The members of Moon Blossom, excluding Asura, had all been taken to what looked like a waiting room inside the military police's headquarters. Lumia was relaxing on the sofa. Reko sat down next to her and then lay down, placing his head on her lap. Lumia began combing her fingers through his hair like she was petting a cat. Marx leaned against a wall with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Iina was wandering around the room, investigating to see what she could find. Jyrki sat down on the sofa across from Lumia and stretched. Salume watched them all, a confused look on her face.
"U-Um, everyone... I-It looks like we've been locked in from the outside..."
The military police had confiscated all of their weapons before taking them into the room. On top of that, they'd locked the door. It made Salume nervous that the police were fully intent on arresting them all.
"I can open a lock like that in three seconds," Jyrki said with a light shrug.
"I can open it...in four..." Iina added while peering inside an open drawer.
"It would take me about ten seconds." Lumia smiled wryly. "I'm not very good at lock picking."
"Neither am I. It would take me about eight," Marx said without opening his eyes.
"Huh? You all know how to pick locks?" Salume exclaimed, looking incredibly surprised.
"Iina and I used to be bandits, so we were always able to do it."
"Marx and I learned from Asura," Lumia explained. "You'll be forced to practice it in time, Salume. Asura requires you to be able to pick one within ten seconds at the maximum. I worked really hard to accomplish that."
"You really have to do everything..." Salume whispered. Moon Blossom was like a treasure trove of skills and talents.
"However," Marx said, opening his eyes to look at Salume, "it would be faster to kick down that door."
"I...I see..." Salume looked at the door. I can't do either of those things.
"Siddown, Salume. Stop standin' around," Jyrki called, hitting his palm against the cushion next to him. "Let's chill."
Salume followed his instructions and sat down next to him. "Um... They took Boss to another room, but I wonder if she's all right?"
They'd all watched as Asura received medical attention from the military police, but as soon as they'd finished, she'd been the only one taken away to a different room.
"Don't worry, Salume. Boss ain't the type to rampage indiscriminately. She's always calm, like to the point it pisses me off," Jyrki snorted.
"That's right... I've never seen her...panicked..." Iina agreed.
"Besides, she'd wanted to leave Arnia on good terms. She won't raise a fuss. You don't have anything to fear," Marx added.
"Right. She'll likely remain nice and calm unless something terrible happens. So you can sit back and relax, Salume," Lumia concluded.
"Um...that's not what I meant... I was wondering whether Boss is okay... I wasn't worried about her rampaging. I was worried about her getting interrogated..." Salume's worries had been directed at Asura herself, not her possible actions.
"You saw what went down between Asura and Sir Axel, didn't you?" Lumia said. "Neither interrogation nor torture works on her."
"It don't work on us either, by the way," Jyrki couldn't help but butt in.
Salume had heard that part of Moon Blossom's training was withstanding torture. Since she didn't enjoy physical pain, she was incredibly nervous about receiving that lesson.
"Just once...I'd like to make Boss cry..." Ina muttered. "She doesn't cry no matter what I do... In fact...she says I'm not trying hard enough..."
Aside from learning how to handle torture, all members of Moon Blossom received training in inflicting it as well. All of them had put Asura through the wringer, but she'd looked like she was having so much fun that the torturer ended up feeling uncomfortable. That was what they told Salume anyway, but she could believe it. Asura had looked like she'd enjoyed her conversation with Axel. Normal people would've cried and confessed if they'd been punched as much as Asura had by a Great Hero. That was what Salume would've done.
"I've never seen the boss cry before. Have you, Vice Captain?"
"Hmm, no, I haven't. I met her when she was three years old, but she was like that even back then," Lumia sighed at Marx's question.
"What a scary brat," Jyrki commented.
"Yes. When she saw me, she said, 'If you're not my enemy, then raise me. As you can see, all the adults here have died. Due to my youth, there are plenty of inconveniences that I can't handle alone. So you have to raise me.' It's been ten years since then so I paraphrased a little, but that was the gist of it."
"What kinda...three-year-old..." Iina grimaced and then she sat down next to Marx against the wall.
"Well, in any case, I'm glad that I met her," Lumia said with a gentle smile.
"Me too." Marx nodded. "Life as a soldier-mage is like a dream for me. The two people I idolize the most are Jeanne Autun Lala and Asura Lyona."
"Woooow. You really just compared our leader to the world's greatest warrior mage," Jyrki laughed.
"The only hero in history...who had her title stripped from her..." Iina whispered.
Everyone knew who Jeanne Autun Lala was.
"What's she up to now? She ran away before she could be executed, right?" Reko asked. "She's basically a myth to me."
Jeanne had become a hero at fifteen and experienced a Demon Lord Expedition at sixteen. When she was seventeen, she'd fought for and won independence for her home country, and at eighteen, she'd gotten her hero title taken away. Then, she'd been sentenced to death. She was the strongest hero in history, one whose destiny had taken her down a uniquely difficult path. If she were still alive, and she'd continued her training, then she would've likely become a peerless fighter.
"Who knows? She completely hid herself away after the Great Massacre," Lumia said. "It's nothing more than rumors, but I heard that she created a criminal organization and has been hiding herself in the shadows ever since."
"It's said that Jeanne killed everyone at the site of her public execution and pillaged the nearby villages as she made her escape," Marx said. "People eventually referred to that incident as 'the Great Massacre.'"
"Miss Vice Captain, you come from Central Felsenmark, and at your age you must have been around when all that went down, right? Have you ever seen Jeanne?"
Jeanne had been feared as much as she'd been admired. She'd reached the heights of glory with her achievements, as well as experienced the depths of despair due to the machinations of those around her. Central Felsenmark was the birthplace of such a dramatic figure.
"In a way," Lumia said. "We're of the same generation."
"Vice Cap'n, when you said you were in the army, did you mean you were in Jeanne's?!" Jyrki exclaimed.
"That would explain...why she's so strong..." Iina nodded.
During Jeanne's time, her army, the Oathkeeper Brigade, had been the symbol of victory. Her own charisma and divinity had been so prominent, no one managed to escape her shadow and achieve fame on their own. Even so, it was rumored that all of them had been exceptionally skilled fighters.
"I don't want to talk about my time in Central Felsen yet. Maybe in time, though," Lumia said.
"That's unfortunate," Marx replied. "I'm a huge fan of Jeanne's, so I'm looking forward to the day you feel comfortable enough to share your stories about her."
Everyone here has their demons, Salume realized. Jyrki and Ina had been bandits, and Marx had been a knight. There was the chance that Lumia was a former member of the Oathkeeper Brigade. How could Salume compare to people like that? She'd been raised by her physically abusive, alcoholic excuse for a father. Despite how pathetic she'd felt, she'd tried to protect him, only for him to sell her to a brothel as collateral for his debt. I'm nothing at all. I'm no one of any importance.
Jyrki gently placed his hand on Salume's head and suddenly started petting her hair, uncaring of how he messed up the strands.
"Wh-What are you doing?" Salume asked.
"Nah, you just started lookin' super down. We're a cheery mercenary group, remember? Just have fun with life."
"What's the matter?" Lumia tilted her head. "Are you one of those affected by the Great Massacre?"
"No, that's not it. I was born and raised in Arnia. I just kind of started thinking about how I'm not much of anything compared to everyone else..."
"It's not as if we're anythin' either," Jyrki snorted.
"That goes for me as well," Marx nodded. "The only thing I have is my pride as a soldier-mage of Moon Blossom."
"Salume...you need to grow more of a backbone..." Iina shook her head. "Take a leaf out of Reko's book... He's just a villager, but acts like he owns the place..."
"Yeah, that reminds me. Hey, you butt," Jyrki snapped. "How're you so casual about lyin' down on the vice cap'n's lap? Switch with me before I kick you off."
"I would like to lie down there as well," Marx said, raising his hand.
"Do you want...to lie down on me?" Iina asked a little excitedly. It looked to Salume like Iina wanted to try letting someone sleep on her lap.
"Nah, I don't want one from you, Iina."
"I also don't really care about Iina's lap."
"I'm so pissed off... Just wait and see what I have in store for you two..."
"Ah ha ha, I might be interested in sleeping on your lap, Miss Iina," Salume said to mediate the situation.
"Fine... Just this once, got it?"
With that, Ina shoved Jyrki aside and sat down on the couch. Then, she patted her knees, so Salume timidly rested her head on them. Right as she did so, an incredibly loud scream echoed through the room.
"MAAAAARX!!!!!!!!!!"
Everyone knew that something serious had happened. By the time Salume raised her head, Marx had already kicked down the door, and within seconds, all members of Moon Blossom rushed out of the room. Salume and Reko were the only ones left. They looked at each other and then ran after the others.
***
When Asura woke up, she found herself in a clean and spacious room. A warm light entered from the window by her bed. She slowly pushed herself up and noticed for the first time that she was completely naked. Next to her bed, there was a bucket of water and a towel, which someone had likely used to wipe down her body.
"Boss, you're awake?" Marx had been doing push-ups next to the bed and he stood up after he noticed Asura. Reko, and Salume were doing push-ups by his side, but they didn't stop.
"Oh? Who are you? And who am I?" Asura asked as she stared down at her left hand. The wound had already closed and it seemed the venom was completely gone from her veins. Marx had likely neutralized the toxin followed by Lumia healing the injury.
"That's not a very funny joke."
"Really? I thought it was a classic," Asura shrugged.
"Boss!!!" Reko tackled Asura and threw his arms around her.
"Hey, I only just recovered enough to wake up. Don't rush at me with your full strength."
Reko pressed his nose against her and breathed in deep. "Mm, your sweat smells so good, Boss."
"Marx, do something about this perverted brat."
After Asura said that, Marx grabbed Reko by the scruff of his neck and then tossed him away. Reko adjusted his position in the air and landed on his feet. The sight of his agility made Asura think that he was about ready to start learning close-quarters combat. She was already making him practice his magic little by little every day. Since it took a while to master it, she had him learning it slow and steady.
"Boss, you had such a high fever! You were so hot to the touch a-and...so..." Salume stammered nervously.
"Calm down, Salume. I'm fine. Marx, explain the situation to me."
"All right. To start with, we're in an inn in Nielta, one of the trading cities."
"Why are we in a trading city?"
"It appears that one of the hideouts of that criminal organization—the Felmafia, was it?—is here. The military police had managed to figure out that much and so we came here while taking care of you." Marx looked away from Asura for a moment. "Salume and Reko, continue with your training. If you insist on slacking off, you'll have my fist to deal with."
Salume and Reko hurriedly returned to their push-ups.
"Where are the others?" Asura asked.
"They're collecting intel. Just so you know, you slept for two entire days."
"No wonder I feel so well rested. Do we know anything about the assassin?"
"According to Jyrki, he's part of the Assassination Alliance and likely isn't directly affiliated with Felmafia."
"He was just a hired killer?"
"Yes. Not only that, but apparently, murder wasn't his only goal. Doling out warnings also falls in the Assassination Alliance's wheelhouse. The poison on the knife wasn't lethal. Though it would cause a high fever, the afflicted would survive if they got some proper treatment."
"How's Circie?"
"The vice captain told her to stay indoors as much as possible and to have around-the-clock security. It wouldn't do for our client to die. We wouldn't get any money, after all."
"That's amazing, Marx." Asura clapped. "Excellent. I'm so proud of you all."
"As I recall, you ordered us to do our best."
"Yeah, that's right. In any case, you did good. Everything up to this point has been perfect."
"I agree. So then, how should we proceed from here?"
Marx turned to face the door. Salume and Reko stopped their push-ups and climbed onto Asura's bed. Then they huddled down behind her as if trying to hide.
"Don't do anything. I'm sure he'll come in on his own. Tsk, he gives off fighting spirit like it's the only thing he knows how to do. Didn't he ever learn how to enter a room like a normal person?" Asura complained.
The fighting spirit was so powerful that even Salume and Reko could sense it. To fully utilize one's strength, one needed to spread fighting spirit through their body. People who became heroes had to first learn how to control their fighting spirit. It wasn't a secret technique or anything, so those with talent could do it without any prior training.
The fighting spirit was emanating from a place just outside the room. The door slowly pushed open and the Great Hero, Axel Ehrnrooth, entered.
"Sorry for the disturbance, little missy."
"Control your fighting spirit, Axel. It's too aggressive. I know how it works so it doesn't scare me, but my little ones are freaked out."
"Sorry 'bout that. Can't seem to control it around you." Axel raised his left arm. Everything past his wrist was gone, and it was still wrapped up in bandages.
"I see. Whatever. Just put your fighting spirit away."
"Humph. I'm looking forward to the day I get to punch you with a fistful of it." Even as he said that, Axel relaxed and the air around him settled.
"I hope that my young body will be able to handle your full strength," Asura said, holding her arms in the air. When Axel punched Asura back in the audience chamber, he hadn't been using his fighting spirit. He'd only used it in the beginning as an intimidation tactic. "That reminds me. Hurry up and get yourself a prosthetic. I'm sure there's a cool one out there."
"Yeah, I've already commissioned one. More importantly, there's something I wanna talk to you about." Axel looked around the room. "Well, let's wait till everyone else arrives." After he said that, he sat down on the ground with a grunt. "Hey, little missy, you sleep in the nude? Same here."
"Thanks for that unnecessary bit of trivia," Asura said. "I'm only naked because I was running a fever. I normally sleep in a shirt and underwear."