Chapter 112 - : Interdimensional Networking

There was a great plain to the north of Brunhild castle.

The entire area was covered with a barrier that barred entry to anyone but

authorized personnel. It was also enchanted with the same kind of stealth field

that surrounded Babylon.

This plain was largely used for testing out Frame Gears, as well as any new

inventions or modifications designed by Doctor Babylon. And it just so

happened that on this day, one of those tests was ongoing.

"It's surprisingly swift."

"Gollems are machines, so it's obvious they'd be receptive."

"It isn't operated manually, so it's actually a good bit faster than regular

Frame Gears in terms of response time."

Doctor Babylon, along with Elluka, answered my remark as we watched the

giant machine running around. The thing before us was an enormous, black,

lion-shaped robot. There was a hefty, almost see-through sphere embedded in

its chest. It also had various phrasium attachments on its body, that glimmered

as they reflected the sun. There were also golden lines of metal that ran across

the mech's structure.

In terms of scale... if a Frame Gear was the size of a human, then this thing

would be the size of an actual lion in comparison.

It was the Gollem-enhancing mech that Elluka and Babylon had co-operated

on developing. It was called the Over Gear.

The crystal sphere on the chest contained a cockpit, known as the Core

Frame. The Gollem would act as the core and situate itself in there alongside its

master.

The Over Gear synchronized with the Gollem inside it to bring out stronger

versions of what the Gollem could already do. It was basically like a large

powered suit that amplified the existing power within the Gollem.

A good question would be why it wasn't humanoid. I certainly wondered the

same.

I asked the two of them, and they just responded with, "We wanted to make

something freaky."

In other words, those two dumbasses just followed their own whims.

The black lion kicked off the ground and leaped up into the air. I was pretty

amazed by the power in its legs. It ran around full-pelt, suddenly stopping and

starting itself back up as it pleased. It was incredibly versatile... It definitely had

more movement potential than a regular Frame Gear.

"Is it using a Gollem skill right now?"

"No, right now that function is disabled, since it's still a bit unstable. What

you're seeing right now is purely the base functionality of the Leo Noir."

In terms of equipment, it only had crystal claws and fangs... But it looked like

it could definitely fight multiple Intermediate Constructs with ease. I didn't

think it could solo an Upper Construct, though.

"Hm... It might be interesting if we could have it transform into a humanoid

mode..."

"The Core Frame is built all around the middle piece anyway, right? It'd just

be a case of swapping out parts, though that's not quite transforming." As the

two women spoke, the Leo Noir suddenly stopped moving. It lay down on its

belly and turned off, after which a young girl and a little black robot emerged

from the core in the middle. It was Elluka's younger sister, Norn, along with her

Gollem, Noir.

I walked over towards Norn to ask her how she liked it.

"Your movements were pretty solid back there. How was the ride?"

I was met with silence. She didn't react at all. I wondered what was up. Norn

looked up at me, her eyes were wiggling around in her head. She was staring

like a dead fish. She slowly wobbled towards me unsteadily and grabbed me by

the coat.

"...Blurgh..."

"Huh?"

■Please Stand By■

"...Hmm, seems like we didn't nail the shock absorption."

"Yeah, looks like the cockpit shook around more than we thought. We'll need

to tweak it to a higher level than the Frame Gear's standard settings, I guess."

"Hey, assholes! Quit jabbering and help us out!" I yelled over at Babylon and

Elluka, who seemed to have a clinical reaction to the sudden outburst of vomit

all over my pants. Norn, who was now prone on the ground and covered in the

contents of her own stomach, glared weakly over at the duo.

"I-I can't control it... It's too powerful... I just wanted to make it run a little,

and that happened..."

Norn stayed flat on the ground as she quietly muttered those words. I could

relate a bit to that. When I first cast [Accel], it was way too intense... Either

way, this meant the sleek display I'd just seen from Leo Noir was completely

unintentional on Norn's part.

She was almost like a newbie in a fighting game, just button-mashing and

hoping for the best...

"It shook so much... It... It shook so much..."

"Shhh... There, there..." Noir softly patted at Norn's puke-caked hair.

"Seems like the first test was a success, at any rate. The only real issue is, we

can't really mass-produce the Over Gears."

"Really? Why not?"

I butted in when I heard the Doctor say that. What do you mean you can't

mass-produce this thing? Did you make it specifically for Norn and Noir, like the

Valkyrie Gears?

"It's a no-go. Each Over Gear needs to be attuned to the specific Gollem it's

made for. They're basically all personal mechs."

"So wait, if Nia's Blood Rouge got into Leo Noir, it wouldn't be able to do

anything?"

"That's right. Any other Gollem aside from Noir won't even be able to boot up

the Leo Noir. Frame Gears can be used by different people, but that's not the

case here. The Over Gear is powered through its connection with its assigned

Gollem, so only the Gollem and its master can make use of it."

That made sense. Gollems were all uniquely connected to their masters, after

all.

"Even Soldats are only connected to one Gollem master. It'd be pointless to

have one person who could control multiple Over Gears, anyway. Not to

mention the fact that only legacy Gollems can connect to the Over Gears, so it's

basically pointless to mass-produce them."

We'd still want to produce a lot of them, but it seemed like each one would

have to be custom-made.

According to the two geniuses, the Core Frame was the only part that needed

to be custom-built, and the other parts could be swapped freely. So for

example, if we finished the Core Frame for Nia's Over Gear, we could just snap

the limb parts from Norn's Over Gear, and it would work.

"Still, we can't defeat the mutants without them, so we'll need to hurry."

"Yes, yes... We'll continue to make improvements. I'm sure we'll be able to

make a mass-produced variation eventually. Though I doubt it'll be as powerful

or impressive."

It always came down to either quantity or quality, but we needed a decent

amount of both! It was a tricky situation.

It wasn't like the enemy was going to wait for us to get everything right,

either.

On the way back to the castle, I swung by the training field. Moroha was

putting them through the grinder, as per usual. But from what I'd seen, they'd

at least gotten used to it at this point.

"Touya, you've come at the right time."

"Oh?"

As I watched the knights, Hilde walked over and greeted me. Her breathing

was still a little ragged, since she'd been training herself. I opened up [Storage]

and pulled out a towel and bottle of water for her.

"Thank you. I was actually just on the phone with my brother, and he was

wondering if the Lestian knight order could have a joint training session with

ours."

"Reinhard was asking about that?"

Hmm... A joint training session with the knightly elite of Lestia? Sounds fun.

Hilde suddenly smiled a little awkwardly and continued talking.

"I think he's just saying that for the sake of appearances... I think he actually

wants to fight against Moroha and receive some more training from her."

That made more sense. Last time Reinhard was in Brunhild, he had a quick

duel with Hilde and ended up losing to her. His pride was probably damaged as

a result.

Given that Reinhard also had the job of governing a country, it would make

sense that Hilde would slowly overtake him in swordplay. Not to mention the

fact that Hilde was a beneficiary of my divinity, which was already propelling

her past regular humanity.

But still, the idea of a joint training session was appealing. I had recently

bothered the former knight king, Galen, by making him judge some newbie

adventurers, so this was probably a good way to make it up to them.

I pulled out my smartphone and looked up Reinhard in my contacts.

"Yeah, it's about what you said to Hilde earlier. Yes. Yeah. Uh... wait, now?

You wanna do it right now?!"

I didn't mind, I just thought he was being a little too eager. Still, the guy was

probably dead set on his goal, so I wasn't about to get between him and it.

I opened up a [Gate] to Lestia, and almost immediately, King Reinhard filed

through with several elite Lestian knights.

The king of Lestia was technically the commander of the knight order over

there, but they did have a proper sub-commander in place for when he was

busy.

"Thanks for the invitation."

"Thank you for obliging."

The commander of the Lestian forces was exchanging a greeting with Lain,

our commander.

The man's name was Franz Icemann. He was over forty years old, and his hair

was clearly greying all over the place. He had a small mustache as well, giving

off the full image of a refined gentleman.

It seemed he was a friend of the former king, and somewhat of a mentor to

the current king. He was considered a swordmaster in Lestia, and had been

personally trained by Galen a long time ago. The man seemed very serious and

studious man, so I was glad he didn't take after Galen.

Typically, in joint training sessions, the commanders didn't participate.

After all, if a commander lost in a battle against the commander from another

nation, it would look extremely bad. If Lain lost to him, we'd definitely be

looked down on.

That was how it usually went, at least... But apparently, the first one out to

fight was the goddamn king of the country.

The first match got off to a flying start. It was Moroha and Reinhard, and their

blades were clashing every other second. The knights gathered around and

watched in awe.

...Awe at how brutally Reinhard was getting his ass handed to him, at least.

"...You could at least hold back a bit."

I sighed quietly and pinched the bridge of my nose. Moroha was seriously

dense. I was just glad that, even though they were watching a foreign king get

beaten severely, all of my knights had the social awareness not to laugh.

They all understood how scary Moroha was, anyway... They probably felt bad

for Reinhard.

Technically, Moroha wasn't part of our knight order, so I could probably

explain this away somehow... She was only here in an advisory capacity!

...Wait. If she's not a member of our order, then why the hell is she even

participating in the joint training exercise?!

Reinhard took another heavy blow and got blasted out of the arena. It was

hard to watch.

"Lady Moroha is truly a monster. It's incredible. My heart races just looking at

her brutalize him..."

"A-Ah... W-Well, please forgive us... I'm sorry about my sister, she's a little

extreme..."

I winced a little at Franz's commentary. Moroha really had to learn to read

the mood... Sending a foreign king flying away like that could spark a war in

some cases...

"No, no. It's not a bother at all. Our king certainly seems to be happy. Seeing

such a terrifying wall before him makes me certain that he'll keep on striving to

fight harder and faster."

I understood his logic. I'd certainly grown in strength since I'd arrived in this

world, and that was through overcoming hardships. I still wasn't nearly on

Moroha's level, though.

I couldn't afford to become complacent, since I was surrounded by gods. The

moment I started getting all cocky, they'd put me in my place...

"We've recently added magic beast combat to our training schedule. It isn't

seeing much success, though... Capturing the beasts and bringing them back is

proving difficult, so we're considering just going out and training in the wild."

"Brunhild doesn't have much in the way of magical beasts, either. Our knights

aren't really experienced at fighting them. There should be plenty of strong

ones on the dungeon islands, though..."

Lestia had a massive amount of knights. After all, it was the knight kingdom.

Many of them were assigned to protect towns, so they needed to know how to

deal with unusual threats like magical beasts.

Often, the knight order would collaborate with the guild in order to hunt

down magical beasts. That was even a way for adventurers to get their foot in

the door in terms of joining knight orders. Galen, who ended up becoming the

king over there, started off as an adventurer as well.

There was certainly no harm in trying out some combat training against

monsters, though.

"Hm... I'll go find some random monsters and bring them back, then. Should

be fine if I focus on ones we can eat afterward."

"What?" I left behind the bewildered Franz and opened up a [Gate] to fetch

some beasties for the knights to try their hands against.

"You need to aim for the joints or your swords won't do anything... Don't just

stand in front of it, it's gonna blow out bubbles. They'll melt your skin if they

touch you!"

I clicked my tongue as I yelled advice to the swarming knights. Both the

knights from Brunhild and Lestia were fighting against a massive red-shelled

Bloody Crab. Obviously, I had forbidden the Brunhild knights from using their

phrasium blades, since that would've basically been cheating.

By guild standards, the Bloody Crab was a red target, the same tier as a Lesser

Dragon. This particular magic beast was actually found in Lestia now and then,

too.

That being said, this specimen was a little larger than usual... It could've even

been considered a silver foe.

"It's a bit big, isn't it...?" Hilde muttered to herself as the Bloody Crab scuttled

after the knights. She was right, it was.

"I'm just guessing here, but it might be turning into a Behemoth... If we'd left

it a couple more years, we might've had to kill it with Frame Gears." I shrugged

and gave my hypothesis as I cast Healing magic on a knight who almost had his

arm snipped off. The knight rose to his feet and promptly charged back toward

the monster.

There were around twenty men in total fighting it, and they had ample

support from my healing. It had nowhere to run, so they could probably kill it.

"Hm... It's quite easy to see its movements from the side. See how its forelegs

clench together before it shoots its bubble?"

"You're right. Also, it seems to shuffle slightly after swinging its pincers. Its

follow-ups are quite well telegraphed." Reinhard and Franz were looking at the

crab from the side. They were being pretty smart. Observation was the best

way to deal with an enemy. You could build a strategy around how it attacks.

Human or magic beast, all things could be analyzed that way.

"You should've brought in a cyclops or something to make it more

interesting."

"No thanks... Why would I bring in a giant? That's the kind of thing I'd reserve

for Frame Gears."

Moroha, who was still being casual and blunt, made a stupid comment.

Cyclopes were magical beasts around the same size as golems. They tended to

be smaller than Frame Gears, but they could vary in size.

"They could deal with one without a Frame Gear, I'm sure. You just need to

find the best way to kill it. It would probably help their training, in all honesty.

Finding out your opponent's weakness and targeting it is a vital part of battle.

Knowing which weapons are the best and exactly when and where to strike are

the best ways to get better. You need to know how to bring out the best in you

and your allies and move without overexerting yourself. If you do all that, the

fight would be easy." Easier said than done...

I sighed at Moroha's nonchalant talk, then turned and noticed the knights had

weakened the Bloody Crab considerably. They all charged in. Their spears

pierced the leg joints, while axes cleaved the front pincers off. After that, a

small group of knights pierced their swords through its underside, sending the

Bloody Crab crashing to the ground.

"Woohoo!"

"W-We actually did it..."

"Hell yeah!"

The knights from Brunhild and Lestia all celebrated in their own ways,

cheering out in joy with each other. A few were wounded, but I patched them

up right away. Then, I used [Refresh] to restore everyone's stamina.

"That's it for the training session, then."

"Seems so."

I nodded to Hilde and opened up [Storage], producing a massive cooking pot.

Then, I used Earth magic to create a basic stove in the ground and added some

water to the pot with magic and lit the stove.

I took out a table and lined up a few snacks on it, then poured some miso into

the pot as a base stock.

"Alright fellas, we're having Bloody Crab hotpot tonight!"

"Yeaaah!"

The knights all took up their swords and started slicing up the Bloody Crab.

I threw the cut-up pieces into the big pot along with some tofu, veggies,

mushrooms, and assorted meats. Slowly, but surely, it began to smell even

better as it boiled. Everyone happily ate their portions for dinner, and they

smiled in delight. I wasn't too surprised they were happy, since they'd all

worked hard to hunt this meal themselves.

As I was idly thinking about how much tastier this magical beast was than

regular crabs, my smartphone began to vibrate.

"Oh, it's Silhouette."

Silhouette was the leader of a series of brothels in the Reverse World, as well

as the boss of the Black Cats, an intelligence-gathering organization. She usually

forwarded information to me from the other world, but it was unusual for her

to call me. I was a little worried.

"'Sup. Yeah. Uh-huh... Yup. Yup... What?!"

Hold on a goddamn second. I know I beat the old cyborg guy there a while

ago, but...

What the hell do you mean by "the Magitechnocracy of Isengard is falling

apart?!"

◇ ◇ ◇

The Reverse World, Magitechnocracy of Isengard.

A land once governed by the fearsome and insane witch-king.

He was an insane old man, who also happened to be a cyborg. He revived an

ancient weapon and attempted to ravage his own nation with it before I put a

stop to it.

I wasn't interested in anything to do with Isengard after all of that, so I didn't

bother checking in on them after the witch-king died.

But apparently, the country was now falling apart at the seams... I had no idea

what had happened. Apparently it had all begun two weeks before my phone

call, when golden snow started falling in different parts of the country.

The snow subsided after a short amount of time, and nobody thought

anything of it. But then a few days later, people started getting sick. They

burned up, got all feverish... Their insides reportedly felt like they were twisting

around... And then they died. The population was wracked with fear and

paranoia due to the sudden outbreak of this terrifying disease. New carriers

kept appearing everywhere, and nobody could identify what was going on.

But that was only the beginning of the end for them.

It was reported by those attempting to bury the dead, that strange golden

flowers had been sprouting from the bodies of the infected.

And, with time, those corpses rose back up and started attacking the living.

It happened everywhere. Small towns, bustling cities... It was said that

Zombies now walked the streets of northern Isengard, shambling around with

golden flowers growing from their bodies.

This plague hadn't affected the entire country, but had mostly wiped out the

northern territories.

I heard the name of the place this had originally broken out, and my blood ran

cold... It was the town of Zeen.

Months back, a group of mutated Phrase had appeared near that town. I'd

taken care of them, but I recalled the Ostrich-like enemy pecking at the ground

over and over before it died.

It was possible that the strange behavior had something to do with all of this

now.

I brought Yumina, Sakura, and Sue with me to the other world. We warped

directly to the outskirts of Zeen.

"Wh-What the hell?!" I stared in horror as I looked at a massive golden tree

sprawled out before me. That wasn't there last time.

It only resembled a plant on a superficial level. It was over a hundred meters

tall and had a clear metallic sheen to it. Even its leaves looked like sheets of

gold.

It was enormous. There were various trees back on Earth that could rival this

one in size, but I'd still never seen anything like it before.

It was hard to look at, too. The gold color meant it was constantly reflecting

light. It also looked like a bizarre mismatch of various tree species. Parts of it

looked like a pine tree, parts of it resembled a cypress tree, while other parts of

it kind of looked like a rosebush and a bamboo grove. This giant tree was a

freakish amalgamation of metallic pieces that resembled different plants.

"Touya... What is this?"

"It's probably the same species as the mutants..." I'd convinced myself, there

and then. The ostrich had likely planted this deep in the ground as a last-ditch

effort before it died.

"Doesn't that make this thing a mutant too...?" Sue posed a reasonable

question.

I'd never seen a plant-based Phrase before, but it looked just like a mutant

Phrase in terms of composition. It stood to reason that if there were Phrase

plants out there, then they could also be corrupted and mutated in the same

way.

"...Then that snow they reported probably wasn't snow at all. It was probably

spores from this tree, spreading all over Isengard."

"...Like a mushroom...?" Sakura frowned. She wasn't a huge fan of

mushrooms. But I was of the opinion you needed them in your diet to grow big

and strong. That one mustached plumber certainly knew the benefits of

mushrooms.

"I guess so, yeah. I guess anyone who breathed in the spores ended up

becoming those Zombies."

Although it was probably more accurate to say that they became Phrase

mutants, rather than Zombies.

"The mutants devour souls, remember? That's probably why not everyone

was affected. The ones who did succumb were probably people with deeper

negative emotions."

According to Silhouette, most of the victims were adults. That made sense,

since older people typically had more stresses, prejudices, and reservations

weighing on them.

That being said, there were still some children who were affected. Child

Zombies had been reported in slum areas. It made sense that things like this

would change based on the environment.

Zeen was basically done for. A full third of their population had been

zombified, another third had been killed, and the last third had fled.

The Zombies weren't exactly strong on their own. Combat-oriented Gollems

were more than a match for them. But if their numbers swelled too much, they

were overwhelming.

The afflicted people of Zeen moved towards other towns and started

attacking them as well. It's the kind of thing you'd see in a cheesy B-movie, but

sadly this was all too real for the citizens.

"We gotta do something about this, Touya! Let's get rid of this dumb old

tree!"

Sue was right. We needed to uproot this thing to prevent it from causing any

more harm. The only thing I wondered was where its core would be...

"I guess it could be underground or something... Hm...?" I saw something up

at the top of the tree. Just for a split-second, I caught a glimpse of a blood-red

object high up in the branches.

"[Long Sense]."

I projected my senses to get a closer look. About eighty meters up the tree,

there was a blood-red Phrase core surrounded by thorny, golden branches.

That confirmed the tree's status as a mutant Phrase, at least.

I was glad I could see the core so clearly, but it was also unreasonably large...

It was about four meters in diameter. If this tree was a Phrase, then it was easily

an Upper Construct.

Sakura and Sue noticed the core as well. It was a bit hard to see from the

ground, but the color contrast made it stand out.

"...Should we break it...?"

"Yeah!"

Almost as if it had heard Sue's affirmation to destroy it, the tree quivered.

Several thorned branches shot out from underfoot and began lashing at us.

I barely had time to react before the vines were upon us, attempting to slice

us up from every direction.

"[Teleport]!"

I warped myself and the three girls away from the tree. We landed at a spot

several hundred meters away.

We looked at the tree in the distance, more and more thorny vines were

rising from the ground and wildly lashing out. That was almost a very messy,

dangerous situation...

It made sense that it'd have a defensive function, given that it was stationary.

I just didn't expect the attack to come from underground. I was thinking it'd

have razor leaves that it could fire at us, or maybe the ability to grow spiky fruit

to drop on us...

The wall of thorns was getting denser by the minute. Even if we were in

Frame Gears we'd have a hard time getting through without being damaged.

Which meant there was only one thing to be done.

"Yumina, you got this?"

"Yes, I can handle this with relative ease." Yumina held out her engagement

ring, which was enchanted with [Storage], and her Frame Gear emerged from it

on the spot.

Brunnhilde, her personal silver Frame Gear. It specialized in long-range

attacks.

Yumina clambered into Brunnhilde's cockpit, brandished the sniper rifle that

was on its back, and aimed straight ahead for the tree.

"One shot, one kill..."

Brunnhilde's hefty finger pulled down on the trigger, sending the crystal bullet

in a straight beeline for the tree's core.

The bullet found its mark easily, obliterating the golden tree's blood-red core

in a second. Just in case that wasn't enough, the [Explosion] enchantment on

the round went off, burning the fragments to ash.

The giant tree imploded like a demolished building, crumbling to the ground

with a great crash.

The golden remains eventually began to liquefy, turning into blackish goo

before dissolving entirely. It was an unpleasant sight as ever...

"...Will it be safe now...?"

"For the time being, I guess."

I shrugged at Sakura. It ended up being a lot easier than I thought it would be.

That would at least put a stop to any new afflicted people in Isengard. Now all

I had to do was handle the ones that were still active and dangerous.

I pulled up the map and searched for the Zombies. Just as I'd assumed, there

were tons of them all over the northern area of Isengard.

I wondered how to deal with it. The range was a bit too broad for my area-ofeffect spells, and they had the Phrase trait of being able to absorb magic

anyway.

[Meteor Rain] was an option, but that attack was so indiscriminate that it'd

obliterate everything around the Zombies too.

"Hm...?"

As I pondered my options, I noticed that the Zombie pins on the map were

starting to vanish. Wait, what? The infected people are vanishing?

"What's this supposed to mean?"

"...Maybe they're going down because we took out the tree..."

Sue and Sakura looked at each other. That seemed like the most reasonable

assumption, but it seemed like a pretty convenient turn of events...

Yumina hopped down from Brunnhilde and looked at the map before offering

her own opinion.

"It's possible that the giant tree was controlling the infected people... Don't

you think?"

That did make a lot of sense. It would be similar to the Soldats, with the giant

tree operating as a transmitter.

That would make the flowers that sprouted out of their bodies the receivers.

My [Search] spell no longer recognized them as mutant Phrase, so they'd

probably ended up dissolving just like the tree did.

"We should go see Silhouette. She might have more info on this."

I spoke up my plan, but Yumina wrinkled her nose in response. I wondered

what was up.

"...I'm not so sure about going there... We do have Sue with us, after all."

Ah... I could understand Yumina's apprehension toward taking a twelve-yearold into a brothel... But she and Lu were pretty young too!

"Huh? How come I can't come?" Sue suddenly spoke up.

Sue, no. Stop right there. I'm not going to have to explain sex work to you.

That's not my job. Then again, if I give a vague answer that's just gonna be even

more confusing...

Fiancee or not, I couldn't bring myself to say, "A brothel is a place where

people pay to do sexual things with other people." Sue was a younger girl, that

would just come off as weird! That being said, I was sure she had some degree

of sexual knowledge thanks to the teachings of the perverted doctor and her

freaky maid...

"F-For now, I'll go contact Silhouette. Yumina, Sakura, you guys can explain it

to Sue! See ya!"

"What?!"

"...That's unfair, Grand Duke..."

I ignored my own irresponsibility as I turned around and pulled my phone up

to my ear.

After the call, we headed to the commercial city found in the northern part of

the Strain Kingdom. The city was home to Silhouette's brothel, which was also

the headquarters of the Black Cats intelligence agency.

We sat at an open cafe in the corner of the city, waiting for our contact to

arrive.

As it happened, she arrived before our tea did.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting."

"It's all good. We appreciate you coming."

The bewitching, smiling beauty before us was none other than the leader of

the Black Cats. She was Silhouette Lily, one of my co-operators in the Reverse

World.

Sue was with us, so we didn't want the first meeting to be at the brothel... I

felt bad for dragging Silhouette all the way out here just because of that.

Silhouette sat down with us and ordered a drink from the waiter. She seemed

pretty calm, but the hulking, black-clad men who came with her were freaking

everyone else out!

"First, I believe I owe you my thanks. The incident in Isengard seems to mostly

be over. Was that your work?"

"Ah... So the infected actually did vanish?"

"The infected? Oh, you mean those flowered corpses? Yes, they did. About an

hour ago they melted into nothingness, all at once."

I was glad to hear that. I shared the information about the giant tree with

Silhouette and wrapped up my business with her.

"Mm... I feel a little guilty, then. If we'd only noticed that tree sooner..."

"The sensor tablet didn't give off a reading at all?"

"It didn't. I wonder why that is..."

Our sensors were meant to be foolproof detectors that could pick up readings

from the Phrase and their mutated offshoots. They worked by picking up the

wavelengths generated by Phrase movement as they pushed into this world.

My hypothesis was that the tree wasn't detected because it was planted in the

Reverse World from the get-go, so the seed wasn't picked up because it came in

with an earlier wave of mutants.

Silhouette seemed to agree with that idea, too. It hadn't passed through the

world barrier on its own, so there was nothing about it that could've been

detected.

After the conversation, I introduced Sue and Sakura to Silhouette. Once she

learned the two of them were my fiancees, she started teasing them about

various things... Only Yumina and I got flustered, though. Sakura and Sue

weren't sexually versed enough to understand most of what the devilish

woman was getting at.

After she was done teasing, Silhouette brought up another point of

conversation.

"I heard from Est in the Red Cats. Is it true you've been teaching them

magic?"

"Uh... A little, I guess."

I gulped cautiously, having already spotted the glint in Silhouette's eyes. I

knew what she wanted.

"Ah... You know... magic can only be used by people with the right aptitudes,

so..."

"Can't you check the aptitudes, sweetie?"

"Y-Yes."

Silhouette's bewitching smile forced me to co-operate with her. Yumina and

the girls stared at me and shook their heads as I obediently took out a small

pouch of spellstone shards. Look, I'm just paying her back for how much she's

helped us...

I hoped that she had no aptitude so I could be spared the bother, but men like

me rarely got what they wanted. Silhouette had an excellent aptitude for

darkness.

Thankfully, that was one of the easiest schools of magic to teach. I wasn't

going to teach her ancient curses, so I decided she only needed to know about

summoning.

"Summoning? Like calling forth a familiar?"

"Kinda, yeah. Usually what you summon is randomized, basically down to

dumb luck. But I can help you narrow those results down a little. Is there

anything in particular you'd want in a summon?"

"Mm... A cat would be good, I think? One that could serve as an adept

bodyguard."

...I'm not so sure you'll be able to do that, Silhouette. Even if you manage to

make a contract, your magic reserves are so low that you'd only be able to

summon it for a few minutes at a time. A bodyguard is kind of outta the

question. I shrugged and decided to let her find out for herself.

I wondered why she wouldn't be fine with a Gollem as a bodyguard. I asked

her that and she said the aesthetic just wasn't right. I couldn't comprehend the

woman's need for form over function...

We'd cause a fuss if we summoned something in the cafe, so I moved us all to

a different area.

I summoned Kohaku to my side and began drawing a magic circle on the

ground. Then, I asked Kohaku to fuse her spiritual energy into the circle, while

Silhouette channeled her own magic power into it. Hopefully that would help

her get a cat.

An explosion of black mist formed at the center of the circle before

dispersing. Almost as if it was formed of the mist itself, a black-furred panther

stepped forth from the middle of the circle.

"...White Monarch, is that you? It has been quite a while."

"Indeed it has. You're looking well."

The black panther spoke to Kohaku, reverence clear in its voice. Seemed like it

was the type that could speak. That was nice. Kohaku informed me that this

creature was the Lightning Panther, and it had mastery over electricity.

Kohaku explained the situation, and the Lightning Panther agreed to contract

itself with Silhouette. I took out a collar with a silver tag attached to it from

[Storage].

"What's this?"

"The collar's normal, but the tag is special. I poured a large amount of my own

magic into it, so it should be able to sustain the panther's presence. That way

he'll be able to remain here as your bodyguard."

I headed over to put the collar on the black panther, but the barrier around

the magical circle stopped me. Oh, duh. I gotta wait for Silhouette to finalize the

contract.

Silhouette named the panther Shade, and it stepped out from the magical

circle. After that, I put the collar around its neck and left it at that.

"...Wow... I can talk to it through my mind?"

"Yeah, that's telepathy. You should be able to talk even if you're separated."

But if you do end up separated then you're doing a shitty job at

bodyguarding...

Shade, unlike Kohaku, was incapable of transforming into a smaller version of

itself. That meant that Silhouette would basically be walking around

everywhere with a giant panther. Certainly one way to attract attention...

"I stand out a lot as it is, so this is fine by me. I'm actually pleased, since Shade

here will be able to scare off bad people."

Silhouette smiled as she stroked Shade's head. That made sense enough to

me.

Sakura and Sue joined in on the Shade petting. Eventually, Silhouette turned

toward me and clasped her hands together.

"Oh, right. There's actually someone I want you to meet. She's in the city right

now. Could you perhaps come with me?"

"Who, exactly?"

"This country's most important woman..." Silhouette grinned, eyes brimming

with mischief. We returned her expression with blank stares.

◇ ◇ ◇

Silhouette took us to a high-class restaurant, one that was clearly more for

nobles than commoners. There wasn't really such a thing as a dress code in the

Reverse World, but I didn't feel comfortable going inside a place like that in my

adventurer getup.

When I saw the venue, I took a brief detour back to Drakliff island. Yumina,

Sue, and Sakura each took some formalwear out from the [Storage] in their

rings, while I got changed as well.

I changed into a blazer, shirt, and pants based on the uniform I'd first worn

upon arriving in the other world. Zanac, who I had sold that uniform to, had

designed the one I was wearing now. He said it wasn't one of his best works,

but I couldn't see that at all. It was almost indistinguishable from the original,

and was definitely more durable due to the difference in base materials.

It was nice to wear a necktie as well, since I hadn't really had a chance to wear

one since I originally died. I decided to keep Brunhild hanging around my belt,

just in case.

"Are those new clothes? They suit you really nicely."

"...You look handsome, Grand Duke..."

"That's our Touya for you!"

My fiancees all sang my praises. I thanked them, but I felt a little bit too

flattered for my own good. That reminded me of the fact that Zanac was the

only person who ever saw me in my school uniform.

Once we returned to the restaurant, Silhouette raised an eyebrow.

"What strange garments. Are they what you wear during formal meetings in

the other world?"

"Uh... Not exactly. They're worn in the place I come from, though." They were

common in my original world, but there was no way I was going to explain that I

was from ANOTHER another world. Students in Japan wore blazers and

uniforms for certain formal events, so it was suitable enough...

Once we finally entered the restaurant, one of the members of staff went

wide-eyed and ran over to Silhouette.

The black panther, Shade, was with us. It was clearly causing some kind of

confusion.

The staff was obviously concerned, but Silhouette simply patted Shade on the

head and explained its status as her bodyguard. We did have Kohaku with us,

too, so they just rolled with it. Then again, Kohaku looked more like a cat than a

tiger in her mini-form.

Also, if I had to make a guess... I'd say that this restaurant was probably

affiliated with the Black Cats. That also probably meant there was no need for

us to dress up... But then again, we didn't want to look bad in front of this other

person we were here to meet.

Speaking of which, they were apparently already there. We were brought up

to the restaurant's second floor and entered a small room within the inner area.

Inside the room was a single large table, with a woman seated at it. There were

two silver-colored knight-like Gollems standing behind her.

The woman seemed to be around forty years old, with blue eyes slightly

obscured by a pair of glasses. She smiled softly and gave off the same gentle air

that Yumina's mother, Queen Yuel, did.

Her hair was light brown, brushed aside and held in place by a clip. She also

wore a silver tiara on top of her head. It gleamed ever-so-slightly in the dim

light of the room.

This woman was clearly of noble birth, but she also didn't seem obnoxious

enough to flaunt that.

"Forgive our lateness, Your Highness. Did we keep you waiting?"

"Not at all, I've only just arrived. Who are these people?"

"Ah, right. This is Mochizuki Touya and his fiancees."

The woman nodded at Silhouette, and then stood up to bow in our direction.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am the ruler of the Kingdom of Strain,

Margarita Twente Strain. I'm glad I finally got the chance to speak with you. I've

heard much."

"...Nice to meet you, I'm Mochizuki Touya. You've heard of me?"

I bowed my head to Queen Margarita, but I was certainly curious how she

knew of me. Perhaps Silhouette had been telling her things.

"Strain has its own group of intelligence operatives, I'll have you know. You've

been the talk of our spies for quite some time. You're an adept mage who

stopped a war between Primula and Triharan. You felled the golden beasts that

appeared in Isengard's territory, as well as returning later on to defeat an

ancient superweapon. You fought off the purple crown and took leadership of

the Red Cats. You also seem to live on an island populated by nothing else but

dragons! Plus, it seems you've made considerable inroads with the Black Cats,

as well."

"...That's sort of right, but you're off on a few points..."

I didn't lead the Red Cats, nor did I actually live on the dragon island... Though

I guess my holiday home was there, so it wasn't really wrong.

"Could I ask what your relationship with Silhouette is?"

"She's a client of our kingdom... so to speak. She informs me of things that I

need to know. Obviously she won't sell me information on other nations that I

could use for political gain, but her information network on the affairs within

my own realm is enough for me. She helps me nip potential threats in the bud

before they become issues."

Threats, eh...? Guess it's rough being a ruler, so I won't pry. Honestly, I think if

I ask any more I'll just get roped into helping out... Interesting to know that the

Strain Kingdom has an insurgency issue, though...

I looked over at Yumina for a small second, to which she replied with a small

nod and a smile. Seemed like her mystic eye hadn't picked anything bad up, so

this queen was fine in my book.

That being said, she didn't necessarily have to be a bad person to be trouble...

The world leaders back in the other world were nice people, but a handful.

Personally, this queen seemed sly as a fox.

"Let's sit down and enjoy the food for now. I'm sure you'll find it to your

liking."

We all sat down at the table. Shade trotted over by Silhouette's chair and lay

down on the floor next to her.

Kohaku had taken the liberty of hopping up on to Yumina's lap. Personally, I

thought that'd make it a bit difficult to eat. As I pondered to myself, a carpaccio

dish was brought out to the table. The herb sauce looked especially tasty.

I bit into the thin slices of meat, mixing it with the veggies and sauce in my

mouth. Oh man, this is great... If this is what we've got for the appetizer, then I

can't wait to see the main course...

The only thing throwing me off is I don't know what kind of meat this is... It

tastes kinda like beef, and I guess it can't be weird if a queen's eating it...

"Touya, have you ever heard of a country named Belfast?"

I just about spat all the meat in my mouth all over the table in response to the

queen of Strain's sudden statement. I hurriedly wiped my mouth and downed a

glass of water.

I turned to Yumina and saw that she'd slightly choked on some of her food as

well.

"It seems you have, then."

"...I have, yes. But where would you have heard of this country before, Your

Highness?"

I would understand if she asked about Brunhild, I'd already mentioned that

country to Nia and the king of Primula... But I had never once mentioned Belfast

in this part of the world. Not ever.

"Over the last few months, there have been incidents of strange people

appearing in the kingdom. Originally, we believed these bizarre refugees who

cannot speak our language to be from the far-off frontier nations. But gradually,

they began to learn our language, and we realized we were wrong. Some of

them were capable of wielding magic, which was unusual in itself. But they also

mentioned hailing from nations such as Belfast, Roadmare, Regulus, and Felsen.

Do you know anything about this?"

"Wh..."

What?! There are people who slipped through the seams of the world barrier

over here again? Are you kidding me?

"We've certainly never heard of these nations before. We asked them if they

weren't confused, if these countries were actually smaller towns or cities. They

were adamant that was not the case. And there was one interesting common

thread amongst these people. When we showed them a world map, they all

insisted that it was backward."

Silhouette remained silent as the queen talked to us. I'd already briefed

Silhouette about where I was from, so I wouldn't have been too surprised to

learn that she'd informed the queen about it.

But given how this conversation was going, it seemed like the queen hadn't

been informed of anything in advance.

"I'll cut to the chase. Where are you from?"

She went right for the main issue at hand. Her eyes didn't seem sharp or

accusatory, though. She seemed genuinely curious.

I didn't exactly want to hide the truth, so I figured it would be best if I just

came out and told her. She was a world leader, so she could probably be

trusted.

"...You've probably already guessed it, but we're visitors from another world.

The world we came from is a neighbor, or a twin, to this one. I'm royalty, albeit

a bit of a newcomer. I rule as grand duke of a nation called Brunhild. This girl

here is Yumina, and she's the princess of the aforementioned Belfast."

The queen's eyes went wide with shock. Not at the mention of us being from

another world, but more at the fact that she was in the presence of a royal

princess.

Yumina simply smiled over at her and nodded softly.

I decided to brief the queen of Strain over the key points that'd happened

since I came to the Reverse World.

The appetizer plates were removed from the table, and a tasty soup was

brought in. I spoke while savoring the meal before me.

By the time we finished the main course, I had roughly wrapped up the basic

gist of the situation. Ordinarily, it'd be pretty hard to actually buy a story like

this, but the appearances of the mutants, the refugees from the other world,

and even me being there in front of her all added credibility to the tale.

I also showed her videos of the other world, including Frame Gear battles.

I also informed her about the battle we'd just had against the giant tree.

"I'd heard that Isengard was undergoing a crisis, but I had no idea it was that

bad... You're saying the peculiar incidents there weren't caused by a disease?"

"That's right. The spores sent out by the mutant tree... Or maybe they were

seeds? I dunno. Either way, they reacted with the negativity in the people they

landed on and blossomed into flowers that took over the person. We've killed

the tree now, so everything affected by it should've died with it."

I couldn't say for sure that similar trees hadn't been planted elsewhere in the

world, though.

"...Is it true that our world will be merging with yours in the future, then?"

"It is. There may be small earthquakes and other strange natural events while

things settle. There might even be more of those people who appear out of

nowhere. In fact, it's probable that people from your world will end up

appearing in ours here and there, too. We need to do our best to keep these

unfortunate people safe."

Not including criminals, though. If someone comes through into my world and

starts a killing spree, I'm not exactly going to treat them with kindness and

compassion.

"Very well. We'll endeavor to protect those that appear in our kingdom."

I was thankful for her co-operation. Hopefully we could send the poor

bastards home.

"I wish to inform the neighboring theocracy of this. There've been various

individuals who have appeared in their borders, as well. The holy king has been

quite concerned as of late."

Ah... The Allent Theocracy? That's the first nation I ever arrived in over here.

According to the queen of Strain, one of the cross-world refugees appeared in

Allent. He had the ability to use recovery magic, which caused quite a stir. He

couldn't communicate with anyone, but was formally welcomed because his

talent was exceedingly rare in the Reverse World.

Given his propensity for magic, he was probably from Felsen.

He apparently just appeared in Allen, the holy capital, one day. Speaking of

that city, I hoped Mr. Sancho and the others I met there were doing well. That

was also where I met Nia and the Red Cats for the first time.

"I'm planning on hosting a summit meeting between the leaders of the other

world, and some of the leaders from this world. Would you be interested in

joining that?"

"Let me see... From what I understand, Primula, Triharan, and Gardio would

be participating? In that case, the Kingdom of Strain would be happy to

participate. Our allies in the Allent Theocracy, the Lassei Military Kingdom, and

the Panaches Kingdom should be happy to join as well."

"Panaches... Ah, I've met the prince of that nation. It was a while ago during a

fight against some mutants. He's certainly a colorful character..."

If I recalled correctly, he was the blue crown's master. His name was Robert

or something.

He had that silly little crown atop his blonde bowl cut and wore those weird

pumpkin puffy pants with white tights... Even if you hated his style, there was

no doubt it left an impression on you.

The queen smiled wryly in response to my words.

"I can't say much about his fashion sense, but he is a splendid young man with

a firm sense of justice. As it happens, he's engaged to my niece."

Oh, huh... He's engaged? Guess that means Strain will have a blood

connection to Panaches, then. Neat.

"The blue crown of the Panaches royal family is a mighty force, it has come to

our aid many times in the past. Most crowns and their masters don't care for

serving individual nations, so Prince Robert and his blue crown have been a

godsend for us."

That made sense enough to me. The black, red, and purple crowns all had

pretty problematic masters... In that sense, the sleepy prince was definitely a

strong force for good.

Oh, right.

"We'll probably need to get in touch with each other going forward, so take

this."

I pulled out a mass-produced smartphone from [Storage], along with a basic

users manual. I passed it over to the queen. This particular manual was written

in the common tongue of the Reverse World.

"What is this?"

"It's a magical tool we can use to communicate with each other. Silhouette

has one too. It can do more than just communicate, too. It's a handy little

device."

I motioned to Silhouette, who reached over and started teaching the queen

some basic functions. The queen seemed pretty surprised at just how much it

could do.

The Reverse World certainly was more advanced than the regular world as far

as science went, but they had clunky and user-unfriendly communication

devices. Most of them were microwave-sized. They also didn't really have very

good communication ranges.

The smartphone, on the other hand, would connect no matter what, so long

as there was magic in the atmosphere. It probably wouldn't work deep in the

ocean, though...

"This map is certainly helpful... It shows the city streets so clearly! I can

already think of how to use this to facilitate developmental planning and trade

routes!" The queen wasted no time working out useful ways to operate the

smartphone. She was a true and shrewd politician, looking out for the best

interests of her nation.

"Could we not make hundreds of these?"

"Right now, I'm reserving them only for world leaders and important

individuals. We wouldn't want them to be misused, though we do have

contingencies in place for events such as that."

Each and every mass-produced smartphone had a unique serial number that I

could track and trace with my own phone. They were all programmed with

teleportation magic that could return them to my hand at any time. They were

also virtually indestructible, so they couldn't be taken apart and reverseengineered. Even if they did find themselves in a situation where they were

going to be broken or taken apart, they were programmed to warp back to me.

We continued eating as I leisurely answered more questions from the queen.

For dessert, we had a crepe-like construction with whipped cream and an

orange sauce. We also had a cup of black tea on the side. I was happy to find

that it was as delicious as the previous courses.

"Yummy!"

"Mm... I'm glad I came with you, Grand Duke... This meal is good..."

The establishment was truly befitting royalty. Sue and Sakura seemed

especially impressed.

"I'm thankful for this time you spent talking to me, Grand Duke of Brunhild. I'll

return to the capital and inform the other nations of this upcoming

conference."

We left the restaurant, only for the queen to be picked up by a fancy-looking

Gollem-drawn wagon. Several knights stood by it.

The Gollem-drawn wagon was pretty unique since it wasn't an automatic

vehicle, it was physically pulled along by a large, wheeled Gollem. There was

also a platform behind the cart for the little Gollem knights to stand on.

"Until then."

"Indeed, stay safe."

The queen boarded the wagon and it slowly started pulling away.

I was glad for the opportunity, too. I'd secured a meeting between important

leaders in both worlds. Also, the food was really good.

I turned to Silhouette and bowed my head slightly.

"Thanks a lot. This'll help us all, big-time."

"It's not like I just did it for you or anything. Those golden beasts have been

appearing all over the world recently. It's clear to me that you're the only one

with the means to deal with them properly, so I need to rely on you as well. You

can consider this whole thing a token of thanks for showing me how to summon

Shade."

Silhouette smiled as she patted her panther on the head. Shade purred in

satisfaction.

We parted ways with Silhouette in front of the restaurant. She was certainly a

busy woman... But she was basically the owner of a massive information

network and manager of several brothels, so it wasn't too surprising.

"Hmm... Since we're already in the area, let's go visit Nia."

The Red Cats had based themselves in that old fortress hideout, which

happened to be in the Strain Kingdom. It was a little bit of a walk away, close to

the border of the Allent Theocracy, but that was pretty irrelevant, since I could

just use [Gate].

"Nia? You mean that thief woman? It'll be my first time meeting her."

"She'd prefer to be called a chivalrous thief, Sue. Don't call her a regular thief

or you'll make her feel bad." I smirked at Sue.

That reminded me, though. The Red Cats had only met with Yumina, Lu, and

Leen. This was a good chance to introduce Sue and Sakura to them... But I had

no doubts Nia was gonna make another snide comment.

I resigned myself to my fate as a verbal punching bag before opening up a

[Gate] to the hideout.

"What the...?!"

After passing through the portal, I was absolutely shocked and horrified by

what I saw.

The walls were crumbling, scorch marks were etched into the ground. The

tables and chairs used by the Red Cats were upturned or in splinters, and Est's

communicator was smashed to bits in the corner of the courtyard.

I looked over and saw their ladder by the wall had been smashed in the

middle as if obliterated by cannon fire.

Something horrible had happened here, and I had no idea if Nia and the

others were safe.

I frantically reached into my pocket for my smartphone, shakily navigated to

the address book, and started calling Nia.

◇ ◇ ◇

"I'm just glad you guys are okay. You didn't lose anyone, right?"

"As if we'd go down so easy. We did lose the fort, though..."

The Red Cats all laughed together in unison after Nia spoke.

When I called Nia, she responded right away. I immediately used [Teleport] to

reach her location. I found the whole group, including Est, Euni, Euri, Nia

herself, and a few other thieves. I was a little surprised, but I was just glad they

were all okay.

We were in the forest, a fair bit north of where the old fort was. There were

dense trees all around, which made it a perfect place to hide.

According to Nia, their hideout was attacked out of nowhere by a group of

giants. They were apparently under the control of an unknown party, who had

been hiding in the shadows and firing cannons their way.

"Giants?"

"Trolls, to be more specific. They're hideous creatures with beastly strength

and potent regenerative abilities. They're about as smart as a monkey, though.

It's likely that whoever attacked us had monster tamers amongst them..." Est

succinctly answered my small question.

Trolls? I've never seen one before... I wonder if they're different from ogres.

There's an ogre in our knight order, but he's a pretty nice guy. I must have

muttered something as I was thinking that, because Sakura suddenly spoke up

with a frown.

"...Trolls and ogres are different... Trolls are much larger, and they're also

monsters... Ogres are intelligent demonkin. Don't be so rude to ogres, Grand

Duke..."

I was sorry, but I also wondered if there were any ogres in the Reverse World,

too.

That being said, I should've kept my thoughts to myself. Sakura was a

demonkin princess, so obviously me equating her kin to monsters would come

off as insensitive.

"Somebody was controlling them, then?"

"We're pretty certain on that front, yeah. The Trolls had tattoos all over their

bodies, so they were likely under the Geela clan's control."

"The what now?"

"It's a small tribal community that lives in Zadonia, the land of ice. They

employ techniques that let them take control of monsters, and some of them

work as mercenaries with that skill. Trolls are usually found in cold regions, so

I'm willing to assume that's the place."

It seemed like even in a technological world like this one, there were still

unusual magic techniques. They sounded similar to some of the tribes from the

Sea of Trees.

"But why would that clan attack you guys? Did you piss them off, or

something?"

"Well, we upset a lot of people with our actions. They're probably being

commanded by a noble from Strain or something. They're probably after all the

goods we've apprehended. If they took us out with a private force then they

wouldn't need to report to the government, so they could keep the treasure for

themselves."

Nia and the Red Cats were chivalrous thieves. That meant their main targets

were corrupt merchants or nobles. They usually stole from them and gave most

of the proceeds back to the poor. They didn't usually keep much loot for

themselves, so they only had a small stockpile of treasure.

You'd think that would be common sense, but apparently they were attacked

every now and then by greedy people.

"You did good escaping, though!"

"Est headed the falling back, while I held them off with Rouge. I managed to

beat a few Trolls, and then escaped as well... But I did have to pay for it a bit

with my blood..." Nia replied to Sue as she glanced down at the Red Gollem by

her side.

Nia's Gollem was Blood Rouge, the red crown. It grew in power based on how

much blood its master offered up to it. The more she sacrificed, the more

monstrous and destructive the little Gollem could become. It probably didn't

take too much blood to get strong enough to beat some Trolls up, though.

I was honestly pretty surprised the enemies had attacked them, even knowing

there was a crown wielder there.

"Nah, there were a lot of them. Definitely more than Rouge could have

handled all alone. Plus we were in the middle of the forest, so I couldn't go allout with the fire."

There were six Trolls in total, so it must've been a tough battle. Plus, to keep

Rouge functional in an enhanced state, Nia needed to constantly expend her

own blood.

"Yeah, I didn't wanna collapse from blood-loss, so I did what I could and

dipped out. They were probably after our treasures or whatever, so they didn't

bother pursuing us. Heheheh... Little did they know all our treasure is right in

my hands, so they didn't get anything out of it."

Nia grinned as she waved her smartphone from left to right. It had a [Storage]

app that allowed the holder to store and pull things out of the smartphone

screen. Even though their treasure stockpile was small, it was still worth

keeping hidden.

The attackers were probably pretty pissed off. The fortress might've been

trashed so badly after the fight because they wanted to vent out their

frustrations.

"I'm glad you're all well, anyways... What's next? Gonna go back to Allent's

capital?"

"Nah, the knight order already discovered that place so we can't go back

there. In the meantime, we've all split up into smaller groups and spread out.

The only people here are Nia's most trusted allies."

"I don't exactly like it, but we have to be in hiding for now. We'll get

payback... eventually."

According to Est, they had around a hundred active members. It would be

difficult moving around in a group so large.

The other members separated into a few groups of a dozen or so, and the

group I was with was about ten strong. Groups of that size made it much easier

to blend in or hide.

"Everyone's gone off on their own for now... I wanna find a good spot to

settle."

"That's just how we are... Roving wanderers..."

Euni and Euri laughed bitterly alongside each other.

"You guys could just come to Brunhild. We have a lot of land, and jobs going

spare. Don't we?" Sue suddenly spoke up with an insane proposition. Everyone

went quiet, and then Nia glanced over at me with stars in her eyes.

Why... Why did you say that, Sue?

"That's right! That's perfect! If we go to the other world, they won't be able

to hunt us down! Plus, the two worlds are gonna merge together eventually

anyway, right?! So it's no problem if we just happen to go there a little bit early,

right?! Right?!"

"I... I mean..."

"C'mon, it's fine. Isn't it?! The black crown's already over there, isn't she?

We'll be good!"

"...Isn't it a little weird for a world leader to invite a band of thieves into his

territory...?"

I knew Nia's group didn't indiscriminately steal, but I also needed to consider

my own position. It was a little stressful.

As I began to fret, Yumina tugged at my sleeve.

"Touya. Nia wields the red crown, does she not? We could perhaps use her as

a test pilot for the Over Gear, like Norn."

"Oh... That's... a good idea? Probably?"

Elluka and Doctor Babylon would be happy to have another test subject. The

more data the better, after all.

"I don't know what an ogre beer is, but I'll help with it if you want! I won't

steal from Brunhild, either! Promise!"

"...You promise?"

"I'm a chivalrous thief! I swear on my honor! We can't continue to operate

under the banner of chivalry if we don't have trust. You've helped us so many

times, so let us pay you back."

I could see the honesty in Nia's eyes. I guess Elluka and Norn are there

already, so this'll be fine...

"Fine, then... It'll be difficult for me to bring so many people over at once, so

lemme split you up into groups and make several jumps."

"I don't quite understand what you mean, but alright."

I really hope this doesn't backfire on me... Est, I'm putting their behavior in

your trustworthy hands...

It would be easier to just use the Dimensional Disruptor on Drakliff island,

rather than using my world-jumping ability, but the portal there led to

Babylon's garden, and I didn't want anyone knowing about it...

I made a mental note to ask Doctor Babylon to set up another portal that

linked somewhere else at some point.

After several bouts of hopping between worlds, I finally delivered all the Red

Cats in Nia's group to Brunhild.

I brought them a short distance away from the castle town, to allow them to

look over the place by themselves.

The first thing I did was cast my translation magic on them, so they could

speak with the people who lived here. I decided they'd have to figure out

reading and writing on their own, though.

We walked toward the castle town and started moving through the streets,

and they ended up being surprised at the differences between this place and

the world they knew.

"Hi, Mister Duke!"

"Hey there! Don't run too far, okay?"

"Okaaay!"

A group of children waved at us and then headed off. They were wearing

baseball gloves and carrying bats.

"...You really are a world leader, huh?"

"Yeah, I am. It's mostly my subordinates that do all the tough stuff, though."

I shrugged a bit in response to Nia. I was blessed to have a government with

so many capable people in it. The Takeda Elite Four, as well as my knight order,

were full of wonderfully capable people.

"The townspeople all seem so... happy?"

"There's so many different things on sale, too..."

"This country is a small one. It's on a large trade route between the nations of

Belfast and Regulus. A lot of people pass through as a result, and they tend to

bring their unique native wares with them."

I explained some things to Euni and Euri as we walked to the Silver Moon inn.

I thought about letting them stay in the castle, but... they were still thieves, so I

didn't want to push it.

"Ooh, what a nice inn."

Nia seemed impressed by what she saw. I was glad she liked it, honestly.

We entered the inn and approached the counter. Micah was standing behind

it.

"Oh, hey there. Got some guests for me?"

"Sure do. There's around twelve of them. They good to stay here long-term?"

"That'll be fine if we do two to a room. You're in luck. We just had a busy

trading caravan leave. Now then, guests, please sign right here."

The Red Cats all signed their names in the check-in book Micah brought out.

I looked to the side and saw a certain person coming down the stairs. The

moment she saw us, she let out a disgruntled sigh.

"...Why are the Red Cats here...? I guess this is Touya's doing..."

"Hypothesis: Agreed."

"Mistress... They can hear you..." Norn stood staring at us with a sour

expression on her face. The black crown, Noir, stood by her side. They also had

the humanoid Gollem maid, Elfrau, with them.

Nia suddenly noticed Norn, and glanced up at her.

"Oh damn, if it isn't the little black crownie. Tiny as usual, I see. You staying in

this inn, too?"

"Why would I be here if I wasn't staying here? I see your brain's just as tiny as

usual."

"You sure have a scathing mouth on you, short stuff."

"At least I'm capable of sharp words, pea brain."

...This is pretty tense. I didn't really know they were this hostile with each

other, but Euni did say something about them being rivals, if I remember right...

I turned to Norn in an attempt to diffuse the harsh atmosphere.

"You headed out?"

"To the dungeon islands, yeah. A Bicorn appeared in the Amaterasu dungeon,

so I'm going to try and kill it. They're worth a pretty penny."

Oh dang, a Bicorn... If I remember right, they're two-horned black horses or

something. Those horns definitely sell for a lot, so long as they're intact. I heard

daggers made out of those horns have Dark magic in them.

Norn earned a living by dungeon diving every so often. She only went in

weekly, so she had a good deal of free time.

"What's your guild rank right now?"

"Still blue. I'm making money just fine even at this rank."

The dungeons didn't really provide much opportunity to rank up. The whole

dungeon experience was pretty divorced from the guild anyway. Adventurers

who went out there just headed over, killed monsters, and sold any rare

materials they found to the guild.

If an adventurer wanted to rank up, then they needed to focus on taking the

actual quests that the guild put out. Brunhild was also a pretty peaceful nation,

so there weren't very many high-tier quests available.

Whenever an especially powerful magical beast appeared around the

dungeon area, the guild would put up a quest for it. But even then it could only

be turned in by whoever got to it first. It wasn't like they showed up very often,

either.

There were some quests that required people to gather certain materials, but

they didn't give many points toward ranking up.

That was why, for the most part, Brunhild's guild was a great place to earn

money, but not prestige. It was also a good place for those who wanted to

practice or polish their skills.

But honestly, the fact that Norn was blue rank without having to take the test

was impressive in itself.

Nia and the others asked me to explain the whole dungeon and guild thing, so

I did.

As I did that, Norn and her posse left the building. Clearly she didn't want to

be around us any longer than necessary.

"So... this dungeon labyrinth has monsters and stuff in it... and you can kill

them and sell their body parts?"

"That certainly sounds good! Let's make money by challenging the

dungeons!"

"Hold it! I've told Norn this before, so I'll have to tell you. Don't use the crown

abilities in the dungeon."

I didn't want the whole place caving in. Just in case of a crisis like that, I

handed over several emergency escape pendants to Est.

We ate a small meal at the Silver Moon's canteen, and then I took the Red

Cats to register at the guild. Frankly, I was worried about it, but I decided to put

my trust in Est's ability to keep them sane... Hopefully everything would be

okay.

◇ ◇ ◇

Doctor Babylon finally finished constructing a new Dimensional Disruptor in

the castle courtyard. That allowed me to directly bridge the space between

Drakliff island and Brunhild castle.

The island had a lot of Dragons on it, so I didn't expect anyone to come poking

around the portal in the Reverse World. Not that misuse was a major concern, I

was the only person who could activate the portals.

We had an upcoming conference between the world leaders of the two

worlds to worry about. I planned on inviting the Reverse World leaders over to

Drakliff island before bringing them to Brunhild to meet the other world leaders

here.

Even though I was calling it a conference or summit, it was more like an

introduction or briefing. Building a good relationship between the leaders was

the first step toward solid political relations, after all.

Guess I'll prepare some local delicacies, too...

That was the thought that ran through my head as I watched the trio in front

of me tucking into some food. There was also a fourth individual there, but he

was lying on the grass a short distance away.

"...I'm starting to notice a pattern of you guys always eating whenever I show

up."

"Oh yeah?"

"This stew is delicious. It has a variety of flavors inside."

"Huff... Huff... The tofu's really yummy, but you have to blow on it..."

They were sitting beneath a shaded roof in the garden eating a traditional

Japanese hot pot. The pot itself was sat atop a magical stove that Doctor

Babylon had created. As for who was eating it... It was the three Dominant

Constructs, Ney, Lycee, and Melle.

... You guys are just eating machines, huh...

"Cesca brings us different food every day, so I've been quite happy."

"So much cully... Chicken cully, beef cully, pork cully, seafood cully, cully udon,

and so on."

"I didn't know that the dish had so much variety to it. We've been eating it for

seven days straight..."

But you just said you had a different meal every day... That's all variants of the

same thing! You guys are basically being tricked, right?!

I sighed, but realized that these girls had never really eaten before, so even

small variations were probably something interesting to them.

"Hey, you not joining in?"

"Not hungry..." I yelled over to Ende, who was curled up on the grass. There

were scratches and bruises all over his body. I had no doubt that he'd been put

through the wringer by uncle Takeru.

That being said, the guy's build was definitely a little different. He was gaining

muscle here and there, and it was clear as day. Before he kind of reminded me

of a nimble cat, but he was slowly starting to look more like a beefy tiger.

"You gotta eat or you won't get any stronger."

"If I eat, I'll just end up puking it out later on... I'm not exactly on the same

tier as Melle and the others, but my race doesn't need to ingest many calories

to function either."

Oh yeah, I forgot he's from another world.

Looking at his state made me wince. I wondered just how brutal the training

was.

I briefly wondered something, so I triggered my divine sight and looked at

Ende. I noticed some golden particles floating around and settling on his body.

Ohoho...

"...You did something just now? Your eyes turned gold."

"I used my divinity to look at you more intently. There's some divinity

hovering around your body as well. I had a feeling it was the case, but it looks

like you're becoming a divine beneficiary too."

"Huh?! What does that mean?!"

Ende jumped up and started frantically looking at himself. I chuckled a bit

after seeing him get so flustered and worked up.

"Chill out, man. It's not a bad thing. Basically, it means that, from a cosmic

perspective, you're being recognized as someone related to uncle Takeru.

You're basically in a state where his divinity is enveloping, empowering, and

protecting you. Have you noticed any changes in you lately?"

"Hm... Now that you mention it, I've gotten better at taking hits lately, I

think..."

That's probably just part of the training... Although maybe that is a bonus.

"Well, either way, it means you're getting stronger."

"He beats the crap out of me in every session, so that's a little hard to

believe..."

Ende stared off into the distance with glazed eyes and a half-hearted grin on

his face. I wondered if he was actually going to be okay.

"Those mutants that defeated you last time... Do you think you could beat

them as you are now?"

"Leto and Luto...? I'm not so sure. It felt like, even back then, they were still

holding something up their sleeve. Actually, do we have any new leads on those

mutants?"

...Nope, not really. They've just been showing up all over the place... like

goddamn cockroaches.

I'd heard reports from both worlds where Lesser Constructs had been

showing up. They usually got defeated by adventurers, knights, or Gollemequipped individuals.

They'd been appearing so often that if they weren't killed quickly, the public

would probably end up in a panic about these mysterious invaders. Thankfully,

that hadn't yet come to pass.

...In the regular world, at least. The Reverse World wasn't handling it quite as

well.

But that made sense. Unlike the Reverse World, most of the world leaders in

the regular world had a full grasp of exactly what it was they were dealing with.

"What of the Phrase?"

"Nothing. Not a single thing." It was probably safe to assume that all the

Phrase had been mutated at this point.

"Then it should be fine to let Melle out, no? Ney said the mutants weren't

exactly interested in her."

"Mm... I guess, but the enemy would still know her location..." The Phrase

emitted a special wavelength that couldn't be heard by humans. It basically

allowed other members of their species to zero in on their location. The sound

could even emanate beyond the world boundary, and it was the reason why the

Phrase could constantly chase Melle after she fled.

Melle had reduced herself down to just her core, which reduced the intensity

of her resonance. Then, she hid within the hearts of human beings to mask the

tiny sound that was left... But that didn't exactly have good results.

I saw no reason to assume that the mutants wouldn't have the same ability.

If the mutants came and attacked Brunhild because I happened to let Melle

out, then I'd never forgive myself.

"Is there no way to mute her resonant tone?"

"It's like a human's heartbeat... You can't just tell someone to turn it off. We

could turn it down, though..."

Ende shrugged a little. I looked over at the three Dominant Constructs as they

happily enjoyed their meal, and I got an idea.

"Hold on. How did Lycee manage to avoid the Phrase when she was going

around with you? Shouldn't her core emit the same kind of noise?"

"Lycee basically reduced her bodily functions until she was one step away

from just being a core, and then I used an item fused with my own power to

mask the rest. Unfortunately, Melle's resonance is far too strong for us to mask

in that way."

Hmph... It won't be that easy, then.

"That barrier you have... The [Prison] thing... Can't you extend it to spread

across the whole nation?"

"No can do. The larger it is, the less effective it becomes. If I stretched it that

thin, I probably wouldn't be able to block the noise."

"Then what if you used a smaller one? Couldn't you put it around her core

and set it so that it only confines the noise?"

"...Yeah... I... could..."

Why the hell didn't I think of that to begin with?! Ende stared blankly toward

me, and I moved my line of sight to the three girls. They had stopped eating,

and were staring at me with equally expressionless, slightly resentful

expressions.

"Wh-Whoops. W-Wanna go outside?"

"Yes. I do..." Melle smiled and answered me very quickly.

It was pretty obvious she'd wanna go out...

I used my divine sight to confirm the locations of all three cores, and then I

turned to Ney. She'd volunteered herself because there were potential risks. I

gulped hard, and cast a divinity-boosted [Prison] around her core.

A teeny tiny barrier appeared inside Ney's body, enveloping her core.

"...I can't hear it..."

"Me neither."

"Yep. It stopped." Melle, Ende, and Lycee all muttered together. I didn't even

know Ende could hear it to begin with. To be honest, if I used my divinity and

brought it to my ears, I'd probably be able to hear it too. What would I call that

power, though... Divine ear? Divine hearing? That second one probably

sounded better.

Since things seemed to be safe, I cast a similar [Prison] around the other two

cores.

We were mostly worried about Melle's noise being too strong, but in the end,

my divinity proved stronger.

The moment Melle realized it had all worked out, she smiled broadly and

clasped her hands together in relief.

"Now we can walk the surface with Endymion, right?"

"Not quite..."

"Huh...?"

Hold it, hold it. You guys aren't human! Clearly! You aren't of this world at all!

I sighed and reached into [Storage], producing three star-shaped pendants. I

then enchanted each one with [Mirage], allowing the wearer to take on a

human appearance.

"Ooh! Lady Melle, you're a human!"

"Goodness, Ney! That red hair certainly suits you!"

"How do I look, how do I look?" Melle had ice-blue hair, Ney had fiery-red

hair, and Lycee had chestnut hair. They also had the illusion of wearing

ordinary-looking clothing. The three of them now looked the very picture of

pretty young ladies.

"It's just an illusion, so if anyone touches you, they'll find out the truth."

"That's quite alright. I won't let anyone touch Lady Melle!" Ney spoke out

confidently, probably failing to realize that she needed to avoid being touched

as well.

Dominant Constructs felt surprisingly similar to humans on their hands and

faces, so nothing would go amiss if they were touched there... Though their low

body temperatures could be a point of concern. But their shoulders, back, feet,

and other areas were hard as rock. If they were touched there, they'd be caught

out.

I wasn't really worried though, I doubted they'd let themselves be touched

just like that.

"Take these, too."

I used [Storage] to pull out three mass-produced smartphones, along with

three users manuals, then passed them to the girls.

"Use these to keep in contact, okay? I'm pretty sure this one's obvious, but

don't leave the country either. It'd be pretty bad for me if you guys ended up

causing a scene in a foreign place."

"Understood. We'll stay here."

Melle, Lycee, and Ney all nodded firmly. I hoped they'd be alright.

I turned to Ende and gave him a warning.

"You're responsible for these three, alright? I'll look away when it comes to

minor issues, but if too much trouble gets caused, then I'm gonna have to keep

you confined in Babylon again."

"Sure thing. We told you that we're your allies, Touya. We won't do anything

to cause harm to your country."

...That better be the case.

I decided there was no point worrying about it, put my suspicions aside, and

warped us all down to the ground.

I gave them a brief tour of the castle, introducing them as my friends to

anyone who happened to pass by.

...Actually, where can these guys even stay? They can't really stay in the

castle, and sending them back to Babylon would be kinda lame...

The Silver Moon was definitely a no-go. I could easily imagine them getting

into conflicts with the other guests who were staying there, and I didn't exactly

want to cause any more trouble for poor Micah.

I decided to go and ask Naito if there were any empty houses related to his

development projects. If there weren't, I'd just have to ask them to build one.

If they lived in a regular house on their own, then there'd be fewer chances

for trouble. Ende and Lycee already had some experience living incognito, so I

was sure they'd blend in.

I called up Naito and learned that there happened to be a vacant home in the

farmland area to the east.

Apparently he'd built it for one of his friends, but the friend ended up being

called into a government position back in Eashen, so it went unused. It was

even partially furnished, so they could move right in. I was pretty damn relieved

to hear that.

We walked into the castle town, and Melle immediately got excited. She kept

pointing at different things and asked Ende to explain them to her. From an

outside perspective, they looked like any other happy couple.

"Lady Melle seems happy."

"Mh... Hmph. You're right, but... It bothers me that she's so happy with that

man by her side..." Ney glared quietly in Ende's direction, but it seemed like she

was being mindful enough to give them space together. However, apparently

even Ney had her limits. The very moment that Melle took Ende's hand into

hers, Ney charged forward and raised her voice at the two of them.

"Lady Melle! Look over here!"

"H-Hm? What is it, Ney?" And, in a flash, the happy date was broken up by

Ney dragging Melle off. Good grief...

"Ney's happy too."

"...She is?"

Lycee said something I couldn't quite understand, but these guys were pretty

incomprehensible to begin with.

Ney and Melle walked quickly toward a yakitori stall by the street corner. The

more assertive of the two spoke sternly to the old man who was working the

grill.

"Hey. You. Is this consumable?"

"Huh? I... I mean, yes?"

The moment the man gave his confirmation, Ney grabbed some of the food

right from the grill and tossed it into her mouth.

"L-Lady Melle! This is delicious!"

"H-Hey! You need to pay for that!"

Ney completely ignored the man and proceeded to pick up yet more meat.

She fed Melle some pieces, and then fed more to herself.

Ende frantically ran toward them, pulling some coins out of his pockets. He

passed them to the old man, insisted he keep the change, and then dragged the

two girls away.

"...You've got it rough, man."

I wasn't jealous of that guy at all. He definitely had some tough times ahead.

But I certainly wasn't going to help. This was all his responsibility! He was the

Phrase whisperer, after all.

Melle and Ney were taken aside into an alley, where Lycee and Ende

explained the concept of money to them. They seemed to catch on pretty

quickly to the idea, but I had a feeling it was going to take a lot of effort for

them to adapt to regular society...