“Huh? Because we’re doing this, right? You’re already smiling, Kelvin.”

I am? Damn, I can never tell.

I fetched Black Staff of Disaster from Clotho’s Storage. “Just saying, but this isn’t the Beast King Festival. I’m going to use all the magic I want.”

“Just the way I like it! And I’ll use everything I have too! Um, Mel...”

“Don’t worry, we’ll maintain the barrier. You two can go all out.”

Since we sparred among ourselves pretty much every day, everyone in our party knew what needed to be prepared without having to be asked. The stage was good to go at any time.

Leonhart announced, “I will serve as referee. After all, when you two get serious, even Jereol can’t follow along. Any questions?”

“Nope, I’m good,” I said.

At the same time, Sera exclaimed, “None from me!”

The two of us got onto the stage and faced each other. It was a nice change of pace fighting in formal wear.

“Ready... FIGHT!”

It was an absolutely wonderful day for battling, with not a single cloud to mar the clear blue sky. Cheers rang far and wide from high up within the Castle of the Divine Tree.