Chapter 3

A Major Obstacle: Suppose You Needed to Win a Game of Chess with No Rooks or Bishops

An hour after they’d dispersed, Riho was unable to wipe the smirk from her lips.

“Hot damn! Hot damn! So much moola!”

Her profits from the killer piranha bones had nearly equaled the average monthly income in these parts, and the rush of adrenaline just wasn’t going away. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were glistening.

“All that for a day’s work… If I could commute to Kunlun…I’d never have to work again. Then again, if these ingredients get that plentiful, the price will drop… Gotta keep the right balance. And figure out where to sell these…”

Riho pulled a pair of white panties out of her pocket. Yes—Riho’s used panties, the ones made from the silk of a high-level monster called the earth spider. Man, that sounded all kinds of wrong.

She could have sold them with the other stuff but had been too conscious of the crowd around her to risk it.

“I mean, selling my own used panties to the old guy at the exchange shop is just super creepy. Looks bad for all parties. Plus, I gotta go back there in the future…”

On the East Side, the exchange shop would take illegal goods or stolen castle treasures alike—ethics like an old school RPG shop. Those shops in old games would buy anything except key items, which was kinda nuts if you think about it.

They served hard-up citizens, thieves, and soldiers alike, which meant their prices were rock bottom, like, basically a total rip-off… If you didn’t want to wind up crying about it later, you had to come in armed with leverage, the latest price lists, and advanced knowledge of supply and demand.

They were a real asset to someone like Riho—which was exactly why she didn’t wanna sell them her underwear.

“…………But where can I sell ’em?”

There were places for that, but no telling what rumors would start spreading if she sold them to a shop that sketchy.

Giving up, Riho shoved the panties back in her pocket. “Maybe I’ll have to unravel them and sell the raw thread…,” she muttered.

On the narrow roads near the exchange shop, she bumped into Phyllo’s sister, Mena, who waved a hand, calling out to Riho in her usual goofy tone.

“Oh, Riho, what’s up? You so hard up for cash, you came to sell your panties to some pervs?”

Riho responded with grim determination.

“It breaks my heart, but I’ve decided against it. Even I have lines I won’t cross.”

“…Uh, did I accidentally hit the nail on the head?”

Mena’s eyes briefly opened, startled. Riho filled her in—at least, how she’d come to get a new set of clothing in Kunlun. She left out the part where Lloyd saw her naked.

“So I’m still not sure what to do with these…”

“Oh, that would explain it…what a shocking story. Kunlun, huh? The village of legend…where even underwear defies reason. Well? You have a good time?”

She elbowed Riho in the ribs.

“Well,” Riho said gravely. “See that building there?”

“Yeah?”

“Even small children can vault into the second-story window.”

“Er…”

“And villagers use the roofs as shortcuts, racing around on ’em. Grown-ups and kids alike.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And this seventy-year-old man climbed into a cannon and shot himself toward a nearby mountain peak.”

“Urp…”

“Apparently, it’s just another means of transportation to them. Using a human cannon to bring someone a forgotten canteen…”

“Sorry, I’ve heard enough. Forget I asked.”

Mena had gotten a look on her face like she wanted to yell, “Elder abuse!” but Riho hadn’t let her get a word in edgewise. Just imagining this sight was bad enough—actually seeing the grinning old man shoot himself across the sky was far worse.

Mena was worn out by hearing about this stuff, and Riho was, too, for remembering it. Both let out a long sigh.

“So,” Riho said, recovering first. “What brings you here, Mena? Preparing for the exhibition?”

Mena grinned, saluting. “Patrollin’! Guard duty. Makin’ extra sure there’s no evildoers lurking in the back alleys!”

Riho looked pointedly down at the kebab in Mena’s hand. Skewers using fresh seafood or meat direct from the farms were a popular Azami street food.

“…You don’t say,” she said meaningfully. In so many words, she was saying: “So you’re slacking off.”

A tough-looking man walked by. He recognized Mena and waved.

“Oh, Mena! Slacking off again? Keep it within reason.”

And with that, he walked away.

““…………””

“Ahem, so like I said, making sure there’s no dangerous criminals around.”

“You’re the most dangerous criminal in these parts! If slacking every day counts as a crime.”

“It isn’t every day! Just, like, four times a week. And I do drop in on Rol sometimes.”

“…Rol? But she—”

“Sure,” Mena said before Riho could finish. “But the way I heard it, she was brainwashed. How can I not feel sorry for her? I mean, she’s got no friends.”

Rol Calcife.

Once a big sister figure to Riho, she’d rolled in with Mena and Phyllo in tow, trying to steal the Holy Sword. She’d taken extreme actions to do so and tried to burn the Quinone sisters in the process.

However, she never had a clear use for the Holy Sword, just a desperate drive to get her hands on it, and Choline—Rol’s former classmate—remained convinced there was someone else in the shadows pulling the reins. She was currently confined to the hospital, partly for her own protection.

“Okay…”

Riho relaxed, relieved Mena wasn’t out for revenge. Rol had grown up in the same orphanage as Riho, after all.

Seeing this, Mena pounced. “So what’s your connection to her anyway? Sisters?”

“Something like that. Not by blood, but…”

“Ah, so an almost sister.”

“Not sure if that’s actually a thing? But, well, it’s enough that I can almost forgive her.”

Done teasing Riho for now, Mena grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the hospital.

“Then come on and see her with me! Ya need good company on the road! …You know, helps heal…blisters?”

“How?! Argh, quit yanking, I’m coming. I was already planning on it anyway…”

Riho was dragged off in the direction of Rol’s sickbed.

They arrived at the Azami Kingdom National Hospital.

A big hospital that handled everything, from the colds of ordinary citizens to the fake illnesses of politicians. Her unique circumstances had led to Rol being given a private room here.

“You’ve been here nearly a month… The bill must be adding up.”

“Yeah, it’s been that long since the Student Sorcery Tournament. Her injuries should be fully healed, but…”

Riho scowled. Rol wasn’t exactly fragile… Was she up to something?

She knocked on the door.

“It’s me! You decent, Rol?”

There was a pause, then a weak response from within. “Come in.”

Riho opened the door and found Rol sitting up in bed, white sheets over her, writing something.

Rol had always been pale, but now she was even paler. She didn’t look at all healthy.

“How ya doin’, Rol?”

Rol turned slowly toward them, like a machine in need of oil. “Oh, Riho…and Mena.”

“Been a while, ex-boss. Whatcha writin’? Diary? Will and testament?”

“Morbid!” Riho yelped. That last joke was a bit much for someone in a hospital.

“I’m writing an exposé on the inner workings of Rokujou,” Rol replied.

That sounded like a big deal.

“…I wish I hadn’t heard that,” Riho said, clutching her forehead.

Rol was still herself, clearly.

As if something had snapped within her, a snakelike smile appeared on Rol’s lips, and she began grumbling like she was casting a curse.

“When you think about it, the reason I ended up like this is because they’re all rotten to the core. At least the corruption at school was my hard work… Well, claiming that now is pretty pathetic, I admit.”

At least she seemed to be aware of her own guilt. Mena highlighted that immediately.

“You? Experiencing regret?! How you’ve grown, Rol!”

“It’s not growth! I just…realized I wasn’t always like that. When I stopped fighting so hard to move up, I suddenly felt way better…like I’d detoxed.”

Riho remembered the old Rol well.

“You were always a little strict, but you never used to be so obsessed with success.”

“Well, I’m certainly not trying to move up in Rokujou anymore. Figured I’d better strike first before those rotten politicians try and do anything to me. I got so much dirt on all of them that I can’t narrow it down! Real hard to figure out what would make the biggest splash. I gotta hurt ’em so bad that they can’t just make like a lizard and drop their tails.”

Rol sounded more like someone going to the weeklies for a quick buck than a proper whistleblower. Maybe the most positive take on it was that she was a self-produced devil.

“Sorry, Riho, your almost sister’s still a letdown.”

“Yeah… She’s fully committed to…whatever this is.”

Riho was actually kind of relieved at how little Rol had changed. You couldn’t keep her down.

Mena started rummaging in her bag. “I brought you something, Rol.”

“This better not be the sticks from the kebabs you ate.”

“Course not! You said you were out of shampoo, right? So I brought you some.”

She plopped a bottle on the table in front of Rol.

“There you go! It’s a double conditioner!”

“So not shampoo?! That’s the most important part! You can’t condition your hair if you haven’t washed it yet!”

Mena assumed a look of profound sadness. “Rol, in the world we live in, you’ve got to keep it together no matter how dirty you are.”

“Don’t act like there’s some deep meaning behind this!”

Riho put a glass of water in front of her, and Rol chugged it.

“So satisfying!” Mena commented. “You can’t resist pouncing on every dumb thing I say. Really makes it worthwhile.”

“She’s clearly got the best of you, Rol.”

Mena was obviously using Rol as a way to cheer herself up. Her eyes parted slightly, looking thoroughly pleased with herself, like she’d accomplished a great deed.

“Now, now, if you’re feeling this good, why haven’t you checked out yet? The Holy Sword thing’s all settled, and I’m sure you can find yourself a job in Azami somewhere. I’ll hook you up.”

“That’d be nice…”

The Holy Sword. This reminded Riho of a question.

“Right, Rol, you remember anything about the guy who asked you to get the sword?”

Rol thought about this for a moment.

“It’s like there’s a glaze over everything,” she admitted at last. “I think it was a man, but… Oh.”

“Mm? You remember something?”

“Well,” Rol said, not sounding very confident. “I vaguely remember him asking…what he looked like to me.”

Mena’s eyes snapped open, and she leaned in.

“That matches a string of mysterious incidents in Azami. People going missing.”

Rol was somewhat flummoxed by Mena’s sudden jump to serious.

“Going missing? How frightening.”

“Whoops. Well, glad you survived! Riho, that help you at all?”

“Uh, yeah…what he looked like to you, huh?”

That sounded familiar to her, too.

This was about the elderly man who’d appeared in the depths of the Azami dungeon, alarming even Alka.

He’d eliminated the guardian beast of Kunlun—Vritra—then attempted to bury Alka, and failed. Then Alka had punched him in the guts, catching him off guard, and he’d rolled around wailing, and it had been kinda funny, but if that all hadn’t happened—she wasn’t sure she would have remembered him. There was something fleeting about his very nature.

If he’s involved with this, it’s way beyond my power… This is a job for Lloyd and Alka.

She’d had a hunch, but if they were up against that enigmatic man, she couldn’t let her guard down for a second. Riho clenched her mechanical hand.

“What?”

“Oh…nothing,” she said, smiling absently.

Rol thought of something else. “Wait…there was, like, a strange noise, too.”

“What kind?”

“Like…someone slurping on hard candy.”

Hard candy. A sucker.

“—gh!”

“What’s wrong, Riho?”

Riho felt all the pieces falling into place.

“Well, like that mayor’s hair, once it’s been yanked, it ain’t coming back—so where is it now?”

“I think it’s in safekeeping at the Azami castle.”

“Okay. Take good care of it.”

That elderly man—Sou, was it? What if he’d brainwashed Rol into stealing the sword…? She gave me the mithril arm…since my arm got burned and can’t move properly. It had to be a gauntlet type that would fit over that…

Riho looked down at the mechanical arm, flexing it.

It’s so bulky, it looks like it’s replacing a missing arm. People who didn’t know the truth went so far as to start calling me the One-Armed Mercenary. And I never bothered correcting ’em.

The wheels in her brain were whirring now.

“What’s up, Riho?” Mena asked, getting worried. “Gonna hook yourself up to Rol’s conspiracy and make bank off the Rokujou government?”

“Augh! That would ruin everything! Riho! Don’t you dare!”

If it was Eug who wanted the Holy Sword, and she’s the dwarf who made this arm…then of course she would know it was a gauntlet. She would have to know what was really going on with the arm underneath it.

Riho was in deep deductive mode, but Rol was in the throes of an equally deep desperation.

If Eug’s mixed up in this and helping Sou, then her goal was to weaken Alka…and seize the chance to steal the Holy Sword and release the seal on the prison she called the Last Dungeon.

Riho was so deep in thought that she’d tuned out her surroundings. As Rol wailed, Mena just wound her up still further. Disgraceful.

“Rol, those are the eyes of a determined woman. It was nice knowing you, ex-boss.”

“R-Riho! Think again! Earning money that way will just lead to sorrow! This exposé will shake things up and lead to way more moolah and happy endings for all of us!”

She was sort of contradicting herself there. Mena shook her head.

She said she was here to see the exhibition match…and the king will be there… Is she gonna take him hostage? Create a diversion to swipe the Holy Sword? Why?

Riho’s lips parted, words leaking out. “I’m overthinking it… Why go to all that trouble…?”

Eug was a dwarf. That was how she’d known this arm was a gauntlet. That’s all.

She’d ditched Alka back in Kunlun because she always caused trouble. If she left Lloyd with her, Alka wouldn’t complain about it later.

It all made sense. Riho smiled, looking up…and found Rol sobbing, arms around her.

“I know, Riho! Whistleblowing’s a far better way to make money! I knew you’d understand! We’re still sisters, right?”

“Huh? Uh, sure! What’s going on, Rol? Why are we hugging?”

“We can use those funds to go for an even bigger score! With your connections in Azami and mine back in Rokujou, we can do anything! Leave it all to me! I’m a self-produced devil!”

“Uh…Mena?”

“Your almost sister is at it again! I just threatened her a bit, and she almost went mad! She should definitely stay in the hospital awhile longer.”

“You were threatening her while I was lost in thought?”

A nurse arrived and dragged Rol off her. Riho and Mena beat a hasty retreat.

Outside the hospital, Mena grinned. “That was fun!” she exclaimed. “Back to the grind. We need to construct the match stage for tomorrow… You’re pitching in, right?”

“Uh, right, yeah.”

Pushing her doubts to the back of her mind, Riho followed Mena toward the match site.

Maria Stadium.

The king had been so excited by the birth of his daughter that he’d named it after her…the most doting of dads. Said dad was currently being studiously ignored by his daughter.

Memories of the Student Sorcery Tournament were still fresh in the minds of Azami citizens, so when event staff spotted that tournament’s victor—Riho—they started cheering.

“You sure are famous,” Mena noted. “And I missed the whole thing! Too busy lying in the medical ward.”

The staff was gossiping about her, too.

“Isn’t that the water mage who was in the finals? Mena, right?”

“Oh, the one who panicked and self-destructed.”

“She goofs off most of the time, but she’s really cold-blooded, deep down!”

“I know, I know. She totally showed her true self during that battle.”

“…………Mena…”

“…………Let’s just go.”

They must have looked like players from two rival teams yucking it up between innings.

Trying not to look too embarrassed, they headed to their posts. The two looked up at the stage, grinning at the memories.

The place was swarming with people shoring up the stage itself and erecting protective barriers in front of the stands. Maria Stadium wasn’t just for exhibition matches and sorcery tournaments; they also hosted bard or orchestra concerts, or event exhibitor sales booths.

“That’s where I fought Lloyd…I was so young back then. Just wanted the money… I dunno what came over me.” Mena’s voice grew increasingly grim as she went on. “I should never have thought common sense would have any bearing on a kid like that.”

“Don’t get serious in the middle of a joke, Mena. People might take it out of context.”

Frankly, it had sounded more like she’d made a mistake no girl should ever make.

Selen came fluttering down from the sky in front of her.

“I heard the word Lloyd!”

She landed with flawless elegance. Riho’s grin was more of a twitch.

“Wh-where did you even come from?”

“That watchtower. I was gazing into the distance, imagining Sir Lloyd there.”

“Try working.”

This rolled off Selen like water off a frog’s back. The stalker turned her eyes to her hips.

“Separated by miles, each of us gazing at the sky, thinking of each other—the true joy of a long-distance relationship! Right, Vritra… Huh?”

Selen remembered there was nothing on her hips to speak to. She looked momentarily crestfallen…but, like, only one-hundredth of the pain of being apart from Lloyd.

“That’s right! I don’t have the belt anymore.”

“Huh? Where’d it go? What’s up? You done being the Cursed Belt Princess?”

“I am! Now I am frail and weak and cannot survive without Sir Lloyd’s protection! Oh, Sir Lloyd! I have abandoned my belt, and I’m ready to abandon so much more! Let’s ditch this military school thing and make a home together!”

Surrounded by busy workers, Selen alone was lost in her own rapture. The saddest part was how everyone ignored her—all Azami already knew it was best not to get involved.

“Guess you won’t be abandoning the stalker thing, huh…”

“Long-distance relationship, my ass.”

Selen ignored her friends. But something square hit the back of her head with the exact sound of a cleanup hitter’s home run swing.

Without her cursed belt, the auto-guard no longer activated, and the hit was clean. Selen reeled, fireworks going off in her eyes.

“Who did that?! I could get brain damage!”

“………As if you’ve never been knocked in the head?”

Phyllo stood calmly behind her, swinging a piece of plywood around.

“No! The only knocking I’ve done is…getting knocked up after spending a steamy night with Sir Lloyd! Ohh! It is true! The shame is almost too much to bear!”

“Stay still. I’ll cast a healing spell.”

Being very nice, Riho gently touched the back of Selen’s head, healing the damage.

Mena seemed surprised to see Phyllo so fired up.

“Yo, Phyllo! I figured you’d be slackin’ off with me!”

This older sister set a very poor example.

“……I met someone strong.”

“Oh, you get into it at that crazy village?”

“…I could tell their lives were like a war zone. I, too, must get strong enough to bring a demon lord to the brink of death by throwing rocks at it.”

“That’s…the standard? Geez, I’m glad I didn’t go. I’d have come back in a straitjacket.”

The more serious Mena was, the wider her smiley eyes opened. If she’d gone to the village, they’d have stayed open so long that she’d have wound up with dry eye.

With Phyllo working so hard, she was soon called away. “Phyllo, take care of this one next?” Everyone was relying on her. The foreman seemed ready to hire her full time.

Mena smiled—for once, sincere.

“All she ever had going for her was an excess of strength. Can’t believe she’s not only attending school but accepted in the workplace… I owe this to Lloyd.”

Selen and Riho nodded.

“Because of Sir Lloyd, the belt’s curse was lifted, and the rift between myself and my father was healed. All that’s left is marriage!” Selen exclaimed.

“Lloyd helped me patch things up with Rol, too…and quit talking about marriage, m’lady. Do his feelings not matter?”

Riho didn’t want to let her off the hook just because they were all being sincere.

A cheer went up from the other side of the arena.

Allan was standing at the players’ entrance. It seemed like some bigwigs had asked him to be there.

He was like a boxing champ scoping out the ring before the big day. The crowd took his smile as a sign of confidence, but his classmates could tell he was barely keeping it together.

The bigwig…was the king of Azami. He stepped up next to Allan, calling out to the assembled workers.

“Thanks for the hard work, everyone!”

The king’s words of praise were met with a roar from every soldier and worker in the arena.

He raised a hand in response and urged Allan to do the same.

“Urp…uh, thanks!”

An even bigger cheer went up.

“The man who took out a dragon with a single blow!”

“He turned a dragon into a pet with his voice alone!”

“He single-handedly saved the day at the Foundation Day Festival!”

“He’s friends with every drag queen in Azami!”

“They aren’t just friends.”

The stories were getting a tad embellished, becoming increasingly outlandish—the last one in particular.

At a loss, Allan saw some familiar faces and came running over, clearly hoping they could help.

“G-girls! Help me out here! I’m at my limit! When did I become friends with all the drag queens? And why drag queens?!”

“You sure have moved up in the world.”

“Oh, it’s the subhuman sipping sweet nectar after riding Lloyd’s coattails. What do you want?”

“Sucking the sweet nectar of a drag queen? I had no ideaaaa…”

“Phrasing! I’m not sipping or having anything sipped!”

Seeing him distraught, the king called out with an encouraging word.

“Allan, no need to stress it! The outcome of the exhibition match tomorrow is irrelevant! Just get up there and show us what you can do!”

That wasn’t what had him on the verge of tears, but…the king’s kindness was also a source of suffering.

The crowd and the king were definitely not agreeing on this point.

“If he can beat a dragon, he’s got this in the bag.”

“He’ll show those Jiou punks! Don’t you dare lose!”

Even friendly matches did tend to wind up like this…

Nearly crushed by the pressure, Allan turned to Chrome for help. “C-Colonel Chrome!”

“We control the stage but not the audience…unless we plant people in the crowd? Hmm…”

Chrome seemed to have other things on his mind.

“Colonel?”

“Oh, Allan! Don’t worry! Threonine and Coba are coming, too! They’ve become fast friends.”

“My father’s coming?! Now I have even more to be worried about!”

Threonine had finally begun to acknowledge his son, but if he learned Allan had accidentally earned himself the dragon slayer title (with no truth behind it), there’d be hell to pay. Allan broke into a cold sweat.

“Keep playing the dragon slayer for now…I’ll do something in due time.”

“You will? If you’re lying, you have to swallow a porcupine fish as punishment!”

“Mm…that doesn’t seem feasible. Can you make it something easier?”

“So you are lying!”

“Look, the king is calling you! Go on, Dragon Slayer Allan!”

Chrome grabbed Allan firmly by the arm and dragged him back to the king’s side, like an unruly fan being escorted out by security at a meet-and-greet.

With Hurricane Allan out of the picture, a group of older cadets came running up, out of breath.

“Yo, is Lloyd here? I don’t see him around…”

“Oh? You need him for something?” Riho asked.

It was never good when someone flustered was looking for Lloyd.

They looked troubled.

“It’s about Micona… You know how no one’s seen her since, right?”

Micona Zol.

A year ahead of them at the military academy, she’d had it in for Lloyd and his friends.

The reason was…not what it seemed. She’d been harboring a secret crush on Marie, and when she learned Lloyd was staying with her, envy drove her mad.

That weakness had led to her becoming a mutated warrior, harboring the powers of both Abaddon and a treant. She and Lloyd had fought a brutal battle in the depths of the dungeon outside Azami.

Then the mysterious elderly man, Sou, had taken her away with him—and no one had seen her since.

“What about her? Did someone see her?”

He nodded. “It’s unconfirmed, but we have reports of sightings of someone who looked like her.”

“Sightings? Where?” Selen asked.

“Um…inside the palace…”

“Huh? Inside?!” Selen found that hard to believe.

But the upperclassmen were all nodding gravely.

“I hope it isn’t true myself, but she showed up in the Jiou emperor’s entourage, with a hood pulled low over her face—but the signs of her transformation were there. Someone called out to her, but she didn’t respond…so they thought it might not be her, but…”

“Wait, then…you’re sure now?”

The speaker nodded with grim certainty. The evidence…

“In that bizarre form, with that figure? Who else could it be?”

““““Oh…””””

The girls all collectively realized that “figure” meant “boobs” and glared at the lead cadet.

He scratched a cheek, looking extremely shifty.

“Look, it’s a fact! I can’t ignore her single most defining feature!”

Nobody could argue with this, and their IQs dropped a few points.

Deciding they were getting nowhere, Mena jumped in. “Okay, okay, I’m a palace soldier so consider this intel reported. You’d better get back to your station.”

“You’re…Mena, right? They say you seem like a goofball but it’s just an act, and when you get serious, your eyes open, and you sound totally different…”

“Yeah, like, you don’t need to tell me. Get back to your post.”

Her eyes opened enough to glint like daggers.

This seemed to make them fear the heavens above. The cadets turned to run.

“Wait,” Riho yelled. “What will you do if it is her? Throw her in a jail cell?”

The lead shook his head slowly.

“No…we share the blame for her getting driven so far off the deep end, she transformed herself. We let her drag us along. We never tried to stop her, never tried to help her with whatever was bothering her. If we’d done that, that tragedy might never have happened.”

“Well, good.” Riho looked relieved. She really didn’t like it when friends turned on each other. “Let us know if you see her again—Lloyd will be more use there than Allan, despite what they’re saying about him.”

The older cadets nodded and left the arena.

Once they were gone, Phyllo muttered, “…Boobs aren’t decisive evidence.”

This was a fair point.

“I know!” Selen yelled. “Men are trash! Identifying girls by their boobs… Sir Lloyd would never!”

Selen was in full “Not my boyfriend!” mode, but maybe she should wait until they were dating.

While they screeched away, Riho alone was lost in silence.

“……That man took Micona away. If she’s back…”

It couldn’t mean anything good. She ran back over the rest of the evidence:

Sou was trying to kill Alka and get the Holy Sword.

The Holy Sword was the key to releasing the Last Dungeon, freeing the demon lords within.

Eug might have cut off Alka’s power and deliberately left Lloyd behind in Kunlun.

Sou had kidnapped Micona, but someone like her was in the Jiou entourage. And…

Rol implied a link between Sou and Eug!

Eug had said she was looking forward to the exhibition match between Azami and Jiou. A competition with the king in attendance.

Is…that man disguised as the emperor of Jiou?

Everyone saw him as something else, and no one could be sure of his true appearance—perhaps he could pull that off. But once again, Riho convinced herself this was ridiculous.

I’ve got no proof. Rol mentioned someone slurping on candy, but she could be wrong about that noise. And if I said the Jiou emperor might be fake, and I’m wrong? What then? Can I really propose we cancel the exhibition match?

Riho had her head in her hands, fretting.

“…What’s wrong? Upset because your boobs aren’t as big?”

Phyllo’s guess was infuriatingly off-base.

“Of course not!” Riho snapped. “Augh, forget it…”

The rhythm of their usual squabbles banished all worries from her mind. She convinced herself she was just overthinking things.

Selen frowned at her. “Are you hiding something, Riho?”

“Uh, huh?” The girl looked a little rattled.

Selen scratched a cheek bashfully. “We may not have known each other long, but I believe I’ve learned to read you a little. You’re hiding something—and not a dubious scheme, but something you’re worried about.”

“……………”

“I don’t know what I can do without my belt, but sometimes it’s better to talk about these things?”

Riho had not expected genuine concern from Selen. She grinned.

“Heh-heh, you sound like Lloyd,” she said.

Selen smiled back at her.

Then Chrome appeared, looking grim. “Why are you standing around talking? Get back to work or we’ll never be ready in time!”

He looked utterly worn out.

“……Colonel Chrome, have you lost weight?”

“Probably! I would never have imagined getting a crowd together would be so much work. Maybe I should just fill the place with shills…”

Riho put a hand on his shoulder, looking sorry. “I hate to bug you while you’ve got it rough,” she started. “But there might be something even worse going down.”

“…What do you mean, Riho Flavin? Is this your fault?”

“No—I’m not to blame this time. And this is still a big maybe.”

“Uh-oh. Right, lay it on me.”

Chrome was really rattled now. The king appeared behind him.

“Chrome, it’s time for our meeting…”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. You girls get to work…hng?”

Riho was standing right in front of the king. That same indomitable grin on her lips.

“Oh? What, you’d like to shake my hand?”

“No, Your Majesty. I’ve got a hot tip that just might save Azami from certain doom.”

“What is it?”

Riho made up her mind.

“Can we cancel this exhibition match?”

“Er, hey! Riho Flavin! Where’d that come from?!” Chrome grabbed her shoulder, but she shook him off.

“Something real bad might be going on here!” she insisted desperately. “The Jiou emperor’s a fake and plotting to do something during the match!”

“W-wait!” Chrome roared. “The whole point of this match is to demonstrate that our two countries are at peace! And you say Jiou are fakes? If you’re wrong about that, there’ll be hell to pay!”

Riho stood her ground, kept her gaze on the king.

“If nothing comes of it, great,” she said. “That’s better than something preventable happening.”

The king stroked his chin, looking her over. “What’s your name?”

“Riho…Riho Flavin. I’m a new cadet this year.”

“If you’re so sure, you must have proof.”

Proof…was the one thing she didn’t have.

This was all conjecture; guesses based on circumstantial evidence. And she wasn’t even sure what they were really after.

When Riho hesitated, Selen stepped in.

“Your Majesty, I’m Selen Hemein, another cadet! Riho may look like a bandit, but deep down, she’s really nice! She would never suggest canceling the match without good reason! Would you at least hear her out?”

“…Riho…is a good girl.”

This show of support left Riho misty-eyed.

“Y-you haven’t even heard what I’ve got to say yet,” she stammered.

“Don’t need to.”

“…Uh-huh.”

“Geez…” Riho shook her head but clearly felt much better. She turned back to the king, grinning once again.

“Proof and reasoning are hard to explain here—it involves stuff from fairy tales, and some urban legends about a man going around asking people what they see him as.”

Riho bowed her head. Selen and Phyllo bowed theirs, too.

“Urban legends?” Chrome repeated. He remembered something Merthophan had mentioned back in Kunlun.

About a man who’d said that same thing, and the demon lord’s appearance that had resulted from it.

“Chrome, should I believe these girls?” the king asked.

Chrome scratched his cheeks. “…I trust all three of them,” he offered. “They’re good students, and I’m proud of them. And…”

“And what?”

“Your Majesty, they’re all friends with Princess Maria, too.”

“You should have said that first! To hell with this meeting! What’s going on here? Tell me all the details, and if you could give some updates on what Maria’s been up to…”

“““…………………”””

Instant trust.

They’d entirely forgotten Marie was really the princess. That made this whole conversation seem like a farce, and for a moment, they were all at a loss for words.

“Man, you should have started with that,” Mena said. “I was enjoying the show myself—only reason I didn’t say anything!”

“Also, I’m your immediate supervisor—you probably should have run this by me first,” Chrome growled. “Going straight to the king with it? Are you trying to give me an ulcer? I have a hunch you know what you’re talking about, so I backed you up, but don’t expect that again.”

“““…………”””

Perhaps all of them should have been clearer from the start. It would have saved a lot of trouble.

The king himself had utter faith in any friend of his daughter’s.

“You know, all of this seemed odd from the get-go!” he exclaimed. “The Jiou emissary was a very strange man, and the emperor refuses to come out of his room—if he’s fake, that explains it! But if we cancel the match outright, it’ll give them a diplomatic advantage… We might be better off letting them make their play.”

He was a little too committed to this, already entirely convinced the Jiou emperor was fake. However, it did seem like he’d already had suspicions.

“This is hardly the place for this discussion. Let’s repair to a meeting room, have some tea, and go over it in detail.”

The king turned dramatically, leading the way.

“Hopefully this means we can at least avoid the worst outcome…,” Riho muttered.

They were up against an enigmatic mystery man and his pet monster—and without Alka or Lloyd.

However, Riho wasn’t frightened by that prospect.

“Even if we ain’t as strong, we don’t know what we can do unless we try.”

She had a vivid image of a boy with a gentle smile, who always approached every fight like his greatest challenge—oblivious to his true power.

That evening, in a guest room in the castle in Azami…the Jiou emperor was relaxing with his attendant. They were, in fact, Sou and Shouma, in disguise.

Neither spared a thought to their ruse being discovered. Perhaps they simply didn’t think it would matter if it was.

Shouma took a sip of tea and grimaced. “So bitter! I got carried away and put too many tea leaves in. Seems like good stuff, and it’s free, so…who wouldn’t?”

Not one to ever regret an action.

“Oh? Is it bad?” Sou asked, taking a sip. It seemed like he could detect neither flavor nor temperature.

“It’s not undrinkable, but definitely not good. I bet there’s a better way to brew it.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Mm? We said we weren’t feeling well, and they shouldn’t send us any food… Maybe they just couldn’t give it up? Such passion!”

His machine-gun volley of words was interrupted by a voice outside the door.

“It’s me,” said the girl in the white lab coat—Eug.

“Oh, Eug! Is it safe to assume your plan succeeded? You’ve got the chief trapped in Kunlun? Such passion! Even the priestess of salvation—”

“Is this going to go on awhile?” Eug said, interrupting Shouma again. “If it is, I might just make you give it back.”

“Oh, don’t be like that!” Shouma cried, dejected.

Sou gazed at Eug, his expression—well, it was difficult to tell if he was smiling or not.

“Doctor, your results?”

“It went well! As you can see, Vritra’s sealed away. Alka’s power drastically reduced.”

“Ah! Splendid. I can avoid getting punched in the belly this time.”

Sou was a man of few expressions, but this time, he visibly winced, rubbing his stomach.

“If you’re grimacing, it must have really hurt!”

“It totally did, Dr. Eug! Sou was so sure he’d won, he totally let his guard down, and the chief unleashed one hell of a right hook square in his guts!”

“I never imagined Vritra’s skin would be so close by…or transformed into a belt.”

While they discussed their failures, Eug settled down on the couch.

“Well, Vritra himself is sealed,” she said, highly confident. “And I closed the gate to Kunlun. No mishaps here.”

She tossed the glowing egg from one hand to the other, grinning.

“See?” Shouma exclaimed, slapping Sou’s shoulder. “Even when Grandpa Pyrid was young, it took him two days to get here from Kunlun! We’ve got plenty of time.”

Sou’s expression didn’t change. He spoke as if questioning himself. “Obtain the Holy Sword, unleash the demon lords, and have the Jiou Empire conquer the world… All to achieve my heart’s desire.”

Eug leaned forward, her eyes offering a challenge.

“With the world in chaos, to survive the threat of the demon lords, they’ll accept the unknown powers I offer without question. It’ll go fast. Electricity, gas, running water, the Internet… It should only take three hundred years to get us back to the good times. And we’ve gotta make it happen.”

“Whatever that means, I love it!” Shouma shouted. “Come on, come, come on! Bring the passion! Passion!”

Eug looked annoyed, but he said, “I left Lloyd behind, too. You know, just in case.”

“Oh! I thought I’d get to see him again. Shame!”

“Yes—I would have liked to meet him again myself.”

Both looked rather dejected. This aroused Eug’s curiosity.

“What about that boy has you both so worked up?”

“He will be the hero of the coming age,” Sou started quietly. “He will free me from my bonds, in my stead.”

“I don’t care what happens long as Lloyd becomes a hero and is lauded for it! After all, he’s—”

Eug interrupted Shouma’s volley of words again. “Is that a long story? I’ve got far more important matters to discuss.”

“Aww. Well, I’ll tell you later, then. So? What do you wanna talk about?”

Eug pointed to the corner of the room, where Micona, transformed, sat like a puppet with no strings.

“Is that thing doing all right?”

“She’s fine, totally fine.” Shouma grinned. “Just a bit of shock from her loss to Lloyd last time—hasn’t uttered a word since.”

“That…sounds like the opposite of fine.”

“It’s made her far more obedient. And if she proves less than useful, we have plenty of replacements.”

“Well, I’ll take your word for it. I’m all brains, but physically, nothing more than ordinary—don’t you two forget that.”

Eug took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She blinked rapidly, like she’d just woken up.

“It all happens tomorrow. Bring your best.”

Sou nodded, not batting an eye. “I am aware. Let us be thoroughly evil.”

Deep in a dark pit…Alka was hugging her knees to her chest like a little kid, disconsolate.

“…It’s all my fault. If only I’d been nicer to Eug, helped out—nothing like this would have happened.”

In the gloom, her memories turned to the past—the distant past.

Alka had been a researcher, working toward a grand goal.

Working under her was a friendly girl, Lena Eug…a pushy personality, always a perfectionist.

She never feared failures on the road to success, but sometimes that could go too far and get her criticized.

“If I pitched in and helped her now, that might increase the odds of her succeeding… Logically speaking, that might be my best option.”

If it went well, she might not have to leave the villagers or Lloyd, but Alka sighed, burying her face in her knees.

“So why can’t I bring myself to help?”

She glared balefully up at the closed door high above her.

“Azami and Jiou hold their exhibition match tomorrow… We only got a day to act. Unless someone finds me soon, we’ve got no chance.”

This was on the outskirts of town—in one of the countless horned rabbit burrows.

Even the villagers never came here without good reason.

“Miracles don’t happen every day.” Alka sighed. “Oh, the irony of an ex-scientist praying for a miracle…”

She laughed, mocking her own stupidity.

Rumble.

“Huh? Chief! There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere!”

“Meep!” Alka squeaked, snot flying.

Lloyd had just…popped in the stone door as if he were poking his head over the saloon doors, going, “Ya open?”

“What are you doing, Chief? I know you’re weak right now, so don’t go wandering off!”

“Lloyd! H-how did you—?”

“Mm? Eug said to go look for you, so…?”

Alka knew perfectly well that had just been Eug’s excuse to keep Lloyd in Kunlun, so she wanted to know how he’d found her so fast.

When she just gaped up at him in astonishment, he explained.

“Only one of the horned rabbit burrows was sealed, so I thought maybe you’d gotten locked in here somehow.”

“Um…that’s it? I can’t believe you noticed.”

“Yes, well…I mean…” Lloyd looked embarrassed. “I’ve got a lot of memories of this place.”

“You do? Here?” Alka looked puzzled. Lloyd was looking even more uncomfortable.

“When I was a kid, I was playing here and fell in a hole. And I couldn’t get out, remember? I was crying and everything. But you came and saved me.”

“Oh, that’s right! You weren’t back by dinner, and the whole village went out looking for you. I remember.”

That really brought her back.

Pyrid had given him a thorough scolding, and Lloyd had finally started to take his training seriously…

Lloyd nodded, stroking the rock walls, lost in the recollection himself.

“So this was the first place I checked. I knew you were weakened, so when you vanished, I thought you might be stuck here.”

“That explains it.”

“Heh-heh, we really swapped places, huh?”

He held out his hand, and Alka took it, her cheeks turning red.

She tried to cover it. “You said you’ve got a lot of memories in here…” He’d been bawling his eyes out. “You sure it isn’t just trauma?”

“No, they’re good memories now,” he assured her, grinning.

Alka blinked at him, surprised.

“I was so weak back then. But this is where I decided I had to get stronger. That’s why it’s a good memory—my origin story.”

“Your origin?”

“Yes. I always admired the soldier in that novel. And this is where I decided I didn’t want to let that end at admiration. I wanted to make him my goal in life. No matter what happens, I remember how I was weak and sobbing down here—and think, I’ve gotta try harder.”

He turned back to Alka, looking sheepish.

“Ah-ha-ha, big talk, I know. I’m still so weak. I wouldn’t even be a soldier if it weren’t for Allan. I’ve got a lot more work to do.”

Then he grinned, scratching his cheek.

The purity of Lloyd’s feelings hit Alka like a bolt from the blue.

He’s…strong. Far more so than I’ve ever been.

Like that, she realized exactly why she didn’t want to help Eug. And that realization made her laugh out loud.

“Pfft…ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

“Er, Chief?”

“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! I finally figured it out! That’s why I didn’t wanna help her! That’s why I was fretting about it!”

Eug couldn’t let it end in failure. She couldn’t admit her own weakness.

Alka realized that no matter how many centuries passed, Eug would still be a sore loser.

She’d said she was confident. Said the odds were on her side. Yet…

“Even if it does go well and you can control that power, it’ll eventually lead to the same fatal error if you don’t seriously reflect on yourself.”

Lloyd was totally lost, but Alka was still doubled over, laughing.

“Eug, you’ve already lost this fight. If you can’t face your own failures and accept them, you’ll never find real success. It’ll never amount to anything but a tantalizing dream. Lloyd, you helped me figure that out. Helped stop me from repeating the mistakes of the past.”

She gave Lloyd a big hug, like a sister.

“Whoa, Chief! Uh…what’s that for?”

Alka held on to him a bit longer, then got to her feet, a gleam in her eye.

“Mm, I think the world is better like it is. Why change it when we’re having so much fun?! The world can develop at its own pace, and if it does…then we can try to control that device again.”

He had no idea what any of that meant, and the hug had left him with a tinge of embarrassment, but then he remembered he had something to tell her.

“Oh, right! Chief! Bad news. While we were looking for you, the passage to Azami got shut off somehow! We’re stuck here.”

“Mm, I figured as much… Dammit, Eug.”

“Did Eug do that intentionally? Oh no…I need to get back to Azami right away…”

“Mm? Why?”

“Well, I promised Allan I’d be there for his match. I’ve gotta get to Azami by tomorrow…”

“Ah…that’s my Lloyd.”

He always put others before himself.

Lloyd’s unwavering purity was almost blinding. Alka dusted herself off and climbed up on his back.

“Er, Chief?”

“We can’t waste all day in this pit! Let’s go consult the others. Come on, get moving!”

She slapped him on the shoulder.

All trace of hesitation was gone.

A few minutes later, they were back in Kunlun.

The villagers were gathered in the same hall they used for parties.

Lloyd had just finished asking for their help. “Any ideas?”

“So…,” Grandpa Pyrid said, stroking his chin. “She ditched you here and closed the path behind her, and the chief’s teleport spell isn’t an option, but you need to get back as fast as you can.”

“I promised I’d be there for Allan’s match,” Lloyd said, quite worked up.

“Huh…,” a village youth mumbled, scratching his head. “Then you shouldn’t have stayed behind! This is the dude who got you enlisted in the first place, right?”

Lloyd grimaced but soon met the youth’s gaze.

“Yeah, this was my blunder. And that’s exactly why I want to correct it.”

“That’s more like it!” the youth cried, grinning. “You used to let stuff like that get you down.”

“Then don’t bring it up!” Alka snapped. “Lloyd, he’s been worried about you ever since you left.”

“Hey! Don’t tell him that!”

Everyone chuckled.

“Ha-ha-ha! Don’t listen to him, Lloyd!” The woodcutter was leaning against the wall, laughing. “This is the chief’s fault for losing her powers and falling in a pit.”

“Hngg… Dammit, Eug! You’ve tarnished my reputation!”

Her reputation was in tatters to begin with, so this hadn’t really affected it much.

“Lloyd owes this boy?” Pyrid asked, thinking hard. “And it needs to be done by tomorrow evening… We only have a day.”

“Running that distance took you two days even when you were young, right, Grandpa? Lloyd, how long did it take you the first time you went to Azami?”

“S-six days. I mean, I did take a few detours to investigate a few things, but…”

“Well, that rules that option out. If only you could fly like the chief! It would only take you, like, twelve hours.”

“Hngg…learning that rune is easier said than done. That alone would take more than a few days.”

“We’ve got the mountain-climbing cannon! If we up the power…”

“Still wouldn’t cover more than half the distance.”

“If it took six days with detours…then maybe three without?”

“It took me two days when I was a young man, but if you ignore mountains and rivers and just cut straight through, you could get there faster…”

Everyone was racking their brains…but most of the ideas were pretty crazy. Lloyd was listening closely to everything, his expression very serious.

He was the weakest one here. What could he actually do?

“Max output on the cannon is about a third of the distance to Azami. Avoiding detours, I can get there twice as fast…if I could soar through the sky—and go as the crow flies to head straight to Azami…”

“Lloyd?”

Lloyd was muttering to himself, like he was meditating.

Then he jumped to his feet.

“…I got it! I can get to Azami in a day!”

“Oh?”

“—Maybe.”

Lloyd’s dip in confidence caused a new round of laughter.

“Maybe, he says!”

“I’m not sure…but it’s worth a shot! I mean, as weak as I am, I am a soldier now!”

“Exactly! Getting to Azami in a day is way easier than a wimp like you enlisting!”

“Still, Lloyd, what exactly is your plan?” Alka asked, concerned.

Lloyd grinned at her.

“All of them!”

“Huh?”

“I’m gonna use all your ideas!”

The human cannon was set up in the center of the village.

By chanting an explosive spell at the magic stone, it could generate enough power to send someone to the mountain peak, a one-way ropeless ropeway found nowhere else in the world. Not much different from bungee jumping without the bungee cord.

The villagers were raising the cannon’s muzzle to the sky. A much higher angle than they used to hit the mountains.

“That should do it… That’s the way to Azami, right, Grandpa?”

“The stars are there, and the moon is…mm, perfect.”

Once Pyrid had confirmed it, Lloyd clambered inside.

“I know it’s a big ask, but thanks for all your help with this!” he said, looking around.

“Ah, don’t worry about it!”

“Lloyd, like I said earlier, when you get to Azami, find Eug at the exhibition match, and smash the egg she’s got Vritra trapped inside.”

“Will do!” Lloyd replied, looking grave. “I still can’t believe Eug would do this…”

“Mm. Give her a good scolding for me! But once the egg cracks, I’ll be right along to do the same thing myself.”

Lloyd nodded once more and looked up at the sky.

“I can do this… The cannon will take me a third of the way; then I can use my Aero spell to fly until I run out of magic. And when that happens, I’ll run the rest of the way! No detours, no breaks, just going as fast as I can!”

Seeing Lloyd looking determined, Grandpa Pyrid stepped over.

“You ready? Give ’em hell, Lloyd!”

“Will do, Grandpa!”

Lloyd tucked his head down into the cannon. Truly, it was quite the visual.

There was a huge cluster of magic stones at the cannon base. The entire village was pouring magic into them… The cannon itself was turning red like never before.

“We’re counting on you, Lloyd! If Sou and Shouma are involved…you’ve got a better shot than Pyrid or any of the other villagers.”

“Huh? Chief? Did you say something?”

“No, never mind. Off you go, my darling!”

“Leave it to me! Do it!”

Ka-booooooooooooooooom.

No sooner had Lloyd said the word than he was rocketing toward the night sky.

“A six-day distance, but the cannon turns it into four!”

Lloyd’s whole body was aching, and this high above the clouds, he could barely breathe.

“And using Aero to fly will halve that time again! Aero!”

Lloyd fired a wind spell behind him. Gale-force winds sliced through the clouds, and the mountains below were suddenly bathed in moonlight. The sudden light woke sleeping birds, who were startled by the rush of winds and took off from their perches.

“Aero! Aero! Aero! Aero!”

Lloyd could see the sky brightening ahead of him along the curve of the horizon. He was flying barely inside the atmosphere.

Far to the east, the sun began to rise.

“What a beautiful sunrise!”

Well, he was in the upper atmosphere.

Lloyd couldn’t stop to admire the view. He kept his focus, casting Aero again and again.

—Seven hours later.

He’d been losing altitude for a while, his chants no longer effective. He adjusted his trajectory, heading for a canal.

A lookout on a boat below saw something that definitely wasn’t a bird flying toward him, and he raised his telescope.

“A girl just fell from the sky, Captain!” he squawked.

“Don’t be an idiot! That ain’t possible! Look again!”

“Sorry, you’re right! It’s actually a boy!”

“The gender ain’t the issue! You ain’t gonna see a human fall out of the sky! Gimme that!”

The captain grabbed the telescope from him, saw Lloyd, and immediately looked grim.

“Sorry. That is a boy.”

“Right?!”

Splashhh…

An instant later, the boy fell from the air, landing in the canal with a massive splash.

The impact was so hard that every ship in the canal was rocked around.

“Man! Brace for impact!”

At last, the waves subsided. The captain made sure his ship was intact, then peered over the rail, afraid of what he might see.

“What was that… Was that really a boy?” he muttered.

Bubbles rose to the water’s surface…and a moment later, Lloyd came rocketing out of the canal.

““AAAAAAAAH!””

The captain and the lookout shrieked, throwing their arms around each other. Lloyd landed on deck, and all eyes clapped to him in utter terror.

Dripping, Lloyd saw them looking and came over.

“Um…”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry I was ever born!”

“I’ll do anything! Just spare my life!”

He was briefly flummoxed by this display but remembered his mission.

“Er, where am I?” he asked.

“Th-the canal near the Rokujou border!”

“Yes!” Lloyd cried, pumping his fist. He caught his breath and gave himself a shake.

His wet clothes were instantly dry. Neither of the crew could believe their eyes.

“Thanks! I’ll be on my way…”

“S-sure…”

“Oh, right.”

“Eep! Spare us!”

“You shouldn’t say you’ll do anything so easily. What if I was a bad guy?”

“Uh…sorry?”

“Someone I respect gave me that advice. Ack, I don’t have time for this!”

Lloyd did a couple of light stretches, then bent his knees, getting ready to jump.

“I’ve got the distance down to two days! I’ve just gotta cover those…with guts!”

He jumped from the ship’s deck to the far shore and was gone like the wind.

The force of his leap left the ship rocking once again. The crew stared after him, gaping.

After a long time, the captain said, “That’s…the boy from the legend.”

“The legend?”

“Yes…you heard about how the canal had dried up, but it suddenly started raining? People from other ships said it was a strange boy that made it rain. The same one that cleared the landslide blocking the road. They say he brings fortune to all who meet him.”

“Captain, then…?”

“Yeah—I’m hitting the tracks the moment we get back! Betting my entire wages!”

He put his hands together as if offering up a prayer.

The sun beat down from above.

In the waiting room at Maria Stadium…Allan had finished his warm-up exercises and was sitting in a chair, arms folded.

There was a faint film of sweat on his brow, and he seemed to be meditating—but definitely didn’t look confident. That sweat was less from the workout than stress.

Nothing about this felt earned.

Not the dragon slayer title.

Not his friendship with all of Azami’s drag queens.

“Which isn’t even true!”

And now he had to demonstrate his combat skills in front of a huge crowd and the king himself. That itself wasn’t a big deal, but with the stakes raised so high, it could never live up to expectations no matter what he did.

“Arghh… It’s all a huge mistake!”

He let out a sigh like a writer right before the release of his new novel.

“What are you doing?”

“Augh! Learn to knock!”

“I did knock! You were too busy bellowing to hear!” Riho sighed.

Selen started whispering something to her. The looks Allan was getting were exactly those reserved for a new hire who couldn’t seem to handle the most basic of jobs.

“I knew Allan would be…whisper-whisper.”

“Yeah, he’s such a bad actor…whisper-whisper.”

The more they whispered, the more it hurt his feelings.

“What?! If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face!”

“I said good luck!”

“Liar! Then why whisper?!”

“We’re just shy.”

“Oh, we know that’s not true! Whoever heard of a shy stalker?!”

He looked like he was enjoying bickering with them.

Marie patted him on the shoulder. “Allan…”

“Miss Witch! Please, make them lay off! I’m nervous enough about this match! Yet they don’t try to cheer me up! No! They just try and rattle me even more!”

“Try not to die!”

“That’s the most nerve-wracking thing anyone’s said yet!”

As the girls left, Choline took their place. “C’mon, Allan!”

“Er? Oh, is it time?”

“Yup, you’re on. Let’s just hope Riho’s concerns are unfounded.”

“What concerns?”

“Mm? Oh, you know, just the usual dire portents.”

“I don’t know! Nobody told me! What am I walking into? This is just an exhibition match, right? Oh man, I wanna go home.”

Allan was dragged off toward the stage like a suspected criminal being escorted to a holding cell.

The crowd was really going wild.

The stands were packed, and Allan shuddered at the very sight—why such a turnout for a mere exhibition match?

“You said you were hoping for eighty percent capacity, but there’s not an empty seat in the house!”

The roar of the crowd hit him like a blow to the gut.

Their stares were like stabs.

Everyone was taking a measure of him—the rumored dragon slayer.

“…………”

Beyond that wave of cheers and stares…a hooded woman stood bolt upright on the stage.

Allan had only been told he was facing a Jiou warrior—her skills and fighting style were a mystery.

He could only identify a gender by the swelling at her chest.

“Well, whoever she is, I just gotta fight her.”

He hefted his ax and stepped on the stage, feeling himself growing calm.

Allan had won any number of combat tournaments before entering the military academy, so the familiarity helped him focus.

His mind clear, he looked around once more.

At the center of the stands was a balcony.

There sat the rulers of Azami and Jiou, guards at their sides, Chrome included.

If he looked further, he would likely spot his father, Threonine.

Allan decided to peel his eyes off the crowd, focusing his attention on his opponent. He couldn’t tell if she was looking at him or had even noticed he was there. She didn’t move at all.

“…I feel like we’ve already met…?”

The sensation nagged at the back of his mind for a moment, but it was soon driven out entirely. The Azami king had risen to his feet, using a magic stone to amplify his voice and address the crowd.

“Everyone! Thank you for waiting! To celebrate peace between Azami and Jiou, we have arranged an exhibition match!”

A bald man slowly stepped onstage. A ref…but he seemed rather burly for that. Allan blinked in surprise, recognizing him.

“Y-you’re…the hotel owner?”

“Coba. But today, I’ll be the referee. Good luck.”

“Th-thanks.”

Allan thought it was probably not very professional to have the ref rooting for him, but…

“…………”

He was more worried about how unresponsive his opponent was. He tried to get a look under that hood.

“Is there something on her face? Like…armor, or…?”

That would explain why she was standing so stiff. The hood must have been there to disguise the armor—likely aiming for a counter… Allan had fought enough people to be familiar with the tactic.

“A lot less creepy if you know why, huh? If I can knock her out in one hit, that oughta hide my real skills pretty well.”

Even in sturdy armor, if he scored a clean hit to the temple, the impact would give her a concussion.

Winning on the first stroke would prevent anyone from realizing he was no dragon slayer. Allan adjusted his grip on his ax.

End this in one!

“Let the match…begin!”

Coba dropped his hand, and the bell in the corner of the ring clanged.

The crowd roared.

Without a trace of fear, Allan launched himself forward.

“Sorry, lady! This battle’s already done!”

People moved slowly in armor; a swift strike was the path to victory.

Before Allan could take a second step, the hooded woman vanished without a sound.

His swing’s target lost, Allan reeled. “Whoa!”

A shadow appeared above him.

Without a moment for him to process what was happening, the hooded woman’s foot dug into his face.

“Bah!”

But Allan was nothing if not tough. He endured, grabbing her ankle…and slamming her onto her back.

There was a thud, and the stage cracked.

“Too hard?”

He was only worried for an instant. She darted back, movements so nimble, he could hardly believe it was the same person.

“What this hell is this? Some sort of custom armor?”

When he’d grabbed her ankle, it had felt springy, like rubber.

On guard, he tried to get a better look at her gear.

Under that hood, he saw…

“Our…military…uniform?”

“Why is a Jiou warrior wearing that?” a voice called from offstage.

“Micona!”

It was one of the older cadets, working security.

“Huh? Micona’s from Azami… Why is she fighting for Jiou?”

The hood slid off, and her hideous visage was revealed—Micona was covered in tree roots and a locust’s shell.

“What’s happening?”

On the balcony seats, the king of Azami calmly addressed the Jiou emperor—Sou.

“She appears to be from Azami,” the king observed.

“I’m afraid I was keeping that secret,” Sou said, his voice completely guilt-free. “I have a proposal. Will you join forces with Jiou?”

“You mean…more than our current peace entails?”

“Yes—this would be a formal alliance. With the goal of world conquest.”

Sou sounded like he was a merchant offering up a deal.

Chrome and the king both got the same impression. They listened carefully.

“Circumstances led this Azami soldier to place herself under me. I have the ability to bring out the latent strength in anyone, be they soldier, civilian, or criminal. I can turn anyone into an obedient weapon.”

“A weapon?! She’s a human being! My student!” Chrome raged. He stepped toward Sou.

Shouma put a hand up, stopping him. “Love the passion! But you don’t want to interrupt this conversation.”

“Hngg…I knew you were hiding your skill.”

A bead of sweat ran down Chrome’s brow.

“Ah, you did notice! Good for you. Make another move, and you’ll be outta here.”

Sou paid them no attention. His expression never changed.

“The change to their physical capabilities is merely the beginning. To that, I’ve added the power of the treant—which allows them to siphon their foes’ strength. And the sturdy shell comes from Abaddon—I believe you know personally how formidable the locust’s power can be.”

“Mm, thanks to that demon lord, I spent five years hurting my kingdom and daughter. Not fond memories.”

“You can make that power your own, to use at your will. With the combined economic might of our two countries, we can have the entire world in the palms of our hands, not just the continent. What do you say?”

Sou spoke pleasantly, like a clerk explaining the benefits of a product.

The king heard him out and, without a trace of fear, replied, “No, thank you.”

“I thought as much,” Sou said as if it was a foregone conclusion.

“I aim to be a ruler beloved by his people. I must avoid conflict, or no one will come to my meet-and-greets.”

“Meet-and-greets?” Sou asked, baffled. As well he might be—the king had read some strange business book and swallowed it whole.

The king did a magnificent job of ignoring Sou’s reaction.

“And if I went to war, I’d never speak to my daughter again. A week or two is bad enough!”

“…I remain curious why a monarch would be holding meet-and-greets, but I knew when we first met that you were a good man.”

Sou held a hand up in front of the king’s eyes—a hand wreathed with some sinister power.

The king remained unmoved.

His eyes gleamed with unwavering resolve. A blade at his throat or a gun pointed his way would be equally ineffective.

At length, Sou lowered his arm, losing the battle of wills.

“You’re not afraid?”

“Five years ago, when the demon lord took possession of me—I was prepared to die. The only thing I fear is becoming a ruler my daughter does not wish me to be.”

“That’s the answer I expected!” Shouma crowed. “Very passionate!”

“You are a king who values his people,” Sou praised. “In which case, I have an alternate proposal.”

He raised his hand again, signaling someone in the arena below.

“Negotiations failed, shifting to threats—just as Sou predicted. Hm.”

Slurping her sucker, Eug rose from her seat in the stands.

“What’s up, Eug? This is the good part!” Riho cried from behind her.

Shpp. Selen and Marie appeared on either side of her.

“……Hmm.”

The tension was palpable. Eug glanced at Riho and grinned.

“What’s so funny?”

“If you’d worked it out, you should have nabbed me sooner,” Eug said. She put her arms behind her back, smirking like your classic detective novel culprit, caught in the act.

“…I knew you were up to something. That’s why you left Lloyd and Alka behind…”

“Yup, I made sure they were stuck in Kunlun.”

“We’ve got a pretty good idea what you’re up to. You’ve teamed up with Sou to swipe the Holy Sword and release the Last Dungeon… Your plan beyond that is anyone’s guess, but we’re not about to let that happen.”

There was an audible pop, and Eug pulled the sucker out of her mouth.

“Good work! You’re on the money. But you finding out won’t change a thing. You don’t need me to tell you the difference between Alka, Lloyd, the Kunlun villagers…and you normal humans.”

“‘Normal humans’?” Marie snapped.

“That’s right, Princess,” Eug said. “If Alka and Lloyd hadn’t come along, your country would already have fallen. Without them here, you don’t stand a chance.”

“……Tch.”

Marie knew only too well how true that was.

Deep down, part of her was still expecting them to show up.

No use daydreaming.

Watching her words sink in, Eug let out a low chuckle. “Ha! Struck a nerve, huh? An ordinary person wielding a cypress stick doesn’t stand a chance against a pack of grizzlies. Sit yourselves back down, and watch this match play out.”

The dwarf acted like her victory was assured.

“Eug has a point,” Selen urged. An unexpected show of support. “We’ve been backed by Sir Lloyd this whole time.”

“S-Selen!” Riho yelped, turning on her. “Whose side are you on?”

“If Sir Lloyd hadn’t been there, I’d never have freed myself from the belt’s curse. I’d still be glaring balefully at the world from between those straps.”

Baleful glares remained a big part of her stalker repertoire, actually.

“That was weirdly normal. Did losing the belt make you sane?”

“Let! Me! Finish!” Selen snapped. “I don’t want Sir Lloyd carrying my weight. I want to be someone who stands right there with him. And if we want to earn that right, we’ve got to thwart your plans today, Eug.”

Riho had not seen this coming.

“Huh. Without the belt, you’re almost rational!”

“I am always rational,” Selen emphasized, smiling proudly.

Even Riho had to smile at that.

Phyllo and Marie were grinning, too.

“…I agree. Don’t knock the potential…of normal people.”

“There you have it! Kinda feel like Selen hogged all the cool to herself, but today’s the day we quit piggybacking!”

“…Phrasing.”

“Don’t interrupt me now, Phyllo! I knew it was a poor choice the moment it left my mouth.”

They were all their usual selves once more.

The smile faded from Eug’s lips at that sight.

“Well said…but nonetheless frustrating. How about I put it this way?”

Eug pulled out an egg—clearly not the same one she’d put Vritra in. She threw it high in the air above—and a huge swarm of giant locusts came flying out.

The girls all gasped.

“A-Abaddon’s locusts?!”

“Yup! Mass-produced the ones that the demon lord unleashed during the Foundation Day Festival. Whoops!”

The dials in Eug’s boots whirred into action.

She kicked the ground, landed on the back of a locust, and glanced over her shoulder.

“Right on! My physical abilities ain’t so good, but I make up for it with my inventions! You gotta be prepared for every eventuality. Hit ’em with a ‘Just as planned!’”

“First locusts, now super jumpy boots,” Riho grumbled. “This is gonna be rough.”

Eug was in full sermon mode now. “If you get suspicious, take action immediately, Riho. Take that as a little lesson in life.”

The locust turned its mandibles to them, preparing to attack.

“What the hell are those?!” Chrome roared, his eyes going wide as a swarm of bugs filled the arena.

“These locusts were Abaddon’s minions,” Sou explained, as if he were explaining the bonus in a package deal. “Their size is their sole asset, but their combat potential isn’t half bad. They are especially effective in situations where ordinary civilians can be counted on to panic.”

The locusts were lunging at the crowd, mandibles chattering, wings whirring, threatening all in the arena.

“I knew you were a good king and would refuse my offer. So consider this a threat. A king such as yourself will protect his people, yes? If you wish to see this audience leave here alive, you will do as you’re told.”

Surrender seemed the only option.

But the king’s resolve never wavered. His gaze remained fixed on the stands below.

“Take action immediately, huh?” Riho muttered to no one in particular.

On the locust above, Eug waved a hand triumphantly. “You may have wanted to smash this egg, but tough luck! Normal humans don’t stand a chance against these things.”

It was like an older kid playing keep-away with a younger one. Instead of getting angry, Riho…

“Heh-heh-heh.”

…Just started chuckling.

Eug must have assumed she was faking it, because her confidence never wavered.

“Laugh away!” she shouted grandly. “Bluffs aren’t gonna save you now.”

“Eug, what makes you think I haven’t already taken action?”

“Mm? Augh!”

Riho’s grin was sinister enough to send a chill down anyone’s spine. Eug stared at her, confused—and then there was someone behind her.

Smacking Eug’s locust with a lightning spell.

Legs smoking, the locust lost its balance, crashing headfirst into the ground below. Eug had to grab on tight to avoid being flung off. The desperate actions of someone entirely unprepared for this eventuality.

“F-fah! Fah! Wh-who are you?”

“Hi! I’m the self-produced devil!”

At the source of the lightning…emerging from the smoke cloud, a wicked grin on her face, was Rol Calcife.

“I gave you the mithril…”

“Yeah, I’m Rol, the one you tricked into aiding your horrible schemes. And I’m gonna pay you back for that. With interest.”

Eug frantically leaped to another locust. Once safely aboard, she seemed to collect herself.

“I see, I see—you’re how they figured out I was involved!” She was grinning again. “But you’re their only ringer? Too little, too late. We’ve got a whole crowd worth of hostages. You’re just gonna let all these helpless civilians fend for themselves?”

A logical argument.

“Heh-heh-heh, Rol’s definitely the only one here who would abandon a helpless civilian,” Riho said.

“And proud of it!”

“You really shouldn’t be…”

Eug frowned, rolling her lollipop over her tongue. She didn’t think they should be joking around here.

“…What are you up to?” she asked. “I don’t see any way you can possibly cover a crowd of this size.”

“For all your talk of perfection, you sure get stuck on preconceptions!” Marie argued behind Eug. It was her turn to act triumphant. “That reminds me of Alka! In a weird way.”

“I am nothing like her! Preconceptions?”

“………Evacuating a crowd this large would be hard. But…”

Phyllo slowly raised her arms, preparing for combat.

“……What if……………they weren’t just any old crowd?”

“Huh?” Eug blinked at her.

A moment later, Chrome’s bellow echoed through the arena.

“Everyone! Combat positions! Per your briefings, Jiou is invading!”

In response…the entire arena shook.

““““““““““““Aye-aye, sir!!!!!!!!!!!””””””””””””

“Er? Huh? Whaaat?”

Every single audience member had pulled out a weapon. Eug gaped at them like she’d received the shock of a lifetime.

No one would expect the audience to come armed.

Sou and the king were watching this unfold from up high.

This was why the king had remained unperturbed in the face of Sou’s threats.

“What is the meaning of this?” Sou asked, his voice betraying no emotion.

“I’m afraid it won’t be that easy. Not with my citizens…no…” The king grinned. “My army. And an assortment of adventurers.”

“Adven… You mean? Tch! All of them? You planned ahead!” Rattled, Shouma leaned over the rail, his gaze scanning the arena.

“Thankfully, we worked it out before tickets went on sale,” Chrome explained. “The expense was considerable…but seeing that look on your face makes it all worthwhile.”

“I love it!” Shouma cried, eyes sparkling. “Such passion! They’re all soldiers, mercenaries, and adventurers? Allan didn’t betray a hint of it, so I never suspected! What a marvelous actor!”

A silver-haired man stepped up from the back.

“We had a particularly bright cadet this year,” he said. “Perhaps she’s a bit too focused on money, but she’ll be a good soldier nonetheless.”

“I know you…”

It was Merthophan—dressed down in a shirt and canvas pants.

“You remember me, I gather? This is not our first meeting, merchant.”

“Oh…the patriotic soldier.”

Merthophan’s gaze never left Sou’s face. “Merthophan Dextro. Thanks to you, no longer a colonel. Now I grow wheat and onions. I’m thinking about branching out into tomatoes.”

Shouma waved a hand, frustrated by this irrelevant introduction.

“It’s certainly a passionate twist,” he said. “But you showing up alone isn’t gonna change a thing.”

Shouma was a Kunlun villager. He normally kept his true strength hidden, but now he let it fly—emitting pressure several times greater than Lloyd’s, and far more hostile.

“Guh…” Chrome swayed on his feet, feeling like he was teetering on the edge of a cliff. The king felt as if his very skin was bubbling.

“See? I wouldn’t lie to you. You’d best do as you’re told.”

However, Merthophan did not appear at all intimidated. He stepped toward Shouma with the utmost confidence.

“…You’re a bold one.”

“I’ve faced pressure like this on a daily basis for the last few months. It’ll take more than that to faze me, Shouma.”

“How do you know my name?” Shouma asked, rattled.

“I’ve heard stories,” Merthophan admitted.

That seemed to connect the dots.

“I heard a city guy was staying back home… Is that you?”

Merthophan smiled and reached behind his back—like he was going for a weapon.

“You said my appearance wouldn’t change anything. Well, I only know how to do one thing.”

Merthophan produced his weapon—a hoe, designed for fieldwork. “And that’s to plow!”

“Huh? A hoe?”

Shouma was thoroughly confused now. Who held up a farm tool and threatened to plow their foes?

“Chrome! Get the king to safety. Hahhhhh!”

Merthophan put his back into a powerful downward swing…of his hoe.

The impact demolished the balcony, sending Shouma and Sou flying through the air.

All three men fell several yards, landing upright with ease.

Merthophan pulled out a large sickle, as if he were preparing to harvest some rice. Checking the sharpness of the blade, he mumbled, “The villagers said there was a boy who grew bored with the country life and left Kunlun.”

“…Ooh… You were there… I thought those were some ominous farm tools,” Shouma said.

Merthophan put his tools down and began removing his clothes.

Shouma gaped at him, completely baffled. As well he should be.

“Shouma, I’m gonna teach you the joy of farmwork! Remind you how much better it is than your current misdeeds.”

Stripped down to his infamous neck towel and loincloth look, Merthophan hefted the hoe and sickle again. This was certainly a very striking image.

“Hang on! Why strip? Why a loincloth?!”

“The traditional fieldworker style! Shouma, I’m gonna make it so you won’t dare breathe a word against farmwork ever again!”

“But it sucks! Not as much as your fashion sense, but it really blows!”

Shouma spent most of his time riling everyone else up, but he was no match for the loincloth man. No one had ever seen him at such a loss.

Utterly ignoring the look on Shouma’s face, Merthophan tugged his loincloth higher, speaking with passion.

“And this thing where you use demon lords for nefarious purposes?! I am partially to blame for allowing myself to be possessed. My role in that was a disgrace! But right now, it’s your roots that need hoeing!”

“Your appearance is the real disgrace,” Sou muttered.

These words failed to put a damper on his mood.

“The splendor of farmwork! Let it be carved into your flesh! Prepare to get…cultivated!”

A farmhand’s roar.

“Sorry, man,” Shouma yelled. “But no ordinary human stands a chance against me!”

And just like that, he was inches from Merthophan. Where he’d stood, the ground had cracked.

This man was from Kunlun—and far stronger than Lloyd.

No ordinary mortal could lift a finger against him.

However, his opponent was Loincloth Merthophan—a man who’d fully adjusted to life in Kunlun.

“I’m gonna knock your head—”

“Rah! Hoe attack! Sickle strike!”

“Whoa?! That was close!”

Shouma barely dodged. One of them cut a gash in the clothes on his chest, just deep enough to draw blood.

How?! Shouma couldn’t conceal his shock, but he quickly figured it out.

“Wait, are those both god-class artifacts? And you’re dual wielding? That’s…not something an ordinary human can do.”

“Yeah, these tools were difficult to get to grips with. But I was atoning for my crimes, and the tools came to understand my love for the fields. This is farmwork, boy!”

“How is it farmwork?! In what possible way?!”

But Merthophan ignored Shouma’s shrieks, expounding on the qualities of his tools like an infomercial.

“This hoe’s blade was made from an ancient lithograph, repurposed as a farm tool. It speaks directly to the soul, divine guidance telling you where to strike to plow the fields easily.”

The lithograph affixed to the end of it was an artifact called the Tablet of Destinies. This item guaranteed the god who held it control of all things, but it was now in Merthophan’s hand, giving him control of the wheat fields. Even if it was the right size, using that artifact for the blade of a hoe was a bit nuts.

“And this sickle is the very blade used to behead a monster with snakes for hair. Perfect for shearing away unwanted weeds.”

It was the Adamas Sickle. A blade forged from Adamant, it had been used to behead Medusa herself—a creature that could turn foes to stone if they so much as looked at her. She would likely weep to be treated like a common weed.

Merthophan was done explaining. Shouma, take it away.

“Either one of those should be so powerful, just touching it knocks a normal human off their feet! How are you actually wielding them?! And don’t turn them into farm tools!”

“What nonsense… Time to break new ground and teach you the power of agriculture!”

Nothing Shouma said was at all wrong, but Merthophan dismissed it out of hand. Shouma shook his head. They understood each other’s words, yet no communication was happening—it was like talking to a drunk. Except this one was drunk on farmwork.

“Need a hand?” Sou asked. He was standing a few yards behind Shouma, arms folded.

Uncharacteristically grim, Shouma shook his head. “You stay out of this one, Sou. I’m starting to get pissed off.”

“Hmm.”

Shouma spun back toward Merthophan, fixing him with a glare.

“…You talk big, and I admire that passion. I got bored with country life? Please! It’s the world we live in that’s boring!”

He gritted his teeth, seething with a rage clearly directed as something else entirely.

Let’s take a look at the “passionate actor,” Allan.

“Huh? What? Invasion?!”

As you can see, he was basically a celebrity on a hidden camera show.

Nobody had told him anything, and he was left gaping at the arena in utter disbelief.

He was starting to recognize a lot of faces in what he’d thought was the audience.

Right next to him, Coba had pulled a mace out of…somewhere and was busy knocking a locust around with it.

“Come on, spring chicken! If you got time to flutter about, you’ve got time to fight! The realm’s under siege!”

“Siege?! Uh, Coba? You knew?!” Allan wailed.

With a mighty roar and a massive swing of his ax, a second man landed beside Coba.

Allan’s father, Threonine. He had made a beeline to the center of the fight, clearly not yet ready to cede the limelight to younger men.

He stood back-to-back with Coba, grinning at his son.

“I’m afraid everyone but you knew the truth. You’ve always been a rotten liar!”

“D-Dad! Argh…I’m the only one left out?!”

Threonine and Coba guffawed loudly. The incident at the hotel seemed to have cleared the air between them. Plus, it was no wonder they got along; they were both jocks at heart.

That was when Micona dove in, attacking Allan again. With that exterior shell, even her bare hand was viciously sharp.

Allan managed to raise his ax in time to block the blow to his chin.

The clang was deafening. His hands went numb. If he’d absorbed that head-on… He shuddered at the thought.

“Can’t really say you’re unarmed! Those hands are deadly weapons!”

Allan swung his ax, holding back nothing—but she had already darted out of reach. Those multicolored wings were letting her fly just above the surface.

“Hang on! Dammit, you and these locusts…”

Allan swung wildly, and his sloppiness cost him.

Micona saw her chance and rushed back in.

“…Crap!”

Just as her hand seemed about to drill into his side…

“Micona!”

Someone had called out to her offstage.

For the first time, a glimmer of an expression crossed her face.

A hail of attacks came at her—sword, spear, and arrow.

Her wings whirred, and she evaded them—barely.

Her eyes now locked on her classmates, clustered together, weapons raised.

“Thanks, guys!” Allan called.

“Allan, you mind if we take over this fight?” asked the beady-eyed cadet in front. “Micona, we’re sorry. We may have asked too much of you.”

Her lips twitched again.

“With Godspeed enhancing our abilities and supporting us…you made us all better. But we never even asked what you wanted, never wondered what might be troubling you.”

The thing troubling her was her crush on Marie, but Lloyd had stolen Marie’s heart, so…frankly, if she had shared, they’d have been at a total loss. That aside…

“For you to turn into this monstrous thing…and say you didn’t need us? Well, we’re to blame for pushing you that far.”

“I know you’ve pushed us away, but…we still believe that you’re our friend.”

“So we’re gonna defeat the new you and make you take us back!”

“We forgive you for attacking us! So relax, and tell us your problems!”

A touching exchange from the upperclassmen.

A single word escaped Micona’s hideous visage. “Sorry.”

And then she rocketed toward them.

They held their formation, bracing themselves.

“All units! Show Micona what her classmates can do! Prove we can be relied upon!”

“““Aye-aye!”””

He constantly talked about how boring the boonies were and how he was gonna leave one day.

That had been Shouma’s life.

The most restless kid in Kunlun, he was rarely at home—always out and about, always poking his nose into things.

Then he grew up. One day, he volunteered to head out of town to do some shopping.

His real purpose? Get out of the boonies.

The world out there was filled with amazing stuff Kunlun couldn’t offer.

He really believed that.

It seemed only natural to turn his shopping trip into an extended journey. Carrying his few possessions, Shouma walked on, farther and farther.

A few days into his travels, he rescued a wagon from some bandits.

When he saw it under attack, he got all fired up and jumped in to help without a second thought.

Knowing it might get him killed—but what actually happened seemed to mock those fears.

He just poked the bandits a bit, and they started weeping and apologizing.

It was ridiculous. Absurd. But they seemed to mean it. Shouma was baffled.

While he was scratching his head, a well-dressed young woman emerged from the wagon, eyes sparkling, and thanked him.

In return for saving her, she invited him to her mansion.

It was astonishingly large, with servants everywhere. The room she offered him was enormous.

Shouma felt like he hadn’t done anything to deserve this.

When he told her parents his goals—be an adventurer, go to school—they made all the arrangements.

A few days after leaving the village, he’d achieved everything he’d set out to accomplish. He tried to dismiss this as a stroke of luck, but deep down, it didn’t sit well—like indigestion.

The school he attended was top tier in every subject…and he was a hick, enrolled because someone had pulled some strings. He wasn’t welcomed with open arms.

And yet, he rather enjoyed that.

“Makes it a challenge! Makes me more passionate!”

This is where my adventure begins.

They’d clash at first but learn to trust each other, becoming real friends!

He threw himself into every subject and sport.

Truth be told, he never had to work very long to excel at something.

Nobody could keep up with him—not in studying, or athletic feats…or with the girl’s family backing him.

In a matter of days, kids in his grade or above, even the teachers—everyone was bowing their heads to him.

They were offering up needless praise, calling him a genius, a god reborn.

It felt like they were making fun of him: empty respect, friendship, love—

He was baffled. Of course he was. He hadn’t even started trying yet. If he’d put any kind of effort into it, maybe he could have accepted the results. As it was, Shouma didn’t feel like he’d accomplished anything. He felt no value in any of this.

He didn’t know squat compared to Chief Alka, but they had called him a genius. He couldn’t lift a finger against Grandpa Pyrid, but they had called him a living god. It began to creep him out.

And there was one boy who had it in for him.

Heir to a great house, he was engaged to the girl Shouma had saved.

While everyone else put Shouma on a pedestal, only this heir worked to undermine him, trying one dirty trick after another.

Shouma started to like him.

The heir was aware of his own weaknesses and flaws and used his head to compensate for them.

Jealousy was not the best motive, but Shouma started to respect him nonetheless.

But one day, it all stopped. The boy vanished completely.

He asked the girl he’d saved, and she said they’d eliminated his opposition—like she was expecting praise.

Shouma was furious. Why would she do that?

“He worked harder than anyone else here! How does he deserve this?!”

He realized the circle of people around him was claiming he had their backs, using him to their advantage. The night he first noticed that, he went back to Kunlun without a word to anyone.

He picked up the clothes and books the chief had asked for and brought them back home. However, the light in his eyes had gone out.

“The real world sucks.”

His passion was gone. The heat had died away. For a time, he lived quietly.

Then one day, he found a boy collapsed at the edge of town.

Lloyd. He’d gone up against the older kids, knowing full well he’d get beat to hell.

They’d sparred for a bit and left Lloyd lying limp. When he saw Shouma looking, he smiled and came running over.

“Shouma! Hi!”

Shouma asked Lloyd why he’d volunteered for a beating.

“Promise you’ll keep it secret?” Lloyd asked sheepishly. “You see…I really liked that book you brought back. I thought…I want to be a soldier someday. Promise not to tell anyone! If they find out, everyone will insist I can’t do it.”

The chief had just asked him to pick up some books. He’d grabbed the book about the soldier at random.

Now that book had given this boy a dream. That fact hit Shouma hard.

His leaving town hadn’t been for nothing.

That wasn’t the only thing. Lloyd knew he was the weakest kid in town, but he kept on trying—and that reminded him of the rival heir.

“I would…love to be…a hero like the soldier in that novel. Please don’t make fun of me.”

Shouma threw his arms around Lloyd. “Never! Love your passion, Lloyd!”

The light was back in his eyes.

At the same time, he was afraid—afraid that if Lloyd left town, the same fate would befall him.

Kunlun was where the superhumans lived. What was normal there was nothing like what was normal in the outside world.

People would fear Lloyd. And that might break him.

He might lose his way or feel like everything he did was futile.

Shouma didn’t want that. Lloyd’s gentle smile had given him hope, and he didn’t want to see it fade.

“Such passion…” Shouma felt like he had a new goal in life. He was delighted.

“Passion? Like the fruit? I don’t think we have any of those.”

“Oh, no, I mean… Lloyd, if you wanna be a hero, you’ve gotta work for it! I’ve been out in the real world. I should know!” Shouma clenched his fists, shaking his head.

“Oh? So city life was hard for you?” Lloyd looked spooked.

“Yeah! The world out there is filled with adventurers and monsters who seem ordinary, but they totally outclass me! Especially in the big city…”

The more Shouma told him, the more Lloyd wanted to see the city for himself—and the more off-base his ideas about it got.

Unaware of Shouma’s motivations, Lloyd listened to his mostly fabricated adventures, eyes glittering.

“Wow! The city sounds amazing! Gosh! Golly! I can’t wait to go!”

Shouma nodded with approval. Then he stood up, his mind decided.

“Love the passion! Keep it up! I’m gonna head out of town for a bit. Got things to do—you hang in there, Lloyd!”

“Will do, Shouma! Good luck!”

The future soldier waved his little hands until Shouma was out of sight.

I’ll make Lloyd a hero. That will be my great accomplishment. That will make me feel fulfilled.

He would help that boy earn real trust, respect, and glory.

“Right! I’ve just gotta give the world some peril! Lloyd only needs the right stage and actors! And monsters—no, demon lords!”

Shouma started working in the shadows.

He met Sou, then Eug—and that led him to this day.

Memories flooding through him, Shouma bit his lip, glaring at Merthophan.

“I finally have a purpose! Passion! So much passion! Goals! Lloyd lit a fire in my frozen heart! This world isn’t enough for a Kunlun villager! I’m gonna make his path perilous, so when he’s done, he’ll be glad he wanted to be a hero, glad he left Kunlun, and confident his efforts panned out! I’m gonna make it so the world will love him for saving it, and that can’t happen if it isn’t seriously in danger! I won’t ever let him feel like I did!”

“I don’t follow…but I get that you’re passionate about it.”

Merthophan adjusted his wedgie. Man, he was the worst.

“Fighting words, loincloth man!”

“You mean, traditional farm wear.”

“I seriously don’t get you at all, but I ain’t backin’ down here!”

“Then I’ll respond with my passion for farming! Come at me!”

With that, Shouma pounced—moving too fast for the mortal eye to see.

Aiming a karate chop at Merthophan’s head, his hand swinging so fast, it sent shock waves through the air.

Merthophan looked right at it, raising his hoe.

“You can see this?”

“Farmers have good eyes!”

More accurately, you wouldn’t last long in Kunlun unless you learned to track movements that fast, but if he thought it was just farmwork, let the man dream. Real farmers might be getting irritated at this misrepresentation, though.

“Passionate! Then how’s this?”

Shouma jumped backward, unleashing a fire spell.

A massive fireball, so hot it would incinerate anything in its wake.

Merthophan fended this off as well. A single swing of his scythe extinguished the flames.

The way he smugly adjusted the tuck of his loincloth was a far cry from sexy.

“This is the power of agriculture! Adjust your loincloth, and try again!” the former colonel barked.

“Nah, it’s the power of those artifacts. Man, you’re as bad as any of the villagers…”

The disjointed conversation was really sucking the wind out of his sails. Shouma didn’t seem sure how to attack next.

There was an awkward pause.

Then Sou stepped up behind Merthophan.

“You appear to be struggling… This is no time to stand on principle.”

“Sou!” Shouma said, but failed to summon the will to stop him.

Sou was now inches from the loincloth man.

“Merthophan, was it? What do I look like to you?”

“Hmm. You were a merchant last time, but now that I look closely, you’d look good holding a plow.”

A faint smile appeared on Sou’s lips. “You’re admirably consistent… When we first met, you were a Jiou-loathing Azami soldier and war hawk. Now you’re a Kunlun farmer. Once you set your mind to a thing, you never waver from it. I admire—”

Before Sou could finish, Merthophan’s hoe and scythe swung toward him.

“You’re wide open!”

“Whoops.”

And with that yelp…the scythe sliced Sou in two. He didn’t even attempt to dodge.

“…Had we met under other circumstances, I’d have happily taught you how to farm. But as a former soldier of Azami, I cannot allow you to continue your schemes.”

The two halves of Sou rolled in different directions. Merthophan looked mournfully down at them.

“I see,” Sou stated, his voice entirely unchanged. “I’ll have you teach me next time.”

“Wh-what?”

Shocked, Merthophan realized there was not a drop of blood on the ground.

He stepped back, on guard…and the upper half of Sou pulled itself over to the lower half. The two halves rejoined.

Sou was whole again. Even his clothing showed no signs of any damage.

“Wh-who are you? Are you even human?”

“Technically, yes. But the circumstances of my birth were unusual…in simple terms…”

Sou dusted himself off.

“I am the hero, Sou. A runeman composed of many elements—including ‘hero,’ ‘human,’ and ‘immortal.’”

Sou sounded sad, yet happy to be heard—his face looking ready to cry, yet smiling.

“Runes…more ancient wisdom?”

“You’ve heard of them? That makes this easy. Long ago, during the age of chaos, Alka fashioned me from runes, so that I might provide a ray of hope to guide mankind.”

“Uh…”

“I was meant to vanish when the world was saved. But I did not die. A distorted version of my story remained, passed down through generations, binding me to this world, yet with no clear shape. Bound to the concept of ‘hero’ and unable to change.”

This was all so outlandish, it made the mind reel, but the way Sou spoke, it was oddly comforting. Merthophan listened in silence. Was this a by-product of being a runeman?

“As time passed, my presence grew less clear. I became unstable—different people saw me as different things. I can feel pain, but cannot die—a hell without end that one could not begin to call a life.”

“If this is all true, then you’re the hero who saved the world. Why do this now?”

“Because I wish for an end to my existence. To that end, I decided to kill my maker, Alka, to become the opposite of a hero—to be the bad guy.”

He turned his gaze toward Eug, who was straddled on the back of a locust, fighting the girls. That glance seemed significant.

“In the process, I was reunited with Eug and met Shouma…and came to believe that if we made someone else the hero, and I became the root of all evil—I might be able to die.”

“And that someone would be Lloyd?” Merthophan asked.

Sou smiled faintly, scratching his head. “Perhaps I have said too much. I should do something evil soon.”

He held up a hand, advancing across the pavement in Merthophan’s direction.

“An unstable runeman can do many things. For example…touching you with my right hand can cause agonizing pain.”

Sou put his hand lightly on Merthophan’s left shoulder.

He let out a bloodcurdling scream and collapsed to his knees.

“Grahhhhhh! Wh-what the—?”

His weapons fell from his hands.

Sou calmly made his next attack, as if taking care of paperwork at the office.

“And if I touch you with my left, it will feel so heavy, you are no longer able to move.”

Merthophan was clutching his aching shoulder, and Sou put his hand lightly on top of that.

The hand slammed into the ground and did not move again.

“Guh…unh…”

“Finally, my fingertips… Yes, let’s say they can knock you back so hard, you’ll find yourself lodged in the wall.”

Sou tapped his head, and Merthophan went flying into the stands, like an umbrella caught by a gust of wind.

“…You sure are something,” Shouma praised him.

Sou shrugged and glanced at the clashes unfolding in every inch of Maria Stadium. His eyes surveyed the scene like an orchestra conductor.

“Enough playing around,” he said, almost as if he was enjoying this. “The Jiou Empire must take its first step toward unleashing the demon lords and shaking the world to its foundations.”

Eug had caught Sou’s look. Even as she fought the girls, she grinned.

“Looks like he’s done playing and ready for business, huh? Sheesh, took him long enough.”

She had her locust darting in all directions, the girls hot on her heels.

Rol was getting frustrated, unable to pin her target down.

“Stop moving! I can’t hit the egg like this!”

“Right,” Mena said. “Rol, piggyback time! You can carry, like, a hundred people, right?”

“No?! I just left my sickbed! I can’t even carry one! Stop being stupid and do your job!”

Mena just kept grinning. “Don’t worry. Their strongest fighters are tied up over there. Only a matter of time before we snatch this egg. I seriously didn’t expect the loincloth guy to be that good…”

Mena threw up a victory sign…jinxing herself.

“……Mena, look.”

“Mm? What, Phyllo?”

Phyllo pointed.

Eug was standing on the locust’s back, the lollipop no longer in her mouth. It was now resting on the palm of her hand.

“That was in your mouth!” Selen yelped. “You’ll make your hands all sticky!”

Was this any time to care about hygiene? Or manners?

“Oh,” Eug said. “This is a magic stone.”

“………It is………but what kind?”

Phyllo looked at Rol, who knew the most about these things. Rol frowned, staring up at it.

“Hng…no clue.”

“………Useless.”

“You’re not fit to call yourself headmaster of the Rokujou Sorcery Academy.”

The Quinone sisters’ withering evaluations left Rol spewing spittle. It had been a few volumes since an exchange like this one…

“Oh, shaddup! Headmasters don’t know everything!”

“It’s bad news, whatever it is,” Riho said, sounding concerned. “On your guard!”

“Oh, it’s nothing that bad!” Eug said. “I just don’t have much magic compared to Alka, so I keep a magic stone in my mouth to charge my reserves. Like a portable battery.”

“I…don’t know what that is…”

“You will someday! Look forward to it. Once the world has changed…”

Eug fished some sort of seedling out of her pocket, crumbled the magic stone, and scattered the pieces over it.

The fragments of the stone started glowing and were soon absorbed into the seedling.

“That’s…a treant!”

“Not just any treant! This is a special seedling, clipped from that girl.”

On that last phrase, she glanced at Micona.

As the seedling grew, it took human form.

The face itself was covered in an insectoid shell—too sinister to look human—but the figure took after Micona’s. The faithful reproduction of her bust size would certainly delight those with a fetish for that sort of thing.

Then Eug took more seedlings out of her pocket—ten more.

“Uh…”

“Copies of Micona…perfect wooden replicas. Every one as high-spec as the original.”

Eug snapped her fingers, and the Micona copies heaved themselves upright, as if they had strings attached. They all lunged at the girls.

Their speed might be zombielike, but their power was clearly a match for Micona’s own. Riho blocked a blow with her mithril arm but was flung backward anyway.

“Riho!” Marie yelled.

Watching Riho sail toward the stands, Eug grinned, flashing her canines. “How’s that for turned tables? Ready to wrap this up? Time you surrendered and handed over the Holy Sword.”

The Micona copies began mowing through the arena.