"Hahaha, and when he tried to eat me I tore his whole mouth open!"
It was nighttime in the territory's camp of adventurers and knights.
Jerome was sitting near a campfire with his comrades chatting merrily.
He was telling them how he fought seven man-eating worms and defeated them all.
Currently a reserve group was watching the enemy camp and the surrounding area to check if there were no enemies nearby.
The adventurers and knights who fought hard were exhausted and now relaxing.
Part of their relaxation was drinking and eating, the second was the cook serving them food.
"Everyone, please line up."
Yukihime wore an apron and served the food to everyone. Her honest and soothing smile filled them with happiness.
Even those who were blindfolded smiled at the sight of her.
It was a relaxing time until...
"Here comes!"
A man shouted from the far side.
A large cloud of smoke from an explosion occurred at that instant.
Jerome and the others were preparing to attack.
As they approached to see who their enemy was.
They were astonished.
"Only one?"
In that cloud of smoke, only one person was reflected.
He took a few steps forward and slowly his appearance could be seen.
Jerome and the others were astonished to see who their enemy was.
"You are─!"
◇◇◇
On the outskirts of Lautreamont territory, where the Estoria Kingdom's territory began, a castle was where some carriages entered.
They were enemy knights of the empire, which carried bags of food, water, and weapons onto the carriages.
Many carriages went in and out from time to time.
That castle was their secret base.
A few kilometers away was the enemy camp. Tents and torches were set up early in the morning.
The soldiers were intact but tired.
Wasn't it strange?
It was. But it was because of what they were doing.
"Get in at once..."
They were forcing the monsters that didn't go to battle and the ones that came back alive, into their cages.
Even if the monsters were forced to fight for the humans. They were under no obligation to do so once the effect of the flute wore off.
All the monsters that were small and medium-sized were caged, many of them were put in the cages together.
Others in solitary due to their aggressiveness and the biggest ones were lulled to sleep with food.
Estoria's kingdom did this thanks to its guests who gave their help.
They were in the castle.
The interior was a beautiful white decorated with precious ornaments and fine rugs. Even stuffed animals to make it more elegant.
In the dining room, at a large square table, two people were sitting at the ends eating a very luxurious dinner.
One of them was a very repulsive man. It wasn't because his appearance was that of a dwarf man with an excessive amount of fat on his body which showed on his plump neck.
It was because of how he ate.
A feast was on his side of the table.
The food was enough to feed an entire village.
He introduced meat, potatoes, and corn at the same time.
He would use the cutlery to cut the food and then eat it. The way he drank the wine was very unpleasant.
The man, with a bald head which glistened from the lights, had a little hair on the sides and was orange in color, his eyes were blue and a thin caterpillar mustache like moustache.
That repulsive man was not just any nobleman, much less from Estoria. He was one of the three great lords of the Ideal Empire, he was also one of the most important men, the archduke Taylor van Coleman.
The archduke was speaking to his company.
"Tell me again why Ganne did not come and you did?"
At the other end, swirling the wine in his golden glass, a man with very handsome facial features was enjoying his drink.
He was crossing his legs in a very feminine way, his armor was a beautiful black color which was adorned with bright colors to make it look sleek.
His wine red hair was tied in a small ponytail, his bright green eyes were looking tenderly at the contents of his glass, he was wiping the edges of his painted lips with his index finger which like his other nails was with nail polish and false nails.
That "man" was none other than the archduke's bodyguard, one of the four dark knights, Estarossa van Levin.
In an effeminate tone, no─ with the voice of a woman "he" was saying to him.
"My dear archduke, don't you remember? Ganne has been missing for months, that rascal must be somewhere, he has always been like that."
"I know. But there's Aldis and that man too."
Said the archduke as he wiped the grease sweating on his forehead.
Estarossa before answering took a sip from her cup and then spoke.
"Aldis won't come you should know he hates all of you, he only moves if the emperor orders him to and the same to "'that man'", he only moves if the emperor tells him to do so."
"You should be grateful you were available despite my very busy schedule, ufufu."
Taylor felt dislike towards Estarossa, it was because of his overly effeminate tone and behavior.
If he were a girl, he wouldn't mind her company.
He went back to eating after watching Estarossa file his false nails.
Not before remembering something.
"I forgot, did Estoria say anything about the payment yet?"
"I'm still waiting for the diplomats to tell me something, it seems the envoy to these lands is taking his time. Anyway, archduke, why did you accept a payment if you are rich?
In the Ideal Empire, each archduke is superior to all the nobles, being second only to the emperor.
Among the three, the archduke Taylor has the most money due to his under-the-table dealings.
The motto of the empire was "an ideal country to live in" but his actions were not worthy of that title.
Like the dark knights, the archdukes were enemies of Lily.
Among the three, Taylor was the first to appear since just like the game, he agreed to support a foreign country for money.
Estarossa was the one who found the demonic flute, the monsters were tamed by "him". So it was convenient to bring it despite his dislike.
At the same time, the flute was listed as a national treasure.
The event was going on just like in the game.
Estarossa stood up and went to the window.
He could see the camp from his position.
There, in that darkness, he stared at a sleeping creature.
"Of all the monsters, you are the most annoying little guy to train. You only listen to me because I told you we were going to a fun place, ufufufu, what a monster for more interesting."
Sleeping in a cell, a large creature was snoring. Surrounding it was a large pile of bones that were its food.
No one was going near that cell.
◇◇◇
Morning came.
The battlefield was in chaos.
Yukihime and the other non-combatants were taken by carriage straight to the margrave's mansion.
Many corpses of adventurers were lying around.
Jerome lay on the ground. He was trying to get up little by little.
"Damn... damn... what the hell is this guy?"
In a cloud of smoke that was slowly disappearing, a very tall man, over six feet tall, was clearing the debris from his armor.
It's armor was black as night, it looked like the starry sky itself. Likewise, it looked very scary.
His entire body with the exception of his head was covered by the armor. His hair was tousled and unruly, as were his menacing eyes, they were black.
With a scar in the middle of his nose and wickedly shaped eyebrows he looked at Jerome.
That man... was a knight of Estoria.
In Estoria Kingdom, knights go through rough training to become strong, if they can achieve accomplishments, they will become Earls, count of the frontier.
But this man is different. Since he...
"Why did the Black Hero come?
He was a hero.
To be declared a hero in Estoria, you must fight 1000 opponents in a row non-stop in the coliseum. Or bring back the head of an enemy general, this man did double both.
The reason he came to fight even though his comrades had never once set foot on the battlefield was unknown.
Wolfgang Fier Astray was his name, but because of how hard he was to remember, all the players called him Wolf.
Wolf pulled his sword out of the ground, that sword was black as the eyes of an animal, it reflected nothing but evil from its aura, but it was not a cursed or demonic sword.
It was a sacred sword.
And not just any sword, it was one of the seven sacred swords.
According to the lore of the game, the original sword belonged to the first sword saint and was destroyed in his struggle to unify the empire.
In the end, the remains of that sword were collected by the founders of the temple of the three gods.
Seven of them were made.
Of those seven, one of them is in the hands of this man.
How did this happen?
They were stolen centuries ago and then hidden by the same thieves, it was clearly to sell them, but their plan backfired and they were lost.
Wolf's sword was called Balmung, it allowed him to unleash his magical power to the fullest which was...
"You guys are a pain in the ass, I want to sleep and eat something, I'll end this this instant. Erdbeben."
A transparent glow ran through the sword which was trembling. Wolf's body was glowing as well.
He placed both hands on the sword and then on his back.
With a shout from his attack, he quickly swung it straight to the ground, but stopped inches away so that lightly the tip touched him.
In that split second. A massive earthquake controlled by the sword erupted.
The earth began to split in two and several terrains began to rise.
Jerome grabbed hold of one of them as did his allies.
It seemed that the earth would rise and then return to its original position.
Many soldiers were swallowed up by the earth.
Despite the fact that Jerome was strong, the Black Hero was on the same level as a sword saint. Not for nothing was he an enemy in the game that Jake had a hard time defeating despite not being a swordsman.
"Go away all of you quickly!"
Jerome shouted for his comrades to flee.
But at that moment, his hope came.
"It's very shameful of you to behave, guild master. Even if your enemy is strong, you should not consider retreat. It is a motto of the empire, it is not beautiful your decision."
Jerome seeing whose voice that was, made a bad expression.
"I don't want a freak like you telling me that. This guy is stronger than me."
"Hmph. We'll see about that."
Said the man with shining armor, fashionably coiffed hair and just like his eyes was light blue.
This man was Lucius Erzberger, a sword saint, and also a pay capture target.
Lucius gave Wolf a dirty look.
"You are not beautiful at all. Just look at that scar, allowing your body to be scarred is not beautiful at all."
Wolf looked at him and said.
"Who the hell is this freak?"
Lucius showed a blue streak at being called that.
With a graceful pose as he waved his white cloak he said.
"Let your ugly eardrums marvel at hearing the most beautiful thing in the world, my name, I am none other than─"
"I don't care."
Wolf quickly lunged to attack Lucius, he was faster than Jerome, but even Wolf himself was rendered speechless by what he saw.
Lucius' sword moved on its own and stopped his attack.
It was pulled out of its sheath and then held by a strange silver jelly coming out of Lucius' back.
Before he could ask what it was, he was pushed straight back hard.
(How did he do that?)
(No, more importantly, how the hell did he do that while closing his eyes and talking?)
"And that's my name, I hope you were amazed at such beauty of my origin... eh, why is my precious Hrunting out of its sheath? Did my beauty make you want to mirror me in it? Hahaha, no doubt you are the inheritance left by my ancestor, the second sword saint of the country."
Listening to him chatter, Wolf only paid attention to one word.
(He didn't do it? Did it move by itself? What the hell is going on here?)
Wolf didn't understand what happened, but he paid it no mind.
Wolf's sword began to glow.
"I don't care what it is, you won't interfere with my goal."
"Hmph. You are a very annoying enemy and not at all beautiful. No doubt the palace did the right thing by sending me here despite the fact that it should be my vacation. Very well! I'll finish you off in the name of the prestigious house─"
"Shut up already, you're irritable!"
"We agree on that!"
Shouted the empire soldiers as Lucius and Wolf clashed.
◇◇◇
At the same time, at the margrave's mansion.
Celestine was sneaking into her husband's personal room.
The lights were off and the curtains closed.
She removed a box larger than herself, and behind it was a safe.
She entered the password number, a magic circle was where she wrote the numbers.
If she misspelled even one, an alarm would sound.
Once the safe recognized the password, it barioted.
A large amount of bills was in there.
In a laundry bag, she stuffed some money, there were clothes inside so it was a perfect camouflage.
Then he proceedesd to close the safe and put the box in place.
Sneakily she left the room and there stood nearby a maid with a wheelbarrow.
"Here is this month's amount. Don't let anyone see you."
"Yes."
The maid took the laundry bag and placed it with the other bags.
Some of them had shiny objects in them.
Watching her go, Celestine murmured.
"All for the sake of my wish."
Without a doubt, the villainess was on the move.