Prologue
Prologue
The reception room at the Azami castle was a solemn space used to greet visiting dignitaries.
The king of Azami was sitting behind a desk so intricately carved, it gave movers nightmares.
He was projecting a noble, dignified air, but there was a piercing glare in his eyes.
The grim figure guarding the king was genuinely imposing.
He had a square face and a rock-solid build. The former head of the royal guards, he was currently an instructor at the military academy. Colonel Chrome Molybdenum.
Joining them were Azami’s foremost expert on healing magic, Colonel Choline Sterase, and the master of water magic, Mena Quinone. Three of the Azami military’s top minds in one room.
All eyes were on a tanned young man with a hat pulled low over his eyes.
He was not dressed for the occasion—instead, he wore a loose shirt, sturdy pants, and thick-soled shoes, as if he were on a hike.
Undaunted in the face of their knifelike stares, he grinned, as if delighted by the entire situation.
“It’s a real honor to meet you, Your Majesty! I—”
“Remove your hat and state your name,” Chrome barked.
“Whoops, my bad!” Like he’d been waiting for someone to call him on it, the man whipped off his hat and bobbed his head. “They call me Shouma. I’m here on behalf of the Jiou Empire!”
This flippant manner provoked a rage Chrome did not even try to disguise. He huffed loudly. “Sorry, but do you really work for them?”
Shouma yanked a thick sheet of paper out of his pocket—once again, as if he’d been waiting for this moment. “Official papers from Jiou! Signed by the emperor himself, with my name right here! See?”
He held it out with a ninety-degree bow as if he were proffering a love letter. Chrome took it, checked it to see if it was safe, then handed it to the king.
The king grunted once, then passed it directly back to Shouma.
“That is certainly the seal of the Jiou emperor. Apologies for doubting your word.”
“Not at all! I am dressed like this, after all! I come waltzing in with my hat still on, and anyone would get suspicious!”
Then why didn’t he change? Before anyone could ask the obvious question, Shouma rattled on.
“Sadly, the Jiou Empire and Azami Kingdom haven’t been on the best of terms lately, so if I rolled in with loads of pomp and circumstance, I figured I’d just piss everyone off and set a million schemes churning, so I decided to dress down! A tough choice, I assure you.”
This seemed highly unlikely.
However, the king gave Shouma a look of great sympathy.
“Oh! How thoughtful of you. The consideration is appreciated.”
“What a generous ruler you are! They don’t call you the world’s most accessible king for nothing! Such passion!”
Before Shouma could butter the king up any more, Colonel Choline stepped in.
“I hate to nag, but ya might wanna get to the point.”
Unperturbed by her evident skepticism, Shouma made a show of surprise—again, like he’d been waiting for this cue.
“Oh! So sorry! Gotta be professional here. I think I put it between the dry rice and the jerky… There it is!”
Shouma produced something out of his bag.
Between the wax paper packaging and the imposing seal, it was clear this was important.
“Why is something that crucial stowed with your provisions?!”
“Best place to hide something obviously valuable!”
Shouma held out the parcel. It smelled faintly of seasonings.
The king accepted it and perused the contents.
Growing impatient, Chrome asked, “Your Majesty, what does it say?”
“Hmm, it suggests holding an exhibition match in Azami with an eye to improving international relations.”
“I’m sure you’re all perfectly aware of this,” Shouma said, “but the cross-continental railway between Jiou and Azami is almost complete.”
Construction had been halted as tensions rose but had resumed recently, and it was now being treated as a symbol of their improved relationship.
“It’s already done! They got the ceremony planned and the tape ordered so someone can pop by and cut it.”
“And on that occasion, the emperor of Jiou would like to take the railroad to Azami, as a demonstration of our newfound friendship.”
Shouma bowed low.
“That, I get,” Chrome said. “But why an exhibition match?”
Shouma had anticipated that question, too.
“I’m afraid there are still many Jiou citizens who harbor resentment toward Azami,” he explained. “I imagine it’s the same on your side.”
“Certainly…and regrettably.”
“And when your people work up a head of steam, well—to put it bluntly—a proxy war can help ’em blow off that steam. Naturally, nothing is riding on the match’s outcome, and it’s purely for entertainment purposes.” Shouma bowed again.
“Hmm, well, if neither of us harbors a grudge about the outcome, it should be acceptable.”
“Yes, tell the emperor I’m on board. Choline, would you mind preparing an arena and making the necessary arrangements?”
Choline snapped to attention. “I’m the best at that! Leave it to me.”
The king nodded, pleased, and turned back to Shouma.
“Thank the Jiou emperor for his generous suggestion, and tell him we’ll make a grand show of things. A perfect chance to demonstrate the power of our friendship! Let him know the answer, and inform him we’ll be in touch with the detailed rules later.”
The king wrote out a proper reply and handed it to Shouma.
“Such passion! Honestly, I didn’t expect you to agree to it so readily.”
“It is a king’s duty to alleviate the anxiety of his citizens. I consider this match our top priority!”
The king bowed, and Shouma returned the favor.
“Great! I’ll let him know your passionate response!”
Without ever dropping his cheery manner, Shouma left the reception room.
Soldiers hastily saw him out—while keeping a watchful eye on him.
With the boisterous emissary gone, there was a moment of peace. Chrome let out a post-work sigh.
“That went easily enough.”
“Yes, we all braced ourselves when an emissary from Jiou arrived, but thankfully it ended without issue.”
The king kept the dignified look on his face but leaned back in his chair, exhaling in relief.
“Yeah,” Mena said, nodding in agreement. “There was always the possibility he’d just go for your throat!”
“Geez, don’t scare me like that, Mena,” Choline joked. “Well, all’s well that ends well.”
Mena finger-gunned her. “Anything happens, my water magic can spit fire!”
“That’d be the day!” Choline laughed.
“Come now,” Chrome said in his best dad voice. “No goofing off in front of the king.”
“Right, sorry,” Mena apologized, totally blowing him off. “Still, that kid never once dropped his smile. Takes a lot of balls to face down these grim soldiers and my cute factor without batting an eye!”
Choline frowned, shaking her head at Mena’s bad manners.
“Mena, honey, you aren’t the only cute one here.”
“Yikes, my bad, our cute factor.”
They high-fived. Clearly, it hadn’t been Mena’s manners Choline had objected to.
Chrome let out the same sigh of every dad who can’t get his daughters to listen…and the king gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. The king himself was busy being studiously ignored by his own daughter at present. See the previous volume to learn why!
Hearing his exhale, Choline turned back to Chrome.
“Oh, yeah, Chrome, that kid was pretty strong, right?”
Chrome had seen enough combat that he could size up an opponent’s abilities at a glance. And he did not look happy here.
“I didn’t get anything off him…,” he admitted, scratching his neck.
“Nothin’? Not strong or weak?”
“How’s that work?” Mena asked, narrowing her smiley eyes. “Are your sensors on the fritz? Have you been so busy lately you forgot to do some routine maintenance?”
“They’re organic, so no…,” Chrome said sullenly. “If you girls would take things seriously, maybe I wouldn’t be so strung out all the time.”
Both grown women stuck their tongues out at him.
Chrome let out another sigh and called out to the soldiers around them.
“Just like his manner, he’s a hard man to get a read on. He may be hiding his true strength. Maintain the utmost caution around him.”
The soldiers all barked their understanding.
The king seemed to be mulling things over.
“This exhibition match… We should put our finest warrior in it. And that means the dragon slayer himself, Allan Toin Lidocaine.”
Chrome winced.
Allan Toin Lidocaine was a military cadet from an aristocratic background. Strong arms and an ugly mug that made him look far older than he actually was.
Rumor had it he’d knocked down dozens of dragons with his voice alone during a recent dungeon incident, and the king had personally granted him the dragon slayer title.
In actual fact, the dragons had just collapsed with uncanny timing as a result of a completely different battle…and Chrome felt sorry for the poor boy, laden with an epithet that was far too grand for him.
“Poor Allan…,” Choline said.
“Well, it’s just an exhibition. Nothing riding on it, so it doesn’t matter who we put in it,” Mena added.
“Let’s get planning!” the king announced and stormed out of the room.
“There he goes… Let’s hope his dedication doesn’t blow things out of proportion again. Mm? What’s wrong, Choline?”
As Chrome made to follow the king, he noticed an unusually serious look on Choline’s face.
“I was just thinking about…the Jiou Empire. What would Merthophan think if he heard this?”
Merthophan Dextro—once a colonel in the Azami military, he’d worked alongside Choline.
He’d been a fierce patriot, but a demon lord had taken advantage of that patriotism, and he’d been tricked into placing the country he loved in dire peril.
Now he was paying for his crimes in a distant land.
“Well, no sense cryin’ about it now! We got a match to plan and a railroad to open! Mountains of work!”
Instantly snapping back to her usual self, Choline raced out of the room.
“I wonder what he’s doing now,” Chrome muttered. His thoughts on his former colleague, he glanced out the window, staring into the distant sky.