Prologue: Unending Calamity

In the early hours of the morning, several carriages had gathered outside the gates to the imperial capital. Their wheels and bodies, even their canopies, were constructed entirely from flora. The occasional bloom was placed as ornamentation, carefully avoiding ostentation. Every carriage was connected to a platinum mustang, a powerful monster with the might of a couple dozen normal horses.

Platinum mustangs were rare creatures; even large trading companies struggled to get their hands on more than a few. Such valuable creatures pulling frivolous-looking carriages was an odd sight to behold, but anyone passing by had their attention focused on the people standing nearby.

Noble Spirits were a higher race known for high magical prowess, strong bodies, and otherworldly beauty. With their tendency to view humans as lesser beings, they rarely visited man-made settlements. Even the immense imperial capital of Zebrudia hosted only a limited number of Noble Spirits. Those who lived in this city were known by many.

Being a treasure-hunting party consisting solely of Noble Spirits made Starlight a unique group. They all possessed the special beauty and arcane talents characteristic of their kind as well as a reputation for giving their clients the cold shoulder. Now, they were standing around with their arms crossed as they chatted among each other, unperturbed by the many gazes cast their way.

“Lapis, I’d say that man’s not half bad if he can get his hands on the proper carriages in such a short time frame.”

“Hmph. A Noble Shaman is lending their aid. We’d be in a fix if that man prepared anything less. Still, he did get the bare minimum of what we requested. Pulling out now would be a stain on our name.”

The leader of Starlight, Lapis Fulgor, looked up and let out a small sigh. With her slender frame and straight hair, she had the good looks of a mythological figure.

“H-Hey, you there. What do you think you’re looking at?! Sir?!” Kris yelled at a bewitched rubbernecker. They came to their senses and hurried off. “Ah, this is why I dislike humans,” she said with a soft snort. “Lapis, let me remind you that Franz is used to putting up with the human weakling’s crap. He’s always being pushed around, so don’t you push him as well. Madam.”

“You don’t need to tell me. It might not have been what we were looking for, but it’s still a curse we’re dealing with. We can’t let this go.”

The cursed stone of the former queen of the Noble Spirits, Shero, was the most famous, powerful, and wretched of all malign gems. Packed with pure malice, the stone had brought entire nations to ruin. It was proof of the power of Noble Spirits, and it was also an item they had to regain no matter the cost. The Noble Spirits’ departure from their forests to live among humans and their subsequent employment as treasure hunters both began with the search for the stone.

Noble Spirits were experts in curses. When humans encountered a curse too much for their kind to handle, they would ask for the help of these arcane specialists. And the misanthropic Nobles would accept these requests.

Though they used every means they could, discarded their pride when necessary, and sometimes took residency among humans as part of their search, the Noble Spirits didn’t appear to be any closer to finding the stone their queen had left behind.

“We haven’t been back to the forest in some time, but the elders are going to give me an earful, telling me I’m wasting time.”

“Frankly, madam, we can’t see such a high-level curse and just look the other way. Besides, the elders were the ones who made these rules in the first place.”

Among Noble Spirits, there were very few willing to leave their forest of their own will. Kris wrinkled her brow when she recalled the looks she’d gotten when she departed her home forest.

“Hmph. You’re late,” she said.

“I’m right on time. You’re not the only ones with things to take care of.”

Standing before them in shining silver armor was Franz Argman, captain of Zebrudia’s Zero Order. There was weariness in his scrunched face. Behind him were more knights, all in matching armor.

The Zero Order answered directly to the emperor. Serving as His Imperial Majesty’s arms and legs, bearing authority that the other orders didn’t possess, these knights didn’t take part in ordinary operations. If they were on the move, that meant the imperial family considered this to be of great importance.

Still, they showed no uncertainty despite the number of curious looks they were attracting. The manner in which Franz boldly strode forwards while being stared at by so many certainly suggested he was worthy of his status as captain of his order.

“We’ve prepared everything you’ve asked of us,” he said. “Even the main thoroughfare will be closed off. One way or another, I suppose.”

“Hmph. I’m going to hold you to that. The Shamans of our forest are all an eccentric lot. Damage their mood, and you might end up turned into a frog.”

“Hm?!”

“Ah! Lapis, Franz isn’t going to hear that as a joke. Madam,” Kris quickly interjected. “That sort of spell doesn’t exist. Sir. Well, at least not among curses, probably.”

The memory of becoming frogs during the trip to the conference was still fresh. Franz had been particularly traumatized when their ward, the emperor himself, had been turned into a frog.

“The only person you’ll see doing that is the human weakling! Sir! Even the most misanthropic Noble Spirit wouldn’t use a deranged spell like that!”

Franz looked like he had tasted something bitter. “That’s enough. I don’t want to be reminded of what happened.”

Noticing his deep discomfort, Kris changed the subject. “Th-That’s right, Franz! Did you talk to the human weakling? Sir? It seems he was involved in every one of those incidents with the curses!”

“Kris, do you know how to talk about anything besides that man?!”

Kris recoiled like a bird hit by a pebble.

Franz cleared his throat before continuing. “Naturally. In the name of caution, I’ve contacted him. We have no choice but to divert from capital security when we mobilize our knights, you see. And he responded by telling me he has something he has to do, so we can just do what we want! Damn that man, he always, always—”

“What does he have to do? Sir!”

“You think that tight-lipped man would tell me?”

Kris clamped her mouth shut and avoided making eye contact. She looked pleadingly to Lapis and the rest of Starlight, but their mouths stayed shut.

Franz heaved a sigh and looked around. “We’ve enlisted hunters and the other orders. Security in the imperial capital is airtight. Should Marin’s Lament break free again or someone attack from outside, we’re equipped to take care of it.”

Something about his voice suggested that his wariness was more than just that. Kris gulped despite herself. She had heard that the Astral Divinarium’s prophecy was to thank for the recent string of curse-related events not turning out any worse than they had. It wasn’t hard to imagine that that was the source of Franz’s unease.

What sort of prophecy came after that? Kris wondered.

“However,” Franz said sharply to Lapis, “the purification will depend on your Shaman. Are you certain this will work?”

Kris’s party leader was cold as ever, unaffected by Franz’s piercing gaze. “Hmph. A foolish thing to ask,” she declared without so much as a twitch of her eyebrows. “Franz, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you the legend of the Cursed Crimson Spiritstone. Curses are spells born of the most primal feelings. We can use them as easily as we move our limbs. I won’t dispute that Marin’s Lament is a powerful curse, malice enhanced through deplorable means, but it is ultimately a product of humans. If you’ve got time for such needless worries, I’d suggest you focus on thinking about what might come after the purification.”

Though they resembled each other, magic and curses were very different things. The main difference was, simply put, that one was used through structured methods while the other was summoned subconsciously. Therefore, the arcane inclinations Noble Spirits were so famous for also applied to curses.

All Noble Spirits could use magic as easily as they breathed, but even by their standards, those of their homeland, Yggdra, were said to be capable of inducing phenomena with just a thought. Compared to them, the curses brought about by humans were child’s play.

For a moment, Franz furrowed his brow and looked her directly in the eye, but seemed to realize that discussing the matter any further would be pointless.

He turned around to his subordinates and said, “Now then, we’re going to head to the esteemed Noble Shaman. I don’t know what that man might be up to, but we won’t let him do as he pleases. We’ll return before he can make his move.”

“Franz, I know how you feel, but really, who do you think that man is? Sir?”

***

Ignoring the vehement protests of his body, he fervently advanced through the imperial capital. It was the middle of the day, but his mind didn’t register the searing sunlight or the ambient noise of the imperial capital. He was headed for the main thoroughfare, where he would find the First Steps clan house.

All Hugh Regland had left was his sense of duty. He would make sure the Thousand Tricks received the box he had received in the decaying district from that strange girl.

He tightly hugged the box against his chest. It was made of wood, ornately designed, and about as big as his palm. He did not know what it contained. Under typical circumstances, he would have at least checked inside, if not also thoroughly questioned the girl. However, just this once, he hadn’t felt compelled to do so.

He didn’t need to peek or ask questions to be able to imagine what the box contained. The miasma leaking out of it was nothing ordinary. Just holding it was enough to keep the alarm bells in his mind ringing constantly. It was eerie enough that even a highly regarded knight like Hugh would instinctively toss the box aside if he let his concentration slip.

This thing was evil. The knights had recently been handling several curses after receiving a prophecy from the Astral Divinarium, but Hugh didn’t doubt for a moment that this box that girl had thrust on him was the subject of the prophecy. His only option was to hand the box over to the Thousand Tricks. The most reasonable choice would be to bring the item to the expert at the Church of the Radiant Spirit. If he wanted to go the extra mile, he could return to a knight outpost and look into how to handle it.

Obtaining the source of the prophecy alone would bring Hugh a fair bit of acclaim. Mishandling the box would most definitely wreak major damage on the imperial capital. It might put the Zebrudian Empire on a downward slope.

But the girl had said to give the box to the Thousand Tricks.

Besides, it was the Thousand Tricks who’d asked Hugh to look for something cursed in the first place. Hugh had intended to become an apprentice to the Thousand Tricks and learn his ways, but that no longer mattered to him. In all likelihood, Hugh could study for decades and absorb immense amounts of mana material, yet still not reach a point where he could handle this box.

All he could do was believe. Believe in the preterhuman artifice of the Thousand Tricks. Believe that man would do something about this box. Hugh’s throat was dry. His body trembled. His thoughts were scattered. He thought his hands carrying the box might give out. All this when he still didn’t know what it contained. A look inside might very well drive him insane.

He struggled to believe any hunter could handle this miasma, no matter their level. But if the Thousand Tricks knew of this box ahead of time, then he probably had some countermeasure in store.

Hugh channeled every bit of his body and soul into holding on to the box. The clan house that should have been a short distance away felt distant. If he were to somehow drop this box, the imperial capital could become a cacophony of screams and sorrow. On his faint pride as a knight of the Zero Order, that was one thing Hugh felt he had to avoid.

Chapter One: Where the Curse Went

Steadying her breath, she stood behind her master. Maintaining total concentration and bracing herself for anything, Tino Shade adopted the state of mind shared by all first-rate hunters.

It had been some time since her master had last asked for her protection. With so many enemies, it was normal for him to take an escort when he went outside. He also sometimes took one when he wasn’t going outside.

The actual guarding was probably beside the point. His real objective was most likely to gauge the strength of whoever was with him. For one thing, Tino had been selected for guard duty when she was much less experienced, and for another, a Level 8 didn’t need protection in the first place.

It was usually a member of Grieving Souls who was picked for guard duty. They were busy people, but it was common for at least one of them to be free, so as long as they weren’t on a hunt, Tino seldom fell in the crosshairs. Today, it was simply a matter of luck that Tino was the only one with an empty schedule.

Tino was brimming with a healthy degree of tension and excitement. Though she saw her master quite regularly, it had been much longer since it was just the two of them, without Lizzy. The circumstances couldn’t be more ideal.

Sometimes guard duty entailed a Trial, sometimes it didn’t. If something peculiar happened, it was usually during the former, but her mastery of her master told her that this was definitely the latter. After all, the recent string of bizarre curse incidents had more or less settled down, and Krai had said he didn’t plan to go out for the time being.

After being swallowed by that terrifying Relic chest (it appeared he was calling it “Mimicky”), she had fulfilled her Trial quota, albeit modestly. She struggled to believe anything more would happen. In other words, this was a date, of sorts. They might not go anywhere, but it was like a date. One of those at-home dates, perhaps.

People had finally begun working on the wrecked lounge, and cleanup was proceeding smoothly. With the cracks in the floor and elsewhere already gone, all that was left was for the glass and furniture to be replaced, and it would be like the attack had never happened. The thought of peace returning caused Tino to let out a sigh of relief.

The lounge sparkled in the sunlight. There, in a corner of said lounge, her master was at a table, seated across from the Carpet.

With Mimicky—perhaps the most terrifying Relic Tino had ever seen—off to the side, her master looked dead serious. The Carpet across from him was no mere carpet. It was one of the most famous Relics there was, a Flying Carpet. Trying to buy one for yourself would likely set you back at least one hundred million gild.

However, the Carpet wasn’t even a mere Flying Carpet. According to Lucy, this Relic from the vault of the imperial castle was a fickle thing that didn’t permit riders. If you tried to force it, the Carpet would flip and dump you off. At that point, it was practically a cursed item.

Thinking about this reminded her of the recent curse uproar. Rumor had it that her master had been connected to all of them. Then there was the fact that the ring she had found in Mimicky and given to her master, which he then gleefully put on, was Hermit’s Ring, an item with the power to lure in curses.

Master, could it be that you really like cursed things?

Sitting before his owner, the Carpet was all the more placid. His legs (?) were crossed, and he held his unsipped coffee in one hand (?) as he looked (?) at Krai. He was acting like he was someone big. If he weren’t a Relic, and if Tino’s job wasn’t to stand guard behind her master’s back, she would have put this Carpet in his place.

She was no stranger to her master’s spontaneous behavior, but she couldn’t imagine what he was planning to do this time. To think she had assumed she would be getting a long-overdue chance to chat and maybe even go out for sweets with him.

Silencing her breath, she stood like a loyal knight and watched the situation unfold. A moment ago, her master had closed his eyes and clasped his hands, but now they slowly opened back up.

“Y’know, I think you’re capable of more than what I’m seeing from you right now,” he said, looking directly at the Carpet. “As you know, Flying Carpets are fairly famous as far as Relics go, and you’re as practical as a Magic Bag. To add to that, in terms of size, load capacity, speed, mana consumption, and more, you’ve got high specs in every way a Flying Carpet should. You’ve got more potential than any other Relic I own. You should be proud of this.”

Silence.

“Believe in yourself, Carpy. I don’t know what your life used to be like, but you can’t keep debauching with other carpets like this. You’re a man meant for greater things! I’m warning you, as a friend. Fly! Let people ride you! No height is too great for you, nobody can match your speed!”

Master is...lecturing his Carpet.

While listening to her master, the Carpet tapped his index finger (?) on the table. He was evidently interested in lending an ear, though Tino couldn’t even hazard a guess as to where his ears might be. Her master certainly had a wide range of Relics. Her understanding of the subject was showing its limitations.

But why was her master so fixated on the Flying Carpet anyway? Much of the fame and extravagant prices of Flying Carpets came from the fact that so many merchants were desperate to get their hands on one. If a hunter wanted to fly, they could just do it themselves. Tino couldn’t possibly do that, but it couldn’t have been hard for a Level 8 to manage it. Her master also had the option of riding with Lucy on her broom.

As Tino watched restlessly, her master continued with even greater passion.

“If it’s confidence you’re lacking, we can train together. I’ll be there every step of the way. We’ll expand your possibilities, one step at a time.”

Does this thing even take steps? And if you can be this kind to a Carpet, can’t you be kind to me?!

He hadn’t complimented her even when she retrieved that ring after being eaten by the treasure chest. Though small, there was a part of her that wished she could be reborn as a Relic. She wanted to be accompanied one step at a time.

The Carpet was completely unfazed by her master’s humble approach. Now, Tino, however, she would be overjoyed to the point of tail-wagging if he talked like this to her.

No, forgive me, Master. There could be some other side to this. It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve indirectly given us some special lesson.

“Look at Mimicky. How many Magic Bags have you seen like that? I almost want to say I don’t even need that many features! But if you apply yourself, then you might reach the same level.”

Looking desperate, her master held out his hand as he talked. The Carpet swatted it away. Such a cold reception caused a shift in her master’s expression.

Master, why do you look so—so glad?!

This wouldn’t continue. Tino may have been brought here merely for protection, but she could no longer bear to watch this Carpet’s disrespect. Someone could walk into the lounge at any moment. After finally getting a chance to be alone with her master, she was instead a third wheel. She saw no reason their date had to be crashed by an inanimate object, even if it was a Relic.

Putting on a stoic expression, she clapped her hands to draw her master’s attention. “Master, leave this to me. With the techniques Lucy taught me, I’ll rein in this, er, Carpy, is it?”

“Eh, you don’t need to do that. Carpy’s capable when he puts his mind to it.”

“No, I must! If this goes on, it’ll set a bad precedent that others might follow!”

Tino refused to let anyone take advantage of her master’s kindness. Carpy should get hit with one of the Thousand Trials. And she certainly wanted to trade places with him! Tino was capable when she put her mind to it.

Though she had undertaken many quests before, wrangling a textile was a first. Looking very serious, she took a cautious stance and slowly approached the Carpet. The Carpet simply shrugged his shoulders (?) at her and floated up, over her head, and behind her master’s back, which he pressed himself against.

Tino gulped. What a fluid movement that was. This was no ordinary Relic if it could go over her head like that. Just what she’d expect from a Relic her master saw so much potential in.

“Ah, how bold. No, to use Master as a shield is cowardice. And, Master, please don’t let him get away with it!”

“Hold on. If I can’t ride him, maybe I can wear him like a cape?”

While voicing this bizarre idea, he tried to tie the Carpet’s hands in front of him. It was no use. Her master couldn’t be relied on at times like these. Taking a deep breath, Tino fortified her resolve. She flipped an internal switch, causing her heartbeat to accelerate just a bit. Her heart vibrated so much it scared her. She felt a warmth overtake her body. Though it wasn’t much compared to what Lizzy could pull off, Tino had recently learned a sort of pseudo Stifled Shadow.

Her senses were sharper, and she felt a sharp pain in the back of her skull. Her muscles quaked, begging to release their power. She hadn’t imagined this would be how she first demonstrated this skill of hers, but now wasn’t the time to be fussy.

This Carpet wouldn’t get away. She would grab the unruly thing, and then what?

“If you don’t listen to Master, I’ll wring you out like a rag.”

“T-Tino?! Calm down!”

Her master tried frantically calling her name, but it was because he acted like this that the Carpet took advantage of him. If he treated the Carpet like he treated Tino, the Carpet might grow to respect him, but he chose not to. What discrimination.

Are you going to give the Carpet a Trial, or spoil me equally? Take your pick, Master!

Using her master as a shield was futile. Tino had the advantage of training. A carpet who indulged in pleasures of flesh and drink (?) was no match for someone who had been trained by brutal Trials. She was going to tear this rug off her master’s back and teach him some respect.

Tino watched the Carpet’s every move. His outline was different from a human’s, but if she caught his movements when they started, she should be able to read him. If she successfully taught the Carpet a lesson, her master would think better of her, and she was certain he would finally reward her.

She took short breaths. Perhaps intimidated by her, the Carpet’s hand (?) twitched. It was about to fly off at the same moment—but there was a sudden noise from the entrance. Tino was instantly reminded that her primary goal was protecting her master. She directed her attention towards the sound, just in time to see a human figure collapsing.

A man clad in armor had entered the lounge. He wasn’t wearing the sort of armor that prioritized lightness, as most hunters preferred, but knight’s armor that both projected might and pleased the eye. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, probably because they were in the city. With her senses heightened by her pseudo Stifled Shadow, Tino was able to recognize the man’s face before he fell.

Her master jumped when he heard the noise. His eyes were wide open. “Wh-Who’s that?”

“It’s Hugh, Master! Hugh Regland from the Zero Order! The man who thoughtlessly said he wanted to be your apprentice!”

“Ah. Aaaahhh.”

A vague response. Was he serious or was he joking? Tino was certain—fairly certain—he was joking. It must have been his way of checking if Tino could remember. Considering Lizzy had knocked him out and brought him in, then he abruptly requested to be her master’s apprentice, he had left an impression that made him hard to forget. With looks resembling Ark’s, he was an unpleasant man, but that didn’t change the fact that he was a knight from a famously selective order. What in the world had happened to him?

Still in his chair, her master took a deep breath and whispered, “Is he dead?”

“He’s alive, Master. His heart is working, though he appears to be exhausted.”

Tino tentatively approached the collapsed knight. His armor, which had been expertly polished when they met, was now blackened with soot and covered with small scratches. His hair was disheveled, and he gave off an odd smell. It was the smell of sewage. She poked him with the tip of her shoe. It seemed he hadn’t suffered any serious wounds.

“Master, what should we do? I don’t think he’ll die if we leave him alone.”

“Hmmm. Well then. Why not let him be?”

He said this with the Carpet still clinging to his back.

Master, don’t you think there’s a bit of a discrepancy between how you treat people and how you treat that Carpet? This man is a noble, for what it’s worth...

While Tino was wondering what to do, Hugh suddenly began to move. He must have regained consciousness. He didn’t seem to have the strength to stand up, but with pained movements, he managed to turn himself onto his back. Just looking at his face made it clear he had run into something you didn’t see every day.

Not a trace was left of the initial brisk look he had. When he had first arrived, Lizzy had knocked him out, but he looked far worse now. His cheeks were sunken, and he had dark rings under his eyes. He had rough stubble on his chin, and his skin was dry. Worn out, too, as though he had been stranded in the wilderness for days on end. However, looking into his slightly open eyes revealed a glimmer in his pupils.

When he saw Tino, a tiny smile of relief formed on his lips. He lifted his arms, as though mustering the last of his strength, presenting what he had been holding against his chest.

“Bring this,” he said slowly, “to the mentor.”

“Hm?!”

It was pure reflex. A Thief’s job was to scout enemies, detect traps, and do other things that might keep the party far from harm. Waiting until you saw and understood was too slow. For true danger, a Thief needed intuition.

Tino took a step back, only realizing a few seconds later that she had retreated. When she found herself short of breath, she realized she had forgotten to breathe. Every skill she had developed for detecting danger was now alerting her at full volume.

Mimicky was a terrifying Relic, but lacked an air of danger. This, however, would make even an untrained civilian wary the moment they laid eyes on it. What Hugh held out was a small wooden box. Though beautifully decorated, it was no Relic, just an ordinary box. But its miasma was anything but.

She felt a chill deep inside her. This was much more ominous than any phantom she had ever encountered. The alarm bells in her head wouldn’t stop. In fact, it was strange she hadn’t noticed it until Hugh had held it up. She didn’t know what was inside, but there was one thing she was sure of—this was something no human could handle.

She was certain Hugh was aware of what a bone-chilling thing this box was. She was pretty sure even an average person would steer clear of it. It struck her as a miracle that he had managed to bring it all the way here. With such dense miasma, just touching it should be enough to chip away at the spirit. Even if it didn’t cause physical pain, the spirit influenced the flesh.

Hugh’s arms trembled as he held the box. “I-I did it,” he said in a raspy voice. “Tell him. C-Cu...”

“Did what? Tell what? Cu? What am I supposed to say?!”

There were so many things she wanted to ask him. Where did he find this? What was it? Why did he bring it here? This was something the Church of the Radiant Spirit should firmly seal off.

However, there wasn’t enough time for that. Hugh was at his limits, and once he lost consciousness, he probably wouldn’t be getting back up for a good while. Tino needed a hint, no matter how tiny.

Losing their strength at last, the arms holding up the box crashed to the ground. The box bounced across the ground, stopping when it hit a wall. With a vague look in his eyes, Hugh offered his final words.

“Cursed...items. RN.”

“Hm?!”

The last string of his consciousness severed, Hugh’s body went limp. Forcing her stiff limbs to move, Tino turned in the direction of her master. Even the Relic seemed able to understand the current danger, as Carpy was clinging (?) much more tightly to Krai.

Paying the Relic an excessive amount of attention, he said in his usual relaxed voice, “Eh, I don’t need it.”

Now Tino understood it all.

Aaah. The Trial isn’t over yet. Wait, Master, I can’t do anything about this! Not in a million years! Oh. Is this because of the ring I gave you?! Sure, that is a Relic that draws in curses...

Her master had put his clan members through all sorts of tribulations, and while some had been wounded, they had barely—just barely—managed to avoid having any deaths. It was a miracle made possible by his rare foresight and preterhuman artifice.

However, the same couldn’t be said for Hugh’s box. This would get them killed. Though she couldn’t tell what was inside it, even someone enhanced by mana material like Tino wouldn’t last a second against whatever it was. There was a vast gap between this and anything she had overcome before. The thought of trying to conquer it didn’t even occur to her.

Had her master upped the difficulty because she had improved recently? If she could keep it closed, she could take it to the Church of the Radiant Spirit, and maybe they would be able to do something about it? Fear and confusion kept her in place. That and the guilt that this might be because of the ring she found. They would have to run. This wasn’t something a hunter could manage.

Master, run. Contact the Church of the Radiant Spirit. I’ll stay here!

Neither her mouth nor her tongue would move. She managed to move her face just a bit. She had faith that the look in her eyes would get the message across.

With a nod, her master got up and walked past her frozen form. He picked the box up off the floor, and though he couldn’t have possibly failed to notice the miasma, he opened it up with complete nonchalance.

***

This time for sure, Mr. Caution would be done for.

Walking through the busy streets of the imperial capital of Zebrudia, Little Sister Fox let out a sigh that contained a multitude of emotions. To think that a foolish human could for even a second triumph over a holy fox in a battle of wits would be a mistake. It was because of that that Mr. Caution lacked proper respect for Little Sister Fox and even began to message her as if they were friends.

But the outcome of this battle of wits would correct all that.

She gave him cursed items RN, and she did one smooth move. She thrust into his hands the most heinous, cursed item housed in the vault of Peregrine Lodge. She was enamored with her skill.

The contracts of Peregrine Lodge were fair to both parties. The nature of the contract varied depending on when the intruder arrived, but as the case of Mr. Caution proved, these contracts could damage Peregrine Lodge just as they could intruders.

As a result of a previous contract, they’d confiscated a cursed item from a Noble Spirit intruder, much to the phantom fox’s misfortune. Merely looking at this item was enough to make it clear that some horrific power was lurking within it. Older Brother Fox was probably right in that this curse wouldn’t go after phantoms. It was in a dormant state, but were it to be released upon the world, it would be too much for the hands of humans. With nowhere to direct its ire while residing within Peregrine Lodge, the curse had smoldered for years, growing stronger and stronger.

Even that man with no sense of caution would surely be wary around the box. Just picturing his panicking face was enough to make up for all Little Sister Fox had been forced to endure thus far. This time, that man would definitely apologize for his irreverence. He would apologize and sob while begging her to do something. And she would refuse him with all her heart. She would make him admit defeat. She would make him grovel and serve her fried tofu.

Her plan at the Supreme Warrior Festival had been a massive failure. In the end, her actions benefited Mr. Caution, and though she had let his enemy slip away, he was apparently yet to realize that. If she had given up after that, Mr. Caution would never learn his lesson.

Her new plan, on the other hand, was perfect. Taking every possible precaution, she analyzed the circumstances, then shoved a dangerous, cursed item onto Hugh, who had been ordered to search for such an item.

Once told how Hugh had come across the box, any old moron would be able to piece together that this was the work of Little Sister Fox. That man would also be forced to realize that he had brought disaster upon the imperial capital because he had underestimated the progeny of a god. This was what happened when you antagonized the spectral foxes known for wreaking havoc on their foes.

She felt a change in the wind.

The humans hadn’t yet realized it, but she knew that it had begun. A sacred gem with a tragic past. Known even throughout the human world, it was a vile object of malign powers left behind by a long line of Noble Spirits. A seed of carnage that had once been removed from the world and stored in Peregrine Lodge was now beginning to sprout.

The air was still. She watched the clan house, where Mr. Caution currently was. Swirling dark clouds gathered in the sky above. She had been a bit concerned because that box was designed to protect the curse inside, but it seemed it had been opened as she hoped it would.

In the blink of an eye, the expanding malignant energies would cover the entire city. Calamity would fall on millions of people. As far as Little Sister Fox could tell, Mr. Caution lacked many things besides just caution, but even if he had been concealing his powers, he couldn’t possibly keep so many people safe from such a widespread curse. Hell, Little Sister Fox herself wouldn’t be able to easily recall a curse once it had begun to disseminate.

Now she would watch and see what that man with no sense of caution would do in the face of powers that exceeded human comprehension. Satisfied that things were going to plan, she folded her arms and nodded to herself.

Then she noticed something unnatural.

“Hm? The curse. It’s not spreading?”

She did not doubt that those clouds above the clan house were the curse’s enmity given form. It’s just that if the humans’ legends were true, those clouds were supposed to instantly blanket the nation. Yet not only were they not moving out, they were stopped above the clan house.

That curse had been formed by the incursions and destruction wrought by humans during a war. With its fixation on the lives of humans and their societies, the imperial capital of Zebrudia was an ideal target for it.

This couldn’t be happening. After so many years, that accursed gem had already forgotten its form and become an ambiguous power that struck indiscriminately. It should be trying to kill as many humans as it possibly could. There was no way humans could control this curse, nor was it something they could purify.

Moving away from the clan house so she could watch her victory from afar had proven to be a mistake. She didn’t know what was going on, but going to investigate would mean her loss. She found herself rubbing her eyes as she stared at the clouds. The swirling clouds writhed like serpents before disappearing into the clan house.

It was as if they had been sucked in.

***

I picked up the beautifully engraved box after it had been tossed recklessly onto the floor. Then I carefully opened the lid, and smoke black as a stormy sky erupted out. It reached the ceiling and drifted towards the still-broken windows of the lounge, yet showed no signs of abating. It moved relentlessly, like the waterfalls Luke used for his training. It was so absurd, all I could do was laugh. Was this Otohime’s?

As I stood there, blinking, Tino looked at me with a ghostly pallor. “Wh-Wh-What are you doing? Master?”

“Huh?”

She had given me an apologetic glance that said, What if the contents are damaged? I’m sorry, Master, so I wanted to put her at ease. It’s not like I had any idea what was going on anyway. I had forgotten about Hugh until Tino reminded me of him, and I had no idea why he had collapsed, why he was here, or what that box he had brought was. I might have appeared calm because I was used to stuff like this happening, but I was fairly perplexed.

If looks were anything to go by, this smoke was nothing good. Perhaps “haze” would be a better word to describe it. The smoke given off by fires was nasty when inhaled, and I had no idea what would happen if I let this haze cover me.

Tino wobbled towards me. “M-Master, o-outside, there’s something bad...”

“Now, now, relax...”

Ventilation. Ventilation is important. Maybe I should let it out instead of letting it fill the room. And it’s not like I can do anything about it.

Coughing up smoke, I looked at the box. Where did they manage to pack all that smoke? It didn’t look like a Relic. I spotted a red glimmer amid the smoke. It was a gem—a fairly large one. Since I had my Safety Rings, I was ready to shove my hand in and grab it, but found myself being yanked backwards.

I stumbled, and the box fell from my hands. It was the Carpet, still on me like a cape, that had pulled me back. As I processed this, the smoke converged on the spot I had just been standing in.

“Eek!” Tino shrieked as she retreated.

The smoke that had drifted out of the broken windows had returned to the clan house. It moved unnaturally, like it had a will of its own. The pace at which it erupted from the box now seemed sluggish compared to the current cascade.

Could it be? Did Carpy save me?! Eh, I guess it’s easier to believe he just wanted to save himself. Maybe that cold attitude of his is calculated?!

“M-Master, this...”

The returning smoke was all gathering in one spot. It was beautiful and ominous, like something from another world. I had seen my fair share of wild stuff, but even I couldn’t stop myself from stepping back. With her sharp senses, Tino probably had a better idea of just how dangerous this stuff was. She was ready for battle, but her teeth were chattering.

Why did it come back after leaving the clan house? It didn’t need to do that.

The gathered smoke thickened and took shape. Oddly enough, it reminded me of when Marin’s Lament had been unsealed. However, there had been preparations made during that purification. Here, we had no layered barrier magic circle, nor Ark, Franz, or anyone else.

At this point, the smoke wasn’t even really smoke. The amalgamated black haze had formed a clear humanoid outline, then the darkness flowed off it, revealing a girl with closed eyes. It was the same setup as with Marin, but this girl wasn’t as decrepit as Marin. Nor was she human.

With pointed ears and sculpted features, she was a Noble Spirit. She wore a black robe that spilled to the floor, like something befitting a Magus. Around her neck hung an eye-catching pendant. It was bloodred and had a bewitching shine. Looking at it, I felt my heartbeat accelerate and my breath catch in my throat. My gut told me that this was what had been in the box. It was a pointless thing to think about, but I remembered how Noble Spirits were experts when it came to curses.

This thing couldn’t be alive. Her legs didn’t touch the ground, nor did she have the air as something alive. Not even I needed to deliberate on whether this was a friend or foe.

Calm down, Krai Andrey. Tino’s here, and since you’re technically the clan master, you can’t make a disgrace of yourself here.

So what was I to do? Run? Ask for help? Whose help? Of course this happened after I had returned the Sounding Stone to Franz. Given the circumstances, I had to negotiate; I was about out of other options.

Phantoms, monsters, curses, I was helpless against all of them. I would have to take the love and peace approach. Hadn’t I always saved my skin through groveling and negotiating in a friendly manner? Even the generally unaffable Noble Spirits had a few kind souls among them. I just had to pretend this figure was Kris or Eliza.

I held up my right hand and grinned as I approached the mysterious Noble Spirit. Then her eyes opened. Those pupils sparkled. My muscles froze, locking me in place like a frog before a snake. I didn’t feel afraid per se, but it was possible my very soul was being intimidated.

Those two eyes drifted my way, yet they didn’t settle on me. I followed their direction and found the source of their fixation—the ring. On my right hand, raised to show I meant no harm, I had a wooden ring on my index finger. Recovered from inside Mimicky by Tino, this was Hermit’s Ring, a Relic said to attract curses.

Now that I think about it, the writing carved into the ring and the design on the box are pretty similar.

Hatred broiled deep within the Noble Spirit’s eyes. She had an attractive face and wore a level expression, but if anything, that made her burning emotions all the more apparent. I immediately tried to remove the ring, but as I expected, it didn’t budge. I tried this and that, all the while the Noble Spirit reached out; as though guided by her arm, a host of black, lancelike objects lunged forwards from behind her.

Though the lances weren’t particularly fast, there was no way I could dodge them. Carpy suddenly wrapped around me from behind and pulled me back. The lances—though I kept referring to them that way, they were wavy like kelp—just barely managed to reach me, when they were deflected by a Safety Ring.

If you’re gonna do that, don’t take your time, Carpy.

But I suppose if I hadn’t had him wrapped around me like a cape, he would have just flown off by himself. Lucky me.

Thanks to his pulling, my body was jolted out of the sleep paralysis-like state I was in. Still being dragged, I stumbled along. Once again, pursuing strands of kelp managed to hit me, exhausting another Safety Ring.

Damn, they’re not missing! If this keeps up, I’m going to run out of rings and die! Somebody, save me. Oh. The church! If we can make it to the church, I bet they’ll be able to do something about this! Ansem’s there, after all!

I had a feeling Carpy would be willing to fly now that things were getting dire. Luckily for us, the lounge’s windows were broken, and I could still take a few more hits. It was my lucky day. I darted up to a terrified Tino and grabbed her hand. I couldn’t leave the poor, innocent girl behind. Hugh, well, he was a necessary sacrifice.

If we make it out of this alive, I’m going to have a lot of questions about why he brought me that bizarre thing.

“Let’s go, Tino!”

“Ah, Master!”

I sprinted towards the broken glass. I hadn’t moved my body like this in a while. Carpy gracefully dodged the swarm of incoming lances. Each and every one of the dogged projectiles connected perfectly with my head before being blocked by a Safety Ring. Tino wasn’t hit, thankfully, but I was pretty sure these lances were deliberately coming for me alone. It didn’t hurt or anything, though it did scare the hell out of me.

The black kelp slithered along the ground after us. A black decay ate into the newly repaired tile flooring. I thought about sending the Noble Spirit a bill. It seemed that the figure of condensed darkness was capable of retracting and extending the umbral smoke at will. It was kind of cool, but how was she doing it? What was that thing?

Sadly, I didn’t have time for extraneous questions. I braced myself, then jumped out the window, bringing Tino with me.

“Fly, Carpy!”

Now’s your chance to show what you’re made of.

I felt gravity’s pull. Then, perhaps obeying my orders, perhaps just trying to save his own life, Carpy’s edges began to lift. Then the knot in front of my neck came undone, and my vision turned upside down. Still holding Tino’s hand, we were about to fall headfirst from the clan house when Tino managed to grab hold of the Carpet’s edges, pulling us into the sky.

If I had been the one closer to the Carpet, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to catch that. Nice, Tino!

***

It had to destroy.

At its core, all that remained was that sentiment and nothing else. It was conscious and retained memories of being alive. However, up against emotions strong enough to manifest as phenomena, memories were like a pebble on the road.

Only one thing mattered: that the queen of the Noble Spirits finish what she should have long ago. In those forests long inhabited by her people, she drove out the humans and protected her kith from any intruders who entered without due respect or reverence. Their war with the humans was undeniably an existential matter. Defeat would spell extinction or enslavement by the humans. The great powers of the Noble Spirit queen existed to avoid just that.

Indeed, even should her very flesh come to ruin.

Awakening after a long period of silence, it found itself in an unbelievably large city abounding with the enemy. It detected massive buildings in lines that stretched to the horizon and more life-forms than could be counted. It was more than ten times the Noble Spirits that once lived in the forest it had once reigned over.

However, no amount of strength or number of its foes would change what it had to do. Memories came flooding back, fanning accursed, murderous desires. During the war, many comrades perished, as did the invaders. Tragedies and oaths alike had spawned in great numbers.

It would kill as many foes as it could, save as many allies as it could. Rinse blood with blood, overwrite tragedy with tragedy. Fear would birth fear, animus would proliferate. Just like it always had. No longer was there room in its heart for it to lament these truths. Acting almost on instinct, it let strife and the desire to kill flow through the town.

Then, it abruptly reeled its consciousness back into focus.

In its long, bloody history, nothing in existence took priority over the erasure of those who had massacred the Noble Spirits. However, something very nettlesome was currently demanding attention. Such a novel experience restored rationality to a mind that once thought of naught but annihilation. Reverting from a form intended for efficient murder to its original shape, its eyes fell upon a single unremarkable man.

He was a youthful human forgettable in every way. His bearing was quite unlike that of a warrior. Normally, it wouldn’t have even acknowledged him or noticed if it crunched him like a bug. And yet, for some reason, looking at this man incited an inexplicable irritation. The burning fury deep within demanded that this man die before anyone else. The rancor proclaimed that killing him would be equivalent to killing a million, a billion other humans. Logically, it knew such a thing couldn’t be true; it knew that decimating this city should take priority. But it had to attack this man.

Grinding its teeth, it stared at him from a few meters away. That was when it caught sight of the familiar wooden ring he wore on his finger. Long ago, its cohorts had worn it in order to draw in and subdue curses. Why this man had that ring was unclear, but there was no mistaking what it was.

This would explain the broiling irritation. Now it knew the reason. It understood entirely. All was clear and apparent. Relieved, it took a breath.

Then it attacked, driven by pure instinct. The man deflected each blow.

It understood. But that didn’t matter. There would be no reconsidering, hesitating, holding back, or any other such drudgery. It would simply destroy, as its power and instincts commanded.

Assailed by a flurry of attacks, the young man began to run. Dangling and drifting as he was pulled along by a bizarre carpet, he moved like fishing bait. Hanging from the carpet, he rapidly put distance between himself and it. Thousands of human beings who deserved death looked up at him with wide eyes. They probably couldn’t wrap their heads around what they were seeing.

No matter. This city’s annihilation can wait.

A voice of reason berated it. Oh, what are you doing, queen of the Noble Spirits? the voice said. How could the guardian of such a proud people be fooled by a tool like that? You know you’re being toyed with. What folly.

With a stabbing pain in its head, blazing, murderous rage altered its form. Then, doing something it had done very rarely since becoming a curse, it spoke.

“PERISH! NO ESCAPE, NOT IN AN ETERNITY!”

***

No amount of Thousand Trials could have prepared Tino for this series of twists and absurdities. Her spirit was a flame flickering in the wind. She was confident that this was worse than any Trial undergone by her or anyone else.

No matter their strength, humans still had limitations. This strange power, however, overcame those limitations with ease. In her last glimpse, Tino had caught sight of the pointy ears indicative of a Noble Spirit. That was probably the Cursed Crimson Spiritstone, the famous curse born by the queen in order to eradicate humans.

In that moment, Tino had a very acute thought: When Master assigns a Trial, he doesn’t hold back.

This was a curse of unparalleled horror. A curse that had once plunged the world into an abyss of fear. Truly, there could be no better way to wrap up this chain of curses. Though it might also wrap up her life.

Her master was pulling her hand and covering her from attacks, but this was one time she couldn’t bring herself to be glad about it. That thing didn’t consider Tino an enemy, but a simple brush from it would be enough to get her killed.

In her right hand, she held the Carpet; in her left, she held her master’s hand. Her training had paid off.

No, that was a test.

Her master would never jump from the lounge without thinking, so that must have been a test to see if she could catch him. He was pure evil. Tino would have cried if she had the luxury to, but it was all she could do to continue drawing breath and keep her struggling heart going. The Carpet was flying through the sky with ease, but that did nothing to soothe her.

“Are you all right, Tino?” her master asked casually while dangling below her. “Am I too heavy?”

“Huh? Wh-What are you talking about? How could you possibly be too heavy for me?!”

“Eh. Ah. Yeah, uh-huh.”

Tino was getting her training for Lizzy; she could carry her master plus another ten people and still have room to spare.

So do I really need to do more Trials, Master?

The Carpet flew along at high speed. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like they had time to get on top of it. But they didn’t need to. As long as they could get away from that thing, nothing else mattered.

People on the ground looked transfixed at the sight of them hanging from a carpet, soaring along. Tino thought they should be evacuating, not looking up at the sky. She had detected extraordinary fury in that curse. If that were to be taken out on the city, then even the imperial capital of Zebrudia might meet its end.

Her master let out a deep breath, perhaps one of relief. “Let’s get to the Church of the Radiant Spirit. ASAP.”

Please do something about that thing. ASAP. Can you do something about it?! Something will be done, right?!

Tino got the feeling that even the experts at the Church of the Radiant Spirit wouldn’t be able to solve this. If someone could solve this, they more than deserved to be Level 10. Tino had planned to go on a date with her master today, and what a date it turned out to be. She longed for the days when going out just meant getting captured by bandits.

“Did we lose it?” he asked, completely relaxed. Incredibly carefree, as usual.

Hold on, Master, are you not gripping my hand? It feels like I’m the only one holding on.

She swallowed these words before she voiced them, then turned and looked at the clan house off in the distance. Carpy was one speedy Relic. All she could see of the clan house was the spire. Just the spire...

“I-It’s transformed. Master, it’s chasing after us!”

“Huh?!”

At that moment, a long-limbed black apelike creature was climbing up the clan house. Given the size of the spire, the creature must have been a couple of dozen meters tall. Showing no interest in the civilians, its blindingly bright eyes were focused solely on the two of them.

No, not the two of them; Tino didn’t feel its gaze. It was looking only at her master. Looking at it in hindsight, the creature had only gone after Krai back at the clan house.

Maybe that thing is after Krai? If he left me back there, then I definitely wouldn’t be caught in the crossfi— No, no!

With a shake of her head, Tino restored her faithful heart. It was because of the ring she’d found that her master was being attacked in the first place. He had said this was all according to plan, but even if it was, Tino was still undoubtedly the reason this was happening.

I’m going to vomit, Master...

“It’s transforming?! Why?!”

“It’s...it’s just giving in to bad impulses, Master.”

“Bad impulses?! Can bad impulses make things transform?!”

When Tino gave in to bad impulses and put on that mask, she did indeed transform. No, no, that was different.

Using both its arms as well as its legs, the colossal ape leaped from rooftop to rooftop. Using the cityscape as its road, the creature traveled with incredible speed. The buildings it stepped on didn’t show any signs of crumbling, meaning it must not have been as heavy as it seemed.

Waves of screams erupted as people noticed the light-footed fiend. But as long as it stuck to the rooftops, the people down there wouldn’t be crushed. The real issue was that it didn’t seem at all inclined to give up on Tino and her master.

Hatred burned in its eyes. The very smoke from that box had seemed malicious, and now it was like all that dispersed rage had been condensed.

“Faster, Carpy!” Tino begged. “To the church!”

“Tino, Carpy doesn’t do what people tell—”

Carpy sped up. Now it was like he had become the wind. Tino was certain that if she and her master took a tour around the capital while atop the Carpet, it would be wonderful.

Despite their acceleration, the ape still moved faster. She was just eyeballing it, but she was fairly sure the ape was slowly catching up. Its innate abilities and the length of its strides were too much for the Carpet. They just had to be grateful the ape couldn’t fly. Tino wanted to try slowing it down with a ranged attack, but she had no way to do that.

“It didn’t work, Master! It’s still going to catch up to us!”

“R-Right... B-But we’ll be fine.”

For some reason, he seemed despondent, but when he looked up, he had one of those smiles meant to help forget any imminent peril. It was a smile that unsettled her.

“We’ll be at the Church of the Radiant Spirit soon enough. Just as I planned. After that, uh, Ansem will do something!”

Th-That’s not a plan. Anssy, please do your best.

The Church of the Radiant Spirit came into view. There was a large gate built with Anssy in mind and a chalk-white bulwark evocative of a castle. The church had expertise in curses as well as in healing. Rumor had it that all the church’s buildings were built to be resilient. They claimed that the churches, especially the big ones, had fortifications on par with castles because they were housing hazardous items.

Just outside the church, priests stared in shock at the incoming Carpet. When they saw that it was being pursued by an ape that was self-evidently some sort of curse, the blood drained from their faces. A number of stationed Paladins frantically ran outside. Their movements were refined and indicative of their relentless training, but that wasn’t going to do much in the face of the approaching curse. Conventional weapons probably wouldn’t be much help here. The ape looked like it could shake off a cannon blast.

Ansem exited through the gate, helmet removed.

Krai waved his hand. “Ansem, the rest is up to you!” he called.

For the first time, Tino saw a faint hint of stress on Ansem’s usually placid face.

Once the ape was about ten meters from them, it bounded into the air. Carpy rapidly climbed upwards, over the wall, before diving into the church’s courtyard, passing by Marin’s Lament, that curse awaiting purification. Tino had heard all about it.

The ape swung its arms down, effortlessly demolishing the very wall they had just passed over.

Boasting an inordinately large frame, Ansem Smart was one of the best Paladins in the imperial capital. With high physical attributes and exceptional healing skills, he may have been a silent one, but he was the most famous member of Grieving Souls.

From what Tino could tell, Anssy was more reliable than any other Griever. He was almost the most stable. He wasn’t as intense as the others, and it wasn’t hard to understand why he had the second-highest level after Krai, but even still, Tino didn’t think it would be easy for him to bring down this fiend by himself.

The Carpet glided into the courtyard, and once their feet were on the ground, they looked back at the gate. The umbral ape had destroyed it in one hit. Though the walls were tough as those that would encompass a castle, they may as well have been made of building blocks. It was simple fortune that prevented any attacks from hitting Marin’s Lament.

Lights crackled around the ape’s gigantic arms. This was the work of barriers meant to ward off anyone who walked with darkness. However, the ape didn’t appear to be in any sort of pain, and it wasn’t long before there was a crunching sound followed by the lights dying out.

Tino gulped as she watched. This thing was too powerful. To think that the barriers of the capital’s primary branch of the Church of the Radiant Spirit couldn’t do anything. Rubble rained down. The air trembled.

“W-We’re under attack!” the priests yelled, though it was a bit late for that.

Viewed up close, the ape was overwhelmingly massive. It was a fiend large enough to make Anssy appear small. The priests were all completely cowed by the fiend’s might. Not that Tino was in any position to talk, but something told her they had lost before the battle even began.

Just then, Ark Rodin and the rest of Ark Brave came rushing out from the church. He was dressed not in casual clothes, but in armor. His sword was drawn, ready to fight. Tino gasped out of sheer surprise. Even as a devout member of Team Krai, Tino had to admit that Ark’s radiant figure was very much that of a champion.

“Wha?! What is that?!” cried Isabella the Magus.

“What horrific power...” said Ewe, the Saint.

“It burst through the barriers with ease,” remarked Armelle, the (to use her master’s words) Roarrior.

Standing at the front of his party, Ark let out a small sigh. “Franz said Fox might strike, but I certainly wasn’t expecting an ape. What’s going on?”

Ark Rodin and Ansem Smart were both among the most prolific Level 7s in the imperial capital. Though it was faint, they offered a glimmer of hope. Though it seemed no human could best the ape, these two might change that.

The next moment, additional hunters appeared from within the church.

“Ugh, what’s that?!”

“W-We can’t fight that!”

Some Tino recognized, others she didn’t. There were both hunters who paled at the might of the powerful ape, and those who readied their weapons and prepared for battle. Not everyone in that group was necessarily first-rate, but if they had one thing going for them, it was numbers. Including the priests, there were perhaps nearly one hundred on their side. They stood before a powerful foe, but with a large force that included Ark and Anssy, then maybe...

But I heard that the operation to purify Marin’s Lament was already finished. So why are all these people on standby?

Tino blinked as she tried to figure this out.

“Ohhh, look how many hunters are here,” her master said from behind her.

Ah! Could this be part of his plan?!

It must be. She was certain of it. Open the box, release the curse, prepare fighters for an ambush at the church, an advantageous position, then lure the curse here. Could that not be called preterhuman artifice?

In which case, since he had brought Tino here, was she also part of that force? While she stood there, baffled, the giant ape glanced over the hunters.

Then the battle began.

Ark channeled power into his Relic, a blade that was almost synonymous with his name. Swinging a sword, Anssy charged forwards. Other hunters began coordinated ranged attacks. The priests began offering prayers, which brought down pillars of light. A relentless barrage of attacks hit the massive ape, which it ignored as it made a furious charge straight for Krai.

It had no interest in any of the priests or hunters. Anssy tried to snag the ape’s legs, but it simply bounded over him, then swung its fist at Tino’s master. Though the attack wasn’t meant for her, she was going to take collateral damage. Just as she was about to dash to safety, the pitch-black arm was seared by a blinding white light.

It took a breath for her to process it. Ark had done that. Ark had attacked. The Holy Sword Historia was a storied weapon, said to be capable of rending even the Celestial God. The light unleashed by Ark Rodin’s sword had turned the wretched ape’s arm into dust. Just what you’d expect from a Relic which specialized in sheer firepower. The man wielding said Relic may have been pseudo handsome and inferior to her master, but he was still very much one of the leading figures in this golden age of treasure hunting.

Missing an arm, the ape eyed Ark for a moment. Tino began to think that they had a shot at eliminating this curse. The thought of this brought a smile to her face. Ark, however, looked much more bitter.

“No good. It’s too tough,” he muttered. “I released all the remaining power, yet only took off one arm. I don’t have enough history to take it down.”

Huh? No good?

“Ark, the arm you took off!” Isabella screamed.

In the blink of an eye, the arm had regenerated to its original state. Some monsters had high regenerative capabilities, but this was something else. What’s more, the ape didn’t even seem to mind that its arm had been blown off.

Master, it looks like we’re screwed.

It appeared this was a Trial with no solution.

The ape let out a howl. The sound of it ripped through the church and staggered Tino. She heard bodies falling over. She looked around and saw that about half the priests had been knocked down. Some of the hunters had hit the ground as well. Tino felt like an idiot for thinking for even a moment that they might win.

The ape settled its gaze back on Krai. Then, after being passed over earlier, Anssy struck at the ape in an attempt to draw its attention. Though his shining blade dug into the ape’s leg, tearing off the darkness, the ape not only showed no hint of pain, but it didn’t so much as acknowledge Anssy. He didn’t even slow the fiend down. It was a gutsy move, but that wasn’t what this battle called for.

“Wh-What terrible and tragic might. It saddens me to think that Marin’s Lament isn’t the only curse of this magnitude,” said a man in a trembling voice. Tino recognized this man. It was Father Edgar, the priest who had done so much for Anssy.

Krai clapped his hands, as though this had reminded him of something. “I-I’ve got it. If that’s the case, why don’t we unseal Marin’s Lament and have the two fight?”

Would that not be insanely risky?

“N-No...” the reticent Ansem opined while desperately swinging his sword at the ape.

The dogged hunters momentarily forgot their battle, and all looked at Krai when they heard his suggestion.

“Ansem, go break that seal! If we can’t win with a force like this, then that’s our only option!”

“N-No...”

“C-Calm down, Thousand Tricks. Marin’s Lament isn’t something you can use at your convenience.”

Both Anssy and Father Edgar stopped Krai. And why the hell wouldn’t they? They were eager for any plan that might give them a fighting chance, but this one was far too eccentric. When he noticed that nobody was voicing support for his plan, Krai sulkingly furrowed his brow.

Then he looked at Tino.

Huh?! Wh-What is it?! Why are you looking at me, Master?!

She took an automatic step back. Her master said nothing.

However, those black eyes stared straight at her. His gaze wasn’t particularly intense, nor was he coercing her. Yet that look was enough to make her feel like she had no other options.

With a grunt, she gave in to momentum and darted off, letting her legs carry her across the courtyard full of collapsed people. She wished someone would stop her, but nobody did. After all, as a Thief, speed was her specialty, not to mention the hunters were all concentrating on the curse. And besides, the real enemy, the umbral ape, had no interest in her.

She flitted past the fiend with surprising ease, leaped towards the two curses bound in the air, and climbed up Marin’s Lament, using the chains binding Marin’s body as her handholds. The accursed girl’s eyes flew open when she saw Tino. It’s fair to say that even a curse would be pretty caught off guard if someone suddenly tried to undo their seal.

Nothing about this struck Tino as a good idea, but Marin couldn’t be as bad as that ape. She just had to believe.

“Tino?!” Isabella cried. She was holding up her staff, preparing an advanced offensive spell. “Return to your senses!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but Master told me to do it!”

“That’s why we’re telling you to get a grip! He didn’t say a damn thing!”

“Don’t be hasty, Tinoooo!”

Everyone was telling Tino to stop. Facing such strong resistance, Tino felt she was doing something idiotic, even suicidal. But she had no choice. She was her master’s loyal servant. What he said was absolute. His preterhuman artifice was absolute. Her master was perfect. His only flaw was that he seemed to have no regard for anyone else’s struggles...

Besides, perhaps fighting a curse with another curse wasn’t such a bad idea. Tino didn’t know much about curses, but her master wouldn’t say something without proper consideration!

Tino mustered her strength. The chains came off so easily, she struggled to believe they were part of a powerful Relic. The dark energies of Marin became a magnitude stronger, hitting Tino with a wave of dizziness.

The ape ceased its fervent attack on Krai and looked at Tino for the first time. Apparently, not even that fiend could overlook the church’s worst curse. This might work. With all her might, Tino ripped out the chains piercing Marin. The chains hit the ground with a light clatter. The momentum of taking them out caused Tino to fall as well.

A soul-freezing wail swept across the courtyard. Tino felt a chill, as though something was brushing her just beneath her skin. This was followed by a nearby sound of metal hitting something hard. When she looked up, she saw that the knight in Marin’s embrace had landed on the ground and was now rising from a kneeling position. Though his armor had been crushed and battered, it now appeared good as new.

Did he absorb the energy released by the ape?

Marin got behind the black knight. The ape glared at the now-released cognate beings. Their auras collided and mingled, completely altering the cleansed air of the church. The auras were so interwoven, Tino couldn’t so much as tell which one had the upper hand.

Marin and the ape stared each other down, acknowledging each other. Father Edgar, Anssy, Ark, Krai, all gulped as they stood and watched. Maybe they really could hope for mutual destruction between the curses? If not that, the winner should come out with a fair bit of damage. Tino pressed her hands together and prayed.

The ape suddenly broke its gaze and released a deafening roar. Its body shrank like a deflating balloon, and after a few seconds, the Noble Spirit from the clan house was standing there. Though this body was smaller, its presence had increased immensely. Perhaps the radiant power of that massive ape was now being condensed into this smaller frame.

One part of a Thief’s job was gauging the strength of enemies. Though the ape’s powers had been vague, she had a better picture now that that power had been condensed. Both had strength unlike anything Tino had ever seen, but when comparing the two, the Noble Spirit was far superior. She was confident that not even Marin’s Lament could win this battle.

The black knight swung at the curse’s true form, but found himself pierced by an arm, one protruding from the Noble Spirit’s abdomen. Form meant nothing to a curse, a manifestation of intense animus. It had free rein over shape and size.

Marin paused, then let out an even louder wail. The Noble Spirit slowly approached.

“Ummm. Master? From where I’m standing, it looks like they’re having a discussion.”

“Yeah, uh-huh...”

Thinking back on it, weren’t Noble Spirits experts in the hexen arts? That was why they were talking about bringing in a Noble Shaman to do something about Marin’s Lament.

The Noble Spirit turned towards Tino and her master. The arm piercing the black knight was removed, letting him stand back on his own feet again. He didn’t appear damaged. Marin’s Lament ceased her wailing and looked at Krai. The tangling evil auras began to form a single massive one.

“This is bad,” Ansem groaned.

Everyone was thinking the same thing: the curses weren’t going to wipe each other out.

Silently, Krai looked around before saying in a troubled voice, “Maybe they’ll get along, and we can call it a day?”

“Does it look like that’s going to happen?!”

Marin, the black knight, and the accursed Noble Spirit all attacked at once. Anssy and every member of Ark Brave moved to intercept them. This was bad. Even one of them was too much; now there were three of them.

Fortunately, they were after Krai. While on the run, they should be able to keep damage to a minimum. And they could use that time to think of a plan! Gripping her master’s hand, Tino hopped aboard the drifting Carpet.

“Fly, Carpy!” she cried.

Carpy took to the skies at high speed. Tino gripped her master’s hand when the inertia nearly caused him to fall.

“I-I’ve got it!” he said while dangling just like he had been earlier. “Let’s go to Sitri! If she’s not in one of her funny moods, she should be able to do something about this!”

I-I’m trusting you, Master.

The curses chased after them. The Noble Spirit was the strongest among them, but Marin’s Lament and the mysterious knight of darkness were also immediate threats. Their blending miasmas formed a black cloud that ate into the skies over the imperial capital.

She had been told of the ethereal phantoms that resided within treasure vaults, but Tino had precious little experience fighting such creatures. If these things were a bit—no, a lot weaker, then this might constitute a good experience for her, but this was far too much for her.

Master, I think you’re giving me too much credit. I’m a small fry. And if that fop couldn’t kill these things, then how am I supposed to?!

While desperately steering Carpy, she looked at her master, dangling below her. Even now, he was his usual self. Did he have some plan that she couldn’t begin to imagine? He usually did. She would always face imminent peril, only to barely make it out alive. Except knowing that didn’t make a scary situation any less scary. It was her understanding that the line between life and death was something you weren’t supposed to tread on a regular basis.

It appeared a Hero couldn’t so much as slow these curses, much less defeat them. Heck, those stalwart barriers hadn’t even drawn the curse’s attention when it made a straight charge for Krai. There wasn’t anything Tino could do about something like that.

“It sure is tough being Mr. Popular.”

“Master, it’s changing! Again!”

The ape from the church began to writhe and contort, its form shifting. Noble Spirits were also known as guardians of the woods. In their settlements deep within forests, they would befriend flora and fauna alike and enlist their aid in defending their land. Noble Spirits weren’t prone to talking about themselves, but folklore had it that the best forest guardians went so far as to borrow the powers of monsters. Perhaps that borrowing of power entailed magical transformations?

The curse’s new form was that of a dragon, one black as pitch, a creature of darkness with bladelike wings. It was a few sizes smaller than the ape from earlier, but that didn’t make Tino feel any better. With this form, it could now fly. The black knight and Marin both rode atop its back. It sure was a novel sight.

“It’s a dragon. It’s a dragon!”

“Think it can fly?”

Of course it could fly. It was a dragon, and not some goofy thing like that hot spring dragon (except the adult one was capable of flight).

Surrounded by black clouds of miasma, the stygian dragon spread its wings and took to the skies. The apocalyptic sight incited screams throughout the imperial capital. There was a good chance that even if they resolved this without serious damage, some irreversible harm had already been done.

The knights were on the move, but for reasons unclear, there was a noticeable shortage of them. It wasn’t like this dragon was something that could be brought down from the ground anyway.

Tino suspected that, should her master’s intended preterhuman artifice fail and he end up dead, that still wouldn’t placate that thing’s anger. No doubt, her master held the fate of the imperial capital in his hands. Tino had to do anything she could.

“Master, where should I take you?! I’ll take you anywhere you ask.”

“Oh? Isn’t that Sitri over there?”

“Hm?! Ah.”

Tino looked where her master was pointing. There was Siddy. She was just coming out of a shabby building not far from the main thoroughfare. It wasn’t clear at first since she wore a rugged gas mask that covered her entire head, but it was definitely her. The man next to her must have been an Alchemist from the Primus Institute.

While steering Carpy, Tino searched her memories.

What was that building again? Oh, that’s right!

She was pretty sure that was an entrance to the city’s sewers. Monsters lived near the entrances of those terrifying labyrinthine canals. Tino could recall being very scared of them when she was a kid. Not many people ever entered the sewers, so what sort of business did Siddy have there?

Either way, she went where her master indicated. Siddy was momentarily surprised by the sight of them suddenly arriving on the Flying Carpet, but she removed her gas mask and gave them a blossoming smile.

“Krai, great timing! We were just investigating the water and ecosystems in the sewers! Down there, we made an incredible discovery. You see, we were hoping to conduct experiments on Strawberry Blaze...”

“Hmph. I’ve got a few things to say, but they can wait. Right now, I want to check the thrall potion’s efficacy,” said the older Alchemist. His face was scrunched up in a grim expression.

They said this after seeing Tino drenched in sweat atop the Carpet, and Krai dangling below her. Did all Alchemists get tunnel vision when something caught their eye?

Those three curses will be here any moment.

“Y-Yeah?” Krai said. He was equally as surprised at Tino. He didn’t know what to say to Sitri’s joyous greeting.

Now, say it, Master. Tell Siddy you want her to do something about those curses!

Looking at Tino through half lidded eyes, Siddy wrapped her arms around Krai, who was nonchalant as ever. It seemed she was none too pleased that Tino had come with him. But if she could see Tino’s apparent panic and Krai dangling from the Carpet, and yet still somehow think the two of them were on a date, then Siddy needed her eyes checked.

“As expected, the potion diluted and lost its efficacy, but we came upon an urban legend! I’m sure you’ll want to know about it, Krai. There was a dragon in the sewers. A sewage dragon! If Strawberry Blaze really works, then it should listen to you.”

A-A sewage...dragon?

The unfamiliar phrase caused Tino to freeze up. Hearing a roar from the hexen dragon, Siddy looked up at the sky for the first time. Then, as though hitting on an idea, her master drove his hand into his palm.

Are you serious, Master?

***

The human’s plan was so foolish it wasn’t even humorous, just irritating. If he thought he could fight off a Noble Spirit with another variety of curse, then humans really were fools, just as they always had been. However, there was evidence that this man was especially dim-witted. The two curses that man had unleashed were powerful, but they didn’t stand a chance against it.

It was clear that these two curses weren’t at full power. By its estimate, these two had harbored stronger wills until recently. As a result of being put together, their rage had begun to dissipate. That much was clear by the way the knight stood protectively in front of the girl. Curses tended to weaken when their anguish faded and they lost a place to direct their anger. A true curse wouldn’t bother trying to save another one.

Normally, it would have just eaten the two curses. The only reason it instead made them its allies was to show that unperturbable man the depths of his own idiocy. The plan halfway succeeded, halfway failed. The man was surprised, but not afraid. Not only that, when he fled from the church, it had paused out of sheer startlement. The church should have been the man’s best chance at victory. Unless there was still more to his plan?

This rabble will come later. That’s guaranteed. That man must not get away.

It changed its form into one with wings, then let its two new servants upon its back before taking off in pursuit. However, setting aside the knight, the cursed girl didn’t appear particularly bent on killing the man. Perhaps it was his lack of presence or will to fight. Maybe she pitied him. That man possessed a spirit remarkably average, but persistently showing no will to resist was the optimal way to deal with many curses.

But that didn’t matter. It simply roared with anger. Destroy that man and place a curse on his existence. Though a portion of its rage was no doubt caused by the power of the ring, it was still unequivocally wrong for a human to wear something crafted by a Noble Spirit.

The man ran inside a stark, aging building. When the barriers of the church did nothing, why would he think a structure like that would do anything? It was about to blow the building down with a single breath when it sensed countless presences beneath the ground. Big things, little things. Bugs, small animals. In the jumble of life, there was the shine of a large one.

The building shook, its metal gate flew off, and out came a dragon, one with filthy gray skin. It had a spiny back along with a hide tempered by polluted water. Being in the darkness for so long had caused its eyes to regress, leaving it inept at perceiving light. Following behind the dragon was a flood of rats, bats, ogrelings, and other common forest creatures.

From the underground? Is he manipulating the subterranean creatures? Just what sort of technique would that—

“GOOO, SEWAGE DRAGON!” the man screamed from within the building. Despite his fervor, his voice did not hint at any will to fight.

What in the world is he trying to do?

This dragon wouldn’t be any match for it. But it also didn’t care for the idea of playing along with this man’s plans. Noble Spirits excelled at speaking with monsters, animals, and plants. It quickly pulled up before reverting to its original form. With nowhere to stand, the two other curses plummeted to the ground.

Seeing it and the other two curses, the sewage-drenched dragon took a fearful step back.

***

Siddy was beautiful, never lost her composure, and possessed very few flaws. However, this woman of exceptional genius tended to malfunction when dealing with Tino’s master. Tino watched with uncertainty as the sewage dragon—sewdra, for short—began its battle with the ultimate curse.

She didn’t know what Siddy had been doing, but she struggled to imagine they had any chance of winning this. This dragon might have been the subject of urban legends, but this curse was actually legendary. It had already proven itself beyond the capabilities of Anssy and Ark.

Tino had never heard of a sewage dragon in the first place. Siddy had probably made the name up. Tino was a dyed-in-the-wool member of Team Krai, and she was acquainted with Siddy’s skills, but she had to wonder if they really had any hope of victory here.

Her master seemed to be having an oddly good time as he directed the sewage dragon. A short distance away, Siddy and the elderly Alchemist were talking in hushed voices.

“It won’t be long until we can see firsthand the efficacy of Strawberry Blaze.”

“Still, I don’t know what those three are, but that’s some fearsome miasma. Even if he releases every monster in the sewers, I’m not sure he can—”

“It’s fine. Krai should be able to make it work. Here, how about this? Perhaps if the sewage dragon and the other monsters get eaten, then the effects of the thrall potion will be transferred?”

Totally unaware of the situation, she sounded very confident.

Siddy, I don’t think those curses will eat the sewage dragon. And wait, does this mean you realize the dragon can’t win in a direct fight? If you said “How about this,” then you don’t actually know what Master is planning, do you?!

The sewage dragon, purportedly under Krai’s control, appeared fearful of the curse. If Tino recalled correctly, that fiend of the sewers didn’t even attack large groups of people. How was it supposed to win against a curse that had taken Ark and his allies head-on?

Siddy looked at Tino, who was praying for her master’s preterhuman artifice, and said, “And if we really have to, we can use T—and if that fails, Killiam—as bait so we can get away! So we can regroup.”

Tino turned her head away from Siddy and her insane ideas.

I knew you didn’t understand, Siddy. That thing is after Master! We have to find some way to fight it if we want to save him!

If Tino or Killliam or anyone stayed behind, the curse would still pursue Krai.

At Krai’s orders, the sewage dragon and the other varied beasts that called the sewers home all converged on the cursed Noble Spirit. And then they stopped a few meters short of their target.

“Siddy, they’re not going...”

“It appears their instincts are bringing their bodies to a halt.”

Tino wondered how often you saw a battle where the imminent victor was this obvious. She didn’t believe for a second that the curses could lose. She thought she would have stood a better chance.

When the Noble Spirit advanced a step, the sewer creatures retreated a step. It was terribly lopsided. As Tino expected, the Noble Spirit wasn’t going to eat the sewage dragon. Not that she thought it would matter either way.

No! That doesn’t change the fact that Master chose to come here! He’s pulled off miracles before. Maybe this specific dragon is the curse’s weakness—

“You can do it, sewage dragon!”

“Gugyawr!”

Hearing Krai’s encouragement, the sewage dragon let out a roar in what seemed like an attempt to psych itself up. However, it didn’t take a single step forward. Seeing herself in that dragon, Tino became quite sad.

Some things that can’t be overcome through motivation alone. What’s he trying to do?

Her master gave the sewer creatures a perplexed look. Then, for the first time, the Noble Spirit spoke.

“Begone, weaklings.”

It was a voice icy enough to freeze the heart. Hearing it, the sewage dragon let out a roar that more resembled a scream before making a beeline to the decrepit building, then back into the sewers. Similarly, the other critters followed after. Tino barely managed to dodge to the side and avoid being trampled by the pack that moved like a tidal wave.

That wasn’t even a fight. And wait, weren’t they supposed to listen to Master?!

Krai himself was blinking in confusion.

With a look of shock, Siddy turned to the Alchemist next to her. “Nickolaf, as we anticipated, the cursed portion of the potion is having an effect.”

“Did the stronger curse override it, removing the wedge? Or did the dilution weaken it?”

Now’s not the time for analysis. Is there nothing else we can do?

The Noble Spirit looked at the remaining people and let out a derisive snort. From behind it, Marin seemed awfully worried.

Is a curse taking pity on us?!

A vial danced through the air. Siddy had thrown it. The container of silvery liquid landed right in front of the curse, breaking open.

Then there was no sound.

Tino’s brain was rocked violently. She flew back, slamming into a wall. Seeing the hole in the ground and the crumbled wall, she finally understood what had happened—the potion had exploded. Siddy really went and used that in the middle of the city with no warning. Not only that, but the potion had gotten stronger since the vacation.

Bearing the pain, Tino pulled herself up. Using the decrepit sewer entrance as cover, Siddy followed up with more potions.

“Take that, and that! When I heard it was curses this time around, I made purifying detpotions! This is their debut!”

“Please. Please control yourself. Siddy.”

Between the explosions, Tino heard not Marin’s Lament, but rather Marin’s Screams of Terror. This seemed a bit too physical to be purification. Besides, not even Siddy’s potions were going to kill that thing! Anssy had been helpless after all!

Siddy was showing real bloodlust for someone who was probably aware of how little chance she had of victory. The last white potion went out, creating a column of smoke in an unnatural shade of white. It was a smoke bomb.

Tino had a realization.

Siddy plans to run away with Master.

Tino wasn’t having it. Sticking two fingers in her mouth, she whistled as loud as she could. In response, Carpy flew from his hiding spot behind the building and over to her. There was no use staying here. As expected, Siddy couldn’t salvage this. They didn’t even get to watch a giant monster battle.

Why did we come here, Master?

She jumped atop the approaching Carpy. Not slowing for a second, she dived into the smoke, grabbed her master’s hand as he stood there imposingly, and pulled him up. Tino was operating at max capacity; every cell in her body was working to manage this disaster. She now had an unprecedented understanding of her master’s disposition and intensity, but still she had no choice but to pose the question.

“Master, where to next?!” she asked, clinging to the Carpet and shaking him.

“Tino, when did you get so good with Carpy?”

“Master, they’re coming after us again! Even after we escaped through the smoke!”

Sensing something behind her, Tino spun around and saw a black mass exiting the smoke. The cloud had been thick enough that she could barely see a few centimeters in front of her, yet the curses knew exactly where they were. This confirmed Tino’s suspicion that they weren’t being tracked visually, but by some special power. God, were they persistent.

Perhaps realizing it was inefficient to take a large form, it chased after them from atop a black bird. It moved even faster than its previous iterations. Though the curse hadn’t taken any damage, it had evidently become even angrier. After having a sewage dragon let loose on it, then strange potions hurled at it, even a curse was going to be ticked off.

“Carpy, faster!”

For some reason, Krai had a distant look in his eyes. At Tino’s orders, Carpy sped up. She didn’t know how fast they were going, but a gap was forming between them and the curses. This would buy them a bit of time.

Tino had become quite adept at steering the Carpet. She wondered how great that might have felt if they weren’t in the middle of an emergency. Still, that encounter with Siddy should have made her aware of what was happening. If they held out long enough, maybe she would come up with some sort of countermeasure. And just as this thought crossed Tino’s mind, her eyes flew open.

Could it be? Was that what he was trying to accomplish?!

“All right, Tino,” her master said, hanging from the Carpet, “we’re going to Lucia next. Off to the Zebrudia Academy of Magic! Lucia should be able to do something, and Professor Seyge is there as well! The pyromaniac lady might be there too...”

“Master... Okay. We’ll go.”

Lucy. It wasn’t hard to imagine that maybe Lucy and the Abyssal Inferno could do something. What’s more, she had heard that Seyge Claster, the Undying, had Noble Spirit blood in her. They might find a clue that leads to victory.

Master, don’t be angry, but shouldn’t we have headed there first?

***

Holy shit.

This curse was so insane it barely felt real. I thought I might be having a strange dream or something. Enjoying the flight, I watched with a faint smile as the Noble Spirit chased us from atop a bird. Everything was happening at a dizzying pace, a sensation I hadn’t felt in a while.

I couldn’t believe there was something Ansem and Ark couldn’t defeat. Hugh had made one hell of a find. Where in the world did he get that box?

Making Marin and the black knight fight the curse seemed like a good idea at the time, but it ended up working against us. When I heard I could control the sewage dragon, I thought I might have something, but that, too, fell flat. Nothing was working.

And what even is a sewage dragon anyway?

But no matter how dangerous the situation, it didn’t change what I could do. And that was nothing.

Tino had at some point become an expert Carpet commander. Even though he would always ignore me, he jumped at the opportunity to follow Tino’s orders. What an absurd Relic. I decided to have a chat with him once this was over.

It probably wasn’t easy, but Carpy was just managing to stay ahead of the Noble Spirit. Even with my eyesight, I could see the glare on its face.

Man, that’s one angry Noble Spirit.

With nothing else to do, I took a close look at the source of this mess—the wooden ring that attracted curses. It’s a silly thing to think about a Relic, but I really wondered how this thing worked, if it could demand the undivided attention of a curse that was intelligent enough to speak. There were plenty of Relics that attracted things, but this one was baffling.

Which reminds me, Kechachakka could attract dragons.

Of course, I wasn’t going to blame Tino for this, even if she was the one who’d given me this ring. She had good intentions and had risked her own safety to obtain it. The fault was with me, as I was the one who’d put it on without thinking.

I made a perfunctory attempt to remove the ring. And it moved. No resistance at all.

Huh?

I stared in bewilderment. I looked up at Tino, checked the ring, then carefully watched our pursuer. It wasn’t hard to guess why the ring had moved; it must have run out of mana. It couldn’t have had much to begin with. I had next to no mana, and with nothing to give, it didn’t matter if this Relic was capable of siphoning from its user.

The question is, when did the mana run out? I couldn’t get it off during Matthis’s appraisal, nor when I examined it at the clan house.

Regardless, if I tossed the ring aside, the curse should stop chasing me. What luck. But just as I was about to ditch it, I realized that if I threw this ring away, wouldn’t the curse start attacking the city? The one silver lining here was that as long as the curse was after me, the rest of the capital would at least be safe. Ansem and Ark may have failed to stop it, but first-rate hunters like them should be able to find a solution if given enough time. And though the curse was fast, Carpet Master Tino could outrun it.

Even if I throw the capital under the bus, then I’ll end up cursed as well. And I can ditch the ring at any time.

I guess we have only one option.

“Tino, I’ve got a great idea! How about we do a loop around the world on this Carpet?”

“Master, what are you talking about?!” she screamed in response.

For the time being, I wanted to be let onto the Carpet so I wouldn’t have to keep hanging. But maybe I was asking too much. Was there some trick to riding it?

I made sure the mana-depleted ring was snug on my finger, then took a look at the Noble Spirit. I couldn’t tell if it had realized the ring was out of charge. I mean, I thought it was kind of odd that it was still chasing me even though it was out of mana, but I figured I should just focus on drawing its attention.

What do I do? What do I do?

Here, for now, I’ll wave.

Hoping for love and peace, I put on a smile and waved my hand enthusiastically. The Noble Spirit’s expression stiffened. Behind it, for reasons beyond me, Marin’s Lament was rapidly shaking her head. The black knight raised his sword over his head. He was totally planning to hurl it at me.

Don’t bother. I’ve still got three Safety Rings left. Give it up.

Just as I shrugged my shoulders with resignation, a tornado of flames shot up from the ground and enveloped the Noble Spirit.

***

There was a light as blinding as the sun, and she felt an intense heat behind her. Tino’s eyes bulged when she saw the sudden fire-laden twister erupting from below.

Though Lucy could manage fierce water attacks, fire magic was generally the strongest of spells that involved manipulating nature. The ability to reduce anything to ash meant fire spells were tricky things that required careful consideration of one’s surroundings, making it an element most hunters kept at arm’s length.

Nonetheless, there was one Magus in the imperial capital known for her use of fire magic.

Down below, Tino saw the buildings of the Zebrudia Academy of Magic, still damaged, still in the process of restoring their barriers. The tornado had come from its expansive courtyard.

“Th-The Abyssal Inferno.” The words spilled from Tino’s lips. “She’s really here!”

“Ohhh.”

Her master sounded impressed by the crimson tornado, a sight both beautiful and terrifying.

These might be curses radiating miasma, but it still took a real fiend to unleash an offensive spell without making any sort of confirmation. Tino now understood why the Abyssal Inferno was colloquially referred to as a witch. Being a Level 8, her insanity was...still not quite to the same degree as Tino’s master.

“Hee hee hee!” There was a cackle from the courtyard. “Flesh, bones, blood to ashes! Burn it all!”

Tino had heard that the reason the Abyssal Inferno, subject of so many legends for her conflagratory powers, hadn’t yet been arrested was because she supposedly incinerated any evidence of her wrongdoing. Those were just rumors, but they were frightful all the same.

However, curses weren’t living. They didn’t even necessarily have corporeal forms. A spell would do some damage, but this was why purifying curses was generally left to the church. A Magus of the Abyssal Inferno’s caliber must’ve known this too.

The Noble Spirit burst out from the fiery tornado. As Tino expected, the spell had done next to nothing, but now the curse’s eyes were turned up in anger. Its cheeks twitched, and it was about to open its mouth when a dragon of pure flame began to bite at the three curses. Even Tino found it a bit off-putting.

She used two top-class offensive spells in a row without thinking about what effect they might have. Her staff does her thinking for her, doesn’t it?

The Abyssal Inferno seemed to think that if something wasn’t catching fire, then you should toss flames until it did. Biting down on the Noble Spirit, the vermilion dragon carved an erratic pattern through the sky. Like the previous attack, this attracted the attention of the people of the imperial capital, although perhaps for different reasons.

That was when Lucy made a gallant appearance atop her broom. Her robe billowed in the wind, and she appeared in an even worse mood than usual. She reached a height that put her on eye level with Krai as he dangled from the Carpet, then matched their speed.

“Brother!” she screamed. “What have you brought with you?!”

“I dunno, I just thought you might be able to do something about it.”

“H-HUUUH?! DAMNIT! YOU ALWAYS, ALWAYS...”

Thank you for always, always shouldering so much, Lucy.

The Noble Spirit broke free from the dragon, then, with eyes opened as wide as they could go, it charged at Krai. The bird seemed to be fine, which meant it probably wasn’t corporeal. The Noble Spirit was losing control. Even Marin and the black knight seemed to cower before its anger.

That’s right. Noble Spirits from the forests generally don’t care for fire spells.

It was the one weakness of a race that otherwise excelled in arcane matters. This was probably due to the potential risk of forest fires. Noble Spirits seldom used fire spells and weren’t very fond of the element as a whole. Besides, anyone would get mad if someone suddenly bathed them in flames.

Hey, why is it coming at us when the Abyssal Inferno is the one who cast those spells?!

“Brother, get to a building.”

Lucy turned in a wide arc, not hesitating to put herself in front of the curse. Anssy and Siddy had also fearlessly impeded the curse, but Tino still thought Lucy was being incredibly bold. She didn’t think she could do the same.

Still on her broom, Lucy raised her right hand. The bracelet on her wrist began to shine brightly. The wind moved in a circular motion, fluttering the edges of her robe. She had formed a small vortex. It gradually shaped itself into an immense dragon that was then let loose on the three curses. Marin unleashed waves of umbra, but the dragon swallowed up both those and the curses. It was an even greater spectacle than Siddy tossing explosives everywhere.

Suddenly, a shimmering crimson light shot up from below. It hit the water dragon, igniting it like firewood doused in oil.

“HA HA HA! BURN TO THE GROUND!”

“My apologies, Krai! Our CM’s a little excited and burn-happy after obtaining ashes from that Black World Tree from the other day!”

Next to the Abyssal Inferno and bowing his head was a familiar Magus, Artbaran of Hidden Curse. He seemed to be having a stressful day. Krai smiled and waved to Artbaran before looking up at Tino.

“Tino, let’s head to that huge building!”

“Y-Yes. Master.”

Following his orders, she maneuvered Carpy, fleeing to a large building that had many Magi gathered outside. After making a smooth landing in front of the building, still holding his hand, they pushed through the crowd of still confused Magi, then shoved open the double doors. The building appeared to be a lecture hall. Inside were even more Magi, and in the center was a jet-black staff placed atop a pedestal.

Tino couldn’t help but gasp. Though she couldn’t see mana like Magi could, she had a Thief’s sense of smell. She didn’t need to be a Magus to tell that the staff housed considerable power.

Master, could it be? Yes! You knew about this staff.

Tino began to recall the magical prowess her master had demonstrated back at the Supreme Warrior Festival.

“No, no, that was that fake Master...”

But it only stood to reason that the real one would be better than the imposter. Besides, even if it wasn’t the real Krai that fought Krahi, it was definitely the real Krai that had stopped that monstrous Relic sword. Was this day going to be the day his heretofore hidden powers would be made visible for all to see? Tino gulped as she watched her master approach the staff. As he drew closer...

He didn’t so much as move his legs. He stood where he was, blinking as he looked around at the surrounding Magi.

“Umm, Master, we need to hurry,” Tino offered hesitantly.

That was when the roof fell in.

Rubble rained down as the water dragon broke through, piercing the center of the hall. The academy Magi screamed and fled like little spiders. Though they were talented, they had very little combat experience. Tino quickly pulled her master away from any falling debris. Was it a sign that she had become desensitized if she thought the loss of a single lecture hall was a fine price to pay for defeating this curse?

Unfortunately, she could still sense it somewhere.

While Tino gently pulled Carpy closer, she saw black lights rise like steam from the crater that had been gouged by the water dragon. Another failed attempt. Her suspicions were proving true; mere magic wouldn’t be enough to bring this thing down. If Tino’s senses were to be believed, the power housed in those lights hadn’t changed at all.

How in the world does Master plan to defeat this?

Tino began to steady her breath, but before she could even finish, Lucy entered through the gaping hole in the ceiling. She had grown ears and a tail quite similar to those of a fox. Light emitted from the bracelets on her wrists. Her outline wavered—then there was more than one of her.

Tino had heard about this. It was a cloning technique used by Telm the Counter Cascade, the traitor that had been uncovered during the trip to the conference. Perhaps Lucy had heard of this spell and re-created it?

Surrounding the crater, the small host of Lucys began an incantation. Light appeared in a wide radius above the hole as they took shape. Swords formed from water. Dozens of them, each radiating fearsome mana. Lucia had a nigh-infinite supply of mana, but there was a tinge of red on her cheeks. She must have been really pushing herself.

The rising umbral aura fluctuated; the curses floated up from the hole. All at once, Lucy unleashed the blades, hurling them with the velocity of a bullet. The curse’s look of hatred changed to one of shock before the incoming blades sent its thin body flying back. It was then that Tino became certain that only a sliver of energy was housed in that curse’s body.

Perhaps aware of this, perhaps not, Lucy continued her flurry of swords. The Noble Spirit tried to evade them, but they were too fast to permit that. Water magic was known for lacking lethality, but this encounter suggested to Tino that maybe it was just a matter of skill.

Each individual attack shaved off only a little of the curse’s power, but the blades were copious. It didn’t take an expert to guess that this downpour of swords wasn’t a spell meant to be used on only a few targets. The ground shook with each hit, digging a massive pit inside the lecture hall. The few Magi who hadn’t fled stood in amazement at the brutal might on display.

“Oh. Oh! Oooh! Lucia, that’s awesome! Go, go!” went Krai’s unencouraging cheers.

“Rgh. I don’t care! Please! Just stand back, brother!” she shouted at him, red in the face.

It was true enough that magic was more effective against curses than physical attacks were. Still, Tino felt like Lucy’s powers and repertoire must be expanding all the time if she could now wear down a legendary curse that even the Church of the Radiant Spirit couldn’t purify.

“Urgh. Urghk.”

The series of attacks had destroyed the floor and blown the Noble Spirit away. The black knight and Marin had also been helpless against the onslaught.

Is this actually going to work?!

Having once been hit by Ark, the Noble Spirit had now been engulfed by light for the second time today. The cursed being’s gaze suddenly stopped on one spot—the black staff. It had been placed on a pedestal, but the shock waves from Lucy’s attacks had sent it tumbling off. The moment it saw the staff, its face contorted in surprise. Then the black lights around it faded out. Its expression became blank.

Tino had lost count of how many times she had felt a foreboding chill down her spine today. Sensing something, Lucy halted her attacks. Trembling from head to toe, the Noble Spirit touched the staff.

Hm? Don’t tell me, are we in trouble?

“Umm, Master?”

“O-Ohhh, th-this...”

The Noble Spirit’s face twisted violently. It wasn’t showing the enmity it had earlier, but Tino was still certain that this was the calm before the storm. It said nothing, but it was angry.

Tino was the master of all things concerning her master. She had already gathered information regarding the previous curse troubles. They said a fake World Tree had gone on a rampage at the academy and destroyed one of the buildings. It ended when the Abyssal Inferno had burned it down. Then the ashes left behind had been divided and doled out due to their value as a magic tool ingredient.

Knowing that, Tino could guess what was happening. Her experience with the Thousand Trials hadn’t been for nothing. The Noble Spirits considered the World Tree to be divine. They had a distinct culture and a disdain for all that they considered unclean. This curse seemed to still hold on to a vestige of its previous self. Just how would such an individual react to the sight of an imitation World Tree?

The staff floated up, and the curse’s hand then wrapped around it. The temperature plummeted in the blink of an eye.

“A-An imitation of the World Tree,” it said in a voice that echoed like the depths of hell. “Made by humans? Lowly humans?! What? WHAT IS THIS?!”

The voice’s sheer savagery held Tino in place for a second. The Noble Spirit’s short hair wavered as it grew, pulsating as though driven by its anger. Lucy frantically let out another volley of swords, which the hair swatted away.

The strength of a curse was said to be proportionate to the strength of the feelings that drove it. Right now, it was showing a murderous, violent, heart-stopping fury. Tino only needed to move a finger to reach Carpy, but the circumstances wouldn’t permit his use.

The Noble Spirit’s speech was no longer fragmented. Its eyes looked past Lucy, to Tino. Or rather, to her master, standing next to her. The look in its eyes went beyond intimidation; it was like nothing else in this world.

Krai shivered and said, “Is it just me, or is it a bit cold in here?”

“I-Is now the time to be— Hm?!”

I-I can move!

An interjection true to her heart had restored Tino’s freedom of movement. The curse’s earlier form was already remarkable; Tino didn’t think Lucy could do anything now that it had changed. Luckily, the curse’s attention wasn’t on Lucy.

Tino brushed against Carpy, grabbed her master’s arm, and jumped aboard. With swift movements and exceptionally good judgment, Carpy grasped Tino’s intentions and rocketed off. Sensing fury unlike anything else Tino had ever felt, they flew from the lecture hall.

On their way out, they passed by the Abyssal Inferno. They made eye contact. Behind them, Tino heard howling winds, which she assumed was Lucy casting a spell. The Abyssal Inferno showed no surprise at the sight of them. She simply grinned and raised her staff.

“Lambent Ashbringer!”

Tino felt a searing wind blow against her back. A barricade of wind had been put up to cut the curses off from Tino and Krai, and was now absorbing the Abyssal Inferno’s black flames, transforming it into a wall of fire. Lucy must have guessed that the curse was fixated on Krai, as she had switched from an offensive approach to one of detainment.

Can always count on Lucy, Tino thought as she let out a sigh of relief.

That was when a lance of eerie light burst through the wall of fire and struck her master. It flashed black and white, unlike anything Tino had ever seen. For just a moment, she spied the Noble Spirit’s face through the gap in the wall. Smoldering with rage, its eyes burned bright, its grand smile wishing for her master’s demise.

The terror of it caused her to freeze up. If that face had been directed at her, Tino would never again be able to go to the bathroom by herself at night.

“I guess that leaves one more,” her master whispered abruptly, a hard-boiled look on his face.

“Huh? One what?!”

And what’s going on in your body if you took that hit without any damage?!

After so many similar instances, Tino no longer thought much of it when her master took a hit and remained unscathed, but if that lance had hit her, there wouldn’t be an inch of her left. How did that make sense? She felt a renewed sense of horror at her master’s aberrancy.

“Tino,” he said very seriously, “this is our final operation. Let’s head for Luke.”

“Huuuh?! What for?! Wh-What’s going on?!”

Why go to Luke now? He’d be the least useful— No, no. Calm down. Get a hold of yourself, Tino Shade. He won’t be of much use here, but right now, you’re just a transporter. Think. At least try to guess Master’s intent.

“U-Understood,” she said after a brief silence. She was struggling with this. “Am I understanding correctly, Master? You’re saying that Luke’s sword will cut open the future?”

He seemed perplexed by this idea.

“No, it’s just, Luke’s the only one left...”

Master, there’s also Lizzy...

***

Man, I was so sure ears and tail Lucia would be able to manage something. Now what am I gonna do?

I had lost whatever faith I had in myself. Besides, the only reason I had survived every brush with danger so far was my friends. If they couldn’t solve this, then there was nothing I could do.

The curse was still pursuing us with its usual dogged persistence. If there was one thing I could be happy about, it was that its rancor was no longer being directed solely at me. I had burned through a Safety Ring when it glared at me, and another when it struck me after breaking through the flame wall, leaving me with only one left.

It’s easy to be taken aback by the idea that its glare was enough to trigger a Safety Ring. However, if you’ll recall, Kechachakka yelling and stomping his feet on that airship had been enough to steadily burn through my stock. I suppose curses were just capable of things like that.

There was a moment where I thought Lucia’s attacks might actually put an end to the curse, but when I turned and looked back at it, it looked strong as ever. This was all due to that weird black staff in the lecture hall. Until the curse touched that staff, Lucia had been pushing it back. But everything had been upended, all because of the staff.

The black bird glided through the sky after us, the translucent Noble Spirit on its back. Behind it were the black knight and Marin’s Lament, who held the staff aloft. Meanwhile, we had Carpy, Carpet Rider Tino, and me dangling like bait. They definitely had the advantage here.

Maybe they’ll forgive me if I grovel.

There was only more straw for us to grasp at, and that was Luke. Even I didn’t think using a sword to cut a curse would be easy, but this was where the process of elimination left us. Well, there were also Liz and Eliza, but I didn’t know where they were!

I found it interesting that Professor Seyge hadn’t been back at the academy. There were so many other Magi there, so where the hell was she? Honestly, she was never around when I needed her! (And always around when I didn’t want her there.)

Suddenly, I spotted Arnold in the clamoring crowds below. He and his large party were all looking up at us in disbelief. With so few options available, I tried asking him for help.

“Arnold! Can you do something about that?!”

“Ah?!”

It seemed he was incapable of responding. We continued, passing right over his head. Shouldn’t he be more accustomed to tricky situations, being Level 7 and all? I swear, some people...

So where was Franz during all this havoc?! Wasn’t he supposed to keep the imperial capital safe? It wasn’t right now! I had even returned his Sounding Stone at the worst possible time. Honestly! Every last one of them!

Figuring there was no point just dangling from the Carpet, I started yelling. If I called, someone might respond. I didn’t want to cause a scene, but my back was against the wall.

“Fraaanz! Captain Franz of the Zero Order! Heeelp meee!”

“Master?!”

“The capital is in danger! Fraaanz! Hurry! There’s a crazy curse! Things aren’t looking good!”

“I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you!” the Noble Spirit screamed while chasing after us. It was moving freakishly fast, but Carpy was just able to stay ahead.

“Carpy, dodge!”

Following Tino’s brilliant orders, Carpy dodged the incoming arrow of light. With only one Safety Ring, I was incredibly grateful that we had evaded the projectile. It’s just, I wanted to be the one to give the order, y’know? I still couldn’t even ride on top, yet Tino was mastering incredible textile techniques. It wasn’t fair.

After a few more minutes of fleeing for our lives, we reached the Sword Saint’s dojo, the one Luke had previously cleaved in two. In the courtyard, dozens of the renowned Swordsman’s apprentices were all swinging swords.

That’s right. He said something about training to beat a curse, didn’t he? Man, I’m on fire today.

(Obvious desperation.)

Maybe the esteemed Sword Saint would be able to cut through the curse. I heard he had been able to overpower the Devil Sword. When the students noticed us, they began chattering and pointing in our direction. This might be fun if it were just Tino and me, but we had three curses chasing after us. Soln stared with bulging eyes. Next to him, Luke showed a similar reaction.

“Soooln! Luke!” I hollered at them. “It’s up to you!”

“Wha?!”

“Leave it to me, Krai! Raaauuugh!”

Moving on pure reflex, Luke dashed forwards. He probably hadn’t even thought much about what it was he was taking. That’s just the sort of man my childhood friend, Luke Sykol, was.

Tino ordered the Carpet to descend. With his absurdly high attributes, Luke dashed past us and leaped into the air.

“Master. Luke. That’s a wooden sword.”

“RAAAUUUGH!”

Thinking only of killing me, the Noble Spirit was momentarily stunned when it saw Luke closing in. Marin trembled with fright. Luke cut through an incoming arrow of light. The arrow had broken his sword in half, but that didn’t stop him from swinging the sword in a vertical, bisecting slash.

Tino looked with astonishment. I was at a loss for words. However, the most surprised of all of us was the individual who got cut, the Noble Spirit. The two halves of the Noble Spirit instantly stuck together.

“Ahhh!” Luke cried. “It reattached! I’m still an amateur!”

Hardly. I guess this thing really is incorporeal. If anything, I’m surprised you could cut it with a wooden sword when Lucia’s magic and Ansem’s purifications had done next to nothing!

Luke tossed aside the remaining half of his wooden sword.

“Wh-What?” the Noble Spirit said, vaguely rubbing where it had been cut. “What are you?!”

“Ohhh! It’s a knight! Y-Your sword!” Luke exclaimed. From where I stood, Luke looked more like a curse than the Noble Spirit. His gaze swept around, then settled on the Devil Sword next to the Sword Saint. “A new sword! I’m gonna cut and kill, kill!”

The Noble Spirit caught on to his plan and held out an arm. With a light rattle, the Devil Sword shook, then floated into the curse’s open hand. Soln made a face that said Oh damn it. Luke’s manic assault must have distracted him.

The Noble Spirit handed the sword off to the black knight. Then it looked at me, almost as if it just remembered I was there.

“H-How dare you, human. To release such a deranged creature on me—”

“I guess I owe you an apology.”

“D-Did Siddy use Luke as a reference when making Killiam’s call?”

Yeah, Luke can do some pretty incomprehensible things, and lots of people find it pretty terrifying.

Maybe out of shock, the black aura around the curses weakened. If Luke was able to make that thing recoil, then maybe it didn’t know what to do about people beyond its comprehension?

“I-I’ll kill you all! May humanity suffer for all eternity...”

This curse was acting a lot more humanlike than when we’d first seen it. If anything, this made it less intimidating. At first, I was terrified because there was no telling what it might do, but if it was just going to rampage around, then it was no different than a monster. Except its power was on a whole different level.

After swiping a sword from a nearby classmate, Luke went at the Noble Spirit. It pointed a hand downwards. The ground beneath Luke’s feet began to dissolve into a muddy substance that covered his legs.

“You dare catch me by surprise, you damn inferior being!”

I guess Luke had really frightened the Noble Spirit. It raised its arms up, then swung them down. From the skies above fell a volley of black lances that formed a sort of cage.

Man, those gaps are pretty narrow. They could open them up just a bit, and Luke would still be trapped.

“A c-cage! Befits! An inferior being! You can stay there! Forever!”

“G-God damniiit!”

Luke gripped the mysterious lances, and, unconcerned that his hands were being burned and his legs buried, he tried to climb the bars of his cage. Panicking, the Noble Spirit quickly began to make a roof over him.

“Wretched beast!” The Noble Spirit was really heating up. “I’ll ensure you never hold a sword ever again!”

Tino, having never even gotten off Carpy this time, held out her hand for me.

“Master, let’s run while we can!”

Somehow, this had gone better than I had expected, but Luke ultimately wasn’t able to defeat the curse either. I mean, of course he couldn’t. You can’t kill a curse with a sword. It’s not even worth considering.

Carpy ascended rapidly. Once again, I dangled below as we put the chaotic dojo behind us.

Though Luke had been unable to slay the curse, he did buy us some much-needed time. I saw no sign of the Noble Spirit behind us. He set the record for time spent holding it off. There was something funny about the idea that Luke had detained it longer than Lucia, Ansem, or anyone else.

We soared over the imperial capital at a pace a bit slower than before. All the mayhem had numbed me a bit to the danger, but we were nonetheless in the middle of a crisis. Looking down, I could see that the city had been thrown into disorder. The black clouds that had wrapped about the curse had now spread over the imperial capital. Maybe that prophecy Franz had mentioned wasn’t a metaphor?

“M-Master,” Tino asked after taking deep breaths, “what’s our next step?”

Next? I dunno. That was my last idea.

The only idea I had left was to keep the curse at bay until Lapis’s party arrived with the Noble Shaman, and bet everything on them. It’s just that we probably didn’t have that sort of time. If we kept using Carpy to flee, mana was going to become an issue. Depending on their capabilities, the amount of mana consumed by a Flying Carpet varied. Carpy had fairly high specs, meaning he also needed a fair amount of mana. Therefore, Tino couldn’t charge him, and needless to say, neither could I.

Frantically working my brain, I put on a smile and spoke in a soothing voice. “What do you think we should do, Tino?”

“Huh?! Uhh...”

For now, we needed to buy time. We’d do that and wait for someone to save us. That was our best option. This city wasn’t lacking exceptional hunters and Magi and the like. There were probably some Shaman mixed in there as well. There was a good chance Ark and the others were thinking up a plan at this very moment. I prayed that they were.

After groaning to herself, Tino’s eyes flew open like she had come up with something. Her hair was stuck to her cheeks, her ribbons stained black. The fact that she still had energy after all this tumult was downright incredible. Her training was paying off wonderfully.

“Umm,” she said hesitantly, looking at me with upturned eyes, “perhaps this isn’t what you were hoping for, Master. But if I may, how about we seal the curse inside Mimicky?”

I didn’t say anything. I was too shocked to even let it show on my face.

Th-That’s it!

Mimicky was a fine piece capable of holding dozens of missing persons. I was fairly certain there was no way to exit from the outside, since the exit showed up only when the lid was opened. This meant I would never be able to open the lid ever again, but I would have to live with that. I could shut the curse in there, then return it to the church’s care!

Is Tino a genius? I should be the one calling her “Master”!

We still had some things to work out, but this was way better than no plan at all. We now had a glimmer of hope. Starting now, I was Tinomaster (I don’t know what this means).

“Man, Tino, you’re a genius,” I said. “Ah, except it’s locked.”

“You mean my idea’s right?! I can open that lock! Let’s get to the clan house!” she said with shining eyes.

Good grief, this all started there, and now it’s gonna end there. Doesn’t this mean we should’ve just used Mimicky back when the curse first appeared?

Tino started to bank Carpy. The Relic’s movements were a bit sluggish compared to before, suggesting he was low on mana. Just as we were about to make for the clan house, I felt a freezing wind on my back. From far in the distance, a thundering voice hammered down on us.

“I’ll kill you! Killyoukillyoukillyou, Krai Andrey. I’ll remember your name, you lowly, insolent human scum.”

“Eek!” Tino screamed.

Back in the direction of the dojo writhed a voluminous darkness. It had a presence infinitely more ominous than the leaden clouds hanging over the imperial capital. Our dear assailant had completely snapped.

The curse no longer rode atop a black bird, instead commanding the darkness itself. The phrase “raging tempest” came to mind. Riding the umbral wave, the cursed Noble Spirit came after us. Not that it had ever held back, but this thing was serious now.

“Carpy, speed up!” Tino frantically cried when she noticed that the curse was outpacing us.

Carpy tried his best to do as ordered. Oddly endearing as it was, we weren’t going any faster. With the queen of curses closing in on us from atop subjugated darkness, Tino desperately banged on the Carpet.

“Why?! Carpy, more speed!”

“Maybe he’s out of mana?”

“Eep!”

Even if we make it to the clan house in one piece, is Tino gonna be able to get the lock open in time?

***

“Captain Franz, contact from the imperial capital!” reported an underling. “It appears there was an attack after we made our departure!”

“Hmph. So I was right,” Franz replied with a gruff look. “I prepared for this. Ark Rodin and many other formidable hunters have been stationed at the Church of the Radiant Spirit.”

The preparations to receive the Noble Shaman were proceeding smoothly. They already had knights stationed in towns that extended up to forests inhabited by Noble Spirits. They also had the assistance of someone familiar with their culture, Professor Seyge Claster of the Zebrudia Academy of Magic. Franz’s job was to bring the Shaman to the imperial capital and get Marin’s Lament purified as soon as possible.

As powerful as Nine-Tailed Shadow Fox was, they were still an organization of humans; they would never be able to break past a barrier composed of the Argent Thunderstorm, the Immutable, and other capable hunters.

“It seems your reading was right for once. Sir,” complimented Kris, the one from Starlight who had also been on the trip to the conference.

“I’ve been outdone one too many times to let it happen again.”

Learning from the time the airship crashed, Franz had done a splendid job reading that clownish man’s intentions.

“Eh, n-no, you see...” the underling said while looking back and forth between Kris and Captain Franz. “They say there’s been considerable damage to the imperial capital. And the Thousand Tricks is shouting Captain Franz’s name while being chased around by multiple curses.”

“Hah?” Franz said after a pause.

He didn’t mean to speak in such a low voice. He couldn’t help but glare at the underling, yet they showed no hint of retracting their report.

Franz couldn’t understand it. Even should the nigh unthinkable happen and the imperial capital come to harm, what could possibly result in the Thousand Tricks being chased around while shouting Franz’s name?

And he’s being chased around by a curse?

Franz was too baffled to say anything. That was when Lapis snorted and entered the conversation.

“Hmph. Looks like you’ve been outdone again. Now, let’s hear the details.”

***

Shit, shit, shit.

Tino desperately steered the carpet across the skies of the imperial capital. Her heart pounded like it was going to burst out of her chest. If she had a mirror, she’d probably look paler than she ever had in her life.

Behind them, the Noble Spirit pursued them with the momentum of an avalanche. Constant crumbling noises were accompanied by tremors, rocking her brain. She was sure the city was getting fairly battered through all this, but Tino didn’t have the luxury to worry about something like that. If this curse caught them, they would be killed. If her master died, then there would be nobody left to protect the imperial capital.

Having so far carried them like a zephyr, Carpy was starting to slow down. The clan house was right in front of them, but would they make it? She didn’t need to turn around to know that the curse was closing in. It wasn’t long ago that they had the advantage of speed, but they were up against a foe of bottomless stamina.

Tino’s throat was dry. She hadn’t endured a Trial in some time, and as usual, it was far too brutal to feel like a trial of any sort.

“M-Master,” she cried, “th-they’re going to catch us...”

“Hmmm. I didn’t wanna use this, but I guess I’ve got no choice. Hounding Chain! Shooting Ring!”

Almost as if to make a mockery of Tino’s fears, her master began riling up the Noble Spirit.

No, no, that’s not it, Master. I wanted you to reassure me!

The curse didn’t bother to block the incoming chain and magic projectiles, instead letting them both bounce off. It let out a roar, the miasma around it growing a magnitude denser.

“Humaaan!”

Tino heard a snapping sound, as though the world were being destroyed. The buildings around them rumbled as they fell apart. She had no idea a curse could cause this much physical damage. Some primal fear told her that if she stopped now, she would be frozen, unable to move ever again.

Duty. Her sense of duty was the only thing keeping her going. Her master was being attacked because of the ring she had given him. She had to do whatever was necessary to get them to the clan house, then unlock Mimicky.

Though she had been trained to be able to pick locks no matter the situation, she honestly didn’t have much confidence she could get Mimicky open in an instant, not under these circumstances. The lock wasn’t all that complicated, but considering the speed of the curse, she would have next to no time to work with. At worst, she might have the span of a breath. Generously, she might have ten seconds. Frankly, she felt her master had far too much faith in her. But she couldn’t tell him she wasn’t up to it. She had already said she would do it!

She concentrated. She pushed away any thoughts of their pursuer, stopped her trembling, and steadied her breath. Lockpicking was an easy task under normal circumstances. This would work. There was that Relic, Evolve Greed, the one that drew out her potential. If she had it on her, she would have gladly put it on. But there was no use wishing for what she didn’t have.

She caught her first sighting of the clan house, where this would all be settled. The memory of Hugh arriving with that box felt like something from the distant past.

Fly into the lounge, get off the Carpet, open the chest. Fly into the lounge, get off the Carpet, open the chest. Fly into the lounge, get off the Carpet, and open the chest.

She muttered her course of action to herself. This would work. By all means, it should.

Believe in victory, Tino Shade. Show Master how much you’ve grown from all his Trials!

She could see the broken lounge window. Thanks to Carpy’s valiant efforts, they had made it this far without being caught. She got ready to jump. She looked at the clan house with fierce determination, when they suddenly began to fall.

“Carpy?!”

The Carpet was rapidly losing speed. He had run out of mana. Tino realized it too late. She felt the abrupt pull of gravity. She saw the lounge far above her. They still had some propulsion, but not nearly enough height. She had failed. She should have bailed from Carpy the moment they had gotten close enough. She had only been thinking about opening the lock and had completely overlooked this.

They fell. Her master’s eyes bulged. Malign waves hit them from behind. Tino was about to scream—when something solid hit her from below. She coughed. She felt the heavy impact deep in her bones. It was something she was well acquainted with. Mostly on reflex, she tightened her grip on her master’s hand. The strike from below sent her hurdling upwards. In her peripheries, there was a flash of pink hair.

“There! Now hurry and get your clumsy ass in there!”

Thank you so much, Lizzy!

She felt no pain. Her mind was focused elsewhere. She surrendered herself to the momentum as they flew into the lounge. Her master bounced across the floor, ending up on the ground not far from Mimicky.

“Zero,” he said with a grandiose, forced smile.

Tino didn’t have time to think about what he meant by that. Having followed them in, the Noble Spirit landed on the floor. Tino sprinted to where Mimicky lay in the center of the lounge.

Open the lock. Open the lock. Open the lock.

She didn’t think about anything else. Darkness cloaked the Noble Spirit’s feet. It covered the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. It closed in on Tino. She was done for. She wasn’t going to have enough time to open the chest. Despite these lurking doubts, she couldn’t just give up without trying.

She reached the treasure chest, and her eyes flew open when she was met by yet another surprise.

It’s unlocked?!

The lock lay on the floor. She opened the lid, revealing a pit dark as the underworld.

Lizzy! Lizzy must have figured out what was going on and opened the chest up! Picking locks is her job—

Just as this thought crossed her mind, Tino was struck by a shocking realization.

Can we get the Noble Spirit inside Mimicky?

“It’s. Over. Human! Never have I met anyone so loathsome as you!”

The curse was too levelheaded to end up in the chest by accident. She could lift the chest and charge at the curse with it, but Tino wasn’t delusional enough to think that would work. She looked at her master. He was blinking, almost as if expecting something. Even under these circumstances, he was, as always, god. If possible, Tino would’ve liked to receive his blessing.

With a demonic expression, the Noble Spirit walked towards them. The next moment, Marin and the black knight popped out from behind and got in its way. Marin looked less lamenting and more like she wanted to cry. The black knight’s expression was hidden behind his helmet, but he was probably feeling the same way. Though these two were pretty powerful by human standards, they were definitely a few grades lower than the fiend standing before them.

Seeing Marin raise her staff and the black knight ready his blade, the Noble Spirit furrowed its brow.

And did nothing more.

It happened without warning. From behind, Marin’s Lament and the black were knocked to the side by black tentacles, then swallowed up with frightening speed. It was over before Tino could even blink, and she was a Thief. The two curses probably didn’t even realize what had happened to them.

The remaining curse, the strongest of them, looked at Krai. Its cheek twitched, and it spoke in a quiet voice. “Pathetic. Worthless. Did your weakness resonate with them? Were they bound by sentiment? Was that your final move, Krai Andrey?”

Krai had once said that because all Noble Spirits were beautiful, they—except for Kris—were scary when enraged. Indeed, the face before them was too captivating and too horrifying to feel like anything from their own world.

Krai held a hand over his mouth and took a step back. “Ahh, how could you? And to your allies at that...”

Even he had been caught off guard there. Or perhaps the sight had simply overwhelmed him. Then he tripped on the open Mimicky, falling backwards into the chest.

The Noble Spirit looked on in silence. Its eyes met Tino’s. She couldn’t help but shake her head.

Oh, I get it now, Master! My job is to pull you out of there! I can do that, no problem. As long as I don’t get killed!

The Noble Spirit’s shoulders trembled, its form flickering. Then—

“I-I’LL KILL YOU! YOU DARE, YOU DARE MOCK ME?!”

—it let out a roar.

With a shock that twisted her insides, Tino’s legs gave out beneath her.

The Noble Spirit’s form fell apart, turning into a viscous black liquid. Unable to even scream, Tino watched the liquid cascade into Mimicky like a raging torrent.

Tino was slow to react to this unexpected development. No, even if she hadn’t been, she didn’t have the power to resist it. Though she wasn’t the liquid’s target, being near the chest meant she still got caught by the flood, its rapid current pulling her along. She forced her frozen limbs to move as she tried to break free, but she couldn’t fight it. With the last bit of her strength, she let out a cry.

“Liiizzy, I’m soooorry!”

***

In a space with no walls, floors, or ceiling, my body freed from gravity, I floated gently to the bottom. I was in a vast space permeated by complete darkness. I knew what had happened: I had caught my foot on something and fallen. Fallen into the treasure chest. A complete failure of awareness.

So this is Mimicky’s interior, huh?

While straining my eyes and looking skyward, I activated Owl’s Eye, a Relic that granted night vision. Stuff like this happened all the time, so I kept this ring on me whenever I could.

With my vision secured, I looked around, but didn’t spy anything resembling an exit. Liz and Tino had said they would have been able to get out if they hadn’t been distracted. I couldn’t say the same.

Thankfully, I was unhurt. I was pretty sure I had fallen a great distance, but this was probably another of Mimicky’s features. This way, you could safely store delicate items. What a superb treasure chest. Compared to that, what was I?

Rolling across the lounge floor had used up another Safety Ring, exhausting the last of my supply. This was bad. If I ran into that Noble Spirit again, I didn’t know what I could do but grovel and beg for forgiveness.

I might be screwed.

After having so much happen in one day, I was starting to feel woozy. I took a deep breath and reexamined my surroundings.

My breath caught in my throat.

In the middle of the darkness was an old town. There were hastily constructed buildings and maintained roads. There were also a number of pillars that appeared to be streetlamps. What the hell had Mimicky eaten that resulted in a town inside him? What gluttony.

By the way, how do I get out of here? If someone tries to pull me out, will an exit appear in front of me or something? I should have asked those people when I rescued them.

I sighed and thought it over when a crack in the sky suddenly formed above me. Something like mud began to gush out. The liquid solidified, taking the form of the Noble Spirit.

“No escape. I’ll kill you, Krai Andrey. My fury will not go unsatiated.”

The ominous voice echoed through the quiet, empty streets. It was too late to regret not wearing Perfect Vacation. I really hadn’t expected that thing would chase me so far. What did I ever do to it? Surely it couldn’t bear a grudge! And that ring was out of mana!

“Krai Andrey,” it snarled while looking around, “no matter where you hide, I’ll find you.”

Hmm. Looks like it won’t catch me immediately.

Perhaps it was for the best that I had momentarily escaped its sights. Mimicky looked fairly spacious, so there was a chance that if I lay low, the curse would give up and go somewhere else. Liz wasn’t far off, so she could pull me out. Not to mention, people didn’t get hungry or anything in this space. Staying put was my best option.

Evading the curse, I snuck over to a random two-story building and let myself in. Taking every little precaution to make not the slightest sound, I closed the door. The very next moment, the Noble Spirit shot out some with an explosive boom. Black water rushed from its small frame, and a viscous rain began to fall.

“Hm?!”

It was like a river rampaging during a storm. In an instant, the wide roads were flooded by thick globs, drenching the town. I heard the Noble Spirit’s voice, seemingly coming from nowhere and everywhere.

“There’s no escape. Your attempts will prove vain. Do not think you can evade me, human.”

Is the whole town going to be flooded?!

In a panic, I turned the lock, but the black water just entered through the gaps in the door. The townscape wasn’t being destroyed, so I doubted the water had any innate attack power, but I could still tell that nothing good would happen if I touched it.

I scrambled up to the second floor and peered out a window. It was terrible out there. Black water flowed through the streets, and muck fell from above. If I hadn’t gotten inside, even if I somehow managed to keep my feet out of the water, there would’ve been no evading the pouring rain.

Amid the dark current, I caught sight of Tino. She flailed as the tide swept her along. Catching a lamppost, she began to climb desperately. It didn’t look like she was having a good time, but at least touching the muck didn’t spell instant death.

Good thing Tino’s all right. Though I guess this means my chances of getting pulled out have gone down a bit.

“Die, die, die, die, die.”

Like a broken toy, the enraged voice echoed through the town. The water level was gradually increasing. What had started as a shallow layer now reached the first step on the stairs, and didn’t look like it might abate anytime soon. Going outside wasn’t an option either.

I was at my physical and mental limits. I wanted to lie down and sleep as soon as I could. With no more Safety Rings, all I could do was pray for a miracle, one where Liz or Ansem or Lucia or someone pulled me out. But I had low expectations. I wasn’t that complacent, and I liked to believe I had a decent grasp on reality.

I looked back on all the things that had happened since I became a hunter. When I first started out, it was a hellish series of odd events during which I barely felt alive. Becoming clan master had only introduced me to more insane encounters, but now, they all felt like good memories. As for regrets, I had just a few.

Thinking about it, I realized I had been able to seal off the curse that Ansem and everyone else at the church hadn’t been able to get rid of. Until now, I had done nothing but cause trouble for other people, but at the very end, I pulled off an upset worthy of a Level 8. My only concern was Tino, but I guess the Noble Spirit was only after me. I had seen how tough she had become, so I was certain she would find a way to survive.

There’s nothing you can do for your master now...

I surreptitiously waved to her from the window. It was the least I could do. With muck raining down on her, she spotted me and nearly began to cry.

Don’t look at me like that. The curse shouldn’t hang around here once it kills me.

If nothing else, I didn’t think it would go after her as persistently as it did me, seeing as back during the chase, it had focused solely on me. I took deep breaths to calm my nerves. I probably still had a bit of time before the water reached me.

Moving quietly, I began to look around for anything useful. Still, the house itself wasn’t that big. It was even smaller than the Sitri House. How sad that my final hunt would come to an end in such a small building. Or maybe it was a fitting end?

I checked the rooms one after the other. The first turned up nothing, not even furniture. Something told me not to get my hopes up. One thing was for sure: this house didn’t feel remotely lived-in. Racked with disappointment, I opened the door at the end of the hall. It appeared to be a bedroom. In the center of the spacious room was a king-sized bed with a fluffy cover. Not that I had expected anything, but there really wasn’t anything I could use to turn the situation around. I sighed.

To think the final room would be one so destitute. No. Depending on how you see it, I might have hit the jackpot.

I looked at it from the other way: It’s not like I could’ve beaten that thing even if I had found a weapon.

“How can I see this as anything but god telling me to sleep?” echoed my dry, isolated voice.

It was often said that hunters didn’t die in beds, but I had one graciously laid out before me. Having retired in spirit from hunting a long time ago and seeing no use in struggling, I decided to get some shut-eye. More than that, though, I was exhausted.

I wondered if I might wake up and find that this was all a bad dream, and everything was now back to normal (pure escapism). If anything, I would’ve liked to have a meal and a shower before climbing in.

“But I guess there’s no point in getting greedy.”

With a big yawn, I grabbed the thick pile of blankets and yanked them back. I had my shoes off and my knee on the mattress when I noticed something.

Someone’s already here?

I rubbed my eyes, then extended a very fearful hand. There in the dead center of the bed was a curled-up lump. Hair white as snow spread across the sheets, pointed ears stuck outwards. Her exposed brown skin was like that to begin with, not from a suntan like Liz’s was. With all that and her peculiar aura, I felt like I was looking at a large, placid animal. I brushed her skin and felt a healthy warmth.

I recalled the first time we met her. She had been stranded back then as well. I nearly smiled at the nostalgia of it before I came to my senses.

“E-Eliza?! It’s morning! Get up!”

Wh-What are you doing here?!

Sleeping soundly on the bed was none other than the final member of Grieving Souls, Eliza Beck, the Vagabond. She was the biggest free spirit of our party, uncontrollable for different reasons than Luke and Liz. A Desert Noble with a tendency to wander, a bad sense of direction, and an unreadable face, she was a mysterious one. I hadn’t had the chance to see her recently, but with so few hunters like her, I didn’t think there was any way this could be a case of mistaken identity.

Utterly baffled, I grabbed a pillow and began whacking her on the head with it. It occurred to me that this had all started with that Devil Sword she brought to me.

“Hey, Eliza! Get up, it’s your time to shine! You can’t occupy my bed!”

You’re the only one who has to get wake-up calls from me!

In the face of my attacks, Eliza contracted into a tighter ball. But I was desperate. Eliza might have been just as much of a good-for-nothing as I, but she was, in fact, good for something because she had earned a title while working as a solo hunter.

And how the hell were you able to fall asleep in a place like this?! Damnit! Damnit, Eliza!

After a number of puffy hits, she opened her eyes partway and slowly sat up. She looked at me vaguely.

“Cae?”

“Yeah, it’s me, Cae!”

As usual, the r was left out, but I wasn’t going to fuss. She lived in a world much more vast and forgiving than mine. A world I wanted to live in!

After looking at me through empty eyes, she collapsed back onto the bed, almost as if pulled by gravity.

“Zzz...”

Take a good look, Sitri. This is what catching real Zs sounds like! Like hell is anyone gonna think this is fake.

Hitting her any further wasn’t going to do me any good. We were running out of time. For lack of any better options, I grabbed one of her long arms cast lazily across the bed and dragged her out. The sight of the curse should flip a switch even in someone like Eliza.

Though she was a Thief like Liz, unlike my childhood friend, Eliza was rather tall. She didn’t weigh as much as you might expect, but lifting her was still a difficult feat for my frail body. Perhaps it was because she was sleeping like a log?

Holding her arms, I somehow managed to get her out of the bed and onto my back. Despite being moved like luggage in the middle of her slumber, she put up no resistance, leaving herself in my care. Her chest, very developed for a Noble Spirit, pressed against me without reservation, but she still didn’t wake up.

Even Liz would show a bit more modesty! You’re definitely cursed by something!

In fact, when Sitri would break down, I also got the feeling she was under the effects of some curse. Our party had too many cursed members.

Normally, I wouldn’t think or say it, but I will this time.

“Krrr, krrr...”

Stop mumbling my name in your sleep!

With one laborious step after another, I carried Eliza forwards. The viscous flood was probably still going on outside. Gritting my teeth, I declared war on the Noble Spirit (complete desperation).

“Look upon our friend Eliza! Can you keep your calm after seeing our friend who exasperates even Luke?!”

I’ve got it! Maybe the curse will calm down when it sees Eliza. Like animal therapy.

***

Thus far, any living creature would tremble in fear if they encountered it. Some lowered their heads to the ground in prostration, while a few rare souls attempted to purify it. The expressions shown by that man, however, were unlike anything it had ever seen. He didn’t cower; rather, he waved his hand and ran about the city while relying on trifling stratagems to resist.

“Where? Where did you run, Krai Andrey?!”

Fury proliferating, it searched the town shrouded in darkness. The raging torrent of muck and the falling rain were both a part of its being. Should any bit of it so much as brush against him, his position would be revealed immediately. It had already found that girl who had been driving the carpet, but she didn’t matter in the slightest.

Everything came second to Krai Andrey. He had looked down on it. Made light of it. Laughed at it. This was a form of trauma, one it had tasted many years ago. Until a fatal curse and utter despair were brought upon this man, its hatred for humanity would remain in the background.

Flowing through the entire town, it slowly began to permeate the houses. The man had used bizarre equipment to remain unscathed even after several attacks, but that wouldn’t happen again. Its body was not equipped for demolition. Turning itself into a flood was done solely in the name of killing that man. To ensure he drowned. To corrode his innards and torment his soul.

Everything else was of little importance. This included the fact that there was a massive space inside this treasure chest, the betrayal of the two curses it had brought under its wing, and even what it would do once Krai Andrey was dead.

Though he was eluding it, it could feel him nearby. He had to be hiding somewhere in this town. If the rain wasn’t finding him, then perhaps he was hiding inside one of the buildings?

“Your struggle will be in vain, Krai Andrey! I have no forgiveness to offer to the likes of you.”

In sync with its scream, the rain intensified. There was no need to be clever; it would simply spread itself over every inch of this puzzling town. Then everything would be over. That man was helpless against its malign energies. He had powerful equipment, but nothing more.

Humans had always been like this. Compared to Noble Spirits, their bodies were weak, a flaw which they made up for with their tools. Then they attacked, driven by insolence. Despite being intelligent enough to use language, their barbarism surpassed any monster of the forest. They let their emotions dictate their actions.

Fear the queen’s judgment, human. Rue your transgressions, and perish.

The flood was its anger. The rain, its tears. No matter how many years came and went, it would never forget the tragedies that occurred, nor let go of its anger. For now and all eternity, it would be the enemy of all humankind.

The cursed water slowly increased. The only sounds in this old abandoned town were those of the current and the rain.

He can’t be far. He has to be close. His presence is here. The gravitating aura he initially gave off has disappeared, yet—

There was a sound—a loud clatter from one of the houses. In an instant, a portion of the water formed a ball, then pressed itself against the second-story window of the house from which the noise had originated.

And for just a brief moment, it forgot its anger.

Staggered by the sight, the rain and rivers it had spent so long building up all vanished without a trace. On the second story of a completely forgettable building was Krai Andrey, that man for whom no curse could be too severe. The surprise came from what he carried on his back. The sheer shock was enough that it, a being that existed only as enmity to curse humanity, forgot its rage and fury for a second.

On that man’s back was one of its kin. Having once been a guardian to the Noble Spirits, surely this couldn’t be a mistake. That was a Noble Spirit. Though her dark skin and white hair were unlike those that it once knew, it could tell. It felt like a strong connection to her. The blood in her was the same as that which once flowed in it long ago.

Floating outside the window, it had at some point reverted to the form of its previous life. Through the pane, it made eye contact with Krai Andrey, catching him off guard.

The tragedies of the past all came pouring back. The burning forests. Invading humans with savage weapons optimized for killing. Noble Spirits running in terror. Howling laughter backed by the sound of flames. Houses that had been built among boughs and grew with their trees were brought down, platform and all. The humans appallingly chose to go for the women and children first. Their objectives were unclear. It knew that humans bought and sold Noble Spirits for high prices, but it couldn’t fathom why. The notion that these people were also intelligent beings beggared belief. Being at war hardly felt like a justification for what they did.

Therefore, until it satiated its wrath, not even death could keep it down. There was no need to consider why Krai was carrying a Noble Spirit. The anger that shock had pushed aside slowly began to heat up.

“A hostage? You bring a hostage before me?!”

Its flesh altered in response to its fury.

The kinswoman was languid, unmoving. This was beyond terrible. Beyond humiliating. Beyond tragic. Humans had always been like this, inherently flawed but capable of using their minds for evil. They would abduct children, take hostages, butcher and capture anyone who tried to stop them. They always resorted to unimaginably vile methods. However, such barbarous acts would be useless here.

In its hand, a single lance had taken form. It was a twisting shaft of pitch-black, one that shone in the darkness. This was its resolve, a crystallization of its decision to exterminate all of humanity. Words could serve no further purpose here. This was the point where all curses truly manifested. Still, Krai Andrey kept wearing that blank expression.

Wretched human, I won’t even give you time to repent.

The lance would annihilate the human, not leaving behind so much as a fragment of his soul, all without laying a scratch on the kinswoman. It raised the lance. There was no need for strength, for the weapon was lethal to all humankind; even a mighty warrior would die within a second upon contact.

It twisted its body. Then, just as it was about to dedicate its entirety to hurling the lance, Krai Andrey collapsed.

“Waugh!”

He made a strange sound as he was crushed.

It stopped just before it could take the throw. Nothing about the way he hit the ground suggested it was an evasive maneuver. It was almost as if the kinswoman was just too heavy for him. He lay flattened beneath her. It stood frozen, still posed as if about to strike. That was when the kinswoman made her first groggy movement. She had a willowy, beautiful body sculpted by nature. Tranquil mana coursed through her.

Palms to the ground, she pushed her torso up, then slowly got on her feet. She raised her head, her vague crimson eyes settling on it. She was alive. Well, that was perhaps only natural since she was a hostage, but she appeared unhurt and moved without the slightest sign of discomfort. It could sense her hale heartbeat and lively aura. Standing up, she showed no notable injuries. In fact, this kinswoman came off as quite strong, even on par with her ancestors.

This only made her lack of resistance all the more baffling.

It lost its anger and could do nothing but stare slack-jawed. The kinswoman looked idly down at Krai, then grabbed his limp hand and pulled him up without any particular urgency. It was a scene that shouldn’t have been possible. That a Noble Spirit would lend a hand to their villainous human captor stood in the face of all reason. With its emotions in disarray, it could no longer manifest the spear in its hands. The weapon disappeared.

The kinswoman wrapped her arms around Krai to keep him steady on his feet. After staring at it for a good half a minute or so, she nodded and called it by the name it once used.

“Your Majesty Queen Shero Iyris Frestle. The war ended long ago. Let’s return to the forest.”

***

Yeah, you can’t beat good old dialogue. We’re not monsters or phantoms.

With Eliza hugging me like a plushie, I nodded and smiled halfway. Just like always, I didn’t really understand what was going on, but it looked like Eliza had succeeded in starting a conversation with the curse.

The cursed Noble Spirit no longer seemed intent on killing me. The freaky spear pointed at me had also disappeared into thin air. I could hardly believe I had been prepared to die just moments ago.

Dumbfounded, the Noble Spirit looked at Eliza and the package cradled in her arms (me). “Th-The war ended?”

“It did, thanks to Your Majesty. The humans learned to fear the Noble Spirits because of you.”

“Preposterous. The humans. They stopped fighting?”

Wasn’t the war between us a pretty long time ago?

Though it still didn’t feel quite right to say we were on good terms, at least there was no war going on, and a small number of Noble Spirits lived among humans. I wasn’t exactly an expert on this stuff, but this person was super far behind the times.

“This isn’t someone you know, is it?” I asked.

“Cae... Good boy,” she calmly whispered in response while rubbing her cheek against me.

Noble Spirits aged differently from humans. Though I wasn’t sure how old Eliza was, even someone like her couldn’t be thousands of years old. I failed to understand how she might be acquainted with the supposedly ancient curse.

“We’ve searched so much.” Seeing my confusion, Eliza gave a brief explanation. “She’s our champion. We’ve yearned for this day.”

“Hmm. Well, good for you guys.”

That didn’t explain anything, but I guess it’s fine.

If Eliza was content, then I wasn’t going to object. I was just thankful to be alive.

Hey, if presenting a Noble Spirit was enough, then couldn’t we have stopped this curse a long time— Ah. Aren’t Kris and the others all out of town? Man, I heard they were searching for something, but this is a multilayered surprise.

But, well, all’s well that ends well, I guess?

“I see. I’m glad you guys found what you were looking for.”

Eliza nodded in response, seemingly unbothered by my obviously noncommittal response. She was never one to fuss over details. It was part of why we got along so well.

With the cursed Noble Spirit still utterly baffled, Eliza repeated herself for good measure. “We no longer need any curses...Your Majesty. Your people await you.”

“Urghhh. Y-You’re lying. So much death and animosity—I’ll uproot these humans like weeds. K-Krai Andrey! I’ll crush this foolish man who mocked me!”

What I had been calling a curse apparently had a name. The Noble Spirit named Shero, as she appeared to be called, focused her disdainful gaze on me and nothing else. By the look of it, she wanted to kill at least me, if nobody else.

What the hell did I do? Please, stop it. I’m all out of Safety Rings...

After a few moments of vague silence, Eliza pressed her cheek against my head and hugged me tightly. “I’m sorry. Cae is my...mate.”

“Oh, that got her,” I said.

Shero froze. Then, without saying a word, crumpled. Critical hits were a Thief’s speciality after all. Shero’s form faded. The pendant she had worn hit the ground with a rattle. After holding on to me a bit longer, Eliza slowly retrieved the pendant, then showed me a peace sign.

You must have a lot of guts if you can just call me your mate like it’s nothing.

***

After hearing of the emergency, they abandoned their plans and made a beeline back to the imperial capital. Upon arrival, Franz found the city buzzing about the appearance of new monstrosities. The members of Starlight sounded utterly astonished as they looked around.

“No way. This presence...”

“A powerful burst of emotion. There are still traces of it. Hmmm. This might be our lucky day. Franz, this is the work of a curse, and one much more powerful than Marin’s Lament.”

“I screwed up,” Franz said. “Figure out what happened as soon as you can!”

He had made a mistake taking such a large portion of knights to greet the Noble Spirit. Upon returning to the Zero Order’s headquarters, he started gathering information. What came in defied comprehension. There was some monstrous ape that had jumped across the rooftops and attacked a church. Then Marin’s Lament and the black knight were freed, and a dragon appeared from the sewers? Then the ape transformed into a different sort of dragon? It attacked the Zebrudia Academy of Magic and the Sword Saint’s dojo? And after all that, it dissolved into muck?

It was a confounding sequence of events. What was clear was that they may have been wrong in their interpretation of the prophecy and that the matter had already been resolved. But be that as it may, a fiend had still run roughshod over the historic streets of Zebrudia. For a man tasked with protecting the city, that was something to be ashamed of.

“The damage was minor,” Franz said. “So far, no fatalities have been reported.”

“Very fortunate, that. I’d bet the curse was focused on something else,” went Lapis’s calm analysis. “Though we refer to them all as curses, there are different varieties.”

“The places attacked directly were the church, the Zebrudia Academy of Magic, and the Soln School of Swordsmanship Dojo,” Franz continued. The information was a jumbled mess, but they were sorting through what facts they had. “Hm. Perfectly overlaps with the recent chaos. And if it was something not even Ark could stop...”

He didn’t know where this thing had come from, but it was the knights’ error that allowed it to make its way into the imperial capital. He had been of the belief that they were prepared for anything and everything. Evidently, that outlook had been naive. However, it was also true that increased vigilance was impossible—

Franz stopped. He furrowed his brow.

“Why did the fiend disappear?” he asked.

It was clearly unnatural. Why did a curse remain unhindered by the Church of the Radiant Spirit, Ark, the Abyssal Inferno, and, more troubling, why did it vanish? And should Lapis be correct in that the curse had a different target, the number of witnesses was still too high to explain the lack of injured. A sudden chill ran down Franz’s spine. He didn’t like this. Such a large incident, so few casualties. He had felt this same foreboding not long ago.

“Franz, do we still not know where the curse disappeared? That might tell us something,” Lapis prodded with her usual arrogance. She appeared calm at a glance, but the faint urgency in her voice didn’t get past Franz.

“Is there any chance this is ringing bells for you?”

“I won’t say it isn’t, it’s just, hmmm. Even if I’m on the right track, it wouldn’t explain the lack of deaths. I’m keeping my expectations low, as should you.”

She’s an arrogant one, all right. I would’ve snapped if I weren’t already used to dealing with the Thousand Tricks.

A knight sent to gather information burst into the room. He shoved the door aside and didn’t even wait to catch his breath.

“Hah, hah, Captain Franz! We’ve learned where the curse went! It appears to have vanished at the First Steps clan house!”

“The. First Steps. Clan. House?!”

Ahh, so that’s it? Of course, that’s it, god damnit.

Realizing the source of his bad premonitions, Franz’s cheek twitched. The absurdly large incident. The oddly low casualties. Even the immense stress bearing down on Franz. It all sounded a hell of a lot like one of those Thousand Trials. Sure, Franz didn’t think that even that man could interfere with a foretelling from the Astral Divinarium. But he easily could have gotten word of it and planned some strange scheme around it. Lapis fell into a stiff silence, as if something had occurred to her.

Just then, there was a buzzing from Franz’s pocket. It was the Sounding Stone connected to the Astral Divinarium. He froze when he heard their rapid report.

“The prophecy...faded?”

***

“Party?” she said, blinking and nibbling on a chocolate bar.

In a vast desert, a stroke of bad luck and some quicksand had pulled us underground. There we found ourselves in front of a treasure vault unlike any other, and with it, an oddball Noble Spirit.

Grieving Souls was a party made from a group of childhood friends. For better or worse, the six of us were closely acquainted. It was typical for hunter parties to consist of six people anyway. We had all our bases covered as far as roles went, but carrying me as deadweight opened up gaps in our defenses. I had assigned myself the task of finding a new member once we reached the imperial capital and established—no, before we established ourselves as hunters.

I had made repeated attempts at recruiting, but anyone capable of keeping up with Grieving Souls already had a party, and most of them didn’t gel with our headstrong members. Going along with their headlong charge down the road to glory required both talent and a certain degree of tolerance.

While walking through the desert, a mistake led to us getting swallowed up by quicksand, which brought us to a bizarre treasure vault. It was on this detour that we found a hunter named Eliza, a rare being that had the qualities I was looking for. She worked solo and wasn’t panicking in the slightest despite having sunk into quicksand by herself. In fact, she was so relaxed that she had started to take a nap in this remote location. I had never met a Noble Spirit so agreeable.

I didn’t know what her skills were like, but I had no doubts that she would be able to fit in with Grieving Souls. Most of all, though, finding her stranded in a place like this made me feel a strong affinity for her. And if she joined us, I wouldn’t be the only one prone to taking naps. She would balance the scales.

With those calculations made, I invited her to our party.

After a brief silence, she tilted her head. “Why?”

“I gave you a chocolate bar, didn’t I? You can also leave whenever you want, and hunting with us is more fun than doing it alone. Most importantly, it’s safer.”

It didn’t come as much of a shock to see that she had trouble accepting such an abrupt party invitation. You could hardly blame her, especially when you considered that invitations like this were often used by people looking to take advantage of women who hunted.

“There’s something I’m searching for,” she said while looking vaguely at the chocolate bar.

“We’ll search with you! We’ve got a knack for that sort of thing!”

I didn’t know what she was looking for, but I was sure my friends would be able to find it. I gave my utterly irresponsible assurance in a hard-boiled voice, which Eliza watched through sleepy eyes.

Later on, we would be hit with the shocking revelations that Eliza hadn’t been lost or anything, and that she had reached the treasure vault through a different route; she was a notable hunter recognizable by anyone in the know, and with her excellent detection skills, she was safer running solo than in a party.

We would run into our share of trouble, but I looked back on it all fondly. Through it all, she never raised the possibility of withdrawing. The only flaw in my calculations was that her joining didn’t make my bouts of laziness any less conspicuous, but asking any more of her would’ve been greedy.

“Man, I really thought I might be done for this time.”

I collapsed in the chair in my office and let out a sigh.

“Krai, don’t you say that every time?” Eva asked with a bit of exasperation.

“No, really, if you hadn’t pulled me out of there, I would’ve spent an eternity in a world of darkness. It’s really gloomy inside that treasure chest.”

While being chased by the curse, and when sealed inside the chest, I thought I was going to die. After Eliza somehow talked Shero down, I was still sweating at the idea that we might be stuck down there. I owed Eva my life. Being in her presence felt like proof that my ordinary life had returned.

It appeared Eliza’s work had been the finishing blow. A night had passed, and peace was gradually returning to the city. The chaos dominated the newspapers, but that would go away with time. I knew Franz would take care of this for me once he got back, and this was hardly the first time something crazy had happened here.

Though the articles described the mayhem, they didn’t go into any sort of detail, probably because of the sensitive nature of it all. Franz had already been in contact with the media regarding the curse incidents, so they probably didn’t need to be told that they should keep quiet about this as well.

For all the people affected by the trouble, the actual damage was fairly minor. Miraculously, nobody died. Overwhelming exhaustion was the cause of Hugh’s collapse, so he had never been in mortal danger.

However, if Eliza hadn’t been eaten by Mimicky when she had, I would’ve been screwed. As she told it, before our return, she happened to swing by the lounge, where she found Mimicky, sprung the trap, and got eaten. Really, they both did me a favor there. Still, I know what she’s like, but what kind of person finds a bed in a place like that and just decides to— Wait. No.

With Tino all right and Eliza finding what she had been looking for, it was a happy ending overall. It’s just that if even one thing hadn’t fallen into place, I might have never gotten the chance to see sunlight ever again.

I wasn’t sure I had ever felt so tired in my life. My physical and mental fatigue would take more than a single night’s rest to recover from. I wanted to sleep for an entire month.

Maybe I’ll live inside Mimicky for a bit.

Eva then removed the Safety Ring from her right ring finger and placed it on my desk. “I just remembered. Krai, thank you for this. It served me well. It’s all over now, right?”

“Hmm?”

Eva sighed when she saw how wide my eyes went. “Thanks to that ring you lent me, it ensured I was unaffected by the curse. I was checking on the progress of the lounge’s repairs when you and Tino suddenly appeared, then got swallowed up. I thought you might have died...”

Are you telling me you were in the lounge when that happened?

I hadn’t noticed. It was all over, but I still felt a chill run down my spine, and my heart began to pound. Sure, I had expected Liz, not Eva, to rescue me, but, man, it just goes to show the value of being prepared. After all the messes I had made, I didn’t think I’d ever forgive myself if something happened to her.

I held the ring between my fingers and looked at it for a moment before holding it out in front of her. “I didn’t lend this to you; I gave it to you. It’s an employee benefit. You can take it to Lucia for charging.”

“Huh?! Employee— I-I don’t need this!”

“Don’t say that. It might help you next time there’s trouble.”

“Please make sure that doesn’t come to pass. Please, I implore you.”

Huh, does Eva think I had something specific in mind when I gave her that?

Not at all. There was nothing in my mind. Look at what happened this time: I ran out of Safety Rings, and it’s not like one more would’ve made a meaningful difference anyway. Despite her grimacing, I grabbed her hand and put the ring on her finger. Now she was safe. Gosh, I think giving her a Safety Ring was the only thing I did that didn’t make the situation worse.

While I thought about this, Eva rubbed the ring, looking unsettled. Trying to change the subject, she pointed at the teddy bear sitting on the corner of my desk. “By the way, what’s this stuffed animal? It looks like it’s seen better days.”

“I found it in the town inside Mimicky. Nice, isn’t it?”

“Yet another weird item... W-Wait. Is that...”

It was a tattered and battered stuffed bear. It was torn here and there, and its fur, which I presumed had once been a light brown, was stained black in parts. The sad thing was missing both an eye and an arm. Around its neck, I had put the cross pendant that I had found with it, completing the cursed set.

The teddy bear was most likely the true body of Marin’s Lament. The pendant, meanwhile, belonged to the black knight that had been with her, so I didn’t see what else it could be. I wasn’t sure if the curses still lingered on or not, but they had protected me in the end, for one reason or another, so I couldn’t stop myself from bringing them back with me. Impulse decisions like this were a bad habit of mine.

Seeing that Eva was putting her exceptional intuition to use, I held up a finger. “Don’t tell the others.”

“C-Certainly.”

“Sometime soon, I’m gonna give it a good wash and let it dry in the sun,” I said with a grin. “But first I need to replace the innards.”

Replace the missing eye and arm, then have Sitri give it an overhaul. Relics couldn’t be revamped, but cursed items could. Surely Marin would appreciate it.

But then, even though none of us touched it, the teddy bear suddenly fell over. Eva trembled dramatically. The remaining arm was extended towards me as if begging for help. With a sigh, I righted the stuffed animal.

“Looks like I should keep the innards as they are.”

***

Crowds of people went this way and that outside the gates of the imperial capital of Zebrudia. It was almost as if a curse hadn’t just been rampaging around. Few cities reached the heights of prosperity that the imperial capital was currently seeing. Wealth brings people in, but they aren’t necessarily all of the good sort. The holy land of treasure hunting, Zebrudia, was a bountiful place, but its capital was a city of never-ending trouble.

By paying just a bit of attention, she could hear mingled with talk of the curse gossip about the fight between Hidden Curse and Akashic Tower, the failed attempt on the emperor’s life, and more. Apparently, the severity of the curse incident only made it less remarkable.

“Why?” Little Sister Fox mumbled. She stood in a corner of the gate that received little traffic or attention.

Her plan had been flawless. She had taken a top-tier cursed item long held in the storage of Peregrine Lodge, then used Hugh to ensure it was passed on to Mr. Caution, where it successfully manifested. Yet what took place after that was completely incomprehensible to her, and she had watched the whole thing closely.

She didn’t understand why a curse that was supposed to butcher any human would instead fixate on Mr. Caution, nor could she figure out why he had taken the curse on a trip across the imperial capital. But more than that, how had a simple human managed to subdue it? That curse was made from an extraordinarily powerful will. Little Sister Fox was the progeny of a god, and even she would’ve struggled to deal with it. Purifying it by force would’ve been difficult, and a curse birthed by a wish for all humankind to suffer was unlikely to sit at a negotiating table with them.

Nonetheless, the fact remained that despite the curse being let loose, the imperial capital still stood, and not one person had died.

Feeling the sudden vibration of her Smartphone, she lazily brought it to her ear.

“It appears you’ve lost this battle of wits,” said the soft voice of Big Brother Fox.

Word must have reached him. His voice didn’t contain a hint of blame, yet Little Sister Fox took a deep breath before voicing her objections.

“I haven’t lost yet. You can’t deny he fell for my ploy. This is a draw.”

While it certainly hadn’t turned into the major incident she had hoped for, the city had received a few scars. To say she had lost was rather unforgiving.

Yet Big Brother Fox told her frankly, “Peregrine Lodge lost a seed of calamity, and no human was significantly harmed. I doubt I need to spell it out, but there are few outcomes worse than this one. Recall that a cursed item gone missing is far more troublesome than one purified. I don’t know if that human planned for this outcome, but you’re lying to yourself if you think you haven’t lost.”

Seeing no room for argument, Little Sister Fox bit her lip.

“It’s time you returned home,” Big Brother Fox said gently. “Gods must be feared. If you continue to be defeated in battles of wit like this, our powers will eventually be lost. You’re making a disgrace of us by insisting on these battles despite your repeated losses. It doesn’t befit the progeny of the holy fox. It’s a bit...early for you to challenge Mr. Caution.”

She hesitated for a moment. “Understood.”

Back in Peregrine Lodge, she had said it herself: this would be the last time she attempted a battle of wits. She couldn’t break that contract. As much as it chagrined her, she had been utterly defeated.

The call ended. As she clenched her fist in humiliation, the Smartphone vibrated once more. The caller was the man they had just been talking about—Mr. Caution. Despite her defeats, she was still the offspring of a greater being; e-mails were risky enough, but calling her proved that he really had no sense of caution.

“What?”

“Yoohoo, sorry to call you out of the blue. Weird question, but did you do something? I know, I’ve probably got the wrong idea, but Hugh—an acquaintance of mine was saying some stuff that made no sense...”

She didn’t say anything.

“Yeah, I’m sure I’m imagining things. Sorry! Here, wanna go out for fried tofu?”

Truly, no sense of caution! He wasn’t proclaiming victory, yet it still grated on her. To call her just so he could make some stupid provocation. Did he really think that would work on the progeny of a god?

Without saying a word, Little Sister Fox ended the call. Driven by impulse, she slammed her Smartphone into the ground.

Chapter Two: Those Who Have Been Cursed

“Mmmm. N-No, Master. Now’s not the time for excitement— Ah! Was I dreaming?”

Tino Shade was a hunter. Through experience and Lizzy’s lessons, she had been trained so she could respond to any situation, no matter how tired she was. She sat up in her sweat-soaked bed, and as she did so, memories of yesterday’s curse incident came rushing back, causing her to clutch her head and let out a deep breath.

She had personally witnessed it all unfold, yet it still proved beyond her understanding, like some act of god. She didn’t understand the purpose of anything that led up to the chest, but what happened inside Mimicky reached a new magnitude of incomprehensibility. She thought she had understood the situation up until a point, yet at the very end, while she was fleeing for her life, it all came to an end in a matter of minutes.

The last thing she saw was that strange town being flooded with black water, and her master calmly waving his hand. That attack—though she wasn’t certain if you could even call it that—was definitely too great for any human to handle. It was a power overwhelming and mystifying, too much for even an army. She could hardly believe that someone could do something about it all by themself. Tino was always praising her master as god, yet even she was a little—no, a fair bit unsettled. She had been dead certain he was going to seal the curse inside Mimicky.

Now that I think about it, Master never gave me a clear answer when I suggested that...

She was no stranger to his unique methods, but she didn’t see herself catching up to him no matter how many years or even decades she trained, and she had been told she was quite talented. Besides, this had been an opponent that overpowered even the other Grievers. Except when she looked at it that way, she couldn’t figure out why he had bothered taking the curse all over the city.

Don’t tell me it was to test all of them...

Throughout all of the nightmares they had endured, the one that had fallen upon them yesterday was definitely one of the worst. Her body was drained, as was her spirit. Undergoing several Trials had led her to think she was used to these sorts of gauntlets, but this terrifying encounter had taught her that there was still so much she didn’t know about the world.

She couldn’t clearly recall what had happened after being rescued from Mimicky. By that point, she had released her grip on reality. At the time, she was like a zombie, incapable of doing anything more than escaping with her master, who had just done something so extraordinary it terrified her. They say humans fear what they can’t understand, and that was probably Tino’s instincts holding the reins.

She wanted to sleep so badly. She wanted to crawl into bed and think of nothing else, but now wasn’t the time for that. Though her body was stiff, she had recovered enough that she could at least walk around. Yesterday, she had made a shameful attempt at escaping; she now needed to regain her honor. Her master must be worried about her. She thought he was worried about her. She really hoped he was worried about her.

Like with so many other mornings, it was thanks to her harsh training that she was able to get out of bed. Urging her partially broken spirit onward, she took a shower and quickly got dressed. She knew how to keep going when she wanted to run away—she pushed ahead before momentum could let her fall back.

On her way to the clan house, the imperial capital was full of talk about the curse. The First Steps clan house was its usual self, a towering presence in one of the nicest areas in the city. It was almost strange how little it had changed despite an attack from a monstrous fiend. She had heard that curses born from the wills of living creatures could only harm those who also live and breathe, and it looked like that was true. And if she was purportedly a living being, and she remained one after being chased by that curse, then basically...

Master is god!

Bracing herself, she dashed up the stairs to the clan master’s office. She opened the door and found the center of yesterday’s chaos, her master, holding a staff and standing before Mimicky. About to say hello, she stopped in her tracks and stared.

“All right, Mimicky. Repeat after me, he-ll-o.”

Mimicky said nothing.

Master, I’m begging you, please stop doing such strange things.

Tino wanted to think of her master’s eccentricities as a good thing, but her heart couldn’t keep up with the rapid shifts in his behavior.

Noticing her, he smiled, staff in hand. “Ah, Tino, good morning. Are you feeling better?”

“Y-Yes, and I’m glad to see you’re fine as well.” She looked at him with upturned eyes and spoke hesitantly. “By the way, what is it you’re doing?”

It seemed as though he was talking to the treasure chest. Perhaps she was just a bit tired.

The staff he held had a large gem affixed to the top, and looked vaguely ceremonial. She had seen it a number of times when visiting his quarters. She didn’t know what sort of powers it had, but if he had chosen to bring it out the day after the mayhem with the curse, then it must have been incredible, something she couldn’t even imagine.

He grinned. “I wanted to see if I could talk with Mimicky. This treasure chest is a really special one after all.”

“I-Is that so?”

I don’t understand. Sure, Mimicky has a mouth, but...

After resolving the curse trouble (and handing out Trials like candy), he should be the most sought-after person in the imperial capital. Nobles and the Explorers’ Association should be calling upon him to learn what he knew. Heading straight to the clan house was questionable enough; why was he just messing around here?

She didn’t know why, but Tino felt her heart beating. Surely, this was not love. She had been told that a seasoned hunter couldn’t be shaken by anything, and she really wanted to know when she would get to that point. Right now, she felt closer to the point of resignation.

“Man, what a pain,” her master said. “After yesterday, I started getting all these people wanting to talk to me. Now Eva’s all preoccupied.”

“Hm?”

That would explain why he was able to casually chat with his treasure chest. Vice Clan Master Eva had been through perhaps as many ordeals as Tino had. Eva might not have been in any mortal peril, but preterhuman artifice had made her a scapegoat, so it was hard to say who had it worse.

The word scapegoat caused things to click in Tino’s head. “If Eva is being scape—sent in place of you, does that mean you’re dealing with something else?”

“Ahh, yeah. That’s it. I’m really busy with something else. Besides, even if I answered their summons, there’s not much I can do for them. Hmmm. I’m pretty sure Carpy has a will, so I guess this means Round World doesn’t work without vocals.”

While Krai muttered to himself, Carpy remained completely unresponsive. Meanwhile, Tino’s mind was elsewhere. Ideas floated through her head, none of them welcome ones. Nothing good ever happened when her master said he was busy with other things. Could there be an impending calamity even worse than those curses? She could hardly imagine anything worse than that Noble Spirit.

Could it be that the incident isn’t over yet?

“M-Master? About yesterday’s curses—”

He pointed to the desk. “Oh, they should be right over there. But Eliza took the gemstone...”

There was a black staff and sword placed in front of a teddy bear with a cross pendant around its neck. The ring Tino had found within Mimicky had been shoved onto the bear’s arm.

“A set of five?!”

“But I’ll return the sword and the staff. Once someone tells me to.”

He really was just fiddling around with curses that had wreaked havoc on the imperial capital. The Spiritstone, the most terrifying of the bunch, wasn’t here, but he was still playing with fire. Sure, this could be a sign of how he had everything under control, but watching it was doing a number on Tino’s heart. Her heart was always pounding; what good could come of making it even worse?

“Ah, that’s right.” He looked at Tino like he had just realized something. “There was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“S-Sounds fine. What is it?”

Master wants to talk to me?

Her heart beat even faster, just when she had thought it had reached its limit. At this rate, she might end up acquiring Lizzy’s Stifled Shadow. The technique involved deliberately accelerating one’s heart in order to gain a burst of speed, but without proper training, it could cause the heart to explode. Her body felt warm. Warm, yet cold. Her nerves were overwhelming her, making her feel like she might collapse.

Her master opened his mouth, about to go on, when the door burst open.

“Krai Baby, this is bad! Come quick!”

Lizzy flew into the room. Tino trembled on reflex. Lizzy, however, ignored her and went straight to Krai. She was a short-tempered person, but it was rare to see her so panicked. Tino’s master was just as bewildered as she was.

“Wh-What happened?”

“Just come!”

He looked around wildly as Lizzy grabbed his hand. His gaze stopped on Tino, but if Lizzy’s childhood friend couldn’t stop her, then neither could Tino.

“Okay, I’ll go! Tino, you too.”

“Huh? Oh, a-all right.”

He shoved the staff onto her. Was she to assume she was supposed to bring it with her? Lizzy had only asked for Krai, but if he told her to come along, then she had little choice but to go. Dragged by Lizzy, he followed along, looking uncomfortable. Gripping the hefty staff, Tino made sure not to fall behind.

***

After suddenly dropping by my office, Liz pulled me out and into the streets of the imperial capital, which were still full of talk about the recent curses. Thankfully, it seemed word hadn’t gotten around that I was the source of all that. Probably because it would be a big problem if everyone knew a Level 8 hunter had caused so much trouble. Since I had left the cleanup to Eva, I was sure it would calm down soon enough. When dealing with the public, relying on her was the optimal strategy.

Everyone stared as Liz dragged me along. Since I was too selfish not to share the suffering, Tino wasn’t far behind, wobbling as she carried Round World.

Why are you carrying that staff? Isn’t it heavy?

Liz brought me somewhere I had been winding up a lot lately—the Sword Saint’s dojo. Something must’ve happened, since the wrecked gate was crossed by barricade tape and a crowd was gathered outside. Right out front were a few grim knights talking with each other. Liz broke through the crowd and took me past the gate.

What I saw on that sprawling ground left me speechless. There were dozens of statues resembling Swordsmen. Tino let out a small shriek. Taking a deep breath, I approached one of them. Its expression was serious, its eyes open wide. The sword it held wasn’t stone, but a real one. The whole thing was so well done, it was uncanny.

The blood draining from her face, Tino tugged my sleeve. “C-Could this be...”

“Th-These are some very fine statues...”

I don’t remember there being any statues last time I was here, but maybe that’s just me?

I looked at them one at a time, giving some a light knock. Each was intricately made and no two were identical. In fact, they were human. As much as I didn’t want to believe it, it was obvious even to me.

These people were turned to stone. Weeeeird.

“W-Well, I’m sure this happens all the time.”

Tino’s fine, shimmering eyes flew open. “Huh? Wha?! Th-This happens frequently?!”

Yeah, you see it all the time in mythology and that sort of thing.

I had a pretty good idea of the cause of all this. Just yesterday, said cause had been chasing me around. It wasn’t just ten or twenty statues; there were tons of them.

Whoever said yesterday’s incident had next to no casualties was lying through their teeth.

Liz beckoned me with her hand. “Krai Baby, over here!”

I already wanted to vomit, but I figured I may as well go to her. Next to Liz was a stone cage. Inside, a statue gripped the bars, its mouth agape in a roar. It was Luke. Set nearby was the Sword Saint, gravely holding a sword. I had more or less seen this coming, but actually coming face-to-face with it took my breath away.

Luke was powerful, but he had always specialized in offensive power. He had taken a number of major wounds over the years because he always led the charge despite his lack of defenses, and afflictions were his biggest weakness. Still, with his mana material, I was under the impression he hadn’t taken any serious wounds lately.

Getting real close, I peered into Luke’s open eyes, yet I couldn’t get them to focus on me.

R-Right, that curse said something about ensuring he would never hold a sword ever again.

“Krai Baby, Luke’s still alive, isn’t he?”

I somehow fought back my bewilderment and made myself look serious. “F-For now, how about we put a mask or something on him so dust doesn’t build up in his mouth?”

The first thing you do when thrown into a baffling situation is to sort through the facts. Once they learned I was a Level 8 hunter, the knights were willing to share what they’d learned through their investigations. According to them, word of this incident didn’t get around because all the witnesses had been turned to stone. What’s more, the majority of the knights had been out of the capital to escort the Noble Shaman, and the rest were spread thin investigating the curse incidents. The combination of these circumstances meant that info about the statues was slow to get around.

The dojos run by the Sword Saint were one of the empire’s more important institutions. When the knights were shorthanded, apprentices were often mobilized to eliminate monsters and bandits. There was no telling how great the loss of them might be.

By the sound of it, everyone in the main dojo had been turned to stone. I guess that cursed Noble Spirit (I think Eliza called her Shero?) really didn’t care for Luke’s manic behavior. I checked each and every statue. Among them, I found that guy who had fallen for Lucia.

Over and over again, I examined their solemn faces. “Man, who would’ve thought they’d get turned into stone?” I sighed.

“It looks like it used a power different than what a mythical beast might.” With a ghostly pallor, Tino inspected a statue. “I’m amazed it worked on someone like Luke...”

Some mythical beasts, such as the cockatrice, were capable of turning their foes to stone. However, they made up a very small portion of the monsters out there, and resilience bolstered by mana material had a greater effect on fatal afflictions. At a certain level, hunters just weren’t affected by petrifying attacks. That everyone in a renowned dojo was turned to stone was almost impossible to believe.

“The method of healing will depend on how the petrifaction was inflicted. We’ll definitely be able to heal them. I’ve heard of people using potions, or sometimes magic!”

While Liz went to call for Ansem, I tried my best to console Tino. However, the sight of all these statues hardly felt real. I had seen all sorts of things since becoming a treasure hunter, but petrification was a first.

Not far from Luke was the Sword Saint, still holding a blade. Looking at it, I came to realize just how detailed these statues were. He was a famous man with statues of him at a number of his dojos, but I had never seen one made this well. The other statues I had seen supposedly included some embellishments by the sculptor, but nothing could match the impact of the real thing.

Yet as I stared at him, a slight sense of dissatisfaction welled up inside me. I had believed in the power of the Sword Saint. I had thought that if there was anyone who could cut a curse, it might be him. Sure, I couldn’t outright gripe that he not only failed to do anything, he also ended up petrified. But couldn’t he have at least done a bit more?

“After hearing that you overcame a curse, I expected more of you,” I whispered while staring into those wide, unblinking eyes.

“Uh, ummm, M-Master?”

Not that I have any right to say that after I ran around aimlessly. Well, he’s a statue, so I guess it’s all the same anyway.

Ansem’s magic or Sitri’s potions would probably do the trick. Or maybe we could just ask a Noble Spirit, since a Noble Spirit’s curse caused this. A mask now over his mouth, I patted the statue of Luke. I took a deep breath when I felt that cold surface.

Oh god, it’s finally starting to feel real. I think I might vomit.

“He’s so cold. Luke’s become Kule...”

“Hm? Master, can you hear something coming from Luke?”

“Huh?”

That caught me off guard. I looked at Luke, then listened closely. It was faint, but I could indeed hear something strange. It was a voice, but more like a rumbling you felt in your gut. I pressed my ear closer, and sure enough, the source was Luke’s statue.

“What could it be?” Tino asked.

“Well, it is a statue of Luke...”

Luke always had a penchant for doing unbelievable things, so nothing was too far-fetched when it came to him.

Is that his heartbeat? A groan? A roar? It’s not like I can break him open and find out.

The large staff cradled in Tino’s arms caught my eye. That was Round World, a Relic staff that made communication with any creature possible. It was colloquially known as a translation staff, but what it did was technically something a bit different. It didn’t analyze words, but instead conveyed the intentions behind sounds. Therefore, it couldn’t translate text, and wouldn’t work if there wasn’t any sound.

While it didn’t work on Mimicky or Carpy, if there was will behind these noises coming from Luke, then the staff should be able to convey what they meant. Tino watched me gravely as I took the staff and activated it. Just as I expected, it informed me of what the rumbling meant.

I furrowed my brow, which was immediately followed by the arrival of Liz. With her, she had not only Ansem, but all of Grieving Souls, including Eliza. That didn’t happen often.

“Krai Baby, I brought everyone!”

I nodded. “Mmm.”

Everyone jogged over to us.

“Oh my,” Sitri said. Her hand covered her mouth in a show of what appeared to be exaggerated shock. “Who would ever think the Sword Saint and his students could all be wiped out like this?”

Ansem grunted in agreement.

“Why is Luke inside a cage?” Lucia asked with exasperation.

Well, it is Luke we’re talking about. Man, you guys don’t seem too worked up about this.

Not only had he survived having his limbs blown off and being swallowed by monsters, Luke currently hosted a large pool of mana material within him. Despite specializing in attack power, he had been through all sorts of ordeals and came out all right. Everyone in the party, including me, was keenly aware of the sort of things he was capable of.

With her usual lethargy, Eliza stepped forwards and inspected the statue. She was supposedly getting ready to take the gemstone back to her homeland, but evidently hadn’t departed yet.

After a brief check, she looked up. “Since it was a curse that petrified them, a cursebreaker can undo it. I believe.”

“Ansem, if you would,” I said.

He nodded. “Mmm...”

We’ve gotta get this taken care of before Franz gets back. He might not care about Luke, but if he finds out that the Sword Saint has been turned into stone, he’ll give me all sorts of shit.

Ansem raised his arms and began incanting a cursebreaker. Healing powers tempered by years of brutal adventures began to rain down upon the dojo grounds. Dancing, shimmering lights sank into the gray statues. The knights at the entrance gasped at the otherworldly sight.

The effects were immediate. Spreading outwards from spots touched by the lights, the statues began to change. In less than a minute, from the tops of their heads to the bottom of their feet, they were back to normal. Suddenly, dozens of people were inhaling at once. Now made of flesh once more, the Swordsmen staggered and fell to their knees.

“Hah. Haaah...”

“Ah. W-We’re saved. I thought we’d be stone forever...”

Taking deep breaths, they opened and closed their fists. They appeared to all be conscious, if a bit shaken. I could always count on good ol’ Ansem. It was good to see these people alive. I wasn’t directly to blame for what had happened to them, but if any of them had died, it would’ve left me feeling pretty guilty. As I let out a sigh of relief, a now recolored Soln came up to us. I wasn’t too shocked to see that he looked fairly calm compared to his wavering students.

Unbothered by Ansem’s towering form, he thanked us in a gruff voice. “You saved us, for which you’ve got my thanks. Damned if I wasn’t surprised to learn there are powers like that. Terrifying that something can turn so many people to stone without warning.”

“Mmm...”

Swordsmen were powerful on an individual level, but didn’t come close to the versatility of Magi. This remained true no matter how much of a freakish mana material fiend they were. If the curse had been directed at someone like Lucia’s or Sitri’s instructor, could they have stopped it? Either way, they wouldn’t have been turned to stone if not for me.

Frantically, I inserted myself into their exchange. “Hardly, if anything, I should be apologizing for not coming sooner. I never expected petrification of all things...”

Seeing me bow, Soln’s expression shifted from the apologetic one he had been showing Ansem to one of displeasure. “That so?” There was an edge in his voice and gaze. “By the way, I hope you’ll forgive me for not living up to your expectations.”

That sent a jolt through me. My eyes flew open.

Huh? Does this mean he could hear everything despite being turned to stone? Good thing I didn’t call him incompetent or anything.

“Wha? Oh, no, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. That was a pretty powerful curse, and those aren’t the sort of thing you can really take on with a sword. Luke also got turned to stone and all. Since everyone’s all right now, I think we should just say all’s well that ends well.”

Soln grunted. “What happened to that curse?”

“Well, now, now...”

Don’t glare at me like that. If you couldn’t handle it, do you think any other Swordsman could have?

Breaking under his piercing gaze, I hid behind Ansem.

“We have an emergency!” Sitri shouted. “Luke hasn’t recovered! Brother!”

“Hm?! Mmm...”

I spun in her direction. Just as she said, Luke was still a statue. He had definitely been bathed in Ansem’s magic, yet not so much as a finger had been healed. Ansem tried the cursebreaker again, illuminating Luke’s body in a light that radiated divine power. Just as I thought, nothing happened.

Eliza shuffled forwards and touched his head. “A fairly powerful curse has been placed on him. A human won’t be able to break it.”

Soln furrowed his brow. “The one who angered the curse, er, the one targeted by the curse was Luke. We took nothing more than the shock waves.”

I see. Should I be apologizing here? Who else but Luke could elicit more worry than even the Sword Saint? I mean, he did have the curse pretty scared.

Eliza looked up at me with sleepy eyes. “The curse must be broken before it eats away at his entire being. We need a Noble Spirit—a special Shaman. I already need to head back anyway, so you may as well come too. To our homeland, Yggdra.”

So in the end, we still have to rely on a Noble Shaman, huh? Well, not much I can do about it.

Lucia blinked a few times. “But isn’t that an extraordinarily reclusive land? I’ve heard they don’t let humans in. Besides, I believe Lapis’s party was bringing a Noble Shaman here.”

Yggdra, the land of the Noble Spirits. No other land was so famous among those who had never been there. Needless to say, we, too, had never visited it. Not inclined to be greedy, the Noble Spirits displayed no interest in money or power and tended not to interact with other races. Not only hunters, but nobles and major merchants had tried to enter Yggdra, all without any success.

With Lapis’s party bringing a Noble Shaman to the imperial capital, wasn’t waiting for them our best option? Eliza considered the idea for a moment, then shook her head.

“With Shero’s Cursed Stone, they’ll let us in. And Luke needs to be treated as soon as possible.”

Lucia gave me a sharp look. “Shero’s Cursed Stone?”

Before she could say anything more, I clapped my hands. “Well, that’s a ray of light. Okay, let’s not waste any time bringing that statue over so it can get healed.”

Luke never would have been turned into a statue if not for that cursed stone, but complaining wasn’t going to do us any good at this point. Besides, there was no reason to be mad at me over that stone. Hugh was the one who’d brought it in the first place. Except I was the one who’d brought the curse all over the town.

I gave Lucia an evasive smile, but she just furrowed her brow. “How can you be your usual self when Luke’s been turned to stone?”

I threw on a hard-boiled veneer. “It’s just his body that’s been turned to stone. Luke is still Luke.”

“I see. That’s very deep, Master,” Tino concurred.

Ansem grunted.

I didn’t think there was anything deep about it. I’d be pretty terrified if everyone but me had been freed from some curse. It’s just that I happened to know what Luke was feeling because I had used Round World earlier. The sounds coming from within the statue of Luke Sykol had meant the following:

“Cut the curse! Cut the curse! Cut the curse! Cut the curse! Cut the curse! Cut the curse!”

That said, expecting me to worry was a tall order.

Despite their resemblance to humans, Noble Spirits were still a different race. They were intelligent, with a strong inclination to magic. They lived much longer than humans, who considered them to be exceptionally beautiful, and supposedly once believed the Noble Spirits to be gods. They would probably be the ones ruling the world if not for the fact that humans propagated faster and had a higher capacity for mana material.

I wasn’t too familiar with all the details, but the relations between us and the Noble Spirits could be complicated and had fluctuated as the ages passed. They had been worshipped by us, but we had disdained and waged wars against them at other times. At this time, we were on decent terms with them; while they weren’t disdained in every town, it was still rare to see them in said towns. That held true even in a major city like the imperial capital of Zebrudia, so I was sure they were a rare sight in other lands as well.

Part of First Steps was Starlight, a party composed entirely of Noble Spirits, but that was far from normal. They were a proud bunch, and living among humans only made them less motivated to conform to our ways. They were the polar opposite of me, someone who could grovel before anyone.

Even after all these years, their homeland was still a place shrouded in mystery. That was Yggdra, the Noble Spirits’ point of origin. Everyone knew the name, yet nobody had ever been there. Still, there was no doubt of its existence.

Yggdra made regular appearances in Peregrine Lodge Monthly, an occult magazine that covered urban legends and more. I, too, had taken an interest and looked into it on a number of occasions. Of course, I never thought the day would come when I’d actually go there.

Leaving Sitri and the others to recover the statue of Luke, I headed back to my office. Eva’s eyes went wide when I told her my story.

“Yggdra?” she whispered. “If you really go, that’ll be a massive achievement.”

It might have seemed like a small reaction, but having been around her for years, I could tell she was quite surprised. And she should have been. As Lucia had said, no human had ever entered the Noble Spirit homeland before. Not only that, talking to some of Starlight, I learned that even for Noble Spirits, it was hard to reenter once you had left.

As far as I knew, no treasure hunter had ever reached Yggdra. Most high-level hunters were the troublesome sort who would only become more determined when told they couldn’t enter a place. If that land had still managed to remain untrampled, its security must have been something extraordinary.

Now, it hardly needs to be said, but Yggdra was deep within a forest, a formidable one filled with monsters and mythical beasts that even seasoned hunters struggled with. All hunters dreamed of being the first to tread where nobody else had.

Amused by the sight of Eva’s surprise, I took a hard-boiled stance and said, “Never thought I’d be taking on a place where no other hunter’s ever set foot before...”

I said “taking on” but if Eliza was to be believed, then we were going to be invited in. If not, I would’ve given up on the spot. Yeah, I was interested in a place of legends, but I wasn’t feeling up to challenging a forbidden land that not even high-level hunters could get to. Look, Noble Spirits didn’t have much of a sense of humor; they were super powerful, and they specialized in magic, which was optimal for fending off intruders.

“If you need anything, I’ll arrange for it,” Eva said.

“Ahh, thanks. But I’ll probably be fine. After all, I’ve got this.” Getting carried away, I tapped my head.

Rubbing her temples, Eva sighed.

Jokes aside, Sitri was supposed to be taking care of the preparations. All I had to think about was what gifts to bring for the Noble Spirits. Apparently, the only people capable of breaking the curse on Luke were fairly special, even by Noble Spirits’ standards. And there were few people better than me at pissing off bigwigs.

I figured I had to bring something pretty nice. Even if it turned out to be an unnecessary gesture, you could never go wrong with a show of humbleness. Luckily for me, our clan had Starlight, and I was confident in my ability to pick gifts.

“Information regarding Yggdra is in high demand,” Eva said hesitantly. “It’s quite famous since Noble Spirits are entirely unwilling to discuss it. If you bring back something to share, that sort of achievement could bring you closer to Level 9.”

What a terrifying proposal.

“Achievements? I don’t care about those. Not at all.”

“I figured you’d say that...”

Why would I do something so dangerous? Nothing good would come from angering the Noble Spirits. Especially when I had just started getting along with Lapis’s party. Even if they were okay with me bringing information back, I wasn’t planning on it, not if doing so would cause Gark to try and raise my level. As I understood it, if his branch produced a Level 9 hunter, that would be a big honor for him as branch manager. Honestly, it hadn’t even been that many years since I hit Level 8. Not that I ever cared about glory or anything, but the pyromaniac lady might have a bone to pick with me if I reached Level 9.

Then I had an idea. I looked up and asked, “Eva, why don’t you come with us?”

“Hm?! I-I’ll remain here.”

You will? Bummer.

Someone sensible like her would’ve been a reassuring presence on the trip. This time, we would be going as guests. Even if Yggdra was in a treacherous forest, it shouldn’t be that dangerous. An ordinary person should be able to make it there. And if they couldn’t, then I sure didn’t want to be headed that way.

“I wonder if Lapis’s party will go with us,” I wondered aloud. “I’m a little uneasy about having just Eliza. She can be so flaky.”

“Starlight is still away from the capital, working on the matter of Marin’s Lament. I wasn’t informed as to when they might return.”

“Hmm. Darn.”

Franz’s operation involving the Noble Shaman was a big affair that would go so far as to redirect traffic in the city. He should’ve been contacted by now, but turning around probably wasn’t that simple.

Ahhh, nobody’s ever around when I need them.

With this selfish thought on my mind, I let out a yawn. That was when the door suddenly swung open, accompanied by a shrill voice.

“Hah, hah. Hey! H-Human weakling, when are you going to stop dicking us around?! Sir?!”

“Oh? What good timing.”

In came Kris Argent, a member of Starlight, the party we were just talking about. She was in her usual robe, but she had a backpack, and her breathing was ragged and her hair disheveled as if she had been running. Even still, there was something picturesque about her, proving that Noble Spirits really had it good.

I watched with wide eyes as she stumbled up to my desk, then banged her fist on it. “N-Nice timing, my ass! Sir! Hah, hah...”

“Didn’t you go back to the forest to help Franz out?”

“We were having a smooth trip when suddenly we got contacted by the imperial capital, and had to turn around! Sir! Sounds like you took a wild trip around town while we were gone!”

“W-Well, this and that happened...”

“This? And that? Here you go again! So what happened to the curse?! Sir?!”

She made a real point of looking displeased. Despite what she said, it seemed like she was genuinely concerned. I shrugged and put on a hard-boiled voice, so as not to make her worry any further.

“Well, it won’t be giving us any more trouble. It kept our hands full for a bit, but with Eliza’s help, we sorted it out. Oh, that’s right. She was saying that curse came from some Noble Spirit queen—”

“S-So it was Shero’s Cursed Stone?! How’d that happen?!”

Kris yelled at me from a very close distance. There were tears forming in her eyes, and her shoulders shook for some reason.

What’s gotten into her? What did she mean by “how”?

Blinking, I observed her closely. I generally took these moments to reflect on what I’d done. That was because I’d usually done something wrong. However, nothing was coming to mind this time.

Besides, Hugh’s the one who brought that thing in the first pla— My eyes flew open. That’s right, Kris and Lapis were saying something about a Noble Spirit queen.

They had mentioned it at the church, and again before leaving to get the Noble Shaman. I had just brushed it off as idle talk, but maybe that curse chasing me around was the one they had been talking about? That would explain Eliza’s strong reaction.

However, I had entrusted the gemstone with Eliza, and there was nothing unusual about giving priority to your own party members. Though I couldn’t give the gemstone to her, I had to think of a way to make her accept that. That’s when I remembered I had something even better.

I clapped my hands, catching Kris off guard, and said, “Ahh, about that. Heh heh heh, I don’t have the Spiritstone, but I’ve got something better. Here, I’ll show it to you.”

“Wh-What? Something better? What are you talking about?”

Exactly what I said, nothing more. And unlike that gemstone, this thing doesn’t try to kill you.

I got up and walked over to the corner where Mimicky was sitting, and I beckoned a very confused Kris over. Looking at Mimicky, my ideal treasure chest, she furrowed her brow.

“It’s a treasure chest,” she said. “Yeah, those are pretty good? I guess. But it’s completely irrelevant! Sir!”

“Ahh, I want to put Kris away, but she’s too heavy for meeee. Maybe someone will help me?”

“Huh?! The hell are you talking about? I’m not heavy. S—”

She didn’t finish her sentence. Mimicky grew arms and ate her whole in the blink of an eye. A few seconds passed. Eva, watching our exchange tensely, was frozen. She broke out of her stupor and ran up to me.

“Wh-What are you doing?!” she cried.

“Mimicky, you see, has an automatic storage function. Awfully considerate, wouldn’t you say?”

If I could store items bigger than Mimicky’s mouth, we’d be all set, but asking for that would just be getting greedy. The functions he had already conflicted with my understanding of reality.

I bet that really took Kris by surprise. At this point, Mimicky’s ambush success rate was one hundred percent, which was absolutely terrifying. If people could leave on their own, then I’d have nothing to complain about.

“H-Hurry and get her out of there...”

“Ah, that’s right... Ah!”

“What?! What’s the matter?!”

I thought I was forgetting something—I wanted to get Tino to teach me how to use Carpy. Honestly, that Carpet of mine has as much potential as Mimicky—Eh, maybe that’s going a bit far.

Now that I knew what was nagging at me, I reached for the lid so I could get Kris out.

That was when I heard a cold voice.

“Thousand Tricks, I’ve been told you obtained the Spiritstone, then gave it to the Vagabond.”

Lapis and the rest of Starlight marched in through the door Kris had left open. Every one of them had a natural disposition for magic and exceptional good looks. Their leader, Lapis, always had a frosty demeanor, but I had never seen her quite this cold. I thought they had returned straight to the capital just like Kris had, yet they didn’t share her dishevelment.

With all Starlight did for me, I didn’t want to sour our relationship over a simple misunderstanding. Rubbing my hands together, I walked up to her. “W-Well now, it was just a stroke of bad luck that your party wasn’t around at the time...”

“Hmph. You could say that. I won’t ask how you found the Spiritstone, and what you do with it is your business, but you went out of your way to get us out of the imperial capital. Was that sleight of hand more of your preterhuman artifice?”

Oh, is that how it looks? Everyone really wants that gemstone. What do they want something so dangerous for?

Still, setting aside the fact that this was all one big misunderstanding, if a friend’s party and one of my party members both wanted the same thing, of course I was going to give priority to the former.

“Sorry,” I said, “but Eliza also wanted it. Forgive me, but you’d put your own party members first, wouldn’t you?”

Besides, I never touched that Spiritstone or whatever, and I would’ve loved to have Lapis and her gang around. If they had been in the city, the whole mess could’ve been taken care of right off the bat, then Luke wouldn’t have been turned into stone.

Hearing my very reasonable point, Lapis glared at me for a moment before her anger dissipated. “Hmph. Can’t argue with that. But don’t think this will happen again, Thousand Tricks.”

Her voice was cold enough to freeze my innards, but since that was the extent of it, I called this a victory. I had heard Noble Spirits had a strong sense of allegiance as a result of their long lives, so I wasn’t surprised that my argument convinced her. But man, I hadn’t realized so many people had their eyes on the gemstone.

In the corner of my eye, I caught Eva letting out a sigh of relief. If Lapis wasn’t going to object, then neither would anyone else in Starlight.

Here, since we’ve got everyone together, we should get together for old times’ sake. We can all grab a bite.

Clapping my hands, I put on a hard-boiled smile and looked up at Lapis.

***

Liz held up the red gemstone and examined it. Now placed snugly in a box, its shimmering surface, transparent and devoid of impurities, was a clear indication that this was a superb piece. As she stared into it, she felt like it might just pull her inside. Perhaps it was due to its magical properties, or maybe all gemstones were like this.

After looking it over for a few minutes, she blinked. “Hmm. So this is Shero’s Cursed Stone? Looks like any old gemstone to me.”

“That’s simply because the curse has been subdued,” Eliza said. “Other curses are nothing compared to the powers of Her Majesty.”

“The legend of the Cursed Crimson Spiritstone is quite famous.” Sitri wore a grim expression. “I knew it had gone missing, but I never thought it might turn up in the imperial capital.”

The recent chaos had contained nothing but surprises. The Devil Sword that beguiled the Sword Saint’s apprentices. The Black World Tree, which nullified spells. The forbidden potion that had brought several nations to ruin. Then there was the hexen weapon, which the Church of the Radiant Spirit had given up on purifying. Each one alone was enough to cause a stir in the imperial capital.

And yet they all paled before the gemstone. Not one of them could match the infamy or scale of destruction caused by Shero’s Cursed Stone. Determined to annihilate all of humanity, this gemstone had once been calamity incarnate. For what must have been a very good reason, its line of victims had come to an abrupt halt. Some people went so far as to speculate that if it hadn’t, humanity would’ve been annihilated by now.

“The curse was active,” Eliza said. “It’s unlikely it was in the imperial capital this entire time.”

“Still, I can barely believe you managed a curse so peerless.” Lucia furrowed her brow. “Our attacks had next to no effect.”

Ansem nodded. “Mmm.”

Conventional attacks were never particularly effective against curses, and that curse stood head and shoulders above its peers. After all, strikes from the imperial capital’s best had done nothing to it. Lucia’s attacks appeared to have had some effect, but how much progress could she have really made if she continued casting like that? With enough time, she might have discovered a weakness, but the curse could have claimed many more victims all the while.

“We had to use our heads,” Eliza said with that usual sleepy look in her eyes. “It’s all thanks to Cae.”

“Hmmm. Well, I’m glad it worked it out,” Liz said. “Now we gotta take care of Luke.”

“Potions didn’t work,” Sitri said, “and as Eliza explained, that’s not your typical petrification.”

Petrification came in different forms. If this were a simple physical petrification, then a potion or the like would take care of it easily. However, what was eating into Luke was something altogether different. This was a malign curse that deflected even the purifying powers of Ansem Smart, one of the imperial capital’s most capable healers. Luke may have been the one petrified, but it was unlikely Lucia or Liz or any of them would have fared any better against the curse.

Eliza nodded. She looked so serious that she hardly resembled her usual self. “The will behind that curse is a strong one. The only way to break this curse is with a Shaman as powerful as Her Majesty. We might need to see one of Yggdra’s upper echelons. The imperial family, that is. If not, he’ll remain a statue forever.”

***

No matter how busy I got, I never neglected to care for my Relics. In my private quarters, obtained via gratuitous use of my authority as CM, Relics covered the walls. I kept a polishing rotation going to make sure they all stayed nice and sparkly. Since Lucia stopped by at regular intervals to charge them, they were never out of mana.

Preparation was essential for any sort of trip. Sitri would be getting supplies in order, but I had to pick which Relics I would bring. Since he was a self-propelled Relic, I had brought Mimicky with me. Now I sat atop him as I browsed the many Relics I had collected over the years. Some had sentimental value, others I had bought from Matthis on a whim. Some I used often, others gathered dust. For a trip like this, it wasn’t going to be easy picking which Relics would be useful. But that was exactly why I had developed my skills as a Relic collector.

Though there were a few misunderstandings between us, I’d learned a few new things while talking with Starlight over a meal. According to them, Yggdra was a special place, even for Noble Spirits. That wasn’t to say it was the biggest of their settlements or anything like that. Yggdra was home to the divine World Tree, which formed the roots for the many Noble settlements throughout the world’s forests. I had a feeling their long lifespans were the reason they placed so much value on those roots. I was surprised to learn that Yggdra was practically worshipped by some of the Noble Spirits that lived elsewhere.

Yggdra was situated deep within a vast forest that was crossed by innumerable ley lines, and prowled by formidable monsters. The forest itself was a true labyrinth, said to trouble even Noble Spirits accustomed to traversing woods, and the road itself was hidden. Eliza had announced we’d be going to Yggdra like it was no big deal, but Lapis’s party gave me the impression it wouldn’t be so easy.

Damn it, Eliza. I nearly went into this unprepared.

Well, even without Lapis’s warning, I would’ve brought some Relics, and things always got a little crazy no matter what I brought with me. But I wasn’t going alone on this trip. I had everyone in Grieving Souls, and I had invited Starlight (I mean, they looked like they wanted to come). With my Relics thrown in, I’d be better off just giving up if this wasn’t enough.

Looking proudly over my collection, I nodded to myself. “Hmm. Since we won’t have Luke with us, I guess I can bring a sword...”

I couldn’t carry sword-type Relics when Luke was around because he’d be restlessly looking at the blade like he wanted to touch it.

The vast majority of sword-type Relics had powers suited for combat. Like the Purgatorial Sword I’d taken from Gilbert, many of them enabled elemental attacks, making them trump cards for weaker hunters. However, these attacks wouldn’t get you anywhere in the higher treasure vaults that Grieving Souls took on.

While I didn’t know exactly how dangerous the road ahead would be, I wasn’t even going to entertain the idea of helping with battles, since I had never once been useful in an engagement. For now, I decided to take Silent Air, the transparent blade I had also taken to White Wolf’s Den. It was a strong contender for the spot of my first or second favorite sword in the collection. Not only was it aesthetically pleasing, but I was also very grateful for what it did.

Silent Air was capable of manipulating weight. It was, on the one hand, a very technical weapon with which you could throw off your opponent by freely changing the weight of the blade. But you see, it also had a hidden function useful even for non-Swordsmen. The powers of Silent Air applied not only to the sword itself, but to everything you carried. Not only that, you could still activate it even if it was in a scabbard and on your back.

That’s right, with this sword on my back, a weakling like me could shoulder Relics and luggage no matter how heavy. It only nullified weight, so carrying around large objects was still dangerous and limited movement, but that wasn’t an issue since I wasn’t exactly agile at the best of times.

With this, I can carry ten Ansems. Except I’ll die if the charge runs out.

I pounded a fist into my palm. “I’ve got it. Since it’s been so long, maybe I should bring the sword-type flashy flowery set.”

The sword-type flashy flowery set was a collection of needlessly gaudy sword Relics. Some were there due to their looks, while others held their place because of their abilities. Take, for instance, Field Star, a Relic that when activated would cause a ray of light to shine from the heavens onto the user; Kaito-Kosame, which would cause a bit of rain (three millimeters at max) to fall when drawn; Harm Not the Weak, O Champion, a garish greatsword that couldn’t harm anyone no matter how hard you swung it.

These were disappointing swords that would go for a dime a dozen on the market. The impressive names, by the way, came from finders trying to sell them off for as much as they could. With no merits beyond their visuals, some might say it was better to carry nothing than these pitiful swords, and as a noncombatant, I almost never got the chance to use them. I didn’t see them coming in handy this time, but I liked the look of them, and they were due for a little time in the sun.

“Right. If it’s a forest, then there’s sure to be all sorts of flora and fauna...”

Noble Spirits were famous for their coexistence with nature. I had heard that it wasn’t rare for those who left for the outside world to have animal partners. Surely those in the forest did the same.

With my eclectic assortment of Relics, I was ready even for times like this. For instance, I had a whistle called Man’s Best Friend, which attracted any and all canine creatures in the vicinity. There was the canned food-type Relic, Cat Catcher, the best way to bring in any felines. I had a perfume-type Relic, whose scent would make any beast, carnivore, herbivore, and anything in between, salivate. That and more, I had all sorts.

Just hearing their powers might make them sound useful enough, but none could really assist with taming the critters they attracted. What’s more, the animals often went on the attack, thinking the Relic user was trying to abduct them, so they weren’t exactly in high demand. Though some of my friends had a bit of fun with them for a time.

My collection housed plenty of other Relics that might or might not be useful in a variety of situations, satisfying every odd niche there was. Though very few of them were of any use on hunts, lots of them were rare for no good reason, or fun to look at, so maybe they would come in handy befriending the denizens of Yggdra.

After a few minutes spent looking over my beloved collection, I still couldn’t come to a decision, so I stood up and knocked on the chest’s lid. “Take ’em all, Mimicky.”

Mimicky, the super superior Relic, got to work. Stealthy as ever, he leaped up without making a sound, opened his mouth, and with arms springing from his sides, picked up and swallowed every Relic. He truly looked like a monster. Mimicky’s features really knew no bounds.

I quickly banged on his lid when I noticed an item he was about to eat. He obediently stopped, letting the Relic fall to the floor. Known as Black Stable Saddle, it was a saddle-type Relic with a texture like black leather. Its effect was that it wouldn’t come off unless you deliberately removed it. However, since most saddles were already built this way, Relic or not, this was a trifle of an item not many people cared for. I had forgotten I even had it.

Looking back and forth between the saddle and my loyal treasure chest, I nodded. “Mmm. With Mimicky, I guess I can be a Level 8.”

He moved on his own, was completely secure, and had a town inside him. There weren’t any other hunters with a treasure chest like this. Lately, I had been forgetting I was a treasure hunter, but what was more treasure hunter-y than this?

With loud thumps, we descended the clan house staircase. I felt like a new door had been opened for me. The clan members we passed by looked at us with fear and shock, but I didn’t let it get to me.

Charging down the stairs, we banged open the door, careening into the lounge. Everyone instantly turned our way, seeing me in all my elation. Lyle spit out his drink. Several hunters who had stood up thinking something was amiss now looked at us with bafflement. In her usual seat, Tino let out a small yelp and retreated a step.

“M-Master?! What is it this time?!”

“Wh-What are you doing, Krai?! A-And that treasure chest...”

“Heh. Look, I thought of a new use for my Relics.”

I had the floral shirt-type Relic, Perfect Vacation, keeping me perfectly comfortable, and the saddle-type Relic, Black Stable Saddle, to keep me upright. Thus came the advent of Krai Andrey, the world’s first treasure chest rider. Normally, there would be no way to place a saddle on Mimicky’s flat, stiff back, but that wasn’t an issue with Black Stable Saddle, which absolutely would not come off until someone removed it on purpose. Then, to solve the bumpiness that came with riding a mount, I had Perfect Vacation. It was an excellent display of synergy, one only possible for a Relic collector who gathered even junk Relics and was aware of all their powers.

I suppose the only drawback was the rumbling footsteps? On his own, Mimicky was sneaky as a snake approaching its prey, but I guess I changed that. Still, even with that in mind, this arrangement was completely viable. Filled with a sense of pride I hadn’t felt in a long time, I patted Mimicky. Unlike a certain textile, he did what I said.

Lyle’s face was drawn. “M-Most people wouldn’t actually try it out, though! Do you have any idea what you look like?”

So went his scathing opinion.

Despite her usual loyalty, Tino seemed unsure how to react. “Um. Uhhh. Y-You look very cool, Master.”

Hmph. I don’t expect someone who can ride Carpy to understand how I feel.

In a sense, it was only natural for a treasure hunter to ride a treasure chest, and unlike Carpy, this one could store items. I wasn’t bitter or anything.

Tino began to tremble as Mimicky lumbered up to her with thunderous footfalls. After being swallowed up and swept around, I couldn’t imagine she had any good memories associated with him.

“Sure, but you’d be surprised how fast he is,” I said. “And unlike a living creature, he doesn’t get tired.”

“N-Not that I think you’d do it, but Master, you’re not planning on going all the way to Yggdra like that, are you?”

“Think it’s a bad idea?”

She shook her head. “N-Not at all...”

If you’ve got something to say...

Honestly, it was way too good to give up on. Having him follow along behind us was a possibility, but if he were to run out of mana and stop moving, then that could put us in a real predicament. I knew this from experience, having previously lost track of Carpy once. Besides, our objective was to get Luke healed. If we needed to request help from the Noble Spirit imperial family, a group known for being unamenable to humans, then making a strong impression seemed like a good idea. I needed Mimicky if I was going to carry all my Relics, and if he was coming along, then I may as well ride him.

Tino swallowed, then seemed to reach a decision. “B-But— Right! Um, riding atop Mimicky will make it harder to react to surprises, won’t it, Master?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Look, Mimicky’s nose for danger and his skills are all better than mine. If anything, I think I’ll be safer atop him. If I need to, I can hide inside him, and being a Relic means he’s fairly sturdy.

“O-Oh. Okay. Master, are you really that eager to ride a treasure chest?” she asked while wearing a look that contained trepidation, fear, exasperation, and sadness.

I’d ride the Carpet if I could. I’m jealenvious that you picked it up in an instant.

“Preparations complete!” I yelled, forcing it a bit. “To Yggdra we go!”

“M-Maybe I’ll leave the clan,” Lyle muttered with a dry laugh.

***

With a mind to hear the details regarding the prophecy incident, Gark Welter, branch manager of the imperial capital branch of the Explorers’ Association, made his way to the First Steps clan house. There, he heard something that left him at a loss, though it was uttered like mere small talk.

The Level 8 Hunter, Krai Andrey, the Thousand Tricks, was a man known for doing the unexpected since the very beginning of his hunting career. Take right now; Gark had come all the way over here because Krai had taken a curse across the imperial capital while flying on a carpet. No matter how many times it happened, he could never get used to that man’s unpredictable and unprecedented behavior.

Yet what Krai had just told him was enough to make him forget every other task on his mind. Responding to a plethora of inquiries from nobles and the empire, and mobilizing a large number of hunters, the Explorers’ Association was working day and night without rest. However, this pushed all of that out of his mind. Kaina and the other Association employees with him were equally dazed.

“Yggdra,” he said, “the legendary capital of the Noble Spirits, you say? Well, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, coming from you. Up to more craziness, I see. That place is so inaccessible, we don’t even have an Association branch out there.”

“Well, I’ll have Eliza showing me the way.”

Krai shrugged with his usual lack of zeal. A curse had turned his old friend Luke into stone, yet he didn’t look at all perturbed. An invitation to Yggdra wasn’t something you casually mentioned with a sentence like, “Sorry, but I’m going to Yggdra, so I can’t help gather information.” Nor was it something you could explain simply by saying, “Well, I’ll have Eliza showing me the way.”

Noble Spirits were never very welcoming of outsiders. Yggdra could be considered something of a holy land to them, and unless Gark was mistaken, no hunter had ever been there. Many of them had attempted to reach the mysterious land, but they had all failed. Because the imperial family refused to leave the forest, they couldn’t be negotiated with, and their mysterious magic rendered force and authority meaningless. Even information about this land was remarkably scarce.

This was a good opportunity. No member of the Noble Spirit imperial family had ever been willing to meet with a human before. Gark could hardly imagine the profits to be had if this led to relations being established with Yggdra. And if it were known that a treasure hunter was responsible for that, then hunters would be held in even higher regard.

Subduing that cursed gemstone was a major accomplishment, but establishing communications between the Explorers’ Association and Yggdra would be even bigger. It would be the sort of good deed nobody would take issue with, and anyone could understand the merit of.

“All right,” Gark said. “Further contact with the Noble Spirits would be a boon to Zebrudia. We’ll handle the aftermath of the prophecy. But if we’re going to do that, make sure you sit down and talk with them. If you can, try to see if you can get an Association branch set up there.”

“Oh! A branch, huh? Well, if I have to. Now, I’m leaving the prophecy stuff to you.”

Though he usually made a face when hearing Gark’s requests, Krai was oddly agreeable, nodding vigorously. He looked awfully relaxed for someone about to deal not only with the very fickle Noble Spirits, but members of their imperial family at that. Was this the look of a Level 8 in his element?

“Go show them what treasure hunters are made of!” Gark said.

“I will, I will. I’ll have all of Grieving Souls and Starlight with me. I’m also going to bring lots of Relics—”

“If you pull this off, you’ll be just a few steps away from Level 9.” Gark could barely keep the excitement out of his voice. “Getting to Level 9 requires recommendations from multiple branches and the approval of headquarters, but I don’t see any of them dragging their feet.”

The criteria for promotions became stricter and stricter the higher a hunter’s rank. Particularly at Level 9, trust and previous accomplishments were more important than raw power, and meeting the requirements to take the promotion exam was difficult. For someone as young as Krai to get to this point was unusual.

“Ahh. Mmm.” In a shift from a moment ago, Krai was now grimacing. “Well, let me just say that’s not why I’m going to Yggdra. My real objective, the reason I’m going there, is just to get the curse on Luke broken.”

Here we go again, Gark thought. Why doesn’t this guy care about his level?

Level 9 was something most hunters couldn’t dare strive for, yet this man with the talent to go for it was completely unmotivated. No wonder the world was in such a sorry state. Gark would have liked to send someone from the Association to accompany him, but dealing with Noble Spirits was a touchy thing.

Gark took a deep breath. Wrinkling his brow, he looked Krai dead in the eye and gave him an important reminder. “If this goes south, it will cause a rift between us and the Noble Spirits. I’m counting on you.”

***

It was just before dawn, and I was out in front of the imperial capital gates. Even in a city as big as this, things were quiet in the earliest hours of the morning. Knights on patrol and early rising merchants were pretty much the only people out and about. For someone who usually woke up around noon, it was something of a novel sight.

A carriage engraved with the laughing skull, the symbol of Grieving Souls, was already parked outside. Walking with Lucia, I let out a yawn and started griping about my conversation with Gark.

“Honestly, Gark’s always making things harder for me. Every time something pops up, he tries to raise my level.”

“That’s because you’re always trying to avoid taking the promotion exam!”

It’s not their level, so why do so many people make a fuss about it? Don’t these people realize I want to retire?

Well, at least I’d managed to make the prophecy aftermath Gark’s problem. I saved myself from another brush with Franz’s rage. After all, I had been shouting his name back there.

Standing by the carriage, Sitri ran over when she saw us. “Good morning, Krai! Preparations are all complete. Look, even Luke’s statue is secured!”

She wore her usual traveling clothes and was incredibly lively, given the hour. Behind her, Killiam was carrying the statue on his back, and saying kill, kill. He hadn’t regained any of his bulk after his earlier bout with starvation had slimmed him down. Since Luke still wanted to kill the curse, they were a good match.

“Is Starlight here?” I asked.

“Not yet. We’re a bit early, so I’m sure they’ll be here shortly. Ah, Mimicky, good morning.”

Mimicky hid behind me when she greeted him. It seemed he didn’t deal well with Sitri, probably because she’d looked at him like prey when they first met. You might see Liz or Luke make that sort of expression a lot, but it was rare for Sitri.

Well, she has always wanted a Magic Bag.

It had been a good while since Grieving Souls had all gone on an expedition. Expedition might seem a strange word since we weren’t going to a treasure vault, but Yggdra’s forest was plenty hostile.

Still, invitation or not, I wouldn’t be doing this if Luke hadn’t been turned to stone.

“Morning, Krai Baby!”

“Good morning, Master.”

As usual, Liz was full of energy and had Tino following along. If they were arriving together, Liz must have slept over at Tino’s house.

I already knew this, but man, I really am the only one here who isn’t an early riser.

Our group had two parties: Grieving Souls and Starlight. More people meant more luggage, and more luggage meant we’d have to use a large carriage. Choosing which equipment to carry was a tricky part of treasure hunting. Bringing provisions was particularly important when making a multiday trek to a distant treasure vault, but that greatly increased the load. More baggage meant more weight, which made it harder to run when something happened, and you could lose a lot if your supplies were hit. We were no exception, having lost many items to monsters and phantoms. However, too light a load limited the situations you could be prepared for.

Mimicky, however, took care of all that. Just about all our hefty supplies, water, food, and camping equipment were stored inside Mimicky. We only carried the bare minimum necessary to avoid arousing suspicion. Mimicky was a Relic I didn’t think too many people should know about. Magic Bags were already valuable, useful items; if one with the capabilities of Mimicky became known, nations, merchants, and bandits would all be doing whatever they could to steal him. I could get away with riding atop a Relic, but I couldn’t let it get out that he was a Magic Bag.

I know it’s a bit late to say this since he already ate several clan members, but I can’t let too many people know about him. Speaking of which, does Starlight know about him?

Next, we met up with Ansem, who had been staying over at the church. Then came one very spacy Eliza. Not that she was ever particularly high-strung, but she looked exceptionally languid.

Oh, I see. I’m not the only one who isn’t an early riser.

“Morning, Eliza,” I said. “We’re following your lead today.”

Eliza looked at me vaguely, then nodded.

Lucia furrowed her brow. “Eliza, are you all right? You don’t look so well.”

“My legs,” she said, “they’re telling me to run from Cae.”

And what does that mean?

It may not have seemed like it, but I wasn’t the usual Krai. Given our destination, I had every one of my Relics on me, and they were all charged to boot. I was the strongest I had ever been.

No, wait, with Krahi out there, I guess this is the second strongest.

She had nothing to worry about. If this wasn’t enough, then nothing was.

Eliza slumped into the carriage. Feeling someone’s gaze, I turned and saw Tino looking at me peculiarly. I was getting the feeling her views on me had been changing lately. I had been pretty dependent on her during the last incident and had made myself look bad in front of her, but I still wanted to try to repair my image just a bit. I hadn’t felt this motivated in a while.

“Tino, are you going to get in?” I asked.

“Huh? Ah, um, Master, I’m just here to see you off— Ah! Never mind! I-I’m honored that you’d have me along again!”

After a glance at Liz, Tino sprang into the carriage. I felt like I had done something I didn’t need to.

Well, uh, we can’t really use Carpy without Tino.

Sitting atop Mimicky, I waited for Lapis and her group. The sky grew brighter and traffic slowly increased, yet there was no sign of them.

Sitting next to me, Lucia looked at the clock on the gates and said, “They’re awfully late. They usually show up when they say they will.”

“Do you think something happened?”

Not that I’m opposed to waiting a bit...

After a yawn-filled thirty minutes, they finally arrived. It looked like something really had happened, as all of them, Lapis included, wore dark expressions.

“Pardon our late arrival,” she said in a lower voice than usual.

“It’s fine,” I hesitated, “but did something happen?”

They all looked vaguely unsettled. Most Noble Spirits were rational and always had a calm demeanor, so seeing them all out of sorts was pretty concerning.

Lapis looked around, then scowled. “Yeah. Kris has gone missing. She was with us when we got back to the imperial capital. Do you know anything?”

...

Ah.

“G-Give me a god damn break. Sir.”

Sitting in our carriage, now on the move, Kris trembled, tears in her eyes.

“Sorry, sorry,” I apologized. “I meant to get you out of there immediately, but a visitor happened to show up.”

“H-How the hell did you forget?! Sir?! Get a hold of yourself! Sir. Wh-What was even the point of putting me in there? If you’ve got a plan, I’d love to hear it!”

“I mean, since I had it, I wanted to show my new Relic off.”

“Master...” Tino, who had also been eaten by the chest, whispered in a dry voice.

No, really, I was going to pull her out of there immediately. This is all because my conversation with Lapis dragged on. Good thing I remembered now.

“I thought I was gonna be down there for the rest of my life. Do you have any idea how scary it was being thrown into darkness?”

“Did you cry?”

“N-No! I’d never do that! And I had plenty to eat down there...”

Those would’ve been the supplies. Still, in that place, she would’ve been fine without food. Still, despite her protests, Kris didn’t look too good. Guess that’s only natural, since she had been trapped for two days. There were soft beds down there, and I was sure there was more to be found if you looked around, but not knowing if you’d ever be able to get out must’ve been a huge burden.

Kris’s clothes were ruffled, and there were dark circles under her eyes. I offered a prayer for all the priests who had been trapped there for decades.

“Brother, give her a proper apology!”

“Well, you’re the one who let your guard down.” Patting Kris on the shoulder, Liz handed her a bottle. “Here, have some booze.”

My dear friend Liz generally took my side no matter what, so I must’ve done something really bad if she was consoling Kris instead of defending me. They were in a different carriage now, but the rest of Starlight had all given me frigid glares. If this hadn’t happened right before our trip to Yggdra, they might’ve left the clan.

“People are gonna say I’m not fit to be clan master,” I said.

“Don’t quit. Sir.”

“I haven’t even suggested it.”

“You don’t need to! Not when you cause such a fuss every time the CM elections roll around!”

In First Steps, the position of clan master wasn’t static, but instead decided by regular elections. This had been established during the founding, and something no other clan did. So far, nobody else had held the position, but I digress.

I reached into the back of the carriage and removed a bag of nuts from Mimicky. I handed them to Kris. “I’m real sorry. Here, as an apology, I’ll give you these nuts.”

“What are those? Sir?”

“Huh? They’re amiuz nuts. Like from when we were escorting the emperor.”

“Human weakling, do you always carry those around?”

Once again, this was the power of Mimicky. He was stocked with every item I could think of. Beyond what Sitri wanted to store, I also included Relics, clothes, and even snacks. This would be my chance to prove what Mimicky was worth. Thinking about it, I had never walked around with so many Relics. Plenty of them had powers nothing else could replicate, so it was looking like I might finally be useful. Collecting Relics was fun, but nothing was better than the feeling of helping in a battle.

I let out a sigh colored by many emotions. “Perhaps it’s finally time for my collection to come in handy.”

“When you’ve only got inane items?” Lucia said. “You’re always, always buying nothing but oddballs.”

You don’t have to be so blunt about it.

Sure, my Relics had seldom done anything useful, but the ones used by Sitri and Liz were technically from my collection.

“Well, tools can’t be blamed,” I said.

“Doesn’t that just mean you can? Sir?”

Relics didn’t do anything wrong, and neither did I; it was just that trouble always coalesced around me. Even my Relics had their uses, it’s just that weird stuff kept happening, and I was sick of getting dragged into it, damn it.

“Krai, it looks like we’ve got bandits!” Sitri yelled from the driver’s seat, brushing off Kris. “What should we do?”

“Bandits? Are you joking? How could there be bandits so close to a town?! Madam?!”

While Kris’s objection was very reasonable, Lucia and Liz weren’t fretting. Bandits and monsters were a standard part of traveling. Look at our trip with the emperor; we’d run into all sorts of danger on that journey.

“They new here?” Liz asked with a yawn.

“So it would seem,” Sitri replied. “At the very least, I don’t recall there being any bandits established in this area.”

My god, you can’t go anywhere without finding bad guys.

Kris gave me a sour look. I just sighed and shrugged my shoulders. “I hate to say it, but I don’t think this stage is meant for me. Lucia, Liz, Eliza, Kris, take care of ’em.”

Sadly, nothing in my collection could defeat monsters or bandits. Hence my need for protection.

“Heard that! C’mon, T!”

“Oh heavens, we just left the imperial capital!”

“Do you have to be so arrogant about it?! Sir?!”

With what sounded like a scream, Kris followed Liz and Lucia out of the carriage.

They’ve also got Starlight at their backs, so this should be easy. Spears or cannons, do your worst, bandits.

***

Deep within the forest was a mysterious spot. Leaves drifted slowly to the ground. The green foliage glimmered in the sunlight. Crystal clear water burst from a spring and crept across the ground.

Two figures, both tall and slender, stood in this picturesque space. They wore robes the color of budding leaves, their faces exceptionally handsome with elegant, flowing contours. Their clear eyes shone light green and all but pulled you in. An indescribable harmony existed between them and their surroundings. You didn’t need to be too familiar with Noble Spirits to know that’s what these two were.

Noble Spirits were somewhere between humans and elementals, the latter being the very embodiment of nature. They were closer to humans than elementals were, closer to elementals than humans were. Known for their good looks and magical prowess, they were a mystical race that rarely stepped out into the artificial light brought about by technological advancement.

Hearing news of the outside world for the first time in a long while, one of them looked despondent. “Shero’s been found?” she whispered. This was the Noble Princess, an individual of particular reverence.

“They say one of the wandering people found and mollified her with the aid of a human. Shero’s malign powers permeated the letter, so it must be true,” the other, a serious-looking man, replied.

Shero was known more widely than any other queen of the Noble Spirits. She played a large role in driving the humans back with curses and making known the power of Noble Spirits. Among humans, she was feared. Among Noble Spirits, she was hailed as both a champion and a taboo figure.

When relations with the humans had stabilized at last, the task of recovering the cursed gemstone became an urgent matter. Furious over the destruction of her forest, Shero, considered a greater being among her people, unleashed a curse no human could possibly withstand. The wandering people, referred to as Desert Nobles by the humans, were descendants of the Noble Spirits that had once lived in Shero’s forest. Noble Spirits typically grew by absorbing the mana of the forests, but generations of moving from place to place had changed these ones. If the wandering people had something to report, it meant they had finally fulfilled their duty.

“They said they want to come here to return it personally,” the man continued. “As the order was issued by Yggdra, they have every right to do so.”

As the stream gurgled on, there was a brief silence.

“That,” the Noble Princess eventually said, furrowing her brows, “will be a problem. Yggdra is currently in no condition to receive outsiders.”

“It’s pretty bad. I can’t believe Shero was found now, of all times. No, perhaps I should say this is good timing. Any later and we’d be too busy to take Shero back.”

“Indeed. We must not refuse them. Shero is one of us.”

With a sigh, the Noble Princess looked up to the heavens. She looked upon a towering tree that broke into the firmament. With a trunk and branches that prodded the clouds, nobody knew just how tall this tree was. Absorbing mana material from ley lines, this was one of the systems that managed their star’s energies. It was the World Tree.

However, after many years of being managed by Yggdra, the tree was now trying to break free from its control. A gathering of mana material had already turned the vicinity of the tree’s base into a hostile zone that even the people of Yggdra couldn’t approach. The warriors of Yggdra had tried to calm the tree, but they had yet to find an effective method.

“Though we would normally show them our deepest gratitude, let’s send them back, even if we have to contrive a reason. If they were all fellow Noble Spirits, it might be different, but we must not bring humans into this.”

“As you wish. I’m not sure they’ll be able to reach us in the first place, as the forest is also being affected by the World Tree. Goodness, what an unlucky bunch of humans.”

Just a bit earlier, and the forest wouldn’t be so dangerous. Just a bit later, and they would have been able to detect the danger before making the attempt. Their timing couldn’t be worse. Even still, the Noble Princess couldn’t deny them a visit.

***

Monsters and bandits were almost unheard of in the surrounding environs of the Zebrudian capital. Though the empire was vast, skilled knights and hunters ensured that highways were safe to a degree not seen in nations of a comparable scale. Though driving out every last danger certainly wasn’t feasible, there were virtually no major threats if you had an escort. For a while now, Kris had been regularly passing through these fields, and she had never once come across a serious foe. Until the day she was guarding the emperor, that is.

Hearing Krai’s unenthusiastic orders, she flew out the carriage door. It was very rare for there to be bandits out here, but she had far greater allies this time around. Planning to take care of this quickly, then return to the carriage, she looked onward, ready for anything.

“What is that?!” she cried when she saw what was coming their way.

“My legs are telling me to run,” Eliza groaned as she dragged herself out of the carriage.

The highway was surrounded by flatlands that offered nowhere to hide. Anyone who tried to approach could be spotted immediately. Any bandits who chose to attack travelers in such high-visibility areas had to be either extraordinarily confident or stupid. In Kris’s experience, the latter was much more common than the former.

However, even at this distance, she could tell that those who approached them were no mere idiots. They were probably about a few hundred meters away, yet she could hear their footsteps and feel the ground tremble. Those silhouettes weren’t human, but nor did they match those of any normal monster horde.

She realized why Sitri could tell they were bandits when they were still so far away. An eerie chill ran down her back. The approaching mass contained both humans and monsters. Running at the front of the pack was a massive crimson centipede. She could make out a few human silhouettes and their luggage on top of it. On its flanks was a wide array of monsters, including ones Kris had fought, and ones she had never so much as seen before. Some of them were even larger than Ansem.

The horde was moving much faster than the horses could pull their carriages. Kris could barely believe her eyes. While she had heard of people who could command monsters, she had believed their minions were limited to a few highly intelligent varieties. Yet the group she saw before her included monsters that definitely weren’t that intelligent. This horde, though army felt like a better word, was definitely abnormal.

“They’re riding the monsters?” Kris muttered.

“Any normal bandits would turn and run when they saw Anssy.” Unfazed by the aberrant sight, one very gung-ho Liz clenched her fist and licked her lips. “Hmm. This could get interesting.”

The carriages had stopped, meaning they planned to fight the incoming force right here. Lapis got out of the rear carriage and furrowed her brow.

“They even have a cyclops. Hmph, it’s larger than the Immutable.”

“Mmm.”

“That’s no ordinary cyclops. That belongs to a subspecies, one much stronger than the more common species. I believe they’re supposed to be incredibly rare,” Sitri casually observed from the driver’s seat of her carriage. After flipping through a well-worn notebook, she let out a small sigh. “Just like I thought, there’s no warrant out for their arrest. Though I recently heard rumors of other nations being terrorized by bandits with monsters under their command. They say they’ve even routed professional armies.”

“S-So, Siddy, does that mean...”

“It’s hard to issue a warrant when there are no survivors, and rumors of people commanding monsters are the sort of thing you should usually disregard.”

“So that’s an unknown then. Madam.”

Targets typically had ranks assigned by the Explorers’ Association, but it was only natural that some still didn’t have a quest tagged to them. These unrecorded targets with no associated rank or reward, and very little available information, were known as “unknowns” among hunters.

“They’re definitely getting closer. Madam.”

The horde was still a ways off, but they should’ve been able to see the two hunter parties, especially given that some of the monsters were flying. From the sky, even their numbers would be immediately apparent. There was bloodlust in the wind. If they ran, the horde would most likely chase after them.

“Anssy is known by many and stands out,” Sitri remarked. “They’ve probably figured out who we are.”

“Sure, they outnumber us...” Lapis said calmly. “Hmph. We’ve got plenty of time to ready spells. We can handle this, but perhaps the Thousand Tricks would be so kind as to show us what he can do?”

Starlight not only consisted entirely of Magi, but they were all Noble Spirits, which had a natural talent for the arcane. Attacking from long distances was what they did best, and it was hard to think that many things could withstand their magic. And here they were, in a field with no obstructions.

“The human weakling told us to ‘take care of ’em.’ Madam,” Kris said while surreptitiously entering a spellcasting state of mind.

Lapis was taken aback. “He what?”

A cold wind suddenly blew over them. Kris couldn’t help but stare in amazement. A small tornado had formed on the field without her realizing it. It was filled with glimmering shards of ice, and grew larger and larger as it moved across the ground towards its target.

The tornado was a wide area offensive water spell; there was no need to ask who had cast it. The members of Starlight were all adept with water and wind spells, but none of them were this quick to strike. Kris and Lapis hadn’t even finished their conversation.

With wide eyes, Lapis looked at Lucia. “You cast a spell this far out?”

“C-Culling numbers is my job, you see...” she explained.

“Lucy, Lizzy hasn’t even started running yet.”

Sure, most spells were indeed meant to be used at a distance, but they still had optimal ranges. Too far out, and their efficacy started to drop off. Not even Starlight would attack when the enemy was still so far out.

Kris had previously seen this spell, Hailstorm, back when the Church of the Radiant Spirit was trying to break Marin’s Lament. However, what Lucia had just cast was different—it had been customized for ultralong distances. Last time, the tornado became enormous in a matter of seconds, but this one was growing more gradually. In other words, the Magus that was Lucia Rogier customized her spells with long-range battles in mind.

Lucia, I know there’s an advantage to striking first, but we aren’t even certain these are bandits.

Kicking up billowing clouds of dust, the monsters’ ranks were thrown into chaos by the tornado. Though Hailstorm typically wasn’t a spell with a terribly wide radius, this one had already grown so large that it obstructed their view of the charging horde. Growing so large only reduced its power further, but if whittling down the enemy’s strength was the goal, then you couldn’t ask for a better spell.

In an instant, the bandits were swallowed up by the tornado. Black droplets were mixed in among the glittering ice.

“Can’t really jump in when that’s out there from the get-go,” Liz muttered with a sigh. “It’ll tear my skin up.”

“Lucy had to learn that spell because you and Luke always charge in immediately!” Sitri argued. “And since she’s had to use it so much, she’s only gotten better with it.”

“It’s a Magus’s right to attack from a distance!” Lucia added.

“Still, you didn’t have to learn one that would last so damn long...”

The members of Grieving Souls bickered without any hint of tension. Perhaps burning through the last of its mana, the Hailstorm began to shrink rapidly. Surprisingly, the bandits were still in formation. They retained about half their numbers, but if anything, it was shocking they hadn’t lost more. The centipede at the front was clearly made of stern stuff, as it was just fine. What was left of the horde began to move once again. Not only that, they were faster than before.

“Ah, some survived—”

Before Sitri could finish her sentence, Lucia immediately shouted, “Hailstorm! Hailstorm!”

“Again?!”

Two silver tornadoes appeared, and just like the last time, they grew bigger as they tore across the field. With their speed and breadth, seeing them coming wasn’t going to make evading them any easier.

After unleashing three large spells, Lucia wasn’t even short of breath. Her mana pool was something to be feared. However, using powerful spells took a mental toll. She must have been trained on the border of life and death if she could do three major casts in such a short period yet remain so composed. Was she planning to go to war or something? There weren’t many situations that called for ultrawide area attack spells.

“Let’s go, T!” Liz said with a grunt. “This keeps up, Lucy’s gonna get them all before we get our chance!”

“Wha?! O-Okay, Lizzy!”

Liz let out a piercing cry, which was followed by a harsh gust of wind. With thunderous footsteps that shook the earth, Ansem followed after the mentor and her apprentice.

A shocked member of Starlight held a hand over her mouth and whispered, “What brutality. So these are humans...”

“Perhaps this is exactly what we lack,” Lapis replied with a snort. “The Spiritstone was in the imperial capital. If we had searched with the same fervor, perhaps we could have obtained it.”

“I don’t think that’s right,” Eliza said, an unreadable expression on her face.

Lapis narrowed her eyes when she heard this. She didn’t like that she had been beaten to the punch, but probably thought it’d be disgraceful to show any spite. She clapped her hands and said, “We won’t fall behind! Kris, let’s move!”

“Huh?! A-As you command!”

Hearing her orders, Starlight began incanting spells—lighting spells. Kris, the only one still unable to use lighting, began preparing a water spell while sprinting to catch up with the Grievers.

***

“H-Human weakling, you’ve gotta be kidding me! Sir!”

“Mmm. Ah. You guys done?”

There was a certain atmosphere endemic to battlefields. Screams and cries of rage. Scents, vibrations, and even lights. In five years of hunting, I had come across countless sensations, yet they all managed to remain unpleasant.

Still, even with all my experience, I had grown a bit accustomed to it. It helped that I had Starlight and just about everyone in Grieving Souls with me this time. The only thing this group couldn’t take on would be vaults Level 8 and upwards, or vicious bandits with insane amounts of mana material, and those sorts of foes didn’t go wandering around.

What I’m trying to say is that I had never felt so certain in my safety. Of course, this was also because we hadn’t even reached Yggdra; if I started tensing up this early on, I’d break down before it was over.

I sat upright, lifting my head from the pillow that had been stored inside Mimicky. I was still a bit sleepy, but that was far better than I usually felt on trips. Typically, we didn’t have the carriage space for me to bring a personal pillow, but that, however, changed thanks to Mimicky!

“Huh?” I rubbed my eyes and looked at Kris. “Did something happen?”

Kris looked pretty ragged. Though she didn’t have any conspicuous wounds, she was covered in a thin layer of dirt, and her hair was a mess, like she had barreled into a storm. Except I didn’t think I had been sleeping that long.

Seeing my look of confusion, she started to tremble. “Human weakling, get out here. Sir.”

Seeing that I might as well, I got up and poked my head out of the carriage. What greeted me was a mountain of monster corpses and a scorched field. Even travelers from other lands praised Zebrudia for its level roads, but what I saw didn’t bear any resemblance.

Oh god. This is terrible.

Exiting the carriage, I grimaced at the sight of the corpses. There were all kinds of dead things, the most common being some sort of black crustacean that were about the same size as a human. Their gnarled limbs were sporadically thrust into the ground like gravemarkers. There were other corpses more familiar, such as orcs, and chunks of flesh that didn’t ring any bells. The fight must’ve been pretty intense if it left behind something like this. It was pretty natural that Kris was pissed that I had slept through the whole thing.

My eyes widened when I noticed the small scorches by the carriage. “Oh? The carriage got hit as well? Did lightning leave these marks? Oh man...”

The Grieving Souls’ carriage was specially built to be invulnerable to lightning, which hit us more often than not.

Man, not many monsters can use lightning. If that horde included monsters that could throw bolts, well, I’m glad I was asleep.

As I nodded to myself, Kris looked to the side and said, “That, uh, that wasn’t the enemy. That was us.”

“Hm?! How come?”

“M-More importantly, Liz and friends left this mess to us while they went off to chase the enemy! Sir!”

“What?! That’s ridiculous.”

Sure, it looks like it was a tough battle, but with her speed, Liz never lets anyone flee.

I heard a clank and turned to see Sitri crawling out from the shadow of the corpse heap. Like Kris, she was covered in dirt. In her arms was a wide sword with blue and gold embellishments.

“S-So you’re up!” she said with a cough. “Good morning, Krai.”

Ignoring her surroundings, she gave me a blossoming smile. I had a lot I wanted to ask, but that smile threw me off before I could open my mouth.

I cleared my throat. “Oh, morning. It looks like you guys had a rough time out here. Where’s Killiam?”

“I sent him off with Lizzy. We may not have taken any real damage, but they were tougher than I anticipated. While they were no-names, given their numbers, strength, and that they kept moving after being hit by Lucy’s spells, then I’d say they must be around Level 7.”

That caught me off guard. There were plenty of bandits and secret organizations these days, but only the biggest ones reached such a high level. To put things into perspective, that was the same tier as Ark and Arnold. More importantly, though, if Sitri said they were no-names, that meant they were humans, right? They had been shouting about bandits, but the corpses in that mound belonged to monsters, so I was sure that’s what had attacked us.

“I can’t imagine Lizzy and the others will be able to finish them off,” Sitri continued. “Perhaps they could if Luke were with them, but some of those monsters they commanded were quite powerful. They mentioned primevals...”

“Oh? Primevals?”

But hold on. Commanding monsters? Isn’t that supposed to be impossible?

For the time being, I furrowed my brow and nodded like I was some expert or something.

“Indeed,” Sitri said, the smile not extending past her lips. “One of them introduced herself. The Sovereign Descendant, the Hand that Guides the Manabloods, Adler the Monster Lord. Adler Dizraad of Nocturnal Parade. So she said.”

Monster Lord. Adler the Monster Lord, huh? Nocturnal Parade doesn’t sound familiar either.

Still, while people in every era and every corner of the planet called themselves things like Monster Lord, you could always be sure they were up to no good. Most of them weren’t much, but looking at the battlefield they left behind, I was starting to think that might not be the case this time. Just my luck that this had to happen on the way to Yggdra.

I cleared my throat, turned to Kris, then Sitri. “Let’s call off the chase. Once the others get back, we’re making for Yggdra. We don’t have time to mess around, not while Luke is still a statue.”

Liz and the rest returned about an hour later. It looked like Sitri was right about those bandits knowing what they were doing. I only needed to glance at them to tell that it had been a brutal fight; some green liquid with an odd scent stuck to Liz’s wristguards and Ansem’s armor. Tino was absolutely drenched. Lapis and the rest of Starlight all looked fairly worn out.

Sitting atop Mimicky, I greeted them with a shake of my head. Tino looked like a puppy left out in the rain when she saw me.

“Some insects’ bodily fluids got on us,” Lucia explained with a sigh. “I did what I could to wash it off, but I can’t get rid of the scent. I’m assuming one of Siddy’s potions will do the trick...”

“Oh my, how terrible! Here, T.”

Sitri grinned and gleefully peppered Tino with some mysterious, viscous potion. I knew her potions always worked, but it still hurt to watch.

When Liz removed her wristguards, I saw that her hands were shaking, which was very rare for her. “Shit, I’ve never seen a centipede monster like that,” she muttered. “I know insectoids don’t go down easily, but that thing was tough as a rock and kept kicking even after I crushed its head and tied it up.”

“Mmm,” Ansem groaned.

“It was unaffected by lightning and cold air.” Lapis had lived much longer than any of us and knew far more about monsters, yet even she was scowling. “I’ve heard that some primeval monsters have unbelievable vitality, though I never thought I’d encounter one.”

“There’s nothing we can do,” Eliza said, not the only one sapped of motivation.

What the hell are those bandits if they made first-rate hunters talk like this?

Then, much to my surprise, I realized they hadn’t brought anything back with them. “Hm? Don’t tell me you didn’t take any trophies? When you had almost the entire party?”

I know Sitri had suggested they might not be able to finish them off, but it wasn’t often they chased down bandits and came back empty-handed.

“Yeah. I’m real sorry,” Liz said. “I guess we just aren’t equipped for what they had. Though we might have gotten them if Luke were here. A lot of them were tough, not just the centipede. While we were struggling with them, those guys riding on top got away.”

“I’m sorry, Master,” Tino added, drenched and disheartened.

You’ve gotten sturdy lately, haven’t you?

“I see,” I said. “Well, it’s no big deal.”

Bandits were nothing but trouble, and the stronger they were, the more disagreeable they tended to be. Though I didn’t think it would happen this time, bandits would often come back for more, simply because we failed to finish them off once.

“Brother?!” Lucia looked bewildered. “How can you sound so arrogant when you didn’t do anything?!”

“Yeah, she’s right! Sir!” Kris added, waving her arms.

I mean, could you blame me? There’s no way I was gonna fight a giant centipede. I didn’t even want to look at it. I’ll be honest, I had a particular distaste for insectoid monsters. Slimy bugs that made creaky sounds and didn’t fear death had given me hell plenty of times already.

Liz, looking deflated, hastily continued, “B-But it’s fine! I’m pretty sure they won’t fall unless we bring ’em down!” Did she think I was looking at her funny or something? “I’ve never seen most of those monsters before, and I don’t think most Level 5s or 6s could take them on.”

Does this mean we really shouldn’t have let them get away?

Well, it’s fine. I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear anything.

“That reminds me, what was that sword you had, Sitri?”

“Ahh. One of the bandits was a Swordsman with fairly high mana material,” she told me. “Lizzy managed to take him down before he could adjust to her speed. I’m sure if Luke had been there, he would’ve wanted to fight that young man. The wielder himself was recovered in the chaos, but I managed to get his sword. So I thought you might like it!”

Liz was fast even for a Thief. With that and her strength, she could often run around Swordsmen, known for their low endurance.

If Sitri was able to get the sword, shouldn’t she have captured the owner instead? Eh, I probably shouldn’t say that out loud.

“Ha ha ha, but we did have a Swordsman,” I said, patting the Luke statue. “Too bad, Luke. It sounds like that was a real tough one back there.”

“Krai Baby...”

“Brother...”

I’m just joking.

If Liz and Sitri were both wishing he had been there, then this really was a bad time for him to be stone. Normally, he’d go charging out there without anyone saying anything, and before he could be sure what he was up against.

“Hmph. It’ll be more work, but we should report this to the Explorers’ Association,” Lapis said, though she didn’t look at all happy about it. “Though we reduced their numbers a bit, they’re too atypical to let go. Not just anyone can find primeval monsters, much less command them.”

So she wanted to report this? I could understand why, and knew that it was the right thing to do, but I had other ideas. If we gave the report, I was all but certain that I would be the one asked to eliminate those bandits. I could barely believe that we had run into an enemy that this party couldn’t finish off. Next time, they would be familiar with our tactics, and they were definitely capable of developing countermeasures. This was a job for Ark.

“As Sitri already stated, Yggdra is our priority,” I said. “We’ll send the Explorers’ Association a letter or something.”

“Understood. I’ll pass the message along at the next town we reach.”

I could always count on Sitri. Except last time, when she had been out of whack. I thought this was a pretty good deal, but Kris looked at me like I was insane.

“Not to say I’m only just now realizing it, but you really don’t do anything unless shit’s at the brink. Sir.”

“Well, excuse me. I’ll have you know, I’m not the usual Krai Andrey.”

After all, I’ve got all my Relics on standby. For instance...

I called Mimicky over and pulled out a long chain. It was a Relic, long and rusted, with thick links to which dozens of handcuffs were attached. Being constructed from mana material, Relics weren’t affected by physical phenomena; the rust was purely aesthetic. This piece was known as Dominant Authority, and it was one of my most intimidating items. Kris looked at it with wide eyes.

“It’s a powerful chain-type Relic that restrains the spirit of anyone bound by it, sealing off their will to resist,” I explained. “With this, even a bandit can be handled with ease.”

“H-Human weakling, why do you have that? Sir?”

Sealing off someone’s spirit to fight rather than their strength was a devious feature, and the chain had looks to match. I had never used it genuinely, only to test its powers, but I still thought it would come in handy against mana material-filled bandits that couldn’t be bound with normal handcuffs. As a bonus, once the chain was active, you could force anyone bound to it to walk. Thus, the name “Dominant Authority.”

Noticing Kris’s terror, I grinned at her. That was when Liz furrowed her brow and said, “Krai Baby, tell me if I’ve got this wrong, but don’t you need all hundred and six, all fifty-three sets, connected to someone for it to even lock? It’s defective, right?”

“Catching fifty-three people all at once does sound pretty rough,” I conceded. “And so would getting the cuffs on all of them. Not to mention our enemies here are pretty few in numbers.”

“Defective is an awfully rude thing to say,” Sitri said thoughtfully. She always took my side. “If you also bind their legs, you’ll only need half as many people.”

If we did that, we couldn’t really force them to walk, meaning we’d have to try to carry them.

“Besides, Leader, do you realize how hard it is to take someone alive?” Lucia said. “Those people were trying to kill us!”

Ansem grunted in agreement.

My friends, who all knew how much I had shelled out for this chain, all had a complaint or two. Of course they did. If this Relic worked in a practical manner, it never would have gone up for sale! If this thing only required, say, ten people or so, then it easily could have sold for ten times what I’d bought it for.

Here, if we don’t have enough people, we can just make up the difference with Kris and whoever else.

No?

Kris looked at me almost like she pitied me. I guess that was better than the looks of disdain I was getting from the other members of Starlight.

“Human weakling. Don’t you have any Relics that might help during a battle?” she asked.

I didn’t mind if they thought I was a fool, but my Relics did no wrong. I had to redress this slander.

“W-Wait. Hold on. I have plenty of other intere—useful Relics. Here, I have these masks that grow big and float around your body.”

“Cae. My legs are telling me to run,” Eliza said, sounding dispirited.

We hadn’t spent any considerable amount of time together lately, but things were bad if even she was growing wary. Still, I didn’t have any Relics that might be useful in combat. It wasn’t that I was weak, well, I was, but the point was that my friends and foes were just obscenely strong.

Kris sighed. “All right, I get it.” She patted my shoulder. “We can talk about this in the carriage, so let’s get a move on. If we stay like this, we’ll be here until sundown. Sir.”

“Nah, I don’t wanna do that. It’s too cramped in there to show off my Relics!”

***

A group gathered in an open field a few dozen kilometers from a Zebrudian highway. There was nothing to block their view, and not a soul as far as they could see. However, should someone discover them, it was unlikely they would approach this group.

They had gray giants the size of small hills, shimmering black insects as big as humans, horses with brilliant gold wings, wispy mirage-like skeletons that took a careful eye to spot, and a massive crimson centipede that shone in the sunlight. With these and many other monsters that couldn’t be found near the imperial capital, they were a true anomaly.

Though they were called monsters, they were living creatures like any other; if a variety of them came together, a hierarchy would form. Typically, having so many different monsters in one place would only result in chaos. That they were calm was proof that someone was maintaining their unity.

Bringing monsters and mythical beasts from all over the world under their command, Nocturnal Parade was an unusual group. A girl wearing brilliant white furs brushed her hand against the thick epidermis of a large giant—a dark cyclops. This was Uuno Silba, a Holy Spirit Master.

“It looks like everyone without magic resistance was killed,” she said, pursing her lips. “Zorky is super durable, and even he’s wounded! He can take on ten normal hunters.”

They had fought and then retreated. They had been forced to leave behind those who could no longer move. While checking the status of those still alive, Uuno glanced at one of her comrades.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting high-level spells from such a long distance. We came aaall this way in search of monsters after hearing rumors of some prophecy, and it hasn’t at all been worth it. Quint was so confident, yet that Thief knocked him out with one blow, and even made off with his sword.”

“Sh-Shut it! I didn’t think they’d charge through those spells to get to us!” Hearing Uuno’s inflammatory words, the Swordsman responded with clear displeasure. This was Quint, a young man in armor made from the carapaces of insectoid monsters. “Adler, we only lost the small fry. The generals and Guiding Hands are all alive. What should we do?”

That question was directed at a woman with suntanned skin and clothes fashioned from black dragon leather. Though she was thin, her sharp gaze and the spear in her hand, obtained from a treasure vault boss, both gave her the air of a wild animal. The leader of Nocturnal Parade, Adler Dizraad, let out a small sigh.

“I was not expecting them to attack without even attempting to bargain,” she said. There was something alluring about the voice that came from those lips painted black with lipstick. “After Bandit Squad Barrel was destroyed, nobody’s gone after that bunch. So that was Grieving Souls? Their famous leader was nowhere to be seen.”

“That’s right,” Uuno said. “Besides, we made that long journey just to find that the prophecy is over. Grieving Souls was never our objective in the first place!”

Adler smiled wryly at Uuno’s frankness. “I thought we’d give them a go since we had the chance, but that ran a pretty high price. I was expecting to at least strike first.” She rubbed the crimson surface of the astrovorous centipede, the mythical beast she sat atop.

Those vicious gales laden with icy fragments were practically natural disasters. Monsters they had honed through crushing armies and hunters alike had been blown away like leaves on the wind. The first attack had taken out most of the ones without magic resistance, and the follow-ups released for good measure put half the survivors a few steps from death. If not for their mana material and protective gear, the Guiding Hands wouldn’t have fared any better.

Of course, the other members of that party were no joke as well. That included the Immutable (whose presence proved that it was Grieving Souls), that Thief, and the Noble Spirits, who attacked one of their own carriages for some reason.

The astrovore, a creature that had eaten up numerous high-level hunters in the past, was shredded in multiple places. The damage had been healed thanks to its high regenerative powers, but Adler had been shocked to see something easily break through the defenses of her beloved astrovore. The centipede had armor tougher than steel.

They were in Zebrudia, a land that had produced no small number of high-level hunters. That was Grieving Souls, a party consisting only of hunters with titles and a history of exterminating big names in the underworld. Though Adler felt she comprehended both those facts, she had to admit her expectations had been exceeded.

Adler Dizraad was of royal blood, the descendant of an ancient ruler. Though she hadn’t brought her full might to bear, she still couldn’t believe her forces had been so easily overwhelmed.

“If we give up, then that’s that. My herd deserves better.”

“Numbers are veeery important, Adler,” Uuno said, “especially when you’re up against a large force. Though I guess that changes when you’re fighting a freak Magus that can use those super giant spells in succession.”

“Doesn’t Zebrudia have a ton of dragons?” Quint said. “Like, I know ‘dragons’ can mean all sorts of creatures, but we just have to tame the strongest one out there.”

“And wheeere are we going to find something like that? Last time, we climbed a snowy mountain all for nothing, and I have no desire to do it again.”

Adler’s band had traveled from their distant homeland to Zebrudia in order to tame new monsters and strengthen their armies. But when bringing in new monsters, there was still a need to be particular about your selection. The larger a herd got, the slower they moved and the more you had to worry about food.

Even putting aside long-term considerations, blindly increasing numbers was still a bad idea when gathering comrades. A large herd ran a greater risk of being discovered and attacked. While Adler was confident they could beat a professional army, even a pestilent bug could be a source of irritation.

“It’s a real shame,” she said. “I was hoping we might get our hands on whatever menace appeared in the imperial capital.”

There had been rumors of some fiend that knights and hunters had failed to handle. A unit that could take down a swarm of warriors would be worth its weight in gold for Adler. But now that it was gone, there was nothing they could do. Zebrudia had a number of thick ley lines, which were necessary to create powerful monsters. She was sure they would be able to make up for what they had lost fighting Grieving Souls.

Suddenly, she recalled an earlier conversation. The astrovore she sat atop trembled, making a low hissing sound.

“Come to think of it, I hear Grieving Souls have a genuine love for battle, and often fight tough monsters for the sake of it. They say they’ve slain a number of named mutants and potential ones.”

“Hm? What do you mean by potential ones?” Quint’s eyes widened. He liked to tame sword-wielding monsters, which were extraordinarily rare. “If they just have the potential, that means not many people know about them, right? If there’s no bounty, then there’s no reason to slay them.”

Treasure hunting was just another job. If the risk didn’t match the reward, then it was only normal not to act. If a monster posed a mortal threat, then only a maniac would attempt to kill it before a bounty was placed.

“That’s why she said they have a genuine love for battle,” Uuno insisted. “Lady Adler, what do we do?”

Her innocent voice drew out a sigh from Adler. While they had found that Grieving Souls was stronger than their reputation suggested, that didn’t mean they had lost yet. The astrovore was fine, along with some of Adler’s other top monsters.

Looking at Uuno and Quint, she smiled. “We can’t say we’ve been beaten without giving them a proper fight, can we? They looked like they were in a real hurry, and I’ve got a personal interest in them. Let’s see what this land’s hunters have to offer.”

She pulled out a very distinctive violet hand mirror. It was adorned with garish wings and had an eye engraved on the back. What appeared to be a simple tool was actually a monster known to only a few. With no fighting powers or survivability, this odd specimen was likely made by some higher race.

“Manifest mirror, I, Adler, Lord of the Manabloods, command you, show me the Thousand Tricks!”

Receiving the order, the eye wriggled around. The surface of the mirror shone, and the image rippled for a moment. Adler could barely believe what the mirror was showing her. There was a young man with black hair and an unremarkable face. He didn’t have that particular aura she saw in all powerful people; he looked like any ordinary person. Yet that wasn’t what surprised her.

Looking over Adler’s shoulder, Uuno’s cheek twitched. “Are th-those monsters?” she asked fearfully.

The mirror’s image showed the Thousand Tricks riding atop a treasure chest, guiding it like a carriage driver. Numerous masks floated around him like satellites, while the members of Grieving Souls they had encountered earlier sighed with exasperation.

Those were monsters. They must be monsters. Adler found herself saying “must be” because even with all her expertise on monsters, she had never seen or heard of anything like them. A treasure chest capable of dynamic movement, and masks that floated about protectively.

The last time they had found a kindred spirit was Quint.

“Could he be a Guiding Hand?!”

Guiding Hands were people with the special power to subjugate and control monsters. Since antiquity, their extraordinary powers had made them targets of ostracism. Even now, those born like this were fated to be treated as enemies of the world. Though Guiding Hands were very real, the existence of their powers was kept a secret due to their inherent danger, and very few people even knew the term “Guiding Hand.”

“But Lady Adler,” Uuno said, “he doesn’t have the same presence as we.”

Whether they were aware of it or not, all Guiding Hands had a distinct presence. However, this man did not. Yet at the same time, the fact that he didn’t try to hide his powers suggested immense confidence. Uuno and Quint had been different. Until Adler discovered them, they didn’t know what their powers meant or how to use them. They had been resigned to living like weaklings.

But this man, the Thousand Tricks, was different. He had a perfect grasp of his potential. Adler had a strong premonition—even if they chose not to pursue Grieving Souls here, it was inevitable that they would one day greet them as enemies.

All of a sudden, the Thousand Tricks looked up slightly, his eyes meeting theirs. The manifest mirror only reflected distant sights; there was no way he could possibly be making eye contact. Still, Adler’s heart skipped a beat, a vague fervor welling up inside her. A smile formed on her face. A monster lord of similar strength, with powerful minions. She had never so much as imagined that such a person might exist. No doubt, this would be the strongest foe she had ever fought. But Adler walked a path she had chosen, knowing that it made her an enemy to mankind.

“Oooh, I get it,” Uuno said. “Inside that armor, the Immutable’s a monster. I always had trouble thinking such a big person could exist.”

“Maybe the one that hit me is also a monster,” Quint added. “No way a human would charge into one of those tornadoes.”

Neither of them sounded nervous. Apparently, their terror had only lasted a moment.

Victory should be possible for them if the Thousand Tricks really had as few monsters as it seemed. However, for Adler, choosing not to pursue had never been an option to begin with. As she licked her lips, the Thousand Tricks averted his gaze, almost as if to say he wasn’t interested. Watching him, she whispered a quiet declaration.

“There’s no need for two lords. Your monsters will be mine.”

Chapter Three: The Godtree Guideway

After five days spent riding in carriages and walking through towns, Eliza brought us to a large forest. This sea of trees rested at the base of a mountain range that formed the southern border of Zebrudia.

The map suggested it didn’t cover much land, yet the verdant swaths of trees seemed intent on denying any human trespassers. Sure enough, there were no roads in these woods. While there were gaps just wide enough for the carriages to get through, they rocked and bounced on the bumpy ground. If not for Perfect Vacation, I would’ve been anything but perfectly comfortable.

We had also traversed mountains during our vacation, and while they were old, there had been roads. These woods didn’t look like they’d be as treacherous as those mountains, but I was sure there would still be a fair number of monsters. Ley lines generally ran through forests and along mountains. Because mana material enhanced creatures, places like this were dangerous to some degree or another.

Between an old road with a reputation for peril, and an unsullied forest with the occasional monster, which do you think is dangerous? The answer: they’re both dangerous!

Getting out of the carriage, I looked around, making sure to stay hidden in Ansem’s shadow. It then occurred to me that we were still within the borders of the empire. Did that mean Yggdra was inside the empire? They said a gargantuan tree, the World Tree, was in Yggdra. Where could that be?

I looked this way and that for the World Tree when I heard Tino ask Eliza something. Running alongside the carriage, and breathing heavily, she said, “Umm, Ellie, is Yggdra inside Zebrudia? We haven’t left the empire yet...”

Instead of Eliza, she got a very acerbic response from Lapis. “Hmph, a foolish question. Yggdra rarely lets in even other Noble Spirits. It would never be situated within the realm of humans.”

Though clearly miffed, Tino didn’t say anything. Seeing as I had been thinking the same thing, I couldn’t just leave her hanging.

“No, I think it’s a good question,” I said. “Yggdra’s a land of legends after all. It’s perfectly normal not to know where it is.”

“Human weakling,” Kris interjected, furrowing her brow, “the way you said that... Just how much do you know? Sir?”

What? I don’t know anything. That’s why I said it’s perfectly normal not to know!

“Yggdra is not in the empire,” Eliza said in her usual lazy tone. “However, a path to Yggdra is. It’s a path that can only be entered with an invitation or a denizen of Yggdra to guide you.”

“The Godtree Guideway,” Lapis added. “Facing war after war, the imperial family of Yggdra invented a new means of transportation that utilized the power of the ley lines. It’s an invisible road that can be found in any forest inhabited by Noble Spirits.”

“Utilizes the ley lines,” Sitri said with admiration. “That’s certainly the sort of arcane ingenuity I’d expect from a land of spellcasters. Yet in the empire, research involving the power of the ley lines is strictly prohibited by law.”

A path only available to the chosen, is it? Like something out of an adventure tale.

Forests were dangerous places that I never recalled with fondness, but this one might be different if our safety was guaranteed.

“We haven’t had a picnic in a long time,” I said. “That might be fun.”

“As a security measure against intruders, the Godtree Guideway teems with monsters and mythical beasts of peerless might,” Lapis said. “There are monsters extinct anywhere else, and holy beasts that are exceedingly rare in the outside world. Remember, the guideway exists above ley lines. These creatures aren’t what you’ll find in any old treasure vault. Of course, it’s my understanding that we should be fine if we have a guide to show us the right way.”

Oh, that’s awful. Why didn’t you say so earlier? I wouldn’t have gone and suggested a picnic.

Liz’s eyes shone when she heard what Lapis was saying. She must’ve still been in a foul mood over the Monster Lord or whoever getting away. “Hmmm. Sounds like a good time, right, Krai Baby?” she said. “Maybe we should go the wrong way on purpose?”

“Well, we don’t have Luke with us...”

“That just means more for the rest of us. Isn’t that right, T?”

You have some insane ideas.

Though there was a possibility that Luke would be a statue forever if we didn’t hurry, Liz didn’t appear at all concerned about it. I mean, it was Luke, after all.

“Now then, Vagabond,” Lapis said. “You’ve already made the necessary arrangements, haven’t you?”

“Naturally,” Eliza said. Glancing down at her long legs, she looked like something was bothering her.

I’m putting my faith in you. Though I guess now that we’ve come this far, turning around isn’t really an option.

Liz and Sitri were both exuding anticipation. While Lucia appeared calm, as her brother, I could tell she was excited. Since I couldn’t make it back to the imperial capital by myself, I was stuck with them come hell or high water. Tino would probably go with me if I headed back, but that didn’t solve the problem of the Monster Lord.

Eliza removed a bag hanging from her waist and turned it over in her palm. Out came six stones, all with rainbow hues. Long and narrow, they were wrapped in leather cords. Eliza handed everyone else in Grieving Souls a stone and kept one for herself.

“These are Cynosures,” she said as she handed me one. “We should have a guide, but as long as you have your Cynosure, you won’t get lost on the way to Yggdra. Or so I’m told.”

Ohh, so this stone will guide us? I wonder how it works.

While I blinked and listened absentmindedly, Liz held up the leather cord of hers. The gemstone slowly rotated.

“Is this like a compass?” she asked.

“That’s correct.”

So that was it. Sharp as ever, Liz. They definitely weren’t magnetic, though I wasn’t so obtuse as to point out such a technicality. I had a few Relics that could indicate paths through some mysterious power, so it wasn’t unheard of.

“So these are the keys I’ve heard rumors of,” Lapis said, furrowing her brow. “Do you not have any for us?”

“These only show the way,” Eliza answered. “If you follow us, you won’t get lost.”

I was getting the impression that the road to Yggdra was simpler than I thought.

“Those would have been granted to us if we hadn’t agreed to cooperate with that knight captain,” a member of Starlight muttered, staring directly at one of the Cynosures.

“Mmm, I’m not sure any of you would have been able to sway that Noble Spirit queen,” I said. “Wouldn’t you say?”

“Wh-What did you say?!”

The Starlight member looked indignant. I mean, luck was half the reason Eliza had succeeded in the first place. With their pride, a Noble Spirit would never employ a plan that involved claiming a human to be their mate. Eliza only managed it because she was the sort to march to the beat of her own drum.

Now that I think about it, isn’t it pretty rude that the queen was obliterated just because Eliza said a human was her mate?

I turned to Eliza, hoping she would back me up, but she just looked perplexed. Looking at them, I realized that while Noble Spirits were supposed to be a tight-knit bunch, I didn’t see any of that between Eliza and Starlight. It didn’t look like they were on bad terms or anything, but I didn’t want to drive any potential wedges between them.

With a small sigh, I held out the compass I had just received. “Well, there’s no point in fighting about this. Here, I’ll give you mine.”

I did it in good faith, yet Kris looked completely taken aback. Her cohorts behind her all looked at me with strained expressions. Given their beauty, there was a certain pressure from the scary looks they gave me. But I was used to earning the ire of everything under the sun. If anything, their slender figures lessened the impact.

“You’re really good at kicking people when they’re down. Sir.”

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Thousand Tricks!” Lapis snapped. “Don’t humiliate us! We don’t want your pity. Those gems prove you’ve earned the recognition of the imperial family. There would be no meaning in giving one to us!”

I wasn’t doing it out of pity or anything. It was just that I’d probably never use this compass again, and we had a total of six. But if they wanted to say no, that was that. Putting the stone in my pocket, I clapped the dust off my hands. “If you change your mind, just say so.”

“Ugh. Vagabond, where’s this guide you mentioned?!”

“In the forest.”

“Then let’s meet up with them! We’re going to get the Protean Sword back!”

Lapis’s cool voice sent a shiver up my spine. They were really pumped up for this. That was when I got the feeling I probably wouldn’t get another chance to bring this up. I snapped my fingers and had Mimicky cough up a Relic.

“That’s right, speaking of Cynosures, I’ve got this!”

“Mmm. Is that a baseplate compass? Sir?”

The Relic I had pulled out was a baseplate compass that fit in the palm of my hand. Every bit of it, from the needle to the plate, was made of black stone. A strange red pattern was carved into the needle. Sometimes, a person’s sense of direction wasn’t much help in navigating high-level treasure vaults. Compass Relics, which had the potential to show the right path inside vaults, were in very high demand.

Liz scowled at the Relic I proudly held up. “Wha?! Krai Baby, you still have that?”

Sitri looked uncomfortable, and Lucia was rubbing her head like she had a headache. It was most likely for the best that I couldn’t see Ansem’s face as well.

Kris looked at it with wide eyes. “A compass Relic,” she said with needless intensity. “Is that one of those famous compasses that always show where to go?”

I knew I could count on the Noble not-weakling to bite.

The term “compass Relic” actually encompassed a few different varieties. There were simple ones that showed the cardinal directions, extremely useful ones that broadly indicated the right way to go, and ones that pointed to specific items or places, the value of which changed radically depending on what they pointed to. But what I had was one of a kind.

With the needle still spinning, I placed the compass in Kris’s hand and grinned at her. “Heh, not quite. This does the opposite.”

“What? Th-The opposite?”

“This is Fool’s Direction. Misfortune awaits in whatever direction it points.”

A number of compass Relics existed, yet scant few of them showed which way was dangerous. With that sort of technology available to them, most people wouldn’t make something like this, but instead, an item that pointed to safety. Therefore, indicating the direction of monsters, phantoms, and other dangers made this Relic a unique one.

“Wh-What are you going to use that for? Sir?” Kris asked in a shrill voice.

Tino paled and looked the other way.

“Nothing really. I just had it on me,” I replied.

I just wanted to show off a rare Relic. I should add that the reason my battle-loving friends all looked at it with distaste was that it had caused all sorts of hell for us when I first tried it out.

“Hrmm. I-I can see it serving a purpose, depending on how you use it. Sir. You just have to avoid where it’s pointing.”

She was really trying to have my back on this.

The next moment, the spinning needle came to a dead halt. It pointed in the direction we had been heading all this time.

“H-Hey. Sir. Does this mean...”

“Well, let’s not worry about it too much. You can’t be a hunter if you always steer clear of danger.”

“Ah...”

I took the compass Relic back. To come clean, there was a reason I didn’t take this with me whenever I went out. You see, no matter what I did, it always pointed in the direction I wanted to go. Besides, this Relic only indicated directions, not distances. “Misfortune” could still refer to a range of magnitudes and qualities, so nothing would ever get done if I always obeyed this compass. Heck, I was always unlucky, special compass or not.

“Cae, put that ominous thing away, and keep moving,” Eliza said uneasily, constantly checking the ground. “Until we reach the meetup point, we’ll be in dangerous territory.”

I see. So this Godtree Guideway thing is safe with a guide, but we won’t be safe until we’re there. Got it, got it.

From somewhere in the forest, I heard a bizarre scream that slightly resembled a child’s. I didn’t have to guess how this would go.

What a pain this was. Letting out a sigh of resignation, I said, “Still nothing worth my time. Kris, Lapis, take care of it. Oh, and refrain from lightning spells.”

While it had been a while since I had last worked with them, Starlight’s powers were far beyond what I recalled. Their strength had always been a well-known fact, but at the same time, they never went all out when fighting alongside humans. This time, however, they were giving it their all.

Not that they didn’t have aptitudes and pitfalls, but when it came to offensive power, I’d still say they were one of the best parties in First Steps. In this regard, they even surpassed Obsidian Cross, which had them beat in terms of average level. Bringing the firepower was what a party of Magi did best.

Lapis and her crew fended off wave after wave of monsters with absolute ease. Blades of wind and water flew through the trees, striking monsters with precision while leaving the forest unaltered. I thought Lucia could learn a thing or two from them, since she focused only on firepower and area of effect.

“You guys are really giving this your all,” I said.

“We won’t be putting ourselves in your debt,” Lapis answered grumpily.

I don’t think they’re their usual calm, collected selves.

Gathering up materials left behind, Sitri came up and poked my shoulder. “It would seem they aren’t too pleased they were excluded from the Spiritstone incident,” she said with glee. “It’s their fault for never trying to get on your good side.”

What’s this girl talking about? I never excluded them.

As the weakest, I generally stayed in the back during expeditions. Even with Ansem at the vanguard, no amount of Safety Rings would be enough to keep me from getting hurt. With that being the case, I naturally went to the rear, where the Magi were. Putting aside Sitri’s ideas, I guess Lapis was offering her support here to repay the debt (?) she owed me.

“Hit the ground, human!”

“If you’re a Level 8, don’t just bumble around, human!”

“You’re in the line of fire, human!”

In our vast world, I was pretty sure I was the only human to be defended by a ring of Noble Spirits. They were foulmouthed and firing off spells. Outside of Lapis and Kris, I don’t think the other members had ever talked to me like this since the first time we met.

“Honestly, what the hell are you all doing, trying to cajole him?!” Kris shouted at her party members, waving her arms in the air. “You’re not gonna get anywhere being so obvious about it! Quit it! I can’t bear to watch another second of this!”

Cajoling? Is that really what this is? They’re trying to cajole me?

Also, um, I don’t actually know the names of any of these people.

“Still,” Kris said between heavy breaths, “nothing good ever happens when I’m around you! Sir! We might be in a forest, but this is still an absurd number of monsters! You’re not doing this shit on purpose, are you?! Sir?!”

“You think so? It looks pretty normal to me.”

“You’re just numb to it!”

Kris’s face was completely red, probably because she had been casting spells while walking around. Magic burned through both mana and mental stamina. I could see similar looks of exhaustion on Lapis and the other Noble Spirits.

“Monsters are quite fond of you, Leader,” Lucia said with a sigh. She had been casting just as much as the others, yet showed none of their exhaustion.

If they’re fond of me, then shouldn’t they, I don’t know, not target me? They always go straight for me...

Standing at the front with Liz, Eliza turned back towards us. With her monster sensors constantly going off, exhaustion painted her face. “Let’s take...a small break. Everyone’s using too much magic.”

“You’re taking this real seriously, Ellie,” Liz commented. “Listen up, if you keep up that tension while traveling with Krai Baby, you’re gonna wear yourself out. There’s no point looking so far out when we’re gonna get attacked anyway!”

“Cae...” Eliza looked at me with those sleepy eyes of hers, but I had no idea what I was supposed to say.

Sitting atop Mimicky, I decided to call for a short break. Looking at the two parties, there was a stark contrast between us and Starlight. While they were sitting on the ground, we were all pretty spry.

Liz had taken Tino to scout up ahead, while Sitri and Lucia were sorting through the monster materials they had collected. For whatever reason, we found ourselves getting attacked a lot, meaning if breaks weren’t used to sort through the spoils, then a good portion would get left behind.

“Cae, I’m going ahead with them. Keep an eye out here,” Eliza said before heading off in the direction Liz and Tino had disappeared.

I’m not sure what you want me to do. My detection skills are in the negatives.

On the other hand, we had with us plenty of Noble Spirits, who were naturally good with magic and forestry. They all looked like they were on alert, so I saw nothing to worry about. Letting out a yawn, I found myself looking in the direction the Cynosure was indicating when I heard a sudden voice from behind.

“H-Human. Would you be willing to lend that to me?”

The trembling voice came from a girl in a hood. I didn’t know her name, nor did she look familiar, but I figured she must be part of Starlight. Her nervous gaze was directed at the slowly turning Cynosure.

See, I knew you’d want to borrow it. Honestly, Noble Spirits are way too proud.

“Of course I’d be willing to lend it to you. It’ll probably be of much more use to you than to me.”

I tossed the Cynosure, and the unknown girl frantically caught it, then bowed to me. Before I could say anything, she turned around and ran back down the way we came.

“Man, I get that you guys know your way around a forest, but going off on your own is still dangerous...”

What’s she doing turning around? Man, these Noble Spirits love their freedom just as much as Grieving Souls.

Looking down the road, a bit exasperated, Kris, tasked with making sure we were all okay, came up to me.

“You really do just kick back and relax no matter what’s going on. Sir.”

“Well, I’m used to this sort of stuff. More importantly, though, one of your members just ran off in that direction. Separating from the group like that can’t be safe.”

It wasn’t often I felt the need to point out someone else’s mistakes.

Hearing this, Kris blinked a few times before going over to check her party. “Hmm? Everyone’s there. What are you talking about? Sir?”

Huh?

***

Having successfully completed her mission, Uuno returned to Adler deep within the forest. The young girl handed Adler a mysteriously glowing gemstone, which she held up to eye level. A sigh of admiration escaped her lips. The strange stone wrapped in leather cords, the Cynosure, faced one direction and didn’t move from it.

“Good work, Uuno. So this is the Cynosure the Thousand Tricks was talking about...”

“I-I don’t believe it,” Uuno protested, pale as a ghost. “How could a famous hunter fail to realize that his group had suddenly gained a person?”

Adler responded with a shrug. She knew that they would need one of these keys or whatever they were to do what they set out to do. If there really were a place prowling with holy beasts and primordial creatures, then that would aid their goals.

By keeping a watch on the Thousand Tricks, they were able to tail him. However, that was proving meaningless, since the hunters were taking down all the monsters before Nocturnal Parade could get to them. In other words, they needed to figure out a way to get ahead of them. This all made sense. What didn’t make sense was the idiotic plan they had employed.

Adler licked her lips. “But it’s worked so far, hasn’t it?” she chided Uuno. “Maybe smart people are more susceptible to dumb ploys than you might expect.”

“S-Says the one who refused to do it herself!”

“Uuno, only you can make a clean getaway. Your holy spirit’s Dimensional Submersion is perfect for making an escape.”

“That doesn’t do her any good if they get her before she submerges,” Quint said with a snort. He was sitting nearby, legs folded. “That’s not a normal hunter, that’s a Level 8.”

Uuno threw off her hood, revealing a face scrunched up and glaring at Quint.

The designation of Level 8 was a significant one. As a commander of monsters, Uuno made sure to stay in shape, but she was not fit for battle. Meanwhile, a degree of battle competency was required for any hunter to reach a high level. While she didn’t care to admit it, Quint was right. Without any fighting monsters, she would be no match for the Thousand Tricks. Well, even if she did have fighting monsters, Uuno probably wouldn’t be able to win on her own.

While they were up against a fellow Guiding Hand, this one was of a different caliber than they were. He rode a treasure chest they had never seen, and showed no interest in trying to subjugate any of the monsters that came at him. If anyone from Nocturnal Parade had been in his position, they would’ve been all too glad to incorporate those monsters in their armies. No, even beyond that, this man was wrapped in enigmas.

Adler furrowed her brow and looked closely at Uuno. “I guess I’d be asking too much if I said you should’ve taken the Relic too. Though I would’ve liked to have it.”

“Hooow was I supposed to take that?! Just snagging that gemstone required a miracle! Besides, if that thing shows the way to misfortune, then I imagine it would direct us away from monsters!”

The man had removed several mysterious items from that treasure chest. He was so unfazed by incoming monsters that he didn’t even bother to join the fight. Not only that, he had shown off a chain connecting 106 handcuffs. Did he mean to put those on the astrovore? It was an absurd idea. Just because it was called a centipede, it didn’t actually have one hundred legs, and that chain was too small for the astrovore to begin with. Yet that man didn’t look at all like he had been joking around. It was unsettling in a different manner than Adler, who always ordered Uuno and Quint around with unflinching confidence.

Nocturnal Parade hadn’t yet shown its true strength. Though they were sure they had the numerical advantage, they had never felt so uncertain before a battle.

“Besides, if you’re correct, Lady Adler, then the enemy has already noticed that he was being watched by the manifest mirror. I’m still struggling to accept that the mission really went that smoothly.”

Capable of seeing great distances, the manifest mirror was an extraordinarily rare monster known to only a handful of people. It was supposed to be impossible to tell if you were being observed by it, yet that man had previously looked them straight in the eye. While it was hard to believe, if that man really had noticed them, then why was he willing to aid his enemies by giving them a Cynosure?

Noticing how uneasy Uuno was growing when nobody suggested anything, Adler’s lips curled into a grin, and she let out a cackle. “You see, I’ve got an idea, Uuno. I think this is the Thousand Tricks acting complacent.”

“Huh. Huuuh?!”

While rubbing the head of Yuden the astrovorous centipede, her favorite familiar, Adler pressed a finger to her black lips. Her indigo eyes were dark as the abyss itself, threatening to pull you into their depths. “The Thousand Tricks is letting us go ahead. I agree with you, Uuno. There’s no way he could’ve failed to catch on to what you were trying. Only a total moron wouldn’t notice that their group had suddenly gotten bigger. Not to mention I’ve never heard of a hunter who didn’t know the names and faces of their own party members.”

“P-Pardon me, Lady Adler, but does that mean you sent me out there when you didn’t actually think it would...”

“For one thing, you’re not even a Noble Spirit, and for another, I saw how unnatural you were. That man is one skilled actor.”

“Th-This is the problem with humans...” With her face flushed, Uuno was seething. Did Adler realize how embarrassed she had been trying to put on an act she wasn’t even suited for?

Adler stood up, and as she did so, a cold wind blew through the trees. Uuno felt a chill down her spine. The source of the breeze was Adler herself. Her lips were smiling, but she showed no mirth at all.

“Adler, you’re serious about this.” Eyes widening, Quint looked at her with excitement.

“Of course I am. If we’ve been allowed to go ahead, that must mean that one battle was enough for them to decide we’re several grades below them.”

Her eyes were cold and her voice steady. You needed to maintain a cool composure when subjugating monsters, yet Uuno felt like Adler might explode at any moment. Her fists were clenched so tight her knuckles had lost their color. Adler’s party, Nocturnal Parade, was unbeatable. They weren’t particularly famous, but that was because they thoroughly stamped out their opponents. Nonetheless, even an idiot should be able to understand their might simply by looking at Adler’s herd.

Despite the indignities, this would’ve been fine had their foe been a hunter. Except that the incredibly unlikely had happened: their opponent was a fellow Guiding Hand. If a lord of monsters had seen their forces and still judged them to be inferior, then even Uuno couldn’t help but be irked.

After a moment spent silently staring into space and holding back her emotions, Adler unclenched her fists and licked her lips. “We’ll take you up on your generosity, Thousand Tricks. I’ve got an interest in those beasts lurking in whatever road the Noble Spirits made. You called it the Godtree Guideway? Never heard of it...”

“Yeah, but Adler, what if this is a trap? Maybe that man can’t tame those crazy monsters or whatever, so he’s using them as a trap for us.”

He’s right, Uuno thought. That’s certainly possible.

Hearing this unusually constructive opinion from Quint, who generally didn’t care much for thinking, she found herself watching Adler closely. While they could indeed control monsters, that didn’t mean it was a simple process. Bringing a monster under one’s command generally required defeating said monster. Failure meant death.

Yet Adler replied with complete certainty. “That’s a possibility, Quint. If we tame a monster that man couldn’t, that would make us superior. We would also increase our might, which would mean killing two birds with one stone.”

“Well, I guess so?”

They really took a simple approach. Neither Adler nor Quint was considering what might happen if they were to fail. If they were dealing with an ordinary human, victory would likely be within their grasp. But if they were up against another Guiding Hand, then the strength of their monsters would be a key factor. Even a skilled Guiding Hand could lose if it had weak monsters.

The unsettling thing was that that man definitely hadn’t yet shown so much as a tenth of his power. The Thousand Tricks had been joyfully showing off a compass that pointed the way to misfortune. What this meant was that he had become strong by accepting whatever troubles life threw his way. The monsters that gave him his confidence had most likely been tamed after overcoming vicious battles.

However, the die had already been cast. Now that this fire in her had been lit, Adler wouldn’t stop even if she was up against a superior opponent. That, too, was probably a necessary trait for any Monster Lord.

“We’ll enter the road first,” Adler said. “Before that man can, we’re going to get a look at those monsters set loose by the Noble Spirits.”

There was no arguing with her. Just as the Thousand Tricks did, Adler possessed the ability to make people do as she said. Nocturnal Parade was the army of Adler, the Demon Lord. If she made a decision, her retainers had no choice but to do their best to see it carried out. Worst-case scenario, Uuno could use her monsters to escape.

After a brief sigh, she put on a smile and stood up. “Well then, let’s not waste any time! I think we should set up an obstacle to hold them off, then get ahead while they’re preoccupied. Quint, this is your biiig chance to make up for your failure the other day!”

Quint let out a sigh of resignation. “I wanna ask why I’m always the one who has to do stuff like this. But after getting knocked out in one blow, my pride’s on the line here.”

The forest rustled as if agreeing with him. Zork, the dark cyclops Swordsman, sat with its legs folded and looked down at Quint with a sharp eye. Of all of Adler’s armies, Quint’s was the largest. It was so large that it was impossible to travel with all of them in most circumstances. In fact, when they encountered Grieving Souls on the plains, only a small fraction of the army had been with them. Numbers are power. Their quality notwithstanding, the ability to command such large swaths of monsters made him a worthy general.

“Quint, do everything you can to keep them from moving forwards,” Adler said. “Since you’re just going to rely on numbers, we can make up for the losses later.”

“Against a fellow Guiding Hand, I’ll just be slowing them down, huh? Hmmm. I’m not gonna use Zork here.”

Quint got up and whistled with two fingers in his mouth. The shrill sound echoed throughout the forest. When commanding a large force, it was crucial to be able to convey orders to every unit. Quint had the uncommon ability to give out specific commands via whistling, something neither Uuno nor Adler could do.

The ground shook, and in the distance, there were roars, vigorous roars of warriors ready for battle.

After a small sigh, Quint turned to Adler and said, “I ordered all the units in the forest, besides the ones here with us, to break into small squads and attack sporadically. I told them to fight until they die, even if they’re up against Magi. But, y’know, you understand this, right? I’m throwing away a force I’ve been building up for a long time. I need results that’ll make this worth it.”

Quint gave Adler an overpowering glare, to which she just shrugged. “Of course, General. It won’t be long before I’ll have you an army better than ever.”

***

Misfortune is never a reasonable thing. Incidents always come out of nowhere. For example: suddenly finding dragon carcasses on the side of the road, befriending people who just so happen to be criminals, and running into a legendary treasure vault while flying through the sky. Also, there was the time a Noble Spirit, who shouldn’t have been there in the first place, asked me for the gem I had just received from Eliza. I gave it to her.

We advanced through the forest as fast as we possibly could. Moving across bumpy ground at high speed meant the already shaky carriages became practically unrideable. I wouldn’t have been able to bear it if not for Perfect Vacation.

I sat atop the carriage and acted like I was taking command. The mood couldn’t have been any worse. Aside from Kris, everyone in Starlight was giving me glares colder than any other. It was pretty reasonable that they were angry; from their perspective, I had simply handed off a Noble Spirit gem to someone who appeared out of nowhere. I thought showing myself outside of the carriage would mollify them a bit, but it wasn’t having much effect.

“You’ve got a real knack for doing insane shit with no warning. Sir.”

“W-Weeell, that was definitely an elemental. It addressed me as ‘human’ and there can’t be any people in this forest besides us.”

Eliza had handed out the Cynosures back at the entrance to the forest, so how could anyone but us know about them in the first place? Or maybe this was interference by someone from Yggdra? I had heard that years of living in the forests had made many Noble Spirits not too fond of humans. Could we really rule out the possibility that this was a conspiracy by a small portion of them?

Most importantly, I seem awfully susceptible to getting dragged into conspiracies.

“Regardless, things will get bad if they try something. Let’s hurry,” Eliza said, running alongside Kris. She didn’t seem particularly angry, even though I had goofed up and lost the item she had made an effort to procure. I felt like she was kind of resigned to it at this point. My clumsiness was only fully displayed the very first time we met, so I’m sure she was used to it.

I’m always making trouble for the rest of the group. I need to take some time to think about this.

Our troublemaker had disappeared down the road we had come from. Even supposing that she meant us harm, it would still be easy for us to reach Yggdra before her. We also had with us Eliza, who had already been in contact with the Noble Spirit homeland.

With Ansem taking the lead, feet thundering as he cleared a path, we had encountered very few monsters after our break. While he wasn’t as fast as Liz, his physical strength was far beyond anyone else in the party. When he ran, the ground shook and dust flew up. In wooded areas, he could mow down trees while pushing onward. However, he typically refrained from doing this because it was an intense and uncanny thing to behold.

“Man. Is the Immutable really human? Sir?”

“He’s capable of more. He’s still trying to reduce the damage he leaves behind.”

“Wha?”

Nobody could get close to Ansem when he really turned violent.

Sitting on her brother’s shoulder so she didn’t accidentally get stepped on, Liz was watching our front. Suddenly, she turned around and screamed, “Krai Baby, something’s coming!”

“Huh?”

Something’s coming? What is it?

Though Ansem was kind and loyal, he looked like a monster at first sight now that he had grown so large. The only reason he didn’t cause any panic in the imperial capital was that he had grown gradually as he racked up more accomplishments, meaning everyone already knew about him. Though that didn’t stop newcomers from freaking out.

What could possibly approach us while Ansem was charging forwards? Phantoms had no sense of self-preservation, so it could’ve been one of them, but were there any treasure vaults nearby?

No, maybe it’s just someone here to greet us? I’m pretty sure Eliza already told them about Ansem.

“Ansem, stop,” I called. “They might be here to greet us.”

“Mmm.”

Hearing my sudden request, Ansem bent down and hit the brakes with a nimbleness that didn’t seem possible with his large frame. The sudden halt left massive footprints in his wake. He bumped into a tree, which fell over with a loud crack. As always, he lived on an immense scale.

As I nodded with admiration, the trees shook and out came our “greeter.” It was a strange creature clad in jointless dark blue armor, and a sword in its hand. It walked on two legs and had a head like a full-face helmet, from which two large eyes stuck out. What’s more, those were compound eyes.

“A battle ant...” Sitri whispered, furrowing her brow.

Now that she said that, I could see the resemblance. In which case, what I thought was armor must be its skin. Standing still, Ansem and the battle ant stared at each other. From behind, even more ants appeared. They had compound eyes and skin both sturdy and smooth. Their swords were all similar, giving them a uniform look. They didn’t resemble anything else we had encountered in the forest. Their bearing suggested they were smart and ready to fight.

Hmm, can we really be sure they’re monsters? They say the Noble Spirits of the forests make friends with animals. They might have an unusual look, but maybe they’re guardians of Yggdra?

Just as this thought crossed my mind, one of the ant warriors looked at me. Even though Ansem provided an obvious target, and Lucia, Eliza, and more stood between us, the ant still noticed me. I took this as a sign that they were here to greet us.

After taking a deep breath, I smiled and called out to them from atop the carriage. “Good to see you. We’ve been waiting...”

The ants said nothing.

Kris’s eyes widened. “Huh? What do you mean, ‘We’ve been waiting’ for them? Sir?”

The battle ants looked at me with their shimmering compound eyes. Just as I was about to hop down from the carriage, something flew from the shrubbery behind them. I couldn’t even react, only watch in terror. Liz appeared out of nowhere before me, holding an arrow in her hand.

So if I’m right, that was shot at me.

“Can we attack now?” she asked in a trembling voice. “It looks like there’s a ton of them. This is what you meant when you said they’re here to greet us?”

Hm? Are they actually just monsters?

A strange air blew in as more ants appeared not just in front of us, but from all sides. We appeared to be surrounded. One of Starlight let out a small shriek. I couldn’t judge their exact numbers in the poor visibility, but there were at least dozens of them. It looked like they were the sort of monsters to move in packs. Well, they were ants after all. Really bold ants, if they were willing to get in range of Ansem.

“O-Of course,” I said. “Since you’ve got the opportunity, Ansem, go all out.”

The ring of monsters slowly grew tighter. Clearing my throat, I sat back down on the carriage.

“Perhaps Ansem’s got a fair bit of pent-up stress?” Lucia suggested.

Ansem’s whirlwind was brutal enough that even the Magus prodigy looked discomforted by it. He relentlessly kicked battle ants out of the way as he pressed onward through the swarm. Both trees and ants were sent hurling through the air, only to hit the ground with thunderous booms. Anyone who used to know that kindhearted young boy would probably never guess that this was him now (Ansem was still kindhearted now, mind you).

“I’d assume he just wants to pull out all the stops since he hasn’t gone on an adventure with Krai in so long,” Sitri said while steering the carriage.

That didn’t actually answer Lucia’s question about the stress.

“Lizzy, there are so many of them!” Tino yelled while kicking an ant that had evaded Ansem’s attacks. “There shouldn’t be any battle ants in a forest like this!”

She sounded grim and moved with rapid intensity, yet I could tell by her expression that she wasn’t even close to her limit. While Tino was always a quick learner, her recent improvements had come at a remarkable rate. As her senior hunter, I felt both pleased and a little left behind. She’d even learned how to control the Carpet before me...

Liz was cleaning up whatever Ansem and Tino missed when she abruptly turned my way. “That can only mean one thing! Right, Krai Baby?”

“Yeah, uh-huh.”

There was nothing uncommon about monsters—even powerful ones—appearing where they shouldn’t. Besides, tales of champions were all about fighting waves of monsters.

Kris was maintaining a consistent output of spells. The way we were surrounded, she could direct a spell anywhere and still hit some monster or another. “W-Well, this isn’t as bad as frigid dragons appearing in a town. Sir,” she said while panting and wiping her brow.

Yes, exactly!

Once you’ve had one bad experience, everything that follows will be compared to the first. Not even I was constantly updating my insane incident ranking.

I had been thinking about it since the fight with that Monster Lord person, but we really had some serious firepower on our side here. Grieving Souls was already a party that excelled at offensive power. When combined with a party that could cast spells as easily as they breathed, we became a force of immense destruction.

Though they approached from all directions, the ants were kept at bay. Sure, they were armed, but a sword could never match the reach of a spell. As they unleashed a series of devastating strikes, the Magi of Starlight were just as many humans envisioned them—beautiful yet cold and calculating.

“Is this...is this war?”

After casting a blade of air that shredded five battle ants, Lapis eyed me for a brief second. “Hmph. Not only are monsters like this appearing in a Noble Spirit forest, but it looks like they’re trying to slow our advance. You wouldn’t know anything about this, would you?”

Needless to say, I didn’t know anything. It wasn’t even my decision to enter this forest in the first place. Just as I opened my mouth to offer these objections, Eliza cut in with a placating voice.

“We have greater concerns at the moment. We need to hurry to the rendezvous point.”

“That’s right, Eliza,” I said. “This conversation can wait until we reach Yggdra. We can have a nice nighttime chat about it.”

I’m not sure if I should be glad she’s taking my side or sad that I lost my chance to defend myself. Eh, it’s fine. They might forget it by nightfall. Let’s change the subject.

“Man, I can’t believe we’ve got all these sword-wielding monsters, yet our resident sword maniac is a statue.”

“He was saying he wanted to test the Thousand Man Cutter,” Lucia said while using a water spell to stop a volley of arrows headed my way.

Things really weren’t going his way this time.

“Well, with Ansem cutting loose, he wouldn’t have been able to get in the fray anyway,” Lucia added after hearing a calamitous shout from Ansem.

With most of the swarm’s attention on him, he shook his body and roared. With the force of his quaking alone, he scattered the ants clinging to him. He followed up by knocking them airborne with his gigantic arms and legs. When he was really on a rampage, he didn’t pay much attention to precision. Lucia was the only person who could slip in an attack on someone being engaged by Ansem.

“It would indeed appear that their objective is to slow us down. They’re sacrificial units,” Sitri said from the driver’s seat with a clap of her hands. “The carriages might not be fast enough. I say we abandon them.”

“Huh?!” Kris yelled. “Even if we were crazy enough to do that, what about the horses?!”

“Hm? Our horses are trained to escape from monsters and return home. Does Starlight not do the same?”

Lapis’s eyebrow twitched when she heard this.

Any horse capable of pulling a hunter’s carriage and traveling through perilous lands was a valuable one. Abandoning the horses on the Starlight carriage would’ve been particularly difficult, as they were so beautiful that even I found myself captivated by them, and I didn’t have much interest in horses.

Another thing, what Sitri said wasn’t entirely true. It wasn’t that we trained our horses that way; it was just that those she described were the only ones that survived. Our carriage got attacked a bit too frequently.

Regardless, there was no need to abandon them now that we had Mimicky. Though the horses were large, so was Mimicky’s mouth; if we tried, we should be able to fit them through. Except we might have to leave the carriages behind.

I was glad my Relics were proving useful for the first time in so long. I always knew Magic Bags were the best. I snapped my fingers and gave Mimicky his orders.

***

“They’re just as powerful as when we first fought them! They’re unstoppable. What the heck is that monster? It’s stronger than Zork. Where’d they find it?”

Eyes shining, Quint watched the manifest mirror. It showed an armored giant fending off an army of battle ants while taking not so much as a scratch. Battle ants were a highly social type of monster, particularly when it came to combat, where they displayed coordination on par with trained human warriors. He had to admit that he was impressed by how the giant broke through the ants’ highly organized ranks.

“All we really know is that it’s a humanoid,” Uuno commented. “What fascinates me more is that treasure chest monster.”

She had been startled by the sight of it swallowing up those horses. She didn’t think they had been eaten, which suggested they could be removed just as easily. While the chest looked like it had its own restrictions, it still seemed to have a level of utility comparable to the manifest mirror. In a perfect world, she would’ve asked where they had obtained it.

Their initial assumption was proving correct—they were up against a formidable force. Despite all Nocturnal Parade had previously overcome, they were probably in for a rough patch ahead. Nonetheless, unknown monsters were a good thing.

While Uuno and Quint talked eagerly, Adler let out a discontented snort. “Still, they’re being held back. Or maybe they’re letting themselves be held back? Hmm. So this is the Godtree Guideway? It looks like nothing more than a decrepit gate to me...”

For the past few hours, they had been following the guidance of the Cynosure. They were heading along an animal trail when it abruptly stopped at a moss-covered stone gate. Though it was oddly mystical, it still looked like nothing more than an old ruin. Beyond the gate was more forest, and that was where the Cynosure pointed—into the green depths that lacked so much as a road.

“Is it a magic path?” she wondered. “Doesn’t look like much. You wouldn’t notice it otherwise.”

“But if I concentrate, I can just baaarely feel a mysterious force at work,” Uuno said.

The forest was quiet beyond the gate. They couldn’t even hear the wind blowing. Counterintuitively, this actually suggested that what lay ahead was something more than just woods.

Squinting into the trees, Adler kicked a rock with irritation. Coiled up nearby, Yuden’s antennae moved about as if on alert. For a primeval monster like the astrovorous centipede, most monsters were nothing more than sustenance.

“Yuden looks excited. Don’t see that every day,” she remarked. “It looks like we’ve got something powerful waiting up ahead. Are you two ready?”

“Of course I am!” Uuno said.

“No point turning back now, Your Majesty,” Quint added. “We’re gonna tame something stronger than the Immutable!”

Adler stepped through the gate without hesitating, Uuno and Quint following behind. With steps that shook the ground, Zork went next, then the astrovore let out a roar as it forced itself through. When the hard armor of the centipede bumped into the gate, cracks formed, and the structure collapsed. Then all was silent.

***

After abandoning the carriages, we proceeded as quickly as we could while clearing out the battle ants and other monsters. All that changed for me was that I switched from riding the carriage to riding Mimicky. But the rest of the party was unstoppable now that they no longer had the carriage burdening them.

They had an abundance of vigor and an absence of fear. As a bonus, we had Starlight, who knew all about forests. Trouble may have had a way of making its way to me, but it was hard to see anything going wrong in these conditions.

I was nodding with satisfaction at the sight of my frenzied friends when I heard a muffled boom, followed by our vanguard, Ansem, sinking into the ground.

“Anssy?!” Tino cried.

“Ahh, was that a pitfall?” I asked.

With Ansem up to his neck in dirt, battle ants poured out from the foliage. They must have anticipated our course and laid a trap for us. What smart monsters they were. Surrounded by armed soldiers, there was a brief span of silence.

But that was quickly broken by a roar.

Mimicky took a wary step backwards. The ground rumbled, then a large figure flew upwards with incredible speed. Ansem had jumped. He was as heavy as you might expect him to be, but the majority of his mana material had been allotted to physical strength (his top-class healing skills were a product of monumental effort).

Ansem was by no means sluggish. Stopping him with a pitfall was impossible. Burying him would get you nowhere—a fact I knew from witnessing it firsthand. I heard the crunchy sound of something hard being flattened. After landing atop the crowding ants, Ansem swung his arms, clearing any in his surroundings. Neither a legion of swords and spears, nor a shower of arrows fired from the shadow of the trees could break his stalwart defenses. I wasn’t sure just who was supposed to be the monster here.

Even if Sitri was right in that these were sacrificial pawns, there were some things in this world that couldn’t be overcome through sheer force of will. And if they could, that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

After cutting down a host of ants, Ansem resumed the push onward as if nothing had happened. Everyone in Starlight was pale as a ghost, and I really couldn’t blame them for being shocked by what we had all just watched. Making a quick glance behind us, I saw a path piled with a disturbing plethora of monster corpses.

I hope we go a different way on the return trip.

Right as I thought this, Ansem came to a halt for the first time. Eliza walked over to me, angling her vague eyes upwards since I was still on Mimicky.

“Cae, we’re here,” she said simply.

“Let’s take a look...”

After dismounting Mimicky, I followed Eliza’s pointing finger, which led me to a massive boulder. However, within moments I realized it wasn’t just a boulder; it was clearly man-made. Though it was covered in moss, it had been sculpted. Eliza pulled out her Cynosure and held it in front of her eyes. After a bit of spinning on its cord, the gemstone stopped, pointed directly at the boulder.

“Here at last. So this is the gate of the famous Godtree Guideway? It looks like it’s collapsed—wait. Isn’t someone supposed to be here to greet us?” Lapis asked with a grimace.

“I don’t know. There was supposed to be someone waiting for us. Something isn’t right.”

Eliza then looked at me. Was there something I was supposed to be doing? I could generally tell what my childhood friends were thinking, but I hadn’t yet reached that point with Eliza. I started by making a quizzical expression, to which Kris furrowed her finely shaped brow.

“If the gate’s collapsed, then we can’t enter it, can we? Sir? What do you think?”

“That’s no problem,” Eliza said. “This gate is nothing more than a landmark. You can be sure of this because the Cynosure is pointing beyond it.”

“I’m glad we didn’t walk all this way for nothing, but this is supposed to be a rendezvous, right?” Liz said. “What’s your call, Krai Baby?”

Hmmm. Let’s see...

One of Lapis’s party members spoke up in a trembling voice. “H-Human, this is clearly because you gave away the Cyno—”

I thought she had a point, but Lapis cut her off, sounding even more displeased than she had earlier. “Stop it. Have you forgotten? We agreed that as long as we’re in the clan, we’ll show respect to the clan master. In other words, to this man.”

“I know that. My bad, human.”

Despite it all, Lapis still cared about these small formalities. The Noble Spirit fell into a sullen silence. Still, it was true that I had screwed up. I wasn’t sure if the gate’s destruction and the lack of a greeting party were my fault (after all, the gate’s destruction didn’t change anything), but we needed to evaluate the situation as soon as we could.

Accepting Eliza’s Cynosure, I cast my gaze over the group. “Let’s start by entering.”

Though I made it sound hard-boiled, I got a pretty surprising response.

“Cae,” Eliza whispered, wide-eyed.

“H-Human weakling, that’s...”

“Brother, wh-what did you do this time?!”

“Huh?”

Everyone was looking at my hand. Blinking, I looked down at the Cynosure. It had been completely still when Eliza handed it to me, yet now it was twirling around despite an absence of wind. My eyes went wide.

“Hm?! Why’s it doing that?”

“How the hell should we know?! Sir?!”

Unsure what else to do, I handed the Cynosure back to Eliza. It kept rotating.

Could it be broken? All I did was hold it.

“Th-That’s not good,” I said.

“Wh-Who else but Krai could manage that?” Sitri said, a strain in her usual smile.

“Mmm,” Ansem groaned with resignation.

Did I do something wrong? No. No, I didn’t. What could I have done?

“Th-This is definitely a natural phenomenon,” I said. “Don’t they say mineral deposits screw with magnetic compasses?”

“That’s not magnetic! Sir!”

Well, yeah, that’s true. Besides, it was still until a moment ago.

With a short sigh, I removed the compass Relic from my pocket. I opened the lid and let out a much longer sigh. As I expected, the needle was pointed at the gate. To make things worse, there was no way I could turn back, given the mood in the air. If anything, staying behind was more likely to get me killed. If I wanted to save Luke, I’d have to push forwards.

“Eh, I’m sure it’s fine. How about we get going? What order are you going in?”

The road ahead was one of magic. There likely wouldn’t be any ant monsters, and letting Ansem go on a tear would probably be a bad idea. Still, I wasn’t any more comfortable relying on Liz. With their love for the unknown, our party tended to run rampant. I was about to do my job as leader for the first time in too long when Eliza stepped forwards, an unusually serious look on her face.

“I’ll lead the way, Cae. This isn’t a game.”

After passing through the ruined gate, Eliza led us down the magic path thingy. Unlike the monster-infested trek we had just taken, everything was surprisingly tranquil once we passed through the gate. There was something divine and comforting about the still forest lit by sunlight breaking through the canopies.

The ground was terribly bumpy, but that didn’t affect me, riding atop Mimicky. If I were really greedy, I’d say sitting on the Carpet would’ve been perfect, but you shouldn’t ask for too much.

The Cynosure continued spinning so fast that I found it sort of amusing. What I had initially thought was just a gemstone wrapped in cords was much more animated than I expected. I had absolutely no idea what sort of power was allowing it to move like this.

“Man, it’s quiet,” Liz said. With her hands clasped behind her head, she looked awfully bored.

Tino, on the other hand, responded while vigilantly watching our surroundings. “But it feels like something is interfering with my senses.”

“Hmph. You’re a sharp one,” Lapis said. “An esoteric spell is being used to distort space. Anyone who doesn’t take the correct path will end up wandering the forest forever. Normally, that Cynosure would be indicating where to go...”

Lapis glanced at me. It was a cold look, but not as harsh as those I was getting from the rest of Starlight. The only Noble Spirits on my side were Eliza and Kris, both of whom were well-acquainted with my clumsiness.

I took a deep breath. “S-So basically, does this mean there is no correct path?” I said in an attempt to brighten the mood.

“How did you even manage this? Sir?” Kris asked. “There aren’t supposed to be many beings capable of interfering with one of our esoteric spells.”

That’s what I’d like to know. Come to think of it, what do we even need a guide for? There’s only one path.

“However, I can only see one path,” Tino mumbled, just what I had been thinking, saving me the trouble of saying it.

“Hmph. There’s more than just what you see with your eyes, Tino Shade,” Lapis said with a wrinkle in her brow. “It only appears so because we have the Vagabond leading the way.”

Tino’s eyes widened. “Hm?”

In the same moment, a path appeared all around us, though there hadn’t been anything there moments ago. It was pure magic, I didn’t even see the road appear. I felt so sure there hadn’t been anything there, yet I began to doubt my own memories.

“It j-just...” Tino gasped with awe.

“An esoteric Noble spell. Oh, how fascinating,” Sitri said.

“But it’s pretty unfair,” Liz said. “Without a guide, you just have to go on intuition, don’t you? I could make it, though.”

Honestly, she probably wasn’t wrong. A good Thief had that sort of sixth sense. Though she could be a handful at times, there was nobody I’d rather have in this situation more than Liz. I nodded with unfounded confidence when she suddenly turned and gave me a big smile.

“And we’ve got you with us, Krai Baby.”

“Huh? Yeah, uh-huh.”

I really don’t know what she’s hoping I might do. But now some of the Noble Spirits are giving me severe looks.

Eliza continued to lead the way. Despite my certainty that something would attack us, I didn’t see the slightest hint of a monster. Were the vicious creatures that supposedly lurked in the Godtree Guideway on vacation or something?

After a bit of walking, our surroundings suddenly opened up. Eliza stopped, and Liz let out a low whistle. My eyes flew open. The dense forest had suddenly opened up into a wide area, like a plaza. In it, there were countless structures like the gate we had seen earlier, all of them leading off to different paths. Something about the scenery reminded me of a treasure vault. Formed by mana material from all over the world, vaults would at times take on a supernatural atmosphere.

Not entirely certain why, I licked my lips and said in a hard-boiled voice, “Hm. So this is where they stop playing around. This is getting interesting.”

“The only reason nothing’s happened yet is because we’ve Eliza leading the way! Sir!” Kris said the moment I finished my sentence.

After a languid sigh, Eliza’s gaze drifted from one gate to the next. “You can make it this far if your senses are sharp enough. But to go any further without a Cynosure is difficult. It would be like wandering aimlessly in a vast desert.”

“You’re right,” Liz said, “I’m not feeling anything. This might be tricky.”

Narrowing her eyes, she focused her senses for a few seconds before letting out an endearing groan. Eliza had wandered the world all by herself, and Liz possessed qualities even few Thieves had, yet they were both stumped. The Cynosure was still spinning in circles. Thinking I may as well check Fool’s Direction, I saw that it was also spinning round and round. I was also getting an urge to spin around.

“You really didn’t bring anything useful. Sir,” Kris said with a sigh when she saw me staring at the spinning Relic.

“Oh, how could you, Kris?” Sitri said, always one to take my side in any situation. “Just because it’s true doesn’t mean you should say it. Krai’s collection is filled with delightful Relics! You should know he once gave me a Relic that suited me perfectly!”

Could you really say she was defending me? Yeah, my collection was mostly oddities, but there were some with practical value.

Disembarking from Mimicky, I clapped my hands and said, “Hm. I think I’ve got it.”

“Master, is there some secret to it?!”

I’ll show you how useful my Relics can be!

It was true that Fool’s Direction wouldn’t be of any help, and it was also true that I didn’t have any Relics that could reveal the right path (if I did, I would’ve used them a long time ago). However, I still had a way to find the correct course. I looked at a very watchful Tino.

Sometimes, thinking in simple terms was the quickest path to a solution. Indeed, if we didn’t know which routes were dangerous, we could check from the sky! Even if we were off the ground, her Thief’s acuity should allow her to figure things out.

“What a rude way to put it,” I said to Kris. “With Carpy, we can check the paths from—”

“Master, does this mean I’m up?! Carpy!”

Figuring it all out from my words and glance, Tino hopped up. Floating nearby, Carpy zipped over and caught her. At her whistle, he rocketed into the sky. The unspoken understanding between her and Carpy was something I dreamed of. Degrees of synergy existed between hunters and Relics, and it seemed Tino synergized very well with Carpy. It saddened me, but that was how it was. Even if I were a fellow carpet, Carpy would still prefer Tino over me. Given that she also worked well with Evolve Greed, the mask from Éclair, I was starting to think she had more of a gift for Relic-using than I did.

With a burst of speed, Tino and Carpy glided through the air, making a rapid ascent. Kris watched with wide bulging eyes, and I heard Eliza mutter a small “Ah.” Then, just after passing beyond the highest branches, there was a harsh sound, and they were suddenly knocked back. Tino spiraled downwards, then crashed into me. My Safety Rings let me catch her without taking a scratch, but she had no such protection.

I hesitantly looked down. While trying to make herself small, she looked up at me. Our eyes met. Her blank face grew increasingly red, and she jumped back.

“I-I’m s-so sorry, Master! Oh, ah, thank you! For catching me— Lizzy, this isn’t what it seems! Th-That was an accident. It wasn’t...”

I didn’t say anything.

Don’t worry, it’s fine. Besides, that was less of a catch and more of a collision.

With my Safety Rings, I was just a wall. While they had protected me from the shock when I embraced her, Tino had felt every bit of the impact. She had just collided with a wall...

You’re fit as a fiddle. Aren’t you due for a level up?

Liz looked peeved, probably less than thrilled by the state of her apprentice. I shook my head at her, causing her to sigh. Tino wasn’t the only one growing; Liz was slowly improving as well.

“The aerial route is sealed off,” Eliza said with a very deep sigh. “We can’t cheat it. You’ll get deflected, like Tino was.”

“Ahh, there was no way you could beat a magic labyrinth with such a simple method.” Sitri closed in on Tino with a scary smile on her face, making her shiver. “Remember, T, always wait for Krai to finish his sentences.”

I mean, she did what I was getting at, even if she did start before I could finish.

The members of Starlight were whispering among each other while looking at us gravely. Noble Spirits had a strong sense of camaraderie. If I kept this up, their already rock-bottom opinion of me would get lower. I was okay with that, I just didn’t think now was the time.

“All right,” I said with a clap of my hands. “Thanks to Tino, we now know that the sky isn’t an option. Let’s go through the gate like we’re supposed to.”

“If you don’t get your shit together, Tino’s gonna give you a knuckle sandwich. Sir.”

“I-I would never do that, Master!”

After everything I’ve dragged you into, I almost want you to hit me. Of course, I’d die if you did that, so you’d have to hold back.

With resignation, Liz put a hand on her hip and said, “Well, I can talk with T about her behavior later. Now, Krai Baby, what are we gonna do?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. What should we do?”

Ahh, you’re making me decide again. Okay, okay. By the way, which way is the right one? The Cynosure isn’t helping.

There was nothing unusual about Liz deferring to my judgment, but even Eliza was watching me silently.

I looked around at the gates, pretending to inspect them. It’s probably pretty obvious, but I didn’t have any hope of telling which was the correct one. After all, not even Liz could figure it out. I stood before a gate picked at random, and everyone shuffled up behind me. While I used to feel queasy at the slightest thing, now I was fine, barring extreme circumstances.

“That’s the one? Sir?”

“Could you explain your basis, leader?” Lucia asked with an expression that lacked a sliver of faith. How mystifying that she clearly didn’t believe me, yet still thought that I might have a basis.

“Intuition, I guess?” I tapped my head for no real reason.

A brief silence. Everyone looked at me like I was insane.

Eliza stepped forwards. “Cae. Wait.”

Though she seemed like she was looking vacantly at the gate, that wasn’t the case. Noble Spirits were known to have an innate knack for magic and special senses, hence why so many of them became Magi or Thieves. There was no way for a human to replicate these senses. Noble Thieves had excellent survival instincts, and Eliza surpassed most of her peers.

She examined the gate for a few seconds. Looking at me reproachfully, she shook her head. “Not this one.”

“H-Human weakling!” Kris cried.

All of Starlight looked at me with irritation. It appeared I was off the mark. Eliza hadn’t explained her judgment any more than I had, but I guess they trusted her more than me.

With a small cough, I strolled up to the next gate. “That was a joke. Something tells me this is the right gate.”

Eliza dutifully approached the gate, then immediately shook her head. “Not this one either.”

“Master...”

Everyone was looking at me. Sitri had a mellow smile, and Lucia heaved a deep sigh. The mood was getting tense, but this wouldn’t have happened if Eliza had just shown us the right gate. Though Starlight was only glowering at me, they looked like they might blow up at any moment.

“Well, looks like I’d better leave this to you, Eliza.”

“Understood.”

You should’ve done this at the start.

We all watched as Eliza tottered from one gate to another. Each check took a second, which might have been faster than when I pretended to check. Eventually, she went to a gate on the smaller side. After standing in front of it for a short period, she turned our way with an imploring glance.

“This one is the least foreboding.”

“Hmm, so that’s your pick? Not bad.”

“Ellie’s—er, Noble Spirits have incredible senses, don’t they, Master?”

Yeah, uh-huh. Least foreboding, you say? Wish I had some of those special senses.

It was pretty common for me to feel like something wasn’t foreboding, though I never turned out to be right. Eliza, however, used her senses during solo hunts, so I guess some people were keener than others.

I walked up to the gate she had chosen. Like the others, it was made of stone and covered with moss. I, too, felt no foreboding, but then again, I couldn’t see any differences between this one and the two I had picked. However, our rate of facing certain peril had dropped since adding Eliza to the party, so I had faith in her skills. (Eliza’s danger-rate, by the way, spiked after joining our party. I wonder why.)

After giving the gate a few aimless pats, I was about to march on in through the gate when Eliza snapped at me.

“Wait, Cae!”

“Hm?! Wh-What?”

Eliza pushed me to the side before looking up at the gate. She had a look of uncharacteristic intensity; her sharp ears trembled slightly. At last, she turned to me, looking utterly baffled.

“It’s not this gate.”

“Huh?”

“It became unsafe just now.”

What does that mean?

Lucia and Sitri traded glances, suggesting this was something new to them.

Eliza restarted her examinations. After passing by all the gates, she returned to one.

“This one. I’m certain.”

Wasn’t there supposed to be only one— You know what, never mind.

It’s not like we had any other way of knowing the right path. That Cynosure was just spinning around.

With a look of adoration, Lapis glided up to the gate, her party following close behind. “Hmph. Vagabond, you’re sharp even by our standards, and escaped an intricate underground labyrinth without getting lost once. Though only for a second, you stumbled here. The spellwork of the imperial family is not to be trifled with.”

Eliza did that? Huh.

In her defense, even first-rate hunters made mistakes. That’s where the proverb “Even first-rate hunters stumble into pitfalls” came from.

“Hmm. Yeah, something about it feels off.” Liz tilted her head as she looked up at the gate. “What’s it like inside?”

“Space is distorted in there.” Lucia wore a look of consternation. “The flow of air and light is different, which would explain why even someone with sharp senses might get lost. It’s your worst enemy, Liz.”

That was a rare reaction from them.

My judgment must’ve been pretty good, seeing as I was the one who brought Eliza into our party. Exceptionally pleased with myself, I walked up to the gate and rubbed its rough surface. Just as I was about to step in, I heard Eliza yell.

“Cae, wait!”

“Huh?”

Pulling my hand, she moved herself in front of me. After a few seconds of scrutinizing silence, she let out a deep sigh.

“It’s not this gate.”

I couldn’t keep the surprise off my face. “What? Again?”

“It was fine a moment ago, but not anymore,” she said, almost defensively. “Cae, did you do something?”

Before I knew it, I was checking everyone’s expressions. Eliza was perplexed, and Sitri continued to grin despite the circumstances. Then there was Starlight, all looking at me with frigid glares. I shivered. While I was never good at reading the mood, and often got yelled at for it, the tension here wasn’t lost on me.

Is this, uh, another misunderstanding?

“N-No, I didn’t do anything.”

Rather, I wanted to ask if anyone else had done something, and what was going on in the first place. I wasn’t trying to do anything, nor did I have any particular abilities. Sure, the timing was bad, but why did they think I was to blame?

Oh. Ahhh.

Dropping a fist on my palm, I then rubbed the rough surface of the gate. Tino took a cautious step back. I was about to explain that I wasn’t doing this for any real reason when a member of Starlight mumbled something.

“That’s enough of your games, human.”

“Hey.” Lapis turned around and gave her party member a stern look. Yet the Noble Spirit remained undaunted. She must have reached her limit.

“No, just this once, let me say it,” she continued. “Lapis, are you okay with this? I won’t deny that securing the cursed stone was impressive work, but he’s not only flaunted this achievement, he’s taken advantage of our quiet obedience to mock us. As Noble Spirits, we have our pride, and it does not tolerate this sort of behavior.”

Huh? Quiet obedience? What? When? You’ve been giving me nasty looks this whole time.

There was a short staring match before Lapis sighed and stepped to the side. The Starlight hunter stepped forwards. She had a thin frame and was just a tad taller than me. Her gaze was piercing, but she was beautiful enough for me not to mind. There was a reason they were regarded as the prettiest party in First Steps. Now, the idea wouldn’t have come up if they weren’t also a skilled party, but half the reason we’d had them join was because we knew they’d attract clients (it was Sitri’s idea).

I could tell from the look in her eyes that she didn’t have a high opinion of me, but she still wasn’t as bad as most of her kin. Some Noble Spirits were constantly deriding humans, whereas others would be grinning while secretly plotting against you. Starlight’s straightforward honesty alone made them plenty easy to deal with. On the other hand, it’s only fair to mention that the reason only Kris and Lapis ever came to the clan house was that the others were prone to stirring up trouble.

My bigger concern was the plummeting mood of my own party. It was only because Starlight was part of our clan that they hadn’t done anything yet. But I didn’t see their patience lasting much longer. While their tempers had improved over the years, they still had their limits. Meanwhile, it would take more than the Grievers to make Starlight back down.

Now, what do I do?

Before I reached a conclusion, the Starlight hunter opened her lips. I was wondering what verbal abuse she might have in store for me, but Eliza cut her off. She stood in front of me protectively and said in her usual sleep-inducing voice, “Wait. We shouldn’t assume this is Cae’s fault.”

“Yeah! Eliza’s right! Madam.” Kris was quick to cut in, sharing her own opinion. “Think about it. I don’t care what sort of human he is, he couldn’t possibly interfere with a Noble Spirit’s spell.”

Making friends with her proved to be a good move. The other Starlight hunter was taken aback by her comrade’s objection. I assumed that while she might be used to chidings from Lapis, their youngest member, Kris, or anyone else in the party, was a different matter.

There was a momentary silence, then the blonde Noble Spirit cast a brief, doubtful look at me. “All right then. While I don’t believe the Thousand Tricks, I’ll accept it. So long as the Vagabond can provide a convincing explanation.”

“It could be a coincidence,” Eliza said with a bit of reluctance.

Seeing this, the shortest Noble Spirit made a disdainful smile. “Now there’s a funny idea. You forget this is the work of our imperial family? I’ve never heard of any problems with the Godtree Guideway popping up. And are you gonna tell me it’s a coincidence that the first shift happened after he touched a gate? You’d have to be stupid to believe it. If that’s really the case, everyone in Starlight will not only bow and apologize, but we’ll follow any single order you give us. No matter what it is.”

Are these people compelled to run their mouths until it drives them off a cliff?

Everyone but Lapis and Kris jumped aboard this baffling wager. Lapis shrugged and said with resignation, “An interesting idea. Thousand Tricks, I’ll preside over this match. Not as the leader of Starlight, but as a neutral party. Noble Spirits don’t lie. If it’s proven you aren’t to blame, then on our pride as Noble Spirits, I’ll see to it that they make good on their word.”

Kris snapped at her bold declaration. “Yeah, Lapis, just casually make this not your problem! I want out too! Madam!”

Those were some impressive evasive skills Lapis showed us. I was kind of jealous.

By the way, if it turns out that I am at fault here, what do I have to do?

Everyone else in Starlight was thrown for a loop, but quickly regained their composure. One of them pointed a finger at me. “Now then, if we’re proven correct—”

“Now we know what Starlight wants,” Sitri cut in with a clap of her hands. “Let’s waste no time proving Krai’s done nothing wrong!”

Sitri wasn’t going to let them get a word in, a precaution in case they won this wager. She had picked up a few tricks while surviving the cutthroat world of Alchemists. It wasn’t a fair move, but I was facing false accusations here.

Noticing what Sitri was up to, Lucia sighed. “But how are you going to prove it, Siddy? It’s not easy to prove what someone didn’t do...”

Hearing Lucia’s doubts, Sitri turned on her heel to face us. “It’s simple,” she declared. “If Krai isn’t the cause, then the same results will happen without him. Eliza, please recheck all the gates. If there’s an issue, then that will show that Krai isn’t to blame!”

Well, I can’t say I didn’t see this coming.

“I finally understand it,” Lucia told us in a hushed voice. “It appears space-time within the gates is unstable. To my understanding, this is why they kept becoming hazardous mere moments after Eliza determined one to be safe. I assume this is by design. The Cynosures are tools meant to enable passage through these constantly fluctuating labyrinths. I suspect that there are no significant differences between the various gates.”

While Liz was our Thief, understanding and explaining magic contraptions was most often Lucia’s job. Due to the frequency of traps in high-level treasure vaults, she had naturally become quite good at this. Lucia was apparently a better fit for the Godtree Guideway than Liz was.

The members of Starlight nodded along as they listened to her.

“I see,” one of them said. “So this is what you’re saying, Lucia Rogier: it’s only a coincidence that the Vagabond raises the red flag every time the Thousand Tricks, your brother, approaches a gate.”

“Interfering with such immense space-time spellcraft isn’t possible for a human.” Growing red, Lucia began to shout. “You should be far more aware of your imperial family’s powers than we are!”

“Next,” Eliza said in a tired voice, “is this one.”

I had lost count of how many times I had heard that.

“Thousand Tricks,” Lapis said, “though I’m a neutral party here, it won’t be long before I’m forced to declare your defeat. This is too much to be a coincidence.”

“Start taking this seriously! Sir! If you can at least approach a gate without anything happening, that should give you some room to negotiate!”

Kris’s comrades scoffed at her. “You’re grasping at straws, Kris. You’re the one who told us that the Thousand Tricks is a man who doesn’t know when to back down.”

What the heck did Kris say about me?

At this point, none of them believed this gate trouble wasn’t my doing. To be fair, I couldn’t really blame them for that. I could see myself drawing the same conclusion had I been in their shoes.

We had been trying to prove my innocence for close to an hour now. Every time I approached a gate chosen by Eliza, it would turn into a dangerous one. In essence, they were all safe until I got in proximity. These gates were out to get me, and I couldn’t explain why. What power was working against me when I hadn’t even done anything? I really had no idea.

“Eh, you’ve always had funny luck, Krai Baby.”

“Master...”

“Forgive me, Krai. I didn’t foresee this happening.”

“Mmm.”

Even Ansem looked like he was at a loss.

Our wager with Starlight notwithstanding, being stopped here was a problem. Luke was still a statue, and Eliza had said things would get complicated if the curse wasn’t broken quickly. We had to do something to break through this constantly shifting roadblock.

Here. How about this? What if I stayed behind and everyone else continued onward?

It appeared the Godtree Guideway hated me enough that it would make any path dangerous if I got too close. Looking at it the other way around, Eliza didn’t sound the alarm until I got close. This was my way of making the best of a bad situation. I could be fairly safe if I waited inside Mimicky, and it’s not like I was determined to see Yggdra or anything. The objective of this journey was to get Luke healed; anything else was secondary.

I’m tired. I just want to crawl into bed and get some sleep.

Thinking about it, I began to wonder if perhaps this was all being caused by the Noble Spirits that had created this labyrinth. Their imperial family had never been known to be fond of humans. If they made this spell, they could probably manipulate it freely, and I could easily imagine them trying to make a human’s life hard. If not that, they might have been testing my powers.

“We’re getting nowhere,” I said. “Let’s make this one the last. We’re wasting time here.”

“Understood. Over here, Cae.”

My suspicions being right or wrong wouldn’t change the fact that there was nothing I could do. Bracing myself, I walked towards the gate Eliza had pointed to. Then I glanced at something that had been bothering me. Among the many gates in the plaza, there was just one that stood out from the rest, but that wasn’t to say it had a different shape or color, or glowed, or anything else like that.

“Hey, Eliza, what’s that crumbling gate?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but it leads to the most dangerous path here. Stay away from it.”

Ah, I see.

Since the results were the same with all the gates, I thought we might as well try the crumbling one, but if she said not to, then I saw no reason to argue. With a shrug, I went up to the gate. Eliza didn’t say anything, only watched closely. Lucia halted her explanation. She, Tino, Liz, and Sitri all watched with bated breath. Only fifty centimeters to go, and I was still fine.

“You figured it out, didn’t you?!” yelled a member of Starlight next to Lucia.

“Brother, I’ve figured out what’s causing this! I can restrain the fluctuations! Let me handle this!”

Yeah, I know. I just have to touch it, right?

There were two circumstances under which Eliza would raise the red flag. Either when I touched the gate or got close enough to enter. As they wanted me to, I ran my hand along the gate’s rough surface. It goes without saying, but I wasn’t doing anything more than that. Yet this was followed by Lucia’s hoarse cries.

“Brother, the space is fluctuating! What are you doing?!”

Are you kidding me? I’m not doing anything! Didn’t you say no human could interfere with this spell?!

Eliza hadn’t said anything yet, but I could tell this wasn’t going to work. Pretty much giving up, I turned around to face Eliza and was shocked by what I saw. She was staring intently at the gate, her wide-open crimson eyes not even blinking. Like a doll, she didn’t move an inch. This was certainly a different response. By waving my hands in front of her, I finally got her to snap out of it.

“Something’s coming,” she said.

There were no footfalls or other warning signs. Though I thought I felt a change in the air. Exploring unknown treasure vaults sharpened a hunter’s intuition. I didn’t have any of a Thief’s talents, yet the shift was obvious enough that I could pick up on it in an instant. I took a step back despite myself. The tension was palpable.

Though they had been giving me scornful looks just moments ago, the members of Starlight were all letting out surprised yelps.

“What’s causing this flow?! What did you do, human?!”

“See for yourself.”

I can’t answer that question. I didn’t do anything in the first place.

A massive shadow fell over the overgrown path on the far side of the gate. Then it slowly came into view—a large translucent sphere. Glimmering in the sunlight, the figure floated above the ground. While it didn’t look like any sort of animal, there was a set of crimson eyes and a mouth on its upper half. Through all the treasure vaults I had visited, I had never seen a fiend like this.

As it silently approached us, two words escaped my lips. “A slime?”

“Don’t be an idiot! There’s no way that’s a slime! Sir!” Kris shouted. Cold sweat running down her face, she readied her staff. “That’s an elemental or a divine spirit!”

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t really think it was a slime, but the Sitri Slime made it hard to say for certain.

Losing the serene demeanor she usually maintained, a grim shadow fell over Lapis’s face. “Elementals are the very powers that compose our world. They’re energy wellsprings brought to life. I struggle to imagine one so powerful would be allowed to wander freely. Not only that, I can’t detect the will found in most higher elementals.”

That’s an elemental? Oh. I know about those.

Lucia had one she kept in a bottle, and I had seen other Magi with elementals at their command. The one approaching us, however, was pretty different.

“Is there any chance we’re in danger?” I asked.

“No person could command this,” Lapis answered. “I wouldn’t recommend trying to fight. While higher elementals are intelligent enough that they can be bargained with, this has no will. It’s like a fallen god.”

“What are you trying to do, human?!” said one of the many hushed voices griping at me. “This isn’t the sort of thing you can use in your Thousand Trials or whatever you call them!”

I don’t know how I’m supposed to defend myself against that accusation. And just how many people have heard of the Thousand Trials?

That was when I noticed something. A person was floating at the edge of the massive sphere. Judging by the shape of her ears, she was a Noble Spirit. Her light green robe swayed lazily.

“What’s that?” said one of Starlight, noticing her. “Someone’s in there? Inside the elemental? That couldn’t—but then... What in the world is going on?”

I couldn’t tell if she was alive, but I certainly didn’t envy her situation. However, this was an elemental we were dealing with. Not sure what I could do, I stepped back and called my ever-reliable sister.

“Lucia.”

She responded instantly. Standing next to me, she looked intently at the approaching elemental. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her blanching. Being a Magus probably made her aware exactly what sort of threat we had before us. Regardless, our party had never faced an obstacle we couldn’t overcome.

Though it looked like we had a tough fight ahead of us, Lucia was equipped with the knowledge she had gained at the academy. I trusted that she could find a solution that Starlight wouldn’t have even imagined.

Pinning my hopes entirely on her, I said my sister’s name again.

“Lucia.”

“I-I heard you!” she said in a voice bold despite her trembling. She thrust out her staff and began an incantation. “HAILSTORM!”

That’s not what I meant!

***

What the heck is this?

Forgetting she was in a battlefield, Astor Fyron, Magus of Starlight, stared blankly. Without a moment’s hesitation, the human Magus had just attacked a higher elemental unlike any Astor had seen in her home forest. Though the human was doing it at her leader’s orders, nobody in Starlight could wrap their head around it.

Elementals were nature itself. While lower elementals could be commanded, opposing one of the magnitude before them was effectively the same as opposing nature’s wrath. To make matters worse, this elemental had lost its sense of reason, making it nothing more than an all-consuming spirit of energy. As one of the best Magi in the imperial capital and commander of her own elemental, Lucia had to be aware of the danger she was facing.

Astor had already forgotten about the earlier mockery. This fight was beyond hopeless.

One of Starlight came back to her senses and ran up to the Thousand Tricks. “Tell her to stop! You see how powerful that thing is, don’t you?!”

The Avatar of Creation was a Magus worthy of respect. Though hunters were responsible for their own actions, they couldn’t just stand by and watch this. With his usual dull expression, the Thousand Tricks didn’t waver, even when suddenly grabbed by one of Starlight. He did, however, show her a nihilistic smile.

“Hmph. You think she can be stopped now?”

The magic words became power, and the power began to churn. Hailstorm, the advanced spell unleashed by Lucia Rogier, shone brilliantly as it collided with the elemental. Shock waves formed a raging storm that tore their surroundings.

By the time the spell had passed, only one person was still steady on their feet. Astor and her comrades had all quickly deployed protective spells. Even Ansem, the one known as the Immutable, had shifted his body to withstand the blasts. Yet that man stood there smiling like nothing had happened. Astor couldn’t fathom what he was trying to accomplish. All she could tell was that the Thousand Tricks had used some power or another to interfere with the Godtree Guideway and bring about this situation.

“H-Human weakling! I-Isn’t there something we can do about this?! Sir?!”

Kris, the one Starlight hunter besides Lapis to be acquainted with that man, spoke for her entire party. Though she hadn’t been hit directly, the force had been enough to dishevel her hair and drain the blood from her face. Her reaction was not unreasonable.

However, the Thousand Tricks seemed quite surprised. “Huh?”

Hold on. “Huh?” What’s this asshole huh-ing about?!

He didn’t really lure this elemental in the name of one of his stupid Thousand Trials, did he?! Despite Starlight’s expertise, despite having been around the creatures since birth, this battle was beyond their capabilities. The Trials were famous for being unhinged, and they had all heard the tales many times over, yet none of them thought it might come to this. As much of a breach of etiquette as it might have been, Astor planned to hit him square in the face once this was all over.

Though it would normally persist for a brief period, the Hailstorm had already faded. The mana that formed the spell and the mana that coursed about the elemental had both dissipated on impact. Despite the direct hit by such an advanced spell, the elemental was unaffected. Its power had been reduced a bit, but that was a far cry from defeat.

Lights flashed from the elemental, and the earth beneath them groaned. An invisible force was acting upon the ground. This was a level of power approaching divinity. If not even a lower elemental was easily beaten, what chance did these humans have against one of the most powerful elementals Astor had ever seen?

The glaring crimson eyes settled on the Thousand Tricks, still standing defiantly. By comparison, his response was quite simple. He looked up, meeting its gaze, and whispered, “Everyone.”

What Astor then witnessed was nothing short of baffling. As far as she could tell, Grieving Souls hadn’t stopped to discuss how to proceed, yet that one muttered word from the Thousand Tricks spurred them all into action. With a roar, Ansem charged at the elemental. Taking advantage of the distraction he provided, Lucia began an incantation, Sitri threw something, and Liz became a blur as she dashed off.

“They’re out of their minds. Didn’t that Hailstorm teach them anything?! Attacking head-on is a death wish!”

Not all elementals were insurmountable foes, but nothing about this one was ordinary. Facing it unprepared wasn’t going to work. Ansem struck with a sword built to match his large stature. Countless spears of water rained down. There was less than the span of a breath between each blow.

In response, the elemental began to glow faintly. Ansem’s sword was deflected, forcing him back for a moment. The spears disappeared at once. The elemental had used the immense mana surrounding it to make a barrier. Undeterred, Ansem and Lucia struck twice and a third time, still failing to break through.

The glow around the elemental intensified—it was planning to use a spell.

“This,” Astor grunted, “is why you never work with humans!”

A spell from this elemental could very likely incinerate the entire area. Even a stalwart human enhanced by mana material wouldn’t be able to survive that much power. In fact, the idea of trying to take on a being that was nature was already exceedingly audacious.

Astor deployed a defensive spell, as did her fellow party members. Daily use of magic made it possible to cast so quickly. By using multiple casters to invoke a compound spell, they weaved an intricate barrier in the blink of an eye. It was teamwork, but could have been mistaken for a miracle. That said, it wouldn’t be enough to block an attack from an elemental of this caliber. Astor had learned a thing or two during her years as a hunter; she was confident in her situational judgment. This barrier they had raised wasn’t meant to block—it was meant to divert.

A split second after the barrier was deployed in front of Ansem, the elemental released the energy it had gathered up. The blinding ray of immense force slammed into the barrier, creating a large distortion. Then it enveloped the Thousand Tricks, who was still standing vacantly a few meters away.

Astor clenched her teeth. The intense heat of the ray’s shock waves burned her skin, but her attention was elsewhere. She gasped in terror at what had happened. She hadn’t meant for this. While she didn’t care much for that human, she didn’t despise him so much that she wanted him dead. Besides, the barrier had been thrown up in an instant, and she hadn’t been aware of his position.

But no matter how many excuses she made, it didn’t change the fact that the ray diverted by her barrier had hit the Thousand Tricks. Even Lapis had paled. The spell fired at them had been extremely primitive in nature. It used an immense amount of mana to burn a target, nothing else to it. However, that exact simplicity limited the number of potential counter maneuvers.

The Thousand Tricks almost certainly hadn’t expected the ray to come for him until it was inches from his face. Sure enough, it never would have headed his way if not for the barrier put up by Starlight.

With these useless thoughts spinning through her mind, Astor remained planted where she was. That was when Kris all but barreled into her, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her.

“C-Calm down, Astor! The human weakling’s all right!”

“Hm?!”

There stood the Thousand Tricks, just as he was before the attack. He certainly looked a little shaken, but not at all afraid of the elemental.

“That was a close one!” he said.

That ray was unambiguously not something a human could easily survive. While a Safety Ring or something of that nature could have made it possible, a bit more panic or fear should have been expected. So what about this man? Despite the remark he had made, he was looking at the elemental with his usual nonchalance. Astor knew the rumors of his Absolute Barrier, yet seeing it in person still made her doubt her eyes.

Though it had lost its rationality, the elemental appeared to understand that it should fear someone who could survive its attacks. It switched its focus from Ansem to the Thousand Tricks.

Though shrugging off such an immense blast was incredible, that alone wouldn’t defeat the elemental. Using such a powerful move had left the elemental a little weaker, but the gap between it and the hunters was still insurmountable. It was practically a miracle they had made it past that first strike. Timing was everything, and getting an advanced barrier up at just the right moment was difficult even for Starlight. How were they going to overcome this?

The air spun in a vortex, and moments later, a gathering of energy that dwarfed the previous one had formed in front of the elemental. Just as it was about to release—

“I’ve got her, Krai Baby!”

“Wha?!”

Astor looked in the direction of the voice. Liz had, at some point, slipped behind the elemental and was removing the kinswoman from the elemental. With a rod held in her right hand, she had torn open the elemental’s body, releasing a crackling torrent of mana. Though the flood made Liz grow a sickly pale, she displayed no fear or trepidation.

“That rod is made of anti-mana metal, so it can break through arcane defenses,” Sitri informed them. “Since we’re headed to Yggdra, I thought it possible we might end up fighting Noble Spirits. It appears I made the right decision.”

That rod must’ve been what Sitri had thrown when the Thousand Tricks issued his command. This implied that one utterance was enough for his party to instantly understand his plan. Ansem and Lucia had drawn the elemental’s attention, Sitri had prepared an item suitable for the situation, and Liz had used her speed to rescue the person trapped inside.

Putting it like that made it sound simple, but it certainly wasn’t when you considered that the opponent was an unknown elemental, and the trapped individual could have been dead or alive. What’s more, the Thousand Tricks hadn’t said anything specific. Starlight wasn’t without its own set of battle formations, but nothing like the telepathy they had just witnessed. Was this the true power of the imperial capital’s best party of young souls?

Sitri tossed a potion vial to Liz. At roughly the same moment, the Thousand Tricks gave his first specific order.

“Attack!”

Attack?! We’re not going to run?!

That was absurd; they couldn’t win this. While a slash to the abdomen would kill most creatures, this was an elemental, a being with an immaterial body. Regardless of Astor’s surprise, Lucia and Ansem got to work, almost as if they believed their leader’s call was the correct one.

Having kept a close eye on the course of events, Lapis broke her silence. “Hmph. I appreciate the fascinating display. We’d be stupid to remain mere spectators. Back up, Grieving Souls!” she shouted.

“Wha? Ah!”

If that’s how it was, then so be it. Magic was one thing they couldn’t be bested at. Spells of all sorts battered the elemental from multiple directions. What would normally be overkill on an ordinary monster barely seemed to have any effect on this foe. After casting spell after spell, they slowly grew short of breath. They felt sharp pains in their heads, and fatigue racked their bodies. These were undeniable signs of mana deprivation, but they couldn’t stop here.

Perhaps confused by the onslaught, the elemental remained still. Astor could tell that its vast reservoir of power was slowly but surely being sheared away. However, it still surpassed them. She couldn’t imagine how they could deplete the elemental’s power before their own ran out.

Already, the blood had drained from both Kris’s and Lapis’s faces. Even with Lucia and her vast pool of mana, this elemental had too much for them to deplete. Astor continued to cast with headlong fervor. She had never before found herself faced with such a hopeless battle. Each second felt like minutes, ten or twenty even. After wringing out the last of her mana to blast the elemental, she felt her strength leave her as she fell to the ground.

She didn’t feel any pain, just exhaustion pulling her under. She couldn’t move a finger. Her ears picked up only sporadic sounds of battle. While she and her comrades had drained themselves dry, the elemental had lost maybe a third of its power. If anything, they should be proud they had managed that much, considering that escaping had seemed like their only option.

Eventually, the sounds of fighting stopped. A chilling silence fell over them.

What’s going on?

Forcing her body to move, Astor twisted around to get a better view. She saw everyone collapsed on the ground, and in the center of it all, the Thousand Tricks and the elemental stood opposite each other. But they weren’t fighting. It was almost like they were talking.

“Did the elemental come to its senses?”

***

Judgment skills were one of a hunter’s most important assets. Battle conditions could shift so rapidly that it would make your head spin. In treasure vaults that surpassed human comprehension, it wasn’t rare for a single delayed response to result in a party’s demise.

What I’m trying to get at here is that there’s no way I, someone with zero hunting aptitude, could have a necessary treasure-hunting skill. Back when I was still participating in hunts, the only reason a fool like me managed to serve as our leader (a role that I assume requires good judgment) was because the rest of the party was talented enough to make up the difference.

Though I was surprised when Lucia started attacking, if that was what my sister—a dedicated researcher at the imperial capital’s top magic academy—decided, then I was sure it was the right call. I just had to toss out vague orders, and everyone would respond as necessary. The problem was that by moving things along this way, everything happened without me understanding why.

Now, as a result of my own half-assed orders, I found myself face-to-face with a mysterious elemental. It had a large spherical body. Two large, round eyes were looking straight at me. My allies were all exhausted, particularly everyone in Starlight. After releasing such a fierce offensive, they couldn’t even stand upright. That used to happen to Lucia a lot when we first started out.

My friends were still standing, but they had stopped to observe the situation. With bated breath, they watched us. I really had no clue how this had happened. All I had done was get hit by a stray energy ray from the elemental, then ordered everyone to attack when I saw an opening. After being battered by two of the capital’s most famous parties, the elemental had no damage that I could discern. The cut Liz had made to rescue the person inside had already healed.

I knew that elementals were formidable foes, but I could barely believe that we had not only failed to fight it off, but we hadn’t even wounded it. While it could have been worn down, I had no way to confirm that.

By the looks of it, I wouldn’t be getting any help from the ever-reliable Sitri, or Eliza, who seemed like she should know all about elementals. I thought Starlight would come in clutch here, but they were all looking at me, not moving a muscle. I saw one of them faintly moving her lips, but I couldn’t tell what she was saying. I mean, they had just been asking me what I was doing, and I’m sure nothing would’ve changed if I had been able to hear this one.

Now, if I can just get this elemental to go somewhere else, we’ll be fine. But how do I do that? If this were a human, I could try talking to them— Wait. Hold on.

The creature floating before me was the definition of a fiend, so just talking probably wouldn’t get us anywhere. Not to mention, Lapis said it had lost its will. Nonetheless, if our attacks weren’t enough to defeat or rout it, then that narrowed our options.

I would opt for the love and peace route. You must never give up on striving for dialogue, even if it is a fiend you’re facing.

But man, I’ve gotta say, I’ve talked to nothing but madmen lately.

“Well, guess I’ve got no choice,” I said.

Lucia had long ago told me that negotiating with elementals was done from one heart to another. Though I didn’t know why, the elemental had stopped attacking. It was my belief that it wasn’t too late to have a genuine conversation. If words didn’t get through, we could pantomime or something.

Bracing myself, I took a deep breath. I spread my arms out wide. Just as I was about to open my mouth, an intense glow emitted from the elemental. There was a strange bell-like sound from no particular direction, and the elemental changed into a humanoid shape. I was taken aback. I had assumed it was going to strike, but apparently not. I stood there, arms still held out, and the elemental slowly raised its own arms.

What’s going on? And what’s that sound?

I was in a state of utter bafflement.

“I-I can’t believe such a powerful elemental would try to talk to a human,” Lapis said. Down on one knee, she watched us with a piercing gaze. “Again and again, you surprise me.”

“W-Well, these things happen sometimes.”

Oh, so that’s it! That sound is its voice! Now that you mention it, it does sort of sound like it’s coming from the elemental right in front of me. Honestly, could’ve fooled me.

But now that I knew the elemental was communicating with sounds, I had just the solution. This was what the translating staff Round World was meant for. It was yet to prove worth the high price I’d paid for it, but I was glad to see it come in handy with Luke’s statue, and now with the elemental.

While nodding along with everything the elemental said, I beckoned Mimicky over. Except my usually responsive treasure chest wasn’t getting any closer.

I thought coming when called was one of your features? Now’s not the time to play around.

When Tino noticed me repeatedly waving my hand, she hurried over to Mimicky and knocked him on the head. He started to move at last.

Maybe she really is better with Relics than— No, stop that. If Tino beats me at this, then my level will be the only thing I have going for me. I need to regain my honor.

Once Mimicky was close, I opened up his lid and pulled out Round World. It was my time to shine. Spinning around to face the elemental once more, I activated the staff, letting me understand the meaning behind those odd sounds.

(Well then, I place my trust in you, young human.)

“Ah. Okay.”

Huh? W-Wait a minute!

With a satisfied nod, the elemental headed to Mimicky, whose lid was still open.

(Now, before I once again lose control of myself, I’ll put myself to sleep within this chest. The world as of late has been...too dense with mana material.)

The elemental disappeared within the treasure chest before I could stop it. Then all was silent. At first glance, you could barely tell an elemental had ever been here in the first place.

Uhhh. I guess the elemental asked something of me. I don’t think it ever noticed I can’t speak Elementalese? Nodding along probably wasn’t the smartest idea. Now what do I do?

Having anxiously watched my exchange with the elemental, Lucia ran up to me. “B-Brother, are you all right?! You negotiated with an elemental...”

I mean, that wasn’t what I was going for, per se.

Regardless of how we got here, we had managed to fend off the elemental, and god was I relieved to see everyone was all right.

“Hmph. So it was drowning in mana?” Lapis said. Though unsteady, she was on her feet now, suggesting she had recovered a bit. “You ordered the attack, intending to wear down its energy and restore its sanity. The air’s mana density was bothering me, but if it’s enough to drive such a powerful elemental mad, then perhaps all is not well in Yggdra.”

“Yeah, uh-huh!”

Lapis evidently didn’t need a Relic to understand what the elemental had said. So my luck wasn’t all bad if at least someone here knew what had been asked of me. I’d have to check with her later. What a relief. If not for her, we could’ve been pushing forwards without any idea what was going on (something that happened all the time).

Lapis’s next order of business was with her haggard party members. “Now, it looks like you’ve lost your little wager,” she declared. “If what the elemental said is true, then this man has nothing to do with our gate problem. It doesn’t end there; he also just accepted the elemental’s request without the slightest hesitation. I shouldn’t have to tell you all what sort of debt we owe him. Am I clear?”

“See, what’d I tell you?! It’s not the human weakling’s fault!”

The other Starlight hunters all hung their heads in silence. Their usual assertiveness just made this timid display all the more uncomfortable. Besides, you could hardly say I accepted something when I didn’t have a clue what I was hearing. And what debt did they owe me? As much as I didn’t like being slandered, I was just as averse to being praised for things I didn’t actually do.

“Don’t worry about it,” I quickly told Lapis. “I wasn’t thinking of this in terms of favors; I was just doing what I wanted to. You also don’t need to bother with the wager. It wasn’t a fair one.”

With the terms of my defeat so obfuscated, the gamble was well in my favor. As for the request from the elemental, I still hadn’t decided if I was going to take that up. Sure, that “Okay” had slipped out, but nothing was set in stone yet. The big issue was when to check with Lapis about it. I furrowed my brow, hoping the opportunity would present itself.

One of Starlight stood up. Giving me a spiteful look, she walked up to me, still wobbling a bit. She had refined features and eyes like gemstones. I couldn’t help but freeze in her presence.

“I—no, we were wrong,” the Magus said in a low voice. “For all our untoward words and unwarranted suspicion, we apologize, Thousand Tricks. Forgive us. Sir.”

When the Magus bowed her head, her cohorts followed suit. I really hadn’t expected complete surrender from them. What would they think if they learned I couldn’t even remember their names? Now, in my defense, they never came to the clan house, so I hardly ever interacted with them.

Kris was looking despondently at those lowered heads, though I didn’t quite know why. “You should forgive them. Sir,” she said. “Even Astor is offering a polite apology. It’s, well, I think it’s just that they don’t understand you.”

“Well, that’s totally fine,” I replied. “I, for one, can’t blame them for being suspicious of me back there.”

More than that, I’m just surprised Kris isn’t the only one who uses “Sir” that way.

Standing around, unsure what to do, I found myself being swarmed by the other Starlight members.

“You’re a good guy. Sir. I guess we had the wrong idea about you. I thought levels were nothing but nonsense concocted by humans, but maybe they’re on to something. Sir.”

“You restored the sanity of a nearly godlike elemental, and also rescued one of our own. You’re too good to be a human. Now I know why Lucia thinks so highly of you. Sir.”

“Not only that, he didn’t even pause before accepting the elemental’s request! You’ve made yourself a friend! Sir!”

They all talked at me with enthusiasm, their earlier disdain gone without a trace. Watching this about-face, Lucia’s cheek began to twitch, and Kris grumbled to herself.

Were Noble Spirits always this friendly? Hey, I still don’t know what that elemental asked of me. As much as I want to, I’m not sure I can turn them down now.

“Here, human. It’s hardly enough, but I’ll give one of my treasures to show how sorry I am! Take good care of it! Sir!”

“Oh, n-no, I don’t really want that...”

On top of their effusive praise, Astor was trying to give me a ring of hers, one set with a green gem. While I had heard Noble Spirits were known for being cold to humans and warm to their friends, I think we had gone from one to the other way too quickly. I couldn’t accept something so precious to her—that would only make it harder to tell them I couldn’t do the elemental’s request. I also didn’t have any more room on my fingers.

Astor appeared momentarily hurt by my refusal, but quickly came up with another idea. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a knife, which she immediately ran through her long hair. I watched in shock and utter confusion as a tress of golden threads drifted down. With a proud smile, she offered me the hair.

“Here, if you don’t need any treasures, then I’ll share some of my hair with you! A sign of my gratitude for taking the elemental’s request. Our hair is a precious, magic catalyst. Be grateful, something like this is normally off-limits to humans. Sir!”

Everyone looked at Astor in stunned silence. Sitri, in particular, had a hand over her mouth and wore an expression of both surprise and joy. It was the sort of look she made when experiencing unbelievable luck. I envied her ability to focus on her priorities.

“Oh. Certainly.”

I didn’t see any way I could possibly say no, not when the hair had already been lopped off.

I guess I have to take the elemental’s request, now that it’s come to this. I want to vomit.

Kris shuffled up to me and asked slowly, “Here, human weakling, should I, uh, give you some of mine as well? Sir?”

“First, could you get Astor and the others to stop calling me sir? It’s confusing.”

“Hm?!”

What are you getting competitive for?! I didn’t ask for this! And this is awfully heavy for a lock of hair!

For now, I could give what I had to Sitri, since she had been looking at it with greedy eyes. That didn’t solve the issue of the expectant gazes that were eating away at me. I hadn’t meant to restore that elemental’s sanity, nor had I meant to accept its request. The warm gazes of Starlight were searing. That their attitude towards me had changed so severely was downright scary. Had I really agreed to do something so major?

The next moment, I heard Liz’s slightly foul-tempered voice from beyond the ring of Noble Spirits.

“Krai Baby, I did as you said and looked after this girl, so come take a look, okay?! I think she’s about to come to!”

At almost the exact moment we gathered around her, the Noble Spirit started coughing.

“Ah, ahhh,” she said in a ragged voice.

She had a thin, frail body. Her light green eyes were the same hue as her long hair, which she kept tied back. She had the exact sort of glowing porcelain skin that humans thought all Noble Spirits had. Though pointed ears protruded from the gaps in her hair, her gorgeous features were enough to indicate she wasn’t human. And—I had admittedly been expecting this—her height and voice didn’t at all line up with the person I had given my Cynosure to.

So who was that then?

“I can detect a constant flow of mana throughout her. Then there’s her hair and eyes,” Lapis said with admiration. “So this is a denizen of Yggdra? They say this lot lives with nature and maintains balance in the world.”

Huh? You can tell just by looking? Are light green hair and eyes proof that someone’s from Yggdra?

Lucia looked at the Noble Spirit through wide eyes. “Not only can I sense within her a power similar to what runs through the ley lines, its flow is unhindered,” she gasped. “Starlight’s power is a clear step above any human’s, but this goes even further.”

“It’s a placid mana environment,” Lapis added with a nod. “By training while one with nature, you can obtain a state opposite to your raging torrent, Lucia Rogier. Though I’ve never seen such placidity before. In fact, I’d say this makes her more elemental than human.”

I hope one day I can find a Relic that lets me see mana so I can say cool things like that.

The Yggdra girl started coughing like she still had some of the elemental caught in her throat.

“I believe she’s our guide. We had arranged to meet up outside,” Eliza said. “The elemental said the end of the world is approaching. What in the world happened within Yggdra?”

Oh, sounds like more trouble is— Did you say end of the world?

I barely managed to hold on to my poker face as a grimace threatened to form. All of a sudden, I no longer wanted to go to Yggdra. Luke really could’ve picked a better time to get turned to stone. While I didn’t like bothering Ark with small tasks, this was obviously something for him to take care of. I wanted to hold out inside Mimicky, but now there was that elemental inside. At least I managed to keep my internal struggle from showing on my face.

After finally coming to her senses, the Yggdran girl looked up at us. Our eyes met. Those light green irises were so clear, I thought I could see right to her heart. Something about her was much more ethereal than any elemental.

Her wary eyes passed over all of us before she opened her rose-pink lips. “Are you all... Oh, I understand. I was told a group would be coming from the outside. That’s right! Where’s Milesse?!”

“If you mean the elemental, it’s alive,” Eliza answered. “After regaining control, it took shelter in a safe place. It told us the basics, but we’d like to hear more. What’s going on here?”

I didn’t want to hear any more. Sadly, that wasn’t going to happen, so I hid my reluctance beneath a hard-boiled veneer.

Eliza grabbed my arm and all but shoved me in front of the Noble Spirit. “This is Krai Andrey, the one who found the cursed stone. He’s known for being one of the most intelligent people in the imperial capital. If you speak with him, we might find a solution.”

“Wha?! Eliza, don’t say that. I’m not at all intelligent. There are plenty of things I don’t know,” I said with a shrug.

I didn’t understand why Eliza had such a high opinion of me. Maybe she was just making things up as she went along, the same way I did.

The Yggdran girl looked at me as though trying to decide if there was any truth to my claims of unintelligence. “Very well.” She nodded and stood up. “Uncovering Shero’s Cursed Stone is a great deed, regardless of one’s origin. Then there’s the matter of my apparent rescue. While this isn’t something I would normally share with humans, I’m in your debt. My name is Selyn, and I’m a...guide for Yggdra. Let us continue onward. Along the way, I’ll tell you everything regarding the imminent doom we’re facing and the surrounding circumstances.”

Though we only came here to get Luke healed, the prevailing mood prevented me from telling her that. I wished I could be like my friends and say no when I wanted to. Looking at Liz, I saw her staring enthusiastically at Selyn.

“What?! The world’s gonna end?” she was saying. “Tell me more! I couldn’t understand anything that elemental was saying!”

Just my luck that the person capable of saying no was saying yes.

Selyn removed from her bag a Cynosure like ours and held it up by the leather cord. It spun around a few times, then came to a total stop. It only faced a single direction, unlike our rampant ones.

“The Cynosures are fixed?”

“If the Cynosures were acting up, it must have been due to Milesse. She’s one of the most powerful elementals in Yggdra.”

“Wait. Does a Magus of Yggdra command that godlike elemental?!” Lapis asked.

Supposedly, the more powerful an elemental was, the harder it was to form a contract with.

Selyn looked momentarily perturbed before she shook her head. “No, she simply cooperates with us. Since antiquity, we’ve maintained close relationships with elementals. They typically provide the forest with protection, though with the recent instability, they’ve been accompanying us as escorts. For an elemental who has protected this forest for so long to lose control is, well, without precedent. It’s completely unexpected.”

“Hmm. Completely unexpected...” I mumbled without meaning to.

Selyn looked at me. “What?”

Oh, nothing really.

While I didn’t know what had happened, I just found myself echoing her when she said this trouble was enough to drive a veteran guardian of a legendary land insane. It wasn’t any different than interjecting with a “Yeah” or an “I see.”

I found myself looking up at the sky. Despite the grandiose name “Godtree Guideway,” the sky here was blue, just like it was anywhere else. With a sigh, I turned and looked at each of my companions. They had been patiently waiting for me to finish my little round of escapism.

“No, it’s nothing,” I said. “For now, it looks like we don’t have much time. While I don’t want to make any promises I can’t keep, let’s start by getting to Yggdra.”

Chapter Four: The Land of the Noble Spirits

After following Selyn for a little less than an hour, we arrived at a village so idyllic I thought we had stumbled into a fairy tale. A babbling river ran nearby, and houses rested atop the branches of immense trees.

I knew that Noble Spirits were born among and lived in harmony with nature. I assumed their distaste for metal was due to some lack of civilization, but that turned out to be entirely wrong—they had just developed in a different direction than we had. As Selyn informed us, not many Noble Spirits inhabited Yggdra. However, they were all proficient with magic and built their lives by securing the cooperation of elementals.

A sigh escaped my lips. I never thought a village like this might actually exist. Looking around, I got a brief taste of why hunters took so much joy from traversing unexplored lands.

What caught my eye more than anything was the Tree. Gazing up to the heavens, it was hard not to see something so gargantuan. I was told it was a few kilometers from us, but its sheer size screwed with my sense of distance. It was so far, yet I couldn’t see its peak. Countless green leaves drifted from the branches, reminding me of the petal blizzard that had occurred during the formation of Prism Garden.

So this is the homeland of the Noble Spirits?

The sight of the legendary land had even my adventure-seasoned friends brimming with excitement. Selyn may have given us a heavy lecture on the road here, but finding the joy in everything was something this party excelled at.

“Hmm, the mana material here is quite dense,” Sitri said, looking down at her open palms. “This is on par with a high-level treasure vault. In fact, it’s odd that a treasure vault hasn’t formed until now...”

“It would appear, Leader, that there’s truth to the urban legends stating that the World Tree circulates the world’s mana.”

“Yeah, uh-huh.”

I had heard on occasion that the World Tree rested at the center of the ley lines, but I was shocked to learn it was true.

“Any human with high mana material absorption would be intoxicated.” Lapis scowled. It was her first time here as well. “While I’m sure Grieving Souls are no strangers to high-level treasure vaults...”

“I see. We probably shouldn’t stay here too long. I’ll be fine, though.”

Mana material intoxication occurred when hunters with high absorption entered treasure vaults, or when someone rapidly exceeded their limit. While it was generally better to have higher mana material absorption, intoxication was one of the trait’s few demerits. As someone with next to no absorption powers, I envied my friends.

“Don’t force yourself. Sir,” Kris said with a grimace. She almost sounded like she was warning me. “With our low absorption, we’re fine, but I hear there’s not much you can do to negate intoxication.”

If they thought their absorption was low, they hadn’t seen mine; I could go through Peregrine Lodge without side effects.

“Don’t worry,” I told her, “we can just head home before the intoxication sets in.”

Kris was right in that intoxication wasn’t something you could fend off. Even if I was going to be all right, my friends weren’t. Though plundering vaults had made them used to conditions like high mana material, that didn’t necessarily mean it was any less unpleasant to them.

“Did you hear what I said?” Kris muttered. “Why are you so confident?”

“Hm?”

I wasn’t really confident; I just wanted to finish our task and get home. Though Selyn had only told us the gist of what Yggdra was dealing with, it was enough for me to discern that it was too large for us to solve. Sure, we were willing to help out in any way we could, but Selyn herself hardly seemed to think there was a way out of this.

Can anyone solve this?

She had said that too much mana material had gathered around the World Tree, forming a treasure vault. However, breaking the curse on Luke was why we were here, and I wasn’t going to lose sight of that.

Looking gravely at the World Tree, Selyn pulled herself together and said, “As much as I’d like to hear exactly how you found Shero, our first order of business should be breaking the petrification curse she cast.”

If nothing else, it appeared as though our first objective would be a piece of cake.

Once I had the Luke statue out of Mimicky, Selyn examined him closely.

“I’m afraid this curse is much too powerful,” she said, looking vexed. “Even accounting for the powers of the late queen, she must have truly hated this man to cast a curse so deep.”

“Huh? Does this mean you can’t break it?”

This is unexpected. Eliza told us that an Yggdran Shaman would be able to free Luke. Man, how did he get it this bad? Well, I always thought something like this might happen to him.

Still, this was really bad. We had wasted lots of time traveling to Yggdra. It would be a sad day if the curse progressed past the point of potential recovery.

“To be precise, breaking the curse here would be impossible,” Selyn said, irritated. “If we carry out the ritual at the right location—”

“And where is that?”

“Beneath the World Tree. It’s from the tree that we receive our grand powers...”

That was the place she had just told us we couldn’t get close to. Once again, our timing couldn’t be worse. Sitri then clapped her hands as though she had an idea. She had grown a little too used to crises.

Hold on, maybe we’re jumping to conclusions?

“Umm, don’t take this the wrong way,” I said, not ready to give up, “but are there any stronger Shamans or something? Someone who can heal Luke without going to the World Tree? From what I’ve heard, the most powerful Noble Spirits are those of the imperial family?”

For all I knew, it was absolutely unacceptable for a human to ask something of the imperial family, but Luke’s life was at risk here. At the rate we were going, he was going to end up a clan house ornament.

Selyn’s mouth twitched. “I-I’m of the imperial family,” she said in a strained voice. “My apologies, human.”

The World Tree was the divine arbor that governed the world’s energies. It sat at the center of our star’s ley lines and aided in the circulation of mana material, thereby giving this locus the world’s greatest concentration of mana material. Seeking said energy, hordes of powerful monsters and mythical beasts gathered here.

In order to prevent the tree from being misused, the ancient Noble Spirits founded a nation around the World Tree and used their superior magic skills to fight off intruders. That was how Yggdra came to be, and its inhabitants, such as Selyn, had served as the World Tree’s guardians ever since.

A glistening spring trickled within a beautiful garden at the center of Yggdra. While looking up at the towering World Tree, the imperial princess of the Noble Spirits, Selyn Yggdra Frestle, continued her explanation.

“Mana material does not simply enhance life-forms. Humans, animals, and plants all undergo a fundamental change when absorbing mana material. Our low absorption capacity gives us Noble Spirits a stronger resilience to its effects, thus allowing us to get closer to the World Tree than anyone else. However, this is not to say we are immune to mana material.”

“Hmm, so your tranquil mana is a result of years spent immersed in mana material,” Lapis said with no particular warmth. I guess it wasn’t just humans that she was rude to.

Hearing such a cold response from a fellow Noble Spirit, Selyn furrowed her brow. “It’s just a matter of innate qualities. Yggdrans with especially low mana material absorption are chosen as guardians. Let me correct myself, those with especially low absorption and a strong disposition for magic.” Selyn glanced at me. “Though evidently my powers appear insufficient in the eyes of this human.”

That’s not what I said. It’s just that, given that you had been swallowed up by that elemental, I think anyone would assume you weren’t the person we were looking for.

Between her and Murina, I was starting to think there was some reason imperial princesses couldn’t just sit still in their castles.

When Selyn saw me (pretend) not to notice her glances, she returned her gaze to Lapis. “Oh, so be it. Lapis Fulgor, it appears there’s something you wish to say to me.”

After giving her a look of consternation, Lapis snorted, then spoke like a broken dam. “I’ll take you up on that then. There’s just one question I’d appreciate an answer to. Is there a reason you drove the majority of Noble Spirits from Yggdra, then limited entry, all while continuing to spread your faith in the World Tree?”

Drove out the majority?

Lapis’s voice was quiet, but still carried an undeniable weight. The existence of some underlying tension among the Noble Spirits would explain why she had been so fixated on the cursed stone.

Eliza watched with her usual vague gaze as Lapis continued. “Being cooped up in Yggdra, you might not know this, but we’ve long been a target of persecution. If there’s any truth to what I’ve been told, you sat in silence even when Shero’s forest was burned and hundreds of our kind slaughtered.”

“Lapis Fulgor, you speak of an era long gone. While that was before my birth, I’m sure my ancestors did not make that decision without due consideration. There were different necessities for those sent outside and those who remained inside.”

Lapis stared at her in silence.

“I won’t ask for your forgiveness,” Selyn continued. She held her head high, her voice imbued with conviction. At that moment, she had the charisma befitting an imperial princess. “However, I will ask that you understand. We did not abandon you. Shero Iyris Frestle—no, the queens of every forest are of the same bloodline as me. The reason the queen of Yggdra chased out so many Noble Spirits all those years ago was to ensure the continuation of our kind. While we understood the many perils of the outside world, it was believed that it would be safer than remaining here.”

What does that mean? The outside world was full of hostiles.

Lapis didn’t interrupt once, which made me think this was all new information to her as well. She just stared intently at Selyn, as though trying to determine if she was lying or not.

“In their pride, Shero’s imperial ancestors chose to protect their kinsmen beyond Yggdra, and thus parted ways with my ancestors. Even still, you are all still connected to the denizens of Yggdra. Thus, though it is rarely utilized, we ensure that it is still possible to contact us. Eliza Beck—”

Selyn’s gaze shifted to Eliza, who was standing straight. Though she finally returned something she had been searching so long for, she still kept her own rhythm going. Even suddenly hearing her name didn’t cause her to so much as flinch. At least she had been pretty pumped up when she first found the curse stone, but I was still amazed by the gap between her on and off. I just didn’t understand why she was off in front of someone so important.

“—you’ve done us a great service. Now, it hasn’t escaped my notice. The wandering Noble Spirits, such as yourself, came from Shero’s forest, did they not?”

Silently, Eliza looked at Selyn with her sleepy eyes, then nodded her head.

Act properly, just this once. Don’t tell me something’s making you perfectly comfortable.

“Shero’s decision to unleash a curse with reckless abandon is by no means forgivable. However, I find myself more than able to empathize with her. Yggdrans and humans both bear some responsibility for what happened. Nonetheless, our mandate has now been fulfilled. I feel it must be fate that brought her back from her long hiatus at this point in time.”

Selyn gave an emotional sigh. So it was Yggdra that had ordered the search for the stone. That was nice, but I still needed to know what we were going to do about Luke. I was hoping the curse on him might break now that Shero was mollified, but this curse lacked that sort of courtesy.

“Now, human—no, Krai Andrey,” Selyn said in a sonorous voice as she turned to me. “I’ve heard your tale in broad strokes. You found the cursed stone and then brought it to Eliza. On behalf of Yggdra, I extend my gratitude to you as well.”

“No need. I didn’t really do anything.”

Why did all Noble Spirits have eyes like gemstones? Eliza and Starlight were no exceptions. I couldn’t relax with such crystalline eyes on me.

That aside, what did Eliza tell Selyn? Saying I brought the cursed stone to her was an oversimplification, no matter how you looked at it. For the time being, I just put on a hard-boiled smile.

Clearing her throat, Selyn said somewhat reluctantly, “Normally, we would offer some token of gratitude; however, as I touched upon on our way here, Yggdra is currently facing a crisis. There is nothing we can offer you.”

“Ah. Okay.”

I didn’t mean to sound so curt when I said that. It’s just that coming across the cursed stone was an accident, and I wasn’t asking for a reward; all the while, I couldn’t get what I had actually come here for. We didn’t know how much longer it would be until Luke was completely petrified.

If Selyn couldn’t break the curse, then we would have to look for other methods. Going to the Church of the Radiant Spirit’s headquarters seemed like a possibility. As good a healer as Ansem was, he had a lot to learn about dealing with curses. There was a chance the other church members would know something.

Tilting my head, I furrowed my brow as I thought about it. Or maybe, he’d be healed if we removed the outer layer?

“We’re truly grateful,” Selyn said, her face darkening. “If you’d like, please go ahead and take something from Yggdra.”

“Wha? Oh, no, that’s not...”

Noble Spirits already preferred to interact with their own. If I made their imperial princess bow her head, Starlight might not want anything more to do with me.

Just as I was about to say something, a loud boom shook the air. Selyn froze. The source of the sound was Liz. With a look of irritation, the tip of her Relic-clad foot was dug into the ground. She must have kicked the ground as hard as she could. She had just been listening quietly, so what was this about? Selyn wasn’t the only one surprised—my heart was pounding.

As Selyn remained stunned, Liz walked in front of her and clicked her tongue. “This is taking forever! You’re supposed to be some imperial princess, yet you keep wasting our time with this! Can’t you tell what Krai Baby wants? He’s getting really pissed!”

No. I’m not. I’m not getting pissed! And I don’t want anything.

We had already been told they were unable to break the curse. There was no point telling them to do what they couldn’t. Maybe there was something Liz wanted, but taking something from Yggdra in their current state seemed pretty low.

“Hey, Liz, hold on—”

I tried to stop her, but she was already past the point of listening. Her tendency to go all out was both a good and a bad trait of hers. Completely ignoring me, she went up and lifted Selyn by the collar.

“We don’t need your thanks,” she growled, a bright glimmer in her eyes. “We’re busy people. That’s why Krai Baby’s telling you to hurry up and show us to the crazy treasure vault that appeared at the base of the World Tree!”

Selyn was taken aback.

That’s not what I’m saying. Liz, you just want to go to the vault, don’t you?

She hadn’t been to any high-level vaults recently. In fact, she had already conquered all the vaults near the imperial capital, so maybe she saw incidents like this as a stroke of good luck.

“Do you understand what you’re saying?” Selyn said. “The area surrounding the World Tree is dangerous. The density of mana material is far beyond that of any treasure vault in the outside world. Yggdra is at the center of the world; those monsters are unlike any other.”

“And what about it?! How can you tell if you haven’t taken them on?! You can’t be a hunter if you’re scared of a tough fight! Right?”

Liz looked at me, as though asking me to back her up. Her light-pink eyes glimmered with vitality, and a slight shade of scarlet was on her cheeks. It was an expression of two parts irritation, eight parts joy.

Even if we do end up fighting monsters for whatever reason, our first priority is Luke. Please don’t forget that.

Selyn was absolutely baffled. She had probably never been grabbed by the collar before.

Watching us with her arms crossed, Lapis snorted and said, “Barbaric as ever. However, I won’t deny that those with power have an obligation to use it, and we have our pride as Noble Spirits. Very well, Thousand Tricks. I’ll follow your lead here.”

“Oh. Uh, all right.”

I hadn’t actually said anything. When I thought about it, though, this might be the best way to save Luke. After all, we didn’t actually need to conquer the treasure vault that had formed. If Selyn was right, breaking the curse just required the right setting. We could sneak up to the World Tree, and if any phantoms did appear, then some of us could hold them off to buy time for the healing.

Besides, taking care of the root problem here wouldn’t be easy. Though I had been present for the formation of treasure vaults, I had never seen one destroyed. They weren’t exactly something you could just burn down.

“W-Well she has a point,” I said. I didn’t see what I could do but accept. “It sounds like we need to approach the World Tree if we want to break the curse on Luke.”

“It appears what they say about human self-assurance is true,” Selyn said with an exasperated shrug. “Or perhaps you’re simply reckless?”

She had that right. Hunters had no regard for the value of life. I wanted to crawl back inside Mimicky.

Oblivious to my terror, Selyn put our resolve to the test. “The mana material gathered about the World Tree is reaching max capacity, bringing us closer to destruction. The overflow is having effects even on the Godtree Guideway and the resulting aberrations number in the tens of thousands. Merely approaching the vicinity of the World Tree is a perilous task. A majority of the elementals that helped build Yggdra have undergone changes. None of our battle preparations have been of any use. Knowing that, would you still push forwards in an attempt to save your friend?”

You really could’ve mentioned all that earlier. As I thought, it would be faster to just go somewhere else. Except I don’t think there’s any stopping these guys at this point.

Typically, Luke would be running wild, and Liz would be telling him off. However, now that Luke wasn’t here, it was Liz who was engaging in lunacy, and there was nobody to stop her.

I was doing my best to think of a way to gently say no when Sitri raised her right hand. “I have one question, Selyn, if it’s all right.”

Selyn turned her doll-like face to Sitri. “What might that be?”

With a bright smile, our Alchemist clapped her hands together. “The nature of mana material is immutable. It flows through the ground via ley lines, and phantoms and treasure vaults form wherever there’s power. This is as it’s always been. Now, from what I’ve heard, such as your choice to send people away and making preparations for battle, I can only assume that you Yggdrans have an accurate idea of what’s wrong with the World Tree, as well as the danger it poses. Am I wrong?”

She spoke in clear and concise terms. She was also dead-on. I hadn’t noticed it before, but the imperial family had sent their people away before Shero’s curse went on a rampage. At least one thousand years ago, in other words.

Selyn was stunned for a brief second before she regained her composure. “That’s correct,” she said with a nod. “We’ve long known of the impending destruction presented by the World Tree. We have been working to stop it, and have indeed succeeded in delaying it. However, the gathering powers have far exceeded our wildest predictions.”

“I see,” I said. “That must be rough.”

“That’s an understatement. Sir.”

You know what’s coming, yet you can’t do anything about it. Yeah, I’ve been there.

Kris would have to forgive me for making an understatement. This wasn’t my problem to deal with. As cold as it might be, Yggdra’s destruction would ultimately have very little effect on my life in the imperial capital. If we hadn’t come here to break the curse on Luke, we wouldn’t have been wrapped up in this, and would’ve stayed in the capital, none the wiser about the danger of the World Tree.

While the phrase “anomaly within the World Tree” did reek of something perilous, it didn’t offer any details. I think the reason I often came off as unflappable was simply that I never had any clue what was going on. So while I kept silent, Sitri gleefully did the talking for me.

“We may not be as long-lived as Noble Spirits, but we have kept detailed logs and carried out investigations regarding the paths we’ve walked. This star has seen several civilizations fall and new ones be born. While we can only make suppositions based on what treasure vaults re-create, we aren’t ignorant of details. For instance, we can hazard guesses as to what happened when some of those civilizations came to ruin.”

I heard Kris gulp. Everyone was enraptured by Sitri’s speech. Though she had always spent most of her time in the library reading books, I was amazed at how knowledgeable she had become. But there was one thing about this that didn’t add up—why did my dear friend look so happy?

“I’m sure Krai has reached the same conclusion, but here’s what I’ve put together from what Selyn’s told us: you Yggdrans are expecting the destruction of the World Tree. Is that a fair assumption?”

H-Hey, none of that even crossed my mind.

I looked at Selyn, and our eyes met. Those clear, light-green eyes acted like a mirror, reflecting my lackwit face. We stayed like that for only a moment before she looked away like nothing had happened. I was praying that Sitri’s supposition would be wrong, but Selyn’s reaction said it all.

I looked at the World Tree. Its enormous size and seemingly endless leaves had made it seem almost mystical when I first saw it, but now the sight of it was strangely unnerving.

“That,” Selyn said after a minute of silence, “is a fair assumption. The destruction of the World Tree is not only Yggdra’s problem. There are few things that may manifest near the World Tree, the source of the ley lines. We Yggdrans have thus dubbed the treasure vault that once appeared, and will appear again, there.” After taking a deep breath, Selyn continued in a whisper. “The beginning of the end of the world. Where the bringer of calamity shall descend—Shrine of the Effluent God. It won’t happen immediately, but in the near future, a phantom god born from the World Tree will bring about the end of civilization.”

For something that started as a quest to get Luke healed, this had escalated wildly. Between all those curses and Key of the Land, our world was just rife with hazards. Just this once, looking the other way just wasn’t on the table. I had to do something, but this was too much for me. This, I was certain, was a job for Ark.

“Just how far off is this near future?” I asked fearfully.

Whether we chose to think up a plan of action or gather forces, it wouldn’t happen in an instant. If the world ended, there would be bigger issues than Luke’s petrification.

Taking a deep breath, Selyn paled. “It won’t be long. According to our records, there is a process required for the god’s descent. The stage has already been set. All that is left is for the necessary amount of mana material to accumulate. By our calculations, that could occur in less than two hundred—no, perhaps even one hundred years! We must be prepared for the worst!”

“Y-Yeah, uh-huh.”

One hundred years, you said? That’s right, you guys live pretty long lives.

While the world ending in one hundred years did sound pretty bad, there was no way I would still be around to see it. With their mana material, my friends would probably still be alive by that point, but I sure as heck wouldn’t.

I felt a bit better now. Clapping my hands, I turned and looked at my comrades. “Well, panicking won’t get us anywhere. I’ve got an idea in my head. It may not sound like it, but one hundred years is a long time, so let’s worry about it once we’ve got Luke back to normal.”

Then we’re gonna head back to the capital and make—I mean, ask Ark to take care of this.

We were well into the night by the time we finished up our discussions.

I had to climb a ladder into a tree to reach the cozy little house Selyn had prepared for us. It wasn’t luxurious, but it had all the necessities and was comfortable enough. Most importantly, however, it had a balcony which I could step out onto to get an incredible view of the night sky. Unlike the imperial capital, Yggdra gave off very little man-made light, leaving nothing to interfere with the glittering stars.

I took a deep breath, letting the cool, fresh air fill my lungs. Though we had hit some major bumps on the Godtree Guideway, then gotten hit with a bombshell pertaining to the end of the world, looking up at the starry sky made coming here feel worth it.

Standing next to me, Sitri said with a glimmer in her eyes, “I certainly didn’t expect to find a hint regarding the destruction of past civilizations when we set out for Yggdra. Though I did have my suspicions that the Noble Spirits might know something, given their longevity. Aren’t you glad we came, Krai?! The destruction by phantom god theory suddenly seems much more credible!”

“Yeah, uh-huh.”

She was really excited, considering it was her civilization at risk, even if it was a hundred years from now. Still, an apocalyptic god would be manifesting. Would it be stronger than the foxes of Peregrine Lodge? A part of me wanted to know, another part of me didn’t.

At least we had secured Selyn’s cooperation in breaking the curse on Luke. Fortunately, it didn’t sound like the spell itself was all that complicated, nor would we need to make preparations like the church had when purifying Marin’s Lament. The only remaining problem was what to do about the powerful phantoms said to appear within the treasure vault, but I’d just have to let the other hunters take care of that.

“I certainly didn’t think Yggdra was keeping something like this under wraps,” Lapis said, displeased as ever. “I know the Yggdrans’ reverence for their town runs deep, but it sounds like they’ve kept their mouths shut despite all they know. Eliza, were you aware of any of this?”

“No. All that was passed on to the Desert Nobles was their mandate. I think they were afraid of information getting out. It’s not hard to see how things might get tricky if the truth of the World Tree became known.”

“Hmph. And now that they’ve lost any reason to be so tight-lipped, they’re revealing the truth. Inconsiderate bastards, bracing for an unwinnable fight and considering the aftermath of a loss, including how to make sure info gets passed down. A hundred years. A measly hundred years.”

“There’s not much you can do in a hundred years.”

Not much? Even I’d get a little bit stronger if I trained for a hundred years.

I was only just beginning to realize how insane the perception gap between humans and Noble Spirits was.

“However, Master, even if we manage to break the curse on Luke, that’s a shrine-type treasure vault, right?” Tino said. Being a Thief, she was curiously inspecting the house. “What can we do about that? Can we kill a god?”

I mean, I wouldn’t say it’s impossible.

My first priority was Luke. The vault was number two or three; I just couldn’t say that in front of Starlight. I’d have to say it eventually, but now wasn’t the time. We couldn’t rule out the possibility of Luke cutting down the vault once he was back to normal.

“While I can’t guarantee any of them will work, I think we have a few options. Since we’re talking about the end of the world, let’s do everything we possibly can.”

“You’re right, Master! If there’s any way I can help, don’t hesitate to call on me!”

“Then how about you do something about the treasure vault?”

“Huh?!”

I was just joking, yet Tino was wide-eyed and trembling slightly.

“Leader, please be reasonable with her!”

I don’t know why, but Lucia had been unusually absent-minded until she said that.

For me, “let’s do everything we can” meant making this Ark’s problem to solve. However, nobody would be happy with me if I brought that up, even if I told them it was an act of preterhuman artifice. The only problem was that Yggdra was about as inaccessible as it got. I couldn’t go home on my own since the Cynosure only showed how to get here. I’d have to ask Selyn or someone to use a spell to hurl me back, or retrace our steps through the Godtree Guideway.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the monsters along that path had lost control and grown in numbers. It was to the point that a guardian elemental assigned by the Yggdran imperial family had been swept up in the madness. I wanted to vomit just thinking about what might happen if someone with chronic bad luck like mine were to go in there. If curing Luke required going somewhere even worse, then I wasn’t sure what I could contribute besides some prayers.

Doing side splits with her torso pressed to the ground, Liz looked up with a smile. “I can’t wait to see what’s out there. How about you?”

If you can’t already tell, I’d be fine never seeing what’s out there.

We didn’t have to head out immediately, and we’d need to make some preliminary investigations before getting started. We were told the phantoms’ numbers fluctuated from day to day. The fewer enemies we had to fight, the better. And we had just the Thief to ensure that happened.

“Sorry, Eliza, but can I ask you to scout Shrine of the Effluent God? We need to figure out when to time Luke’s healing.”

“Understood.”

“Huh?! Why her and not me?! I can do scouting too!”

“Because, Liz, you would sample the phantoms.”

Of course, I had no doubts regarding Liz’s talents; it’s just that she had this belief that getting first blood was a Thief’s special privilege. Not to mention, Eliza surpassed her when it came to detection. Anyone else in Grieving Souls would’ve made the same decision.

With her still on the floor, I walked up to Liz and placed my hand on her head. “You’ll be cutting loose later. If the opportunity presents itself.”

“All riiight.” She pursed her lips to show her dissatisfaction, then went back to her stretches. “That’s a promise, okay?”

We had faced peril dozens of times before, and only once or twice had we ever gotten through it without a fight. I’d have to be an idiot to think things would fall into place just this once. Though I didn’t care for their battle fervor, I did trust my friends’ battle prowess—I was certain they could fight off even the phantoms of a vault unlike any other.

Once we had the curse off Luke, I was planning to contrive some reason to get out of the forest. Now, this would not be running. Sometimes a brief retreat could be a tactical boon, that’s all. In the imperial capital, we could recruit all sorts of people, and we might even find a solution to the World Tree problem.

Kris looked at me dubiously, probably because she sensed I was planning something. “Human weakling, do we really have a shot at this? Sir?”

“There are always unforeseeable circumstances. There’s no way to be one hundred percent certain.”

Speaking of unforeseeable circumstances, what happened to that girl who pretended to be one of Starlight so she could take the Cynosure from me?

***

Though they all fell under the same broad term, “monster” encompassed a diverse swathe of powerful creatures that antagonized humankind. Mankind’s history could be summarized in the history of its battles against monsters. Human nations and settlements were generally established away from the territories of threatening beasts.

Though many people went their entire lives without encountering a powerful monster, it would nonetheless be inaccurate to say humans ruled the world. Monsters lived near roiling volcanic craters, in stalwart colonies founded in vast wastelands, deep within forests, among the ruins of fortresses, quietly within immense caverns that went on for hundreds of kilometers, hidden among human cities, and more.

Traveling the world, Uuno and her companions had fought and collected myriad monsters. Unlike the phantoms of treasure vaults, monsters were living creatures, a fact that entailed a number of inconveniences.

For Nocturnal Parade, the Godtree Guideway proved to be both heaven and hell—the ceaseless sounds of offensive spells. The roars of monsters followed by the metallic clang of their attacks bounced off the astrovore’s armor. The monsters on this mystic path were far beyond anything they had fought previously.

The mana material in the air was unnaturally dense, and the monsters had many unusual traits. Uuno and her comrades were all experts when it came to monsters, yet not even they recognized some of the beasts they came across.

She found herself taking cover behind the astrovore to evade acid spat by a large snake, then darting to the side to dodge a spell cast by an airborne elemental. Even her safer estimates put every single one of these monsters at a minimum of Level 6 by the Explorers’ Association’s metrics. With foes like these, even a stray projectile was dangerous. That was a weakness for this trio of Guiding Hands: they were fairly fragile compared to the monsters at their command. Uuno was forced to stay out of the way, as getting hit would be the end of her.

“I’ve never seen so many mythical beasts and elementals!” she said between ragged breaths. “Truly, Noble Spirits have some fine security!”

“You can save your sobbing for later! There’s more coming!”

Zork the dark cyclops was the personal favorite of Nocturnal Parade’s general, Quint Ghent. The cyclops’s club slammed into the mythic snake, blowing away along with it other monsters that had been watching for a chance to strike. With a shrill cry, the astrovore warded off a crowd of encroaching foes.

Nonetheless, the monsters of the Godtree Guideway didn’t show the slightest sign that they might retreat. The cyclops commanded by Quint and Adler’s partner, the centipede, were both creatures that had once dominated their respective domains. Most monsters would instinctively know when they were up against a greater foe and thus shrink back. None of the Guiding Hands had ever seen anything like this.

Creatures like Zork and the astrovore were each worth a thousand soldiers. They were powerful monsters that had been trained to be deadlier yet. That, however, did not mean they were undefeatable or immune to battle fatigue.

After being hit by Zork, the snake recovered from an attack that would have left most monsters on the dirt. To shake off a strike from a monster that excelled at brawling must’ve required immense durability. The snake had suffered some damage, yet its cold eyes still held the same fierce determination.

“Adler, there’s something up with these guys,” Quint called. “It’s like they don’t feel fear or pain!”

“There’s gotta be an explanation. The mana material here is too dense to be natural. Just being above a ley line isn’t enough to explain this, wouldn’t you say, Uuno?”

The eyes of Uuno the Holy Spirit Master had a special power to see that which was otherwise invisible. Though a special spell was warping the space around them, she could clearly make out a flow of mana material heading in one direction. In a typical treasure vault, she could see mana flowing upwards from the ground—or to be precise, the ley lines. This was clearly different—mana was pouring in from the outside.

No doubt, this was what was making the monsters here so powerful. Mana material enhanced creatures partially by force. If Noble Spirit spellcraft was behind this freakish might on display, then they were committing an act of cruelty.

“That’s right!” Uuno responded. “I can feel immense currents of mana from outside causing magic interference! I’m certain the Noble Spirits are forcefully enhancing these monsters as a way of bolstering their defenses!”

Lifting an arm, she pointed in the direction the mana was coming from. Though she couldn’t make out the finer points of the spell, she hadn’t thought the Noble Spirits would have someone able to see mana material.

“Adler, are we really gonna keep going?!” Quint yelled. “If we go the way the Cynosure’s pointing, we won’t get attacked, right?!”

“And what would be the point of that?” she replied. “Our aim here is to secure new fighters. Going the way of the Cynosure is exactly what the Thousand Tricks expects us to do. If we need to run, we can do that at any time.”

“Well, yes,” Uuno said, “you’re not wrong...”

“If anything, you should be pumped up!” Adler’s lips twisted into a brazen grin. “The Noble Spirits might’ve messed with these monsters, but we can just do what we always do! We’ll overcome these beasts, make ’em submit, then make ’em serve us! That’s how we’ve gotten stronger, and it’s how we always will! If we can bring these monsters to our side, we’ll be unstoppable!”

“That’s truuue, but they aren’t letting up!”

A blade of wind slipped past the astrovore, leaving a shallow, bleeding wound on Adler’s cheek. The centipede was sturdy as a bulwark, but it couldn’t block everything, especially when facing so many threats.

“Lady Adler!” Uuno shouted before she realized it.

Despite the cut, Adler remained undaunted. “I can take this much,” she purred. “They can cut a bit deeper, and I’ll still be fine.”

As if on cue, the astrovore undid the defensive coil it had formed around the Guiding Hands and moved off. Yuden was an astrovorous centipede, a monster that had once been king of an era now long gone. After looking through an old tome, Adler had discovered it lurking in an ancient ruin.

The fiend raised its body, then darted forwards like a viper. Its outer layer was more durable than most metals. It could dash faster than sound could carry. With its large frame, it caused a cliff to crumble and trees to fall as it tore through the swarming monsters. These enhanced beasts were nothing compared to the astrovore. Having lived for thousands of years, its powers surpassed the strongest dragons.

Even the monsters that had endured attacks from Zork were now lying still on the ground, their bodies riddled with holes. As Yuden toppled its foes, its numerous sharp legs punctured their skin. The astrovore carried powerful toxins that could quickly incapacitate the strongest of mythical beasts. This was why ancient people had once feared this creature as one of the strongest beasts alive. Yet the monsters weren’t dead, for the centipede had several toxins at its disposal.

Yuden’s vitality ensured it could easily survive even being torn apart or a vicious attack by Grieving Souls. Then there was its overwhelming might, capped off by the ability to subdue targets with a variety of toxins. Surely, very few beings in existence could win in a direct fight against what was one of the strongest monsters in the world.

“In one blow, it takes down what Zork couldn’t.” Quint groaned, somewhat frustrated. “That thing still terrifies me.”

Adler snorted. “Yet it wasn’t enough for Grieving Souls. Uuno, go win over the monsters we just took down. If they lost so quickly to Yuden, they probably won’t be any match for those hunters, but with enough monsters, we can at least give them trouble. Oh, and don’t strain yourself. There’s plenty more where these monsters came from.”

“As you wish. Thooough I don’t know if I’ll have much success winning them over.”

Some monsters weren’t easily tamed. Plenty of them couldn’t be communicated with, and matters like luck and compatibility were always a factor. The trick to taming monsters was to establish a clear hierarchy through displays of power. Many monsters were instinctively drawn to powerful beings. Yuden’s show of overwhelming force should make Uuno’s task easier.

That there hadn’t been any monsters stronger than the astrovore was a major relief. The most dangerous situation a Guiding Hand could find themself in was when facing a threat stronger than anything under their command. That was the true test of a Guiding Hand’s mettle.

Adler suddenly looked at Uuno. She had a bad feeling about the silent glimmer in her leader’s eyes. While she had been tossed around at the mercy of Grieving Souls earlier, she was always being tossed around at the mercy of Adler.

“But some of those hunters can use attack spells, so I don’t see any point in filling our ranks with mediocrity. Uuno, you said something about mana material flowing in from outside, right?”

“That I did—” Uuno’s cheek started twitching. “Oh, don’t tell me...”

Adler narrowed her eyes. There was no changing her mind when she got like this.

“I don’t know what might be over there, but if there’s a font of mana material, then that must be where the strongest monsters are. I can’t think of anywhere better to head while we beef up our forces.”

Although there was certainly a measure of logic to that idea, it assumed that everything would continue to go as they hoped. Adler’s idea was dangerous. They had gotten a feel for the strength of the monsters on the Godtree Guideway and found that none could best the astrovore, but such a guarantee couldn’t hold for much longer. Even if nothing greater than Yuden appeared, that didn’t necessarily mean the Guiding Hands would get by unscathed.

Before that, however, she wasn’t sure they could get through this dense mana material before intoxication set in. There was a very good chance they might find themselves incapacitated if that happened. And that was just the beginning of Uuno’s concerns.

Yet Adler was making her proposal while perfectly aware of all this.

“If you put it that way, Adler, I can’t really say no,” Quint said. “After seeing the monsters this place has to offer, I’m not sure I can go back to the runts outside.”

With a sigh, he drew his sword, meaning he probably intended to fight alongside his servant, Zork. If Adler and Quint were both set to go, Uuno couldn’t stop them. Her monsters were powerful, but they weren’t meant for combat, nor could their abilities be used in rapid succession.

“We’re going to run the moment we’re in trouble, okay?” she said. “We can’t let this place be the end of us.”

“I know, Uuno,” Adler replied. “We’ve learned that the astrovore can handle what’s here, and we have plenty of supplies. We’re going to level this place and show that man what happens when you look down on us.”

***

In our era of treasure hunting, treasure vaults invariably attracted attention. Research into vaults and Relics was carried out globally, and even the Explorers’ Association occasionally commissioned investigations. While there were still many mysteries and irregularities surrounding vaults, this research had proven worthwhile, as the Association had a solid understanding of the traits and tendencies of vaults.

The outer appearance of a vault was a good indicator of its difficulty level. Now, the type considered most dangerous was...

“I’m certain that’s a shrine-type vault,” Eliza said languidly. She had just returned from her scouting. “Given the strength of the mana material, I had my suspicions. The Yggdrans were correct.”

Shrine-type treasure vaults were known for lacking gimmicks but boasting the strongest phantoms in the world. They were considered to be more advanced versions of the already difficult castle-type vaults. What separated them was that the bosses of shrine-types were godlike phantoms, and the vault would dissipate upon their defeat.

Generally speaking, the fall of a shrine-type vault was a historic event. House Rodin earned their name as a bloodline of heroes through the conquering of Shrine of the Celestial God. Xerxes Zequenz, Level 10 and considered one of the greatest hunters alive, had cleared Shrine of the Holy King. While being shrine-type could entail all sorts of possibilities, we could at least be certain that whatever it was, it wouldn’t be easy for even Grieving Souls to defeat.

“I can’t see this going smoothly with so many phantoms already formed.” Standing with Eliza, Liz furrowed her brow, deep in thought. “Mmm. That’s gonna be hell all the way down. I think we have a new goal to work towards!”

“I see,” I replied. “By the way, I asked Eliza to go scouting.”

I know how your instincts as a Thief were urging you to go, but please show some restraint.

“C’mon, it’s no big deal. It’s dangerous going solo, and I let Ellie do the important stuff. I was there to protect her!”

Yeah, uh-huh. And why is Tino behind you, looking like she’s about to breathe her last breath?

My friends were top-tier pros when it came to treasure vaults. Even in Zebrudia, nobody had taken on as many high-level vaults as they had. With their abundant knowledge and experience, I trusted Liz and Eliza’s judgment on this.

Liz had an excess of pride and bloodlust and would jump to take on any vault that she had the slightest chance at clearing. If just looking at Shrine of the Effluent God was enough for her to say it looked like hell all the way down, then the vault must’ve been something insane.

“Breaking the curse won’t require us to enter the inner sanctum,” Eliza said with a deep sigh. “Luke can be healed if we get him near the entrance. All we need is for Selyn to receive the powers of the World Tree.”

“Eh, fine,” Liz replied. “Besides, if we cleared that vault without Luke, he’d be pretty down about it later.”

“Yeah! Uh-huh.”

Oh, so we only need to approach the entrance? That’s good. This might work after all.

With Liz on board, all we needed to figure out was the timing. Maybe this would go better than expected.

“Once we’ve broken Luke’s petrification, we’ll have to do something about that treasure vault,” Sitri said while browsing a book. Never one to miss a beat, she had received permission from Selyn to browse Yggdra’s library. “This will be our first shrine-type vault, but if the legends are to be believed, until enough power is accumulated, the vault’s source should be within the inner sanctum. That source will be the egg of a sleeping god. If we take care of the egg, the power should disperse, and the vault will disappear. Erasing a normal vault is tricky business, but shrines are a bit different in this regard, thankfully.”

“Is that an easy thing to do?” I asked.

“As far as I know, nobody has ever succeeded. These sleeping gods are said to be clumps of unstable energy. Though they might not be awake, a careless attack could result in everything within hundreds of kilometers being reduced to ash. Now, with the world at stake, that might be a worthy sacrifice— That’s it! Perhaps this way, you can be the first to succeed, Krai!”

What an odd conclusion to reach. First to succeed, huh? My eyes flew open as something occurred to me. No, hold on. Hundreds of kilometers reduced to ash? That doesn’t sound good, but maybe we could survive it with Safety Rings?

I had enough rings for our parties, and while the area would be incinerated, that was better than the end of civilization. I thought this might be a glimmer of hope. If that looked like it might not work, then, well, we could just leave this problem for future generations.

“Cae, Selyn said she would like you to decide when we make our move.”

She wants to know when? Eh, I guess she is an important Noble Spirit. I bet she’ll need to tend to her preparations.

“How many phantoms were there today?” I asked, afraid of the answer I might get. We still had some time before Luke was fully petrified. I wanted to go when there were as few phantoms as possible.

After a brief silence, Eliza replied in a heavy voice, “Near the entrance, there were roughly three hundred phantoms unlike any I’ve ever seen. What’s more, there was an unidentifiable presence within the vault itself. If we were to make a direct assault, I’d say failure is the more likely option, though by a small margin.”

I should probably just be glad our chances are that high, shouldn’t I? God, I have a knack for running into trouble on what should be a walk in the park.

Liz, Sitri, Lucia, Tino, and Ansem were all waiting for my decision. Making these calls was the leader’s job. Casting a glance at the Luke statue in the corner, I put on a hard-boiled smile.

“We’ll hold off. Now’s not the time.”

I felt bad for Luke, but we couldn’t deal with three hundred abnormal phantoms. He would just have to be a stone a bit longer until the time was right.

***

Yggdra was a city significant to Noble Spirits. Though they lived quiet lives deep within forests around the world, they all continued to tell tales of their Yggdra. Thus, this grand city formed at the root of the world was the homeland of all Noble Spirits.

As it was for all of Starlight, this was Kris Argent’s first time visiting Yggdra. In fact, her parents’ parents’ parents likely hadn’t been here. Though the humans weren’t particularly aware of the Noblekind until Shero unleashed her curse, that came long after the great exodus from Yggdra for other forests. It wasn’t only humans that this legendary city turned away. In fact, it had to turn back many more admiring Noble Spirits who came to the city after growing up hearing its legends.

Only those deemed to have made great contributions to Noblekind were allowed to enter Yggdra. This was why Starlight had searched for Shero’s Cursed Stone while working as hunters. They were hardly the only ones who had been engaged in the search. While entering Yggdra as something of an add-on was already unexpected, their discussion with the imperial princess provided an even greater shock.

They walked through the land they once dreamed of. The air was fresh, and the breeze brushed their cheeks. The sight of houses built in massive trees that basked in the sun’s bounty was different from the forest Kris had been raised in, yet she felt like she had come home.

Countless years had passed since so many Noble Spirits left Yggdra and spread across the world. Though the older kin were perhaps different, the younger folk, such as Kris, didn’t possess a fanatic reverence for the homeland. As Lapis’s biting questions suggested, they had their qualms with this city. Noble Spirit settlements had been attacked in the name of obtaining information regarding Yggdra.

However, they were not so cold that they could feel nothing after hearing Selyn’s tale. It was unlikely the imperial princess was lying. While they couldn’t completely accept her explanations, they could at least understand them. Besides, Noble Spirits didn’t abandon their kin. After learning that the World Tree was going to bring about a calamity that could end civilization, and that the people of Yggdra had been doing everything in their power to stop it, Starlight felt they had a responsibility to do something.

Spending decades and decades bathing in the energies radiated by the World Tree meant that the denizens of Yggdra had arcane powers that dwarfed those of Kris and her comrades. However, Starlight had experience. They had actually conquered treasure vaults. More importantly, they had allies they had made on the outside. If they combined their powers, she was sure they could end this cataclysm before it manifested.

Though her companions, such as Astor, had at first doubted the Thousand Tricks’s talents and nitpicked everything he did, they had come to recognize his abilities. Not only did he calm a rampaging elemental and rescue the kinswoman trapped inside, but he had readily accepted from the elemental a request that most people would have refused.

This wasn’t even his fight to begin with—it was the Noble Spirits’. Starlight was ready to put their lives in his hands. It went without saying that they were ready to do whatever they could to help break Luke’s curse. What would be too much mana material for a human was just right for a Noble Spirit.

They had spent a week exploring Yggdra, researching previous incidents of World Tree rampancy, gathering materials from the forest, and meditating to enhance their magic.

“By the way, Kris, when is the Thousand Tricks going to move?” Astor asked reluctantly. She had previously been the one most antagonistic to him. “We’ve been ready, now we’re just waiting...”

“There’s no way I would know. Madam.”

The exact same thing had been on her mind. Every day for the past week, Krai had been sending Eliza to scout the vault and delaying the operation. They thought he would want to get the curse broken immediately, given that it was his party member and childhood friend who had been petrified. Yet after all these days, he hadn’t so much as made any sort of preparations. He spent his days strolling around Yggdra, holing up in his room, and chatting with Selyn. He was so nonchalant it was unnerving.

“What, so you don’t know either?” Astor said mockingly. “Even though you’re the one always bringing him up—”

“Sh-Shut up! I’m not always bringing him up! Madam! And it’s not like I don’t have a few clues!”

The human weakling had a unique way of thinking. Despite her time spent around him, there was still much about his lauded preterhuman artifice that made no sense to Kris. However, this wasn’t the first time she had seen him do something similar to his current stalling. During that unforgettable trip to the conference, the Thousand Tricks had convinced Franz at the last minute to push their airship journey back a few days.

Even in hindsight, she wasn’t sure what the point of that had been. To say it was to make the airship run into Peregrine Lodge or to set a Trial both struck her as premature conclusions. By pushing back the schedule, he had obtained that strange staff, which wasn’t of any use in the end. If that really was what he was after, she could only assume he was doing everything he could to get under her skin. Whatever his plans were, the results were that the traitors were uncovered and the conference was a success. By one way or another, everything fell into place.

“The human weakling is,” Kris chose her words carefully, “watching for the right moment. Madam. He’s done this before.”

“Right moment? What does that mean? I know he’s checking the phantoms’ numbers daily, but that surely won’t go down, will it?”

“I really couldn’t tell you.”

Astor seemed fairly dubious, and Kris couldn’t at all blame her. Phantoms weren’t living beings; they were creations of pent-up mana material. There were too many unknown factors to predict the formation and dissipation of phantoms, but there were some things known for sure. It was impossible to imagine that these phantoms might fade without some special occurrence.

For a normal treasure vault, it was certainly possible for the phantom population to decrease. The mana material that made up a vault could dissipate into the air, and the resulting lower density could cause phantoms to fade. But that wasn’t going to happen here, at the center of the ley lines.

Resting beneath the World Tree, Shrine of the Effluent God was aflush with mana material. There would be no dissipating here; according to Selyn, the vault’s mana material levels were steadily increasing. Rather than go down, they could only expect the number of phantoms to go up. Time wasn’t on their side here. They were facing down the strongest sort of vault there was.

Maybe the human weakling is waiting for their numbers to go up before giving us a Trial—

Kris shook her head, dismissing the thought. She didn’t know what Krai Andrey had figured out. There was just one thing she knew. Nobody in Starlight had more experience with the Thousand Trials than Kris did.

“I can’t guess at what exactly he might be going for. Madam. All I know for sure is that we’re going to see something interesting. Something that nobody saw coming. Brace yourself.”

Recalling previous experiences, Kris smiled. However, despite her best intentions, it was a strained smile.

***

Time flew by in a heartbeat. Yggdra was a much safer place than I had anticipated. It wasn’t long before I was comfortable among what had at first felt like alien scenery. The Noble Spirits believed in living in harmony with nature, and the streets of Yggdra embodied that ideal. Compared to the imperial capital, time flowed at an easy pace here; fresh air and water were abundant, bright verdure and blooming flowers adorned everything. To a human, this looked like paradise. Even as someone who took full pleasure in the boons of civilization, I enjoyed resting here.

A week had passed since our arrival. Only a few times had I gotten the chance to meet any locals. On the rare occasion I spotted someone, they ran away immediately. Though according to Selyn, Yggdra had few residents to begin with. While they lived long lives, Noble Spirits had always propagated more slowly than humans, so their numbers were already low. Then add to that the decision to bar coming and going from the city. Perhaps their population was on a slow decline.

I expected a bunch of stimulus-craving hunters to find this place boring, but my friends seemed happy enough. I took it as a given that Starlight would be satisfied since they had longed to come here, but my friends seemed to be enjoying all the new flora, fauna, and magic implements.

What surprised me most, though, was that Selyn was willing to cooperate with us. I thought that might have been in part because I had listened to the elemental’s request (except that was more of an accident), but apparently, Selyn had always been interested in the outside world. When she looked at us, I didn’t sense any of the disdain I felt from the glances of the Noble Spirits I had met on the outside.

“Treasure vaults are formed by the accumulation of mana material. While the World Tree had the power to ensure mana material flowed smoothly, we prevented the formation of treasure vaults, monsters, and phantoms by exhausting the energy before it could accumulate. The Godtree Guideway you passed through is not only a means of preventing intruders, but also a spell made to use up excess mana material that the World Tree can’t process.”

We were sitting in a sunny square at the center of Yggdra, listening to Selyn talk. Ansem and I didn’t really serve any purpose being here, but it was hard to speak up while Lucia and Sitri were listening so intently. I didn’t entirely understand it all, but that didn’t stop me from at least being curious. It appeared there was truth to the notion that Noble Spirits possessed magic technologies that surpassed our own.

“Now I understand,” Lucia said with a groan. “I certainly struggled to understand how you might cast such a grand spell. I could fathom how you might make just a path to Yggdra, but connecting it to forests throughout the world struck me as incredibly mana-intensive.”

“Indeed,” Selyn replied with a chuckle. “Maintaining the Godtree Guideway would be impossible for any spellcaster, no matter their skills. The Godtree Guideway gathers power through its connection to the World Tree via the ley lines. Now, that energy does not run directly to the World Tree; the energy must pass through Yggdra first. Though I said this land was established to protect the World Tree, it’s more of a symbiotic relationship.”

“In human lands, researching the conversion of mana material is forbidden.” Sitri furrowed her brow. “Some very hardheaded people insist it’s too dangerous...” She stopped and shrugged.

The law strictly limited research and investigations into mana material, making it pretty much taboo. This was a decision informed by incidents caused by mana material research.

“I can hardly blame them,” Selyn responded. “Even to us, mana material is dangerous to handle. The spell that formed the Godtree Guideway was the result of a desperate plan that put all our magic prowess to the test. I’m told that Milesse, the elemental that swallowed me up a week prior, originally wasn’t that powerful, and only reached her current state by continually absorbing the energies of the ley lines. According to our observations, the mana material flowing through the ley lines is increasing, slowly but steadily. While the cause is unclear, this world’s peril may be inevitable.”

“In one hundred years?” I blurted.

Trembling, Selyn turned to me. “Yes,” she said gravely. “In one hundred years.”

Yeah, that’s too far off to feel tangible. What’s the world going to look like a century from now?

Selyn gave me a funny look when she saw me sighing. “You humans puzzle me. You show so little fear when calamity is right in front of your eyes. No few Yggdrans have abandoned their land out of sheer terror. In truth, abandoning this land will do them little good if the god of destruction takes form. Nowhere will be safe.”

“We’re afraid, as anyone would be. It’s just, y’know, it’s gonna come some time or another.”

And it seems that time is pretty far in the future.

“You’ve come to terms with it then? Are all humans like yourself?”

“No, I’m sure there would be a lot of commotion if we told the people back home about this.”

People like Franz would be causing a big fuss. I couldn’t help but smile when I imagined him running around in a panic. I can’t really say this with pride, but a mere hunter like me and a noble of a major nation like him had different senses of responsibility.

I’ll send him a letter when we get back.

“I see. Though I’ve heard stories, hunters truly are incredible,” Selyn said with admiration, completely unaware of what I was thinking.

“That’s because Krai’s no ordinary hunter!” Sitri said. “There’s a good reason he’s survived so many gauntlets. He’s resolved multiple major incidents—”

“Yeah,” I cut her off with a half-hearted smile.

She was right that I wasn’t an ordinary hunter, though I mean that in a bad way. Not that I could really say it, but it wasn’t for any good reason that I had survived those gauntlets, and every one of those incidents was resolved thanks to my friends. Not to mention, none of them had ended without their fair share of chaos. Though I think the people who dumped all that trouble on me shared some of the blame.

“Honestly, Leader,” Lucia said with a sigh. “Now. When are we going to break the curse on Luke? A week has already passed us by.”

I was thinking the same thing.

I was ready to break the curse just as much as the rest of them. I was eager to get home. The only problem was that, according to Eliza, the phantoms weren’t decreasing. Her original estimate put our chances of success at just under fifty percent, a figure that was now steadily falling. In fact, the phantom count was only increasing. At this point, we should’ve just gone on the first day, but it was too late to be saying that.

Well, we’ll go next time Eliza reports fewer phantoms. They can’t keep increasing forever.

That was when I noticed Lucia wasn’t acting like her usual self. Her almost transparent white skin, that long hair you only saw on Magi, her clothes, all that was the same.

“Hm? Lucia, are you tired?”

Unless I was imagining things, her voice didn’t have its usual vigor. She had always been a hard worker capable of self-restraint, so I could tell that something about her was different.

Her eyes went wide. “Yes, I feel a bit sluggish. That’s all,” she said reluctantly. “I’m no stranger to mana material intoxication, so I can endure it for brief periods, but it’s been a week...”

“Lucy has some of the highest absorption in all of Grieving Souls,” Sitri added. Seeing Lucia clutch her head, she ran up and peered into her eyes. “With my lower absorption, I’m still fine, though I can feel the effects coming on. However, there’s nothing you can do about intoxication other than wait for your body to acclimate.”

That’s right. Intoxication.

Kris had warned me about it, but it had slipped my mind since everybody seemed fine. Though the effects were still minor, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to stay in Yggdra too long. I, meanwhile, was perfectly fine.

With a small cough, Lucia settled her gaze on me. “Leader, I’m not yet incapacitated. I would appreciate it greatly if we could carry out the operation sooner rather than later.”

“That’s right.”

Without Luke, Lucia was our main source of firepower. That settled it—we’d carry out the operation tomorrow, unless Eliza’s report contained something urgent. I had waited a week for some sign of decreasing phantoms, but the exact opposite was happening. Not to mention the time limit we were working with. If things were only going to get riskier, then it was better to make our move while Lucia could still help.

That was when Eliza came back from her scouting. She took care of most of the surveillance while Liz provided protection. Tino, on the brink of fainting, had gone along as part of her lessons. They had gone as a trio like this every outing, yet something about them was different this time.

After jogging up to me, Liz stopped to catch her breath. “We got news, Krai Baby! We saw fewer phantoms than yesterday! Did you do something?”

“It’s true. It’s a night and day difference,” Eliza said. “There seem to be some inside the vault, but we could only see a handful of phantoms outside. With so few, buying time should be easy. I believe.”

Huh? Really?

Blinking, I looked at Liz and Eliza, but neither of them seemed to be joking. Lucia, Sitri, and Selyn were all slack-jawed. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Ansem furrowed his brow. Though I didn’t understand why, the odds had shifted in our favor.

Is this a reward for some good deed I did? What have I done recently?

Whatever it was, I couldn’t let this chance slip by. Clearing my throat, I turned and looked at my friends. “It looks like the time has come. Let’s purify Luke.”

Once he was healed, he could cut the treasure vault down, and we’d be set.

So the day was upon us. Rising from a somewhat stiff bed, I stood up and let out a yawn. I was in perfect condition, though my nerves were pretty frayed because I was going to be seeing a high-level vault for the first time in a while. Even still, Perfect Vacation should take care of that, no problem.

I told myself we would be fine, that the wind was to our backs. No matter the conditions, treasure vaults were dangerous places, but we weren’t going to get a better opportunity to heal Luke. What I needed was resolve. As useless as I was going to be on this mission, a leader couldn’t stay behind if everyone else was going.

I gave myself an invigorating slap on the cheek. Having charged my Relics the previous night, I was all set. After getting cleaned up and dressed, I finished by putting on Perfect Vacation.

The living room turned out to be empty. Nobody was there to greet me except Mimicky, sitting in the corner. Everyone else was probably already awake and gearing up for a fight. Beyond just equipping the necessary items, making sure you were in the right condition was an indispensable process for any hunter hoping to make it out alive.

In Lucia’s case, this meant meditation; for Liz, it involved light exercise; for Ansem, prayers; practice swings for Luke, et cetera. All first-rate hunters had a ritual that flipped some internal switch for them. Frequent brushes with death had made everyone in Grieving Souls capable of turning it on in an instant. This time, however, might call for something more than their usual all-out effort.

I figured everyone would gather around when the time came. While it was a bit early, I had nothing better to do, so Mimicky and I headed to the meeting spot Selyn had arranged. It was a small spring outside of Yggdra surrounded by verdant foliage. The crystal clear water sparkled in the sunlight. This was said to be one of the holiest places in all of Yggdra.

Selyn stood in the sanctified space, staring up at the sky. The air was still, completely undisturbed. The scene had the harmony of a painting. Though I was used to seeing Noble Spirits, my eyes went wide, my breath caught in my throat. This was most likely the prebattle ritual of Selyn Yggdra Frestle.

Powerful Magi had a distinct air to them. While I wasn’t much good at sizing people up and I hadn’t detected anything when I first met her, it was now immediately apparent to me that Selyn was brimming with power.

Next to the spring sat a small crystal vial. It had already been emptied.

Noticing I had arrived, Selyn started speaking, but not taking her eyes off the sky. “That was an elixir made using leaves from the World Tree. By absorbing the powers of the World Tree, we Yggdrans can become one with nature, temporarily granting us great powers. Krai Andrey, I truly regret that the person who found and returned Shero’s Cursed Stone had to be wrapped up in this.”

“That’s very kind of you. But it’s fine. I’m just...doing what I want to do.”

Which was to say I was going to make this Ark’s problem once Luke’s curse was broken, but did she know that? She couldn’t possibly know that.

Whereas I had learned not to let the acerbic tone of the outside Noble Spirits get to me, Selyn’s genuine voice made me feel like I was unclean.

“I am a member of the imperial family of Yggdra. We owe you a debt, and if nothing else, we’ll repay it by breaking the curse Shero inflicted.”

“You don’t need to make such a big deal of it. If this doesn’t work, we’ll think of something else.”

Using Round World to make a quick check of Luke’s inner voice confirmed that he would hold out a bit longer. Apparently, being petrified didn’t stop him from seeing what was going on around him. The voice inside him was constantly shouting about cutting the treasure vault. Was that really all he had to say? He could’ve sent a message or something.

“Oh, does that elixir work on humans?” I asked. “I’d like to take every precaution possible.”

Even if it wouldn’t work on Lucia, it could work on the Starlight hunters. Not to mention, Sitri would no doubt love to study it.

“Yes, I believe it would,” Selyn replied. It was a simple question, yet she looked so sad as she answered it. “However, I’m afraid to say there is none left. What I just drank was the last of it. We can make more, but only once the World Tree has returned to normal...”

“Huh?!”

The last of it? Was that something incredibly valuable? And you used it for us? Shouldn’t you have used it to take care of the World Tree?

Selyn smiled when she saw my consternation. “Do not worry. Our current situation is not one that can be solved with a single elixir. We’ve already made multiple attempts. If it won’t make a difference in that regard, I see nothing wrong with using it to aid our new friends. Shero casts powerful curses, and we will not have time for more than a few attempts to break them. As I am now, I can say with utter confidence that I can heal your friend.”

“Oh, I see. I’m glad to hear that.”

“Hm? Is something bothering you?”

I couldn’t look her in the eye. Of course something was bothering me. I was planning to head back to the imperial capital once Luke was fine, but her using the last elixir in the name of helping us made it all the more difficult to tell her all that. Now, that didn’t mean I could ask her not to take the elixir—it was too late for that. As much as I appreciated the sentiment, I wished she would’ve told us in advance that she was going to use something so valuable.

Selyn stepped out of the spring. Her robes clung to her slender, bare legs. Her feet made a slight crunch when she touched the ground. “I’ve kept you waiting long enough. Now, let us head to Shrine of the Effluent God.”

No use worrying about the elixir now that she’s gone and used it. Let’s worry about that once everything else is done. For now, let’s focus on taking care of Luke.

Everyone in Starlight was waiting for us on the road to the World Tree. They were already famous for being a party of gorgeous Magi, but coming to Yggdra seemed to have really vitalized them. I had been told their magic capabilities had also increased since arriving here, so I guess this place was a good fit for them. With their low mana material absorption, an area too dense for most humans was just right for them.

While the prospect of facing one of the strongest vaults out there had everyone exceptionally high-strung, nobody seemed particularly afraid. Just as Selyn had downed the last elixir, they were resolved to do this. Though Starlight struggled to get along with humans, they were an affable and trustworthy bunch once you got to know them.

Lapis, leader of Starlight, narrowed her eyes when she saw us approach. “You’re late, Thousand Tricks.”

Lapis Fulgor had a slender figure, a sharp gaze, and hair that trailed down to her feet. Her height made it easy to think she was looking down at you, but I knew it was just an optical illusion.

“We’ve been ready for a while,” she said while tapping her long staff against the ground. “I don’t often say this, but don’t feel the need for reservations. Just this once, Starlight’s powers are at your disposal. Hmph. Now that I think of it, you earned that with our wager.”

“Lapis!” said Astor, the one whose name I learned not too long ago.

With a small snort, Lapis did something she didn’t often do—she smiled faintly, then offered her party some galvanizing words. “I know. I won’t be a clod and insist we’re doing this simply because of the wager. This is Yggdra’s problem, making it our problem too. Now, let’s show the Yggdrans our power! Not just as Magi, but all the skills we’ve honed working as hunters.”

That lit a silent flame of determination in her party. Starlight was a Level 4 party, but that was because of the chilly manner in which Noble Spirits treated humans. I could personally verify that their talents were the real deal. Still, considering her rude disposition and tendency to ignore any human that wasn’t a Magus, Lapis really had changed if she was willing to show me so much deference.

She turned my way, seeing the smile I was giving her. “What are you looking at?” she bristled.

“Oh, nothing? I was just thinking what good hands I’m in.”

These were all first-rate spellcasters. Since Selyn would have to focus on breaking the curse, our success would depend on Grieving Souls and Starlight’s ability to clear out the phantoms.

Kris looked up, as though my remark reminded her of something. “Human weakling, human weakling,” she said, prodding my arm.

“Yeah?”

“D-Don’t say you’re in good hands. Sir,” she said in a limp voice. “I know we’re good at what we do and we’re in top shape, but we can’t do everything. Sir.”

You’re being pretty darn humble. Is there something you’re worried about?

It was the appointed time, yet nobody else in Grieving Souls had arrived yet. Where were they? Liz, Tino, and Eliza had gone for one last check on the vault, but that didn’t explain the absence of Lucia, Sitri, and the very conspicuous Ansem.

As I began to turn around, looking for them, Eliza came back from her scouting trip. Looking languid as ever, she walked up to me with a casual gait you wouldn’t expect to see from an expert Thief.

“Cae, there are no phantoms today either. But I have a bad feeling about this. We should hurry.”

A bad feeling, huh?

Eliza’s intuition was generally right, but there was something more pressing.

“Good work out there. By the way, I thought you went with Liz and Tino, but I don’t see them anywhere. Do you know where they went?”

Eliza blinked. “I’m sorry. I forgot.” She pointed to Mimicky.

Mimicky was no ordinary Magic Bag—he was unprecedented. Not only could he store living creatures, he even had a town inside him. He also carried all my Relics, and I planned to flee inside him if things went south.

“Inside Mimicky? All of them? What for?”

“Preparations, they said.”

Preparations, you say?

That made sense, given the amount of space inside Mimicky. It was enough for Lucia to practice wide-area spells to her heart’s content, and it was where we had our supplies. It was practically begging to be used as a training ground.

But what a handful they were. They should’ve said something beforehand. One of Mimicky’s drawbacks was that you needed someone on the outside to pull you out. What were they planning to do if Eliza forgot that they were in there?

Eh, let’s save the chiding for later.

“I’m gonna go fetch them,” I said to Eliza as I opened the lid. “We’re going to leave the moment we’re out, so wait a bit, then snag us. Mimicky, take me to Liz and the others. Liz and the others.”

“Understood,” Eliza replied.

It had been a bit since I had last been inside Mimicky. Taking a deep breath, I plunged into darkness.

I felt a vaguely familiar sense of buoyancy. Standing up, I found myself in front of a large building.

“Hm? Wh-Where is this?”

Scanning my surroundings, I was pretty sure I was in the town I had entered when fleeing Shero. Mimicky was a superb Relic. Taking pride in his job as a Magic Bag, he proved adaptable, as any excellent storage device should be.

I opened the door and stepped inside. The building seemed to be a lodge of some sort. A thick rug covered the floor, and the furniture elegantly combined form with function. The lobby was faintly lit by a lamp on the counter. I assume Sitri or someone had lit it and set it there.

Yggdra was nice, but this place wasn’t half bad either. We still hadn’t surveyed this town yet, but as I walked around the interior, I thought about staying here for a bit once Luke’s curse was taken care of.

Then I found them lying on beds in a guest room. Hearing a low groan, I froze for a second before dashing up to them. The first one I had noticed was Ansem, on his side atop multiple beds pressed together. I began patting him when on a nearby bed, positioned far enough that Ansem wouldn’t accidentally crush them, a lump shifted. Gently pulling back the comforter, I saw Lucia’s familiar face. Only her complexion was terrible, her forehead slick with sweat.

“Wha? Wh-What happened? Guys? What’s going on?!”

Did they run out of patience and go to the vault yesterday?

Lucia’s eyes slowly opened. “B-Brother, I’m sorry,” she said in a faltering voice. “We can’t move. The mana material intoxication came on all at once. I thought we might be in danger.”

“Huh? E-Every one of you?”

There were four beds, plus Ansem’s combination. All of them were occupied. I walked up to Liz and quietly examined her face. This girl, who seldom caught even a cold, looked up at me with teary eyes.

“We thought we might be in trouble, so we came here since the mana material is thin in this place.” Her voice was ragged and devoid of energy. “Sorry, Krai Baby. You’ll delay the mission, won’t you?”

N-No. I can’t do that! Even though I’d love to! Selyn’s already used the last elixir, and Starlight is all ready to go.

I hesitantly checked each bed.

“Urrrgh. How did even I get it?” Sitri moaned. “And there was something I wanted to test...”

“Mmm,” Ansem groaned.

Tino looked vaguely in my direction, voice lower than usual. “Master, is this a trial? It is, isn’t it?”

It’s not a Trial, Tino...

By the looks of it, they really had succumbed to mana material intoxication. I was relieved to know that their affliction was something we had seen plenty of times before. With a bit of rest, their bodies would absorb the excess mana material, and they’d be better than ever.

“Hmm, that doesn’t explain why they all collapsed together. Absorption capacities and rates are supposed to vary between people.”

Everyone here (except me) had experienced mana material intoxication, but the group had never been knocked down all at once like this. And the timing couldn’t be worse. Sure, they had looked out of sorts earlier, but— Suddenly, Liz began to rise, groaning as she propped herself up with her arms.

Ahh, what are you doing?

“Krai Baby, I’m going! I’m. Going. I have to!”

“Yeah, nuh-uh.”

“Me too, Krai. I-I should be able to move soon!” Sitri said. “I haven’t taken much mana material, and my intoxication isn’t that bad!”

“Yeah, nah-ah.”

Seeing Liz slide out of her bed, I picked her up and put her back. Her thin body was light enough that even I could lift her if I tried. Usually, she was the one lifting me.

No matter how sturdy one’s body was, it couldn’t overcome the effects of mana material intoxication. Rumors said that being stronger only made the symptoms worse, but because the effects could extend to the senses for some people it was fair to assume physical fortitude didn’t have much to do with it.

I suppose we were just lucky they hadn’t fallen down inside Shrine of the Effluent God. Losing most of Grieving Souls raised some serious concerns about our firepower, but we still had Eliza and Starlight. Eliza’s scouting trip hadn’t revealed any problems, and all we had to do was buy time. Giving it a shot remained our only option.

“I don’t see what else I can do but work with the Noble Spirits. By the way, it looks like none of you can move, but a nurse—”

“Kill, kill!”

“Wha?!”

With that shrill cry, Sitri’s magical creature, Killiam popped up. He now had an apron tied around his muscular body and carried a tub of water.

Y’know, I thought he had disappeared at some point. When did he...

“Will you look after them?”

“Kill kill,” he replied, flexing his muscles.

Shrine of the Effluent God was a treasure vault that had formed at the base of the World Tree. This vault was said to appear when our star’s mana material reached a point of saturation. Little was known about it, including what sort of battle once took place here. While this was, in part, because it happened in an era long gone, it was also due to said battle having no survivors.

If the World Tree really was a locus of mana material, then the treasure vault that manifested there was no doubt a Level 10 by the Explorers’ Association’s standards. I couldn’t begin to imagine what sort of powers this god of this vault might have if they really had laid waste to advanced civilizations once in their prime.

However, preventing that from happening wasn’t my job. That could be left to Ark, a Level 10 hunter, or some other formidable person. I knew my strengths. I wasn’t slacking here; I just didn’t want to stick my neck where it didn’t belong and make a mistake that couldn’t be undone. Incompetence is a sin. The best thing for us to do would be to break Luke’s curse, then pass the baton to someone better.

I once again felt that familiar floating sensation. The darkness surrounding me was replaced with light as I returned to the outside world.

Kris looked at me wide-eyed when she saw I was back. “What in the world is that gear? Sir?”

“I know we’re going out there to break a curse, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to bring some weapons,” I said. “I thought something like this might happen, so I brought the basics.”

Being able to justify your actions is important. While I was planning to pass the baton to someone else, I had to make sure Selyn didn’t think I was short on motivation. With my friends out of the picture for now, I had to do this task myself. The Yggdran princess had already used that elixir on our behalf (not that I asked her to do that), and though the World Tree issue was in the distant future for me, it felt much more immediate to her.

“Is that...” Selyn hesitantly said, just as confused as Kris, “is that how the hunters of the outside world equip themselves for dire situations?”

“Absolutely not. Madam. Only the human weakling goes around like this.”

“It may not look like it, but these are all Relics,” I explained. “You see, I’m a devout Relic collector.”

“I see.” Selyn repeatedly examined me from head to toe. “So those are all Relics,” she said with a sigh of admiration.

Meanwhile, Kris and Lapis, no stranger to my behavior, were just a tad exasperated.

“I still think you should make yourself look a bit more impressive. Sir. Anyway, where’s Lucia and the rest of your party?”

“I can’t change how my Relics look. As for my party, they won’t be able to join us. But with you guys, I’m sure we’ll still be fine.”

We couldn’t do anything about their mana material intoxication, nor could we put this off for another day. Staying calm and unflinching in the face of accidents was part of a leader’s job. The others were exchanging glances, but my overwhelming confidence kept them from doing anything more than letting out some small sighs.

I was only just becoming aware of it, but I could thank my reputation as the preterhuman artificer for these sorts of responses. Everyone always assumed I had some scheme in mind, though I wasn’t sure if that was necessarily a good thing.

“All right. I’m sure there’s a reason. Sir. Afterwards, we’ll want to hear about— Why are you carrying four swords? Sir?”

Every bit of me was decked out in Relics. I had Perfect Vacation, allowing me to remain perfectly comfortable in any situation. Then I had my swords: Silent Air to lighten my load; Field Star, which brought sunlight; Kaito-Kosame, which induced light rain; and Harm Not the Weak, O Champion, a blunt sword that at least looked cool. All of these blades were ones I thought could benefit from some time outside a storage case.

My hefty stock of Safety Rings needed no introduction. Though I couldn’t offer much firepower, I could at least draw the enemies’ attention this way. If that failed, I could escape inside Mimicky.

“I can’t believe you brought four swords. Especially this one,” Astor said while looking at Harm Not the Weak, O Champion, “it’s quite a piece of work. Human, you wouldn’t be a Swordsman, would you?”

Looks were the only thing this sword had going for it. I didn’t know any other swords that Luke could swing and not leave a mark. That said, I still never let him wield it out of concern that he might cause a panic.

“No, that’s beyond my ken. However, this sword is no ordinary sword.”

With Silent Air reducing its weight, I was able to lift Harm Not the Weak, O Champion in the air with one hand. At the same time I activated the sword on my back, Field Stair, and the sword at my hip, Kaito-Kosame.

Now this was what peak Relic collecting looked like. Harm Not the Weak, O Champion sparkled brightly, Kaito-Kosame brought sparse rain clouds across what had been a clear sky. Amid the thin, almost unnoticeable droplets, the power of Field Star broke open the clouds to shine a ray of light upon me.

It was the very embodiment of pointlessness. The shaft of sunlight, the faint rain, the finely crafted sword, none of it meant anything. But it made me stand out, and that’s what I needed to do. With so much excess glamor, I would fit right in among the shrewd and peculiar crowd that made up first-rate hunters.

The Noble Spirits squinted to see me through the shimmering rain and sunlight. I basked in the sense of superfluousness. Not only did I love dumb Relics, sticking out like this would prove useful. As long as I had my Safety Rings, I could serve as a barricade. With most of our group being Magi, I would have to step forwards if the situation called for it. Actually, I would probably get attacked either way. That’s how it always went.

Selyn looked absolutely caught off guard by my sudden theatrics. On their own, the rain or shaft of light would’ve been unremarkable, but in the long history of Yggdra, I was probably the first person to be bathed in both at once.

I smiled as I awaited their impressions.

“An Yggdran prophet once said that a calamity would be stopped by someone cloaked in silver light and a storm,” Selyn mumbled.

“Huh? Oh...”

So Yggdra also had prophets. I didn’t have any fond memories regarding prophecies. They had a tendency to bring trouble for me. It looked like it wasn’t just the folks that predicted the curses in the imperial capital—prophets, fortune tellers, they all just seemed to be saying whatever they felt like. It seemed like a nice job to take up once I was done with treasure hunting.

Selyn looked strangely at the rain brought by Kaito-Kosame and the sunlight caused by Field Star. “P-Perhaps,” she said with uncertainty, “you’re the one who will stop the calamity?”

“You don’t even sound like you believe it yourself. Madam,” Kris interjected. She didn’t show a lot of deference considering she was talking to a princess.

However, Kris was right. The black clouds and light rain weren’t a storm, the sunlight wasn’t silver, and I definitely did not have the power to stop a calamity.

“S-Still, this combination,” Selyn muttered while looking up at the rain clouds. “Could it be...”

Sorry. I shouldn’t have done something so weird.

I know we were looking at a global crisis, but she was really reaching with that interpretation. Calling this a storm was just rude to storms. The next moment, however, I was struck by a revelation.

Wait a minute. Maybe this prophecy thing is referring to Ark’s arrival?

Ark Rodin was a top-tier hunter so skilled with lightning it had earned him the title of Argent Thunderstorm. Plus, he was the descendant of a hero who had defeated a god. Did this prophecy mean I should call him to solve this fiasco? I wasn’t so sure about the part about being cloaked in a storm, but if he could use lightning, then I guess he could do that too.

With this interpretation, it was only natural that I return to the imperial capital. The fate of the world depended on it.

Man, I’m on fire today.

“Come on now, calm down,” I said to Selyn, who was still baffled. “Your interpretation’s probably off the mark, but I think I know what the prophecy is about. It’s something I was considering for a while now, but now I’m certain.”

“Hm? You have an idea? Is there some way to stop this destructive harbinger?”

There is. This era has a savior by the name of Ark Rodin, and to tell you the truth, I’m his friend. No, I’m his best friend.

Selyn wouldn’t have known about Ark, since she had never gone far from Yggdra. If she had, she would have thought of him the moment she heard the prophecy. Just as I opened my mouth to explain this, Lapis cut in.

“Hmph. So you knew. Tell her, Thousand Tricks, the name of the party you brought with you.”

“Hm? It’s Starlight? O-Oh.”

Wait, really?

Selyn gave Lapis a wide-eyed stare. Lapis folded her arms and said as though it were the most natural thing in the world, “The silver light in that prophecy of yours is referring to us. Our party, Starlight, excels at bending the elements to our will—especially with lightning spells.”

“But Lapis, what’s the bit about being cloaked in it? Madam?”

“Well, Kris, wherever the Thousand Tricks, you’re never far behind. That must be it.”

“Th-That’s not true!” Red in the face, she looked to me for support. “Right, human weakling?!”

I see. Now that you put it like that, she’s never far behind— No! This is a prophecy we’re talking about here!

Not to say I was just noticing this, but Lapis really didn’t mind playing it loose. Besides, as competent as Starlight was, Ark was still better. If I were going to have lightning, I wanted his. Though I’d take either of them over Arnold.

I slowly turned my gaze to Starlight. None of them could conceal their astonishment at Lapis’s declaration. I couldn’t blame them. Even if that silver light was referring to someone skilled with lightning, how could being cloaked in it refer to Kris hanging around me?

However, Ark was in the capital, whereas Starlight was right here, and they had already offered their assistance. This wasn’t a good time for nitpicking. Arguing wouldn’t change what we had to do; it would only waste time. If this plan didn’t work out, we could cross that bridge when we came to it.

With a sigh, I turned to Kris, who was quivering. “Well, let’s start by giving your lightning a try.”

“Hm?!”

Besides, I’m not planning on stopping any calamities today.

With Eliza at the front, we headed to the World Tree. It occurred to me that this might be the first time I had ever gone to a treasure vault with Eliza, but nobody else from Grieving Souls.

Our team consisted of Eliza Beck, Starlight, Selyn, and me. And Mimicky. Carpy had an unfortunate habit of disobedience, so I left him behind, which is just to say I left him in Mimicky. He was pretty much Tino’s Relic at this point.

The plan was simple. Eliza would go ahead of the group and confirm the number of phantoms. In accordance with her findings, she would work with Starlight to draw the phantoms out, slow them, then finish them off.

My job was to work with Selyn to break the curse on Luke. I had to wonder what I could possibly do to help, but part of the role was to provide protection while she concentrated on her work. I could at least buy her some time, and I wasn’t going to be the only one keeping her safe.

The forest path we traveled down was fairly ordinary except for the striking sight of the World Tree slowly getting bigger. Though I knew a deadly treasure sat at its base, the grand sight of it made my heart pound. The Black World Tree that had caused so much mayhem in the imperial capital was nothing compared to this.

“By the way, Selyn,” I said. “Are there no other Magi in Yggdra? I’ve heard it’s protected by several powerful elementals.”

“Indeed. We, of course, have other Magi, but none remain within Yggdra. Initially, there were two other elementals of the same caliber as Milesse. The handlers of Yggdra’s guardians challenged Shrine of the Effluent God in hopes of destroying the divine egg. Not one of them returned. It is because the single remaining elemental, Milesse, only obeys the imperial family that I personally went to greet you.”

This was news to me, but it wasn’t hard to believe. Shrine-type vaults would collapse if the boss were defeated. Even if the World Tree were acting up, the Yggdrans’ sense of duty wouldn’t have let them ignore it.

I now had one more thing to worry about, but it probably wouldn’t be an issue as long as we didn’t go too far into the vault. I hoped.

Why didn’t you bring this up earlier?

“After making every possible preparation, the warriors of Yggdra set out for the inner sanctum, where they hoped to find the divine egg,” Selyn continued. “However, seeing as neither they nor the guardian elementals have returned, I fear they must have perished. If possible, I’d like to bring them back to Yggdra, but I understand that we have greater priorities. Right now, we must break the curse on your friend, then we shall halt the god’s recovery.”

“Yeah, uh-huh.”

While I was all too eager to call up Ark, that didn’t mean I had nothing to offer. I had a powerful party that would probably be back on their feet soon enough. Once they were over their intoxication, they would surely be up for taking on the vault with Ark and his crew.

Maybe my friends are the storm part of “silver light and a storm.”

The next moment, Eliza came to a stop.

“We’ll reach the vault soon,” she said. “From here on, follow my directions.”

A gust of wind sent a scattering of green leaves drifting down. The vibrant leaf in my hand didn’t resemble any that I had ever seen. It had come from the World Tree. A couple of dozen meters ahead, a profusion of fallen leaves covered the ground like a carpet. Beyond that was the World Tree itself.

“Previously,” Selyn said, almost in a whisper, “only dying leaves fell from the tree. The accumulating mana material is changing the World Tree. The old records state that this is the beginning of the end.”

The ceaseless flow of leaves seemed almost like it was meant to deny entry. Even given the tree’s size, this wasn’t normal. I could barely believe a tree with a trunk like a wall really existed in our world.

“Once again, it’s gotten bigger,” Selyn said in a low, trembling voice. “It wasn’t like this when I last came. It must be because of the excess mana material.”

I was supposed to be perfectly comfortable, but even that startled me. The members of Starlight all nervously gripped their staves.

“This pressure I feel...” Lapis began. “Hmph. The Stifled Shadow’s a human, yet she scouted this area daily, didn’t she?”

“Only a Noble Spirit can endure this for long. Cae, are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking. I’m a bit different from most humans.”

Somehow, I had survived a few years of exploring treasure vaults with the rest of Grieving Souls. Yet I never gained any power. Whereas my friends obviously had an innate affinity for mana material, my lack of improvement showed I was devoid of any of the sort. Yet adventuring with them should have made me a competent hunter, affinity notwithstanding. I took this to mean I was far worse off than the average person.

Because intoxication was a product of absorbing too much mana material, my almost complete inability to take it in meant I never suffered from an overload. I had been fine even in Peregrine Lodge. If anything, I wanted to feel it just once. So I took a deep breath, letting the arcane energy fill my lungs.

Eyes closed, Eliza’s ears twitched as she searched for the presence of threats. Her eyes then flew open, and she nodded. “I was right. This is our chance. Or I think it is. There are very few phantoms, enough that I can draw away. I believe. I’ll grab their attention, Starlight will provide fire support.”

She was going to draw all of them? Flaky as she was, Eliza could pull through when it counted.

Right, let’s go save Luke.

The boughs of the World Tree cut off all sunlight, casting its base into nocturnal darkness. We pushed onward, crushing dense layers of leaves beneath our feet. A cold wind blew. Astor gasped. The World Tree was associated with holiness, but this felt like hell.

The estimated Level 10 treasure vault, Shrine of the Effluent God, was forming at the base of the World Tree. There was a crumbling obsidian wall and more pillars than I could count. Though I couldn’t sense anything living, the scenery looked like it might rattle some primal fear inside me if I hadn’t been perfectly comfortable. The seasoned hunters of Starlight were all at a loss for words.

“As it manifests, the vault is likely integrating itself into the World Tree,” Eliza said in her usual tone. “Passing through that wall will take us to the entrance. The boss will be further in.”

The vicinity of the entrance was already pretty freaky. It was also spacious enough that it would take more than a few dozen phantoms before it might feel cramped. Good thing we weren’t here to clear the vault.

Concerned, Selyn looked up at the World Tree through narrowed eyes. “With this much power,” she said between heavy breaths, “j-just stepping past the wall should be enough to break the curse.”

So we have to go past the wall?

Hearing that might have made me nauseous if I hadn’t been perfectly comfortable.

“It’s still quite spacious beyond the wall,” Eliza said. “I’m willing to bet this wall is ceremonial, not defensive. There are even murals.”

“Wait. Something’s coming,” said one of Starlight.

From a gap in the wall, I caught a glimpse of a strange creature. It was a giant lizard with a slim, black body, measuring a few meters in length. A gold saddle was attached to it, and a golden mask obscured its features. While I had never seen one of these before, it was pretty obvious that those adornments were the work of a person.

Shrines were built by intelligent beings in the name of worshipping gods, and as a result, phantoms that manifested in shrines were highly intelligent. This creature was probably a guardian of this shrine. One look was enough to tell that it was something formidable.

Damn. If I’m right, that’s easily a Level 8.

“That’s probably around Level 6,” Eliza whispered to Lapis. “I can’t imagine it’s a 7.”

“Hmph. So this is just the opening act? That doesn’t bode well.”

“You think it’s Level 6?” I said. “You sure it’s not a Level 4 or 5?”

“There’s no way in hell that’s a 4! Sir! What sort of phantoms are you fighting, human weakling?”

J-Just kidding.

I was just trying to look cool, but my estimate was too far off the mark.

“There are only three nearby,” Eliza said. “If we draw them out, the coast should be clear for a while.”

“Hmm. Three. We should be able to handle that much. But these are clearly meant to be ridden as mounts. Where are the riders?”

“Perhaps they still haven’t manifested. Either way, we should take them down as quietly as we can.”

“Who do you think we are? Just focus on getting their attention, Vagabond.”

Starlight had a predatory look in their eyes. I started to feel a sort of prebattle excitement foreign to me.

“Still, we can’t get complacent. This is a Level 10 vault. Thousand Tricks, how many guards do you need?” Lapis asked me.

Oh, what should I say?

They shouldn’t have trouble drawing the phantoms away if there were only three in the vicinity. I was starting to think I wouldn’t need any guards at all. The other group, meanwhile, would have to take down three tough phantoms with only a Thief and some Magi.

“Right. I don’t think I really need any...”

But maybe I might need one or two? There could be an emergency.

“Hmph. Figured as much. In terms of power distribution, that’s the right choice. Hmm. Astor, give the man a lightning barrier just in case.”

“Understood. Don’t go risking your neck out there, human.”

Astor pointed her staff at me and said an incantation. A small orb of lightning formed and stopped short of me. Small shiny particles of purple levin crackled as they wrapped around my body.

“This barrier will attack on its own,” Astor explained. “In a vault like this, it won’t do more than buy you some time, but it’s better than nothing. It won’t stop any attacks, so watch out.”

“Th-Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Whoa, this is awesome.I’ll have to get Lucia to learn this spell. It’s like I can use magic or something.

Just as I was getting pumped up, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Be careful out there. Sir.”

Huh?

“Stick to the plan, Cae. Something’s off here. Please, break the curse as quickly as you can.”

“Owing you too many favors doesn’t sit well with our pride. Clearing out trash is beneath us, but we’ll give you our best just this once. Do your job and don’t worry about us.”

Uh. Hey. About having a guard...

I watched vacantly as Eliza and Starlight made for the entrance.

“It’s time at last,” Selyn said to me in a hushed voice. “Don’t worry, I’m prepared. I won’t let their sacrifice be for nothing.”

“Yeah. Uh-huh.”

I guess they had talked a bit while I had been distracted by the shiny particles. I’m an embarrassment.

Eliza and Starlight moved swiftly. Standing before the wall, the Magi raised their staves and recited incantations. After exchanging a few words, they split into two groups. There was an eerie gust of wind, lifting fallen leaves into the air.

“I see they’re no strangers to this,” Selyn observed. “They’ll cut off the noise made by the diversion team, then quickly eliminate the phantoms. A simple plan, but the execution will be anything but. Both the diverters and the strikers have to be of superb talent.”

Hmm. Eliza and Starlight all fit that bill, so they should be fine. It’s our end we need to worry about.

Preparations complete, Eliza stepped into the treasure vault with all the nonchalance of someone taking a stroll. First-rate hunters could always maintain a natural gait. Selyn gulped. One second felt like ten, which felt like a hundred.

Then, without warning, the wall erupted.

It made no sound. Thousands of leaves were strewn into the air, then Eliza emerged from the flurry. Chasing after her were the masked fiends like the one we had glimpsed earlier. My breath caught in my throat. The air trembled, and leaves spun through the air. The fiends chased after Eliza. Just like she said, there were three phantoms. They bumped into each other as if trying to get the others out of the way, like they all wanted to get to her first.

Compared to her agile movements, the four-legged phantoms practically barreled after her. Their brutish steps were described as charging rather than running. But that wasn’t to say they weren’t fast. Though they weren’t exactly lightweight, they made up for it with raw strength. They clearly had Eliza beat for both speed and might.

Leaves twirled about, and the ground shook with each footfall. Without needing to see them, Eliza barely dodged their swiping forelegs and long sweeping tails. The fiends closed in like a raging storm, but Eliza’s movements looked like outright magic from where I stood.

Though even the Stifled Shadow sometimes got hit despite her superhuman speed, nothing could touch Eliza the Vagabond. Godlike evasive skills, keen senses, and the extrasensory capabilities unique to Noble Spirits had opened the door to solo hunting for her. Her greatest strength was her ability to detect danger, a skill in which she had few equals.

Eliza could judge the timing and angle of any attack. With the rush of leaves obstructing her vision, she dodged their blows with the slightest of movements before running off again. Competing for their prey, the phantoms chased after her, oblivious to anything else. I couldn’t hear anything from them, suggesting Starlight had done their job. Nothing would be alerted to their presence if the only evidence were some light tremors.

Selyn let out a deep breath as if she had been holding it in all this time. Even at our safe distance, she was overawed; the blood drained from her face, and her arms trembled. For all my resolve, the fiends still terrified me. I began to wish I had some protection or had waited until my party had recovered.

“Should we head back and try again later?” I suggested, only partially joking.

Selyn’s lips twisted, but she answered in a level voice. “No. I won’t let Starlight’s efforts be for nothing. Let us be off.”

“That’s a good way to put it. All right, let’s try not to draw any attention to ourselves.”

With a desperate smile, I looked forwards. I told myself that it would be fine since our job wouldn’t change, escorted or otherwise.

Starlight’s spellwork was muffling any sounds. On one hand, this meant we could make a commotion without being noticed by the phantoms. On the other hand, we would have difficulty sensing the phantoms’ actions. Not that I was much use detecting enemies either way. I had brought three swords of the flashy, flowery set all this way, yet now I wasn’t sure I could bring myself to use them.

Running at a brisk pace, we reached the wall. Holding the edge tightly, I peeked into the vault, causing my heart to skip a beat. The decaying scenery of pitch-black rubble and stone pillars matched Eliza’s earlier descriptions. There, beyond those unfathomable ruins, was the World Tree.

“The vault,” Selyn whispered, gripping her staff. “It’s forming itself so as to be one with the World Tree.”

I saw a shrine—a shockingly intricate shrine burrowing itself in the trunk of the World Tree. The uncanny sight of it and the surrounding ruins made my skin crawl. I had little doubt that any god produced by this vault would not be a kind one.

Fortunately for us, however, it seemed the phantoms were truly absent. Though I had just been saying we should turn back, seeing this place empty changed my mind. Now I was glad I had decided to go ahead with the curse breaking. I wasn’t interested in facing a horde of those lizard fiends even if I had my friends in tip-top shape.

Selyn, Mimicky, and I all stepped into the forlorn space. The air was cool, and the leaves of the World Tree drifted on the breeze. The leaves in here covered the ground just like they did outside, but in fewer numbers, it seemed.

Once we were a few dozen meters from the World Tree, Selyn stopped. After giving the ground a few experimental taps with her staff, she nodded.

“This should be enough to grant us the powers we need!”

“This is further in than I expected. Mimicky, retrieve Luke’s statue.”

Though it was senseless to complain, I had thought we’d be a bit closer to the entrance.

I set Luke’s statue on the ground. Every time I saw it, I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of him swinging his sword at a curse, thus pissing it off so severely that it placed a curse on him. But at last, he was about to be his old self again. I couldn’t wait to hear about what he saw and thought while he was a stone. Or maybe he would turn out to be pretty indifferent to it all.

“Can I leave the breaking to you?” I asked.

“Yes. I’ll begin.”

Closing her eyes, Selyn gripped her staff and took a deep breath. Light gathered around the staff, and the wind began to blow. A cyclone formed around her, lifting all the nearby leaves. I took a wary step back. The term “curse breaking” had led me to think this would be a quiet affair, but it appeared that wasn’t the case. You could have told me she was casting an offensive spell, and I would’ve been ready to believe it.

My eyes went wide. So this was the magic of the Yggdran imperial family!

“This isn’t my magic at work!” Selyn screamed.

“Wha?!”

We watched, baffled, as the twirling leaves became particles of light. They began to float down in a sight that was both mystical and incomprehensible. Eyes bulging, Selyn absentmindedly squeezed my arm. For a moment, I recalled Prism Garden—the treasure vault that had formed right in front of my eyes due to diastrophic movements.

The particles coalesced, shimmering brightly for a moment before taking shape. Where there shouldn’t have been anything, powers that should have been weightless had now taken shape and gained mass. The ground shook.

“Wh-What’s this?”

“Hmm. So it’s come to this.”

Fresh leaves fell from the World Tree. The lack of leaves on the ground had struck me as strange given the rate at which they had been falling. Generally speaking, phantoms didn’t appear before one’s eyes because the mana material would instead be absorbed by any nearby living creature. However, there were always exceptions.

When I stopped to think about it, the leaves were falling because there was more mana material than the World Tree could process. Those leaves were basically lumps of mana material—more than enough for a phantom to form right in front of us. And at the worst possible time, no less.

The phantoms that took shape resembled the masked beasts chasing Eliza. And more. The previously unoccupied ruins were soon teeming with phantoms of all sorts. There were lizards, dogs, and snakes. And a knight. They were more than I could count, and they all had masks, seemingly standard regalia for all the phantoms in this vault.

Maybe if I put on a mask, they’ll accept me as one of their own.

I wanted to run, but that wasn’t going to happen. We were in the middle of the ruins, and the phantoms appeared everywhere—we were boxed in. Upon noticing Selyn and me, the phantoms quickly fell back.

No, we were here first.

“What do we do, human?”

“Let’s see...”

I never thought something like this might happen. Astor’s barrier wasn’t going to do me much good when there were so many of them. Though they were taken aback by our sudden appearance, they were the ones with the overwhelming advantage. Our only option was to escape inside Mimicky, but I’d have to buy time for Selyn to go first, since I was the one with Safety Rings.

The masked lizard let out a screeching roar. Had the ones chasing Eliza made a similar sound? The muffling spell meant I couldn’t tell. Just as it was about to leap at us, the knight held up a fist, bringing the lizard to a halt. That was a bad sign since it meant these phantoms were organized. Just the sort of thing you might expect from a high-level vault.

The knight silently drew its sword. There was an intense hostility in the glowing eyes that peeked out from that mask. It was, in all likelihood, a servant of the god that was set to be born here. Similarly, it was probably what was meant to ride the lizards.

I didn’t see any hope for us. Luke might have been able to take these phantoms, but there wasn’t much he could do while he was still a statue, and now wasn’t a good time to try to break the curse.

“I’ll draw their attention,” I said to Selyn while not taking my eyes off the phantom. “You should get inside Mimicky.”

I hadn’t thought about what to do after that, but the chest had plenty of space, as well as my friends. Since Eliza would probably loop back here once her phantoms were down, I was willing to believe things would work out some way or another.

Taking a short breath, Selyn nodded. “V-Very well. I have no desire to hinder you. May fortune shine on you.”

Hinder? No, I’ll be right behind you.

Now, how was I going to draw the attention of a foe that might charge at the slightest wrong movement? As luck—if you could call it that—had it, I had some Relics that could help us here. Getting these ready had been fun, but I hadn’t actually expected to use them.

With a smile, I drew the mighty-looking sword, Harm Not the Weak, O Champion, from the scabbard on my back. Its hilt wasn’t too gaudy, but it wasn’t quite bland either. Just looking at its shimmering blade gave me chills. Terrified by the sight of the sword, the masked knight took a cautious step back. That’s when I activated the other Relics.

Thin clouds covered the sky, bringing with them a gentle rain. A shaft of light shone from the heavens, and Astor’s barrier crackled for good measure. It was a pretty flashy sight, enough to draw the attention of the phantoms. But it still wasn’t enough. Some of them were still fixated on Selyn. I suppose distracting an encompassing swarm of phantoms wasn’t going to be easy.

Then I recalled another Relic I hadn’t used yet. It was one I had shown to Kris when we were on the road. Thrusting my hand into my bag, I pulled the Relic masks out and dispersed them. These were Servile Masks, small masks that floated around me like satellites. When inert, they were about the size of a pinky finger nail, but when activated, they’d balloon to the size of something you could wear, and start floating around.

This wasn’t a Relic that served any real purpose. If anything, you were better off without them, since they obstructed your vision. Yet here they were, proving more useful than I, their owner, had ever anticipated.

The phantoms were clearly unsettled; the masks circling me had their complete attention. What a formidable person I was if I could make use of a scrap Relic.

“Now! Run!” I said in a quiet voice.

I didn’t get a reply. I spun around and saw only Mimicky. Selyn had found an opening and made her escape without my help. What a smart girl. Still, I was relieved. Now I just had to get out of here, and I had the Safety Rings to make that happen.

There was a heavy thud, the source of which was a masked knight stepping forwards. While that brought their attention back to me, having distracted so many high-level phantoms for nearly a minute was more than I had ever hoped for. They could attack now, and it would still be too late. With my stock of Safety Rings, they would need more than a few seconds to break through my defenses.

Ignoring the phantoms, I was about to fling open Mimicky’s lid. I gasped.

It won’t open. It’s locked. Why is it locked?

Numerous attacks connected with my back, activating my Safety Rings, but I had bigger concerns. Nobody but Selyn and I had been in these ruins. If the lid had been locked after she got in, then that meant Mimicky must have done it. After all, he could grow arms, and the lock was a simple mechanism, not to mention the lid had been unlocked when we arrived.

“Hey? What’s the matter?” I asked, at my wit’s end.

That was when Mimicky pounced like a spring. Using that same natural speed that had allowed him to catch Liz off guard, he leaped into the air, diving straight into the phantoms’ ranks. I was too baffled to do anything. What sort of Relic makes a break for it while leaving its owner behind?

“I see. So he’s designed to automatically protect his contents. Truly a remarkable Relic.”

Maybe when I said to run, he thought that included him. I didn’t mind that he was getting out of here, but was it too much to ask for him to wait until I was inside?

I was betrayed by my Relics, the phantoms looking at me with exasperation (?). At least my swords still had my back—they illuminated me and covered me in droplets of water, all to absolutely no benefit. My trusty Safety Rings wouldn’t help me get out of here any quicker, so they weren’t much help. Mimicky even left the Luke statue behind.

It seemed my only thread of hope was Eliza and Starlight, except we had only just broken off from them, and I wasn’t sure they could do anything about such a large crowd of phantoms. Standing next to the Luke statue, I figured I may as well ready my blade. Being weak played a part in it, but standing here made me realize just how hopeless it felt to be alone on a battlefield. I might have thrown up if I hadn’t been perfectly comfortable.

With no way to resist or run, I was completely trapped. I had been alone before, like at the Supreme Warrior Festival, but I had assumed that was all part of the tournament. Then there was that time Shero’s curse hunted me inside Mimicky’s town, but I had managed to avoid detection down there. Looking back, every freak accident I found myself in was worse than the last.

With all that said, I still wasn’t planning to go down easily. I still had Astor’s barrier and an Aspiration Manifest stocked with one of Lucia’s spells. Last I checked, it contained an area of effect attack, so I could maybe do some serious damage if I timed it right.

Come on now, I don’t have all day!

I took a deep breath and glared at the phantoms.

They moved at once.

The knights, lizards, and other fiends all moved like a wave, crashing their way to the World Tree. My eyes bulged. The ground shook. I rushed to support the Luke statue, which looked like it might tip over.

But instead of going after the intruder, they knelt before the World Tree. The masked knights dipped their heads; the masked lizards pressed their bodies to the ground.

Is this their prayer time or something? It’s a shrine, so it’s not impossible.

As much as I struggled to believe my luck, it didn’t change the fact that the phantoms had vacated the rear half of the ruins. Not wanting to disrupt their prayers, I quietly made my departure. God, if this and Peregrine Lodge were any indicator, common sense got you nowhere in a Level 10 vault. Absolutely wild that phantoms manifested right before my eyes.

Quietly, so as not to draw their attention, I took a step back as I deactivated the three flashy, flowery swords and the floating masks. The next moment, a searing light blinded me. The earlier particles from the World Tree leaves were nothing compared to this.

A glowing mass had appeared in front of the World Tree. I couldn’t help but stop and stare. The ruins grew restless. The light twisted and turned before taking the shape of a person. My guess was that it was a new phantom, one much more powerful than the others here.

Vaults often had phantoms of varying ranks. Phantoms much weaker than the final boss but much stronger than the mobs were fearfully referred to as mid-bosses. Leave it to a Level 10 vault to bring out a mid-boss to finish off an already helpless hunter.

The new phantom was a knight roughly two and a half meters tall, clad in a mask and red armor. The rust-colored patches suggested this phantom was derived from a specific knight. For whatever reason, humanoid phantoms were generally pretty dangerous. Whereas monsters that had wrought sufficient destruction could be given some epithet, making them a named one, phantoms, on the other hand, were shadows of rulers whose names had once struck fear into people. Why sword-wielding foes had to start popping up the one time Luke was petrified was utterly beyond me.

Though I begged in vain for the phantom not to pay me and mind, it stared directly at me, ignoring its underlings. It slowly reached for the sword on its back. What it drew was a double-edged sword with adornments on the grip and cross guard that almost made me think it might be ceremonial. I assumed I was looking at a servant of this vault’s god.

The red knight gripped the sword with both hands, holding the blade up before its face. As if that was their cue, the other phantoms all turned my way. I was in a genuinely awful spot, completely helpless. While my luck had never been great, this was still beyond anything I had imagined. Maybe that’s how most hunters met their end.

Since I was screwed either way, I held up Harm Not the Weak, O Champion, before my face, mimicking the phantom’s pose. Doing so served absolutely no purpose. This sword was the textbook definition of a scrap Relic. Not only did it lack any traits besides being gaudy, but it was actually worse than a normal sword.

Though I didn’t know why, the phantoms became restless, their attention shifting to something behind me. I felt a cold breeze against my back.

Could it be?! Was that Lucia?! Did Mimicky call for help? Maybe he left me behind so he could bring out Lucia and the others. You never fail, Mimicky. Can Magic Bags even do something like this? Well, I’ll take it.

Turning around with a smile on my face, I could barely believe what I was seeing. There, in the entrance to the shrine, was a large rift, and beyond it was somewhere entirely different. I knew what sort of spells Lucia had in her repertoire, and I had never seen something like this. I was under the impression that space-time magic was so advanced that only a few Magi in the world could use it.

As I stood there at a loss, a large head crawled out from the rift. It belonged to a massive centipede with a carapace as red as that of the knight.

“Shit, I didn’t think the energy font would be a dead end,” said a voice from the rift.

“Thaaat’s why I said we should turn around! That space isn’t quite like the real world! What would have happened to us if not for my ripper?”

The girl who had asked me for my Cynosure came tumbling out. She didn’t have her hood up, but I could tell it was her by the voice. Placed atop her head was a doll, wielding a giant set of scissors. She was followed by a black-haired young man with a sword at his hip, then a black-haired woman shouldering a large spear. She had suntanned skin and a sharp gaze, and she looked about as strong as Liz.

She looked momentarily surprised when she saw me, but that look shifted to a savage grin when she saw the phantoms.

“One hell of a welcoming party, Thousand Tricks,” she said. I had no idea what was going on. “Hmm. So that’s what you’re after?”

“Thousand Tricks?! What are you doing here?”

“Ha ha ha, uhhh...”

It seems you guys know who I am. But who might you be?

Completely befuddled, I just put on a half-hearted smile.

“Yeah, but Adler,” the young man said in a trembling voice, “those aren’t monsters—they’re phantoms. Can you tame phantoms?”

“Hmph. It’s happening right before our eyes. I wasn’t expecting that paradise to be bait, and I definitely didn’t think he’d know when we’d show up here.”

“That’s impossible! How could he know about the ripper? Nobody else has ever seen me use it!”

I didn’t really care what they were on about; I just wanted them to decide if they were going to help me or not. As the red knight once again raised its sword upon seeing the new intruders, the phantoms also shifted their focus. Dozens of phantoms moving in unison didn’t faze the woman named Adler in the slightest.

“But damn if it isn’t interesting,” she said. “Let’s show him that we weren’t playing around on the Godtree Guideway.”

What I then saw was like a nightmare. An inconceivably large centipede crawled from the rift, followed by a gray one-eyed giant. There was a poisonous-looking serpent, a wolf with golden fur, a turtle with trees growing from its back, a brood of small dragons that resembled frigid dragons, and more and more. Some of them were wounded, but this was still an inordinate force. It was a monster army.

That was when something occurred to me, albeit a bit late—Liz and the rest of the group had chased off a group commanding a bunch of monsters. This was that same group, wasn’t it? My friends had mentioned something about a centipede and a person who introduced themself as Adler. I didn’t know how they had gotten here, but that was fearsome persistence.

“I don’t know if you’ve been there, Thousand Tricks,” she said, “but don’t overlook the Godtree Guideway.”

“I found some interesting Swordsmen. The next Quint army won’t have any battle ants,” the young man shouted.

At the same moment, a bustling crowd of human-sized playing cards got together and raised a battle cry. Where the hell did they find these things? At least I figured out who these people were, but I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. Well, if nothing else, they didn’t look like they were on my side.

Why are so many people after me? I want to go home.

The phantoms weren’t intimidated by the abrupt appearance of a new army. The masked knights mounted their masked lizards and began to roar.

Sights set on the phantoms behind me, Adler twirled her spear. “Looks like you got some new monsters in your herd, Thousand Tricks,” she shouted for some reason. “Watch and see what a little mana material has done for our army! All units, advance!”

Huh?

I sat and watched as the forces of the monster lord clashed with the phantom army.

***

Once they had lured away and defeated the three phantoms, Eliza and Starlight returned to the World Tree. Peeking around the wall to check on the other team’s progress, Astor was jolted by what she saw.

“Wh-What the hell?!”

Countless monster corpses were piled among the ruins. Standing in the middle of it all, next to Luke’s statue, was Krai Andrey, drenched in blood. Astor couldn’t help but look at Eliza—scouting and diverting was her job.

The Thief let out a long, long sigh. “It was empty earlier,” she said wearily. “How did this...”

Astor couldn’t begin to imagine what might have happened. Those were powerful phantoms Eliza had lured off. By preparing in advance, they had put themselves in an advantageous position and somehow taken them down, but there was no guarantee they would’ve fared so well if they had been thrust into a sudden engagement. To think they had only been away for an hour at most.

The corpse piles were ample and varied. There were masked lizards, the same that Astor and her comrades had fought, as well as mythical beasts and other non-phantoms. She couldn’t fathom the amount of power needed to take down a horde of monsters that included the same lizards that had given Starlight so much trouble. She almost certainly wouldn’t have believed something like this was possible if the proof wasn’t right before her eyes. Her comrades were all at a loss for words.

Kris nearly tripped over some carrion as she darted up to the Thousand Tricks. “Are you all right?! Sir?!”

“O-Oh, welcome back, Kris. Took you long enough.”

His lazy voice didn’t sound at all like someone who could create something so horrific. He didn’t even have a scratch on him. In contrast to Kris’s sickly pallor, Eliza simply looked around.

“Cae, are you all right?” she asked. “Are you wounded?”

“Yeah. More importantly, it looks like your group is in good shape. Don’t worry, I just got showered in monster blood. Honestly, I’m inches away from losing my perfect comfort.”

Perfect comfort? What’s this human talking about? That’s all blood splatter?!

“Looks like you had quite a,” Lapis scowled at her gruesome surroundings, “rough fight. What happened?”

“Yeah, it’s a long story, but I was sure I was gonna die back there. I dunno, both sides were pretty evenly matched.”

Evenly matched? Just a quick look around suggested there were at least a couple of hundred corpses in front of the shrine. Saying it was an even match while being completely unharmed sounded like nothing more than a bad joke.

Astor was well aware that high-level hunters were a different breed, but this was too much. Defeating so many without taking a scratch was beyond the realm of possibility for any of Starlight’s Magi, and they all specialized in firepower. The Avatar of Creation probably couldn’t have pulled off something like this. Perhaps Lucia learned her tricks from her brother. What truly terrified Astor was this human’s willingness to play the clown despite his apparent might. A new sense of uncertainty began to overwhelm her.

“Let’s start by getting out of here,” the Thousand Tricks said with a clap of his hands. “We don’t want to deal with any more phantoms.”

“That goes without saying. But what about Luke? It doesn’t look like his curse has been broken.”

“Oh, right, that’s—”

Before he could get any further, one of the corpse heaps began to shift. A masked knight in red armor stained with blood rose from the pile. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say every inch of the phantom was covered in wounds. Its armor was dented, bore a number of gashes, and had even been warped by intense heat. Yet its strength was immediately apparent. Astor was sure this knight was far superior to the lizards her party had fought.

The phantom removed a massive sword that had been thrust into the corpse mound like a grave marker. There was no stopping it. Though it said nothing, it exuded an indomitable pressure despite its many injuries. Casting a spell would take time—time they didn’t have with this phantom standing before them.

The red knight looked at the Thousand Tricks, but he didn’t waver. He only smiled. Whatever he was thinking, he didn’t seem like he was going to attack. As the phantom slowly began to approach him, Astor found herself moving to the side.

A phantom from a top-level treasure vault and one of the imperial capital’s strongest hunters were standing opposite each other. Even from the sidelines, they were an odd sight. Despite the clear threat posed by the silent knight, the Thousand Tricks was much too at ease for someone facing down the phantom of a shrine-type vault. You could show the scene to one hundred people, and they would all assume the hunter’s defeat was imminent.

Yet he turned from the phantom to Starlight and said, “Does anyone want to fight this?”

Of course not! Look at it!

It was only due to the phantom’s far-from-ideal condition that Astor was able to follow its next move. In an instant, the knight raised its ceremonial sword and swung at the Thousand Tricks while he was still looking the other way. It looked like magic. It was the sort of sharp, silent, artful slash that a victim might not even notice.

Yet the blade didn’t reach its target. There was a dull thud. Astor forgot to breathe. The blade was stopped by an interloper nobody could have expected.

“Huh?! H-How did that happen?!” Kris cried.

The blade had been intercepted by the Protean Sword. To be more precise, it had been intercepted by the stone statue of Luke Sykol, the Protean Sword. Astor was sure his arm had been lowered, but now it was raised to catch the incoming strike.

“Ridiculous,” Lapis said. She wore a strained expression rare for Noble Spirits. “That’s impossible! He’s supposed to be petrified!”

“Since it’s Luke, it’s not hard to believe,” Eliza commented. “All the more so in a place with such dense mana material.”

“Mana material responds to desires! Are you telling me, Vagabond, that the Protean Sword wants to fight the phantom that badly?! You expect me to believe that a human could overcome through sheer will a curse that Selyn couldn’t break?! N-No. Damn it. Was this part of your plan, Thousand Tricks?!”

Kris trembled as the blood drained from her face. “H-He’s moving while petrified! Madam!”

Indeed, though he still wasn’t free from his curse, Luke was nonetheless moving. Everyone but Eliza and the Thousand Tricks was quaking at the sight. Even the phantom seemed capable of understanding that something was off, as it chose to retreat instead of swinging its blade again.

Luke’s roaring voice reached their ears.

“I’LL DO IT! KRAI, DON’T SCREW ME OUT OF THIS! I’LL FIGHT THE PHANTOM!”

How could his mouth possibly be moving if he had been turned to stone?

“Oh, sure. Go ahead.”

With the Thousand Tricks’s permission, the Luke statue began to walk with what could hardly be described as smooth movements. Apparently panicking, the phantom ran off. Luke gave chase.

Epilogue: Let This Grieving Soul Retire, Part Nine

And so we successfully broke the, uh, the curse, we—we didn’t accomplish anything!

Three days later, my friends had recovered from their mana material intoxication. Sitting in the lodge within Mimicky, I had a chat with them.

“What?!” Liz sputtered. “You had all that fun while we were stuck in bed?!”

“Hey, I wasn’t expecting it either. Everyone in Starlight was pretty shook when they saw him go running off.”

The operation had been a series of surprises of all sorts. Phantoms manifested before my eyes, then Monster Lord and her crew (who I thought had been taken down) charged in, and after all their mutual slaughter, the Luke statue started moving. There was so much going on, I barely understood what I was saying as the words left my mouth.

Given his track record of doing the unthinkable, I wasn’t too worried about Luke. History had proven that he would come back safely no matter what.

“L-Luke’s...” Tino looked like she wasn’t quite sure what to say, “incredible.”

Ansem groaned in agreement.

It was astounding to think that Tino had recovered from her intoxication at the same time as everyone else. I can barely express how badly I wish she could have been there to experience that vault.

“We’re going next time, Krai Baby!” Liz stated. “Without our intoxication, we’re in perfect condition!”

“I’ll never get used to the sensation of feeling ill one day and being in top shape the next,” Sitri commented.

The pros and cons of mana material intoxication were two sides of the same coin. The overabsorption temporarily put the body out of commission, but that mana material nonetheless provided newfound strength. Everyone, including Ansem, had collapsed due to intoxication, which meant that now that they had recovered, they were stronger than ever. I could only guess what that meant since they were already so formidable.

“Yeah, uh-huh. I’m counting on you guys.” I grinned and nodded my head. It probably wouldn’t be long before I’d have to rely on their new powers.

I noticed Tino was looking at me discontentedly, but before I could say anything, Sitri grabbed my hands in what appeared to be a bid for pity.

“Actually, Krai, there’s something I’d like to test!” There were tears in her eyes, and her voice was almost a whisper. “We’ll remain in Yggdra a bit longer, won’t we?”

“Yeah, uh-huh. Of course!”

“Hm? Did something happen? You usually want to withdraw at times like these.”

Mmm, uh-huh. Trying to fall back never works out for me. And yeah, something definitely happened. I should have figured you’d see through my poker face.

Ansem opened his mouth, breaking his low, continuous groan. “Krai. What of Luke?”

We all fell into an uncomfortable silence. They had evidently figured out something was up, but had avoided bringing it up.

I cleared my throat and said with a smile, “Yeah. You see, he entered the World Tree while chasing after a phantom and hasn’t returned.”

That startled Ansem. “Mmm...”

Hey, I tried to come up with something, only that was the World Tree Luke was in. Taking on those phantoms with just Starlight would’ve been a fool’s errand. More than that, though, this was Luke we were talking about.

“Eliza looked into it and found that their defenses were too much to sneak past. She also said the phantoms are growing stronger by the day. Anyone got any ideas?”

Vaults hosting gods were nothing to screw with. It would still be another century or so before this god’s advent was complete, yet the vault was already nigh-untouchable. I could see how Yggdra’s best had gone in prepared and still failed to conquer it. If what we heard was true and the phantoms on the inside vastly outnumbered those outside, then conventional methods weren’t going to work even for Grieving Souls.

Lucia furrowed her brow. Liz looked grave. Sitri, however, was fidgeting and glancing at me like she had something to say. As of late, she had been much more bold, not at all the sort to squirm like this. It was endearing in how it reminded me of the reserved girl she used to be.

“Sitri, do you have an idea?”

“I-I do! However, it’s a bit difficult to say in front of everyone, so would you come here?”

It wasn’t often she said things like that. Responding to her beckons, I came over and leaned in. Looking just a bit bashful, she brought her lips close to my ear.

“Krai,” she whispered enthusiastically. “If we can’t fight the phantoms, then doesn’t that mean we should weaken the treasure vault? Is now the time to make use of the ley line manipulation research I did at Akashic Tower?”

***

Within the deepest reaches of the Godtree Guideway, a metallic blade suddenly emerged, cutting a large seam. From this rift in space, Yuden’s head emerged. There was nothing left of the astrovore past its neck. Adler and Quint, both battered and bruised, rode atop what was left. After Uuno, cradling a doll with a pair of scissors, and the card soldiers exited, the rift closed.

Uuno Silba’s ripper was a holy spirit with the extremely rare ability to manipulate space. The spirit residing in that doll was Uuno’s only familiar and the lifeline of Nocturnal Parade. However, this was not only the first time they had used the ripper’s powers to retreat, but also the first time it had been used back-to-back.

Adler and Quint both fell on their backs. While Uuno was mostly fine, as she had been concentrating on defense, these two had joined the fray, leaving them drained. It was a miracle they were still alive.

“Looks like it was a draw,” Adler said. “I thought for sure we could win.”

“Yes, they were a biiit too much for us,” Uuno chimed in. “The astrovore was bolstered by mana material, and we had monsters from the Godtree Guideway, yet they were still beyond us. Before coming here, we were undefeated!”

“They were insane!” Quint muttered. “I know it was a brawl, but how the hell did Zork get killed? Was he weaker than the phantoms?”

He sounded tough enough, but his face had gone completely pale. Zork had been his go-to monster ever since he first tamed the cyclops. Losing Zork left a greater shock than the death of so many card soldiers.

They had put up a fight at first. The monsters Adler had obtained on the Godtree Guideway had certainly proven a match for the phantoms. The tides turned when that mid-boss got serious.

“That must’ve been the phantom of some really famous ancient knight. That thing formed in ultra-dense mana material, a nightmare come to life.”

Their newly tamed monsters and mythical beasts had been butchered. It was important to have a large herd, but it was even more important to have at least a few peerless creatures. Culling an enemy herd while taking no damage to your own was how you seized the upper hand.

While Yuden the astrovorous centipede and Zork the dark cyclops could be considered peerless, both monsters were better suited to fighting armies rather than individuals. This had never been a problem, but they had been naive to think things would stay that way.

Though they had managed to overwhelm the phantoms with numbers, only Yuden’s head remained, and Zork had been killed in battle. Both the army Adler had spent a week building up and the card soldiers Quint had enjoyed negotiating with were down to a single unit. All in all, their firepower had been pretty much nullified.

“We were close. We were so close,” Adler lamented, an arm slung over her eyes. “If we had just one more monster left, we could have shown the Thousand Tricks what happens when you screw with us.”

“Unlike phantoms, monsters are finite,” Uuno replied. “And we don’t have room to search for more.”

The Thousand Tricks hadn’t so much as flinched when he watched his army clash with Nocturnal Parade’s. They weren’t sure if that was because he had been confident, because phantoms can easily be replaced, or if he simply hadn’t been that interested in the battle itself. All they could be certain of was that they had been made light of. He had watched silently when they fled with the ripper. In fact, during the entire fight, he had done nothing but stand around. Anyone who could do that had to be formidable or stupid.

Taking a deep breath, Uuno checked the ripper’s scissors. After cutting through space, the blades had gained a faint red glow and some rust. The ripper’s ability was a game changer, but it wasn’t something meant to be used in succession. It had one, maybe two, uses left.

“Lady Adler, what shall we do? We only have one or two uses of the ripper left.”

Once those scissors broke, they would need a long time to regenerate. In other words, if they found themselves cornered after that, there would be no escape. Results aside, this recent clash had left them depleted.

Still lying on the ground, Adler looked at Yuden. Even having lost the majority of its body, the astrovore could regenerate. With enough time, it would be in fighting condition once more.

“Good question. We shouldn’t get into any more scraps. That man can tame even phantoms. I never thought there could be a Guiding Hand like that.”

None of these three could do something like that. Heck, the very possibility had never occurred to them. For all their similarities, phantoms were very different from monsters.

Quint looked surprised to see Adler taking such a mournful tone. Their leader closed her eyes in thought. However, after a self-affirming nod, she said something unbelievable.

“Right, I’ve got it. We’ve learned about powers we never thought possible. So how about we go to the Thousand Tricks and ask him how to tame a phantom?!”

“You kidding me?! We just fought that guy!”

“They say to strike when the iron is hot, don’t they?! Besides, it looks like this place has some phantoms that would fit right in our monster army. I’m sure that guy won’t mind if we ask him his secrets.”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right about that. Maybe I can avenge Zork by taming the phantoms that killed him.”

Oh no, Uuno thought as she watched Quint fall for Adler’s fiery words. Are we going to use the last ripper charge on this?

“Do you two hear yourselves?!” she yelled frantically. “I refuse to go along with this!”

Interlude: Shrine of the Effluent God

Selyn Yggdra Frestle had seldom set foot outside Yggdra. Her land was a reclusive one, a necessity in order to defend the World Tree both from enemies and from other Noble Spirits. While Yggdra had warriors, it had no treasure hunters, and it certainly had no humans. As a result, hunters and humans were something Selyn knew only through text and hearsay.

Treasure hunters were experts on treasure vaults. With reckless abandon, they traveled the world, recovering valuables from perilous depths. Selyn had always held a lukewarm opinion of them. No matter their expertise, Shrine of the Effluent God was too far beyond any normal vault. After spending so long looking for a countermeasure against the vault, the Yggdrans should have been able to do everything the hunters could. With their high mana material absorption, high-level hunters couldn’t even get close to the World Tree in the first place.

When Krai Andrey had proposed his plan for conquering the vault, Selyn appreciated the gesture but kept her expectations to a minimum. She might have disregarded his suggestion if not for Milesse. If one of the guardian elementals of Yggdra asked that man for help, he must have some worthy quality. And in the end, that expectation had proven correct.

When a swarm of powerful phantoms appeared out of nowhere, that man defeated them all. She wasn’t sure how he did it, but that was something none of Yggdra’s warriors had ever accomplished.

Perhaps this human would make it all the way. Perhaps he would do what so many Yggdrans had perished trying to do and reach the divine egg atop the altar in Shrine of the Effluent God.

Selyn sat near a spring, gazing at nothing. This spot on the outskirts of Yggdra was said to be ideal for soaking in the powers of nature. Every warrior of Yggdra had purified themselves here before making an attempt on the World Tree. Now, the only one left who could fight was Selyn.

“I understand that pushing our grave responsibility onto outsiders makes me a failure of my bloodline.”

The last of her comrades set out for the World Tree a few days prior to the arrival of the Thousand Tricks. They had challenged the vault out of a desire not to let any humans see the shame of Yggdra. They were yet to return. For what it was worth, Selyn hadn’t noticed any signs of battle near the entrance, but all the same, they hadn’t come back. Though she had braced herself for the possibility, Selyn wasn’t so resigned that she could remain dispassionate.

If Selyn continued to do nothing, the World Tree would fall, and she would fail to fulfill her duty as an Yggdran. That would mean her comrades had died for nothing. Even still, if the Thousand Tricks had been only as competent as she expected, she would have sent him home.

However, he proved leagues stronger than she had imagined. With exceptional power and wits, he was someone who took on the strongest foes and toughest quests. He was the Thousand Tricks, Level 8 hunter. The unconventional schemes he brought forth had become feared not only by his enemies, but his allies. His ruse to annihilate the phantoms, for instance, was something Selyn and the other Noble Spirits never would have considered in all their pride.

She had her misgivings, but her heart was set. Selyn was the only member of the imperial family still in Yggdra. She could issue any decree she wanted, and there was nobody to stop her.

“I think I’ll take a gamble on that human’s ploys, no matter how absurd they might seem. Just try and stop me.”

A Gift from the Thousand Tricks

With a grin, the young man said something that caught Yggdra’s reigning imperial princess, Selyn Yggdra Frestle, by surprise.

“Hm?! You have a gift for me?” she said.

“Yep. The circumstances don’t change the fact that you invited us to Yggdra.”

Though he seemed like an ordinary human, he clearly was not. Krai Andrey, the Thousand Tricks, Level 8 hunter. He had traveled the world, defeated numerous phantoms and monsters through deft maneuverings, and reached the lauded seat of Level 8 younger than anyone in the land of Zebrudia. Though Selyn knew little about the outside world, she had heard of his accomplishments through Eliza’s letter.

She had little faith in human accolades and the like, but this man had proven his talents by finding Shero after the Noble Spirits had tried unsuccessfully for nearly one thousand years, and by daring to save Selyn when she had been trapped by an insane Milesse. Said man had, now of all times, brought her, the imperial princess, a gift?

“That’s hardly necessary,” she said. “In fact, we’re in your debt for returning Shero—”

Before she could finish that sentence, she recalled something mentioned in the letter. It had been said that he was known to scheme as if he could see the future. Using knowledge he shouldn’t have possessed, he had resolved many major incidents in ways that left everyone baffled.

The abnormalities in the World Tree were known only to Yggdra. While it was true that this information shouldn’t have been able to slip out, a human visiting this land was unprecedented in its own right. On top of that, according to Lapis, the Thousand Tricks hadn’t batted an eye when Milesse asked him to help with the World Tree. Almost as if he had expected the request.

Looking back, unlike Lapis and Eliza, this man had been completely unfazed during their earlier conversation. Could he have known all this and come bearing some sort of solution to their struggles? That would certainly explain why he could hear about how terrible their situation was while maintaining his air of complacency. Besides, the human world couldn’t possibly have many things that would make a worthy gift for the Yggdran imperial princess, and nobody would be willing to offer up a trinket after such a grave conversation.

All that said, Selyn still didn’t think he could do anything about Yggdra’s current situation. The excess accumulation of mana material wasn’t some simple issue—it was part of the natural order. Divine manifestation was inevitable. With a lifespan that barely surpassed a century, what could a human possibly do?

Nonetheless, Selyn was genuinely pleased by his willingness to help. She felt obliged to accept his gift.

“Well, since you brought it all this way,” she said with a small cough. “I’d be honored to accept your gift, human.”

Now, what did he bring? An item? Knowledge?

Harboring just a shred of hope, Selyn watched the human reach into a treasure chest and pull out a gold can.

“This is a Relic known as Cat Catcher,” he said with a hint of pride. “With this, you can attract cats of all sorts! Isn’t that amazing?! I thought it would be perfect for a forest full of animals.”

“Cat? Catcher?”

A relic that attracts cats?

Selyn had never heard of such a Relic. Hesitantly, she accepted the can and examined it. It was cold to the touch and had an odd texture. It appeared to be made of gold at first, but she could tell it was crafted from something not of this world—a quality peculiar to Relics.

“It’s got a nice look and feel to it, doesn’t it?” The Thousand Tricks sounded immensely proud of it. “It cost me a fair bit since there are so many cat lovers out there.”

“Oh. I see.”

Holding the can up, Selyn blinked a few times, silently studying it. She then came back to reality and returned her gaze to the Thousand Tricks. A Relic that attracted cats? How was that supposed to help solve their crisis?

Eliza had said the Thousand Tricks specialized in unconventional methods and always caused an uproar by doing the last thing anyone expected. But Selyn couldn’t fathom what use this “Cat Catcher” could be. Perhaps the god would be a feline one? No. Even supposing that he somehow had managed to piece together the abnormalities in the World Tree, he couldn’t have possibly determined the nature of the god without so much as laying eyes on the vault. Not only that, even if the god was feline in nature, what good would a cat-bringing Relic be? What did he mean by calling it perfect for a forest full of animals?

Selyn’s misgivings must have been showing on her face. Letting out a small sigh, the Thousand Tricks reached into the treasure chest.

“Looks like you’re not a fan,” he said, regaining his smile. “Well, here, gift number two.”

He pulled out a side-blown flute. Like the can, it was gold. It had that beautiful glimmer unique to Relics, drawing a sigh of admiration from Selyn, someone who typically had no interest in ornamental items.

It was a flute Relic. Musical instruments often played a role in sacred rituals, and some rituals were done to mollify divine souls. Selyn stared silently, hope in her eyes. This might be worth something.

“This is Man’s Best Friend,” the Thousand Tricks said with a grin. “If you play this flute, it will draw in any and all dogs in hearing range. Except they’ll attack you.”

“Hm?! I-I see...”

I don’t understand. What use could this Relic possibly serve? And he said the dogs will attack? Could this be the key to our survival? I certainly can’t see how!

Selyn then recalled Eliza saying the Thousand Tricks had a penchant for bad jokes. No. No, no, no. Even if he did like his jokes, this was a global catastrophe they were facing. Racked with conflicting thoughts, Selyn shook her head.

“It’s not a gift, but I also brought these,” the Thousand Tricks said, hammering in the final nail in the coffin. “See these masks? They float and spin around...”

Afterword

WOO! VOLUME 9 IS OUT!

It’s been eight months since Volume 8. Thank you for waiting! It’s been too long, Tsukikage here! These past eight months have been very busy, both for work and personal matters. For those who have been eagerly waiting, I’m sorry to have kept you so long.

As I said in the afterword of the previous volume, this one is a continuation of the curse arc.

Broadly speaking, the curse incidents seemed to have calmed down, but it wasn’t over yet! Little Sister Fox schemes against the Thousand Tricks, throwing Krai right back into the fray! That’s what I was going for.

As anyone who’s finished reading should know, this volume’s first half is the curse arc, while the second half is the Yggdra arc, giving us an unusual structure. I wanted to wrap up the curse troubles in one volume, but that didn’t pan out. So I thought about splitting it into two volumes, but that didn’t pan out either.

A story about the Noble Spirits’ forest is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. There are naturally plenty of misunderstandings since that’s the name of the game here, but Krai’s Relic usage also plays a central role. For him, Relics are a hobby, and he’s usually using them for trivial purposes. There’s still more I want to write, and I sure hope I can in the next volume. I hope you’re all looking forward to it!

***

Now, we’ll finish up with thanks as we usually do.

Just like the previous volume, Chyko-sama, you’ve once again done so much for me! I can’t thank you enough for drawing the centipede and other monsters. The cover art is incredible! I hope you can continue to grace us with your work!

Thank you so much to my editor Kawaguchi-sama, everyone at the GC Novels editing department, and other relevant companies. (Just like the last volume) I’m so sorry for hitting deadlines at the last minute! I managed to keep the last volume on the thinner side, but not this time. I-I hope we can keep working together!

And most of all, my deepest gratitude to the readers who have stuck with me this far. Thank you so much! (On the acknowledgments page, there’s a QR code to a survey that offers a short story upon completion. Please give it a look!)

Note: QR Code not available in the English edition.

Tuskikage, September, 2022

The Relic Collection of the Thousand Tricks (Cont.)

Relics were remnants of past civilization manifested through mana material. The majority of them possessed rare and powerful capabilities that surpassed anything our modern civilization could produce. Obtaining a Relic could change one’s life for the better.

But there were exceptions.

Every treasure hunter had heard at least one tale of a Relic that gave its user extraordinary powers but only at an immense price. These were dangerous, cursed Relics. Some could sap a hunter’s mana material, bringing a quick end to their life.

While these malign items were anything but common, it was the interest of any treasure hunter or appraiser to stay alert. Though cursed Relics didn’t always kill, there was no shortage of hunters who had been forced into an early retirement by an encounter with one. With so many already identified, it was fair to assume there were still many more lurking in obscurity.

I’d like to introduce a few terrifying but bewitching examples here.

***

What sort of traits does the phrase “cursed Relics” bring to mind? Draining life force? Eating away at the soul? Or maybe something else? Perhaps the most famous breeds of cursed items are those that can’t be removed once equipped.

The term cursed encapsulates a variety of powers, but the most common was the frazzlesome tendency to cling to whoever equipped it. The exact definition of equipping wasn’t static. Sometimes it meant the Relic couldn’t leave your hand, or that you couldn’t get a certain distance away from it, or that it would return if you discarded it.

From this broad category, the most popular item was the sword known as Jealousy Blade. It was the first Relic to be identified as being cursed, yet it didn’t particularly look the part. It was light and easy to use while also being sharp and sturdy. Though it came with a mental burden, it did not steal your soul. If this were a normal sword, it would probably have been very valuable.

There was just one little facet that warranted it the title of cursed—if you used it once, you would never be able to wield another weapon ever again. Almost as if possessing a will of its own, this sword could force its owner to use it. If the afflicted tried to switch to something else, the blade would stick to their hand or prevent them from getting too far from their envious weapon.

If the user did by some miracle get away, the cursed sword would, with no regard for who or what it hurt, use every means at its disposal to return to its owner. And if the owner still didn’t want Jealousy Blade, it would kill them. If that isn’t cursed, then what is?

Being unable to unequip a Relic was a simple but vexing trait. The worst was when something couldn’t so much as leave your hand. Whereas a ring or some other accessory wouldn’t be so bad, a sword or spear was a constant impediment. Compared to those, maybe something such as Jealousy Blade, which could at least be left in a scabbard, wasn’t so bad.

The next Relic on our agenda is of the sort that would alter its user’s personality. Most people would immediately think of Devil Swords along with other items that imbue a person with an inclination to cruelty.

Relics that affected a person’s nature were commonly known as heart-shifting Relics. The pros and cons of these items were two sides of the same coin. Some hunters had, in fact, benefited from having their hearts changed (though most people generally didn’t approve of the act of using a Relic to turn a new leaf). Not all of these Relics permanently affixed themselves to a person, at which point it was hard to say if it really was cursed or not.

There are very obvious examples, such as Devil Swords that turn their first users into murderers, but things weren’t always so straightforward. For instance, let me tell you of a ring I heard about from an appraiser.

At first glance, it appeared promising. It granted immense mana as well as the power to utilize it. The ability to expand someone’s mana pool was the defining trait of staves, but endowing someone with the power to use that mana was unprecedented.

The lucky soul that found this ring was a Level 3 hunter. With their new item, they experienced an immediate increase in efficacy, quickly becoming a high-level hunter, renowned as a champion and gaining all the fame and glory that came with it.

However, that was when the hunter’s personality began to change. They were initially a gentle sort, or to put it less kindly, rather withdrawn. They changed into a ruthless person who would harm even innocent civilians if it put them closer to their goals. The change had been gradual, like a narrow creek slowly digging into the land it flowed across.

The hunter’s party members lamented the change power had on their friend, never suspecting that the ring was the real culprit. They only realized the ring was cursed when one of them tried to take it away one time, when the upstart hunter was brandishing their new strength. They realized the ring, which they had once been sure could be removed, now refused to come off.

The party members, trying to remove their comrade’s ring, and the hunter, oddly fixated on said ring, were said to have fought for three days and three nights. Awaiting them at the end of it all was nothing but tragedy. They failed to remove the ring, yet it disappeared when it was seemingly absorbed by the hunter’s flesh. The hunter never returned to normal and died as a savage bandit.

The ring was later dubbed “Demon’s Heart.”

There are two lessons to take away from this.

One is that appearances aren’t enough to determine if a Relic might be cursed. While the art of appraisal being undeveloped at the time contributed to this tragedy, there had been a warning sign. The powers of this Relic were too good to be true. That a ring that not only bolstered mana but also granted the skills to use it was very convenient, enough that those hunters should have realized it was no ordinary item they had found.

The other takeaway is that there’s no guarantee that the ring really was cursed. Even without some sort of hex at work, plenty of people had been warped by power. What I just recounted makes Demon’s Heart sound extraordinarily dangerous, but we can’t write off the possibility that the tale has been distorted. I’m sure many people would rather assume their nation’s champion was the victim of a corrupting Relic, rather than believe they chose to walk a dark path. Unless a second Demon’s Heart were to be discovered, we would never know for sure.

***

Now, those items represented two of the most common sorts of curses found among Relics. Naturally, there are many more that can be considered cursed.

For instance, there was a cursed notebook that, in exchange for something precious, would kill anyone if you wrote their name down. For another, there was a straw doll that could harm someone if you gave it a lock of their hair and drove a nail into it (in exchange, you would be damaged as well).

There were so many different cursed Relics that entire encyclopedias were dedicated to them. Some had powers that couldn’t be found anywhere else, allowing them to fetch enormous sums regardless of their hazardous nature. Indeed, cursed Relics were still Relics; it all came down to how you chose to use them.

There were prohibited Relics in Zebrudia. However, prohibition was based on a Relic’s powers, not whether or not it was cursed. If we hop back to Jealousy Blade for a moment, being unable to unequip it wasn’t necessarily a demerit. In a sense, it was also a sword you couldn’t possibly lose. As it so happened, some rugged individuals had indeed managed to get along with their cursed items.

What was important was that you carefully evaluate a trait. Cursed Relics were undeniably dangerous, but many of them offered powerful abilities. The skill of turning something to one’s advantage was perhaps the mark of a true hunter. While I feared cursed Relics, I also believed in the possibilities they provided.