Chapter 3: Uruk, City of Water

Chapter 3:
Uruk, City of Water

 

POV: AMELIA ROSEQUARZ

 

“WELCOME BACK.”

When we returned to our room at the Hotel Raven, we were greeted by a very awake and very alert Akira. I was relieved to see he was looking a lot better by all accounts—even the bags under his eyes were gone.

“Good to be back,” said Crow, who was the first into the room, as he put his tired feet up. Akira didn’t ask me anything or even shoot me a dirty look.

“Once you all have a chance to rest, gather up your things so we can leave town ASAP. Crow, Gilles, Amelia, Mr. Hero, and Kyousuke, meet me over in the next room,” Akira said.

“Roger.”

Everyone jumped into action in response to Akira’s directions. It felt like he was begrudgingly taking a leadership role since Crow seemed utterly uninterested in doing so. We all gathered

in the other room as Akira had instructed, naturally arranging ourselves into a circle.

“Okay, it’s time to decide our next course of action,” he began. Immediately, the hero and Kyousuke cocked their heads in confusion, and Akira scratched the back of his neck and looked away, which I recognized as something he only did when he was embarrassed. Akira had previously denied the hero’s party the right to travel alongside us, yet the fact that he had called them to discuss our next move could only mean one thing.

The hero looked both overjoyed and bewildered by this turn of events, and he was the first to respond. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I mean, I’m glad you’re letting us tag along, but why the sudden change of heart?”

“I know all about how guys have been going around trying to investigate Gram’s little organ harvesting business. I never asked you to prove to me you’ve got what it takes. All I said is that we don’t need any dead weight members who can’t protect themselves. And in the end, you guys proved you knew how to assess the situation and take preemptive action to protect someone other than yourselves… That’s more than good enough for me. I can’t say I’m thrilled you got in so far over your head without telling me about it, but I’ll let it slide this time. I know it couldn’t have been easy.”

Kyousuke and the hero both let out heavy sighs of relief. Apparently, they’d both been worried about what Akira might do when he found out they’d kept this from him.

“Anyway,” Akira continued, “it’s time to decide our next move. We have two options: we either dive headfirst into demon territory in search of the Demon Lord, or we take a quick detour over to the capital city of Uruk, where we’ll most likely find Gram.”

The hero clearly wanted the former, while Crow obviously preferred the latter; both were places we’d need to go eventually. We’d succeeded in handing Lapin over to the authorities, but he was just a lowly pawn. Actually getting to Gram would probably be a much more difficult endeavor.

“Which one are you leaning toward?” asked Crow. “Not including any outside factors that might sway you one way or the other.”

I wasn’t sure what “outside factors” Crow was referring to, but he stared deeply into Akira’s eyes as Akira contemplated his answer.

“Well, from everything I’ve heard about Volcano, it sounds like a place that’s very complicated to get around in, and with few safe havens in which we could hide. To make matters worse, Night tells me that ever since his little battle with Mahiro down in the Great Labyrinth of Brute, he’s had any information related to the demon continent and its layout wiped from his brain.”

Almost reflexively, I looked at Akira’s shoulders, where Night was usually perched, yet found them empty, as they had been empty for the past few days. I knew there had to be a reason Night was gone, but Akira didn’t seem at all concerned about it, so I held my tongue.

“As such,” Akira continued, “I think we’ll need the help of a bona fide expert before we even attempt to tackle the demon continent. Someone who’s directly familiar with all of its ins and outs…even if that knowledge might be more than a century out of date.”

All eyes in the room immediately turned to Crow. If anyone knew how to traverse through demon territory, it would be the guy who’d made it all the way to the Demon Lord’s castle and lived to tell the tale. The legends said he and the previous generation’s hero party had spent close to fifty years investigating the land of Volcano before finally reaching it.

“It’s true; you might even say that Volcano’s something like a summer home for me…and I guarantee it hasn’t changed much over the past hundred years,” Crow said.

“Erm, do you have any basis for that assumption, or…?” the hero asked, and Crow glared at him.

“Sure I do. It’s very simple: the demons don’t feel threatened by us in the slightest. Maybe the foul monsters prowling their lands do, but not the demons themselves. They know they’re stronger than any of the other races, so they feel no need to build up their defenses or even exercise the most basic amount of caution. No way has that changed in the last hundred years.”

Come to think of it, I remembered Night telling us there were demons who went their entire lives without ever experiencing pain, and that, while they were obviously most well-known for their overabundance of mana, their vitality, strength, and defense were also far greater than any of the other races. The kinds of tiny scratches and scrapes one might suffer just from little everyday accidents didn’t even register to them, and they didn’t usually get wounded in combat either. Thinking back on it now, it really was a miracle that we’d made it out of the labyrinth alive.

“In other words, we’ll need Crow’s help if we want to have any hope of making it to the Demon Lord,” said Akira. “And he tells me he’d be happy to serve as our guide, so long as I help him with another favor beforehand. And in order to do that, I’ll need to go to Uruk first.”

What could this “favor” be? I don’t like the sound of it at all.

“So my plan was to go to Uruk first, then head over to Volcano. But we could also split into two teams, if that’s what the group would prefer, because I can certainly take care of this little favor for Crow on my own.”

A favor that Akira can take care of alone… Honestly, what could it possibly be?

“Obviously, my personal preference, barring all outside factors, would be to dash straight over to the Demon Lord’s castle so we can all go home… But sometimes there’s a necessary order of events in order to ensure the greatest likelihood of success.”

So we would be making a quick stop in the city of Uruk before heading to the demon continent, then. I didn’t mind the detours, since I would go wherever Akira went, but it seemed the two members of the hero’s party were far more conflicted about this decision.

“What about the demon girl we met yesterday? You seemed to get on well with her. Couldn’t we just ask her to be our guide?” asked Kyousuke.

It was true Latty was a demon, and far more good-natured than one might expect a demon to be—judging by what happened earlier, she even seemed to have a strong sense of justice, which put her in stark contrast to demons like Mahiro. It was entirely possible she’d agree to help us out if we asked, but there was one little detail that made asking her a bad idea all around.

“And here I thought you guys wanted nothing to do with Latticenail… Regardless, I’m afraid that’s not gonna work,” Akira replied.

Something told me they were only suggesting her as an option so that they wouldn’t need to make the detour to attain Crow’s help. I made eye contact with Akira and nodded to indicate I would take it from here.

“We did consider that option, of course,” I began. “But the way Latty tells it, she’s hardly ever set foot outside of the Demon Lord’s castle, so she isn’t very familiar with the continent.”

Akira had instructed me to ask Latty if she’d be willing to be our guide through the demon continent, and I’d finally had a chance to ask her earlier today. I simply stated that we had business at the Demon Lord’s castle and asked if she’d be able to guide us there. She’d smiled and shook her head.

“Nah, I’m kind of a sheltered child, actually. Born and raised in the castle and never set a foot outside the darn thing, or even seen the land I was supposed to rule! Kinda the whole reason I ran away from home, actually…”

“Then how did you ever manage to make it all the way here?”

“Oh, it wasn’t all that tough… I just flew right on over!”

“Pardon…?”

I had no idea what she meant, but I knew better than to call Latty a liar. So it was safe to assume she had no experience actually traversing the continent and thus wouldn’t be of much help to us. Upon hearing all of this, the two dissenters from the hero’s party finally relented.

“So what is this favor, anyway?” asked the hero, and Akira immediately clammed up. Crow, meanwhile, was looking off in a totally different direction, clearly not listening to the conversation.

“Yeah, uh… About that…”

Akira’s eyes were wandering, and I could clearly tell that he was fumbling to come up with some sort of excuse. He had no intention of telling us the true favor.

“I just need to help Crow out with a little something. Something an old grandpa like him can’t do by himself anymore. Hence why I said we don’t need to bring the whole gang…in fact, I’d almost prefer to just handle it myself.”

I cast a sidelong glance at Crow, who seemed happy with this explanation, so maybe it wasn’t technically a lie. However, Akira was clearly neglecting to address the true heart of the matter for a reason.

“Gotcha. In that case, maybe the rest of us really ought to go on ahead. We’ll just need to pick someplace to meet back up again after you’re done. Know anywhere that might be good?” asked the hero.

“Why not somewhere in this area?” posited Gilles, unraveling a map and pointing to a specific part. “We would be within striking distance of demon territory while still remaining safe within the beastfolk domain.”

As I half-listened to their deliberations, I peered into Akira’s eyes and saw the hesitation lurking deep within. It seemed my Forced Sleep spell had only healed his physical weariness and had done nothing to solve whatever was gnawing at his brain. I could only assume this favor Crow had asked of him was the underlying cause for his recent lack of sleep.

“No way. Not there,” Crow butted in, outright vetoing the location on the map Gilles had suggested.

“Why not? It’s the nearest point on the continent to Volcano, and as such we could easily launch our offensive whenever we so desired,” Gilles argued.

Crow let out a sigh of frustration. “’Cause that’s where…” Crow grumbled, trailing off.

“Come again?”

“’Cause that’s where the old bag lives, and I don’t wanna go anywhere near it! Don’t make me say it again!” Crow snapped impatiently.

For a moment, I assumed “the old bag” might be referring to his grandmother or something, but then Akira provided some much-needed context.

“He’s talking about his mom, for the record,” he whispered in my ear.

I nodded, but as the information sank in, a thought occurred to me: If Crow was already approaching the end of his own lifespan, then how in the world was his mother still alive? But when I turned

to Akira for an explanation, I found that he was smiling sheepishly at Crow, apparently realizing he’d already said too much.

“Besides, there’s an old abandoned shack just a little bit west of there. My old party used it as a safe house back in the day, so there should still be plenty of supplies stockpiled inside,” Crow said, and I gasped. I had heard rumors of the various safe houses the previous hero’s party had used during their time preparing to attack the Demon Lord.

“Then it sounds like we’ve got our rendezvous point,” Akira said.

With that, our next course of action was decided. The mysteries surrounding Crow were only growing deeper and deeper, yet I held out hope that maybe this next leg of our journey wouldn’t be quite so perilous as the last few.

 

POV: ODA AKIRA

 

“OKAY, see you guys later.”

“Don’t go dying on us out there, Akira!”

“Yeah, same to you.”

The conversations with the rest of the team went relatively smoothly, and soon it was time for us to leave. Gilles and the hero’s party would be leaving first, heading straight for the previous hero party’s safe house at the northernmost tip of Brute. The rest of us would be going with Crow to the city of Uruk, which Gram called home. With Gilles’s magic, the hero’s party would be leaving little markers as they went that were imperceptible to the average person, almost like a trail of breadcrumbs.

The area where the safe house was located was apparently quite dangerous and filled with many ferocious beasts and monsters, and it was infamous for being a place where even high-ranking adventurers often met their end. In a certain sense, their group had a far more dangerous path ahead of them than mine did. While I was sure Gilles would do everything he could to keep them safe, and the hero and Kyousuke were certainly strong enough to hold their own, I was definitely worried about the girls and animal trainer surviving the trek. So when Nanase and the others joked about me not dying on them, I could only smile awkwardly in response.

“Until we meet again. Be safe out there,” said Kyousuke.

“Just so you know, you guys are probably the ones with the more arduous quest ahead of you,” I said, and he simply nodded like the dutiful samurai he was.

“I’m well aware. But I’m sure yours will be dangerous too. There aren’t many things in this world that would cause you to hesitate.”

My words caught in my throat. Sometimes Kyousuke really did know how to cut straight to the heart of the matter. He always had, even back in our world, but it had taken the form of an Intuition skill here. Now it felt like he was more perceptive than ever.

“Right. I’ll be careful.” I tried my best to flash a reassuring smile, but Kyousuke clearly wasn’t buying it. He simply went to join the rest of the hero’s party.

“What, you didn’t tell him?” asked Crow, who had snuck up beside me without me noticing. I wasn’t sure what he was expecting; it wasn’t exactly the sort of thing one could just mention off the cuff.

“Of course not. And if I was gonna tell anyone, it would be Amelia,” I replied, and Crow simply rolled his eyes with a wry smirk before walking over to Gilles. Hey, buddy. You’re the one who asked. Don’t gotta be snarky about it.

“Time for us to get going, Akira.”

“Yeah, okay. See you guys later,” I said, waving goodbye to my fellow classmates, knowing I might not see them again.

“Later, Akira.”

“Yep. Later.” I turned my back and refocused myself on the task at hand. After all, even if they were successful in their quest, it wouldn’t mean a thing if we couldn’t pull off ours… I needed to mentally prepare myself to do what I had to do.

 

“Do you know anything about the city of Uruk, Akira?” asked Amelia, her face shrouded by a hood as we walked toward our destination. The road from Mali to Uruk had not been well-maintained, and it was more like an overgrown forest trail. Crow brought up the rear, following the rest of us at a slight distance.

“Nope, not a thing,” I replied. “Just that it’s the grandest city in all of Brute.”

“Yep. It’s by far the biggest, and the wealthiest. There’s all sorts of delicious foods to try too!” She beamed, and I chuckled. I could only assume that was the part she was most looking forward to.

At our current pace, we were likely to reach the city in a week or two; times like these made me really miss cars. Hell, I would have even settled for a horse-drawn carriage or a wagon.

“Uruk is known as the City of Water,” Crow informed us. “There are several rivers that crisscross through town, so it’s primarily connected by canals instead of roads, and most transit is done by boat. It’s a very pretty town, and the rise in tourism is probably what’s led to it becoming such a major city in recent years.”

“Y’know, that sounds an awful lot like a city somewhere in my world.”

“Does it?”

I nodded, trying to conjure up the image from one of my social studies textbooks, which had been burned into my memory. Venice, I think the place was called. I would have loved to go check it out, but international vacations were kind of a pipe dream for my family, especially given my mom’s condition.

“I’ll take care of finding us an inn, so you guys can just go do some sightseeing,” Crow muttered under his breath, and Amelia and I looked at each other. Was Crow actually trying to be considerate? It was kind of cute.

“Uruk’s where Lia lives too, isn’t it? We could meet up with her.”

“Yeah, I contacted her as we were leaving the hotel. Said she’ll be happy to give us a guided tour around town assuming her schedule doesn’t fill up.”

At this, I cocked my head. The way Crow was talking today didn’t seem like him at all. He was being so…thoughtful.

“…What? If you’ve got something to say, then say it,” he grumbled, and I was honestly a little relieved to see him transform back into his usual grumpy self. Yes, that’s the Crow we know and love.

“Sorry, I’ve just never seen you act like this before, so I was a little thrown off,” I said, and Crow went quiet. But then he thrust his head up to the sky.

“I treat people with the level of respect I think they deserve. If I see potential in someone, they get to know the real me. Those little herolings had no potential, but you guys do. That’s all there is to it,” he said, in a very succinct and Crow-like manner.

“So does that mean you’ll teach me the Hero of Legend’s secret technique now?” asked Amelia. I was amazed she hadn’t given up on that by now. In fact, I was pretty sure she had, as she wasn’t bowing her head and groveling at his feet anymore, begging him to teach her every day.

“If that’s really what you want, we can give it a shot. But I won’t be held accountable for anything that might happen to you as a result,” said Crow with a sigh of resignation, and Amelia looked like she wanted to let out a cheer.

 

Exactly two weeks after we parted ways with the hero’s party, we arrived in Uruk, capital city of the nation that bore the same name. We were running just a little bit behind schedule due to the many breaks we took along the way so Crow could teach Amelia the fundamentals of the first hero’s legendary Extra Skill, Inversion.

The runes and everything he taught her were extremely difficult to follow, even for a guy like me with the Understand Language Extra Skill, but it was still a good learning experience. Though I obviously didn’t hear all of it, since I was in charge of cooking and chores while they were busy training. Apparently, Amelia used Spellcraft to create a Comprehension skill that allowed her to follow along with his lectures more easily. It wasn’t an all-encompassing skill like Understand Language was, but more of a learning assistant that helped her get a handle on the trickiest portions. It also seemed to help her avoid going insane from the runes, which I’d been worried about ever since Crow told us about his past pupils. He was quite a skilled teacher, even if no one could compare to Commander Saran in my eyes.

“Okay, here we are. Welcome to Uruk, the City of Water.”

Amelia and I oohed and aahed along with all the other tourists around us who’d also just caught their first glimpse of the city. The place was far more spectacular than I’d imagined, with canals dotted with people in little boats running between the buildings. The canals were wide enough for the boats to seem downright tiny from a distance, and there was certainly no risk of them accidentally bumping into each other. The water in the canals was a beautiful light blue, and clear enough that you could see the bottom. I could have stood there taking in the sight of it for an entire day without getting bored. Crow, meanwhile, took one glance at our gawking faces, then turned on his heels to leave us sightseers behind.

“I’m gonna go ahead and find us an inn like we talked about, so you two feel free to take in the sights. You’ll be meeting up with Lia in front of the fountain in the city’s central plaza. I’ll send someone there to guide you back to the inn afterward, so be there before the sun sets. Otherwise, you two can sleep in the streets for all I care,” Crow said, and then promptly took his leave. Was it really wise to just leave one’s friends to find their bearings in an unfamiliar city like this?

“Well, whatever. I’d say it’s a good day for a date, Amelia, wouldn’t you?”

“A date?”

I held out my hand, and after a bit of trepidation, she reached out and took it.

“Yeah. We can do whatever your little heart desires today. It’ll be my way of rewarding you for all your hard work studying the past two weeks,” I declared.

“No one’s ever rewarded me for any of my achievements before,” she said, her face flushing bright red as she moved to stand beside me. I smiled, trying to imagine all of the hard work she’d put in as princess of the elven people, all for the sake of her countrymen, even though she knew her work would never be properly acknowledged.

“Well, then I’m glad I could be the first… Anyway, we’d better mosey on over to where we’re supposed to meet up with Lia before anything else.”

As the capital city of the largest nation on the continent, Uruk was understandably vast. It would have been nice for Crow to at least point us in the right direction before heading off on his own. We didn’t know left from right here, so how were we to know where the central plaza was?

“Look at that, Akira! Doesn’t it look tasty?”

“Yeah, you took the words right outta my mouth.”

Amelia and I had both been taken in by an enticing fragrance wafting out of a nearby shop, similar to the smell of roasted crustaceans. Though I had to imagine it probably wasn’t shrimp or crab they were selling.

“Excuse me, sir—could we get two of those? And would you happen to know the way to the central fountain plaza?” I asked.

“You got it, kid! Thanks a mil! And if ya wanna get to central plaza, just head straight down that way for a good long while. Can’t miss it!”

I thanked the friendly old man for the food and his help, and we chomped away at our newly acquired seafood kebabs. The meat on the skewer was called “scallop,” yet it tasted like plain old grilled fish while smelling uncannily like shrimp. What a bizarre mishmash of different elements from my world. Fusion cuisine, indeed.

“Do you like it?” I asked Amelia.

“Yup. Ooh, look! Can we eat that next?”

And so our special date devolved into walking through town eating whatever interesting foods caught Amelia’s fancy—not that I hadn’t seen this coming when I offered to do whatever she wanted.

“Oh my gosh, Akira! Over here! This stuff looks really good too!”

Even though we were on the right path, we were taking far too many detours to make much progress. I was concerned it might be more than a little bit rude to keep a princess like Lia waiting, even if Amelia was a princess herself.

“C’mon, Akira! Over here!”

That being said, it was difficult to put an end to Amelia’s fun when she was enjoying herself so much, and so we continued to make detours regardless. Though maybe this would also do a little to make up for the fact we hadn’t had much quality one-on-one time ever since we left the Great Labyrinth of Kantinen, and we hadn’t had much time to exchange intel recently either. I still hadn’t even told her why we’d come to this city, for that matter. I was kind of planning to just go on not telling her about it too, even though we’d promised not to keep anything from each other.

“Oh! Hey, Akira, do you think that’s the central fountain?”

Suddenly, an enormous fountain came into view—taller even than the buildings surrounding it. The fountain seemed to be the primary source for all the water flowing throughout the city, yet it also served as an iconic centerpiece for the grandeur of Uruk. About 70 percent of all the canals in the city drew from its waters. First the Holy Tree, now this? The scale of everything in this world was so massive compared to Japan.

“Aha! There you are! I’ve been waiting for you guys!” said a familiar voice, and we turned to see a peppy catgirl running our way, a friendly smile plastered across her face. “Long time no see, Princess Amelia, Akira!”

 

“That reminds me, Lia—that Inverted Spirit Barrier skill of yours, does it actually make use of Crow’s Inversion Extra Skill? Or is that similarity just a coincidence?”

As we were riding the boat reserved explicitly for the royal family, I took the opportunity to ask a question that had been on my mind for quite some time. Because everyone knew it was a royal family boat, all the other boats made way for us to pass, and we were able to easily float down the center of the canal. The luxurious suite we were guided to within the boat was clearly designed with royal guests in mind, so I felt more than a little out of place—like a lost crow in the middle of a grand treasure chamber. Though I had to admit, the tea they served us was impeccable.

I’d been wanting to ask Lia about her barrier ever since the battle with Mahiro, but because she was already gone by the time I regained consciousness, I never got the chance to. I knew guardians like her were a class known for their defensive magic, and barriers especially. The Spirit Barrier skill she had was also well-known as the highest form of barrier magic in the world, even stronger than the high-level light magic barrier skill Sanctuary Commander Saran had used to protect us on our first trip down into a labyrinth. There was an almost divine aura of protection to it, and I had no doubt it could easily protect against any monster, even those on the deepest levels of any labyrinth.

“O-oh, no! It doesn’t actually use Inversion at all—it’s just a pale imitation, really!” said Lia. “I mean, sure, it was based on Lord Crow’s skill, but the only times I’ve seen him use it, it happens so fast I couldn’t possibly hope to emulate it myself! As you guys saw, my barrier couldn’t withstand more than a single hit, so I’ve still got a long way to go.”

It was true, her barrier had broken in the battle with Mahiro. But what she neglected to mention was that the one who’d broken it was also the second-strongest demon alive, so the fact it had countered even a single hit was still high praise.

“So let me get this straight: Crow’s Inversion skill creates a sort of ‘counter-magic’ to offset and cancel out any magic spell, while your Inverted Spirit Barrier sort of does the same thing, only it can cancel out any attack, be it magical or physical?” I asked for clarification’s sake. The way I understood it, her barrier was like a mirror. Crow was able to cancel out the enemy’s spells while also casting an attack spell of his own if he so desired, while Lia was only able to reflect attacks back at the attacker. Though in certain cases, like when we were surrounded by hordes of enemies down in the Great Labyrinth of Brute, that would be of more use.

“That’s correct. And I should reiterate that calling upon the power of the spirits to create barriers is no mean feat. Were I not a guardian and just a simple barrier mage, I definitely wouldn’t be able to pull that off,” Lia emphasized. As she told it, she had no control over how the barrier reflected the attacks. The barrier made all those decisions for her. So it really was just a facsimile of Crow’s Extra Skill. “Anyway, why do you ask?” she asked with a tilt of her head.

I explained Amelia had recently learned the Inversion skill from Crow and I was just curious how the two compared, but the moment Lia heard this, she flipped.

“S-say whaaaaat?!”

The moment I saw Lia take a deep breath, I was anticipating a scream, so I’d covered my ears. Amelia, unfortunately, hadn’t seen this coming and had suffered the full brunt of the auditory attack.

“Really, Akira?” Amelia said spitefully, shooting me a reproachful look. I could only smile sheepishly and shrug my shoulders.

“He really taught you how to use Inversion, Princess Amelia?!” asked Lia, her shoulders still trembling in disbelief.

“H-he did, yes,” Amelia answered, recoiling from the sheer force of Lia’s interrogation.

It felt like I was a fly on the wall watching one head of state threaten the other. Though in reality, they weren’t truly on equal footing. Amelia was the rightful heir to the throne of all elfkind, while Lia was an adopted daughter of the royal family of just one beastfolk nation, without a drop of royal blood in her veins. Anyone with half a brain could tell who the more powerful princess was.

“Ahem. I beg your pardon. I shouldn’t have lost my composure like that,” said Lia, clearly feeling a little embarrassed. Though I could certainly understand why this revelation would be such a crushing blow, given how much respect she clearly had for Crow. “Anyway, I suppose you’ll have to tell me more about that later,” she continued, straightening herself. “We’ll be arriving at the royal palace shortly.”

“The palace? Are we being given an audience?” I asked, finding it hard to believe that any king would let a sketchy assassin like me anywhere near his castle.

“Correct. My foster father wishes to welcome Princess Amelia to our kingdom…and he’d like to speak with you as well, Akira.”

Now this I was not expecting. What could the king of the largest beastfolk nation want with me? Surely he couldn’t know I’d been summoned here from another world. Had he heard of my reputation as the “Silent Assassin”? I dearly hoped it was anything but that.

“I don’t really know the details myself—just that he knows you’re an adventurer who’s earned the elven king’s respect, and he has some request he’d like to make of you.”

This was making less and less sense by the minute. The only way I’d earned the elven king’s “respect” was by him begrudgingly allowing me to serve as Amelia’s bodyguard, and that was hardly a reason to let an otherwise suspicious man with no documented background in this world into a royal palace.

“Guess I’ll just have to hear it from the man himself, then,” I said. We floated along in silence for a while after that, but then I remembered another question I wanted to ask Lia. “Hey, Lia, do you know a guy named Gram? Supposed to be your cousin, from what I’m told.”

Lia’s ears perked up, which told me she did indeed know him. Amelia, meanwhile, was stuffing her face with the teacakes lining the table as though she couldn’t care less about this particular line of discussion.

“Well, I was only adopted into the royal family, and by the time I got here, Lord Gram had already left his post as prime minister, so…” she trailed off, a little wary.

“That’s fine. Just tell me your general impressions of him based on your personal experience.” I looked imploringly into Lia’s eyes, and she finally let out a sigh and relented. Amelia and I sank deep into our chairs and prepared for a story.

“Lord Gram is the only son of King Igsam Lagoon’s older sister. The current ruling family’s lineage is rarely blessed with healthy births, so when Lord Gram was born, it was cause for grand celebrations.”

I can already see where this is going, I thought to myself as I nabbed a cookie from the snack table.

“And since King Igsam and the rest of the royal family pampered him to no end in his youth, well…Lord Gram developed something of a superiority complex, and he quickly fell under the delusion that the entire world belonged to him.”

So he got his every wish granted as a child just because he was born into a fancy palace. Must be nice to be on the winning team from birth, even if no one can decide what family they get born into.

“Eventually, he begged King Igsam to let him serve as prime minister, and after that, he was pretty much unstoppable. Women served him, children were sold by him, and men were brought in to do his dirty work. If anyone ever defied him, he’d use his personal team of mercenaries to silence them for good… The best way I can describe him is he doesn’t think of anyone else as human, unless they’ve caught his fancy. He thinks of people like playthings.”

Then his little power trip got so out of hand that they forced him to resign, and he became a guildmaster instead, eh? Lia seemed like she had more to say about Gram, but she simply stared at the ground.

“But he continued doing as he pleased, even after he was appointed as guildmaster…and now not even the king can stop him.”

Now that I couldn’t understand. How could the king’s nephew carry more influence than the king himself?

“So they let him continue to abuse his influence as the king’s nephew, even after he was essentially banished from his position of power?” asked Amelia, stealing the words right out of my mouth.

“No, the only influence Gram has the ability to use nowadays is that of any other guildmaster. It’s not political strength he has anymore—it’s military strength.”

“Those hired mercenaries of his, you mean?” I asked.

“Correct.” Lia nodded, then took a sip of tea. “I hate to say this, but…those mercenaries are far stronger than our country’s strongest battalions. He uses illegal back-alley drugs to enhance their physical capabilities far beyond that of any ordinary person. I wouldn’t even call them people anymore. After a few doses, they lose the ability to speak, so I highly doubt any of them lead ordinary lives. They’re just mindless drones.”

Lia bit her lip, and I could only imagine the things she had seen. Chances were, she’d come into direct contact with those mercenaries more than once.

“What else can you tell us about them?” asked Amelia as she crammed her mouth full with sweet after sweet. I wondered if she was even tasting them; they were probably some pretty pricey confections too, and she was just shoving them down her gullet.

“Well, from what I’ve seen…the way they move, it’s like they don’t even have control of their own bodies, which I assume is a result of the drugs. They’re nothing more than killing machines designed to follow orders. While I’m by no means an expert on the subject, I am told there are indeed drugs out there capable of such a thing.”

“I can’t imagine they’re produced by any reputable drug manufacturer,” I mused, “so I’m guessing there must be someone with a chemist or pharmacist class creating and selling them on the black market. It takes a pretty unique skill set to create medicine and whatnot.”

“Right. Our investigators have been looking into that too, but we haven’t found any leads just yet,” said Lia.

The simple existence of things like classes and stats had the ability to change our perception of the world—as I’d learned all too well since first arriving in Morrigan. After all, none of us ever would have felt we had the strength to slay monsters back in our world, and the only real difference was that now we had classes and could see our stats displayed as a number. This one little change made a world of difference; when your class was decided from birth, you didn’t have to worry about what you’d be when you grew up. And since you could see your stats, you could easily see your own strengths and shortcomings. Morrigan was a far more dangerous world than ours, but it was also a lot simpler to get by in many ways. Though one thing both worlds had in common was that there was never a shortage of evil scumbags looking for ways to use their powers for evil. And to think whoever made this drug that turned people into killing machines could have probably used those skills to save lives.

“I’m not surprised that your official investigators are having trouble digging up information, to be honest. People who get involved in shady stuff like this generally do a good job of keeping themselves hidden,” I said.

“Yes, King Igsam feels the same way. If I had to guess, I’d say that’s probably the main reason he’s interested in enlisting your services.”

As the royal palace came into view, I gazed up at it and sighed. It was time to find out if the beastfolk king’s summons would be a blessing or a curse. I had no reason to suspect foul play, but I’d learned the hard way after coming to this world that you should never take a monarch at their word. I needed to stay on my guard.

 

The enormous building was nestled in a river valley between the mountains, and it was both far grander and far more serene than either the castle in Retice or the organic palace in the elven kingdom. I had to admit, I was expecting something a bit cruder and more boisterous from a race known primarily for short tempers.

“Welcome to the royal palace. Watch your step and be careful not to slip and fall.”

Because the castle was built to straddle a river, the air was a bit humid, but not unpleasantly so. I gazed up, and had to take a moment to catch my breath—I couldn’t even see the top of its tallest tower. It looked an awful lot like a certain school of witchcraft and wizardry.

“So I get that the castle’s got plenty of natural protection since it’s surrounded by mountains, but wouldn’t you guys kinda be in trouble if enemies tried to launch an attack from the mountaintops?” I asked Lia after we stepped off the boat.

“Nope.” She shook her head with a smile. “The whole place is enveloped in a huge spherical barrier from high up in the air to deep underground, so an invasion is pretty unlikely.”

Judging by the smug expression on Lia’s face, I assumed the barrier was one of her own spirit barriers and had been put in place by Lia herself. I looked up once again and saw the translucent membrane enclosing the castle on all sides. Was a single cast of Spirit Barrier really enough to protect an entire castle?

“Now come along, you two. King Igsam’s audience chamber is right this way.”

The audience chamber was an unfathomably large reception hall, much like the one we’d first been summoned into back in Retice. I had no idea what the obsession with needlessly large chambers was in this world, especially when something about the size of our student council room would have easily done the job. The only people to be found in the entire expansive chamber were the king, a lionlike beastfolk seated on his throne at the far end, and one horselike beastfolk knight standing beside him. My Detect Presence skill didn’t find any hidden presences, so it really was just the five of us in the massive room. Somehow, that made me more uneasy than the alternative.

“Dear Father, I bring before you Princess Amelia Rosequartz of the Elves and her escort, the summoned hero Akira Oda, just as you requested,” Lia said with a bow, and we followed suit. I had wanted to keep the fact that I was summoned from another world a secret, but it sounded like Lia had already divulged that information to her father.

The king whispered back and forth with the knight by his side for a moment before finally addressing us, at which point I lifted my head to see him grinning from ear to ear. “Oh, good, yes! Thank you, Lia. Please, come closer, all of you.”

Despite his welcoming smile, there was something in his eyes that made me viscerally uncomfortable—like he was salivating at the very sight of me. I pretended I hadn’t noticed anything amiss and approached the throne. The knight sized me up before letting out a pompous “hmph,” making his opinion of me clear. Lia went to stand behind her father’s throne as King Igsam addressed us.

“I thank you for answering my summons, Lady Amelia. And you as well, Lord Oda,” he said with a merry smirk before rising from his throne. I didn’t really know what the proper etiquette was when greeting a ruler of a different race, so I followed along with whatever Amelia was doing. Granted, I didn’t feel the need to be especially polite since I knew he’d summoned me here to make a request of me, but I didn’t want any bad behavior on my part to reflect poorly on Amelia.

“It’s been quite some time, King Igsam,” said Amelia.

“That it has, that it has! Say, have you given any more thought to the matter we discussed when last we saw each other?” asked the king, and Amelia’s face immediately scrunched up as though she’d been forced to eat a bowl of nasty bugs. I had no idea what matter he was referring to, but it had to have been something awfully unpleasant for her to react so viscerally. But just as I was about to shrug it off as being none of my business, Amelia turned to look at me.

“I’m afraid Akira has already filled that position, Your Majesty,” said Amelia, blushing up a storm.

What in the world were they talking about?

At this, King Igsam frowned, but quickly regained his composure. “I see. Well, that’s a shame… In any case, let’s dispense with the niceties and get straight to the point, shall we?” He sat back down on his throne. Not a moment later, the knight took a single step forward.

“Princess Amelia, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Victor, and I am a knight of the imperial guard, as well as His Majesty’s personal knight attendant. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” said the horseman, bowing to Amelia with a flirtatious smile; he ignored me completely.

Amelia nodded to Victor before turning back to King Igsam. I noticed a vein popping out of Victor’s head, offended at how little attention she had paid him. When the king began to speak again, I turned my attention to him.

“Firstly, I would like to thank you for aiding my daughter in the Great Labyrinth of Brute and ensuring she made it home safely. As her foster father and king of this nation, you have my deepest gratitude. Thank you,” said the king as he leaned forward in reverence, but Amelia quickly shook her head.

“The incident in question only transpired because I was foolish enough to get myself kidnapped. Lia simply came into the labyrinth to rescue me. If anything, you should be thanking Crow and Akira for her safe return.”

“I see. You’ll have to offer Crow my thanks for his efforts, then.”

Hey! Am I invisible here, or what?! I was starting to feel like I was being ignored on purpose.

“Now then. On to the other matter I wished to discuss with you today,” said the king, before finally making eye contact with me. It was then that my Detect Danger skill started ringing alarm bells in my head. Gee, thanks. Took you long enough. What a great skill—waiting to warn me until it’s already too late to turn back. “I hear you’re one of the summoned heroes. Akira Oda, was it? I have a request I’d like to make of you, if you would be so kind.”

“Depends on what it is,” I replied, trying desperately to hold in a heavy sigh.

“How dare you speak to His Majesty so rudely!” cried Victor, incensed by my candid demeanor, and I couldn’t help but let out the sigh I’d been holding in.

And here I was trying awfully hard to be polite.

“You really expect me to take on a request without even hearing what it is? Tell me the details of the job and what you’re offering me first, then we’ll talk,” I said, and King Igsam gave a weak little smile.

“It seems our hero from another world is shrewder than we anticipated. Very well, then… I would like you to perform an assassination for me. As recompense, I can offer you guaranteed safety for as long as you are within our borders.”

When I saw the smirk plastered across the king’s face, it struck me that this man was the exact kind of person I hated most.

“Sorry, no deal.”

“Wha?!” Victor gasped as his eyes shot wide open. I wasn’t sure if the beastfolk people saw their king as a god or something, but he sure seemed surprised that anyone would dare to say no to him.

“And why not?” asked the king. “I’ve heard you’ve been attacked by countless monsters and villains ever since arriving in this world. Not just by those bandits in the elven domain, but in Ur and Mali as well. I was under the impression that one’s personal security and freedom were what mattered most to you people who come from a world of safety and comfort, where war and strife are all but nonexistent.”

I wasn’t sure where this guy had gotten his information about our world, but he had some serious misconceptions.

“No offense, but I can take care of myself, thanks. I don’t need your protection.”

Maybe he didn’t realize how high-level I was, but just from checking the stats pages of various people around the palace, I knew no one here could hold a candle to me. To be fair, they had no way of seeing my stats. However, if he was so familiar with the attacks we’d faced, shouldn’t he also have heard how I’d wiped entire hordes of monsters off the map with ease?

“Yeah, right, kid!” Victor scoffed. “I bet you started the rumors about how easily you wiped out the monsters in Ur yourself!”

I could certainly understand the unruly horseman’s doubts. The average citizen who knew nothing about my Shadow Magic and hadn’t been there to witness it themselves would have a hard time believing so many monsters could have been swallowed up in the blink of an eye.

“Wow, so you’re calling him a liar?” Amelia chimed in with a frown. “And what exactly gives you reason to believe the rumors aren’t true, hm?”

“Well, what makes you so sure he’s not making it up?! They say you were kidnapped at the time, so you couldn’t have been around to see it! There’s no way a shrimp like him could have killed more than a hundred monsters with a wave of his hand!”

It seemed we had devolved into judging people by appearances. Where did this guy get off? King Igsam, meanwhile, was doing nothing to reel his man in, just watching the proceedings with an interested grin. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Amelia’s scowl deepen. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen her so pissed off before.

“The fact that you even got word of the attack implies there were people there who saw it firsthand and lived to tell about it. Do you not believe a word your fellow knights tell you either? And as it happens, I think I know Akira’s abilities far better than someone who only met him today. So do us all a favor and keep that mouth of yours shut. Your pathetic bickering is starting to get on my nerves.”

Hot damn. I felt like I had just witnessed a murder. Never before had I seen a man get so thoroughly destroyed with words. Her skill with words was evidence of her having lived longer than anyone else in the room. Victor gritted his teeth in silent anguish.

“I cannot speak to the validity of any rumors about Akira’s actions that day, as I was not there to witness them myself,” Amelia continued. “However, it should go without saying that my absence does not make Akira a liar. As such, this line of discussion is pointless and unproductive…so let’s return to the matter at hand, shall we? Who exactly is it that you want Akira to assassinate?”

Right, I’d totally forgotten about the assassination gig. I guess I got a little too distracted by him insinuating I couldn’t protect myself.

“As you are both adventurers yourselves, I’m sure you’ll already be familiar with his name,” the king began, “but the man I’d like you to assassinate is the guildmaster of the Uruk branch—Gram.”

And there it is. I heard Lia gasp in surprise. Amelia and I reacted similarly.

“So you want to put out a hit on your own nephew,” I stated.

This was quite the request. Hired by a king to kill a member of the royal family. I wasn’t a citizen of his country, so he couldn’t order me to do it, yet I still felt a certain compulsion to give it some serious consideration due to his legal power. It put me in an awkward position.

“So you already know of Gram. Good, that will expedite things. Kill him, and in exchange, I will guarantee your safety.”

“Were you even listening to me?” I asked. “I’m strong enough to defend myself, and I don’t do hit jobs.”

He was starting to get on my nerves now, but just as I was about to lose my temper, Amelia grabbed me by the hand.

“Then how about this?” she suggested. “Why don’t you have the strongest soldier in the entire castle come down here and fight Akira. If Akira happens to lose, then we will accept your terms. But if he wins, you will let us leave here in peace. Would that be all right with you, Akira?”

I nodded, then looked up at the throne.

“Are you sure about this, Lady Amelia? He may be a summoned hero, but there’s no way he could win against a beastman,” said the king, his elbows propped on the throne’s armrests.

Finally, it was all starting to make sense. In this world, demons were the top dogs, followed by elves and beastfolk, with humans as the weakest race of all. This universal understanding was both why Victor doubted me over trusting his informant’s words, and why King Igsam offered safety instead of any monetary reward. It was all because I was a human, and humans were weak.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” I told him. “I’m also not the kind of guy who backs down when someone calls me a liar in front of the woman I love.”

“Then I do hope you won’t regret making a fool of yourself in front of her when you lose.”

 

Not wanting to do battle in such a fine building, we all went out to the castle courtyard. As we stepped up onto a raised platform, I got my first good look at Victor, and I was a little taken aback. Earlier, the lower half of his body had been hidden from view behind the throne, yet now I could see it all.

“A centaur, eh…?”

He was not just a horseman—he was half man, half horse. I’d seen an awful lot of beastfolk since arriving in Brute, but never one that seemed so much more “beast” than “man.” Most just looked like humans with a few little beastlike traits and facial features, but this guy was full-on horse from the waist down.

I wasn’t sure how word had spread so quickly, but a rather large crowd had gathered to watch the duel—there were so many spectators that I had to wonder if they’d been waiting in the wings for something like this to happen. The palace was a place of quiet serenity, yet this one small part was in an absolute uproar. The vast majority of the audience seemed to be soldiers, though there were a fair few government officials in attendance too, and I wondered if they should really be watching this while on the clock. I didn’t know what this world’s obsession with duels was, but apparently they were a major form of entertainment. I could kind of understand the fascination in Brute, given the stereotypes about beastfolk temperaments, but it seemed bizarre that even the peace-loving elves had jumped at the chance to hold a duel while I was there.

When King Igsam (with Lia and Amelia in tow) walked out onto the second-floor balcony, a hush immediately fell over the rambunctious audience. They were far more disciplined and orderly than the king’s soldiers back in the castle of Retice, that much was for sure. Usually men like them couldn’t help but make a stir upon seeing Amelia’s face for the first time.

“Now then. We are gathered here today to bear witness to an auspicious bout between the summoned hero, Akira Oda, and the castle’s finest soldier, our very own Victor.”

Hearing that Victor was supposedly the strongest fighter in the castle came as a bit of a surprise. He had initially struck me as the type of workhorse who would spend all day hunched over a desk writing reports, and I could see many soldiers in the crowd far more muscular than him. Can’t judge a book by its cover, I suppose.

The crowd whispered among themselves upon hearing I was a summoned hero, which didn’t surprise me. After all, aside from myself and the hero’s party, all of my other classmates were still locked up tight in Retice, and no one really knew whether they were alive or dead. There were even rumors circulating that the recent hero summoning ritual had been a complete failure, and that Retice was just trying to hide it.

“On my name as Igsam Lagoon, King of the great beastfolk nation of Uruk, I do hereby recognize this bout not as a simple squabble between individuals, but as an officially sanctioned duel. Duelists, take your positions and prepare for battle.”

As Victor rested his massive battle-ax on his shoulders, I drew the two daggers made from the remains of the Yato-no-Kami and held them in a backhanded grip.

“Let the duel begin!” King Igsam declared from his perch on the balcony.

Immediately, Victor rushed across the platform, hooves pounding as he closed the distance and swung his mighty battle-ax downward.

“Whuh-oh. That was a close one,” I said. Psych. I could’ve dodged his attack in my sleep, but the crowd sounded impressed.

“Whoa! How the hell did he dodge that?!”

“I’m not even sure I could have dodged that one…”

After whiffing his first attack, Victor put distance between us again and we both circled the edges of the arena, staring each other down.

“When I first heard them talking about the assassin who fights like a warrior, I thought it was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard, but it seems you really do know a thing or two,” Victor muttered under his breath. I was a little surprised that he would try to strike up a conversation, but I remained on my guard, awaiting his next move. “However…let’s see you try to dodge this!”

He swung his battle-ax with even greater speed than last time, but once again, I side-stepped it quite easily. Only this time, Victor predicted followed through on his swing.

“Hup!”

Not in the mood to be cleaved in half, I jumped out of the way of the oncoming attack and landed right on top of the blade of Victor’s ax.

“Wha?!” he blustered.

“Hiyah!”

I dove and swung my dagger at Victor’s throat, but he quickly pulled his battle-ax back in to deflect it. After a smooth midair recovery, I landed on the ground a safe distance away, but before I had a chance to catch my breath, Victor charged, his ax raised high overhead.

“Whoa! That little guy jumps around like a freaking acrobat!”

“He’s so fast, it’s insane!”

“Dang, I didn’t even see it…”

As the crowd oohed and aahed, the battle-ax came down and clashed with both my daggers. I may not have been able to match the burly physique of my opponent, but I still managed to come out of the blade lock on top. With as much force as I could muster, I pushed my daggers up, and Victor’s ax went flying high into the air before coming back down and burying its blade in the ground.

“Th-that’s enough!” King Igsam cried as I thrust my daggers at Victor, who had fallen backward onto the ground.

I looked up to the second-floor balcony and made eye contact with Amelia. She was mouthing words to me—“don’t be such a show-off,” maybe? Apparently, she’d realized I was biding my time, but I hadn’t felt like it would be right to end the duel in the first second without giving the audience a little bit of a show. Naturally, Amelia had seen right through my charade.

“Hey, can you stand?” I asked, reaching a hand down to help Victor up off the ground. He’d been muttering incredulously, clearly not believing a human had defeated a powerful centaur like him.

“Don’t touch me!” he snarled, slapping my hand away.

“Keep your filthy human mitts off me! How could a miserable runt like you beat me?! How?!”

His eyes were bloodshot, and his previous cool composure was nowhere to be seen. I was confused. Had I really offended him so badly? A few of his fellow soldiers dragged him kicking and screaming back into the castle, while the remaining soldiers gathered around me, and one apologized on Victor’s behalf.

“Sorry about that. Victor’s a really good guy, but he had a pretty negative encounter with some humans a long time ago, and he always gets like this whenever one of your kind tries to touch him. He’s usually fine as long as you keep your distance, so feel free to talk to him later.”

“All right. Will do.” I nodded. Apparently, he was well-loved by his fellow knights. And if there’d been a traumatic incident in his past, I couldn’t hold it against him. Something told me he did bear at least a little bit of a personal grudge against me, but I decided to leave it alone.

“But man, those moves of yours were insane!”

“Yeah, that was crazy! You should spar with me next!”

“No, me first!”

“S-sure, no problem. Go ahead and come at me; I can take you all on at once, if you like,” I said, and the soldiers let out a cheer. Sheesh.

I knew that beastfolk loved a good fight, but I never would have expected them to actually relish the opportunity to get their asses handed to them. I hoped fighting them wouldn’t constitute a violation of duel sanctity or anything like that, but since there were some high-ranking officials watching, it was probably fine. Four of the soldiers stepped up onto the platform to face me as the others watching down below began to titter with excitement.

“Good day to you all! My name is Tomaz, and as the commander of Uruk’s 55th Knights Squadron, I shall serve as referee! If any of you manage to incapacitate Lord Oda, I’ll treat you to one of my prized bottles of liquor! Show him what you’re made of, everyone!”

“Ohhh! Commander Tomaz must be in a good mood today!”

“Hey, can I fight in the next match?! Can I?!”

Before I knew it, an incentive had been slapped on my friendly sparring match; predictably, this made more people want to try their luck against me. I didn’t have all day to play around. If we didn’t make it back to the central fountain before sunset, we’d be sleeping on the streets. I looked up to the second-floor balcony in hopes that Amelia, Lia, or even the king might bail me out, but they were nowhere to be seen. I could have also used some emotional support.

“Let the battles begin!”

Right when the referee gave the signal, I activated Conceal Presence. I didn’t have time to waste, so I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.

“Whoa, did he just disappear?!”

“Must be some sort of skill!”

“Hey! Does anyone have Illusion Breaker?!”

As the soldiers swung their weapons wildly through the empty air, I snuck up behind the man with the highest stats in the current group. After a firm karate chop to the back of his neck, he sputtered out a groan and fell to the ground, unconscious.

“Look out, folks! Commander Gen is already down for the count! Didn’t even have a chance to say uncle! Only three fighters remain! Who will be the one to take out the assassin?! Hey, can someone drag Commander Gen off the stage?!”

Wow, this is turning into quite the event. We’ve even got an announcer now. I dashed over and rammed the hilt of my dagger into the gut of the second-strongest fighter, who keeled over with a guttural moan.

“And there goes Captain Adolph! Only two challengers left now!”

Okay, I guess I should probably turn off Conceal Presence now. Wouldn’t be very fair to finish this whole thing without showing myself when the crowd’s getting so hyped up.

“Look out, folks! Lord Oda has deactivated his skill and made himself visible again! Now’s your chance—go get him!” cried the increasingly biased announcer; having a biased referee wouldn’t make a difference.

“Nothing personal, little guy…”

“…but this ends here!”

The two remaining challengers came at me in tandem, almost as though they’d rehearsed the move. I couldn’t blame them for teaming up at this point.

“Nice try, guys.” I cleanly dodged both of their attacks and delivered a swift chop to each of their necks. Just like a swordfight straight out of the movies, they remained standing for a few seconds after the dust settled before collapsing to their knees. I didn’t know such a thing was even possible in real life. I’d always thought it looked kinda corny.

“That’s it, folks! Lord Oda remains undefeated!”

Per Amelia’s advice, I’d begun making a habit of checking everyone’s stats, and doing so had definitely helped me decide who to take out first in the fight. However, using it for extended periods of time or on moving targets gave me a massive headache. I had to take care not to leave it on for too long, but I’d definitely come to appreciate it more as an invaluable asset in battle.

As the unconscious combatants were dragged off the stage, five more hopeful challengers stepped up to take their place. I let out a sigh. It seemed there was no end to the amount of soldiers who wished to try their luck against me. And here I was hoping I’d have a chance to ask King Igsam a few questions, but it was starting to look like we might not make it back in time for the sunset rendezvous that Crow had arranged for us.

 

“You think we’ll make it in time, Akira?”

“Hard to say, really.”

I’d spent the rest of the afternoon knocking out each and every challenger without breaking a sweat. Afterward, I had to turn down an invitation to go drinking with some high-ranking soldiers. No matter how many times I told them I was underage, they didn’t get the message (apparently, there was no such thing as a drinking age here), so I eventually just made up something about how humans weren’t really supposed to drink alcohol and slipped away when Lia showed up and distracted them. If it hadn’t been for them, we would have made it out of the palace a hell of a lot earlier. The sun had already begun to set, and our boat was moving awfully slow. Even going as fast as we could in a royal vessel (which they’d been kind enough to lend us) straight down the middle of the canal, I wasn’t sure we’d make it in time.

“I guess I didn’t really get much of a chance to make good on my date offer today, did I?” I said as I fell down on the comfortable couch, realizing I’d promised Amelia we could do whatever she wanted today.

Amelia simply smiled and shook her head. “It’s been a long time since I got to see you fight like that.”

Had it been that long? I cocked my head and tried to remember. Before we came to Uruk, there’d been the beauty pageant in Mali, and before that, the last time I’d drawn my weapon around her was when it had been refashioned into a pair of daggers.

“I like watching you fight, Akira. You looked so cool out there today.”

I was not expecting a compliment, and I covered my mouth and turned away to hide my surprise. I didn’t want Amelia to see the look on my face. Not that I had a mirror handy, but I probably looked pretty lame.

“Yeah? Glad to hear it,” I managed to say, trying to play it cool as Amelia sat down beside me. Even without looking at her, I knew the bewitching smile she had to be wearing.

“I’m glad I came on this journey with you, Akira. If I had stayed home in the elven domain, there’s no way I would’ve enjoyed this much excitement. Not to mention all the delicious food, of course, but more than anything, I just love being around you. When I’m with you, Akira, every day is a treat…so thanks. For dragging me along with you.”

Great, things were getting even more embarrassing. But I felt like I owed her a genuine response, so I swallowed my embarrassment and turned to face her.

“I didn’t drag you into anything. You were the one who said you wanted to come with me. You chose a path for yourself and then followed it. If anything, I’m the one who should be thanking you for choosing to spend time with a schmuck like me instead of your family. Thanks, Amelia.”

“Wow, Akira. How do you always know exactly what to say to soothe my anxiety?”

“Couldn’t tell you… Now, c’mon, we’re almost to the central fountain. We’d better get ready to disembark.”

Amelia nodded and I took her by the hand. We headed out onto the deck to see a beautiful red sunset just like the ones I’d known in Japan. It seemed like we might just make our rendezvous yet.

 

POV: AMELIA ROSEQUARZ

 

THE MOMENT Akira won the duel, King Igsam was in visible distress.

“Impossible… How could a human defeat a beastman? It defies all logic!”

Lia, having witnessed Akira’s strength firsthand down in the Great Labyrinth of Brute, didn’t seem fazed in the slightest, but this only served to make King Igsam’s overreaction stand out all the more.

“Why are you so agitated about this, Your Majesty? This was to be expected, especially considering Akira defeated my older sister. And since you seem to be well-informed about our journey, it’s rather odd that you wouldn’t know about the Kilika incident,” I said, and King Igsam remained silent, all but confirming my suspicions. “In fact, it seems the only intel you have on us is about encounters we had with your fellow beastfolk. Do you mind explaining why that is?”

I’d overheard Akira talking about the traffickers we’d encountered in the elven domain bearing the crest of Uruk on their swords, and that while Gram was apparently the one who’d hired them, they could have very well been soldiers of this very kingdom. I didn’t want to believe King Igsam was capable of directing his men to kidnap my elven countrymen, but if there was even the slightest chance he could put Akira in danger, I had to explore every avenue. I wasn’t about to let anyone lay a finger on Akira—not a king, not even a god.

King Igsam stepped away from the balcony and took a seat on a luxurious couch in the next room. “Very well. Have a seat right there. Lia, would you be a dear and ask them to bring up a few drinks for us?” asked the king.

“As you wish, Father,” Lia replied and dutifully left the room.

I sat down in the chair opposite King Igsam as he began to speak. “First off, why don’t you tell me everything you already know about Gram?”

“I know he’s your sister’s son, and that he was very pampered in his youth, as historically it’s been difficult for the royal family to have children. And that he took advantage of this special treatment and used his authority to do whatever he pleased with the kingdom. And that this continues to this day, even though he’s been demoted to a simple guildmaster. He has his fingers in the illegal drug trade, and not even you can stop him, Your Majesty,” I said, summarizing the information Lia had given us on the boat ride to the palace.

King Igsam grimaced, but nodded. “That’s correct. Even with the royal army under my direct command, I cannot hope to win against Gram’s drug-enhanced mercenaries. And while the bandits who attacked you in the elven kingdom were originally my soldiers, I lost them to Gram’s drugs as well. I like to think I’m starting to get a handle on telling which soldiers are being controlled from those who aren’t, but honestly, it’s extremely difficult to tell. I am at a loss. That boy has always been clever, ever since he was a child, and he’s thoroughly outmaneuvered me.”

“Then why did you want to hire Akira to assassinate Gram? Considering you clearly had no faith in his abilities.”

Surely a king would have at least a few assassins at his beck and call; no country the size of Uruk was built without some hands getting dirty.

“Because if a member of my assassin corps were to fail and word got out that they were under my employ, it could very well be grounds for a coup. That assassin friend of yours doesn’t have a paper trail they could follow, as he’s not even from this world. If he were to fail and get himself killed, it’s highly unlikely anyone could trace him back to me. What better option do I have?”

I didn’t like his answer, but I did recognize kings were often forced to make difficult decisions—but whether something was understandable and whether it was ethical were two entirely different things.

“Akira would never let you use him as a means to illicit ends. But assume he did submit to your demands, and then later made it back to his world and told them of his experiences here. Would you really want to make an enemy of a man from a world that, by all accounts, is far more technologically advanced than our own? What if they developed a way to come and go from our world as they pleased? Should they ever desire to launch an offensive against us, our world would surely fall into ruin.”

“Pfft… Heh heh… Ah ha ha ha!” the king chortled. “It is easy to tell how advanced his world must be just from looking at the way he performs, but the scenario you describe is simply not possible. Such a future will never come to pass.”

I tilted my head, confused. I’d heard King Igsam’s birth class was a simple scribe—certainly not the sort of person who could tell the future with any definitive accuracy. But as I sat there wondering what made him so sure, he laughed in my face.

“Some things are simply beyond the realm of possibility, my dear. He and his fellow heroes are destined to live out the rest of their days in this world, never returning to their own… It’s admirable to have a dream you feel is worth pursuing—how tragically beautiful it is to work your entire life for something that will remain forever out of reach.”

I’d only met King Igsam previously at diplomatic events I’d attended with my father, so he certainly wasn’t a man I was intimately familiar with, but I was starting to get a feel for what sort of person he truly was. I could also see how a villain like Gram could have come from the same family. They were both wretched people, plain and simple.

“In any event,” the king went on, “I think it’s high time you started thinking seriously about your future, Princess. While I’m not saying it’s your fault this boy decided to whisk you away from the elven domain, you need to remember you are the next in line to the elven throne, not some errant hero’s plaything.”

His words felt like a slap across the face. Of course I knew many people had expectations of me as next in line to the throne, even if I had no interest in succeeding my father, but to imply I was nothing more than a plaything to Akira was out of line. Nor had he “whisked me away”—I had come along of my own volition. I wanted to scream it in this man’s face, but the words would not come. It seemed no matter where we went, people only believed I was with Akira because he’d coerced me, and I had to wonder if this would bring Akira more problems in the long run.

“I apologize for the delay, Father,” said Lia, reentering the room. “We were all out of tea, so I brought some lemon water instead.”

“Oh, you don’t say? We’ll need to send someone out to buy more, then.”

“Indeed. Princess Amelia, it’s getting late. Allow me to see you to the docks,” said Lia, her complexion pale. I nodded and rose from my chair.

“If you’ll excuse me, Your Highness.”

“Yes, yes. Goodbye now.”

In the end, I didn’t get to say a single word in my defense.

 

“Um… Princess Amelia?” Lia asked as we were walking down the corridor, trepidation written all over her face. She stopped walking, so I did as well.

“What is it?”

“W-well, I hope you’ll forgive me, but I actually eavesdropped on your entire conversation,” Lia admitted, hanging her head low.

I started walking again, and Lia scrambled to catch up with me. I didn’t have Akira’s Detect Presence skill, so I couldn’t be sure how long she’d been eavesdropping, but when she entered the room at such a perfect moment in my conversation with the king, I knew she’d overheard at least some of what was said.

“It’s fine… Tell me, Lia: What do you think? Does it seem like I’m being dragged around by Akira against my will?”

Lia mulled this over before giving a slight nod with a miffed expression. “I know this might just be my own internalized prejudice talking, but when I see a summoned hero walking around with an elven woman so far from the Sacred Forest, even though all my life I’ve been told no elf would willingly leave their homeland…there are only two possibilities that come to mind. Either he’s enlisted her as a party member under the pretense of defeating the Demon Lord, leaving her no choice but to accept…or he kidnapped her to keep him company. But my father knows of your combat prowess, Princess Amelia, so I’m sure he assumed it was the former.”

In other words, he thought I only agreed to be Akira’s party member to save face, and he was taking pity on me.

“B-but it’s not like everyone assumes that! I know you’re not being held against your will, and so do all the other women here in the palace!” Lia added in a fluster, before glancing down at my left hand. “I mean, that ‘ring’ on your fourth finger is supposed to be symbolic of eternal love and happiness, right?! Akira has the same scar on his left hand, and I know a lot of couples here in the castle have done the same ritual, so it’s plain to see your love is genuine!” There was a twinkle in Lia’s eyes as she spoke.

I hadn’t realized it was so widespread, to be honest. When Akira and I exchanged rings, we’d been caught up in the heat of the moment and hadn’t really considered how the scar might sting the morning after, or in the bath. Had we considered those things at the time, we might have hesitated a bit before making the cuts. “You mean it’s a relatively common practice?” I asked, surprised.

“Yep! I heard it all started because people saw something similar in a book that made its way over here from Kantinen. It was all the rage with humans when it came out, and now it’s making waves with readers over here in Brute too!”

Just as I was about to ask if Lia had read it, we arrived at the courtyard where Akira was presumed to be.

 

“Aw, c’mon! One or two little drinks won’t hurt ya!”

“Yeah, a little drinking never hurt nobody! All the cool kids are doing it!”

“I told you, I don’t drink!”

In the middle of all the ruckus in the courtyard, I found Akira being accosted by the country’s military officials.

“Yeah, so a bunch of soldiers asked to spar with Akira after the duel, and now it sounds like they all wanna go out and get wasted with him,” Lia explained, and I was reminded there was a legal drinking age back in Akira’s world. “But hey, at least they’ve taken a shine to him, I guess!”

“Besides, I need to get back before sunset or else I’ll be sleeping on the streets tonight. Now would you guys please get out of my way?!” Akira said as he tried to push his way through the crowd of soldiers, but there were simply too many of them for him to make much headway.

“Okay, I’ll try to keep the soldiers occupied, so you and Akira make a break for the docks, okay? I’ll come and visit you guys at the inn tomorrow!” shouted Lia before running into the crowd of soldiers. She didn’t even wait for my response. “General Zarrus! Did you already finish your duties for the day?”

“L-Lady Lia…”

The generals quieted upon noticing Lia’s presence.

“And you, General Cylla! Didn’t your wife order you to lay off the booze?” Lia asked.

“Damn it, Liura… You ratted me out to the princess?!”

As Lia kept the generals’ attention, Akira finally managed to slip out from the crowd of soldiers.

“Uh-oh, fellas! Looks like the top brass is in for another one of Lady Lia’s infamous lectures!”

“God, she’s so cute when she’s putting the generals in their place…”

I knew Lia was supposed to be “just” an adopted member of the royal family, but it seemed the people living in the castle had taken a genuine liking to her. I found it rather amusing how they treated her less like a cute little sister and more like a strict maternal figure.

“Akira, we need to leave right now if you want to sleep in a bed tonight,” I told him.

Akira nodded and grabbed me by the hand, then we dashed out of the courtyard. As we ran, I looked down at our clasped hands and the ring mark on Akira’s finger. The cut had been quite deep, so it was still an angry red and plain to see. As was the matching scar on my ring finger.

“Keep up, Amelia—we’ve gotta go!”

I gave Akira’s hand a little squeeze and held on tight.

 

All we had to do was say Lia’s name down at the docks, and they guided us to a boat that had already been prepared for us to borrow. Akira immediately crashed on one of the onboard couches and let out a heavy sigh.

“I guess I didn’t really get much of a chance to make good on my date offer today, did I?” he lamented as he caught his breath.

I shook my head. “It’s been a long time since I got to see you fight like that. I like watching you fight, Akira. You looked so cool out there today,” I said with a smile, and Akira turned away sheepishly.

“Yeah? Glad to hear it,” he said.

He was so cute when he was embarrassed. Feeling like teasing him a little more, I sat down on the couch beside him, leaned forward, and tried to get a good look at his face. I couldn’t see much, but through the gaps in his hair I could see even his ears were flushed bright red.

“I’m glad I came on this journey with you, Akira. If I had stayed home in the elven domain, there’s no way I would’ve enjoyed this much excitement. Not to mention all the delicious food, of course, but more than anything, I just love being around you. When I’m with you, Akira, every day is a treat…so thanks. For dragging me along with you.”

When the king had implied I was just Akira’s plaything, it genuinely took me by surprise. But when I really thought about it, I probably never would have left the Sacred Forest had it not been for Akira, and I wanted to express my thanks.

“I didn’t drag you into anything. You were the one who said you wanted to come with me. You chose a path for yourself and then followed it. If anything, I’m the one who should be thanking you for choosing to spend time with a schmuck like me instead of your family. Thanks, Amelia.”

King Igsam’s words must have been gnawing at my brain more than I realized, because this reassurance from Akira made me immeasurably happy. I could even feel myself blushing. “Wow, Akira. How do you always know exactly what to say to soothe my anxiety?”

“Couldn’t tell you… Now c’mon, we’re almost to the central fountain. We’d better get ready to disembark.”

Akira, still a little red in the face, took me by the hand and led me out to the deck just in time to see the sun begin to set behind the city’s central fountain. It looked like we were going to make it there in time after all, and for that, I was enormously grateful.