"...How did you know?"
"It wasn't really me, it was the doc here..."
"The shape of your hands and your facial structure are a dead giveaway that
you're a girl. Not to mention your body was softer to the touch. Plus I have an
excellent ability to sniff out the lewd pheromones emanating from your special
spots!" Doctor Babylon... Proudly stated something completely weird and
abnormal. She was a degenerate. A goddamn off-the-wall degenerate.
Hilde cast an uneasy glance toward Babylon and then began speaking to
Listin.
"Tell me... Are you perhaps a body double for the real heir, then?"
"No. I am the second heir to the holy throne... Listin La Triharan. Though... My
real name is Listis Le Triharan." I wondered why she was projecting the image of
being male to other nations. That was odd.
Her two maids seemed to be aware of it, which made sense enough. If she
didn't want the word getting out, she'd need attendants willing to guard the
secret. That was probably why Doctor Babylon asked me to bring them along.
"My father, my mother, and my elder brother are the only others who know
I'm a girl... Ah, and Sir Zerorick, my teacher. His wife is also aware... She's
named Marr and is the royal physician. Ah, and these two maids are named Lala
and Lili." Her teacher? Guess that Zerorick guy might be the older guy who was
yelling earlier. I tried asking her that, and she confirmed it. While the second
heir was formally recognized as the commander behind the invasion, the actual
logistics were left to Sir Zerorick. This was Listis' first battle.
"So... What now?" I looked toward the others with a shrug. I thought we were
kidnapping a dude, but it was a girl the whole time. I wondered if it would be
right to tell the Primulan government.
"I guess nothing changes? Doesn't matter if she's a guy or a girl, right? She's
still royalty... So we can still use her as a hostage, right?"
"I'm not so sure..." Listis suddenly cut in on what Elze was saying. I wondered
what she meant by that. "The senate probably won't care, even if my father
protests. They think of us as mere figureheads, after all. We're disposable when
it comes down to it." That sounded bad. I remembered Elluka said something
about the senate earlier. "So then..."
"I think in a worst case scenario, they'll just announce that I'm already dead
without even trying to negotiate. Then they'll just continue the invasion as
scheduled."
I sighed in frustration. I couldn't have expected that kind of outcome.
I realized that they could easily spin it as some kind of holy crusade of
vengeance for the death of the people's beloved royalty.
"Mmm... Then... That means there was no point in capturing you, Listis-dono,
was there not?"
"I'm afraid that might actually be the case. Or rather, it might have just made
things worse. If people start thinking you took me and killed me, it'll only rile up
the troops more." Ah crap... This is bad... If that happens the Primulans are
gonna be pissed at me... They'll totally brand me as an idiot who can't be
counted on.
Doctor Babylon looked over at me with a fiendish grin on her face.
"Well then, Touya. What now? Gonna crush the army yourself?"
"You know I can't just do that... Damn it... The only reason I did this was to
prevent any further casualties."
"You really kidnapped me for that purpose? You really wanted to put an end
to this conflict?" The second heir turned toward me with a hint of wonder in
her eyes.
"It's not that I want. It's that I will. It's true that I should've thought about the
method a little better... But I thought it would be a lot simpler. This whole war
is foolish."
"My father said something similar... But those monsters in the senate still
went ahead with their plans. Not even the holy emperor can ignore their
decrees, after all... He's just a figurehead for them." Listis spoke in a way that
seemed as though she was beating herself up. It sounded like the holy emperor
was a reasonable guy.
But I was surprised that the senate had that level of actual control. It was a far
cry from the Roman senate I'd read about in history books. I wondered if it was
just because it was something in another world, or maybe it had developed
differently due to social norms being different... Either way, I understood that
this particular senate seemed to be corrupted as all hell.
Apparently, there were about fifty members of the senate, with the senate
chairman as the head. The senate was entirely made up of nobility, and it was
considered a lifelong position that would be passed on to their children.
It started out as a simple board of advisors until they began to experience a
slow creep of power. Eventually, they held authority that exceeded the holy
emperor's.
They apparently ignored the pleas of the people and did as they wanted. If
anyone ever rose up to try and change their ways, they'd simply crush the voice
before it got too loud.
"The current chairman is a man named Morlock Lapitos. He's very old, he's
actually close to seventy... But that doesn't stop him from being a force that
scares even the other senate members."
"He even scares the holy emperor, though?"
"Officially, the senate is in place to advise my father. That means he cannot
propose policies without running them by the senate. That's how they control
him. They veto anything that could threaten their authority."
That made sense to me. Groups like that often prioritized themselves over
everyone else, even the war they were currently facing was the result of them
ignoring the holy emperor.
"But hold on... Can I just ask... Why are you pretending to be a guy?"
"If I were raised as a woman, my father knew that the senate would have
forced me to marry one of their children to solidify their political positions. Just
thinking about it disgusts me... Originally they planned on saying I was stillborn,
but Sir Zerorick volunteered to take me under his wing and train me as a man."
It seemed like no matter what world I was in, people were trying to gain
political power at any cost...
Apparently, her elder brother had already been made a victim of this. He'd
been forced to get engaged to the chairman's daughter.
Apparently, he was completely opposed to the arrangement, because his
prospective partner was a lot older than him, and had a hideous personality. I
felt terrible for him.
I was glad that all of my fiancées were so kind to me, even if they could get...
Scary at times.
"Were you thinking something strange just now?"
"Not at all!"
I answered the very perceptive Elze with a straight face. I wondered when she
got so good at figuring me out. Either way, I could understand why the holy
emperor and his wife decided to do what they did. I'd also go to any length to
protect a precious daughter.
While the crown heir, her older brother, wouldn't be able to reject proposals
due to mounting pressures, it would be easier for a secondary heir to reject
those things. That didn't mean they didn't care about their firstborn, of course,
but their hands were clearly tied.
After all, they hadn't been able to stop him from getting engaged. It was
probably a ploy to usurp the throne, anyway. If anything they'd be fine not to
marry off the second son, because they'd want his bloodline to die with him.
Ultimately I had gotten the picture. The senate was crooked. They'd gone to
all the trouble of orchestrating this war, and then didn't even have any of their
families participate.
"So you're saying the best way to end the war would be to do something
about that old man and granting the holy emperor's authority back..."
"Y-Yes, that's right! If Chairman Morlock loses his grip, the other senators
would be thrown into utter disarray! Father would be able to call back the
army, and the Primula invasion would be completely stopped! That's a great
idea!" Listis suddenly started yelling and flailing her arms around. I understood
her feelings, but she definitely wasn't good at masking her intent. I could see
through the fact that she really wanted me to solve the mess.
I decided that I might as well do it, though. That way I'd be able to make some
solid connections with the holy empire.
I quickly worked out the pros and cons in my head.
"Alright, how's this then... I take care of the chairman, and you tell your father
that the war needs to end. Alright?" I looked straight into Listis' eyes and voiced
my suggestion.
She looked shaken for a moment and audibly gulped. Then she began to
speak.
"...If you can do it, then I swear upon my very life that I will end this war.
Please, mage... Please save Triharan... No, save both Triharan and Primula." I
looked over to Elze and the others, and they gave me silent nods.
It was decided. That meant I needed people to help me pull it off. I couldn't
exactly take Listis with me due to the political situation and the agreement I'd
made with Primula, so I decided that my best bet would be with that older
knight. That Sir Zerorick guy would probably be trustworthy. I checked my map
and verified that he was still inside the tent I'd kidnapped the Listis from.
Alright. I should be able to warp in, grab him, and warp out. Easy!
I was not ignorant of how much like a real kidnapper I sounded at that point.
My thoughts were borderline criminal... I was kind of scared by how easily I'd
accepted it, it wasn't something I was meant to be proud of!
I decided going alone would be the best course of action this time.
"[Teleport]." I whizzed off to the tent from before and was immediately
spotted by several knights. Among them was Sir Zerorick.
They were having some kind of discussion around the central table, probably
about figuring out who the criminal was.
"Wh-?!"
"Y-You bastard, it's you!" I dashed through the crowd of knights until I was
behind Sir Zerorick. I whipped out Brunhild and pointed the weapon into his
back, causing him to sheathe the saber he was holding. He then put his hands
up.
"The situation has changed, so he's coming with me too. I'll return him along
with the heir, so please don't worry about it. See ya." I said what I wanted
before warping me and the new hostage back to the room in Primula castle. I
was in and out in under a minute.
"Sir Zero!"
"Oh... Miss!" I let their heartfelt reunion play out for a couple of minutes
before briefing Sir Zerorick on the situation. I didn't want him to try attacking
me with his sword, so I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding immediately.
After Listis explained the situation, Zerorick went quiet for a while. He folded
his arms and closed his eyes.
After a while, he opened his eyes and looked right at me.
"Touya, was it? So I understand you're a mage... Given what I just
experienced, I can't exactly refute that. But tell me, what will you do with the
chairman? Kill him?"
"No way. Even if someone's wretched, I don't kill. It's not my place to judge
him for the foul things he's done, anyway."
"Then what?"
"Hmm... Oh, here's an idea. We could send him and his entire household to
an uninhabited island that has no hopes of ever seeing a boat. Or, oh! How
about I curse him so he can't speak unless he shoves his fingers right up his
nose or something." Everyone except Doctor Babylon drew back from me and
gave me a funny look. Was it something I said?
I had spells that could suck out people's will to live, spells that could induce
sickness, fear, or confusion. Those were just some of the effects of my ancient
Dark spells. I was completely equipped with the ability to nullify an opponent
without killing them. Hell, I could even rewrite the chairman's memories
through [Hypnosis] if I really wanted to.
I also had the option of asking the Triharan holy emperor for what he wanted.
I imagined that just searching the chairman's house would end up producing
enough evidence of corruption to put him away for life.
"I'd advise caution. He's the chairman, so his entourage of guards is befitting
his position. He has several powerful Gollems around him at all times. And it's
rumored that he recently managed to hire a personal knight who can use
unprecedented abilities."
He has someone like that? I wonder if he's a spellcaster like me. Or maybe it's
something similar to Tsubaki's ninjutsu. Either way, I guess it might not be as
easy as I want it to be. But so long as I put my enemy in a [Prison] it should be
okay.
"You can leave those Gollems to us, you can."
"Of course, they won't be a problem for us!"
"That's right! I'll crush them all!" My fiancées were excited to fight. But I
didn't really want them to overdo it... To be honest the three of them were
capable of one-shotting dragons at this point.
"We'll handle the guards and stuff, then. Sir Zerorick, can you explain the
situation to the holy emperor?"
"...You wish for me to act as a turncoat within my own nation?"
"If you don't want to, I won't force you... But I'm going to do what I want
regardless, so don't complain if you don't help and I end up beating up
someone you know." I didn't want him coming up to me and whining that I
kicked the crap out of his son or something if I ended up getting charged by
random knights. I wanted him to inform the holy emperor so things would be a
bit easier.
"Sir Zero, please lend him your aid. If we use his magic, we could maybe even
end this wretched senate once and for all..."
"...If the young miss wills it, then I will move these old bones for the sake of
ending this foolish war." Sir Zerorick knelt down and bowed to Listis.
... I'm not asking you to lay down your life, man.
I used [Recall] on Zerorick to get general information about the country and
identify the chairman. Then I searched for him using my phone.
I found him pretty easily. He was in the holy empire's capital, in the senate
building itself.
The distance was within my [Teleport] range. It was approximately as far
away as Belfast was from Brunhild, so I was confident I could precisely land
there.
"Okay. So first up we'll take out the Gollems and that bodyguard of his, then
we'll capture Chairman Morlock and bring him to the holy emperor. After that,
we'll see what he decides. Sound good?"
"Sounds good. If such a plan works, that is." I laughed internally a little at her
doubt, but I wasn't surprised. I hadn't shown either of them my combat
capabilities, after all.
According to the map, Chairman Morlock was on the move. I decided to bide
my time a bit and fight when he was in an open space, since fighting in a
corridor was a bit of a pain.
Heh... Just gotta wait for the target to move to the center of the main hall,
then I'll attack him.
...I'm thinking like a criminal again. Auugh... I'm not a bandit! I'm an
honorable grand duke... I am!
He had three knights and five Gollems escorting him. Security was about as
tight as I'd expected.
"Sir Zerorick, you should leave the moment we get over there. If you move in
and help, things could get complicated."
"...If I must." I activated [Teleport] the moment I confirmed with Zerorick that
he was in the middle of a large, open room.
We appeared within the room in a matter of moments. In the sudden
confusion, Sir Zerorick retreated and hid behind a nearby column.
One of the knights escorting the chairman saw us and yelled out.
"Intruders! Defend the chairman!" Two of the five Gollems answered the call
by moving themselves between me and the target.
They were tall and well-proportioned Gollems that looked suitable for
combat, and they had knight-like visors down over where their eyes would be.
They also had gun-like attachments on their wrists. It seemed like these were
the Soldat models I'd heard so much about. One of the five, furthest at the
back, looked distinct from the others. It had a horned helmet. That meant it was
probably the Sergent, the commander for the Soldat platoon.
"Fire!" The knight yelled out a command, and the two Gollems raised their
arms to fire a hail of bullets at me from their wrist-mounted guns. The pace
wasn't as rapid as a machine gun, but it was still pretty fast.
"Not so fast!" Elze jumped in front of me, deflecting all the bullets with her
gauntlets. I wasn't exactly in a position to say anything, but her abilities seemed
absurd...
She had closed the gap between her and one of the Gollems in a matter of
seconds, smashing her fist into it and reducing it to a broken pile of scrap metal.
She did the same for the second Gollem in just as timely a fashion.
"Do not forget about us, do not!"
"That's right!" Yae and Hilde leaped into action, approaching two of the
escort knights and attacking them each. In the blink of an eye, both of the men
fell to the ground alongside their armor. They were completely unharmed, but
were clearly traumatized by what had just happened.
Their blades were made out of Phrasium, and they could use their inner magic
to decide whether or not to slice through the things they were striking. The
level of precision that it took to only cut the men's armor off was frankly
inhuman... Even I found it absurd.
I felt a little emasculated only watching them do all kinds of amazing things,
so I decided to pick up the slack a little as well.
"Come forth, Lightning! Pure Sparking Javelin: [Thunder Spear]!" I scored a
direct hit with my Lightning magic on the Sergent unit in the back.
It was completely immobilized as a result, deactivating the remaining Soldats.
It was exactly as Elluka had told me. Soldats seemed strong, but that was a
pretty crucial weakness.
"Heeey, I wanted to crush them!"
"Ah, sorry." Elze grumbled a bit at me, but I wanted to verify the Sergent's
functions.
"Gh... K-Kill them, Weiss!"
"...As you command." The chairman yelled out, and the last remaining knight
stepped forward. I couldn't make out his face for his helmet, but he wasn't
wasting any of his motions at all. This guy, whoever he was, wasn't some
chump. He was probably the knight I'd heard about. I blinked, and he was no
longer there. It took me a second to register his speed. I sensed a presence
behind me and immediately crouched down low. His sword passed through the
space that my head had been occupying not a minute ago. I didn't even notice
him get behind me. I stood up and converted Brunhild to Blade Mode and
started clashing against his sword. He was good, but he wasn't quite as skilled
as Yae.
I was amazed and shocked that I was actually having a hard time against
him... So I decided to act without restraint.
"[Slip]!"
"Hgh...!" The knight immediately lost his footing, so I converted Brunhild to
Stun Mode and moved in to paralyze him. I felt bad for resorting to something
so cheap, but I couldn't have him getting in my way.
That was my plan, at least. But he managed to contort his body as he fell.
Brunhild only managed to strike the side of his helmet, knocking it off.
He spun around in the air and attempted to kick me in the side of the head. I
managed to dodge the attack and jumped back. I'd underestimated him again.
Alright, if he's gonna be like this then I'll just seal him... With... What...
"Hey... Hold on... What are you doing here...?" The knight stood up and
assumed a combative stance. With his helmet removed, I immediately
recognized the face staring at me.
He didn't have the ephemeral vibe that usually accompanied him, but there
was no mistaking his identity.
"Ende...?" He showed no reaction at all to my words. I had no idea what he
was doing in a place like this. I had no idea why he was acting as my enemy...
I turned to see Elze restraining herself after she saw how I'd almost been hit.
"Hey, Ende! What are you doing here?!"
"...Who are you?"
He coldly answered my words with a glare. I had no idea what was going on...
"It's me, Touya! Mochizuki Touya!"
"Never heard of him." Ende stepped in and slashed at me without hesitating. I
stepped back and stared at him in shock. There was no way this guy wasn't
Ende, he was powerful enough to actually be a threat. I decided to try casting a
little bait. "...Hey, don't you want me to tell you what happened to Melle?"
"...Melle..." Ende's eye twitched, and his body stopped moving. His eyes
began swirling around in his head as if trying to find a focus. That meant that
somewhere inside him, he remembered the Sovereign, even though he seemed
to have completely forgotten me. I wondered if he'd lost his memories... Or if
he'd been messed with somehow. "What are you doing, Weiss?! Kill the
enemy!" Ende's spasming ended the second the chairman yelled out, and he
snapped back into hostility. He came charging toward me with his blade.
Goddammit, this isn't funny! Fine... I'll put you in timeout!
"[Prison]!"
"Wh?!" Ende was immediately sealed within a pale blue cube. He crashed into
the wall of his new container, stumbled backward, and fell to the ground.
He got up and started slashing at the walls, then kicked at the walls, but it
didn't give way.
There was nothing he could do. Once you were enclosed in my perfect cell,
only something with the power of a god could shatter it.
Hell, it could even hold an Upper Construct if I needed it to.
I decided to leave Ende in there for the time being, since I had pressing
questions for the chairman.
"Bastard!"
"Die!" The two other knights, despite their lack of armor, came slashing at
me. They were strong, but nothing compared to Ende. But before they did
anything, they were unceremoniously stopped in their tracks by Yae and Hilde.
Rest in peace, fellas.
"You wretches! Do you not know who I am?! I control this senate! I am
Morlock Lapitos, chairman of this entire hall! Begone!"
"Yeah, I know who you are. You're an old fart trying to bargain using power
that means nothing to me." I spoke frankly toward him, prompting him to snarl
and yell. Veins bulged along his red forehead. If he was really pushing seventy,
he was doing a good job of hiding it.
He had grey, scraggly hair, and a long beard. He was clad in a fancy gold-
embroidered robe. He was also holding an equally fancy scepter in his hands.
His body was tall, thin, and gaunt. But his face had distinct traces of arrogance
painted all over it. His hooked nose, narrowed eyes, and crooked brow gave off
the image of him judging everyone around him.
"Well, I don't really care about you all that much. Tell me what you did to
him."
"Him? Ah... You knew Weiss? Heheh..." The old man grinned slightly as he
tilted his scepter around in his hands.
"One of my subordinates found that man near the castle, he was quite close
to death. He had all kinds of interesting objects on his person... I tried to ask
him where he'd obtained them, but it seemed like his memories weren't all
there. That's why I had him... Re-educated in one of our special facilities. I
renamed him Weiss, and gave him the luxury of serving me directly." Memory
loss... And on the verge of death? That sounds like Sakura's situation... Wait, no.
Given that he seems to have been brainwashed, this is way worse. I can
probably fix it up with [Recall]. Or at least, I hope so.
But still... Ende, being left on the verge of death like that? How? Who could've
been strong enough to do that to him?
"...Heh... And among Weiss' possessions was this! The world's mightiest
Gollem!" The chairman pulled a small microscope slide out of his sleeve. Wait...
That's...
A cracking sound rang out as he broke it between his fingers.
A blinding light enveloped the room, and a massive armored knight appeared,
partially demolishing the roof of the room we were in.
It stood tall, sleek, its monotone colors gleaming in the sunlight. I looked it up
and down, my eyes settling on its wheels.
It was the Dragoon, the Frame Gear I had given to Ende.
... You seriously let that get stolen, Ende?
"Heheh... You can't even comprehend it, can you?! You're finished!" The
chairman scurried up into the Dragoon's cockpit. He moved with such speed
and grace that I found it hard to believe he was nearing seventy. The hatch
closed around him.
The Frame Gears had been tweaked so even amateurs could control them,
even if less proficiently. It was something akin to playing a simulator in an
arcade, or a controller on a game console. The Frame Gear itself assisted in
some of the processes, too.
But...
"Now, you pesky little worms! Prepare to be crushed beneath my heel!" I
ignored the voice of the old man that was blaring through the Dragoon's
speakers, and I pulled out my smartphone. Then I pushed a button.
"Ahahahaaaaa, huh?! Wh... Huh? Why isn't it moving? It moved fine
before...?!" The voice coming from the speakers descended into panic. The
Dragoon slowly lowered itself, and showed no signs of getting back up.
Yae let out a sigh as she looked up at it, while Elze just grinned and shrugged
her shoulders.
"He is truly a fool, he is."
"Well, it's not like he could've known, right?"
"Move! Gah! Move, damn you!" As he continued to freak out, I hopped up to
the cockpit and unlocked the hatch that was protecting the manual open/close
lever. I pulled it.
With the hissing sound of whooshing air, the cockpit sprang open.
"Eek!"
"Sorry to burst your bubble, pal... But I invented this thing. That makes me the
master of this Gollem. Understand?" ...Technically, this was invented by Doc
Babylon, Rosetta, and the others... But I'm not gonna sweat the small stuff.
There was an emergency override built into all the Frame Gears. Given how
powerful they were, that was a perfectly normal safeguard.
"W-Woaaah!" I used [Levitation] to forcibly remove chairman Morlock from
the cockpit. He flailed his arms and legs in an attempt to resist, but it was futile.
When I brought him back down to the ground, Zerorick came back out of
hiding.
"Oh! Z-Zerorick! Strike this fool down! He's trying to destroy our holy
empire!"
"I'm afraid not."
"Wh-What?!"
"This man has Lord Listin as a hostage, you know? I'm afraid my hands are
tied, Chairman. I can't do a thing." He attempted to hold back a grin as he said
that. I was amazed by how smooth this guy was, he actually used the hostage
situation as justification.
"Y-You idiot! What do you think is more important?! Me, the vital and
important chairman, or Listin, an incompetent second-born?! I'll have you
executed for this!"
"Enough."
"Grugh?!" Elze, clearly fed up with his rambling, chopped him hard in the back
of the neck. I was getting tired of him too.
I wondered how he had the gall to say something like that. This country had a
lot of problems if it was letting a man like this sit at the tippy-top.
I gave Sir Zerorick a reassuring pat on the back, but the moment of sympathy
was held up by a cracking sound. I turned around to see Ende physically
breaking out of the [Prison].
"What the hell?!"
No way... I know I didn't pour divinity into it this time but normal attacks can't
possibly break through it! Ende had two blades in his hands that I hadn't
noticed. They weren't quite long enough to be considered longswords. Wait...
What's that coming off them...? What... How?
I dodged the strikes from his blades by jumping back, then quickly chanted a
spell.
"Spark forth, Ice! Frozen, Jolting Maelstrom: [Vortex Mist]!"
"Hrgh!" Ende got his hand caught in the sudden mist cloud, shocking him
enough that he let go of one of his weapons. I reached in and grabbed it, then
jumped back. I took a closer look... And it was exactly as I'd suspected.
The shortsword in my hand had divinity leaking from it. There was no
mistaking it... He was wielding a Sacred Treasure... A weapon bestowed by the
gods.
"How did you get something like this, Ende..." Sacred Treasures were gifted to
worlds as a last-hope kind of deal when they were threatened by wicked threats
of divine origin. Heroes usually wielded them to repel the enemy, and the items
were commemorated in legend and myth.
Since Sacred Treasures could become potential birthing spots for wicked gods
if they weren't handled properly, they were usually destroyed or replaced with
a replica after their purpose was served. That's what I was told, at least.
"Haaah!" He charged forward with the remaining blade in his left hand.
Guh... This is getting annoying, Ende! Get your shit together!
"[Accel Boost]!" I charged headlong toward Ende.
"Wh-?!"
"Don't take this personally... But Yumina asked me to hit you for her." I
smacked Ende right across the face and sank my free fist into his stomach.
"Bwugh!"
"Go to sleep." After he keeled over, I brought the hand I'd used to slap him
down over his neck in a chop. The remaining Sacred Treasure fell from his hand,
and he collapsed on the spot.
"He was certainly going all-out, he was..."
"Indeed. He almost gave you a run for your money, Touya."
I was mostly just annoyed at Ende. Sure he'd lost his memories, but I wasn't
so keen on him acting like this.
I picked up both Sacred Treasures and threw them into [Storage], then sealed
Ende in another [Prison]. I decided to wait a bit before recovering his
memories, I had other fish to fry.
I shrunk down his holding cell until it was the size of a die, and slipped it into
my pocket.
Unlike [Storage], time wasn't halted within the enclosed space... I decided to
hurry up and finish things before the guy woke up and needed to use the
bathroom.
I cast another [Prison] around the chairman, and Zerorick took me toward the
holy emperor. I took that opportunity to recover the Dragoon as well.
The whole stuff with the Frame Gear raised a commotion, so several soldiers
were in the area. I ended up using [Invisible] to mask us, so we got by without
any hassle. According to Zerorick, entering the palace was usually forbidden
unless the Senate expressly permitted it.
Given that this was the home of the holy emperor, I expected the palace to be
a little gaudier... It honestly looked plain compared to the grand senate house
we were in earlier.
There weren't many Gollems or knights on guard duty, either. It really put
into perspective that the holy emperor didn't mean much in this country.
"Your Highness!" Sir Zerorick opened a door at the end of one of the hallways
and yelled out. There was a man in the room sitting at his desk with a book. He
seemed to be in his fifties. When he heard the voice, he looked around in
confusion.
The man had white hair and a small white beard, as well as a pair of round
glasses on his face. He looked much like an academic. Not the image I expected
of the Triharan holy emperor. There was nothing intimidating about him,
really... But that wasn't too bad, he seemed fairly casual.
I quickly realized why he was looking around in confusion. I'd forgotten to
cancel our invisibility spell.
When I finally undid it, the shock of our sudden appearance made the man
fall out of his chair.
"Uwah! S-Sir Zerorick?! A-Are you not supposed to be on the Primulan
front...?"
"Please forgive me, Your Highness, but I am here to ask something urgent of
you. It's a matter that could decide the fate of our holy empire." The holy
emperor looked confused, so Zerorick pulled out a letter from Listis explaining
the situation, and handed it to him.
At first, he seemed skeptical and confused, but then I pulled open the [Prison]
I'd used to contain Chairman Morlock and sent the older man tumbling to the
ground.
"...I see... This is serious indeed. Guards! Bring Lupheus to me at once!" A
guard peeked his head in from the outside, then nodded and ran down the hall.
I asked Zerorick something that I wanted to be sure of.
"Who's Lupheus?"
"The firstborn son, crown heir to the holy throne." That made him Listis' older
brother. Given how poorly the holy emperor was treated, I wondered how
badly he had it in daily life.
After a while, the knight from before brought a young man into the room.
He had golden blond hair just like Listis. He was definitely in his early
twenties. He was fairly handsome, and the glasses he wore gave him an
intelligent aura like his father's. He didn't seem the type to take up a blade and
fight on the front.
When he entered the room, he was initially shocked and confused, but after
his father and Sir Zerorick filled him in on the details, a fire seemed to light up in
his eyes.
"Father! This is a golden opportunity! This is a chance for us to abolish that
dreaded senate and restore peace to our entire empire! If we listen to this man
and end the war with Primula, we can work toward peace!"
"Hm... Mm... Yes... You're quite right." His speech was so loud and passionate
that he even seemed to unnerve his father.
I remembered that he'd been forced to get engaged to the chairman's
wretched daughter... I'd heard she was a lot older and had a crappy personality,
so he was probably desperate to get out.
I asked about it later and discovered she was in her forties, had a sadistic
streak, and was so hideous a lot of people mistook her for a guy. I could
understand Lupheus' desperation.
The senate held absolute power, but it wasn't integral to the country's
government. If it was abolished, there'd be some initial confusion, but things
would eventually settle.
The senate had treated the holy emperor and his family as disposable, only to
be disposed of by them in the end... A cautionary tale indeed.
"Very well. Lupheus, take some guards and some Gollems, search the estate
of the chairman's family. I am certain that evidence of his embezzling will be in
there somewhere. Zerorick, head out and order a retreat of our army. We shall
make peace with Primula this day."
"And what do I do with this guy?"
I pointed toward the chairman, who was still flat-out unconscious.
"...This might not be fitting with due process, but... We'll have him imprisoned
in the dungeon until we find evidence of his guilt." Normally you wouldn't go
locking someone up without proof, and hearing that statement without context
would make it seem suspicious... But there was no doubt that he was guilty of
what he had done.
I was sure that the other members of the senate wouldn't be let off too
lightly, either... But in the end, what goes around comes around.
Lupheus made off for the chairman's estate immediately. He definitely
seemed happy, not that I could blame him.
I asked the holy emperor for a handwritten letter that I could pass on to the
king of Primula, then took Zerorick and my fiancées to the camp we'd initially
kidnapped him from.
He immediately gave the order to retreat, but was met with slight resistance
by some nobles who were visiting. Apparently, they had ordered some men to
pillage spoils of war from the conquered city.
The moment we showed them the emperor's letter and told them the senate
was to be dissolved, they quieted down really quickly.
Seemed like they'd been plotting bad stuff in the background, too. Seeing that
their senate-based backing would soon be over likely sent them into a panic. It
was too late for them, either way. Sir Zerorick wouldn't miss their guilt.
After the order to retreat had been given, I warped us back to Primula castle.
I passed on the letter from the holy emperor to the king of Primula and told
him the war was officially over. Everyone simply stopped what they were doing
and stared at me blankly.
I couldn't blame them, to be honest. It had only been six hours since Elluka
brought me to the country. The fact that I'd saved not one, but two nations
from disaster, was not something any reasonable person should have to
understand.
"How can we even begin to express our gratitude?"
"Nah, seriously... It's fine. I could only come to this world to begin with thanks
to the device your ancestor made, so really I should be thanking you."
Everything was just about done, so we headed over to see Listis. When she
saw me, Zerorick, and the king of Primula, she heaved a sigh of relief.
Sir Zerorick summed up what had happened while we were away.
"Amazing! I can't believe it."
"Indeed. The senate is dissolved and the chairman is imprisoned... This is a
bold new future for our holy empire!" Zerorick and Listis grinned happily
toward each other. I was glad that she was now free from living a life of
pretending to be someone she wasn't.
Elze and the others were smiling too.
"I'm glad the war's over."
"Same here. It happened faster than I expected."
"All is well that ends well, it is."
Though everyone was happy, I was still pretty bummed out. Because even
though the mess in Primula had been resolved...
"I've still got another mess to deal with..." I sighed softly as I looked down at
the die-sized [Prison] I'd just taken out of my pocket. Ende was still out cold
inside it.
◇ ◇ ◇
The two nations signed a peace treaty, and the war finally came to a concrete
end.
Everything from then on was up to the two countries, I wasn't planning to
interfere any more than I had. Well, I did safely return Listis to her family.
Though there was some slight resistance, the holy empire dissolved its senate,
and most of the senators were imprisoned and had their estates repossessed.
The chairman and the corrupt senators would likely receive their sentences,
but I didn't care enough to find out their fates.
I'd also managed to secure connections and support within the Reverse
World's governments, two nations now trusted me.
I hadn't exactly created a sturdy defense against the inevitable Phrase attacks,
but it was a start.
Just as I was about to call it a day and head home to Brunhild, another
problem came up.
"Take me with you!"
"Uhh..." Elluka started whining that she wanted to come with me. Please stop
clinging to my leg like that... Elze and the others are staring daggers into my
skull right now!
"Touya, she definitely has a lot of good know-how. There's stuff I wanna ask
her about, too... So let her tag."
"Thanks, Regina! I knew you were reliable!" Elluka winked and pointed
toward Doc Babylon. Even though I knew she was intelligent... Her personality
was a pain. I wasn't sure if I wanted her and Babylon talking unsupervised.
Fenrir coming along too was a little bit of a relief, but I wasn't sure if it was
completely reassuring.
"When you say let her tag along, you mean take her to Babylon?"
"Yeah. We won't have her roaming around the ground, so we'll just let her
hang around the Workshop or the Research Lab." Hmm... If her Gollem research
can help us improve the Frame Gears, then it might be indispensable for the
coming conflicts...
I looked over toward Elze and the others. They all nodded.
"Why not, right? She's probably gonna be helpful."
"Well... If everyone says so, then..."
"Wahoo! We did it, Fenrir! We're going to another world!"
"I'm glad for you, master." I felt a teeny bit anxious as Elluka immediately
lifted up Fenrir by the front paws and started dancing with him.
"Another world, eh... Touya, please take me there someday. I'd like to see the
world of my ancestors."
"Someday, for sure. I'll introduce you to another person on that side from the
Palerius lineage, as well. She's quite pretty, you know."
"Ohoho, I like the sound of that." The king of Primula laughed and shook my
hand. I promised I'd return, and told them that if anything dangerous
happened, to look for the Silver Dragon on Drakliff island.
I ordered the dragons on that island not to harm any humans unless they
attack first. Most of them didn't speak the language of humans, but they pretty
much all understood it. So long as they explained what they were there for,
Shirogane would be able to help them out.
"See you later, then."
"Mm. Thank you again for helping us. Farewell." I waved off the king of
Primula and used [Gate] to take us all back to Drakliff island. Then we used the
Dimensional Disruptor Mk. II to return to Babylon.
I asked Elluka to wait a little bit because I wanted to fetch Yumina. I didn't
exactly suspect Elluka of anything, but I wanted Yumina's Mystic Eyes to
determine her intentions.
Yumina judged her to be pure of heart, so I had Doctor Babylon give her a
tour of the place. Elluka was already looking around in a mixture of confusion,
awe, and wonder.
They were getting pretty hungry, I warped Elze and the others back down to
the surface. Just as I was about to warp the two of us back down, Yumina
tugged at my sleeve.
"Touya... That woman isn't going to be a tenth, is she...?"
"Absolutely not! Hell no! She's just another member of staff, I promise!"
"Alright, then." Yumina was smiling, but I felt a frightening amount of
pressure behind that face of hers. I hoped she understood I had no plans to
increase my wife count.
I didn't understand why she was fine with me having mistresses if she got that
concerned about more wives... Not that I was planning on having any, anyway.
Yumina and the others seemed to consider Doctor Babylon and the Babylon
Gynoids as my mistresses already, apparently. I wondered if they were fine with
me having mistresses so long as they were infertile or something.
"Oh, right. I met Ende in the other world. That dumbass had lost his memories
and gotten brainwashed."
"Wow, really? What happened to him?"
"Hm? Oh, I beat him and put him in this cube." I pulled out the die-like
[Prison] and tossed it out on to the grassy knoll in front of us.
"Release." Registering my keyword, the [Prison] shattered apart and released
its prisoner.
In a matter of seconds, Ende charged at us. He was dashing toward Yumina
with his fist about to fly right at her.
"Gaah!"
"Eek!" Goddammit! I caught his hand just before it struck Yumina, then tossed
him over with a perfect ippon seoi nage judo throw. When the dumbass was
flat on his back, I hit him with [Paralyze].
"Gwaugh!" After he went limp, I let go of him.
"Sorry... Didn't realize he'd woken up yet. That's one drawback of [Prison]."
Time flowed normally in there, unlike [Storage], so he'd probably woken up a
while ago. He'd been biding his time and waiting for his opportunity.
I was pretty livid that he'd tried to hit Yumina of all people. I wanted to hit
him a few more times.
"He's certainly out of his mind, then..."
"Yeah... His memories are probably all jumbled up. I'm gonna bring him to
Melle and hope he can come back to his senses." It'd be bad if he kept attacking
us no matter what.
I lifted his body up with [Levitation] and made for Babylon's rampart with
Yumina.
We reached Melle's room, and I set down Ende on the ground near the
despondent girl.
"Endymion?!" Melle, who had been unresponsive since I left her, suddenly
snapped to her senses and began cradling the unconscious man in her arms.
"This is awful... Who did this to you?"
"Ah... That was me, kinda... But hold on! Don't get upset! I'm sorry! It's not
my fault! He lost his memories and tried to attack me...! It was self-defense,
okay?! It was just self-defense!" Melle looked up at me with teary eyes, sniffling
softly, so I spewed out my defense. I ended up getting a little excessive, but I
didn't really like being guilted.
"His memories?"
"He was apparently on the verge of death when he was found. He lost his
memories as a result, and after that, some bad guy implanted bad ideas into his
head, which made him see me as an enemy. He seemed to remember you a bit,
though."
"...I understand. I'll heal his mind at once."
"Huh?" Melle completely ignored me and extended her fingers until they took
the form of thin, crystal tentacles. They snaked outward and latched on to
various parts of Ende's head.
"I'll undo the psychological damage that Endymion has suffered. You may
wish to cover your ears, the sound is rather shrill."
The moment she finished speaking, the tendrils began emitting a piercing
shriek. It rippled through the air, causing an amplified tinnitus-like sensation. I
couldn't stand it, so I backed out of the [Prison] with Yumina.
"Did she say this was healing him?"
"It might be similar to my [Recall] spell, or maybe she's using vibrations to
mess with his brain." I could only really guess, but being in there made me feel
like I was in a microwave oven. I hoped Ende's head wouldn't explode or
something.
After a while, Melle turned toward us and made a puzzled expression.
Something seemed to be wrong. Yumina and I stepped back into the [Prison],
Melle began speaking in a concerned manner.
"Umm... I should have fixed him, but he's not moving..." Ende's eyes clearly
had life in them. He was laying atop Melle's knees, but he couldn't move or talk.
He moved his eyes to shoot me a glare.
"Oh, right... I used [Paralyze]." I'd totally forgotten, it was no wonder he
couldn't move.
I walked up to Ende and cast [Recovery] on him. I decided that I'd cast
[Paralyze] on him again if he tried anything funny, though.
After I undid his paralysis, Ende reached a hand out to Melle's face, and gently
caressed her cheek.
"Hey, Melle. Been a while, huh..."
"Endymion!" Melle held him tight against her.
It seemed like he was back to his old self. I was glad.
"You have your memories back..."
"Thanks to you... I remember what happened when I lost my memories, as
well... Touya, you hit me pretty hard."
"That's all your fault, man. Can't blame me for it." If he could speak to me so
casually, that meant he was fine. Ende looked around the room with narrow
eyes as Melle embraced him.
"Touya... Why is she in a place like this? Did you bring her here by force?"
"...Please don't make me out to be some kind of kidnapper. This is for her
own protection. The Phrase can't sense her while she's in here. This space is
completely isolated, so it's the safest place in the world for you both." Don't
make me out to be some kind of kidnapper. I was pretty angry that Ende was
assuming I'd do something like that, so I met him with a light scowl.
We continued to stare each other down until Yumina stood between us.
"Let's allow Ende and Melle some time to talk their personal business out,
okay? We'll take our leave for now."
"Huh? Wha-Yumina?!" Despite my protests, Yumina dragged me right out of
the [Prison] and into the corridor. I wondered what that was all about. "That's
enough, Touya. The two of them are lovers, aren't they? They've been
separated for a long time. You can't sour their reunion with a petty argument.
There's no wonder he'd be suspicious if he found her confined."
"...Ah... I mean, I guess." Yumina explained the situation, and I looked back at
the door with mixed feelings. Guess I was a little dense... My bad...
At least I knew now.
"...As they say, he who interferes with love needs to get kicked by a horse and
die."
"Do they say that?"
"Back in my birth country, at least. The idea is that infringing on people's
romance is such a heavy-handed thing to do that getting kicked in the head by a
horse is the only suitable punishment." Well, it wasn't like I meant it literally. If I
got kicked by a horse I wouldn't die with the body I had. There was a lot I
wanted to ask of Ende, but I decided to respect him for the time being, along
with Yumina's wishes.
Besides, it wasn't like he could escape the [Prison], and I'd taken his Sacred
Treasures, as well.
The two of us walked away from Ende and Melle's room.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Alright, time to hear you out." I rapped my knuckles against the table Ende
and I were seated at. We were in a dim room, only illuminated by a dim amount
of Light magic, but it was enough to see his face.
"Let's make this real easy-like... I wanna hear the whole story. Want a cutlet?
Reminds you of your mother, right?"
"...Touya, you're acting pretty weird... But I am hungry, so I'll have some." ...
Guess I got a little carried away there... Usually, in interrogation scenes in TV
dramas they offer culprits some katsudon, but I guess it's not the same here...
Cesca brought in three bowls of pork katsudon. One for me, one for Ende, and
one for Melle... If she actually ate.
"Is that for me?"
"I know the Phrase don't need to eat or whatever, but it's been cooked so...
You might as well try it." Melle turned to Ende, she seemed puzzled. But once
she saw him pick up his chopsticks and eat the cutlet, she awkwardly followed
suit and put a bite into her own mouth.
"Oh?!"
Melle's eyes went wide and she began happily chowing down. She seemed to
really like it.
"...What's the relationship between Dominant Constructs and food, anyway?"
"The Phrase, in general, can operate just fine so long as there's a little sunlight
and magic power, so they're not really versed in the many flavors out there.
Although, Lycee was pretty big on food."
"I see... Actually, what happened to her? Wasn't she with you?"
"I'll get to that later. Let's enjoy our food, first." That was fair. I wanted to
finish my bowl before it got cold, after all. It was delicious... Which probably
meant Crea had made it. Then again, it could've also been Lu. Even though she
was a princess, she was on the level of a pro chef when it came to kitchen
antics.
We finished our food, even though Melle seemed like she wanted more, and
Ende began to speak.
"You know about them, right? Those golden Phrase, I mean."
"The Mutated Constructs?"
"Mutants, huh? Yeah, that's a good term for it. The Phrase that came to this
world have divided into two factions. There's Ney's group of loyalists and Yula's
group of insurgents. Yula got some weird new power from somewhere, and is
capable of morphing the species into a weird hybrid species." I think I
remember meeting Ney one time... And Yula's probably that other guy who
creeped me out. I remember thinking his eyes were shady, so he must be the guy
with the wicked god's power.
"I was attempting to figure out the power of Yula's faction, and I tracked
them down in the gap between worlds. It was there that I met with the twins,
uh... They're two Dominant Constructs named Leto and Luto. They defeated
me. It's a little embarrassing to admit, honestly... But they completely
overpowered me. They were far stronger than they'd used to be, it came as
quite a shock. They'd been infected with that golden stuff, and their power had
increased along with that change. It took everything in me just to get out of
there."
"...They've got more Dominants on their side? And you're telling me some of
them are mutated already?"
"That power of theirs is not of this world. I've traveled through many worlds
before, Touya... What I'm about to say might shock you. They have... The power
of a god. They have unthinkable might, a power that could create or destroy
worlds!"
"Nah, not quite. They actually have a wicked god's power. It's more of an
imitation god that was born in the mortal realm, the power they're currently
wielding is nothing compared to actual divinity." Ende stared at me with a blank
face. He blinked. It was clear from his vacant expression that he had no idea
how I could know this. I ended up snickering a bit at how dumbfounded he'd
become.
"...There's been something on my mind for a while, Touya. Just who are you,
exactly? It's clear you aren't an ordinary human."
"Ah, well... I guess it's fine to show you two." I cleared my throat and
triggered my Apotheosis, letting divinity flow through my body and seep out
into the room. I let out just enough for the two of them to notice.
When the wave hit them, they both opened their eyes in shock and backed
away a bit. Might've overdone it a little... I changed back into a regular human
and nodded toward them.
"That... aura just now..."
"Yeah. Basically, I'm a god. A trainee one, but... Yeah."
Ende and Melle stared with their mouths hanging open. I couldn't exactly
blame them for it. The aura granted by my Apotheosis basically forced anyone
bearing witness to it to acknowledge me as a god on some fundamental level.
Mine wasn't quite as powerful as Karen and the others' yet, though.
"...Sh-Should we be praying to you?"
"Please don't, that'd just be awkward. I'm a god-in-training, not a fullyfledged one yet. So please just treat me normal." The two of them glanced at
each other and leaned forward a bit. They still seemed a little uncomfortable,
but I was sure they'd get used to it.
"So... You lost your memories after the twins beat you up?"
"...You don't have to say they beat me up... I mean, they did... But still... Either
way, no. I managed to escape. The issue came when I realized what I was up
against, so I set out to obtain a power to rival theirs."
"Are you referring to these?" I opened up my [Storage] and pulled out the
two shortswords. They were Sacred Treasures.
"That's right. They're weapons from a world a few steps away from this one.
The world was under attack from some evil dragon something or other, but it
was saved by a hero who wielded these blades. The swords were passed down
that hero's family line or whatever, so I decided to borrow them." You nabbed
some Sacred Treasures from another world?! Well... I guess having them lying
around could've been dangerous, so Ende having them is fine.
"But then a mysterious man appeared in front of me. He said 'Whoops, we
forgot to retrieve these, can't have these lying around the mortal realm,' and
beat the crap out of me when I refused to hand them over. I used my ability to
jump to another world just before I lost consciousness, but I ended up landing
in the wrong world. After that, the old man picked me up and the rest is
history."
Retrieve...? Lying around the mortal realm? Was that a god, maybe? I asked
the two of them to excuse me for a moment, then made a quick call to God
Almighty. I explained to him the gist of the situation, and he merrily replied.
"Ooh, that was the god of battle! He has been talking about that encounter,
he said he would like to take on that young man as his apprentice since he is so
very promising. Ah, also... You may keep the swords. Just make sure not to lose
them, please!"
Well. That answers that.
It was honestly pretty amazing Ende had survived against a god like that... But
at the same time, he almost died and lost his memories as well. So it was just
barely surviving.
I told Ende who he'd faced up against, and he smiled wryly.
I could understand his feelings. He'd gotten his ass beat by the twins, gotten
his ass beat by the god of battle, and then gotten his ass beat by me. It was
three major losses in a row. I felt sorry for him, it wasn't as if he was weak or
anything.
I put the Sacred Treasures back into my [Storage] for the time being.
"Well... Now I know what happened to you. But what about Lycee?"
"I sent her to Ney. I asked her to explain a few things, like the mutants and so
on... They are sisters, you know." I didn't know that. They hardly looked alike.
I wondered how family relationships even worked with the Phrase. Hell, I
didn't even know how they reproduced. I decided it wasn't the time to ask
about that, so I left it be.
"So what are you planning on doing with us, Touya?"
"Well... As crummy as it is, I can't let Melle out of here. Not for the time
being, at least. I don't want the Phrase launching a full invasion against my
country. And as for you, Ende..."
He wasn't exactly our ally in this situation, he was more on Melle's side. The
situation was stickier than I'd have liked.
"I'll work with you, Touya, so long as you guarantee Melle's safety. Now that
we've come this far, we might as well put an end to this madness once and for
all."
"I... I wish to speak with Ney and Yula. I would like to face them head-on...
And tell them to put an end to this. I know it may be difficult, but still..." Melle
looked down at her hands as she spoke. Before we could do that, we needed to
wait and hear back from Lycee. Still, it was unusual that neither Ney nor Yula
had made a visible move in a while.
"So for now we'll live our day-to-day lives until something new comes up.
You'll both be in my care until then."
"Whaaat, me too?!"
"You'll keep her company as punishment for letting her be alone for so long.
Don't worry, we won't check on you all that often, so feel free to get handsy."
"Wh-huh?!" I grinned and turned to leave the room. Ende was flustered, and
Melle was glowing red in the cheeks. Before I left, I noticed that Ende and Melle
were holding hands under the table. I had a feeling that Ende being there would
do a lot of good for the poor girl's mental health.
"Have the talks finished, have they?" I headed into the rampart's living room,
and Yae greeted me. There were many empty bowls filled with crumbs on the
table. I wondered just how many cutlets she'd eaten...
"Yeah, pretty much. If things go well, we won't have to fight the Phrase again.
We'll probably have to fight the mutants, though."
"That is excellent news, it is. Oh also, a letter came from my elder brother, it
did. He says he wishes to have a rematch with Moroha, he does. He wishes to
know when a good time would be." A rematch? Huh? When did those two ever
fight? "It was during the martial arts tournament, it was. My brother won, he
did. So Moroha fought against him afterward, she did." Ahh... Back then. That
was the last day of the festival, so I was out cold because of the fight with Gila.
I asked more about it and obviously, Moroha won without any difficulty. That
came as no surprise to me. From what I was told, she also went all-out against
the hapless bastard. She was more of a demon than a god, really.
"I feel kinda sorry for the guy, but I'm pretty sure he'll just lose if he tries
again..."
"He himself believes that as well, he does. But he wishes to use the
opportunity to train."
If it was just that, then it'd be fine. I was glad he seemed to be a pretty upbeat
guy. I'd have felt guilty for bringing Moroha down here if she ended up crushing
his resolve.
My smartphone started ringing, so I pulled it out of my pocket. It was a call
from Kousaka. For some reason, I had a bad feeling...
"Yeah, 'sup?"
"Your Highness. I would like for you to get through all of your work for the
day, else there may be complications down the line. Where are you?"
"Ah, right... I'll be right there..." The recent issues in the Reverse World had
been distracting me, so I had a lot of affairs to catch up on in relation to
Brunhild.
Ultimately my work as grand duke mostly came down to approving or denying
planning proposals. Guildmaster Relisha had recently agreed to build a school
for adventurers, so I needed to get on looking at that.
Apparently, a lot of newbies had come to Brunhild because of our dungeon
islands. That meant there were a lot of cases where untrained or inexperienced
adventurers were pushing themselves to the point of injury or even death. A
school would help teach the skills to prevent such tragedies.
There was no downside to enrolling in a school that could teach you how to
stay alive, that's why I wanted to keep enrollment fees down as well.
I decided to do my job and go help out Kousaka.
"I'll go take care of work for now. Later, Yae."
"Be safe, Touya-dono." Yae waved me off as I opened a [Gate] to Brunhild
castle.
◇ ◇ ◇
Leen was riding in Grimgerde. The massive Frame Gear raised its right arm
and began firing its Gatling gun.
Hilde's Siegrune lifted its shield and deflected the attacks. She attempted to
charge forward, but a grenade detonated at her Frame Gear's feet, causing it to
stumble.
"Hold out a bit longer, Hilde!" Lu's Waltraute stood atop a nearby hill, taking
aim with its shoulder-mounted cannon. Its target was Leen's Grimgerde.
It was currently equipped with the C-Unit, meant for long-range shots. Its
heels had it anchored into the ground. A mighty roar echoed through the air as
a huge bullet came out of the barrel, headed straight for Grimgerde.
"Gah!" Leen switched to evasive maneuvers, dodging just in time for Lu's shot
to make a massive crater in the ground where Grimgerde had been standing.
Debris and dirt ended up being kicked up into the air, blinding the
surrounding area. Hilde used that to her advantage, charging head-on with
Siegrune toward Leen. Leen's Frame Gear wasn't built for close-quarters
combat, so getting too close would mean the end for her.
"You're mine!"
"Not so far, Hilde-dono!" Hilde's blade was blocked by a katana. Yae's
Schwertleite revealed itself from the clouds of dirt.
Hilde's Frame Gear was very similar to Yae's, except Siegrune was more
defense-oriented, while Schwertleite was more offense-oriented.
The purple samurai and the orange knight continued to trade blows, but both
were at a stalemate.
Leen and her Grimgerde had gotten a good distance away and were now
engaged in a long-range battle with Lu's Waltraute.
Leen's Gatling gun suddenly stopped spinning, it had overheated due to being
used too long. Leen ejected the smoking weapon from her Frame Gear and
carried on. Seemed she'd rather drop dead weight than carry a gun that she
could use later.
Lu used the cooldown period to switch from her C-Unit to her B-Unit, charging
in toward Leen with the heightened mobility granted to her.
Grimgerde opened up its shoulder missile pods, but by that point, Waltraute
was already in too close. Grimgerde had been stabbed straight through the
torso.
"Not bad... But I'm gonna take you with me!" Grimgerde extended its arms
and held Waltraute tight, then opened up its damaged chest to reveal two
surprise Gatling guns. Waltraute was practically hugged up against the
weapons, which immediately began to spin up and fire a slew of bullets.
"Wh-No! No fair!" Waltraute was riddled with more holes than swiss cheese.
It fell to the ground and exploded into pieces, causing Grimgerde to detonate as
well.
"Kokonoe Secret Style: Flying Swallow Rend!"
"Lestian Sacred Sword: Fifth Swirl!" Siegrune and Schwertleite continued to
clash, ending it by striking each other through the chest at the same time.
"...It seems we have assured mutual destruction, we have..."
"What a shame." The two Frame Gears exploded into pieces, leaving nothing
behind but wreckage. The battlefield was completely abandoned, all that
remained was a smoldering waste.
"Simulation over. No survivors on either side. Draw. Opening hatch." The
Frame Units all opened up at once.
As I looked around the Babylon facility and then back up at the monitor, the
four girls hopped out of their VR pods.
"So yeah, that was a Frame Gear battle. Or rather, a simulation of one."
"Wow..."
"Really wow..." Elluka and Fenrir were still staring with their mouths agape.
"Good job!" I called out to the girls.
"It was another mutual kill, it was..."
"We keep doing that."
"I really thought I had you that time... Didn't expect you to take me out like
that."
"You can't afford to be careless. The moment you're sure of your victory is
the moment you need to be the most careful, Lu. You still have a few things to
learn." I figured it was likely they'd end up drawing with the team matchups
being what they were.
After looking at the battle footage, I realized we probably needed to improve
Grimgerde's close-range abilities. If she couldn't deal with nearby enemies,
that'd be bad. I decided to ask Rosetta about it later.
"So, what exactly do you think she can help with?" Doc Babylon stood by my
side and motioned toward Elluka.
"Well, first of all, I'd like you to bring her up to speed on the magitech stuff
this world has, but then I'd like to see if we can get some kind of
communication device going."
"A communicator?"
"Yeah, but a special one. I want an object that can communicate between the
regular world and the Reverse World. If you employ the same kind of Spacetime magic used in the Dimensional Disruptor, it should be doable." I figured
that'd be useful. That way we'd be able to know immediately if any mutants
showed up in the Reverse World.
"So you mean to create an interdimensional smartphone?"
"Pretty much. Yeah. I think if we can set up some kind of relay station on
either side, it'd help. There'd probably be a slight message delay, though." In
that case, I'd probably need to give a smartphone to Nia from the Red Cats... Or
maybe I'd be better off giving it to Est instead.
"When the two worlds become one, there won't be any need for a relay, you
know." Even if that was true, we still needed one in the interim. As the scout
motto goes, "Be prepared."
In other words, you always had to be ready to face any kind of threat in any
kind of situation.
"I'll leave it to you, anyway. Let me know when it's finished."
"Sure. No problem. Oh, right... Whatever became of those magic trains in
Felsen?"
"Uhh... I think they're almost done? The first two trains should be deployed in
Belfast and Refreese respectively soon. We'll be informed when they're done." I
was the one who had to transport the trains to the two countries, anyway.
The construction of a train line between Refreese and Belfast was well
underway. They were using earth mages to flatten out the land.
If the Refreese-Belfast line worked out, then the next project would be a line
between Lestia and Felsen. After that, we'd move to connect Belfast and
Mismede.
It'd likely be used for hauling freight to begin with, rather than passengers.
But who knew what the future would bring? I just hoped it'd work out.
I went down from Babylon and headed over to Olba's store. I was always fond
of the Strand Company, since they dealt with things as small as capsule toys, to
things as big as the Dverg mechas.
There were a few kids gathered in front of the store, playing with various little
toys and trinkets.
"Ah, Your Highness! Greetings!"
"Hey, mister!" One older kid greeted me, which prompted the younger ones
nearby to wave in unison.
"Hey there. I hope you're doing well!" I took out some snacks and candies
from my [Storage], making some small talk with the kids before handing them
over and heading indoors.
There was a benefit to staying in touch with kids. They often kept their ears to
the grounds and knew subtle differences in the town. They heard the
complaints of their parents and other rumors. Most of the stuff they said was
completely useless, though.
When I entered the store, Olba greeted me and brought me to a back room.
"How's the progress on the Ether Vehicle going?"
"Ah, yes. I've given out several to various royal families. I'm just waiting for
the various nobles to catch interest, now." Ether Vehicles were not cheap
purchases. They were definitely not something you could just frivolously
purchase, so Olba's idea was to plant them as some kind of status symbol.
"What about the model magic trains?"
"We're preparing a good number of them. We should have a great deal
prepared by the time the real railways open." The benefit of selling toy versions
and model versions of the trains was that we could use them to increase public
awareness of the actual trains.
If other countries began their own railway projects, then demand for the
Dvergs would also rise. Felsen had a lot of mages, though... It was unlikely
they'd need many.
I spoke with Olba about a few more basic ideas like adding more toys to the
capsules, different Ether Vehicle models, and so on. After that, I left.
It'd been a while since I just walked around town. It was certainly livelier than
it was last time, and there were more buildings popping up here and there. That
also meant there was a slight increase in crime, so we'd increased our patrols.
Fortunately, nothing major had happened, so I wasn't too worried.
I headed away from the town center and walked toward the school. Fiana,
the principal, came out to say hello.
Everything seemed to be going fine at the school. I asked her if they needed
anything, and she said that they lacked instruments for their music classes, so I
gave her a grand piano as a gift.
Apparently, they were just having Sakura come in to sing, or Sousuke come in
to perform. I decided it'd be best if the teachers themselves could play the
instruments on demand, too. Sousuke would be able to teach them the basics.
If he couldn't, I'd certainly wonder why he had the divine position he had.
I also gave them some recorders and castanets for the students. They were
pretty vital for elementary music class.
I spoke to Fiana for a bit about official matters, then headed outside. I found
Mr. Mittens waiting for me at the door. I wondered what he wanted.
"Meowlord! Halt fur a moment and hear my humble propawsition!"
"...I can't ban the Overlord from Brunhild, I'm sorry."
"Tsk... That's not what I want! I want companions!"
"Huh? Don't you have like... A whole army of cats?" Mr. Mittens had
streetcats and housecats galore. There wasn't a feline in town that wasn't
under his heel, and they were all working for the good of this town and its
people.
Hell, there were more incidents where people annoyed the cats than the
other way around.
"Those are my stalwart soldiers, sir! But I need equals! Understand?! I need
Cat Siths, like me! Furry feline friends for fighting ferocious foes! I can't keep on
managing this menagerie on my own!" Mr. Mittens ran up to me and clung to
my leg. You have your claws out, asshole! "Isn't Sakura your master? You're...
Meowing up the wrong tree, buddy."
"Sakura can't specifically call Cat Siths when she tries to summon familiars! I
have three buddies that I need brought here! I'm begging you! I swear on at
least three of my nine lives that I need this!"
"...Fine, whatever! I'll do it." For the first time in my life, I had witnessed a cat
bowing. It was weird. To be honest, asking Mr. Mittens to manage every cat in
town was unreasonable. Especially since he was meant to be helping Fiana
every day, as well.
"I'll need to borrow your memories, then. Visualize those three friends of
yours."
"Gotcha!" I grabbed Mr. Mitten's paws and pressed my thumbs up against his
little pawpads. Then I pressed our foreheads together. If someone saw us now
they'd probably wonder what the hell I was doing.
I saw the image of the three Cat Siths in my mind. I drew back and let go of his
paws.
I set down the summoning circle in the school courtyard and poured my
magic into it. A black mist began to form in the air until it condensed and finally
dispersed.
Three small figures appeared in the middle of the circle where the black mist
once was. Just as Mr. Mittens had done when he was summoned, the three
felines pulled out their swords and raised them high into the air.
"All for one, and one for all!" One of them was an American shorthair. His
face seemed stoic and serious. The other seemed like an elegant Siamese cat.
The last one was a large, stocky Persian kitty.
They all wore the same stuff that Mr. Mittens did. They had feathered hats,
big boots, capes, and rapiers. All three were clearly model cat knights.
"Good day to you, milord. Please grant us names." The American shorthair
knelt down and spoke. He wasn't appending any stupid cat jokes to his
dialogue, fortunately.
Thanks to Kohaku, I didn't need to fulfill any conditions to make a contract
with summoned creatures like them, so all I had to do was give them names... I
knew exactly what to call them.
"You're Athos. You can be Aramis, and you're Porthos."
"Very well!" Athos was the shorthair, Aramis was the Siamese, and Porthos
was the Persian.
"Good meowning, people! It's been a while!"
"Oho, it's you! It's not actually morning, though... How've you been?"
"You seem the same as ever."
"Gahaha, you seem a little on the scrawny side, buddy. Sure you been eating
right?" They were clearly old friends, so they were hitting it off well.
"Alright, well. You guys are gonna be helping Mr. Mittens, but otherwise,
you're free to roam around town."
"...Mr. Mittens?"
"N-No! Erase that name from your minds right meow! I'm D'Artagnan!" Mr.
Mittens flailed his arms around out of embarrassment. I had totally forgotten
that Mr. Mittens wasn't his real name.
Since they were reuniting after a while, I gave them all a silver coin and told
them to have fun on the town for a bit. All the bars in this area would be fine
serving alcohol to the cats. Catnip-infused booze, of course.
Since Mr. Mittens had to finish up helping Fiana, I took the three cats to the
bar ahead of him. I decided to teach them the ways around the streets, so I
didn't use any fancy teleporting. It was already evening, so there were a few
people out and about.
Nobody seemed to mind the sight of me and the three Cat Siths. Everyone
was used to Mr. Mittens, after all. I only got a few confused glances from
traveling merchants.
"This is quite a pleasant town."
"I'm glad it's to your liking." Athos cheerfully glanced around, but he seemed
very alert. Aramis was already flirting with a nearby female cat. He was waving
at her as she sat on a wall. Porthos, on the other hand, was hungrily staring at a
stall that sold chicken skewers.
I think I had a good grasp of their personalities even though I hadn't known
them long.
"So basically, you guys are gonna protect this town from the shadows just like
Mr. Mittens does. Make sure you do your best, now."
"Very well!" We headed into the bar and found a bunch of men who had been
drunk under the table by Suika. She was still sipping booze. The little gremlin
was at it again... I had no idea how she was paying for booze when I'd canceled
her allowance. She'd probably been winning bets against guys who thought
they could outdrink her or something. "Ohh... Big bwoooo... How're... Hic...
Youuuu?"
"I'm fine. How much have you had to drink?" She was completely wasted. I
cleared up the glass bottles that were scattered around and shifted my eyes
toward the barkeeper. He just looked away. I see your game, mister. I'm sure
she's bringing in a lot of income for you...
"Let's get going, alright? Don't want Karina to catch you in this state."
"Bweeh... Hic! Fhiiine... But cawwy me..." She had free control over whether
or not she got drunk, so it seemed to me like she just preferred being
completely hammered. If she wanted to, she could make herself sober in a
matter of minutes... But it seemed like half of the fun of drinking was in losing
your inhibitions.
It was too late to blame her for it, so I just did what Suika said and put her on
my shoulders. She really was a useless little gremlin.
"Hey barkeep, get some catnip sake for these guys. Mr. Mittens is coming
over soon, too. So save some for him."
"Gotcha." The barkeep was a resident of Brunhild, so he didn't even blink
twice at the sight of three cats ordering booze. He certainly got used to the
swing of things quite fast.
I left the trio behind and headed back to the castle with Suika piggybacking on
my shoulders. I felt like walking back on my own instead of using [Gate], for
once.
The cool air blew along the path. It felt nice, in all honesty.
"Touya..."
"Yeah?"
"...I'm gonna barf..."
"[Gate]!" I charged toward the portal I'd opened up in front of me, but it was
too late. No way, this isn't happening!
"...Bureegh＠＊〆＃Hrrrrk＄＋☆％Oooorkh...!!"
"OH HELL NOOOO!! AUUUUUGH! IT'S ALL DOWN MY NECK!" I made a silent
oath at that moment. A promise to myself that I would never carry a drunk
person ever again.