The Aureatia Industrial Ministry courtyard was a wide-open space surrounded by high walls, which made it a pleasant place to relax as well. This allowed one to enjoy the sunlight and greenery while still inside.
However, the head of the industrial ministry—Aureatia's Fourth Minister, Kaete the Round Table—had never felt any need for such a relaxation area. He didn't make any attempt to have a moment of unguarded rest in public and loathed such a waste of time.
Despite his handsome features, he was a man with a cruel gleam in his eyes, as if he was always irritated. Known as being part of a fierce military faction while serving as the civilian officer in charge of Aureatia's industry, he was the bureaucrat who was the closest to being an all-around genius among the Twenty- Nine Officials, save for Rosclay.
His knowledge relating to his main duty of industry was without question, but he had also cultivated his swordsmanship, archery, gun skills, Word Arts, and more to a high level. Due to the military successes he had as a commanding officer during the age of the True Demon King, he also possessed the exceptional authority to command a part of the military, even as a civil official.
It left no room for doubt from anyone who knew the man that he was born with the natural gifts of a champion; however, there was almost no one who adored Kaete the Round Table as a person. This was due to a disposition that went beyond just fierce and into the realm of ferocious.
"Fourth Minister! P-please listen! I have something to tell you!" "..."
Walking through the courtyard corridor, Kaete continued to ignore the voice that had been calling to him from behind. If he ignored the call three times, Kaete thought that they would grasp that he was reacting with tolerance to their irredeemably rude accosting, but it seemed these men lacked such powers of comprehension.
Stopping in his tracks, he turned around. One was elderly, while two were young. They looked to be secretaries for a government official.
The first word out of Kaete's mouth was— "Decapitation."
"What…?"
"You wanted to petition me for something, didn't you? Are you aware, then, of the damages you've incurred by making me pointlessly waste my time when you haven't even finished the proper paperwork yet? If you insist you're prepared for the suitable punishment, then I'm saying you can pay the prize up front. Decapitation."
He watched the three secretaries' reaction.
Faced with his extremely irrational declaration, their bodies were trembling, but their fists were balled.
Looking at their comical courageousness, Kaete simply snorted.
"I'll notify you of the date for your punishment later. I'll be sure to listen to whatever inconsequential nonsense you have to say then, when you have a chance to defend yourself."
From the very start, he had no intentions whatsoever of giving his ear to anything a rude petitioner had to say. Such people were often fools who could only come up with illogical reasoning, even with the proper paperwork.
"…W-wait… Please wait, Fourth Minister!" "Beat it."
Right now, he had something more important to take care of, and he needed to devote all his strength there—in short, the Sixways Exhibition.
However, a woman casually appeared from the shadow of the pillar in front of him.
"C'mon, now. Knock it off, Kaete. Don't go bullying them too much, y'hear?"
A middle-aged woman with her graying hair tied up behind her head— Aureatia's Twenty-First General, Tuturi the Blue Violet Foam. In contrast to Kaete, she was an eccentric woman who served as a military officer almost without any personal military power of her own.
"I get it. So then these three are…"
Kaete immediately understood the meaning behind the situation. "…under your orders, then. Quit bothering me with this drivel."
"Aww, but don't you feel sorry for them? These three said they're from Nagan. Y'know what happened to Nagan and how it ended up, right? They're unhappy that there hasn't been any apology or excuse from Kiyazuna the Axle, basically. At least hear them out."
"…Oh?"
A faint smile came to his lips, and Kaete turned around to face the three men again.
"I more or less guessed what this was about, but…it looks like my conclusion was hasty."
It was only his mouth that smiled. His eyes flickered with far worse cruelty and scorn.
"I never expected your petition would be several times more worthless and stupid than I could even imagine."
"W-worth… It's not worthless at all! N-Nagan was our home! There are some who lost friends and family! What're we… What're we supposed to do with our indignation?! Why was Kiyazuna the Axle not punished but welcomed into Aureatia?!"
One of the three, struggling not to cower in fear, retorted. It was fair to say he was a rare breed for summoning up the courage to speak to Kaete the Round Table face-to-face like this.
Though to Kaete, he truly and deeply didn't care whatsoever.
"Beyond irrelevant. Your whole family deserves to be exterminated for such idiocy— Ah, right, you must not have such a family anymore. Hmph."
"M-milord Kaete. I…I, too—"
"Silence. I'm only talking to this man who stepped forward first. Thus, I'm only answering his question. Shut your mouth and die."
Kaete put his hand on his sword hilt. It wasn't a threat—he thought he'd be fine to cut the man's head off right here and now. There were too many foolish citizens. Death was the only way to make amends for stupidity.
The young one who first stepped forward seemed to have used up all his courage, and even when given the chance to speak further, he was unable to continue his comments.
"…First of all, you've mistaken the person you should be seeking reparations from."
Irritated, Kaete informed them of the logic that anyone should have been able to understand.
"The Nagan citizens are the ones who should be making amends for the incident with the Dungeon Golem. You people."
"Wh-what…? How could you—?"
"What? Do you have some objection to that? Did you think Kiyazuna the Axle— Did you think she built Nagan for rabble like yourselves to live there?
That was her enormous, personal property that she manufactured in a land far away from any other people. If all of you had received an official commission from the kingdom to investigate or destroy it, that would be one thing, but what argument can you give for arbitrarily labeling Nagan a labyrinth and scheming to illegally steal its technology, all before you brazenly began establishing schools and your own homes? Go ahead, tell me."
"B-but…Nagan Labyrinth City w-was from the time we were born—"
"Ha, see, you get it. You all were nothing more than a group of bandits from birth. Wait, no… Since you weren't even aware of that fact, I'd say it makes you even worse than bandits," Kaete said, bringing his face close to the young one. "But rejoice. Kiyazuna the Axle's demon king designation has already been lifted, and the things I just touched on have all been taken care of. And without punishing any of you Nagan citizens, mind you. If you've got a problem with the results, you can go ahead and hold a retrial. For your people's crimes, that is."
"Nhg…nngh… Sniff, hnggh…"
"Disgraceful. Not even worth decapitation. Get lost."
Leaving the Nagan citizens frozen in place, Kaete finally made for his office.
Picking up her steps and following after him, Tuturi poked her head out from behind.
"What do I always tell you? You gotta stop threatening people with 'decapitation this, crucifixion that.' I'm not saying it's bad or anything, but when you throw in all the extreme stuff, it'll start sounding less real, y'know?"
"I'm always serious… You're bad enough yourself, Tuturi. The only thing you're good at is idly prowling around to interfere with other officials' duties. Get to work."
"Well, I mean, I still technically got a job to do, all right? I can't do anything until then, is the thing. C'mon, Kaete, entertaaaain me!"
"..."
Tuturi the Blue Violet Foam wasn't incompetent like Harghent the Still or Nophtok the Crepuscle Bell. Kaete didn't hesitate to label the people meant to be governed as the ignorant populace, but he also didn't ignore the movements of excellently capable talent, either.
"…You weren't part of Rosclay's group, were you? Who gave you that assignment? What are you preparing? What are you planning?"
"Heh-heh-heh-heh!"
The Sixways Exhibition—amid this political strife set to influence the world's future path, it seemed very unlikely that a woman of Tuturi's caliber
wouldn't be supporting any of the powers at play. She could have incited the Nagan natives to obtain some careless comment or promise from him, then use that as a foothold to bring about Kaete's downfall.
Though, in Tuturi's case, he couldn't rule out the possibility that it was done simply to annoy him, either.
"If you don't plan on answering me, then get lost," Kaete said.
"…Well, if you insist like that, I guess I'll go pass the time somewhere else.
Later."
Tuturi aimlessly wandered off. Watching her depart, Kaete clicked his tongue.
…There were some who claimed that with the menace of the Old Kingdoms' loyalists and the Free City of Okafu gone, Aureatia's long-maintained state of war was over. These were the thoughts of people who couldn't see the true nature of things.
If Rosclay or Jelky didn't send her, then the person in Aureatia capable of getting her to make a move naturally starts to narrow down. Haade, in control of the military. Or possibly…former Fifth Minister Iriolde is pulling the strings from retirement. In any case, it doesn't change what I have to do.
The world's only kingdom, Aureatia. Beneath the peaceful veneer, their war had already long begun.
Kaete opened the door to his office and was taken aback. "…What is all this?"
The books that had been neatly lined up on the bookshelf were scattered all over the floor. In this world, without the popular dissemination of written language, scholarly texts that used noble script were an extremely rare resource.
On top of this, wholly unfamiliar lab equipment had blanketed one of the walls, with clear marks left behind that indicated some sort of acidic and toxic chemicals had been used. His luxury rug had holes burned into it in a spray pattern.
The windows were left wide-open, and strange conducting wire had been pulled in from outside in large quantities.
A fire had been lit, too. The flame, meant either to heat medicine vials or process metals, was brazenly roaring in Kaete the Round Table's office.
"Well, ain't you late?"
Topping it all off, the one who'd created the horrible sight was openly sitting in the middle of the room.
"Looks like chemically processing deep celestial charsteel's still impossible after all. I already imagined as much, but… Hey, Kaete. This record's a sham. No way they did what they said they did with that era's technological level."
Kiyazuna the Axle. A self-proclaimed demon king of unmatched atrocity who showed no allegiance to the kingdom whatsoever, instead wholly devoted to researching construct creation, even creating Nagan Labyrinth City along the way.
She was also the creator of one of the hero candidates, Mestelexil. "...You."
Kaete immediately closed the door behind him.
"Grams! All I said was I'd show you those records! I don't ever remember agreeing to these sorts of experiments!"
"Well, if I don't do it while I'm researchin', I'll plum forget all about it!
Knock it off with the 'Grams' crap, too."
Kiyazuna's eyes had already turned off Kaete and was observing some sort of crystalline structure under a microscope.
"What am I supposed to do if someone mistakenly thinks we're related? You ain't my grandson, for one, and you ain't one of my children, neither."
"When you…act so conspicuously like this, I'm the one who has to deal with it. While you're at it, stop going out for walks with Mestelexil, too."
For the time being, he picked up the scattered books and returned them to their places on the bookshelf.
Inside the horribly messy room, his efforts seemed all too futile.
"Some Nagan natives came to lodge their complaints with me today. There are a whole slew of people just among the Twenty-Nine Officials who have motives to come after you. You've never once imagined the amount of hard work I've gone through because of you, have you?!"
"Feh! That's why I'm helping you out, ain't it? Financing the funds, controlling public opinion, all that sorta…all that small stuff that I owe you's gonna get paid off with this next big boom. Smash every other faction in the Sixways Exhibition and take over Aureatia! Murder everyone who goes against you, and you'll be able to live a nice peaceful life. Ain't a bad deal, huh? Right?"
"Grams, you seem to think I've got unlimited authority and power here, but…my faction doesn't hold a candle to the scale of Haade's or Rosclay's. Give
several factions a justification to crush us, and we'll lose just in numbers. I don't know how many times I have to explain this, but we absolutely need to increase weapon production fast, before a full-blown conflict breaks out. There isn't any time to let Mestelexil play around."
"Hmph… Mestelexil ain't your tool. This snotty-nosed dolt's older, and now he thinks he can start blabbering like a damn politician. All that because you grew up dawdling around here in Aureatia while you went ten years without ever coming to see me, that it?"
"Let me be clear here, but the whole reason I even went to the kingdom?! It was because no number of lives would've been enough for a flesh and blood minia to tag along with you, Grams!"
Fourth Minister Kaete, leading the third-biggest faction in Aureatia after Second General Rosclay and Twenty-Seventh General Haade.
However, there were very few people who knew the teacher Kaete had learned from was, in fact, the self-proclaimed demon king Kiyazuna.
Given a seat among the Twenty-Nine Officials because of his prominent abilities, he had been supporting Kiyazuna's activities from the shadows, long before he ever sponsored Mestelexil, and saw to it that the hands of the kingdom's suppression campaigns never reached her.
It wasn't merely once or twice that Kiyazuna's unbridled behavior had resulted in Kaete's guts going cold. It was practically a miracle that he'd been able to get Kiyazuna into Aureatia while keeping the relationship between the two a secret. If Kaete hadn't used the Particle Storm incident to his advantage, it would have been difficult to provide his former teacher with the distinguishing accomplishments he would have needed.
"Geez… So, in short, we just gotta win, right? Mestelexil's here to do just that!"
Kiyazuna lay down on the floor as she was sulking. She was a teacher unbecoming of her age.
This Mestelexil that Grams made is invincible. There's no doubt about that.
He didn't actually say it out loud to avoid souring his teacher's mood, but Kaete didn't look toward the future of the Sixways Exhibition with the slightest hint of optimism.
But…even if Mestelexil doesn't lose at all, it's very unlikely that we'll win through to the end of the tournament.
Sponsoring a hero candidate itself wasn't meaningless. Much like the Free City of Okafu…given that a faction possessing a hero candidate had a
provisional hero with them, as long as the candidate wasn't eliminated, it also served to guarantee said faction's survival.
However, by forcing through the unreasonable annulment of Kiyazuna the Axle's demon king designation, the connection between Kaete and Kiyazuna had, in part, become public knowledge. If Mestelexil advanced through the tournament and rose up to become an obstruction toward Rosclay's faction, that would be when they'd use any and all political power at their disposal to make Mestelexil lose and take down his whole camp with it.
Thus, the true battle I'm supposed to look ahead to is that inevitable clash. Assuming…we don't secure the fighting strength needed to surpass Rosclay's overwhelming numbers, then we won't really be victorious in the Sixways Exhibition.
In some respects, Kaete the Round Table stood in a far more dangerous position than anyone else in this battle.
He had very few allies. Kaete. Kiyazuna. Finally…
"Ain't anywhere to step in here. Whew, boy, one helluva mess…" Appearing in the room was an older man wearing a cynical smile.
Aureatia's Fifteenth General Haizesta the Gathering Spot. This man had been able to break into the room without the use of any lockpicking skills.
"…Don't pry open the lock. My camp has no need of knaves lacking etiquette."
"Nyeh-heh-heh. Getting sacked just for coming and going a bit? Gimma a break."
In his hands was a machine equipped with a display and joysticks. It was an item that was totally inconceivable with this world's level of technology.
"Hey now…I went and looked into our opponent Zeljirga, okay? No signs that she's in touch with anyone else… Maybe that earlier announcement about betraying Obsidian Eyes was the real deal after all."
The machine was a controller for a weapon called a reconnaissance drone.
It was small and quiet. Above all, it was technology unknown to the people of this world. Even if Zeljirga was a spy with Obsidian Eyes, it would have likely been impossible for her to escape from the wholly unimaginable method of surveillance before she contacted Obsidian Eyes.
"And what the hell are we supposed to do with that trivial amount of info, you slimy brat?"
Before Kaete could open his mouth, Kiyazuna berated Haizesta.
"If you got time to spare on kiddie chores, hurry up and slip some laxatives in
Zeljirga's or Enu's food instead. Hell, you were 'posed to be the one in charge of stealing those enchanted swords of Toroa's, ain't ya?"
"Nyeh-heh-heh. Ohhh, a plan without any thought to the consequences—I like that… You're turning more and more into my kind of woman every day."
"You're the absolute worst."
Kiyazuna's wrinkled face distorted even further with disgust.
"…Save your worthless bickering for somewhere I don't have to look at it. First of all, Toroa the Awful's already lost. No reason to focus so much attention on him," said Kaete.
"Hah? We leave him alone, and some other group'll snatch him for themselves. What, you gotta problem with my strategy, huh?"
"Grams, you just wanted toys for Mestelexil… At least, right now, there shouldn't be anyone on Aureatia's side trying to make a move on him. They know full well the danger of going toe to toe with Toroa the Awful. Don't sic my men on him just 'cause you feel like it."
—That said, Kaete couldn't say that robbing Toroa the Awful's enchanted swords had been a complete mistake. Given the aim of Rosclay's faction was to eliminate all latent threats to Aureatia, there was the possibility that the swords could serve as advantageous bargaining chips if they secured them for themselves. Either way, before Kaete's camp and Rosclay's camp plunged into full-blown war, he had needed to give his soldiers a chance to use the weapons of the Beyond in a real combat situation.
"Getting back to the topic, we need to come up with a plan for the sixth match," said Kaete.
"Hmph, it's simple, ain't it? We'll win by killing that Zeljirga woman dead," responded Kiyazuna.
"Seriously, enough with the myopic thinking. Much more than Zeljirga, it's her sponsor, Enu, who's the problem. His unit's starting to survey the castle garden theater. Might be planning to set some sort of trap."
"That so, eh…? What the hell happened to the agreement about not going in there unless there's a match? Just how are they checking the damn place, then?"
"They're examining the surrounding area, just not inside. Enu is using his power as head of city planning. He appears to be doing it under the pretext of improving the traffic conditions that come with the Sixways Exhibition, but he's measuring the distance between the surrounding buildings and recording their bearings in detail. Pulling this stunt now, right before the start of the sixth match, is basically confessing that he has some sort of scheme up his sleeve."
"Hmph. Sniper fire on the arena, is that it?" Kiyazuna spat, seemingly disgusted.
"…Obviously, that possibility was brought up before the tournament had even begun. Whether from some tower or elevated ground, there aren't any sniper spots with sight lines that reach inside the garden theater."
The Sixways Exhibition matches, as long as there weren't any hindrances or any demands to the contrary between both combatants, had all been ruled to take place inside the castle garden theater. That was in part for audience seating capacity and to guarantee a fair competition. As such, preventing foul play was paramount, as outside interference was difficult given the arena inside was surrounded on every side by high walls.
The castle garden theater was protected by soldiers who belonged to the garden theater itself and weren't with any of the factional hero candidate powers, and generally, sponsors were only allowed to have their subordinates on the premises during a match.
"Inside or outside, as long as our enemy's making their move, we can't sit by and let it happen, now can we? For our match, too… Nyeh-heh-heh. The problematic castle garden theater, eh. You already agreed on the arena a while back, too, right?"
"Shut up, Haizesta," grumbled Kaete. "If Enu is planning on setting up some sort of trap, then really, it's about whether there's anything that'd be possible from outside the castle garden theater or not…"
Zeljirga may have been a former spy for Obsidian Eyes, but it was wholly unbelievable to think she had the abilities to face the unparalleled Mestelexil head-on and triumph. Putting it another way, then, this meant that Zeljirga was sure to carry out some sort of scheme ahead of time in order to win the sixth match.
"Just gotta smash it all up," Kiyazuna said unconcernedly. "Who cares if we know what they're up to or not? Those assholes set something up in the castle garden, so we just gotta smash the entire damn place and take their trap with it, right?"
"Grams! I told you those types of…" Kaete started to protest, but he stopped midsentence. "…No, actually, you're right. We can just make them change the location right now."
"Excuse me? Now?" Haizesta asked back with a dubious look. There were only three days left until the sixth match.
"Our end prerequisite for victory is weapon production through Mestelexil,
and to use the Sixways Exhibition to buy time for it. There's no need to spare effort on a man like Enu. If it can be handled just on my end, then it can be done far more efficiently than with soldiers or drones," said Kaete.
Enu the Distant Mirror was the most eccentric one of the Twenty-Nine Officials. There were very few who understood what his objective was in the Sixways Exhibition or even if he was truly trying to win in the first place.
It was this reason that Rosclay's camp had avoided a match against Zeljirga. Rosclay saw the grouping of Obsidian Eyes and Enu the Distant Mirror as a threat—two uncertainties combined together.
In which case, in a battle between Kaete and Enu, two elements of concern for Rosclay's camp, some degree of aggression was likely to be overlooked. For the opportunists waiting for their chance, there was no better development than two forces they needed to deal with both crushing each other.
"Heh-heh, looks to me like you thought up something," said Haizesta.
"I can just redesignate the terms and the battlefield on my end. I'm not going to let Enu get his way," Kaete replied.
"Oh boy, now we got two violent bastards in here… Nyeh-heh-heheh… All righty, I should just look into the moves Enu's making, then, right?"
"Sure, knock yourself out. Do anything too debaucherous, and I'll have Grams turn you into a construct before you can get your head lobbed off. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"
"Nyeh-heh-heheh… Getting turned into a construct by a fiiine woman like her? Wouldn't bother me one bit."
"Ugh, everything outta that mouth of yours is disgusting. Like hell I'd even waste time making constructs outta flesh," Kiyazuna chimed in.
When Kiyazuna let out a yawn, a heavy metal clang echoed from out in the hallway.
The laboratory equipment lining the walls shook and knocked into one another.
"K-Kaete!"
Ducking through the broken door and appearing in the room was a colossal golem covered in navy-blue armor. Kaete the Round Table's biggest and most powerful trump card—Mestelexil the Box of Desperate Knowledge.
"I finished, today's amount! I can p-p-play now, right?!"
Mestelexil carried with both hands a large number of automatic rifles—they were a model of weapon from the Beyond known as the AK-47.
Witnessing how Mestelexil's massive frame ravaged his office interior even
further, Kaete now wore a wearied look.
"…That's too little. Way too little. You're slacking off, aren't you?" "N-no, I am not! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
"Wait just a damn minute, you complaining about how my boy does his job?!
Well?! Are you?!"
"Nyeh-heh-heh… Nice and lively, ain't it?" "Dammit, each and every one of you, I swear…" Pressing his palm to his face, Kaete sighed.
Why did he have to deal with this when he already had a depressing task ahead of him as it was?
"I got to clean things up in here…"
They were, indeed, the third camp in Aureatia's political power struggle. Wicked and powerful—as well as the most discordant.
Kaete the Round Table. Kiyazuna the Axle. Haizesta the Gathering Spot.
Mestelexil the Box of Desperate Knowledge.