Story Summary

Beryl Gardenant, a self-proclaimed “humble old man,” is a sword instructor at his dojo in a rural, backwater village. One day, his former pupil Allucia—who’s climbed the ranks to become the young knight commander of the Liberion Order—summons him to serve as the special instructor for her knights. After some time in the capital, the Backwater Swordmaster’s reputation starts to spread.

Spring is the season of meetings and beginnings, and after Allucia’s loss of her treasured sword, Beryl has a new one made for her. Then, he gets to watch Adel and Edel—twins who were once his pupils at the dojo—join the Liberion Order. When he goes on an expedition to the north with the new recruits, he is reunited with his childhood friend, Kennith, the captain of the Northern Battalion. And on the final days of this journey, Beryl looks back over these restless yet fulfilling days as he soaks in an open-air hot spring.

Chapter 1: An Old Country Bumpkin Learns of Danger

“It’s been a while. Good to see you all again.”

“We look forward to your guidance!”

Winter had passed, spring had sprung, and the weather was gradually growing hotter. For the first time in a while, I was intruding on the sword magic class at the institute. I’d been on one expedition after another lately, so I hadn’t been in Baltrain a whole lot. And less time for teaching meant I’d missed out on opportunities to show up for sword magic classes.

“Right, let’s warm up with thirty practice swings. Take it seriously.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Unlike in her first lessons as a teacher, Ficelle instructed everyone to begin with a reasonable exercise. I would’ve considered her a lost cause had she asked for a thousand again, but she’d definitely learned her lesson.

The number of students was largely the same as it had been since right after the incident with Lono Ambrosia—there were a couple of dozen of them. Any more would only be a burden on Ficelle, so this was just about the appropriate limit.

Because of the amount of available physical space, this was also around the most students we’d ever had at the dojo, even in the best of times. We couldn’t fit more than that in the building, and even if we could, I wouldn’t have been able to keep my eye on everyone. The institute had plenty of space out here on the grounds, but there wasn’t much they could do about the number of supervisors.

When both Ficelle and I were present, we could probably handle a few more, but this wasn’t my full-time job. Ficelle also made sure not to rely on me, so that was taken into consideration. You had to teach in order to develop the senses a teacher needed, and this applied to everyone, regardless of how much knowledge they possessed.

Each individual had their own quirks, so it was far harder to guide everyone than you’d think. Still, that was exactly why it was worth doing. People who believed this were very valuable.

In truth, Ficelle’s personality wasn’t currently suited to teaching. Regardless, she seems to be finding some enjoyment in the process. Glad to see it.

“They’re all getting a lot better, huh?” I remarked.

“Of course they are,” Ficelle replied. “I’m sticking to your teachings, Master.”

“Even if that’s the case, you’re the one who inherited my lessons. From now on, teach them anything you think will be good for them, even if it has nothing to do with my swordplay.”

“Mm... I’ll try.”

I was delighted that what I’d learned and passed down to others was now proving useful to another group of students. I could take pride in that. However, it had been Ficelle’s decision to impart this to her pupils, so you could say this was her achievement. Maybe that was being a bit grandiose, but still, their success was definitely the fruit of her labor.

At any rate, this was something I could’ve never experienced back at the dojo. I wondered if the swordsmanship my dad and I had cultivated would continue to be passed down for years to come. I could only entrust that part to the people of the future, but I hoped that it would. There really was no telling what tomorrow had in store.

“Twenty-nine! Thirty!”

“Mm, very good.”

While I immersed myself in thought, the students finished their thirty practice swings. Even though Ficelle was praising them rather awkwardly, it was a big improvement from her first harsh lessons. At the very least, it seemed unlikely that her class would be shut down.

“Lumite is taking the lead, huh?” I observed.

“It ended up that way naturally. Lets me concentrate on watching too.”

“That’s good.”

Normally, the instructor would have been swinging and counting with the students. But this time around, Lumite had been the one calling out the count. Ficelle hadn’t nominated him either—he’d done so voluntarily. This showed how passionate the students were about the class. Far better than them whining about it. Having pupils who wanted to try hard rather than needing to be told set a completely different tone for the class, even when everyone was doing the same old drills. That motivates me to do my best too—I don’t want to appear lacking compared to their enthusiasm.

The students were now warmed up, so it was on to another activity. “Next, mana drills,” Ficelle called out. “Master, please wait a bit.”

“Sure thing.”

The phrase “mana drills” meant nothing to me. This was a sword magic class, and magic was the main focus, not swordplay. Well, learning how to wield a sword was important too, but there was no need to attend the magic institute just for that.

At Ficelle’s direction, the students took up a stance with their swords and remained unmoving. It was easy to see that they were concentrating on something, and though I had plenty of questions, I didn’t want to interrupt. So, I stood where I was and kept a watchful eye on them. Not that I could really make out what they were doing...

“Keep up your concentration,” Ficelle said. “Weaving mana while remaining still is the bare minimum.”

“U-Understood...!”

I couldn’t see mana, but I assumed Ficelle could. She gave directions as she walked through the rows of students, checking on their progress one by one. To state the obvious, sword magic had to be usable in the midst of battle. And this style required them to fight at a far closer range than a standard wizard usually did—it would be out of the question for them to be unable to use magic on the move.

If I had to guess, this training was to familiarize them with using mana at all times. I couldn’t see how it worked, though. Still, it made sense that if you couldn’t do something while standing motionless, you couldn’t do it while moving. That was why they were training to weave their mana while immobile.

“Once you have it, maintain it,” Ficelle continued. “At a minimum, hold ten percent.”

“Understood!”

The class continued in silence. It was a little frustrating to be unable to tell how things were progressing. I really feel like I have nothing to do. I can’t even tell how difficult this lesson is.

Judging by the way Ficelle was speaking, this seemed to be a drill of the very basics. But for a complete outsider like me, even these basics were utterly out of my reach. It made me wonder—could I use this as a reference in the future when talking to someone who knew nothing about swordsmanship?

Something that was perfectly obvious to me wasn’t necessarily obvious to someone else, and spending too long in a confined world had narrowed my perspective. I’d spent my whole life surrounded by those who pursued the blade. Maybe it was best for me to be more careful about that.

“Mrgh...!”

I seriously had nothing to do while the students struggled with their mana drills. The only thing I could contribute was trying my best not to look bored. Early on, the students had needed to learn the fundamentals of swordplay, so I’d had more to do. But now that things had progressed to the more magical part of the class, my presence seemed unnecessary.

This is how things are meant to be, though. It was a mistake for me to be teaching at a school for magic to begin with. It was enough of a benefit to be able to witness Ficelle’s and Mewi’s growth in person. I couldn’t butt in and take charge just because I was bored.

The more this class focused on actual sword magic, the less I had to do. I would, of course, hurry over if Ficelle ever called for me, but it was about time for her to strike out on her own. About the only thing left for me to contribute was to serve as a sparring partner for the current students or help out when any new students joined. Maybe it’s best for me to consider my future at the magic institute. I decided to consult Lucy about it the next time the opportunity presented itself.

“Hmph...!”

“Hmmm...”

There were a few dozen students before me. I needed to view them impartially, but since I had no place butting into the magic part of the class, there was very little meaning in my watching everyone.

Thus, my eyes naturally drifted to the first five students I’d been in charge of. Mewi was among them, so my focus was on her above all others. From what I could tell, she didn’t appear to be falling behind. Not that I could see mana, though; I simply didn’t detect any impatience in Mewi’s expression or bearing.

People tended to panic when they sensed a clear difference in skill between themselves and those around them. The same applied to me. There were those who could hide it, but Mewi wasn’t like that, so she clearly wasn’t experiencing that right now.

In other words, her mana drill was going pretty well. I didn’t have anything concrete to back this claim—it was just my guess based on her expression. Ficelle had once described Mewi as very clumsy. Lucy had corrected her afterward, but either way, it was true that Mewi had a somewhat thorny nature. Had she turned that from a simple quirk in personality to a unique aspect of her individuality? Even if she hadn’t, it was safe to assume she’d come to terms with it. She can take pride in that. It’s a sign of growth, after all.

“That’s enough,” Ficelle said. “Make sure to develop your senses so that you can feel mana at all times. Train as much as you can.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!”

Nobody’s gonna be left if they all “train as much as they can” to your standards... That thought came to mind, but after all this time, there was no point in voicing it. I was a complete amateur when it came to all things magic, so maybe her way was actually better. From what I could see, the students weren’t exhausted like they would have been had they been exercising their bodies.

“Take a short break, then start sparring,” Ficelle said. “Really go at each other.”

“Is everyone already at that level?” I asked.

“Just barely. All that’s left is practice through repetition.”

“I see.”

When I’d last come to see this class, everyone aside from the five initial students had still been working on the fundamentals. It seemed they’d all cleared that stage now. And this was Ficelle we were talking about—she wasn’t one to be lenient when it came to assessing people. This meant they were quite literally just barely at the level where they could spar.

I hadn’t been around to see them for a while, but that was still an impressive advancement in such a short time. It was tough to get a complete amateur who’d never even held a sword to an acceptable level for sparring in just a few months. Back in the dojo, we’d also had to drill in the basic forms, so it took even more time.

And just as I was getting ready to enjoy the show, Mewi called out to me somewhat hesitantly.

“Old—um, Mr. Beryl.”

“Hm? What is it?”

She and I didn’t advertise the fact that we had a relationship outside of the institute. When we were in class, she spoke somewhat more respectfully. We never really talked during sword magic instruction, though. She almost called me “old guy” again. That’s entertaining in its own way.

At any rate, it was rare for Mewi to start a conversation like this. She never really did so back at home either. She probably has some kind of question regarding swordplay. I need to properly play my role as an instructor.

“May I...have a match?” she asked.

“Hm?! Ah, sure thing.”

I’d gone over multiple possibilities in my mind, but this was completely unexpected. Regardless, I was delighted.

Now that I thought of it, I’d never had a chance to spar with Mewi. I didn’t teach her at home, and I didn’t show up every day to her classes at the magic institute.

When it came to sword and magic, Mewi was lagging behind a bit compared to the other four students Ficelle had first taught. This was only for right now, of course. Still, to give my current opinion, it would be hard for her to spar unless she at least had Lumite’s level of fundamentals.

“Ficelle, do you mind?” I asked.

“Go ahead. Don’t hold back—beat her black and blue.”

“I’m not gonna go that far...”

It seemed my concerns were unfounded. Maybe I was being overprotective. Ficelle wasn’t opposed to it at all, though I definitely wasn’t going to do as she suggested. To be perfectly honest, I was very interested in Mewi’s current level. I could tell some things just by watching, but actually crossing blades spoke volumes.

There wasn’t any space to swing a sword around at home. Once school was over, it was her private time too, so I was somewhat hesitant to invite her to go outside just to spar. I wanted her to be able to relax at home. After all, I wasn’t trying to immerse her in a life of swordsmanship.

“I’ll be in your care...” Mewi said.

“Mm, likewise.”

And so, with Ficelle’s permission, we faced each other and bowed. I was uncharacteristically very excited. It felt a little different from checking on a pupil’s progress. Mewi and I weren’t related by blood, but she was still my daughter. My level of interest in her was way beyond what I felt for the others. I naturally had no intention of losing to her, but I wanted to savor her swordsmanship as much as I could. This was definitely a rare opportunity.

And so, though I was deeply moved by this chance to spar with her, I left my feelings there and locked my focus onto the present moment.

“Hah!”

After we separated several paces, Mewi took a short breath and charged right in. Considering her age and experience, it was a pretty sharp lunge.

“Hup.”

“Gh!”

However, there was no way this amateur attack would catch me. I parried her thrust, took half a step to the side, and brought a diagonal slash down at her—I was holding back, of course.

Mewi quickly reacted and blocked. The pleasant clack of wood striking wood resounded in the air. Against Henblitz, it would’ve been more of a THUNK. It was still too early for her to be able to put such strength behind her blows.

“Hyup.”

“Grrr...!”

It was my turn to go on the offensive. I swung at a speed that was in no way slow to Mewi, but I kept it at a level that was possible for her to follow. Thinking back on it, she’d used her fast reflexes to dodge Cindy’s attacks. I didn’t believe Cindy had been holding back either, so it was possible Mewi could do pretty well against others her age.

In that case, maybe it would be better to slowly ramp up the pressure. That said, misreading how much to hold back and overwhelming her could suddenly destroy her motivation. I couldn’t be obvious about it—I had to subtly adjust to an appropriate level for the situation, which was pretty hard from an instructor’s perspective. Lowering the difficulty too much could obstruct a student’s growth, but going too far the other way could hamper any desire to improve.

On the other hand, it was impossible to get better as a swordsman without experiencing failure. The same probably applied to magic. Only a rare genius was capable of running through life always standing at the top. Unfortunately, Mewi wasn’t one such genius. Still, I felt like it wasn’t quite right to make her suffer a clear defeat here. Being a teacher’s a hard job.

“Hmph!”

“Whoa there.”

I can’t sink too deep into thought while sparring. I was reminded of this after Mewi blocked a few of my strikes and readied herself to counterattack.

Crap, I got too caught up in my mind. It dulled my blade. Things were definitely different from back in the dojo or at the order’s office.

“Good instincts,” I said. “You should always be thinking of the next step.”

Mewi unleashed a series of slashes. I held my wooden sword in front of me at about waist level and blocked using the base of the blade. Mewi steeled herself and thrust forward again, stepped in, and slashed horizontally. Her strike was somewhat crude, and her lower body wasn’t quite keeping up, but she still kept her feet splendidly planted on the ground without letting the momentum carry her away.

Mewi didn’t believe a single strike would be enough to bring me down—that was why she’d chosen a chain of attacks. A decision worth praising. At the risk of sounding condescending, it was absolutely impossible to win against a stronger opponent if you hesitated.

“Shyah!”

“That’s the spirit. Don’t hold back.”

I dodged the slash from the side, and she immediately shifted into a downward strike. I couldn’t see the slightest hesitation in her eyes about what she would do if she actually hit me. She was putting all her strength behind her attacks.

This was also the right mindset, and I was glad to see it. I interpreted this as a trust in me that surpassed any form of concern. I didn’t know whether she was conscious of it, but in a match between swordsmen, it was emotionally moving for an instructor to have their students believe this.

And there was indeed no need for her to hold back—I was ready to receive the full brunt of her techniques. I had the strength to handle it, and I prayed that my will was conveyed to her through my sword. I was sure this was the type of thing that couldn’t be properly expressed in words.

“Gh...! Taaaah!”

“Good. Don’t slow down.”

I blocked, dodged, and parried Mewi’s attacks. I held back appropriately when retaliating but defended with all my might. I was also very careful about how I defended. Considering both my own abilities and her future growth, I couldn’t afford to let her hit me yet. Doing so would definitely make me less effective as an instructor.

“Guh...!”

Just as Ficelle had said, Mewi was at the bare minimum level to be able to spar. It wasn’t clear whether this was because Ficelle had a hidden talent for teaching or whether Mewi had an aptitude for swordplay. Either way, it was splendid that she was able to wield a sword like this within one short year. If possible, I hoped her growth would continue trending positively. God only knew how things would actually go, though.

Our exchange focused mostly on me receiving her attacks. Mewi didn’t have much of a repertoire. She’d only learned the basic swings and a few strikes that were derived from them. She was still too inexperienced to strategize and make full use of her techniques.

“Hyaaah!”

“Hrm?!”

And just as I was about to reluctantly bring this to an end, Mewi attacked with a new vigor, overwriting any such thoughts.

It was a normal diagonal slash. Her speed, power, and technique were still inadequate. Whether by blocking, dodging, or parrying, I could stop it, kill her momentum, and go on the offensive. That was what I’d believed—until the moment her blade burst into flames.

“Haaaaah!”

“Whoa!”

My reaction was delayed due to the completely unexpected attack. I somehow managed to dodge, but I’d left quite the opening. Mewi wasn’t one to let such a thing pass—seeing the opportunity, she spun on the spot to slash again.

I didn’t think you’d use sword magic! I didn’t even consider it! Well, I technically knew she was capable of it. I’d seen her use it before. However, I hadn’t expected her to be able to do so in the middle of a match.

Even Lumite had required a fair amount of time before he’d been able to invoke sword magic. Mewi was lagging considerably behind him in terms of technique, so channeling her magic so smoothly—in a way that far surpassed what he’d demonstrated before—had completely exceeded my expectations.

Mewi’s movements hadn’t changed in any meaningful way. I hadn’t seen her accumulating any strength. In other words, she’d truly used magic without revealing an opening. She has a splendid talent for this.

What was more, she hadn’t done so in an underhanded way. She’d used sword magic in a situation that was very close to a real fight. It was astonishing. If she could develop that talent further, she was sure to grow into an outrageously heroic figure. This moment gave me a small but clear glimpse of that future.

“Shyah!”

Even though her swordplay was immature, having flames coming out of her blade changed the situation considerably. From what I could tell, she didn’t send slashes flying at a distance like Ficelle did. Her flames followed the trajectory of her blade. This meant that her second attack, which followed a beat later than the first, reached me at around the same time as the flames from the first strike. It was quite a crafty attack that was rather hard to block with a wooden sword. Though she couldn’t cut me this way, I still didn’t want to get burned.

“Hmph!”

Despite the cleverness of this attack, there was one flaw to pick on: the sword in front of the flames. I repelled Mewi’s weapon somewhat forcefully without hitting her hand. Matching her forward movement, I stepped in and pushed against the base of her blade—right by the hilt. It was kinda like the first step to locking blades. Normally, this would have turned into a contest of strength, but unfortunately for her, she wasn’t at the level to even reach that point. I had a definitive advantage in physique.

“Shhh!”

Mewi’s sword bounced back, and the impact lifted her off the ground. Even though I hadn’t been serious, there was still plenty of force behind an adult man’s weight. Mewi didn’t have the strength to oppose it or the technique to avoid it.

Using that opening, I slid my sword toward her neck, ending things there. It had been a short yet truly satisfying match. I hoped Mewi felt the same way.

“Thank you...very much...” she panted.

“Mm. Thank you for the match.”

Even Mewi could see that my strike would’ve been fatal. That was precisely why she took three steps back and bowed.

“Man, that was amazing,” I told her. “Your sword technique is gradually getting better too. I never expected magic to come flying at me.”

“I practiced...”

“That’s good. There’s no need to rush, but give it everything you’ve got whenever you can.”

“Mm...”

I wanted to take some time to give her my full impressions, but Mewi wasn’t the only one I was teaching here. So, I kept my praise to a minimum. Her movements were still crude, but she hadn’t displayed any bad habits that needed to be immediately corrected. She simply lacked experience. That’s why it’s better to emphasize praise instead.

“I thought it was supposed to be hard to use sword magic on the move,” I remarked.

If anything, this comment was directed more toward Ficelle. Judging by how they had been training their mana earlier, invoking magic while moving was supposed to be difficult. But Mewi hadn’t paused to unleash her attack. She hadn’t seemed hard-pressed to do it either. This was somewhat contradictory to the beginning of class.

“’Cause I’m just making fire...” Mewi mumbled shyly.

“Mewi is poor at converting her mana, but she’s outstanding at conjuring flames,” Ficelle explained before harshly adding, “She sucks horrendously at everything else, though.”

“Erk...”

“I-I see...”

Ficelle had commented on that point before. I still remembered her going to Lucy for help out of concern. Now that I thought of it, back during my first meeting with Mewi—to be blunt, when she’d tried to pick my pocket—she hadn’t strained herself at all to produce flames. It really had come out naturally the moment I’d grabbed her arm. Not only had it been unexpected, but I hadn’t been given the time to react to the possibility of her even trying to do something.

In other words, be it an inborn talent or something she’d developed, she was a genius at turning mana into fire. I wanted her to put some effort into other areas of magic, too, but this was already a splendid strength on its own. I was excited to see how Ficelle and the other teachers of the institute were going to train her. If there was anything I could do to help, I was intent on doing so.

“Tah!”

“Haaah!”

While we exchanged brief impressions of the match, the other students continued sparring with each other. Some pairs had already finished, while others were still going at it. Taking a quick glance around, I saw that the vast majority were sticking to the fundamentals—they’d clearly had the basics thoroughly drilled into them.

I wondered if this meant that Ficelle’s teaching style had stuck in a good way. Ficelle was the poster child for practice by repetition. If she could only learn moderation, she would be well-suited to hammering the fundamentals into people.

Once that step was done, it would be time to apply said fundamentals and develop them. This was unknown territory for Ficelle. I could help with swordplay, but not magic. I hope both Ficelle and her students can grow steadily in this regard.

“Ummm... Anything else?” Mewi asked.

“Hm? Let’s see...”

Hmm. I guess she’s asking for advice on how to improve? She’d never pleaded with me like this before, so it was a novel experience. I couldn’t let it go to waste.

“Just as I mentioned, you’re beginning to get a grasp of the fundamentals,” I began. “However, when chaining one movement to the next, your body has a hard time keeping up. You need to gradually develop the muscles needed for battle. In particular, you should focus on everything from the waist down. You’re fast, so you need your body to be able to withstand the speed of your techniques and make full use of them.”

“Mm... Thank you...”

“You’re welcome.”

Oops, I got so excited I couldn’t stop talking there. Well, at least it got through to her.

The sparring wasn’t over after just one match. With her usual excess of energy, Cindy came running over.

“Mewi! A match, please!”

“Mm, sure.”

Their personalities were polar opposites, but from what I could see, they got along very well. I prayed that they would continue to push each other to greater heights.

As I saw Mewi and Cindy off, another student approached.

“Mr. Beryl, may I ask for a match as well?” he asked.

“Of course. Let’s do it.”

“Thank you!”

This was Lumite, the one who’d been leading the class during the practice swings. As the son of a nobleman, he’d learned the basic theory of swordplay before coming to the institute. Nesia had a big advantage in terms of pure strength, while Mewi was steps ahead in terms of speed. But when it came to the full picture, Lumite was well beyond the others.

“Hee hee, enjoying yourself, Master?” Ficelle said teasingly.

“Sure am. This is my role, after all.”

I wouldn’t be an instructor otherwise. Seeing the younger generation grow was a teacher’s privilege. Not that they were strictly my pupils or anything. Still, it was definitely fun. This was especially true if my techniques could be of use to them.

If possible, I want to spend as much time as I can doing this. I intend to give it my all. I have to keep up my dedication so that those around me continue to depend on me.

Lumite readied his wooden sword and fired himself up.

“Here I come!”

“Bring it on!”

Now then, what kind of sword magic will you show me?

No matter how much time passed, my curiosity never faded.

◇

“Phew, sure gets hot after exercising...”

I walked through Baltrain’s streets in the early afternoon. It was a little past the midpoint of spring, and while the climate tended to be rather mild during this time of year, exercising could work up a bit of a sweat.

After sparring with Mewi and Lumite, I’d faced several of the other students. I hadn’t lost to any, of course, but it’d been a good opportunity to personally experience their growth. For example, Lumite had spent much less time accumulating mana to use his sword magic, while Nesia had polished his swordplay even further. He could have tried a little harder with his magic, though.

After that time well spent, the class had quickly come to an end. So, with my duty for the day successfully completed, I was now casually taking a stroll back home.

“Haaah... I wish I could get into a bath...”

I couldn’t be seen slouching as I walked, so I kept my posture nice and straight. But inside, I was full of complaints. My mind wandered to memories of Flumvelk, where I’d had the pleasure of refreshing myself in a bath and drinking a nice ale afterward.

Though I was fully aware of how impossible that desire was to fulfill, it was unreasonable to try to forget a luxury after savoring it. There was no way to have a bath built into my home. I didn’t have enough space or money for that, and I wouldn’t be able to maintain it anyway.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t even heard rumors of a public bathhouse in Baltrain. One probably existed, but not one I could personally use. That would be the territory of nobles and royalty, and there was no barging into places like that. My only choice was to be satisfied with the widely available steam baths. I’m once again reminded that nothing good comes from experiencing too many luxuries.

“Let’s just take it easy today.”

I thought about what to do as I continued walking through town. Most of the time, when I went to the institute, I didn’t have to work at the order. I could technically go if I wanted to, but it was unexpectedly tiring to teach in multiple places on the same day.

I’d gotten permission from Allucia to keep this routine, and fortunately, now wasn’t a time when I had to push things. The incident in Sphenedyardvania had been rather serious, but those were the affairs of another nation. Liberis’s knights—and me in particular—couldn’t really get involved.

As for the knights’ training, we’d had the recent expedition to Hugenbite, and since then, things had largely returned to routine. The new recruits, including Adel and Edel, were also gradually getting accustomed to their new environment.

If there was one thing worth mentioning, it would be the yearly delegation from Sphenedyardvania. It was nearly time for that to happen, but given the current circumstances, it was probably going to be difficult to organize and execute. Sphenedyardvania was desperately trying to get its internal affairs back in order, and it was hard to claim that the Holy Order had been successfully rebuilt. These were international matters, so my personal conjecture could only go so far. Still, I felt like it would be bad for their reputation to go on a carefree trip across the border right now.

If anything was going to happen on that front, information would probably come my way. The order’s higher-ups—namely Allucia and Henblitz—would definitely be kept in the loop. I’d participated in the last escort mission with Sphenedyardvania’s royalty, so I doubted they would leave me out of this one. And since the annual delegation should be just around the corner, it was safe to assume some kind of information would come soon—there’d been nothing so far, though.

The only thing I could do now was maintain my spirits so that I could continue guiding everyone—and have dinner ready for Mewi whenever she had classes at the institute.

On that topic, the season had changed, and with that, fish had pretty much vanished from the market. I could find some if I really looked, but given how close summer was, it was too much to ask for anything fresh. I’d glanced at the seafood the last time I’d gone to the western district, and it was already twice the price it’d been during the winter.

Mewi had taken a liking to fish, and I could technically afford to buy some as a reward every now and then. However, it was unrealistic to have it on the dinner table on a daily basis. If I completely ignored saving for the future, I could pull it off, but I had no reason to be so fixated on seafood.

A commoner’s truest friend, however, was the potato. They were cheap, delicious, and filling. You couldn’t live entirely off potatoes, but a good portion of our meals depended on them. I rather liked the taste too.

I continued pondering what to do for dinner, and before I knew it, I found myself arriving home. It was a snug little house that used to be Lucy’s secondary residence on the edge of the central district. Standing in front of the door was a certain woman.

“Hm...? Surena?”

“Ah, Master. Good work today.”

“Mm. Likewise.”

She was Surena Lysandra, a black rank of the adventurer’s guild. When she heard my voice, she immediately straightened her posture and walked toward me.

“What brings you out here?” I asked.

“I have a message for you, so I made my way over... Are you just now getting back?”

“Yup, good guess. Anyway...a message?”

“Yes.”

I wondered what it was. I doubted it was to ask me to supervise new adventurers like that time with Porta a while ago. Back then, she’d dropped by the order’s office—it’d been faster to have things approved through Allucia.

“I’m curious...but how about we step inside first?” I suggested.

“Thank you. Pardon the intrusion.”

Seeing how she’d gone out of her way to see me, I couldn’t just turn her away without hearing her out. Above all else, Surena was dear to me, so I couldn’t treat her with such disdain. She’d called it a message rather than a request or commission, so I doubted it was anything too unreasonable.

Still, I had no idea what message could possibly require Surena to deliver it to me personally. If it were something work-related, it would be better for it to go through Allucia and the order. Must be something personal. I just can’t imagine what exactly it could be.

“Well, come on in,” I said. “I don’t have much I can serve, though.”

“Don’t mind me.”

I welcomed Surena into my not-too-small but not particularly large house. I didn’t have anything special I could offer when receiving guests, so for now, I just had her take a seat as I started preparing some tea.

She’d told me not to mind her, but I didn’t believe I was meant to take that at face value. That said, I really didn’t have much I could prepare. I quickly boiled a small amount of water and got the tea leaves ready. I didn’t have much of a taste for tea, but plain old hot water all the time was a little boring. I would’ve been fine with it if I still lived alone, but now that I was living with Mewi, I spent a little more money on stuff like this.

I didn’t know how to identify or brew good tea. The stuff Lucy had served me had tasted great, but that was precisely because it’d been prepared by the likes of Lucy or Haley—they were much more familiar with this kind of thing. Even if I overreached and bought high-class leaves, it was clear that I would just waste them.

So, what I had at home was something cheap I’d chosen randomly in the western district. At least it was more refined than drinking plain water. If I’d been living on my own, I would’ve considered this a waste. It took time to prepare, and even if it was cheap, it still cost money. However, considering my influence on Mewi and her upbringing, this strangely became way less of a burden. It felt the same when I was putting in the work for Surena too.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here you go.”

“Thank you very much.”

After getting tea ready for both of us, I took a seat at the table. Thinking back on it, I had practically no experience inviting people over to my house. Many people had come knocking on the dojo’s doors, but that was different from having guests. Beaden wasn’t exactly the kind of place where you got frequent visitors either.

After moving to Baltrain as the Liberion Order’s special instructor, I’d spent a while living out of an inn. Even after getting this house from Lucy, I pretty much never had visitors. I didn’t really tell other people where I lived, so that played a part in it too.

“It’s gotten a lot warmer outside, hasn’t it?” Surena remarked.

“Yeah, it sure has. It’s better than the cold, but once summer gets rolling, the heat’s harsh on these old bones.”

“Oh please, you’re still in your prime, Master.”

“Ha ha ha, for now...”

I had plenty of time today. My only plans were to do some housework. Surena’s business didn’t seem particularly urgent either—I knew her well, and if it were truly important, she would’ve cut straight to it.

However, after having a sip of tea, she’d commented on the weather. In other words, both Surena and I had time to spare today. It’s nice to be able to chat at our leisure.

“Either way, there will come a day when my body won’t move the way I want it to,” I said. “Just like what happened to my old man... That time will definitely come for me before all of you.”

“That’s true, but...”

I could read it on her face—she was reluctant to admit that her mentor was on the decline. I’d gone through the same thing before with my old man, so I understood. I had always believed that my dad was strong beyond all reason, and even though I’d successfully beaten him in a match, I still had no idea when exactly I’d overtaken him. It had quite literally happened without me realizing it.

I had come to terms with that, though. Both my dad and I kept up with our training to whatever extent we could, but there was no beating the hands of time. Surena, Allucia, and I would all eventually put down our swords. Given our current ages, that future was definitely closest for me.

“I have been doing everything I can to struggle against it, though,” I added.

“Yes, please continue doing so.”

“Ha ha ha, I’ll do my best.”

I was delighted by the trust Surena had in me...but it could also be a bit much. Obviously, I had no intention of putting down my sword today or tomorrow. I wanna hold out for another fifteen years or so.

However, misfortune could still strike, like it had with my dad’s lower back pain. I would continue putting in the effort to avoid that, but there was no telling what the future had in store. To add to that, the concept of the “future” only grew more obscure with age, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about that.

Well, the wizard known as Lucy Diamond defied all such logic, but she existed utterly beyond any standards. Though I had confidence in my swordsmanship, I was still a normal person.

“Oh yes, a thought occurred to me the last time I visited...” Surena said.

“Hm?”

“Those pressed flowers are very nice.”

“Aah.”

This was her second time visiting my house. Last time, Mewi had been here too, so it had been quite a while since Surena and I had been alone like this. She had noticed the rather conspicuous—in a good way, that is—pressed bouquet that decorated the room. It really did add some color to the place. It was the handmade gift Shueste had given me upon my return from Flumvelk.

Mewi and I generally didn’t have an interest in anything beyond daily necessities. There was practically nothing artistic in this house, and neither of us felt that living like this was an inconvenience. However, I couldn’t possibly treat Shueste’s handcrafted gift with apathy. This wasn’t a matter of monetary value or anything—not displaying the flowers would simply deviate from proper manners.

“I got it from the young lady of House Flumvelk,” I explained. “It’s one of the few things that brings color to this house.”

“I see... It’s very nice. Everything from the selection of flowers to the colors to their arrangement shows how meticulous its creator was.”

“Ha ha. I guess you really do like flowers, huh?”

“Y-Yes. As embarrassing as it is...”

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Flowers suit you, both now and before.”

“Th-Thank you...”

It was very much like Surena to have such detailed impressions of the pressed bouquet. Due to her self-assured attitude and status as a high-ranking adventurer, those around her could easily get the wrong impression. Surena was quite the delicate type by nature, though—she hadn’t lost that part of her as she’d grown older, and this attribute could even overpower her rough exterior.

It was easy to imagine how she wasn’t allowed to let this part of her show sometimes. Maybe you could call it one of the secrets to her success in life. That could make her seem like a stranger to others, though.

At least when we were alone like this, I figured it was fine for her to break out of that shell. Her expression and tone are very gentle right now. It was better to have at least one person she could be like this with, and if I was that one person, then, well, it was simply a benefit of being a teacher. Can I really call her my pupil in swordsmanship, though?

“W-Well then, about why I’m visiting today...” Surena said, changing the topic somewhat shyly.

“Oops, that’s right.”

This was why she’d come here to begin with. Time to get to it.

“I’ll be heading out on a rather long commission,” she said, straightening her posture and speaking more firmly. “It is...a high-risk commission, so I wanted to let you know, just in case.”

“Hmm...”

I was a little too concerned to give her an “Oh, okay” and see her off on the spot.

“The fact that you went out of your way to let me know means...it’s really dangerous, right?” I asked.

“Yes. In all likelihood.”

If I had to guess, the highest-ranking members of the adventurer’s guild could be unexpectedly pulled into requests that no ordinary members could accomplish. They were black rank precisely because they could handle it.

However, they weren’t invincible. No matter the circumstances, we were all still humans, not monsters. It was so easy to die in an unexpected accident. Even if things didn’t go that far, it was possible to suffer a serious injury that could put us out of commission for a while—or even permanently.

I couldn’t optimistically claim that Surena would be just fine. That said, I couldn’t tell her that I would just come along with her. That would have all kinds of harmful effects. It would be absurd to barge into one of the adventurer’s guild’s commissions, and that didn’t even take into account the fact that I was the Liberion Order’s special instructor.

Surena wasn’t here to ask for my assistance. Therefore, I figured there was another way to approach this conversation. I can spend time thinking about it after I talk to her a little more.

I started by confirming what had been bothering me about her phrasing. “What do you mean by ‘in all likelihood’?” I asked.

“The primary goal is an investigation,” she explained. “So, all the details are up in the air, and I’m uncertain about what I’m going to find. They’ve classified this job as extremely dangerous based on the worst-case scenario.”

It turned out that, while the job was assumed to be dangerous from the get-go, that wasn’t a certainty. This was a little hard to process. An investigation was quite different from when we’d guided Porta’s party of new adventurers.

I’m not an adventurer, so I don’t know how much I can ask about this. Still, if I prod too far, Surena can just dodge the question.

“From what I’m hearing,” I said, “it sounds questionable that a black rank suddenly needs to get involved.”

“Well, after taking everything into consideration, the guild has decided that it would ultimately be better for me to go. I agree with their assessment.”

“If you say so...”

I understood that it was dangerous. It made sense that they couldn’t throw their newcomers and youngsters into such a situation. However, it seemed strange to send Surena out there, given the lack of accurate information.

Black ranks were the greatest force available to the adventurer’s guild. Sending one out based on unreliable intel didn’t really add up. If they told me that the danger, combined with the lack of information, was why they were sending a high-ranking adventurer, then I could only nod along. This would just mean a difference in personal mindset, the adventurer guild’s policies, and the sense of the adventurers taking on the commission. I didn’t want to interfere with what the guild was doing or anything.

“I don’t mind if you only share what you can,” I said. “Do you know where you’re going and for how long?”

“It’ll be west of here, over a relatively wide area. You can say that’s exactly why it’s estimated to take a long time.”

“I see...”

If she was headed west of Baltrain, that meant it had nothing to do with the south where Sphenedyardvania was. I could come up with two possibilities: Either she would be traveling to our neighbor to the west—the Salura Zaruk Empire—or she would be challenging the Aflatta Mountain Range that towered over the border.

If this had been the order’s mission, I could’ve guaranteed that it was the latter. There would be all sorts of problems if a military force crossed the border. However, the adventurer’s guild wasn’t bound to any one country, so it was technically possible for them to accept commissions that straddled national borders.

For example, if there was a serious problem within the Salura Zaruk Empire, adventurers stationed in Liberis could go to assist. I didn’t know much about this stuff, so it was all hearsay to me. But I did know that if they were going to another country, they had to be able to get support from the locals.

If I have to make a hopeful guess, then...it would be better for Surena’s job to have something to do with the Aflatta Mountain Range. I doubt they would send her on such a dangerous investigation on her own, though.

“Just to ask, this isn’t a call for help, right?” I asked.

“It isn’t. This job’ll take too long, so I could never ask you for such a thing. This is something I must do on my own anyway.”

I’d had an inkling that might be the case, but it seemed she seriously was doing this solo. They were sending her on her own, despite knowing it was clearly dangerous. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be hearing this, but another doubt came to mind first.

“On your own...?”

“I’ll have logistical support, of course. It’s also possible that I could end up linking up with someone on-site. However...it’s generally easier for me to move when I’m solo. I’m sure you can understand this, Master.”

“Well, yeah...”

I nodded along with her explanation, even if I didn’t really like it. Surena was strong. She was far beyond any amateur. Even compared to trained soldiers, knights, and high-ranking adventurers, her abilities were clearly a step above.

People of her strength were at their weakest when they had to protect someone else. To put it bluntly, anyone who was just a little strong would be nothing but a hindrance to her. They simply wouldn’t be able to keep up with her mobility and fighting abilities.

In terms of individual combat strength, I was somehow able to keep up with her. However, this mission involved an investigation of a vast area. It demanded investigative abilities, stamina, adaptability, and survival skills.

I was clearly lacking in those areas. Even when I’d gone along to supervise Porta’s party of new adventurers, I hadn’t been of any use except in the battle against Zeno Grable. I simply didn’t possess the skills required to be an adventurer. If anything, bringing along Randrid—who was now teaching swordplay back at my dojo—would be far more helpful.

In contrast, if it had been more of a “There’s a big monster over there—go kill it,” then I would’ve been confident that I could help. As long as the enemy and its whereabouts were known, it was only a matter of defeating it.

At any rate, that wasn’t the case this time around. I could only sit back and pray for Surena’s safety.

“I suppose I can’t say much more than ‘Be careful,’” I told her. “Still, while it was a bit imprudent to include me among the people you told of the danger beforehand, I’m glad you came to me.”

“By all rights, I shouldn’t be talking about it...but I’m at the highest rank. I can be selfish every now and then.”

“Ha ha ha, I won’t tell anyone. Not even Mewi.”

“Please don’t. That girl still needs time to grow without worrying about anything else.”

“No doubt about it.”

It wasn’t particularly praiseworthy for her to discuss the details of a commission with others. Surena surely understood this. In all likelihood, she hadn’t even told her adoptive parents.

Adventurers seemed like they would have far laxer regulations than knights, but that didn’t mean a black rank was exempt from everything. There were rules, or common courtesy, or a tacit understanding of some kind. I didn’t know exactly, but I was honestly happy she would twist whatever it was to come and tell me. Naturally, it would be best if she didn’t encounter any danger, or if she did, that she returned safely in spite of it.

“Still, an investigation even you would find dangerous...” I muttered. “Does it have to do with a named monster or something?”

“Who knows? At any rate, if it looks too risky, I’ll run away. The investigation is meaningless if I don’t survive.”

“That’s true.”

This brought me back to my initial question. What could possibly be so dangerous that a swordsman of Surena’s level would feel at risk? I figured it might be a named monster, but Surena dodged the question. This could be interpreted as me being correct, or maybe I was completely off, and she simply couldn’t tell me.

Either way, if it were a named monster, then a lot of things made sense. Say there were eyewitness accounts of a monster like Zeno Grable—those couldn’t be ignored. After all, it would imply that civilians had witnessed a calamity from close enough to be able to identify it.

However, the goal wasn’t to subjugate a threat or anything. If Surena was to be believed, she was only going to investigate. There was just far too little information. The general synopsis of what was going on seemed to be “We got intel on something crazy around this area, so we’re sending our strongest adventurer to check it out.” I didn’t know if that was actually the case, though.

“Let me just say this again,” I told her. “Be careful. Your base is Baltrain. The adventurer’s guild is where you can kick back and relax. Your parents’ place is somewhere for you to go home to. To add to that, this is somewhere you can come to play every now and then. I’ll be happy if you drop by—for both me and Mewi.”

“Understood. Thank you very much. Suddenly, I feel like I really have to survive now.”

“Mm. That’s the spirit.”

I wasn’t trying to light a fire under her or anything—I just wanted to tell her once more that she had to come back alive. Surena was both dear to me and a good mentor for Mewi. The girl had disliked Surena at first, but after she’d met her a few times, that impression seemed to have improved somewhat.

I didn’t really know why, but Mewi was putting in effort to get stronger. Surena’s presence likely played a large role in this. Above all else, it would be very sad for her to be unable to see someone she’d become acquainted with. I didn’t want Mewi to experience that. Even Randrid had retired from being an adventurer upon having a child—that was simply how dangerous a profession it was.

“I don’t want to overstay my welcome,” Surena said. “I’ll excuse myself here.”

“Right, thanks for letting me know. I’ll pray for your safety.”

“Thank you. Until next time.”

It would be difficult for me to ask for more details, so Surena brought the conversation to an end. I decided to settle on knowing roughly where she was going. Besides, she was a busy woman, so I couldn’t exactly keep her here with idle chatter.

“I’ll report to you again once the mission is over,” she added.

“Sure. You can come after things have calmed down. I’ll be waiting.”

“You got it.”

After giving me a neat bow at the door, Surena left. I was somewhat worried about her mission, but there wasn’t much I could do to help. I was an instructor at the order, a temporary teacher at the institute, and Mewi’s foster father, so even in my waning years, I still had many things to do. If anything, I felt like I had more to do as time went on.

That said, it was definitely healthier than having nothing to do. For the time being, my most important duty was being Mewi’s foster father. I had to get dinner ready for when she came back from school with an empty stomach.

“Okay... Guess I should get to work.”

Incidentally, my cooking repertoire hadn’t really expanded much.

I’ll just take my time with that part.

◇

“Morning, everyone.”

“Good morning!”

The day after Surena visited and informed me of her mission, I made my way to the Liberion Order’s office to fulfill my primary duty. Yesterday, I’d gone to the magic institute—today I would be training the knights. And though I was pretty busy, my days were extremely fulfilling.

After a full year of being the order’s instructor, I was able to put a name to pretty much every knight’s face. There were those who didn’t come during my training hours very often and those whom I simply hadn’t gotten many opportunities to meet, but I thought I’d still made some pretty good progress.

“Okay then... Guess I’ll warm up and join them.”

I’d loosened up somewhat during the walk here, but it was now time to warm myself up for battle. Stretching before combat wasn’t always a possibility on the battlefield, but it was important to get limber before training to avoid any unnecessary accidents.

As I stretched, Evans, the knight who’d been in charge during the newcomers’ exam, energetically hurried over to me.

“Ah, Mr. Beryl! I’ll get one hit on you...or maybe that’s aiming too high... Well, I’ll definitely last longer this time!”

“Ha ha ha, I’m looking forward to it.”

As Henblitz had once said, watching youngsters rush to greater heights was a great joy. Veteran expertise was a real thing—those who’d spent more time on their craft possessed greater techniques. However, this experience would go to waste if not passed on to the younger generation, so mentors were necessary for guiding the inexperienced. Even the techniques I possessed had come from my dad.

On the other hand, it was detrimental for those on top to flaunt their strength too much. I had no intention of ever growing arrogant, but even if I didn’t intend to, others could perceive me that way. I had to keep things in moderation so it never happened. Unlike back in the dojo, the knights I was teaching were all valorous warriors who’d made it through that strict entrance exam.

“Oh yeah, Evans,” I said. “Is Curuni here today?”

“She’s on patrol duty,” he answered. “She’s probably running all around Baltrain right about now.”

“I see.”

There were many knights, so it was easy for those who were close in age or skill to cluster together, even if they didn’t strictly form groups. I thought this was a good thing for their growth. Curuni and Evans, for example, were contemporaries who also happened to be around the same level, and they spent a lot of time together. They get along well.

That was why I’d wondered why she wasn’t here when he was, but it was apparently her turn to patrol the city. The knights of the Liberion Order didn’t spend every day cooped up in the training hall, after all. Today, Curuni was working instead of training.

The knights weren’t on the clock 24-7 or anything. They took breaks on rotation and were also allowed prolonged leaves of absence—much like I’d taken when I’d returned to Beaden.

However, some knights were a bit abnormal and came to the training hall when they were off the clock for a few hours—and some even on their precious days off. Like Henblitz... I worried about his health much like I did Allucia’s, though in a somewhat different way.

The knights’ schedules varied wildly—some frequented the training hall regularly, some didn’t, and others were somewhere in between. I wondered if that had to do with work-related matters. As an instructor, I didn’t have many opportunities to go anywhere else in this building. Well, once in a while, I found myself in the reception room or in Allucia’s office, but that was about it.

Allucia spent a lot of time holed up in her office, so there had to be piles of paperwork to do for the organization. The order had plenty of people working behind the scenes completing this work, and they were the ones who didn’t frequent the training hall or take part in missions on the front lines. After all, Allucia couldn’t possibly have been doing all the office work.

Knights were all definitely capable of fighting, but managing an organization required skills beyond the physical. As an extreme example, even if there were a hundred of me, it would still be impossible to run the place. I know how to fight, though.

The expedition to Flumvelk, Princess Salacia’s wedding escort, and the training exercise in Hugenbite had all been meticulously planned by such people. As someone whose brain contained nothing beyond how to wield a sword, I was endlessly grateful for all their work.

I continued warming up while pondering such matters, and before long, the commander herself entered the training hall. It was a bit unusual—she was normally swamped in work around this time.

“Good morning.”

“Hey, Allucia. Morning. Rare to see you here at this hour,” I said, curious about why she was out and about.

“Perhaps it is,” she agreed. “There’s been less paperwork lately compared to last year.”

It was a simple reason, but I was glad that Allucia’s burden was getting lighter. That meant she had more time for both leisure and exercise. Sitting at a desk all day is pretty bad for the body. This was just my opinion as a swordsman, though. I wasn’t denying the efforts of people who did work at desks.

“Hmm... Should I take that as good news?” I asked.

“Well, this time around, I’m not sure I could call it ‘good’ news.”

So the decrease in paperwork isn’t entirely a good thing? If I’d been in her position, I would probably have been delighted like some simpleton, but that wasn’t the case for her.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Sphenedyardvania’s delegation has been canceled this year.”

“Aaaah...”

Her words reminded me of the delegation that had taken place last year around this time. It was an annual international event to reinforce the friendship between our two countries. That was how I’d met Prince Glenn and Gatoga, and how I’d reunited with Rose. It wasn’t exactly an event full of happy memories, though. Anyway, Sphenedyardvania was in the middle of fixing their internal affairs, so now wasn’t the time for their leaders to be leaving the country.

“I guess they can’t really spare the time,” I said.

“There’s that too, but there was apparently a push to go through with it regardless. Their leadership seemed to be rather divided on it.”

“Hmm, that’s unexpected.”

“They don’t want to be seen as a country that was thrust into chaos after just one incident.”

“I see...”

Even with a commoner’s mind, I understood well enough—they didn’t have the resources to expend on a delegation to another nation after such a major incident. I’d even wondered whether it would be canceled for that reason.

However, this apparently hadn’t been a unanimous decision among the diplomats—some hadn’t wanted to give up on the delegation. There were all kinds of motives in play. The complicated part of running a nation was that they couldn’t just say, “Things are kinda crazy, so let’s just cancel this year” and call it a day. It was a poor decision to show weakness to other nations, after all.

Man, people who guide entire nations really do have to keep a lot of stuff in mind. I had no interest in ever having such responsibilities, but I could admire what Prince Glenn and Princess Salacia had to do.

“Just the other day, we finally received a notice in the name of Glenn Tasmacan Gudyr, Crown Prince of Sphenedyardvania, that the delegation has been canceled.”

“Crown prince...?”

Even though this was an annual delegation, it still required significant time to prepare. And they had to be extra careful because the expedition crossed borders. Despite this, the notification had just arrived. They must’ve debated over what to do until the very last second.

At any rate, I was more curious about the addition to Prince Glenn’s title.

“It seems they’ve finally gotten their internal affairs settled,” Allucia explained, “including the matter of succession.”

“Ummm...?”

Sooo, what’s the difference between a prince and a crown prince? I didn’t have any knowledge on this front. All I could say was that it sounded fancier. Might be pretty ignorant and rude for me to sum it up that way, though.

“The crown prince is the first in line to the throne,” Allucia said, sensing my bewilderment. “The fact that he signed the letter that way carries meaning—it signifies that Sphenedyardvania wants to publicize the fact that Prince Glenn will definitely be the next king.”

“Aah, I get it now... Ha ha, sorry for being so ignorant.” I’m really grateful for the explanation.

“Don’t worry about it.”

So Prince Glenn was announcing that he was now the crown prince of Sphenedyardvania—he’d finally solidified his position. I didn’t know whether this was a good or bad thing, and I could only pray it was positive.

Prince Glenn wasn’t a bad person, and he didn’t give off the impression of a fool. He had Gatoga with him too. I hoped that they could guide their country in a better direction. Nobody ever wished for war.

“So does that make Princess Salacia...the crown princess?” I asked.

“It does.”

The ceremony in Dilmahakha had been interrupted, but that didn’t mean the marriage between Prince Glenn and Princess Salacia had been called off. She’d subsequently become his lawful wife. This meant her title had changed from third princess of Liberis to crown princess of Sphenedyardvania.

Hmm, this is complicated. I guess that pretty much sums it up, but all this political stuff is too much for me.

“Is it really all right to tell me this?” I asked, just to be sure.

“It’ll be made public soon. It isn’t a problem.”

“That so?”

Guess it’s fine. Well, many citizens had seen the two during last year’s sightseeing tour, so Liberis would definitely need to publicize that information.

I still didn’t know where the boundaries were for this kind of intel—what I could and couldn’t say to others. I never wanted to be responsible for such information, but I had a bad feeling I would become privy to more confidential things in the near future. I’d really rather not, though.

“Well,” I continued, “now that you don’t have to do any work preparing for the delegation, you’ve got time to come here.”

Allucia smiled. “Yes. Even though I’ve mostly left training the knights to you, I’m also their instructor.”

“Ha ha, true.”

Not that this needs mentioning at this point, but my title was special instructor. That meant there was a normal instructor too: Allucia. I’d ended up taking over most of the teaching here. Must’ve been a lot of work to teach everyone on top of her duties as the knight commander. In a sense, I’d helped lighten her burden. The order wasn’t going to fall apart on the spot if she collapsed, but it was always best for the higher-ups to be in good health.

“Besides...” Allucia said, maintaining her smile.

“Hm?”

“Helping you reach the summit of swordsmanship is also one of my important duties, Master.”

“I see... How reassuring.”

This was the order’s training hall—clearly a public setting. And yet, Allucia’s tone and expression weren’t those of the knight commander but of a single woman—of Allucia Citrus.

She was an incredibly attractive woman. And I can now say that without a hint of hesitation. And with her reassuring support, I couldn’t slack off in my pursuit to perfect my swordsmanship. Not that I’d ever considered easing up, though.

“Then I’ll rely on you all I can,” I told her. “I’ll show you I can get there...though I’m not entirely sure when that’ll be.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

My destination was likely still far away. I had no way of knowing how far I still had to go, but I knew that my goal was not yet within reach.

I was no longer allowed to trip up over such unnecessary thoughts, though. That negativity would’ve been fine had I been on my own, but now that my journey carried the weight of others’ feelings, that was no longer the case.

As my first step to reach my goal, let’s train these knights thoroughly, shall we?

There was still a lot to learn from guiding the next generation. That was what I believed, and that had been the case back in the dojo.

I couldn’t afford to lose focus or cut any corners. When faced with an unfulfilled goal, no matter the person, one could only push forward using their own strength.

◇

“I’m home.”

“Mm, welcome back.”

The days were gradually getting hotter. After finishing my duties at the office in the early afternoon, I made my way home and was greeted by Mewi, who was now completely accustomed to living in this house.

I was pretty tired, but it’d been a truly fulfilling day of training—it’d been the first time in a while that I’d had the chance to supervise the knights alongside Allucia.

Normally, it was best to have fewer supervisors. Multiple mindsets on how things should be run could lead to schisms in leadership. There were those who could adjust and work together and those who couldn’t. There were even those who couldn’t agree on a single stance or swing of the sword.

Luckily, Allucia and I had no such miscommunication between us. We’d studied the same style, so we shared the same mindset—and with the commander around, we had twice as many eyes on the knights. If anything, this way of teaching was more efficient. Her behavior also implied that she thought the dojo’s technique—the swordplay that I’d learned and had passed down to others—was good enough for the knights. It would be problematic to stubbornly stick to one way of doing things and become too narrow-minded, but I wanted to believe we were handling it fine so far.

“There’s food. Want me to warm it up?” Mewi asked.

“Sure, please do.”

“Mm.”

I’d eaten in the morning before going to the office, but after exercising, I was famished. Mewi sensed this quickly and got the pot ready. She’s adorable.

I’d spent a lot of time on expeditions recently, so Mewi had often been in charge of the house. She’d only gone to the magic institute’s dorm that first time. On every other occasion, she’d been living alone.

Thanks to that, her household skills were improving considerably. She’d always been skilled with her hands, so she was quick to learn things. Nowadays, chopping and slicing ingredients was a specialty of hers. That first fish she prepared was way better than mine.

Mewi tossed a bunch of firewood under the pot, quickly got a flame going, then tossed in some more. She’s improved greatly these last few months. She kept her eyes on the pot the entire time.

“Oh, right,” she muttered.

“Hm? Something happen?”

“Letters came. I put them on the table.”

“Oh? Thanks.”

I turned my attention to the living room table and spied some letters that hadn’t been there yesterday.

Hmm, letters? Not that many people even know where I live. That left only a few possible candidates. I’d gotten a letter from my dad last year, but that had been addressed to the order’s office.

“Let’s see...”

It probably wasn’t Lucy or Ibroy. If those two needed something, they were the type to drop in unannounced rather than bother with a letter. Well, maybe I was jumping to conclusions with Ibroy, but still. They could have come from my dad—I’d talked to him about living with Mewi while I’d visited him in Beaden.

“Oh...”

With those thoughts in mind, I picked up the letters. There were two of them. The seals and quality of paper were different, so they’d come from two senders. One seal was a splendid family crest. It was one I recognized too.

“Shueste, huh? Now that I think of it, it’s been a while.”

It was House Flumvelk’s crest. I doubted Warren or Gisgarte would send me a letter, so that meant the sender had to be Shueste. Since her confession, winter had come to an end, and spring was on the verge of summer. Over these two seasons, this was our second correspondence.

When I wasn’t away from the city, I went back home pretty much every day. I had more than enough time to read a letter and write a reply. But that wasn’t the case for Shueste. As the eldest daughter of House Flumvelk, she had many tasks to see to. Compared to me, she had an absurd amount of work. It seemed she was still tending to the garden too, so her days had to be a constant flurry of activity.

The fact that she’d found the time for me honestly made me happy. It was also a little embarrassing. However...I couldn’t just enjoy having someone to write letters to, especially after my talk with Allucia. I’d lost my ability to be carefree about it.

“Now then...”

I did my best to set such negative thoughts aside. They were things I had to consider, but getting too caught up in them and falling into a pit of self-loathing wasn’t going to solve anything. That said, I didn’t have that much time left—in all sorts of ways.

I broke the seal and opened the letter. Just as expected, it was written in Shueste’s beautiful handwriting. The actual contents were whimsical and not particularly serious. It started with a courteous greeting, went on with a report on recent affairs, and was sprinkled here and there with Shueste’s feelings. It ended with words of consideration. The letter really gave a glimpse of her skill when it came to stuff like composition and vocabulary. Even if I wrote about the same things, I wouldn’t be able to produce anything like her letter. I always did my best to write something that didn’t come off as rude, but there was a clear gap in education.

I had enough schooling to run a swordsmanship dojo in the countryside without any issues, but I was clearly lacking in every other way. Should I put some effort into improving that from now on?

Around the time I finished the first letter, Mewi called out, “Food’s done.”

“Mm, thanks.”

She put a bowl of pot-au-feu before me. A calm, composed part of my mind was whispering that it was about time for me to stop being so moved by every one of her actions. I couldn’t help it, though. The Mewi from before we’d started living together hadn’t been the type of girl to take the initiative and show such consideration for others.

“Okay...”

I decided to take my time writing a reply to Shueste later. I grabbed the second letter. From what I could see, the seal was a simple thing that only served to keep it closed. There was no sort of design on the wax, so I could eliminate the possibility that it’d come from someone important like a noble. It was probably frowned upon for them not to emphasize their status on correspondence.

That meant it was probably from someone without such status, but of the few people close to me, I couldn’t really think of anyone who would go out of their way to send me a letter. Kenny and my other commoner acquaintances would just send something to the office instead.

I’ll just have to open the letter and find out. I tasted a spoonful of Mewi’s pot-au-feu and savored the simple flavor. I could never get tired of this. Then, I broke the seal. The paper was of an entirely inferior quality to Shueste’s. To put it a bit rudely, it was kind of cheap. That made me feel like it really had come from my dad or something.

However, the moment I shifted my focus to the contents of the letter, my expectations were blown away completely. First, it wasn’t my dad’s crude handwriting. Not that I was really one to talk. My handwriting wasn’t exactly pretty either.

“I’m glad she’s doing fine...”

The sender was Rose Marblehart. What was more, she’d signed the letter not as the White Maiden, but using her own name. In other words, things had reached a point where it didn’t matter whether she left behind evidence of her identity.

It wasn’t that strange for me to get a letter from Rose. She already knew I was living in Baltrain, and we’d had a short opportunity to chat during our collaboration in Dilmahakha. At the time, I’d mentioned having a house.

The incident in Dilmahakha had certainly been nothing to celebrate. The people would never have wished for an event to shake the nation like that, and it’d definitely left behind major scars that had yet to even start fading.

Regardless, the survivors had moved on. This letter showed that Rose had finally managed to look to the future. The incident itself was still tragic, though.

“Mm, delicious.”

I had another spoonful as I read on. It really is tasty.

Rose’s letter started with an apology for what had happened, followed by words of consideration. Though she didn’t go into any specifics, she reported that she’d managed to settle into a relatively stable life. The letter finished with her desire to meet and talk with me once more one day.

She didn’t mention anything specific about recent events, likely due to the risk of information leaking. After all, there was no guarantee a letter would always reach its destination. It was okay to publicize her name, but not her activities.

In all likelihood, she was doing some kind of work under Prince Glenn. Even in the battle against the chimeras, she wouldn’t have joined the fray had the crown prince not commanded her. It would’ve been weird for him not to have known her identity by that point.

Meanwhile, the group in black that we’d assumed was Hanoy’s Verdapis Mercenary Company was still staying in the holy capital. Sphenedyardvania couldn’t afford to be careless. Maybe it was a good thing that they temporarily had the mercenaries on their side, though. I could only pray Prince Glenn and Princess Salacia were handling it well—there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

As I continued wolfing down the pot-au-feu and reading the letter, Mewi suddenly raised her voice.

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

“Ain’t it, umm...rude? Reading and eating, I mean.”

I froze for a moment before nodding. “Uhhh, yeah.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing. You’re totally right.”

Mewi was now capable of worrying about table manners. Not only that, she did so for someone other than herself. This was coming from the girl who’d once said that etiquette didn’t matter as long as she could eat without hurting herself.

My household wasn’t strict on table manners. I, myself, had just been caught reading and eating. Nonetheless, Mewi had criticized me. Her life at the magic institute was having a significant influence on her growth.

For better or worse, people changed with their environment. Here, Mewi was changing for the better. I was extremely glad to see it, and I felt my spirits soar at the sight.

But on the flip side, I had to be careful so that my daily habits weren’t a negative influence on her. I hadn’t been ignoring them before, but I had to pay more attention now. If she ever ended up saying, “I can’t stand living with this old fart anymore,” it would be a serious blow to me.

“I’ll be more careful,” I muttered. “Yup, gotta be more careful.”

“Ah, no, I don’t...think you need to correct it or nothing...”

“If you say so...”

I was her guardian, not her actual father. Still, I had to do things properly, at least until she became independent. This little exchange reinforced that idea in my mind.

◇

“All right, let’s give it our all today!”

“Yes, sir!”

Just like any other day, I found myself in the order’s training hall early in the morning. I greeted the knights as usual, and another day of clashing swords began.

I didn’t find this routine boring at all. If I did, I would never have inherited my dad’s dojo. You could say I was repeating the same thing over and over, my days passing without any change, but yesterday, today, and tomorrow were all different, even if spent the same way. And this extended beyond just swordplay. I believed it was important to find fun in discovering these small changes.

Aimlessly repeating the same thing every day wouldn’t lead to growth. That applied to both swordplay and magic. There was almost nothing to gain from mindlessly swinging a wooden sword up and down. Tiny and repeated accumulation of training felt like a roundabout—yet also the shortest—route to improving. That was how I’d gotten to where I stood now, and I took pride in that.

“A bit late to be realizing it, though...” I muttered.

“Hm? Did you say something?” a knight asked.

“Oh, no. It’s nothing.”

It was best to retreat before anyone prodded too far into my musings. These were thoughts I’d always had, but I was only now reflecting on them in a self-critical manner. I’d spent several decades teaching swordsmanship in Beaden, and I would be lying if I said I’d held steadfast to those beliefs the entire time.

At some point, had I given up on achieving anything and fallen into a routine out of habit? Had I lost my conviction? I was the only one who understood my own heart, so I couldn’t seek an answer from someone else. However, a part of me didn’t have the confidence to deny the possibility.

I’d always done my best with my daily training—I’d never slacked off. However, there had definitely been a period when I’d arbitrarily decided that I’d reached my limit. But thanks to the efforts of my excellent former pupils, I was once more aiming for the summit of swordsmanship. I couldn’t allow myself to let my willpower fade away ever again.

I didn’t have that much time left. My body would reach its physical limit in the near future, and there was no guarantee that I would be able to see the scenery from the summit before then, but that was no reason for me to give up.

“Okay! Let’s put some spirit into it!” I shouted, slapping my cheeks.

“Y-Yes, sir!” the knights responded, taking my words the wrong way.

I was simply scattering my idle thoughts away and focusing on the task at hand. Well, I was putting my spirit into my daily training too, but I wasn’t implying that I was going to go particularly hard on them today. I felt a little guilty for giving them that impression.

“It’s been getting hotter, so pay attention to your condition,” I warned before we got started.

“Yes, sir!”

It was getting hotter every single day. Things were still fine in the morning and evening, but in the middle of a clear day, it was warm enough to really feel it, even when lightly dressed.

Since it was still early in the morning, the weather wasn’t really a problem, but with so many grown knights moving around so vigorously, it was going to heat up inside the hall as we continued training.

It was important to remind the knights to stay safe, even when everyone already knew it. Just thinking, I figured it’d be fine, was a cop-out. Humans were strange like that—they were only careful of things after someone voiced them aloud. People tended to forget to put on the brakes otherwise.

“Good morning.”

“Hm? Morning, Allucia.”

Just as I finished warming up and was raring to get started, Allucia entered the training hall. Since she was here early in the morning, she must’ve gained a fair bit of free time due to the scrapping of work related to the delegation from Sphenedyardvania. While the cancellation of the event wasn’t something to rejoice, I personally saw her reduced workload as a good thing.

“Master, may I have a moment?”

“Yeah... Sure thing.”

However, it didn’t seem like she was here to train with us. When working, she rarely let her emotions show, but her eyes were now so serious that even I could tell at a glance. That usually means trouble. This was one of the things I’d learned in my few experiences in Baltrain...but would I need to be involved in said trouble?

Well, if my sword was capable of solving things, I had every intention of giving it my all. I wasn’t reluctant to help with anything so long as it didn’t involve politics. Maybe this was another sign of growth.

“Forgive me—let’s talk elsewhere,” Allucia said.

“Got it.”

It was something she’d gone out of her way to come to the training hall to inform me of. It didn’t seem like a message she could just pass along on the spot either. So, it was perfectly natural for us to have this conversation elsewhere.

If I had to guess, this was some kind of emergency or unexpected event. If she’d planned to consult me over something less serious, she would’ve sent a knight to inform me. She’d used Evans for exactly that purpose in the past.

That meant there had to be some kind of trouble. Normally, this time of the year would involve a lot of dialogue with Sphenedyardvania, so maybe there’d been some kind of development on that front.

“You heard her,” I said, addressing the knights. “Sorry, everyone, I’m stepping out for a bit.”

“Understood.”

I didn’t know how serious this was, but either way, I was stepping away from my duties, so it was only right to apologize. Nobody was really at fault, but this was the kind of thing better addressed earlier rather than later. If I could reduce any future friction with a quick word and a bow, it was best to be proactive about it. That said, I was careful of who I lowered my head to.

“This is rather unusual,” I remarked as Allucia and I walked through the office—I was just trying to fill the silence.

“It is,” she agreed stiffly. “We received a somewhat unexpected report.”

“I see...”

I wondered what it could be. Even if such information came to the Liberion Order, I couldn’t understand why she had to go out of her way to tell me about it. This was Allucia we were talking about—she was perfectly capable of selecting what information was and wasn’t meant for my ears.

“Please come in,” she said at her office door.

“Aah, thanks.”

I still couldn’t picture what this was about as I stepped inside. We weren’t in the reception room, but her office. That meant the intel couldn’t be leaked to outsiders, which was even more confusing for me.

“Forgive me, but I don’t have any tea to serve,” Allucia said as we both took a seat.

“Don’t mind me. It was just that sudden, I assume?”

“Yes, you could say that.”

When I’d come to the knight commander’s office several times before, I’d usually been served something to drink. But at those times, I’d been expected, and preparations had been made beforehand.

However, there was none of that this time, so it’d been completely unplanned for me to be here today at this hour. I once more wondered what this could possibly be about. Well, she was about to tell me, but still, this felt like a pretty unique circumstance, even compared to everything else that had happened during my time as a special instructor.

“Please do not mention a word of what I’m about to tell you to anyone,” Allucia started.

“Yeah, of course.”

I wasn’t the type to spread such information. You could interpret her words as a lack of trust, but it came off as more of a reminder. It was important to confirm things verbally.

“Confidential information was just passed to us,” she continued.

From the way she phrased it, the information had come from outside the order. Despite it being passed confidentially, she was immediately telling me about it, but I decided to just trust in her judgment.

“Lysandra...has missed her return date to the guild, and they are unable to contact her.”

“What...?”

Her words caught me off guard. I completely lost myself for a moment. I stood up before I even knew it, knocking the table askew in the process. The sound was quickly drowned out by Allucia’s voice.

“Master!”

“Gh!”

“Please calm down. Things are still in an early phase.”

“Aah...”

She’d known Surena for quite a while. They didn’t seem to get along, but Surena knew Allucia’s temperament relatively well and could talk to her without formalities, which was a valuable thing for a woman in Allucia’s position. In a sense, she’d spent far more time with Surena than I had. And since Allucia was acting calm, I was somehow able to regain my composure.

Even though I’d calmed down somewhat, I still found myself thinking that now wasn’t the time to be sitting around. Surena was assumed missing. I wanted to run out of there immediately and gather what information I could. If some stranger had told me to calm down, I would’ve probably yelled at them to shut up.

The reason I was able to restrain such an impulse was that Allucia was the one telling me to calm down. I bounced my knee restlessly. Another voice inside me was ringing alarm bells, telling me I was too shaken. I knew that already, but I had no way of ridding myself of this irritation.

“Where’d this information come from?” I asked.

“The adventurer’s guild. That’s why the information itself is trustworthy...”

“I see...”

If this had been a leak from some random stranger, Allucia wouldn’t have taken it this seriously. However, this came from the adventurer’s guild. While it’d been disclosed confidentially, it’d been sent through formal channels. This couldn’t be ignored.

Surena was strong. By all means, she had the skills and experience to break out of any dilemma. She was trusted to do so. She also wasn’t one to misjudge when to retreat, and she understood the importance of reporting in. That was why she’d managed to climb to the height of a black rank adventurer.

Something must have happened. However, what exactly that was remained a mystery.

I had an idea of what it could be, but even if I was right, it didn’t ultimately explain Surena’s current predicament. She could just be having trouble getting in touch. Or maybe she was wounded. Or maybe...she was dead. I really hoped that wasn’t the case.

However, those who chose a life of battle were always hounded by that risk. That went not only for Surena but for me and Allucia as well. Randrid had even chosen to retire from adventuring when he’d become a father. No matter how many achievements you accumulated or how much fame and money you earned, it all came to nothing if you died. Knowing that someone close to me was in such danger had me losing my presence of mind.

“What happens next?” I asked.

“The guild is getting a search party ready. They’re also sending liaisons all over. I believe they’re waiting for new information before making a real move...”

“Tch...”

I couldn’t hold back my irritation. My immaturity was pathetic. In contrast, Allucia maintained her businesslike attitude. She really had it together—far more than I did. That was exactly why she’d ascended to the knight commander’s seat despite her youth.

“What about the order?” I asked.

“We aren’t moving. That is to say...we can’t. Not yet.”

“Why?”

“As you may well surmise, it’s not in our jurisdiction. We can make a move if the adventurer’s guild reports the situation to the kingdom and the order is commanded to search for Lysandra...but it’s unlikely. It’ll take too much time either way.”

“Dammit!”

I slammed my fist onto the table with a thud. The sound echoed around the knight commander’s office. It wasn’t Allucia’s fault—if anything, she’d gone out of her way to inform me of confidential information because of my relationship with Surena. By all rights, I should’ve been thanking her.

But what was I doing instead? She hadn’t done anything wrong, and I was practically interrogating her. I was spurred by my sense of powerlessness and impatience toward this horrible situation and being an utter bother by venting my frustrations at her.

I’m pathetic. I was in a position to teach others, but after peeling back a single layer, this was all I amounted to. I couldn’t help but hate myself for it. But what else could I do? All life was equally precious, but unfortunately, people attributed different values to individual lives.

It wasn’t like Surena lacked resolve. Everyone who lived a life of battle was well aware of the risk. She’d even gone out of her way to visit me before heading out on her mission—probably because she’d sensed that it would be very dangerous.

However, even with the resolve, when faced with reality, it wasn’t always possible to remain calm. The mind was capable of understanding without accepting. If all things went exactly as expected, there would never be chaos. This went for circumstances both big and small.

“Meaning the order has no choice but to wait...” I muttered.

“Precisely. As vexing as it is.”

I wasn’t going to get more information than this by pressing Allucia for answers. She didn’t know more than this anyway. The order wasn’t going to move on such sparse intel from an outsider.

As the knight commander, Allucia couldn’t act on her own. This was easy to understand, even when my mind was a mess. The fact that it had taken me this long to realize meant I’d been that shaken by the news.

“Haaaah...”

I let out a long, long sigh. I had to start by accepting the situation. No matter what I did, I couldn’t improve anything—I didn’t have enough information.

Surena was in danger, but the exact cause was unknown. She could still be alive. She could also be dead already. There was no telling until we got a look for ourselves. However, with things as they were, doing that was a distant prospect. We had far too little to act on, and there was very little I could contribute.

“Got it... Allucia, I have a request.”

“Go ahead.”

However, having very little didn’t mean I had nothing to contribute. I was motivated to make a move on my own. However, there was pretty much no information I was capable of acquiring on my own—I had no influence or access to intelligence networks, after all.

On the other hand, there were a few things only I was able to set into motion as an individual. I was in a good position to be used as a convenient pawn for unofficial missions—much like when I’d helped Surena supervise the young adventurers and when I’d arrested Bishop Reveos at Lucy and Ibroy’s request. So, I planned to make use of that position again. I wasn’t a knight, after all.

“I’d like to take time off for a while,” I said.

“Sure. The documents are being prepared as we speak. It seems they didn’t go to waste.”

“Being prepared as we speak...?”

“Yes. Your request for leave is already underway.”

“I see.”

The Liberion Order was a national institution and a military force. It was impossible to move them for personal reasons. Even in Allucia’s position, it would be difficult to be so selfish after swearing loyalty to the nation.

However, things were different for me. I had a fancy title as the special instructor for the Liberion Order, but I was still no more than hired help. To put it bluntly, I hadn’t sworn my loyalty to anyone. If anything, I’d only sworn myself to the blade.

Nobody could complain if I took a slightly long vacation and got some business settled in the meantime. It would be a bit of a scandal if I got seriously injured, vanished, or even died on said vacation. Even I could see that.

However, I couldn’t stay put just because of that risk. That was why I’d made the request, but it was quite a shock that the documents for my extended leave were already being prepared.

Allucia really could see right through me. She’d predicted my actions and hopes with extreme accuracy.

“I’m in your debt,” I told her, bowing my head. “Thank you.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for. I’m simply approving your leave of absence. There are no major events going on right now, so it isn’t a problem.”

“I see. That really helps.”

I lowered my head once more, and she nodded as if to tell me it was no big deal. The fact that Surena was missing hadn’t been made public yet. They probably weren’t going to make it known until significant time had passed and they had positive proof.

In the meantime, a swordsmanship instructor hired from outside the Liberion Order just happened to take a vacation from the office. There was nothing to question about that.

I couldn’t take time off forever, which could end up being a problem. I didn’t really care about being called dishonest or anything, but I wanted to avoid any unnecessary scandals involving the order’s top brass—namely Allucia and Henblitz.

There was Surena’s situation to consider too. Nothing good would come from taking my time. I doubted this could be solved in one or two days, but it was clear to anyone that I had to act as quickly as possible.

In hindsight, it was for the best that Sphenedyardvania’s delegation had been canceled. Even if Prince Glenn didn’t come himself, things would’ve been far busier if we’d had to welcome foreign royalty. It would’ve looked bad if I’d excused myself during such a period.

“Okay then...”

My time off from the order was approved. That left the magic institute. If I went through Lucy or Ficelle, I doubted it would be a problem. I was only a temporary lecturer there, after all. I’d been absent for extended periods because of previous expeditions, so the same would work here. That said, this matter was hush-hush, so I felt like it was better to consult Lucy than Ficelle. She was sure to hear about Surena’s situation quickly.

There were almost no problems with me leaving Baltrain. All that was left was how to get information on Surena. Going to the adventurer’s guild to ask sounded like the best idea, but I doubted they would provide me with anything if I did. Allucia had been informed confidentially, so I had to keep up appearances.

“Oh, yes,” Allucia said, bringing me back from my thoughts.

“Hm?”

“If you plan on using your accumulated days off, I recommend visiting Vesparta to the west. The scenery is quite different there, and it should provide you with proper recreation. As for making a proper itinerary and finding out about local attractions, it would be best to consult the adventurer’s guild.”

“Got it... Thanks, I’m looking forward to it.”

“It was nothing. Safe travels, Master.”

Allucia truly outclassed me. She was passing information to me in a way that wouldn’t create any friction. Vesparta was the city that sat on the border with the Salura Zaruk Empire. The geography was totally different, but it was similar to Flumvelk in that regard.

There was no way Allucia was actually telling me to go sightseeing, which meant that Surena had gone to Vesparta. I was glad she hadn’t gone all the way to the empire.

Surena had traveled far away from Baltrain, but she hadn’t needed to cross the border. Her destination had very likely been in the Aflatta Mountain Range. It was best to keep that in mind.

I wasn’t familiar with that area, though. It would be best for me to get that information from the adventurer’s guild. Allucia couldn’t stick her nose into this herself, and unofficially leaking information was already a major concession on her part. I couldn’t rely on her intelligence network more than I already had.

“Okay, I’m off, then. I’ll get ready right away,” I said. “I’ll probably be away for a while, but I will leave things here in your care.”

“Understood and accepted.”

My course was decided. All that was left was to set things in motion as soon as possible. It would be ideal if Surena suddenly came back and wasted all my efforts—I could just complain to her over an ale at the tavern about how much of a panic I’d gotten into. She could at least keep me company for that.

Also, it would be completely meaningless if I went missing right after her. If she was in danger, it would be vital to save her, but joining her in defeat would be the worst possible outcome. If I could save Surena by throwing my life away, I would gladly do so. However, risking it all and gaining nothing in return was out of the question. I had to calmly make that distinction.

Dying was a frightening thought. Even though I wanted to fight strong opponents, I didn’t want to die. That thought followed me at all times. However, if I could save one of my adorable pupils by risking my life, it’d be worth discarding such thoughts. It would be pretty disrespectful to my parents, though...

“Master,” Allucia said, her voice still stiff as I stood up to leave her office.

“Hm?”

She bowed her head deeply. “Please save Lysandra.”

She was definitely worried. She also had to be vexed that she couldn’t do anything herself. I could see that frustration clearly in the way she carried herself.

“Of course,” I answered immediately.

I was ready to do something about it one way or another. There was no guarantee I would be able to achieve anything, but I had no reason to act timid at this stage.

“Okay...”

With that, I left her office. I had to get information from the adventurer’s guild, explain things to Mewi, and lay the groundwork with Lucy.

That’s a lot of work, but let’s get it all done as quickly as possible. Time waits for no man.

Chapter 2: An Old Country Bumpkin Heads West

“It’s been a while since I was here...”

After receiving information from Allucia and leaving the order’s office, I immediately made my way to the nearby Liberis branch of the adventurer’s guild. It really had been a long time since I’d visited. The last time had been about a year ago, when Surena had requested that I supervise some young adventurers with her.

There’d simply been no reason to drop by the adventurer’s guild since. Surena apparently had her own room on the upper floor, but she was always busy—she didn’t really seem like someone who often kicked back and relaxed at home. Frankly, she seemed to spend more time outside of Baltrain than in it.

If she wasn’t at the guild, I had no reason to visit. She’d also started dropping by my place lately, so that had given me even less of a reason. However, it was now absolutely necessary for me to drop by so I could gather information on her whereabouts. I couldn’t just travel such a long distance with nothing to go on. This guild branch had given Surena the dangerous job in the first place, and they’d also been the ones to inform Allucia of the situation.

Surena could indeed be in Vesparta, but I didn’t even know where that was. Being expeditious and being overeager were completely different things, and though I was driven by impatience, I couldn’t make that mistake.

I entered the building and made a beeline for the counter.

“Welcome,” the receptionist said. “Are you here to submit a request?”

“Aah, no. Is Nidus around?” I asked, getting right to business. “I believe he’ll understand if you tell him Beryl is here to see him.”

“Um... Please wait a moment.”

She didn’t seem to be able to process what was going on, but I didn’t want to waste any time. Sorry about that.

A random old man asking for the guild master without an appointment would normally be turned away at the door. Thus, I was glad I’d helped Surena, which had led me to become acquainted with Nidus and Meigen. I’d ended up having to cross blades with Surena back then due to Lucy’s reckless behavior, but that was all in the past. Regardless of how I’d made these connections, it was best to take care of them—unless they ever posed a serious threat to me.

Not too long after the receptionist disappeared into the back, another woman came out to greet me.

“Master Beryl, thank you for waiting,” she said. “Please follow me.”

“Thank you.”

I’d honestly been gambling on whether the guild master was actually present. I didn’t have an appointment, and I had no idea what his schedule was like. Luckily, it seemed I’d cleared the first hurdle.

“Excuse me, I’ve brought Master Beryl.”

I was guided to what I assumed was Nidus’s office. It had a different ambience to it than Allucia’s office in the Liberion Order’s headquarters—while hers was very neat and tidy, his was somewhat cluttered. It wasn’t a complete mess, of course, but there were definitely a lot of documents and such all over the place.

Much like Allucia, the guild master had to be busy all year round. Not that I’d been here much, but during both my visits, the main hall with the reception desk had been bustling with activity.

“Good day, Mr. Gardenant,” Nidus said, his deeply wrinkled face breaking into a smile as he walked up to me. “It’s been a while...hasn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s good to see you again. Sorry for suddenly intruding on you like this.”

“Don’t be—I don’t mind. Please, take a seat.”

As ever, he had quite the build. He wasn’t huge like Gatoga or Balder, but there was still a lot of meat beneath his clothes. I could tell it wasn’t fat either.

The woman who’d guided me turned to Nidus and said, “I’ll take my leave, then.”

“Good work,” Nidus replied. “Also, keep the area clear for a while.”

“Certainly.”

Judging by Nidus’s order, he knew I wasn’t only here to chat. But if I had to guess, he had his own rules to follow—or perhaps the rules of the adventurer’s guild. I couldn’t just dive straight into the matter at hand. Though this was just my intuition talking, it probably wasn’t far from the truth.

“Now then, what brings you here today?” he asked. “I don’t suppose...you want to be an adventurer?”

“Ha ha ha, sorry, but I’ve got my hands full being an instructor already.”

“Is that so? Well, you’ll always be welcome here.”

“Thank you.”

The first topic was an attempt to recruit me. This old man didn’t miss a step, even if it was just lip service.

I decided to interpret this as a high assessment of my abilities. Looking back on it now, Zeno Grable had been a formidable opponent. It’d been fearsome enough to earn itself a name, after all. And that named monster now served as my sword. I’m greatly indebted to it. This was also a connection and accomplishment I’d made thanks to Surena.

“To tell you the truth...” I started. “I’ll be taking an extended leave. I was thinking of going on a little trip.”

“Sounds nice. A man of your station must always be busy with work.”

“Ha ha, not as busy as you are, I assume.”

I kind of felt like I was speaking with a noble. Not too long ago, I would’ve gotten straight to business without beating around the bush. However, this information was technically confidential, so I had to work within those parameters. I’d never thought that I would have to use these techniques outside of high-society gatherings.

“Since I have the time, I was thinking of taking a look around Vesparta,” I continued.

“Hmmm... I see.”

The moment I mentioned Vesparta, Nidus’s expression changed. He wasn’t clearly shaken or suddenly tense or anything like that. There was, however, a subtle but certain shift in his demeanor. If I hadn’t come here to talk about something so serious, I probably wouldn’t have noticed.

As a bit of an afterthought, I realized that Meigen wasn’t here. I’d figured he would be attending as Nidus’s aide, but he didn’t seem to be around today. Well, my visit had been out of the blue. It wasn’t like he had to be around the guild master at all times. Henblitz wasn’t always with Allucia either.

“Vesparta is quite far away...” Nidus said. “But I suppose you’ve made up your mind.”

“Yes. It’s a rare vacation, so I figured I’d go the distance. My pupil recommended it to me too.”

“I see...”

Naturally, Nidus didn’t believe an outsider had barged into the guild, asked for the guild master, and then proceeded to just chat about his upcoming vacation—he had to be carefully scrutinizing everything I said. Nidus was a capable man, though, so he’d definitely picked up on my intent. Someone who didn’t notice and thought this was just idle chatter wouldn’t be serving as the guild master.

Without saying it directly, we’d both conveyed what we wanted to do and what we wanted from the other party. At least, I hope so. He couldn’t have been sure that I’d go out of my way to follow after Surena, but he must’ve had an inkling that I would—he wouldn’t have leaked the information to Allucia otherwise.

Nonetheless, we couldn’t speak openly about it. As the guild master, he wasn’t able to hand out information on Surena, and if I brought it up, he would have to ask where I’d heard it from. To be blunt, all this doublespeak was a pain in the ass. However, this was necessary to keep up appearances and avoid being a bother to all sorts of people. I was starting to understand why nobles liked to talk in such roundabout ways. I’m never going to do it for fun, though.

“So? Why talk to me about this?” Nidus asked.

I felt like I was just one push away from getting his assistance. I could only pray I wasn’t wrong.

“Well, despite the recommendation, I’m ashamed to say that I have no familiarity with the land,” I explained. “I’m not even sure how to get to Vesparta—I only know that it’s somewhere to the west. I was wondering what to do about this and decided to come to you for advice.”

“Hmmm...”

This was the official stance I’d prepared beforehand. At best, I would get some amount of information. If that wasn’t going to fly, I was hoping to at least get a guide. I didn’t mind paying money for it and making an official request to the guild. The important part was keeping up the pretense that my trip was entirely for personal reasons.

This had to seem like no more than a vacation where I just happened to come across Surena in her time of need, and I just happened to save her. If we’d had more time, none of this would have been necessary, but we couldn’t wait.

While the situation was different, the basic idea was the same as when Curuni and Ficelle had come to reinforce me during Bishop Reveos’s arrest. Publicly, they’d pretended to be simply passing by, hiding their association with their organizations. I didn’t know how effective that had ultimately been, but at the very least, it hadn’t created any international issues. I hoped things could go similarly this time around.

“I understand the situation,” Nidus said after a moment’s consideration. “Let’s have someone who is accustomed to traveling accompany you. However, it will have to take the form of an official request, so you’ll need to pay for our services.”

“Of course. Thank you very much.”

This wasn’t the best-case scenario I’d been hoping for, but the outcome was still enough for a passing grade and was within my expectations. I didn’t know exactly what the market price was for these things, but I doubted it would be anything outrageous.

“Now then, when do you plan on departing?” Nidus asked. “I get the impression sooner would be better...”

“Ha ha ha, it’s just as you say. If possible, I’d like to leave tomorrow. If that won’t work, I’m thinking in two days.”

“Understood. We will need some time to gather the right people, so how about the day after tomorrow?”

“Sounds good. Thank you.”

Despite this being a “casual vacation,” we wanted everything to be arranged as quickly as possible. From a logical perspective, that didn’t make any sense—trips like this were usually planned early, with plenty of time to prepare.

Even though both of us were well aware that my main objective wasn’t to take a vacation, we couldn’t afford to throw out the pretense. Nobles talk their way around things in a different way, but the gist is similar to what Nidus and I are doing—I wonder if higher-ups find it as tedious as I do? I suppose “tedious” isn’t necessarily bad, though... These rules are in place to protect the organization, after all. The emergency with Surena is just an irregularity straining that system.

“Anyway, Vesparta, huh?” Nidus said, taking on a more casual tone. “I’ve been there several times in the past. It’s quite a nice place.”

“That so? I’m looking forward to it.”

I wasn’t uninterested in Vesparta, but my goal wasn’t to have fun. I doubted I would have the time to enjoy any sightseeing. If I did, it would only be after safely reuniting with Surena.

“However, it does have a flaw,” Nidus added, making me well aware that there was nothing casual about this segue. “The town is in close proximity to the Aflatta Mountain Range. You should be particularly cautious of the mountainside to the northeast. Well, that’s only an issue if you decide to go marching into the mountains, though.”

“I see... Thank you for the warning.”

“Think nothing of it. I pray your journey goes safely.”

Surena’s destination really had been in the Aflatta Mountain Range. And I now knew that she’d gone to the mountainside northeast of the city. There was no guarantee she was still there, but it was definitely good intel.

Incidentally, my plan was to brave the mountains on my own. I couldn’t drag along the adventurers who would be accompanying me as guides. It wouldn’t be part of their job, after all. Publicly, this would be no more than a carefree old man hiring some escorts and guides for a sightseeing trip to Vesparta. Nobody would agree to charge into the Aflatta Mountain Range at my request.

“I know this was sudden, so allow me to thank you once more for agreeing,” I said.

“Heh heh, think nothing of it. The adventurer’s guild is here to listen to the people’s demands and resolve them by offering our members jobs.”

I had new information and was going to have guides to show me the way. This was pretty much the best outcome I could’ve wished for. Nidus acted like it was no big deal. After all, this was supposed to be no more than a request to make my vacation easier.

I never want to negotiate like that again. It’s bad for my mental health.

I nodded to Nidus. “Well, I have preparations to make, so if you’ll excuse me.”

“Of course. In two days, I’ll have people waiting for you in front of the guild—bright and early. As for the fee...about this much will do. You can pay the day of.”

“Understood. Thank you once more.”

It wasn’t exactly cheap, but it was still well within what I could afford. I didn’t know whether this was a friendly discount or the standard price. But I certainly don’t want to be stuck with some nasty adventurers because I haggled when it wasn’t necessary. I decided to just pay what he asked for.

Now I just needed to explain things to Mewi and exchange information with Lucy. I’d be leaving Baltrain in only two days, so I had to get things done quickly. Ideally, Surena makes contact in the meantime and wastes all of my effort, though...

“See you later,” I said.

“Indeed. Be careful.”

I really hope that ideal scenario comes to pass. And with that wish in mind, I left the adventurer’s guild behind.

◇

I’d gotten information from Allucia and negotiated with Nidus, all within the span of a few hours. Despite my impatience, time didn’t go by particularly fast—nor did it go slowly. The next day, I explained things to Mewi and went to see Lucy.

And then, the day of my departure dawned. I awoke early, met up with my hired guides outside the guild, and left Baltrain.

The trip took about a week, and then finally, my destination was in sight.

“There it is. That’s one of Vesparta’s gates.”

“Ooh, it’s huge...”

“It’s the major city...entrusted with the west...”

My guides had been very accommodating during the journey. I’d also been quite unreasonable. When I’d arrived at the guild for our departure, horses had been prepared for me and my guides. I’d had no idea how far Vesparta was from Baltrain, but either way, lounging around in a carriage had never been an option—there simply hadn’t been time. If we’d dallied in the carriage, we wouldn’t have reached Vesparta until everything was over. I have no idea whether it would’ve been a good end or a bad one, though.

I’d planned to borrow some horses anyway, but I hadn’t expected the guild to have prepared everything in advance. I owed Nidus another debt. We’d spurred our horses on, switching out for new ones along the way. Those, I’d paid for out of my own pocket. There was a limit to how far a horse was capable of traveling while carrying someone. So, to get to our destination as fast as possible, it’d been absolutely necessary to get fresh mounts.

We’d rested at villages and towns along the way only when possible, making this quite the forced march all the way to Vesparta. Even then, it had taken a whole week. This gamble was already pretty bad, but there wasn’t much more we could’ve done about the travel time. Plenty of people probably fantasized about how much easier things would be if we could instantly arrive at any destination, but I’d personally never lamented the lack of such technology as much as I did now.

“At any rate, you seem to be in quite the hurry, Mr. Gardenant,” one of the adventurers remarked.

“Yeah. Someone’s waiting for me in Vesparta, so I wanted to get here quickly.”

“I see.”

This wasn’t necessarily a lie. But it wasn’t entirely the truth either. I’d had to come up with some excuse, though—it was unnatural for me to be in such a rush when my goal was sightseeing. Maybe I could’ve gotten away with saying that I wanted to see the sights of Vesparta as soon as possible, but there was nothing to gain from making things even more unnatural. In hindsight, maybe there was no need for such excuses...

“Thanks for getting me here, Porta,” I said.

“It was nothing! I’m just glad we were able to help you.”

Yes, the adventurer who served as my guide was the same one Surena and I had supervised one year ago.

“We, um...hoped you could see how we’ve grown a little...”

“We’ve...ranked up too...”

I smiled. “Ha ha, thanks to you too, Needry, Sarlikatz.”

Porta’s group was a team of three. His partners, Needry and Sarlikatz, were in good health. As Sarlikatz had said, Porta and Needry were now silver rank, while Sarlikatz was a step ahead at gold. Porta had wanted to catch up, but he’d been injured during the fight with Zeno Grable, so he’d needed to take time off to recover. There’s not much that could be done about that.

By all rights, silver ranks weren’t suited for a long-distance escort mission. Sarlikatz would just barely qualify as a candidate. An adventurer’s rank had a pretty direct correlation to their combat abilities, after all.

However, this was an escort mission only on paper. All I had really needed were guides who were somewhat used to traveling and capable enough to protect themselves. To put it bluntly, I was stronger than these three put together. There’s no telling how things’ll be in ten years, though. Still, when it came to planning the journey and stuff like that, their preparations were impressive.

I could’ve probably reached Vesparta on my own, but could I have made it without hitting any delays? I wasn’t sure. This was an adverse effect of having spent my whole life in the countryside—I lacked experience at such things. And before this situation, that hadn’t seemed like such a bad thing. I wasn’t denying the importance of the time I’d spent with my mom, dad, and pupils. But when faced with a situation that I couldn’t solve on my own, I couldn’t help but lament my ignorance.

With Vesparta in sight, I felt myself relax a little. Swept up by that mood, I turned things in a more casual direction.

“What will you three do once we’re in the city?” I asked.

“I guess we’ll get some rest, then see if there are any jobs we can take at the guild there,” Porta answered. “It’ll be nice if there’s an escort mission going back to Baltrain.”

“Oh? There’s a guild hall here too?”

“There is. It’s not as big as Baltrain’s, though.”

“Hmmm.”

I hadn’t known about that. But now that I thought about it, Nidus had introduced himself as the master of Liberis’s branch when we first met. He hadn’t called it Baltrain’s branch. I wonder if that means there are guild facilities all over the kingdom. I hadn’t expected to call up the adventurer’s guild, so I’d never considered it. But now that I was involved with them, maybe it was best to learn a bit more.

Allucia had also mentioned that the guild was forming a search party and sending out liaisons. If these were all being dispatched from Baltrain...they would arrive too late to help Surena. It only made sense for there to be guild members stationed all over the place, including Vesparta.

It was a bit of a pain point that I couldn’t really rely on that network right now. There was no telling how certain connections could come in handy in the future. For example, my current circumstances had all started with Allucia taking me out of Beaden. I really should’ve gotten used to this stuff earlier. This was only something I could consider after all this time had passed, though.

“We’ve arrived,” Porta announced. “Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Gardenant.”

“Oh, no. I should be the one thanking all of you. You really helped.”

And with that, we reached the gates of Vesparta. I had no idea what it looked like on the inside yet, but the walls themselves were very impressive. The city had more of a resemblance to Flumvelk than Baltrain in this regard—since Flumvelk and Vesparta were on their respective borders, their defenses had to be sturdy.

There were guards stationed at the gate, but getting permission to enter seemed awfully simple.

“Your pass,” requested a guard.

I handed it over. “Here.”

“Confirmed. Please go through.”

Well, I’m not a foreigner or anything, and my escorts are carrying out an official job for the guild. There’s absolutely nothing suspicious about this journey at all—officially.

“Oooh...” I marveled. “Sure is big.”

Passing through the gate, we came out onto the main thoroughfare. Vesparta was the fifth major city I’d been to after Baltrain, Flumvelk, Dilmahakha, and Hugenbite. Even in comparison to those places, it seemed to be flourishing. I didn’t know which of the cities stood above all others, but judging by the number of people, the size of the street, and the height of the buildings, Vesparta was definitely a major city.

If not for the situation, I would’ve loved to knock back an ale at a tavern and gather information on the local delicacies. I don’t have the time for that right now.

“Okay, guess I’ll start by securing an inn,” I muttered.

However, I couldn’t ignore the city completely and head straight into the Aflatta Mountain Range. It would, of course, be best if I found Surena immediately out of nowhere, but that was extremely unlikely. I had to settle in, then start searching. Without an inn to use as my base, I wasn’t going to get anywhere. Fortunately, I had plenty of money—I wasn’t the type to splurge, but I didn’t hesitate to use it when necessary.

“I believe you’ll be able to find an inn if you continue down this street,” Porta said.

“That so? Thanks.”

Well, with a city this large, it wouldn’t be strange for there to be three or even four inns. Places where people could spend the night would do lots of business anywhere that folks tended to gather, so as Porta suggested, I was likely to find something if I just continued walking down the main street.

“We’ll be heading to the guild next,” Porta said. “If that works with you, we’ll collect your mark.”

“Oh, right. Thanks for everything.”

“It was no big deal. That’s what we’re here for.”

Getting me to an inn wasn’t part of the job I was paying for, so Porta’s part was done. I handed over the mark. Taking it to the guild was proof of a completed job and would officially end it. Most requests through the guild were handled entirely through paperwork, but for rush jobs like this one, such documents weren’t always going to make it to their destination in time.

That was what the mark was for. It was a very simple setup. The mark was split into two pieces—one for the adventurers and the other for the client. Once the client judged the job was over, they handed their half to the adventurers. Having both pieces was proof enough for the guild that the job was done.

There were flaws to this system, though. It was possible to lose the mark, and a bad adventurer could threaten a client to hand over the mark before the job was done. Even the opposite was possible—a client could refuse to hand over the mark to avoid paying for the job. There’d apparently once been a case where a horrible criminal had killed a bunch of clients, gathering up marks for the money. Even in less extreme cases, the adventurers and clients involved were sure to file claims to the guild. Anyone with a bunch of claims against them would be dealt with immediately. The system relied on a certain amount of good faith, but when things took a turn for the worse, they had measures in place to punish those involved.

“We’ll be going, then!”

“Goodbye...”

“See you...later...”

I nodded. “Mm, until next time.”

The three adventurers each gave their own unique farewells, and we parted ways. I couldn’t drag them into my mission exploring the Aflatta Mountain Range—they had nothing to gain from that. I had to either do my best on my own or hire a guide somewhere else. That idea seems unrealistic, though.

Technically, I didn’t have the scouting skills or knowledge to navigate uncharted lands. However, things were a little different when it came to the Aflatta Mountain Range. I doubted the environment was identical to the mountains near Baltrain, but I had plenty of knowledge and experience with that kind of terrain.

That knowledge wouldn’t necessarily hold if I had to traverse the mountaintops, but judging by what Nidus had told me, Surena hadn’t gone that far up. It was possible that she’d chased her prey quite a ways, but she wasn’t the type to get in over her head. Regardless, I knew how to handle the terrain on a mountainside up to the timberline—as long as the environment here wasn’t drastically different, that is. Before I started concocting contingencies and alternative plans, I decided to take a look at the landscape. After all, time was of the essence.

My one concern was that Surena had far more experience challenging the mountains than I did, and she had failed to send word, let alone return. I had no way of knowing why until I started investigating. It’s a mystery—what kind of answer awaits me? Well, I can’t be pessimistic. Gotta cling to a sliver of hope.

“Okay...”

If my sword couldn’t solve the situation, then there was nothing I could do. But I wanted to take on this challenge with everything I had. I believe I can do something to help.

Did that belief come from confidence, a sense of duty, foolhardiness, or maybe even arrogance? I didn’t know, but I hoped it was out of trust in myself.

With such prayers in my heart, I quickly began looking for an inn.

◇

“Hup... There we go.”

The day after arriving in Vesparta with Porta’s party, I immediately made my way northeast of the city and dove into the Aflatta Mountain Range. The mountains were ridiculously huge and the range ridiculously long. Going either northwest or northeast from Vesparta led into the mountains. However, if Nidus was to be believed, Surena had gone northeast.

Regardless, the hypothetical search area was still vast, and the amount of it I could cover on my own was microscopic in comparison. Going only by the numbers, I was very unlikely to stumble across Surena.

I’d understood that from the very beginning, and those who knew what I was up to had surely thought the same thing. I did have a sound reason for thinking I might succeed, though that thread of hope was rather thin.

Nobody stepped foot into the Aflatta Mountain Range unless they had a very special reason. It was simply too dangerous, and there was nothing to gain from going there. Only extreme circumstances—like the annual culling of saberboars we had to do in Beaden—could compel people to do so.

So, if a black rank adventurer had charged into the mountains, there had to be some kind of human tracks left behind. Local hunters probably went into the mountains every now and then too—they likely left plenty of tracks near the foothills of the mountains. However, going any deeper would be dangerous even for those who knew how to fight. There was enough to hunt without having to go that far.

And thus, my plan was formed—I would climb the mountains while searching for tracks that were likely Surena’s. This was easier said than done, but with so few humans willing to go high up in the mountains, I figured that it actually wouldn’t be that hard to find human tracks.

As I examined the area around the base of the mountains, I noted that there were very few routes to choose from that could take me higher. Nobody started a mountain climb on treacherous animal trails or sheer cliffs, after all. Figuring out where to go after I was partway up would be the difficult part.

“Phew... I’ve gotta keep my eyes peeled more than usual...”

A tension ran through my body that was completely unrelated to any fatigue. Honestly, I was frustrated—it was annoying that I had the tacit understanding of multiple organizations and was allowed to make a move unofficially, but I also couldn’t get any of their support. That was largely why I’d given up on hiring a secondary guide.

Allucia had mentioned that the guild was putting together a search party, but I wasn’t going to wait for them to pick the right people and actually start searching. Besides, I certainly wouldn’t be a candidate for said search party—it wouldn’t make sense for the adventurer’s guild to rely on the Liberion Order’s special instructor for a search party.

Much like Allucia had told me, things would be different if the adventurer’s guild made an official appeal to the kingdom, it was approved, and the knights were commanded to act. That would naturally take a lot of time. Too much time. Given the current situation, that wait period would probably cost Surena’s life, which was why I’d hurried over to Vesparta.

As I crested a slight incline, I got myself all fired up. “I’ve gotta give it my all for Mewi’s sake too!”

There’d been no way I could keep the details of this trip from Mewi. I’d told her about the situation and had gotten her consent before leaving. I’d hesitated on whether to tell her about Surena but had ultimately decided that keeping it from her would make my defense pretty weak. Mewi had shared a meal with Surena several times too—the two of them were like daughters to me.

And when I’d told her, Mewi had been seriously worried about Surena. She’d also had to come to terms with the fact that, though she was concerned, she couldn’t do anything to help. I would’ve been quite troubled had she asked to come along, but it seemed her reasonable side had come out on top.

When you’re motivated to do something and capable of accomplishing it, then you should try your best. However, no matter how worried Mewi was about Surena, she would be nothing but a hindrance to me—she was wholly incapable of contributing to Surena’s rescue.

But of course, I hadn’t said that to Mewi. She’d come to that conclusion on her own. I was proud of her progress—it was important to be able to show concern and consideration for others. I hope she can retain that feeling in her heart and foster it.

In that respect, she drew a much clearer line than I did. I’d thought I’d been pretty good at this stuff, but I’d only recently had the same realization. I have the strength to allow myself to be spurred on by emotion when faced with such problems, so it would be a waste not to go for it. I wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that everything rested in my hands, though.

“Still no human tracks...”

After climbing a ways, I’d crested the foothill of the mountain before me. I took a short break and looked around. The vegetation was pretty much the same as what I was used to in the Aflatta Mountain Range—both near Beaden and Hugenbite.

Vesparta and Hugenbite were separated by a long distance, so it wouldn’t have been strange for geographical and climatic factors to vary wildly. But while the specific types of vegetation were probably different, the scenery was largely the same.

It made me wonder if there was some kind of magical power at work here. This region hadn’t been investigated in such a way before. Maybe we could find something out if I brought Lucy along, but I was somewhat hesitant to drag her here on such a personal endeavor—only somewhat hesitant.

For once, Lucy hadn’t heard about this incident until I told her. While I’d been warned not to speak a word to anyone, Lucy was trustworthy. And anyway, I’d had to tell her that I wouldn’t be able to attend sword magic classes for a while.

Her reaction to my plan had been positive. She was a realist, so I’d found this rather unexpected. It had even sounded like she would’ve liked to come along—if that had been possible for her. Due to her whimsical and free-spirited behavior, it was easy to forget that she was of the same status as Allucia. She couldn’t run around on personal business whenever she wanted to.

Having her with me would’ve been hugely helpful, though. I was short on hands, but I also wouldn’t force people into action when they had no plans to make a move. Those who could ignore all else to prioritize their own circumstances were either children or those with absolute power. For Lucy to make a move, there would’ve been a mountain of hurdles for her to clear. The same went for Allucia. There wasn’t any time to wait for that.

“Hssssssss!”

“Outta the way!”

As I continued pondering how I’d ended up challenging the mountains on my own, I cut down an incoming enemy. In this region, most monsters were small to medium in size. The one I’d just slain was a thick snake called a purple pike. It was as weak as it looked but venomous, making it troublesome for any civilians.

Anyway, it was hard to overlook such a large, colorful snake. I would’ve left it alone had it not attacked me, but after it made the first move, I wasted no time in cutting it down. There’s no way something like this defeated Surena—I shouldn’t pay it any mind.

At this level, swatting away monsters was less combat and more busywork. If something like a griffon charged me, I would have to pay more attention, but I couldn’t stop moving for anything this minor. Time and stamina were limited—I wanted to avoid wasting any of either.

“Phew...”

After finishing the snake with a single strike, I took another breath. This wasn’t the first monster that had attacked me. It was a fairly frequent event, and I’d struck down every last one.

Here in the mountains, the environment was varied, lush, and home to all sorts of flora and fauna. The animals and monsters here ranged from those that were easy hunting targets to those that preyed on humans.

Well, maybe the Aflatta Mountain Range is actually on the gentler side of things—after all, humans can walk around here without being instantly overwhelmed by terrible monsters. For example, if there were a monster that scattered poison all over the atmosphere, humans wouldn’t even be able to approach. If such a thing existed, no other life could inhabit the area. The Aflatta Mountain Range wasn’t at that level. I didn’t know whether that was the case deep in the mountain wilderness, though.

Anyway, the point here was that I sensed the presence of living beings all over. It was different from the stirrings of a forest...but still a surprisingly annoying hindrance when trying to single out one thing.

“I don’t mind the noise itself, but still...”

I was in the middle of an extremely challenging mission—finding Surena’s whereabouts. I wanted to shut out all unnecessary sounds, but if I took that too far, I could get ambushed and killed. Even if I didn’t die on the spot, a minor injury would be enough to lower my odds of success. I have to avoid that. Pushing through the mountains is a truly harsh undertaking.

“I feel like I’ve climbed pretty far...” I grumbled as I took a look around me.

The mountains stretched up high above, as if to say the road ahead was still very, very long. I wasn’t aiming for the peaks or anything (nor would I be able to climb up there). I wanted to believe Surena hadn’t gone that far either.

Even though I was taking short breaks, the ascent was tiring. I’d brought enough with me to be able to camp outside if I had to, and my gear was genuinely heavy. During this warmer season, it was a small mercy to be able to spend the chilly nights without trembling. If this had been the middle of winter, surviving would’ve probably been hopeless.

Well, there was no point in griping about it. I decided to push as far as I could within the day. And just as I started moving again, a faint but certain chill ran through me.

“Hm?!”

Up until this point, the land around me had been noisy enough to rival the hustle and bustle of a city. But with each new step I took, it got quieter and quieter. And finally, I could no longer sense any signs of life around me.

“Did I hit the jackpot...?”

It was pretty impossible for this to happen within environments like forests and mountains. There were two primary reasons why natural noise might die away: One would be after a natural calamity had wiped out the local wildlife. And the other...was when you stepped foot into the territory of an apex predator. My intuition was telling me that it was the latter. And if that were the case, then the target Surena had been chasing for her mission was the one responsible for creating this atmosphere.

Normally, this would be bad news. It would be normal to run for cover, cursing what kind of place I’d wandered into. A civilian might not even notice it. However, this was good news for me right now. If I dealt with the source of this disturbance, I could search for Surena at my leisure.

Even if I didn’t find any traces of her, I had a clear idea of what to do next. The danger seemed irrelevant.

“Right, let’s get going...”

I had a course of action. I would track the lack of wildlife. If I started to sense life signs around me, I would be going the wrong direction—away from the boss of this territory. It might not let me leave at this point, though...

I took one step after another. I have far more willpower than before. Is this because I can finally visualize the possibility of saving Surena? Or is it joy from finding a yet unforeseen formidable foe?

No, maybe it’s both. Deep down, I truly wish for both. There’s no point in lying to myself. Anyway, I’ve got a clear plan now. Let’s put some spirit into this search.

◇

“It’s starting to get late...”

After all signs of life vanished, I kept walking for a while, and I eventually peered up at the sky. The incandescent ball of light had been shining down from the east when I’d started—it had now passed its zenith and was gradually making its way west.

There was still plenty of time until it would fall completely dark. However, this wasn’t enough time to find an individual in the Aflatta Mountain Range. I hadn’t truly expected to resolve things in a single day, but since I’d found a pretty good lead already, I had a greedy desire to push it as far as I could.

That said, I couldn’t afford to get stranded here either, so I had to proceed with caution. It would be outrageous to lose my way and not be able to get back. After all, if Surena was wounded, I had to be able to get us out of here.

“Phew... I really need a break...”

I took a breather, leaning against a tree to get some shade. My stamina truly was on the decline. Surena, Curuni, and Henblitz would be able to do this climb at a faster pace with fewer breaks.

This was one thing I seriously couldn’t do anything about. Even though I felt rejuvenated in spirit, my body was still old. Aging was a truly irreversible process. Lucy was weird for having somehow smashed that concept to pieces.

I sat down and rested awhile, and the only sounds I could hear were the wind and the rustling of trees. There were no animal cries of any kind. It definitely seemed like this region was the territory of an apex predator.

Would it show itself to me? I wasn’t sure, but I did appreciate that whatever it was had scared away the other wildlife. It meant I had fewer things to keep an eye out for. It was a big deal that all presences—ones you could normally detect without even trying—had vanished. This was especially true for those who lived by the sword because it made it a lot easier to notice when a new presence roamed nearby, though the lack of humans and animals also signified that this region was simply that dangerous.

Things could get really rough if the apex predator of this region specialized in stealth. I had confidence in my eyes, but to make use of that advantage, I had to be able to see my opponent. If something attacked me from outside my perception before I was even aware that there was an enemy around, I would die. The same went for Allucia and Lucy. This was simply a limitation of being human. Well, maybe being human is questionable in Lucy’s case.

However, for both humans and monsters alike, erasing all signs of bloodlust when going for the killing blow was probably impossible. I say “probably” because I couldn’t do it myself, but maybe there was something out there that could pull it off. Perhaps there was a magical way of hiding all signs of bloodlust. If something like that went in for the kill, then all hope was lost, not only for me, but for anyone and anything in existence. Humanity could easily come to an end.

The fact that humanity was still thriving proved that such a monster didn’t exist. Maybe something like that could be born in the future, but that was a problem for another time.

“Okay then... Hm?”

While I was resting, some pretty useless ideas had flitted through my mind. I decided to view this optimistically—I felt relaxed and safe enough to get lost in thought. I was standing up, ready to get back on the move, when I spotted a strange feature of the terrain.

It was still quite far away, so I couldn’t say for sure, but it looked like an indent in the mountainside. It could’ve been the result of a landslide, or perhaps it was a naturally formed cave. I’d found it by complete coincidence—if I hadn’t sat down to rest, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it.

“Hmm...”

A certain possibility came to mind. Say Surena was still alive—it was better to find somewhere to hide and rest than to stay out in the open and expose herself to enemies from all sides. Even if it wasn’t a deep cavern, it made sense to find a spot with a little cover to increase the odds of survival.

There was no guarantee that Surena was there. This was a huge mountain range, and there were plenty of natural caves all over the place, even excluding the ones that were hard to find.

However, Surena was one of the best adventurers out there. It wouldn’t be weird for her to have thoroughly investigated such spots when running or hiding had become a priority for her survival. Maybe she’d even scouted the terrain before beginning her dangerous job.

“Guess it won’t hurt to look...”

There was no reason to ignore the cave now that I’d found it. Even if Surena wasn’t there, I could use it as a forward base. And if a monster was hiding in there, I could just beat it up.

“Hup...”

I hefted my gear onto my back and moved out. The fact that I still couldn’t sense any living beings was a bit of a concern. Something supernatural was definitely going on, but I couldn’t really get a grip on what exactly was causing it.

I had a vague idea, at least. Surena had mentioned there being fewer monsters than expected right before our encounter with Zeno Grable too. So, it was likely the same thing was going on here.

However, Zeno Grable had attacked immediately after signs of life had faded. Things were different here. A monster could be watching me, but if it were anywhere nearby, I figured I would be able to sense something. The fact that I couldn’t put me ill at ease.

If the monster had left the area, life would’ve returned. Why would it remain such a desolate place? Perhaps it had come here from afar, but it was difficult to believe that any monster or animal would spend so much time away from its nest.

I thought I’d hit the jackpot at first, but maybe I was getting ahead of myself. Now that I gave it some proper thought, it was extremely abnormal for this lack of life to extend over such a wide range.

If something magical was concealing the enemy, there was nothing I could do about it. On the other hand, it made no sense for a monster to do something so crazy yet refrain from attacking. Something about this whole phenomenon just didn’t sit well with me. It’ll probably get solved as I continue searching, though.

At any rate, my mission wasn’t to clarify what was going on. I was here to rescue Surena. And though my curiosity was piqued, I couldn’t mess up my priorities.

“Ah...!”

After I walked for a while longer, I reached the indentation I’d spotted in the mountainside. Just as expected, there was a small cave—a hiding place—and I sensed something within. I didn’t know whether it was a human or a monster, but there was definitely life in there. The question was whether that presence was who I was looking for. I kept my beloved sword close as I carefully took a step inside.

“Hmph!”

“Whoa!”

As I placed my hand on the entrance to the cave, trying to take a peek inside to gather information, a flash of steel lunged out of the darkness, aimed right for me. I had my hand on the hilt of my sword but didn’t have time to fully draw it against such a fast strike. I pulled up the hilt in a fluster and used it as a shield to block the thrust. I twisted my head out of the way just in case, but if I hadn’t positioned my hilt correctly, I probably would’ve lost most of my neck.

“Whew...” I breathed a sigh of relief. “Glad you’re okay...and that I am too.”

“Master?! Wh-Why?!”

The one who’d let loose with her sword before even saying a word was none other than the exact person I was looking for: Surena Lysandra. Well, I’m sure she didn’t consider that any other humans would come all the way out here—no one besides her would risk it. It’d be far more likely for a monster to enter the cave. Her decision to go for the throat with a sneak attack was correct.

“I heard that you not only missed your return deadline, but you haven’t even made contact,” I explained. “Before I knew it, I was hurrying into the mountains to find you.”

“Erk!”

Surena’s expression showed clear signs of regret—regret for missing her deadline, for dragging others into her problems, for ultimately dragging me into it, and for her own failures. I didn’t deny that. It was true that she hadn’t sent word all this time.

“Looks like you aren’t in great shape...” I noted, “and you’ve got others with you.”

“Yes...though I’m ashamed to admit it.”

I hadn’t realized due to her sudden attack, but both her left shoulder and her waist were wounded. Her thrust hadn’t been weak in any way, though. She could move if she needed to, since she had a good supply of potions. It was a relief to see that her wounds weren’t fatal.

However, if that had been all, she should’ve been able to make her way down the mountainside on her own. As I considered that, I noticed another presence deeper inside the cave.

So that’s the reason she hasn’t gotten out of here yet.

“What’s their status?” I asked.

“Our seeker died...” Surena murmured. “We have one lightly wounded and one severely wounded.”

“I see...”

It seemed Surena had been working in a team of four. Due to the casualty and their injuries, they’d judged that it would be too dangerous to move around carelessly and had instead taken refuge inside this cave. Actually...even if Surena’s injuries are minor, that means I’m the only one here in peak condition.

When Surena had dropped by my house, she’d told me that she’d planned to do this solo. But ultimately, she’d chosen to form a team to investigate the Aflatta Mountain Range. I didn’t know what had led to that, but there was no point in asking. Given how things had turned out, the reasons didn’t really matter.

“You faced something strong enough to injure you and your team,” I said. “I’m guessing things aren’t so simple.”

“Yes...” Surena confirmed. “We are probably still being watched.”

“Hmmm. I haven’t sensed anything, though...”

I questioned her claim. I really hadn’t sensed a thing. It was surprisingly easy to detect when someone was watching you, even for an amateur. And if that gaze contained hostility or bloodlust, it could sometimes be apparent from a fair distance. It would honestly have been eerie if we were being watched but couldn’t sense anything. Surena had said “probably,” so she didn’t have any evidence either.

“What makes you think that?” I asked.

“We tried escaping several times, but it appeared every time we did. It pretty much never makes a move while we hide here, though... It’s unclear whether this tenacity comes from sadism or cowardice.”

“I see...”

It might sound strange to call a monster cowardly, but it was entirely possible. There was no guarantee this monster actually stood at the top of the food chain, after all. It made sense for a monster to fear something stronger than it and act cowardly for the sake of survival. However, that was only if it possessed the intelligence to properly tame its own fear. That would definitely make it all the more formidable as a foe. I could see why they’d sent Surena to investigate.

“Well, we should be able to handle it one way or another if it shows up,” I said.

“That might be difficult...”

“Why?”

Surena was injured but not incapacitated. And though I was a little tired, I was in pretty much peak condition. I’d figured the two of us could pull it off as long as we could find the monster. However, Surena had deemed this unlikely. I thought she’d say, “There is no foe we cannot take down together, Master,” or something, so her response had been a little unexpected.

Hm...? I kinda came here assuming I’d be able to resolve this and that she’d rely on me.

One year ago, I would’ve never thought that. It was a little late to realize that I could probably take the monster down only after coming to the mountains on my own, but that was simply how my brain worked. When undergoing a huge mental shift, as I had recently, it was possible to grow arrogant. I have to be careful about that.

I’m getting carried away by my thoughts—none of that is the real issue right now. For some reason, Surena believed the two of us would have a hard time.

“You can’t see it,” she explained. “That thing...is capable of turning invisible.”

“Wh-Whaaa...?”

That was a bit of a problem. Isn’t that seriously cheating?

“So it...vanishes? Talk about overpowered...” I muttered.

“It is...”

The complete fiction I’d thought up on the way here had ended up being pretty close to reality. A part of me thought that maybe it would be better not to let my imagination run wild and conjure ideas into being.

Either way, we couldn’t remain here. Surena knew a lot more about this monster than I did, so I had a ton of questions for her. First, assuming it could turn invisible, how had Surena found that out? If it was capable of vanishing, then it was impossible to identify. After all, it could just remain invisible all the time. However, Surena knew that it could turn invisible, so she must’ve seen it do just that. I was hoping we could figure out the conditions from there.

“If it can’t be seen, then how did you figure out what it could do?” I asked.

“It seems to only reveal itself the moment it lands an attack,” Surena explained. “I don’t know the exact logic behind it, though...”

“Hmmm...”

That still made it pretty hard to develop a strategy. Even if its bloodlust was detectable the moment it attacked, reacting to an invisible strike was pretty much impossible. That would require reflexes that transcended human limits. I obviously hadn’t ascended to that territory, nor had Surena.

“Can you ever feel its presence?” I asked.

“A little bit—when it attacks. That’s how we managed to survive this long.”

“I see.”

That still meant there was nothing to sense until it struck. If Surena was able to react, then I would probably be able to dodge one or two hits if I tried really, really hard. However, counterattacking was an entirely different problem. From what I’d been told so far, I doubted I could land a hit. Honestly, my concentration would be entirely focused on dodging, giving me no room to attack. Also, having no direct experience against this thing was a major downside. There was a limit to how much I could work out using only my imagination. It was entirely possible for me to see a vague outline of something, only to be killed the next instant.

“Hm?! Are reinforcements here?!” a voice asked from deeper inside the cave.

“Keep resting,” Surena said. “Your wounds aren’t too bad, but you still can’t move properly.”

“If only resting would get us anywhere...but it isn’t going to, right?”

Judging from the voice, it was a man—and not a young one. Someone accompanying Surena on her mission would have to be a veteran. I figured that he had to be fairly old, but not old enough to be past his peak. He had a proper yet pessimistic grasp of the situation. Well, at least it’s better than him panicking after getting his hopes up. His assessment definitely makes him sound like a veteran.

“I don’t know who you are...” he said, turning to me, “but you got this far, so I’m guessing you’re no amateur. You in good condition? If so, then take her and get out of here already.”

Surena immediately protested. “But then, you two will—!”

“Our lives are cheap...” the man said, cutting her off. “Well, maybe that’s going too far. Still, we’re worth far less than a black rank.”

I sank into thought as they talked. From an extreme point of view, Surena’s life was indeed valuable. I thought so personally, and the world at large did as well. It would be a huge loss for a black rank adventurer to die here.

However, Surena didn’t want to be forced to make that sacrifice. Their survival thus far had likely been due to her skills, but that meant if Surena withdrew, they were pretty much guaranteed to die.

They seemed accepting of that outcome if it meant Surena survived, but she wasn’t okay with it. She hated the idea of sacrificing anyone. And normally, she would have been right, but their seeker had already died. The other adventurer, who hadn’t spoken yet, was heavily wounded and probably didn’t have long to live. So, her companions figured it would be better to save the one person who could be saved with my help. It wasn’t ideal in any way, but there were no better alternatives.

I would probably have to be the one to make the decision. I didn’t possess any authority over them, but anything we did revolved around me. Whatever I chose to do, they would have no choice but to go along with it.

“Master, what about other reinforcements?!” Surena asked, clinging to her last hope.

“Honestly, I doubt anyone will come,” I told her. “We had to throw all kinds of formalities out the window just to get me here.”

I’d been able to make it here, so others could too. She wasn’t wrong in assuming that, but there were barriers to any rescuing party: They either had to go through all the formalities of getting official permission, or they had to be in the unique position to ignore all the red tape.

If I could be certain that the adventurers would remain safe inside this cave, then the best choice would be for me to bring information back to Baltrain and return with more reinforcements. However, that would require me to explain why I’d acted on my own, and we would need time to dispatch an official rescue party.

I did have one other hope: the search party organized by the adventurer’s guild. I wonder how far they’ve gotten... I doubted they were anywhere near the Aflatta Mountain Range yet. And frankly, I’d rendezvoused with Surena out of sheer luck, so it would be wishful thinking to expect others to follow in my footsteps and have that same luck. Knowing all this, it was better to leave the search party out of the equation. I would’ve loved for them to show up out of nowhere, though.

How many days would it take for me to descend the mountains, relay this information, get it approved, and for a party to make it all the way back here? There was absolutely no guarantee Surena’s party would still be alive by then. Surena and the man she was speaking with could maybe last for a while, but the heavily wounded adventurer wasn’t likely to make it much longer.

“Just to ask...” I began.

“Yes?”

“Do you know what makes it show up?”

“It always attacks when we approach its nest and whenever we try to leave its territory,” Surena answered. “It doesn’t make a move while we remain hidden. Again, I don’t know if it’s being prudent or cowardly...”

“So otherwise, it just watches.”

“In all likelihood. I assume it’s focused on analyzing our strength.”

“I see...”

This made sense—if it indiscriminately attacked everything that entered its territory, it could get killed by a stronger opponent. Guess it’s trying to avoid that. It really was being prudent or cowardly. For a monster strong enough to challenge Surena, it had strange tendencies.

It was particularly suspicious that it didn’t attack while we remained in shelter—that was a poor way of maintaining its territory. If there was no fear of being eaten, then other signs of life wouldn’t have vanished so cleanly.

In other words, this invisible monster was carefully observing anything that entered its territory, and it only attacked after it’d judged it could win. If it couldn’t, it would just let its target go. Maybe it had seen the adventurers as a threat to its dominance, so it had decided to kill them rather than letting them go. That was what I pictured based on this information, at least.

So, from this monster’s perspective...did it let me go because it didn’t think it could win? I doubted it. If it attacked Surena, there was no reason for it to avoid me, though perhaps it hadn’t attacked me on the way here because it’d been analyzing my strength.

“All right...” I muttered. I turned to the wounded man. “Sorry, but can you still move?”

“Yeah, somewhat... I’m Pisces Clayton, a platinum rank adventurer.”

“Oh, right. I’m Beryl Gardenant... You can say I make a living off my blade.”

“I’m not gonna pry. You chucked out all the red tape and procedures to get here, yeah?”

“Well, yeah.”

I’d spoken to the adventurer, and only after had I realized that I hadn’t even introduced myself. That’s a little shameful of me... Not that this situation calls for perfect etiquette. Anyway, in the middle of introducing myself, I’d hesitated on whether to reveal my occupation. After all, I’d thrown out all formalities to make a move on my own. I kind of wanted to avoid leaking any information.

Well, it was mostly a matter of time before word got out. Still, since I’d gone with this pretense already, I didn’t want to break it on my own. It was also true that I made a living off my blade, so I hoped he could forgive me for that.

“Anyway, take these,” I said. “Glad they didn’t go to waste.”

“Th-Thank you!”

No matter what we decided to do, staying here wasn’t an option. However, before moving on to discussing any plans, I had to hand over the potions, medical supplies, and food I’d brought. They surely had their own supplies, but they were probably low after spending several days in this cave.

“It’s not exactly top-shelf stuff, but it’s better than nothing,” I added.

“It honestly helps a lot,” Pisces said. “Even a minor wound can be pretty bad if it starts festering.”

“That’s true.”

Potions didn’t have a drastic immediate effect, but they were far better than nothing. For anything but a fatal wound, they could at least stop things from getting worse.

Also, as the famous saying goes, you can’t fight on an empty stomach. Hunger was a monster that drained stamina and willpower at a terrifying rate. All living creatures were incapable of escaping that curse. Being temporarily relieved of that made a major difference. The battlefield was quite literally a place where those who ran out of stamina and willpower collapsed. Replenishment was an absolute necessity.

“So? What’s the plan?” Pisces asked, splashing a potion over his wound and tearing into a piece of jerky.

I had an idea, but I needed everyone’s understanding and cooperation. It was a very dangerous plan, after all.

“Pisces,” I said, “can you run while carrying the other injured adventurer?”

“Can’t refuse to, even if I wanted to,” he answered. “It’ll be rough, but if it gets us back alive, I’ll do it.”

“Thanks.”

Any plan I proposed needed to include at least the possibility of getting the survivors back in one piece. Otherwise, Surena would refuse. So for now, we couldn’t consider any plans that required abandoning the heavily injured adventurer.

“Surena,” I said, “you can still fight, I assume?” I figured that was the case, given her earlier sneak attack, but it was important to make sure, especially when our next move was a matter of life and death.

“Of course. I’m not in peak condition, but I can still manage—” As she spoke, she seemed to deduce what I was thinking. “Master, you don’t mean...”

“You’ve probably got the right idea,” I said. “You and I are going to charge out of its territory while protecting Pisces.”

“Wha?!”

It would be difficult for Surena to win on her own. It would be even harder for her to do so while protecting her team. I wasn’t likely to win on my own either—in the worst case I would die in one hit if ambushed from behind. However, Surena and I together could probably pull it off.

I wasn’t going to be greedy and say we should defeat it. Our top priority was getting Surena, Pisces, the heavily wounded adventurer, and me out alive. That was never going to be achieved if we huddled together in this cave.

“It’ll probably attack us,” I said. “However, the odds of getting help while waiting here are basically nil.”

“Understood...” Surena conceded. “It’s time I steel my resolve. If the two of us can’t manage, then what hope is there?”

“I wanna say you shouldn’t drag me into this...” Pisces grumbled, “But if you trust him that much, Lysandra, I guess that’s just the way it goes.”

Not too long ago, I would’ve found Surena’s absolute trust in me to be a burden. I would’ve complained, saying it was too much responsibility for me, even if it made me happy and embarrassed. But now, I was clearly different. This change hadn’t taken place over the course of a single day but had been more of a gradual yet certain transformation. I wouldn’t allow this determination within me to fade away ever again. The day it did would surely be the day of my death—and today wasn’t that day.

“Hup...! This guy’s Pauford,” Pisces said, hefting the wounded adventurer. “We call him Pau. Remember that.”

“I won’t forget,” I told him. “Let’s do formal introductions once we’re all out of here safely.”

“Ha ha! Let’s... We’re counting on you.”

“You got it.”

Surena took a moment to replace her bandages and then drew her twin swords. “Ready when you are, Master.”

I nodded. “Let’s go.”

I couldn’t be anxious about whether I could get everyone safely out of the Afflata Mountain Range. I was spurred by a strong will—everyone was definitely going to make it. I had the strength to achieve that. Even if I had nothing to base it on, it was my duty to believe in such a future.

Okay, time to get to work and make my will a reality.

◇

“Okay, time to get out of here.”

“Right!”

After one last check, it was time to leave the cave. Much like on my way here, I didn’t sense anything—not the invisible monster and not any other signs of life. It was the same as before. But now that I knew the cause of it all, I had to be even more careful. If anything ambushed us, it would almost certainly be the monster. We had no choice but to push forward while keeping as alert as possible.

“It’s pretty creepy now that I think about it...” I muttered.

“It took quite a while for me to notice too,” Surena said. “We lost our seeker because there wasn’t anything at all to detect...”

“Makes sense...”

Seekers were adventurers who were responsible for securing their team’s safety by exploring and scouting the area. If I remembered right, the seeker for Porta’s team was Sarlikatz. Sarlikatz had the help of a magic tool that emitted light based on the number of presences around it. Would a tool like that even react to this monster, though? The monster clearly used magic too, so you could assume it had some way of escaping such a tool’s effects.

It was hard to believe that such a monster even existed. Any living being gave off a minuscule presence, no matter how hard they tried to hide it, and seekers understood this. Unfortunately, this notion had led to the downfall of the seeker in Surena’s party—this monster had been able to catch them off guard by exploiting that blind spot.

As for our current formation, I took the front while Surena watched the rear. Pisces was right between us, carrying Pauford. This was really the only formation we could take—the one who needed the most protection had to be in the middle.

“Pauford...hang in there...!”

Pisces shouted to the already unconscious Pauford every now and then. He’d used the potions I’d brought on Pauford too, but a potion on its own just wasn’t enough to mend a severe wound. Pauford seemed to be just barely clinging to life. If anything, he was impressive for hanging on for so long without any proper treatment. In terms of simple vitality, he was an excellent adventurer. We couldn’t afford to let him die.

“We’ll go back exactly the way I got here,” I said. “It’s still fresh in my mind, and I eliminated any noticeable threats on the way already.”

“Understood—lead on.”

In hindsight, defeating the small fry that had attacked me had been the right choice. Now, we didn’t have to spend time paying attention to additional enemies along the way.

The monster hadn’t attacked us at the cave’s exit, so I predicted it would strike the moment we were about to leave its territory. I had a certain feel for where that boundary lay, though it wasn’t visible to the eye, so we couldn’t just relax and assume we were safe. There was no telling what kind of irregularity awaited us—we couldn’t let down our guards for even a single moment.

“Just to ask,” I said, “do you know what the monster looks like?”

“It’s large and black,” Surena answered. “That’s about all we know.”

“Large and black, huh...”

That wasn’t much to go on, but its invisibility made it difficult to observe properly. If you only caught its silhouette right as it attacked, size and color were the only easily identifiable features.

Still, it being big was enough of a problem on its own. Say something evolved to be able to turn invisible—you would normally assume that adaptation was meant to help it hide from much stronger predators for the sake of survival. Being huge, strong, and having the ability to turn invisible was seriously cheating.

From what I could tell, the scenery in the Aflatta Mountain Range was the same everywhere. It wasn’t open enough to have the visibility of a field, nor was it as dense as a forest. The sun was on its way down, but it was still hanging in the sky, so if a large, black creature popped up, I would be able to spot it in an instant, even from far away. Since I can’t see it right now, it must really be invisible...

I knew Surena wasn’t lying, but until I made direct contact with the enemy, I was having problems getting a feel for it. Despite the casual thoughts going through my mind, my five senses were fortunately still in good health.

“Hm?! Pisces! Get down!” I yelled, sensing something intensely wrong.

“Gh?!”

The moment I turned around, Pisces was already moving. He’d reacted to my voice entirely on reflex. He really is a talented adventurer.

“Graaaaah!”

I brandished my sword toward that sense of dread I was feeling, and without the slightest visual premonition, a giant black monster suddenly blocked my view of the mountain scenery. My eyes managed to catch its incoming claw.

“Ugh!”

It was already mid-swing, coming at me horizontally. Naturally, I had no time to dodge, let alone counterattack. I only just managed to put my sword in the way. My brilliant blade definitely caught its blow, but my body couldn’t withstand the impact. I’d never thought I could best it in a contest of pure physical strength, but this attack was still far heavier than I’d expected—it easily lifted my body off the ground.

“Hup!”

I let the force carry me into the air, twisted my body, and managed to land on my feet. The moment my vision was level with the ground again, there was nothing at all—where the monster should’ve been, I saw empty space. Only the faintest vestige of its presence remained in the air to prove that the beast truly existed.

“It backed off after one attack...?” I muttered.

I’d been scrambling to decide what to do if it’d kept up the attack, but fortunately, it hadn’t come to that. Though I’d regained my balance as quickly as possible, the monster hadn’t followed up at all. The huge figure I’d spotted for just an instant the moment it’d attacked had completely vanished.

“I’m surprised you saw it coming...” Pisces said, getting up off the ground. “You really saved us.”

I hadn’t sensed a presence. I’d noticed it was there slightly before its presence had become apparent. You could call it instinct, I suppose.

“It made a sound,” I explained.

“It did...?”

I’d heard the sound of it kicking off the ground to attack. There was one thing I’d figured out from this: This monster was capable of erasing its image and presence. There was no mistaking that. As I said, I hadn’t sensed any presence until the moment of its attack. I didn’t claim to be the strongest swordsman in the world or anything, but if Surena and I were both incapable of sensing it, it was no exaggeration to say that the monster didn’t leave a trace of its presence.

However, it wasn’t like the monster vanished from the world itself. When it kicked off the ground, it created vibrations in the earth; if it walked through a meadow or forest, it would surely leave behind footprints. I was starting to see why it lived in the Aflatta Mountain Range. When it walked around on the hard stone of the mountain, it hardly left behind any tracks.

Also, it was pretty safe to assume that it couldn’t attack while invisible. If it could, it would basically be invincible. There must be some reason it can’t. I’d sensed the incoming attack due to the sound but had managed to fend it off because I’d managed to verify the attack by eye the moment before impact.

“Master, are you all right?” Surena asked, more just to check than out of any true concern.

“Yeah, this time. But...it might be hard to keep this up.”

We’d gotten out of this ambush unscathed. I didn’t know why exactly it hadn’t kept up the attack, even though I’d clearly lost my balance, but we’d definitely made it through. That said, combat wasn’t so simple—I couldn’t claim we’d be fine next time just because we’d managed it once. If our enemy were intelligent, it would be analyzing how I’d managed to block it. It might even have other means of attacking.

“Master?” Surena prompted as I remained deep in thought.

“O-Oh. Sorry, let’s pick up the pace.”

As I considered the enemy’s abilities, something started to bother me. However, we didn’t have the time to stop and think about it—we had to move.

The moment it had launched its attack, I’d clearly spotted its hulking form. Much like Surena had said, it was huge. It was approximately the same length as Zeno Grable but was significantly wider and far more muscular. And though it was mostly jet-black, that didn’t mean its entire body was a single color. Its claws and parts of its wings had a reddish tinge. The combination of black with red highlights was pretty sinister.

“There’s no way...right?” I muttered.

I’d only seen it for an instant. My eyes were good, but it was difficult to get a full picture of the monster in so little time. Still, something kept flickering through my mind. A bitter memory from my past resonated, a memory of the monster who’d just ambushed us.

“It’s a bit late to ask...” I said, “but is that thing a named monster?”

“Yes. Id Invicius,” Surena said. “It’s a phantom named monster. Its existence has been proven...but there have never been any real eyewitness accounts of it.”

“I see...”

I’d never heard the name, of course. Normally, if something like that was throwing its weight around, it would immediately be discovered. The fact that there were no eyewitness accounts meant that it remained invisible at all times.

“Haaah...”

I let out a long sigh. I knew it. I had an unpleasant history with this particular monster.

As a younger swordsman, I’d often ignored useful information, like how dangerous opponents or environments could be. I’d only wanted to see how far my blade could take me. The very definition of youthful indiscretion... But then, in the mountains near Beaden, I’d met with a fierce monster. It’d beaten me black and blue, and I’d been forced to scuttle back home in a panic. Thinking back on it now, I’d been extremely reckless. I’d overestimated my abilities and had charged into the Aflatta Mountain Range without a team or any preliminary investigation. My swordsmanship had also been quite immature compared to now. It was honestly still surprising that I’d made it back alive—I’d gotten tremendously lucky.

“That thing has probably been prowling the Aflatta Mountain Range for a long time,” I said.

“That’s the current theory...” Surena confirmed. “You’re well informed.”

“Not really. I’m just guessing.”

Once that thing began tugging on the string of my memories, it was impossible to stop thinking about it. I’d had a chance meeting with Id Invicius before—a long time ago, during my youth.

It was a bitter memory—a black stain on my past that I didn’t want to think about. I honestly didn’t remember how many years ago it’d happened. I knew it was before my dad had yielded the seat of head instructor to me, so I had to have been younger than twenty. Back then, I’d gotten cocky. I’d built up plenty of confidence because although I hadn’t been able to beat my dad, I’d pretty much never lost against my juniors and seniors who’d been learning swordplay alongside me.

A part of me had believed that I had to be strong. Looking back on it now, I’d been utterly impertinent. Spurred on by self-assurance, I’d gone on a search to see how far my blade could take me.

I’d accompanied my dad on the saberboar hunts back then too, so I’d been familiar with a small portion of the Aflatta Mountain Range. That had played a big role in my reckless decision—even though saberboars only inhabited the foot of the mountains or the shallow mountainsides at most.

My eyes had always been good. Even if I’d had a long way to go in polishing my swordplay, my dad had always acknowledged my eyesight—and only my eyesight. For some reason, the one thing I’d had trouble following was his blade. Everything else I’d been able to see perfectly. That was probably why I’d overestimated my own abilities. As long as I could see a foe, even if I couldn’t win, I could always run away. That was what I’d believed.

It was hard to claim that I’d matured completely since then, but I’d definitely grown up. That was why I knew better now—I’d relied on my eyesight back then but had possessed nothing else to rely on. I’d been somewhat similar to how the knight Evans was now. Due to my good eyes, I’d depended on doing everything reflexively.

Most strong swordsmen had good eyes, but having good eyes didn’t make you a strong swordsman. My chance encounter with Id Invicius had drilled that harsh reality into my mind.

Looking back on it now, I didn’t remember anything about there being no signs of life around the monster’s territory. I only recalled being utterly toyed with, left on the verge of death, and crawling my way back home. I’d definitely gotten lucky. In a normal fight, I would’ve died on the spot, but I’d managed to get away and avoid any fatal wounds.

I probably didn’t intrude too far into its territory. Back then, I hadn’t possessed the backbone to stand up and fight defiantly after taking a hit like the one it’d dealt me. I hadn’t even been able to get a good look at the thing. And frankly, had I possessed such spirit, my life would probably have ended in the middle of the mountains on that day. I’d never expected to get a glimpse of that possibility so many years after that fact.

At any rate, the situation now was very different from back then. I couldn’t leave Surena’s team and run away—that would’ve been an option only if they had been wiped out before my arrival.

As I ruminated over my bitter memories, I muttered, “A troublesome foe...”

“Yes, I couldn’t agree more,” Surena replied. She likely had a much different perspective on this situation than I did.

Until its attack, I hadn’t seen it as anything more than a formidable foe, but now, it really felt like something I would have a hard time dealing with. That negative mindset was unexpectedly unyielding and troublesome. I didn’t need to doubt myself before a clash to the death—that would make winning even harder.

While the current situation was different, that same self-doubt was why I hadn’t been able to beat my dad for so long. I was subconsciously telling myself that I had no chance, preventing me from drawing out my full strength.

I’d definitely grown since then and developed some confidence. I also now had a very important reason not to lose. Regardless, I couldn’t wipe my anxiety from my mind completely. Just can’t do anything about that. That said, I couldn’t stop just because anxiety tormented me. I had to raise the odds of all of us getting back alive in any way I could.

“Did it ambush you guys like this before?” I asked.

“Yes...” Surena confirmed. “It took our seeker with the first attack. After that, we retreated while I covered Pau and Pisces, but I couldn’t keep them safe...”

“So it never attacks multiple times in succession.”

“It seems that way.”

The important detail to focus on was that Id Invicius didn’t attack continuously. Frankly, even without the boon of being able to turn invisible and erase its presence, the attack I’d blocked had been dreadful. I didn’t know how fast it was, since I hadn’t been able to see it until right before the attack had landed, but it possessed tremendous strength.

With such power and its huge frame, you’d think it would have no need to be wary of any opponents. Just earlier, I’d somehow managed to block the first attack and had been sent flying through the air. Pisces and Pauford had taken cover on the ground. We’d been full of openings to exploit. Surena had been in a position to make a move, but there’d been more than enough time for the monster to launch a second strike.

Strategically, the monster needed to both reduce enemy numbers and finish off its prey—thus, if I were Id Invicius, I would’ve definitely made sure to take out at least one target. It was strong enough to pull that off.

But it hadn’t come in for the kill. That very fact backed the theory that Id Invicius was a scaredy-cat. A part of me refused to believe that this was all there was to it, though. Regardless, it was a bad idea to rely entirely on theory when strategizing. We could only be informed by our observations, and we had to avoid arbitrarily deciding that anything was fact.

“Anyway, we know one of its approaches,” I told the others. “Let’s keep alert and continue our descent.”

“Right!”

“We’re counting on you,” Pisces said. “You’re literally our last ray of hope.”

Our formation remained the same. I took the front, Surena the back, and Pisces was between us. Much like my time in the Aflatta Mountain Range with Henblitz and Curuni, no matter how much of a hurry we were in, it was impossible to run as fast in the mountains as you could on an even surface. Slipping and falling wouldn’t be a huge deal for me, but it could be fatal for Pisces and Pauford. We definitely wanted to avoid such a foolish end after coming so far. I tried to go as fast as possible, but I also needed to make sure not to outpace those behind me. It was pretty nerve-racking.

I would’ve loved to have kept this up, to have never met the monster again—I just wanted to make it out of the mountains safely. However, I had a premonition that things weren’t likely to go that well, and an anxious part of my brain yelled at me that things were definitely going to go wrong.

Though my premonition was correct, my anxieties were unfounded. It was proof—even if losing to Id Invicius before hadn’t left lasting trauma, I had a hard time dealing with it. Say, for example, that this had been my first time seeing the monster—I would’ve wanted Id Invicius to attack at least one more time (as long as it didn’t deal me a death blow, of course). Man, where does that thought even come from?

I wanted to know the frequency of its combat loop: vanish, attack, vanish, and attack again. While I remembered the failure of my past, there was no way for me to recall the exact flow of time in that battle. I’d sensed it attacking me just now at the very last second, but I wanted more information for when it struck again—being able to foreshadow its attacks and analyze the aftermath of them would be very helpful.

So yes, this analytical part of my mind definitely existed, but my anxiety and fear were more prominent. I felt entirely different than when I’d fought Zeno Grable, Lono Ambrosia, and the griffon in Hugenbite. I could admit to being excited—I was, after all, battling a strong foe—but that excitement was plastered over by a viscous sense of unease that refused to be wiped away.

I need to stop. I can’t let it consume me. If I do, then Surena, Pisces, Pauford, and I will all die. I can’t let that happen.

I understood that, but would my body even be able to perform at its full potential? My tendency to worry endlessly had manifested in a horrible way.

“Whoa!”

“Graaah!”

Lost in thought as I was, it was only natural that I didn’t react when Id Invicius suddenly appeared out of thin air once more. I could do nothing to counter its downward slash.

“Master?!”

It felt like time slowed down as Surena’s sorrowful shriek echoed in my ear. I could still hear. My brain still worked. At the very least, I wasn’t dead. However, my left arm was probably out of commission for a while. I hadn’t been able to lift my right arm—my sword arm—in time, and my body hadn’t moved out of the way fast enough.

A sharp pain shot from my left arm to the rest of my body. But the fact that I could still feel pain meant I wasn’t out of the fight just yet. A part of me, fostered by my experience as a swordsman into a certain kind of instinct, was able to calmly assess my current state—despite my anxiety and fear toward Id Invicius.

“Shhh!”

Before even staggering from my wound, I swung with my right arm, knowing that the left one was now useless. Last time, I’d been blown back by the strike, but this time, I was still right next to my target. I counterattacked before a groan of pain could escape my lips. If this hits, it means that it’s possible to counterattack during the tiny window in which Id Invicius strikes.

“Tch!”

My hopes were half right and half wrong. My sword definitely reached Id Invicius. It was agile, but it wasn’t able to retreat fast enough to get away from a counterattack. Though it was definitely still fast, I felt like we stood a chance of fighting back.

However, my hopes were betrayed by the fact that I clearly hadn’t dealt any damage. The feedback in my hand after I dealt the blow was somewhat similar to striking an extremely hard object—like Lono Ambrosia’s core. Even if I’d struck with perfect posture and a perfect slash, I doubted I could’ve cut through this. That irritating sensation lingered in my hand.

To an onlooker, it must’ve looked like my sword had come to a sudden stop in midair. But that proved something: When the monster couldn’t be seen, it was definitely still there and wasn’t escaping to another dimension or something.

That said, if my sword couldn’t penetrate its body, we’d have to try a different approach. I felt like we needed more than just simple blades and swordplay. That puts it beyond my abilities, though. My only choice was to somehow get Surena and Pisces out of here, then turn to the higher-ups to sort the rest out.

“Master! Are you all right?!” Surena yelled.

“Y-Yeah... Ow ow ow!”

Id Invicius’s presence had vanished once more, but we couldn’t be careless, and my wound needed treatment. Considering the situation and our list of priorities, jumping into a fight to the death while trailing blood behind me wasn’t a great idea. Surena had surely come to the same conclusion.

Dammit. Really sucks that I can’t sense it. Normally, I’d get to take a breather if I found that there was nothing hostile around. This is getting on my nerves.

“Master, do you have more potions?” Surena asked frantically.

“I think I still have some... Look in my backpack... Ow...”

I’d handed out potions and bandages to Surena and Pisces in the cave, but I was pretty sure there were more. Even without potions, I wanted to at least get a bandage around my wound. At worst, I could tear up my clothes for a makeshift bandage, but I didn’t want to resort to that if I didn’t have to.

“Found it! Master, please—”

“Wait,” Pisces said, cutting Surena off. “Lysandra, I know you’re worried, but focus on keeping watch. I’ll treat him. I doubt I’ll be of any use against that thing right now, anyway.”

“R-Right... Understood...”

Surena managed to fish a potion and clean bandages out of my backpack as Pisces put Pauford down and took over. His judgment was correct, so I kept quiet. Surena seemed reluctant to agree, though—her personal feelings had to take a back seat to our needs.

Pisces emptied the potion over my open wound.

“Gh...! That stings...” I grumbled.

“You’re lucky it didn’t tear,” Pisces said, wrapping a bandage around it. His expression wasn’t cheerful in any way. “But...”

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “It’s my body.”

I’d suffered the wound—my body was telling me what the situation was. The gash ran from my left shoulder down my bicep. It was pure luck that the muscle had refused to separate from the bone. However, it’d done everything but physically rip flesh from bone. I clenched my left hand. Well, I tried to, anyway, but I didn’t have any strength. Though I tried to move my fingers, they remained still. I was right-handed, so while losing my left was inconvenient, it wouldn’t hamper my daily life. For a swordsman, however, losing one arm was fatal.

There were one-armed swordsmen out there in the wide world, and you could surely find a strong one if you looked hard enough. However, using my metrics for good swordsmanship, being strong with only one arm was extremely unlikely. It was perfectly obvious—to accomplish any task, having two hands was more convenient than only having one. Swordplay was no exception.

“Well, it’s not too expensive a price to pay in exchange for your lives...” I said. “It’s not cheap either, but at least my arm didn’t get lopped off.”

“You’re amazing...” Pisces told me. “It’s rare to see a guy prepared to go that far for a stranger.”

“It’s not like I’d do it for just anyone,” I said. “I’m not that much of a saint... Ow.”

After using the potion, Pisces quickly applied pressure and stopped the bleeding. He moved with very practiced motions, even while talking. There was no longer any blood leaking out, so it seemed I would be able to move for a while longer. Doing emergency treatment using only one hand would be precarious—I wanted to avoid having to do so.

“I-It’s not too late for your arm!” Surena yelled while keeping an eye on our surroundings. “If you get a skilled wizard to look at it, you can still—!”

“Only if such a wizard happens to be around,” I retorted.

“Gh...!”

I didn’t want to give up either. I wasn’t so optimistic that I could simply claim, “Well, my left arm is broken, so let’s aim for the summit one-handed!” However, just as I’d said, this price was worth paying if it saved Surena. I would surely have done the same for Allucia, Curuni, Ficelle, and Mewi.

I wasn’t a saint or anything. Say I got the verdict that my arm would never heal—I couldn’t confidently say that I would still be okay with the decision after years of living with the consequences. The human heart was fickle, after all. Still, regret was an emotion that came after the crisis was over. Regretting a future that had yet to come was ridiculous. I could only make a decision based on the information I had right now, and from that perspective, I was okay with the loss.

“Okay, that should do for now,” Pisces said as he finished up my treatment.

“Thanks,” I told him. “You’re as good as I’d expect. Not much to be done about the pain, though... It won’t get in the way.”

“You’re welcome...doesn’t quite seem like the correct response.”

“Ha ha, you’ve got a point there.”

He’d treated my wound, but he’d technically been partially responsible for it, so he struggled to accept any gratitude. But I’d come here of my own volition and had suffered this wound because of my choice. I had no intention of passing the blame. Bit of a deep injury to be called an honor scar, though...

“My legs still work,” I said. I stood, my sword in my right hand. “For now, let’s just focus on getting out of its territory as fast as possible.”

Surena’s expression was ghastly. “Understood...”

It would be a little difficult to draw my sword from its sheath with my left arm out of commission. It wasn’t impossible, but I didn’t want to waste the time on it—I couldn’t spare even an instant against this opponent.

Our entire team was now wounded, though Surena had the lightest injuries of us all. I was here to save her, so it would be meaningless if I didn’t get them to the foot of the mountains alive.

The look on Surena’s face was intense—she felt that her failure had become a major nuisance to many people around her. That was surely how she interpreted this situation, and I didn’t deny that entirely. However, my wound was a result of me personally wanting to do something to rescue her. I’d even gotten help from many others to get here—they’d compensated for everything I’d lacked. When you looked at it that way, none of this was her responsibility.

But would she be able to accept that logic right away? Probably not. If Surena and I switched places, I doubted I could’ve accepted it.

“Anyway, given the situation, being alive is enough of a boon on its own,” I told her. “Let’s keep that in mind and move on.”

“All right...”

I tried to be cheerful, but Surena remained gloomy. I doubted this mood would affect her brilliance in combat, but she was injured too. If we let Id Invicius continue to do as it pleased, would we be able to make it out of here alive?

It was curious that it hadn’t finished us after that blow. I’d blocked its first attack and learned that it vanished without immediately following up with another strike. The second time it’d attacked, I’d taken a bad hit. I’d counterattacked, refusing to let it get that hit for free, and though I wasn’t sure my blade had actually bitten into its body, my sword had definitely reached its target.

In theory, it might’ve gotten wary due to my strike and chosen to back off. My attack hadn’t had any effect whatsoever, yet it had still chosen to turn invisible. Considering that I was fighting a wild beast, some things just didn’t make sense.

Maybe it was getting warier because both Surena and I had survived its attacks. This was likely the key to getting out of here, but we had far too little information about our foe. And I’m already bad at the intellectual side of things.

I was confident in my ability to analyze a foe in the midst of battle, but I was quite bad at discovering the truth based on a partial picture or tugging at the smallest thread to find the answer to a tough question. This was especially true when our opponent was totally cheating and using magic to erase its presence. This is completely outside my field of expertise. Lucy might be able to figure it out, but it’s too much to ask for her to be here right now.

Also, pain and the effects of blood loss were dulling my thoughts. I would’ve loved to lie down and get some rest. Stinks that I can’t do that... Still, I could push through on sheer willpower. The strength you could muster in a crisis was unexpectedly impressive, but it didn’t last long. I wanted to secure our safety while I still had that surge of power.

Anyway, it’ll be bad if we get attacked again. Really, really bad. As I continued forward with that thought in mind, Surena and I noticed something at the same time.

“Hm...?”

“Master!”

The scenery had changed. More specifically, we could detect signs of life again. The presences we could sense were those often found in the middle of vast mountain ranges...if that made any sense. Anyway, this meant we’d made it out of our abnormal situation.

“It’s weird to feel safe because we can sense other beings around, though...” I muttered.

Normally, sensing things prowling around in the mountains meant it wasn’t safe. There was no telling when something was going to attack you, after all. But in this one case, things were different. We’d made it out of Id Invicius’s area of influence—out of its territory.

I sighed in relief.

So the site of its second strike was the border of its territory. I only knew of the path I’d traveled, but its territory seemed vast. I didn’t know whether this was because it’d gone on a rampage in the area or if the local wildlife had learned to fear it.

“There’s no reason to stop here,” I said. “Let’s hurry.”

“Right!”

This wasn’t the place to let our guard down—we still had to watch for Id Invicius or any other enemies. Things have gotten easier, though.

At any rate, we hurried onward.

I left watching the rear to Surena and focused only on the front. Even though we’d gotten out of its territory, there was no guarantee Id Invicius would leave us alone. Our only choice was to get out of the mountains as fast as possible.

“Oh, a purple pike.”

A while after traveling back down the path, I spotted one of the purple pikes I’d killed. Judging by the cut, it’d clearly been me. I mean, who else could it have been? Though it seemed obvious that we were going the right way, having proof was a load off my mind.

The sun was still out—it wasn’t dark yet. Even so, it was surprisingly difficult to navigate a mountainous region. My previous experience in the Aflatta Mountain Range was paying off.

“Was this you, Master?” Surena asked.

“Yeah, on the way here... I honestly don’t remember how many I killed, though...”

I’d simply cut down everything that had gotten in my way, so I had no idea how many I’d gone through. At any rate, there were countless numbers of these things in the Aflatta Mountain Range.

Now that we’d gotten this far, the goal was in sight. We were basically at the foot of the mountains, and the monsters and animals in the region were relatively less of a threat. We couldn’t be positive that something wouldn’t suddenly attack us, but I hoped fate would just cut us some slack. Not that I’m going to let my guard down or anything.

“I never thought we’d get out alive...” Pisces said. “Thanks, man.”

“It’s a little early for that...” I replied, trying to get him to stay focused. “Haaah...”

“That’s true... Hey, you okay?”

He’s worried about me. It was honestly pretty hard to keep up a strong front when my arm hurt like hell. To reiterate, the normalization of presences around us had relaxed the tension in the air. Though I’d gotten emergency treatment, the wound hadn’t healed, and I hadn’t recovered any lost blood. I needed proper rest and healing to recover my stamina. Right now, I was hanging on by sheer willpower.

“I’m...not really okay...” I said, “but I’ll hang in there.”

“Sorry ’bout this,” Pisces replied. “I’m carrying Pau already. Two’s a bit much.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Not many people could carry two grown adults. Curuni could probably have pulled it off, though. Surena was still capable of moving on her own, so if I collapsed, she would surely carry me. But if that happened, there would be nobody left to keep watch. Even during our trip into the Aflatta Mountain Range near Beaden, Henblitz and I had watched the front and rear so that Curuni could carry the saberboars between us. In this kind of environment, two skilled fighters was the bare minimum to keep an eye out for threats.

“The foot of the mountain is right there! C’mon!” Pisces yelled, cheering me on.

“Yeah, I’ll manage... Hup!”

We continued down the vague path. I cut down whatever small monsters we came across in a single slash. I didn’t even have the leisure to pay attention to what they were. If anything got in my way, it died. That was all. We repeated this laborious work while descending the mountains, fueled by nothing but willpower and guts.

Finally, an extremely welcome sight came into view, and I shouted in excitement. “There it is!”

The western city of Vesparta lay before us, its walls looming in the distance. We had successfully descended from the Aflatta Mountain Range.

Hoooly crap, that was close. Seriously.

Though I’d somehow managed to keep up appearances, I was on the verge of losing consciousness.

“We’re saved! Master... Master?!”

“Hm? Aah... Yeah...”

I flexed my right arm, refusing to collapse. Or was it my left? I didn’t know which hand I was moving. Probably my right. My feet refused to move forward. My line of sight was pretty low too.

Oh, I’m on my knees.

Embarrassingly enough, I only realized that after hearing Surena’s voice.

“I think...all that’s left...is running straight...for the city...” I groaned.

“I know! I know that! Master!”

“Hey! Forget me and Pau! Lysandra, carry this guy and get going!”

“Sorry!”

My body was hefted up. Immediately after, a strange floating sensation took me over, and my memories of that moment came to a temporary halt.

Interlude

“That’s the gist of it. Take care of things here.”

“Mm. Be careful.”

With that last exchange of words, the middle-aged man rose from the luxurious sofa in the reception room. The beautiful girl with him saw him off—her demeanor completely clashed with her appearance.

It was early afternoon. The man’s name was Beryl Gardenant, and the girl was Lucy Diamond. The two had just finished a not-too-long but not-too-short meeting—around thirty minutes. They were going to be parting ways for a while. Beryl had to leave Baltrain due to certain circumstances, and naturally, he’d shared his objective with Lucy.

Lucy generally already knew everything that Beryl did. This didn’t extend to his private life, of course, but when he’d come to her mansion with an abnormally tense expression, she’d managed to guess most of what was going on. That was why their conversation had gone smoothly and why she hadn’t been particularly worked up when she’d seen him off.

“Whew... He, too, suffers from such hardships,” Lucy mumbled to herself once she was alone in the room.

By hardships, she was referring to the responsibilities and duties he was burdened with—and his own personality. For a man who lived by the blade, he was extraordinarily softhearted. He was incapable of flat-out refusing any request, no matter who it came from. He would always at least hear them out. After that, his lack of agency made it easy to push him into going with the flow. If he had not had such physical strength, he would’ve surely become an ordinary man swallowed by the vortex of history.

However, Beryl Gardenant possessed a prowess in battle that more than made up for his softheartedness—so much so that Lucy found herself making use of how easy he was to manipulate.

If anything, given his nature, perhaps it was better to say that this side of his character had been born from his talent for the blade. That was how much of an abnormality he was in Lucy’s eyes. The environment he’d grown up in had played a major role, but even for Lucy, it was hard to figure out the exact details of why he was like this.

After the end of the last summer season, she’d sensed a significant change in mindset within him, but she still didn’t know what had caused it. She had no intention of prying either. Lucy’s motto was that those with power had to live in a way that suited their power. Beryl was starting to do so, so she was fine with leaving it at that. It was a positive change.

“Anyway...Lysandra, huh? Hmmm...”

She moved away from pondering Beryl and sank into an entirely different ocean of thought. The black rank adventurer Twin Dragonblade hadn’t returned to the guild. Lucy acknowledged Surena’s abilities. The woman possessed so much strength that most obstacles were nothing to her. Even against a named monster, she was capable enough to escape or even kill it on her own.

And yet, Surena hadn’t returned from her mission. Lucy generally didn’t have an interest in anything but wizardry and herself, but Surena was one of the very few people who piqued her curiosity.

That said, Lucy wasn’t concerned, exactly. She was, at most, interested, though her curiosity centered more on the question of why an adventurer of Surena’s caliber hadn’t returned. This was a display of Lucy’s guiding principle—what others saw as her being a free spirit. She had human empathy but intentionally chose to keep it from influencing her decisions. She did her best to spend her days trying not to lie to herself about what sparked her curiosity.

That was why her behavior was hard for other people to understand. Lucy also didn’t put the slightest effort into helping others understand her. She didn’t view it as a problem—though it very much was a problem for those on the receiving end.

“Now, now, what to do...?”

She wasn’t always one to immediately take action. Her very existence broke half of the principles that governed humanity, but she still spent as much time worrying and hesitating as anyone else. Since she’d accumulated far more experience than any ordinary person, it was simply rare for that anxiety to be visible.

This was one such instance where her hesitation was clear. She wasn’t against sacrificing anything for the sake of her own interests—she was just calmly considering the possible outcomes of her actions.

She could easily do something for Surena. And in all likelihood, no human in the world could physically stop Lucy Diamond from acting. The problem was that if Lucy made a move on her own, entire organizations could be provoked—countries, even.

Lucy didn’t consider any individual’s feelings much, but she did give some thought to the circumstances of nations. She was fairly attached to Liberis, so she didn’t want to see it destroyed due to her poor decision-making. The magic institute and magic corps she’d built with her own hands were also quite precious to her.

Honestly, she was curious about what kind of opponent Surena was having such a hard time against. She wanted to see it with her own eyes. But it was simply too far away, and she had too few reasons to go. If the magic corps’s commander suddenly vanished from Baltrain and appeared in Vesparta—right at the border of the Salura Zaruk Empire—it could invite unnecessary chaos.

It would be fine if nobody found out, but she would have to drag quite a few influential figures into pulling that off. That sounded like too much effort. Though a good half of her being had ascended, her mind was still human. Cumbersome work was still a bother.

“There’s no time to take it easy...”

There was also a time limit on this situation. She couldn’t put off these thoughts for later. This crisis would come to an end if Surena was rescued, if she was found dead, or if Beryl eliminated the source of the issue. Even a generous estimate had things being resolved in just a few weeks.

Regardless of whether she stepped in or just decided to watch the situation play out, she had to come to a decision quickly. Lucy fundamentally never postponed any problems—she often crushed them immediately—so she wanted to get this settled within the day. If she agonized over it, it would become unnecessary mental noise during her magic research.

“Mistress Lucy.”

“Hm? Ooh, Haley. Sorry, the room is yours.”

How long had she spent here? After she’d sunk into a deep sea of thoughts for the first time in a good while, a voice from the other side of the door pulled her out of her contemplation. It was Haley Shaddy, a servant who’d served in Lucy’s house for many years. Lucy had complete trust in her—she left not only all of the housework to Haley, but even her own personal care.

It was only after Haley spoke that Lucy noticed she’d been occupying the reception room despite the meeting with Beryl being over. Haley wouldn’t be able to clean up like this, and Lucy could think in her own room, so there was no reason to get in the way of Haley’s work.

“That’s not why I’m here,” Haley said. “You have a guest.”

“Oh...?”

As Lucy was rising from the sofa, she froze at the unexpected words. There were very few people who would intrude in the magic commander’s mansion without an appointment—Beryl was one of those few people. Haley handled any visitors and turned away those Lucy didn’t care to meet. In other words, by relaying this information to Lucy, Haley wasn’t able to turn this guest away at her own discretion.

“Hmm... Who is it?” Lucy asked.

“Lady Allucia.”

“Ooh... Very well, let her in. Oh, before that, could you clean up this tea?”

“Of course. Excuse me.”

Now this was a rarity. It wasn’t the first time the Liberion Order’s commander—Allucia Citrus—had visited Lucy’s home, but she usually sent word ahead of time. As far as Lucy knew, Allucia was one to strictly keep to rules and regulations. It was quite odd for her to suddenly show up without an appointment, and she wouldn’t do so unless her business was very serious. Lucy was often in a position to instigate trouble, but now that someone else might be dragging her into it, she found herself feeling somewhat listless.

After quickly cleaning up the tea that’d been prepared for Beryl and making preparations for the next guest, Haley turned to Lucy once more. “I shall go let her in now.”

“Mm.”

Haley was excellent at her job, but she would surely retire after another twenty years. Looking for someone new would be a lot of work. Lucy occupied herself with such thoughts of a distant future as she waited for her guest.

Soon, a beautiful woman with dazzling silver hair and a tranquil air about her entered the room.

“Commander Lucy, forgive me for the sudden intrusion.”

“I don’t mind. I am always busy and always have more free time than I know what to do with. Come, take a seat.”

“Is that so? Thank you.”

Lucy didn’t like these overly formal greetings—they took too much time. This was the commander of the Liberion Order, though. She knew the situation called for it.

Allucia took a seat on the sofa, her expression stiff. As always, she didn’t appear particularly cheery or gloomy, but there was an impatience on display, combined with clear determination.

Lucy could tell that this had to be serious. If this was business for the magic corps or the order, the knight commander wouldn’t be visiting the magic commander’s home. That was simply not the way organizations got things done. It seemed like this was going to be a huge bother.

“So? What brings you here out of the blue?” Lucy asked.

“To get right to the point—I want to lay some groundwork,” Allucia replied.

“Groundwork...?”

This was unexpected. Lucy was unable to immediately grasp the meaning behind that choice of words. She raised a quizzical eyebrow.

Allucia had to mean getting things approved ahead of time. But what for? And why? Silence fell over the room for a moment, and many questions circled around in Lucy’s mind.

“To tell you the truth—”

“Ah, wait,” Lucy said, cutting Allucia off. “I just figured it out.”

Allucia wasn’t one to make a move out of self-interest. She was the very best fit for performing the duties of the knight commander. And here she was trying to lay groundwork for something.

This was a declaration that she was about to take action out of self-interest. There were extremely few things that could make Allucia Citrus prioritize her personal feelings, and Lucy came up with a single possibility: It was the exact problem she’d been agonizing over just minutes ago.

Allucia, of all people, was trying to force things into motion, and there was only one person she would do that for. Lucy found herself narrowing her eyes in delight at the knight commander’s unprecedented behavior. She had long since lost any such passion for another individual.

“I don’t mind, but I have a condition,” Lucy said.

“Go ahead.”

“Let me in on it.”

“What...?”

Lucy’s puzzled expression vanished, replaced with an ominous smile. Now, it was Allucia’s turn to look at her in confusion.

“I’m not the only one you need to visit, am I?” Lucy continued. “It’ll be easier to get things done with the both of us present.”

“That’s true...”

Allucia had yet to explain what exactly she was laying the groundwork for. Still, she’d kept things short, thinking that Lucy might be able to figure it out just from that clue. Basically, this woman was doing the tiresome work that Lucy had just been considering doing.

Her proactivity was impressive. Even Lucy had hesitated somewhat, despite her interest. She couldn’t help but think that living for so long had affected her negatively in this regard. But Allucia was forcing the issue without a moment’s hesitation—she was just that blindly dazzling.

For Lucy, the most important thing was being able to split up the annoying work between two people. Frankly, she was considering throwing it all into Allucia’s lap and departing ahead of her. That was how highly she assessed Allucia’s abilities—Lucy was sure she wouldn’t mess anything up.

“Strike while the iron is hot,” Lucy added. “First, we need to get things past Gladio.”

“His Majesty? Yes, well, that’s true, but...”

“Don’t worry. If we show up together, it won’t be a problem.”

“No, that’s not it, but... I suppose... Very well.”

Put a strong foot forward and let the flow of events propel the rest—Lucy generally executed whatever plan she came up with on the spot. This was practically cheating, since there was nobody out there who could refuse her. The only people who referred to the reigning king of Liberis casually by his given name were Lucy and his parents.

Even though Allucia had come here for this exact purpose, she was overwhelmed by how quickly things were developing. Still, having an unrivaled conspirator was a huge boon. She immediately shifted gears and agreed with Lucy’s plan.

Now that Lucy had decided to act, she got moving right away. She immediately left the room and informed Haley that she was going out.

“I’m going out for a bit with Allucia,” Lucy said. “I’ll be back at night.”

Haley nodded. “Understood. Take care.”

She didn’t even ask where Lucy was going and what for. Lucy hated such tedious conversation, so Haley was very easy to speak with in this regard. Losing her would truly be a serious blow.

“Ooh, it’s gotten rather hot outside,” Lucy remarked, somewhat moved as the late spring air brushed against her cheeks.

“Perhaps you should spend more time outdoors,” Allucia quipped heartlessly.

“Quiet, you. Don’t grumble like Beryl.”

Lucy immersed herself in her research at any given opportunity. The frequency with which she went outdoors fluctuated violently. When she decided to stay indoors, she did so for what seemed like an eternity.

“Well, I suppose a nice long trip isn’t so bad every now and then.”

Cheering herself up with that thought, Lucy made her way to Liberis’s palace. These two commanders held the highest ranks in the entire kingdom and were now conspiring completely out of self-interest.

Chapter 3: An Old Country Bumpkin’s Conquest

“Hah?!”

I suddenly jolted awake. Must’ve lost consciousness at some point. I traced back through my memories and realized that they cut off at around the foot of the Aflatta Mountain Range. The last thing I remembered seeing was Vesparta’s walls far off in the distance.

The threads of tension that had been keeping me up must’ve snapped, or else I’d simply hit my stamina limit. There wasn’t much I could’ve done about my body giving out, but I hoped I hadn’t allowed my mental and emotional state to get to me. Relaxing in the presence of danger was simply unacceptable.

“Ugh... My head...”

Fainting, as opposed to sleeping, didn’t really provide much recuperation. Strictly speaking, it helped a little, but I couldn’t really say that I was in an able state. My mind had shut off involuntarily due to my body reaching its limit. Waking up from that meant I’d only recovered enough to maintain a minimum level of consciousness. I’m still in horrible shape.

“Hm? Where am I...?”

I sat up and shook my head slightly. My vision cleared up a little as I took in the scenery. I wasn’t out in the wild—it seemed I was indoors somewhere.

Judging by how I was in bed and there was nobody else around, this had to be some kind of private room. It didn’t seem to be the inn I’d booked, nor did it look like a hospital or something, so it was safe to assume I’d been taken elsewhere.

I wondered if Surena, Pisces, and Pauford were all right. I didn’t even know how much time had elapsed since I’d passed out. I couldn’t even tell if I was still in Vesparta. I’d been in the city before but hadn’t been here to see the sights, so I hadn’t paid attention to the townscape.

“As for my left arm... Yeah, figures.”

I recalled the wound I’d suffered during Id Invicius’s attack. I lowered my eyes to my left arm. It was wrapped up cleanly in bandages, so someone must have tended to it properly. The pain was a little better too.

However, no matter how hard I tried, I still couldn’t move my fingers. Guess there’s no hope for that. Much like I’d told Pisces, maybe I just had to be satisfied that my arm hadn’t been lopped off completely. But as a swordsman, I felt a moment’s hesitation over how useful a dead weight that couldn’t even grip my sword could possibly be.

Even though I couldn’t move it, I wasn’t considering amputating it. Frankly, I was too scared to do that, and I didn’t want to. However, many of the swordplay techniques I’d developed over the long years were now impossible for me to execute, and I would have to retrain my body. I think I’m allowed to feel a bit melancholy about that.

As I continued my detached pondering about my future—almost as if it were someone else’s problem entirely—the door to the room opened.

“Master?! You’re awake!”

“Surena...”

She entered, a bucket in hand—probably some water to clean my body or wash my wound. It was strange to see her taking care of me. I’d always thought of Surena as something of a daughter or a far younger sister. Me taking care of her would be perfectly natural, but I’d never expected things to go the other way around.

Well, she’d introduced me to restaurants and gotten my longsword forged, so she’d taken care of me plenty already. Those were very different from the current situation, though.

“Looks like you’re doing fine...” I said groggily.

“It’s all thanks to you, Master. Pisces is doing well too. Pauford also survived.”

“I see. That’s good...”

Knowing that they were all okay brought me a huge sense of relief that I hadn’t felt since waking up. I was truly glad to hear it. Knowing that Surena and even Pisces and Pauford were alive and well was a heavy weight off my shoulders.

There were two problems left: how to handle the named monster Id Invicius and what to do about my immobile left arm. These were both urgent matters, but the latter was personal, and the former was a priority that involved the safety of the entire region.

“So...where am I?” I asked. “How long have I been out?”

To make a decision, I needed to know all the information we had on hand. My arm hadn’t gotten treatment from a specialist or anything—though I wasn’t entirely sure. Anyway, my disappointment about my arm being beyond all hope could wait until after I knew all the facts.

“We’ve borrowed a room in Vesparta’s guild branch,” Surena explained. “You’ve been asleep for over half a day.”

“Half a day...”

Now that I thought about it, the adventurers who’d guided me to Vesparta—Porta’s party—had told me about there being a guild branch here. They clearly had the funds to support a branch office, so it made sense for them to have rooms to rent out.

It turned out I’d spent half a day unconscious. The sun had been on its way down during our descent from the Aflatta Mountain Range, so I’d apparently slept through the night. It was only at this point that I directed my attention outside. Faint light was pouring in through the small window. It was just after dawn. A warm glow, entirely different from the lighting within the room, cast a white sheen across the floor.

“Did someone treat my arm?” I asked.

“Nothing beyond what Pisces could do... We haven’t been able to find any experts in healing or medicine.”

“Well, figures...”

I shifted my gaze to the morning sun, intentionally avoiding Surena’s eyes. Her guilt over the fate of my arm was palpable. If I had to guess, we’d entered the city just as the sun had finished setting. As the night had dragged on, it’d been impossible to find a doctor or wizard.

I found myself simply accepting things. I believed the price I’d paid to save Surena had been worth it. We were all alive. My condolences went out to their seeker, but it would be preposterous to hope for a better result.

“Anyway, I’m glad you managed to get in contact with the guild,” I said.

“Master... I cannot thank you enough.”

Everything had started because Surena hadn’t returned to the guild and hadn’t sent word to anyone. I was honestly relieved this had been successfully resolved. Even if there was still the future to consider, the case of the missing black rank adventurer was over.

I wasn’t clear on the guild’s rules, but given the situation, I doubted they would punish her. An enemy too strong for a black rank was completely beyond any expectations, and it would be unreasonable to penalize her for missing her return date. The thing was so much stronger than I’d anticipated that I’d complain to them if they did do that to her.

“There really are some outrageous monsters in the world...” I muttered.

“There are...” Surena agreed. “But I’ll definitely bring this one down with my own two hands.”

That would take a huge fighting force. A wiser plan would be to leave it alone and not engage it. That was what I’d implied with my words, but Surena’s will was stronger than expected.

“Why are you so worked up...?” I asked.

Something didn’t seem quite right here. As one of the strongest adventurers around, it made sense to be spurred on by a sense of justice—of course she wanted to put an end to this monster’s rampage. However, there was something more to it than that behind her words.

“That monster...Id Invicius... It was the one that killed my parents.”

“Wha?!”

She wasn’t talking about her adoptive parents—she was referring to her birth parents, who’d raised her during her early childhood. I’d never heard the full story from her, but when young Surena had staggered into Beaden, it’d been clear that something had attacked her. However, she hadn’t been in a state to provide more information.

“So...you saw it...” I said.

“Yes, clearly. After I got a good look at it, I was sure... Even now, I fear it. However, I must overcome that and destroy it.”

“I see...”

Revenge—to the public eye, this wasn’t a praiseworthy motive. However, I personally approved. Living by the blade meant that life and death were constant companions. Surena possessed strength too, so the desire to defeat a sworn enemy who’d killed her loved ones made perfect sense in my book.

Say, for example, someone killed those who were close to me. I, too, would mercilessly go for the throat. The approach might change depending on if they were human or beast, but I couldn’t deny that I would be fueled by revenge. It wasn’t as if I would devolve into a madman hell-bent on vengeance. But if I had to become that person to achieve my desire, then I would—on the assumption that I wouldn’t be causing unnecessary harm to others, of course.

“You’re so strong, Surena...” I told her.

“I’m not... I tried to be, and that ended up causing you so much trouble. I still have a long way to go.”

“No, you are strong. That strength has saved so many people. Now, you’re struggling to use that strength to save yourself. That is true might.”

“Thank you...very much...”

Coming face-to-face with Id Invicius, my fear had won out over my determination—my absolute defeat in my past was still stuck in my mind. Things were different for Surena, though. Her past was far more severe compared to simply getting beaten up by a monster. Despite this, she was putting in the work to settle things with her own hands. What else could you call that but strength? I wasn’t speaking to console her. I truly believed it.

“I...couldn’t even react,” I said. “I’ve also had a past encounter with that thing...and I lost.”

“You did too?! But...”

“Yeah, I’m ashamed to say that I ran away with my tail tucked between my legs.”

I now knew why Surena was so fixated on Id Invicius. So, it was only right for me to share my animosity toward that monster. Not that my words would change anything.

We’d sheltered Surena in our home twenty years ago, and this had happened some time after my encounter with Id Invicius. Maybe this was twisting the facts a little, but had I defeated the monster back then, Surena wouldn’t have lost her parents. The trajectory of her life might’ve ended up being completely different.

But comparing its strength to mine back then, the prospect was ridiculous to even consider. Even as I was now, our fight had ended with me losing feeling in an arm. There was no way I could’ve won back then. Looking at the flow of events objectively, Surena had no reason to criticize my past self.

However, facts and emotions didn’t always line up. If revenge for both our pasts was within our reach, I couldn’t just sit here doing nothing. A woman far younger than me was fighting to overcome her childhood trauma, and I considered myself her mentor, in a way. But even beyond that, as a man who lived by the blade, something inside me criticized my indecisive attitude.

So what if it’s a named monster? When something needs doing, it has to be done. There was no telling how often such dire decisions had to be made in one lifespan, but now was certainly one such time. Even if the world didn’t see it that way, Surena and I did. Unfortunately, I wasn’t currently capable of physically joining the fray.

“Defeating it will be a once-in-a-lifetime hunt for you...” I said. “I would’ve loved to stand by your side.”

“I understand how you feel, but I cannot force this burden on you any more than I already have. The same goes for anyone else... I doubt it will move its nest anytime soon. This time, I’ll kill it.”

I really did want to help her—and get revenge for myself too. But my body was no longer in peak condition. I could manage normal monsters, but in any attempt to kill Id Invicius, I would only be a hindrance. I knew that better than anyone.

I couldn’t just sit still waiting for things to get better. I had to do everything within my power to improve, or I would definitely regret it. I was ready to use anything on hand—be it people, goods, or money—to make this right.

“I’ll go to a doctor or a wizard or anyone else,” I declared. “If there’s any chance that my arm can be healed, I’ll try it. Fortunately, I have plenty of mo—”

Just as I was trying to relay that to Surena, the door to the room suddenly opened. Someone who shouldn’t have been here under any circumstances chose this exact moment to slowly stroll in, stifling a yawn.

“This the place? Ooh, yup, there he is. Hwaaah... I’m not cut out for traveling day and night, top speed, over such a long distance.”

“Huh...? Lucy?!”

“Lucy Diamond! Why—”

“Oh, Lysandra, you’re here too. It’s no big, ah... Hwaaah... I’m tired...”

Acting like our shock had nothing to do with her, Lucy stifled another yawn. No, seriously, why are you here? This isn’t Baltrain. We’re on the border of Salura Zaruk in Vesparta. It took me pretty long to get here using multiple horses. You can’t teleport or something, can you?

Back during the incident with Vice Principal Braun at the institute, she’d been away on a business trip to the empire. She’d mentioned having to cancel that and rush back, so she’d used a more realistic means of travel, like a horse, at the time.

“Let’s see... Oh, you’re injured?” Lucy immediately spotted my wound. “How rare.”

“Not that rare... Huh? Why?”

My brain wasn’t able to process any of this. I had absolutely no idea why she was here right now.

“Why, you ask...?” Lucy replied. “Well, after you left, I just felt like taking a nice long trip. I’m here to do some sightseeing. Am I being a nuisance or something?”

“No... Not at all.”

“Mm. Good, good.”

Her behavioral patterns were as much of a mystery as ever. There was no way the magic commander would come all the way here just to do some sightseeing without having some kind of urgent business in the area. I wanted to quip about her ditching her research and work, but it was unthinkable that a woman of Lucy’s standing would be ignorant of the fetters of her position. In her case, it was entirely possible she knew and chose to ignore them.

At any rate, Lucy Diamond being here right now wasn’t a nuisance in any way. If anything, she was undeniably the most reliable person we could’ve asked for. And it wouldn’t matter if I grumbled—she wouldn’t be bothered in the least. Though, if I do anger her by some chance and she goes straight back to Baltrain, that would be a problem for me. Since she’s here, there’s no reason to let her go.

“Sightseeing, huh?” I said. “Anything you’re here for in particular?”

“I’ve passed by plenty of times on my way to the empire,” she mused. “There isn’t much that’s new to me. That said, I’ve heard rumors on the wind of something amusing in the Aflatta Mountain Range.”

“Ha ha ha, you’ve got great taste.”

I could almost guarantee she’d come here the same way I had. She hadn’t taken a trip to Vesparta on business for the magic corps or the institute, nor was she here at the command of the kingdom. She just happened to be here for personal reasons. That was the story, at least.

Having done the exact same thing, I’d moved the conversation along with that in mind and had gotten the response I’d expected. It had worked for me, but I wasn’t nearly as high-ranking as Lucy. Could someone like her really get away with such a flimsy excuse? A part of me couldn’t help but want to joke about it, but now wasn’t the time for that.

Lucy put an end to that farce—her tone and gaze became serious. “So? Can you move your arm?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

She was analyzing our combat potential. My answer would always be the same, though. If I could’ve forced it to move through sheer willpower, I would have. But my body wasn’t in a state where that would work.

Surena finally recovered from her shock. “Oh! The magic commander can...!”

“Well, if she can’t, I’ll pretty much just have to give up.”

“Hmmm...”

I’d been planning to search for a doctor or a wizard who could heal me—and a skilled one at that. Lucy Diamond met those conditions better than anyone. If I were just in bad shape or had a fever, a doctor would probably be better, but when it came to repairing damage to the body, I couldn’t think of anyone more suitable for the task than Lucy.

I’d only ever witnessed healing magic in action once when Gatoga had healed Rose’s wound. The laceration across her chest—that I’d been responsible for—should’ve been fatal, but he’d somehow kept her alive.

The situation now was somewhat different. Though my injury wasn’t fatal, it was lethal to a swordsman’s very existence.

“Receiving healing magic directly from me would normally cost quite the sum...” Lucy said. “Now then, what to do?”

“I’ll pay! Take as much as you want!” Surena yelled.

“I’m ready to give you whatever you ask,” I added.

“Ha ha ha! Is that so?”

I wasn’t going to ask her for free healing. It was the same as how I’d never ask Balder to forge me a free sword. Personally, it didn’t look like Lucy was even thinking of asking for a huge sum of money. Given her power and authority, she probably had more money than she knew what to do with.

Nevertheless, the magic commander needed a pretense to take action—like, for example, she’d been paid enough to do it. This wasn’t a matter of being greedy or not—it had a direct relation to the value and influence of Lucy Diamond and the magic corps. If she charged a low price, those less skilled than her would have to charge even lower. And as far as I knew, no wizard in the world surpassed her, so her lowballing would drive the price down for everyone. Lucy didn’t want that outcome.

“Whatever,” she said after a moment’s consideration. “I suppose I just happened to drop by while doing some sightseeing. I’ll put it on your tab.”

“Ha ha... Thanks.”

In the end, I would be paying her back later. Honestly, I didn’t have any money on me anyway. Technically, I was getting treated for free. I was grateful for this, but I never expected her to charge money to begin with. No, I owed her one now. I carried some trepidation about that, but anything she asked for would be cheap as long as it didn’t cost my life. If this meant I’d be able to move my arm again, I had no reason to refuse.

“Right then, let’s have a look.” She walked over to me from the doorway.

“Sure.”

My arm wasn’t going to get any worse, and even if it did, that wouldn’t affect our current situation. I had tremendous trust in Lucy’s magic, so I just relaxed my muscles. I couldn’t hold out my left arm for her, after all.

“From the shoulder down, I see...” Lucy observed. “Can you move it at all?”

“Not even a little,” I answered. “I can’t even wiggle my fingers.”

“Hmmm... Well, it should work out,” she casually concluded.

“H-How reassuring...”

If Lucy claims it’ll work out, I’m sure it will. I can trust her.

“Lysandra, mind locking the door?” Lucy asked. “Just in case—I can’t have this leaking outside.”

“O-Of course.”

It seemed she was getting right to it and making sure nobody found out while she was at it. Regardless of the circumstances, the magic commander was using wizardry free of charge at her own discretion. If this fact was leaked by a third party, it could affect Lucy’s position. Well, compared to her popping up here like it was nothing, that probably wouldn’t even be a huge deal.

“Who else knows?” Lucy asked.

“One adventurer,” I answered. “Two were with Surena when I saved her, but one was unconscious.”

“I see. Lysandra, can you do something about that one?”

“Consider it done,” Surena said. “He won’t talk.”

“Excellent.”

Lucy was referring to anyone who knew that my arm couldn’t move. The only other person who did was Pisces. She wanted to avoid having news spread that Lucy Diamond had easily healed Beryl Gardenant’s severe injury. But there was a need to seal Pisces’s mouth—it might require some money to pull off, but he didn’t seem like a bad person. Even if he did want to be compensated for his silence, I doubted it would take an exorbitant amount.

“Now then, let’s begin,” Lucy said. “Just so you know, you’d better relax your muscles. Don’t tense up, even by accident.”

“I’ll try... This is my first time.” I smiled wryly. The thought of putting in effort to relax was quite odd.

“Ha ha ha! Don’t worry—it doesn’t hurt.”

I’d used potions often and had gone to see a doctor plenty of times, but being healed by magic was a first for me. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. Everyone was a little skittish when experiencing something for the first time. Lucy had told me that there would be no pain, but I wasn’t sure how much I could trust her. However, now that it had come to this, I could only put my faith in her. That doesn’t really ease my nerves, though.

“Whoa...”

She didn’t fire herself up in any way or chant some ritual prayer. She simply focused on her hands and activated what I assumed to be healing magic. I felt a strange sensation within my body. It made me flinch a little.

I had no idea how to express it—the healing was like someone was gently stroking the inside of my body. If this had been offensive magic, the sensation would’ve probably been full of malice and pain. I hoped I would never experience that.

Several minutes after the somewhat ticklish sensation ran through my left arm, Lucy took a breath. “Phew. How’s that?”

“Amazing... I can move it now.”

I’d been focusing on not putting any strength into the left half of my body. After shifting my concentration to my fingers, I could feel my will being conveyed to my digits. I bent them one by one. All five were in working order.

Healing magic was truly amazing. Or maybe Lucy was just impressive for being able to use it to such a high degree. Now that I thought of it, she’d mentioned using magic to maintain her youthful figure. Her technique for manipulating the body must be realms apart from the average wizard. Maybe for her, restoring an immobile limb is a piece of cake.

A throb of pain ran through my shoulder as I tried to move it. “Gh...Lucy? It kinda hurts...”

“Aah, it’ll fade soon,” she told me. “Your body hasn’t properly recognized that it’s healed.”

I thought maybe the spell had failed, but it seemed my body hadn’t caught up with reality yet. Honestly, I didn’t really understand—I didn’t know enough about magic to be able to just nod along. I can at least trust whatever Lucy said. It was true that I could move my arm again, so I just needed to wait for my body to adjust.

“Master...! Thank goodness!”

“Thanks to you too, Surena. I must’ve worried you.”

“No, it was nothing!”

Surena had been staring intently during Lucy’s treatment. All the tension must’ve drained from Surena’s body after seeing my arm move. She grasped my hand and was practically on the verge of tears. I reached for her bowed head with my opposite hand and patted it.

I saw Surena as a much younger sister or even as a daughter. This was the same as always. However, that was only my personal perception of her. She was both a splendid adult and a black rank adventurer—one who was striving to settle a past trauma. She really was strong. A part of me hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was really all right for me to be so casually touching her head.

“You sure have it rough,” Lucy commented, perhaps spotting my indecision.

“That’s just how I am,” I told her.

She sighed. What else could I do? My personality had been baked into me slowly and surely over the years. No matter what happened, that wasn’t going to change overnight, even if there were parts of me that absolutely had to change.

“I can now face that monster without any anxiety about the future,” Surena said, steeling her resolve once more.

“Wait,” I cut in. “Now that I can move my arm, things are different. Let me help.”

I didn’t mean to deny her determination or anything. I believed it was necessary for her to move on. However, any worries about my own future as a swordsman had just vanished. I couldn’t possibly wait on the sidelines as she protected me.

If anyone told me, “You couldn’t even see Id Invicius’s attack, so what use would you be?” I wouldn’t really have known what to say. I was capable of moving my arm now, but that didn’t erase the fact that it’d caught me off guard.

However, both Surena and I were tied to this monster by fate. I had to make it pay for beating me up as a young man and sending me packing with my tail between my legs. This was a debt to be paid with its life. Now that we’d met again, as long as I continued aiming for the summit of swordsmanship, this was a hurdle I had to clear no matter what.

Surena paused for a moment to consider. “Understood. Let’s stand against it together, Master.”

“Thanks. I won’t look so pathetic this time.”

If Surena was determined to finish this, then it was my turn to show the same resolve. My feelings on the matter seemed to get through to her. Her grip around my hand changed from one of concern to a reassuring handshake.

“Aah, sorry for interrupting while you’re getting all fired up,” Lucy interjected. “Hwaaah... I’m going to sleep. Let’s pick this up again tomorrow.”

“Well... I guess I need to get used to my arm again. Surena?”

“I don’t mind. One or two days won’t change the situation.”

With that, Lucy yawned once more, her job here complete. Judging by her expression and tone, she really was exhausted—she’d been like this since entering the room. Lucy must’ve kept quite the reckless schedule on her way here. I wondered whether she’d been spurred on by concern for me and Surena or by her bottomless curiosity for the unknown. It was probably the latter, but I wanted to believe that she had been fueled by a small sliver of worry.

“I’m off to bed,” Lucy said. “Hwaaah... Later.”

“Ah, mm... Good night?”

Lucy left the room. She truly was intent on sleeping first thing in the morning.

At any rate, I could move my arm again. I wanted to show her my utmost gratitude. Things were a little hectic this time around, but I wanted to thank her properly later, entirely separate from the debt I now owed her.

“Okay, guess I should try training with my arm,” I said. “The sun’s just coming up—it’s the right time for it.”

“Allow me to accompany you,” Surena offered.

“Thanks. Don’t push yourself too hard. Tomorrow’s the real deal.”

“Yes, I’m well aware.”

I also had to prepare myself for tomorrow—in a somewhat different way. I had to regain the sensation in my left arm as soon as possible. As I tried to get out of bed with that thought in mind, I noticed that a lot of the discomfort I’d felt after waking up was gone. Did Lucy fix that too? I truly can’t thank her enough.

“Okay...”

She’d set the table for me, so I couldn’t let this end with some pathetic outcome.

Id Invicius—bring it on. Well, not that I can do anything on my own. I’m borrowing help from a ton of people, but that’s fine. The world is too vast to always fight alone.

◇

“Mm... Well, looks like it should be fine.”

The day after Lucy healed my arm, I woke up just as before—greeted by the beautiful morning sunrise. I was now standing at one of the gates leading out of Vesparta. Thanks to Surena’s help, I’d managed to get most of the feeling back into my left arm within a day. That said, my mind wasn’t quite able to keep up with the fact that an injured limb had fully healed in that short of a time. Would I really be able to make full use of it?

I knew it was healed. I didn’t have any problems moving around. However, it was hard to accept the reality that the state of my body had taken a complete one-eighty. Definitely not a sensation I want to grow accustomed to...

In theory, working with Lucy meant I could always return to the battlefield within minutes as long as I didn’t die on the spot. Her mana wasn’t infinite, so there would be an eventual limit. Still, her abilities were superhuman—it was terrifying to imagine myself growing used to overdoing it in combat and then having to rely on her magic to mend my broken body.

I stroked the sheath of my beloved red sword, having nothing better to do for the moment. Suddenly, I spotted Surena running over to me from the direction of the town.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Master.”

“It’s all right. I just got here a little too early.”

She was as tough as ever. From what I’d heard, she’d carried my unconscious body all the way to Vesparta and had gallantly attended to me the entire time. She’d even accompanied me during training to help me regain my senses. She’d gotten some rest last night, but I doubted even half a day of sleep would be enough to fully recover.

However, judging by her tone and expression, she wasn’t fatigued at all. A person who wasn’t genuinely tough would never be able to pull that off. Stamina and toughness were almost the same thing, but there were minute differences. I could only decipher those differences using my personal intuition, though—I couldn’t really explain it in words.

“Anyway...is she really coming?” I muttered.

“I’m sure she will,” Surena replied. “She brought it up herself, so I doubt she’ll go back on her word.”

“Here’s hoping...”

Surena and I weren’t heading out immediately. From what we’d heard the other day, Lucy was intent on coming along. My primary concern was whether she would be able to wake up this early in the morning, but Surena had a point. Lucy wasn’t going to go back on her word...probably. At any rate, Lucy had been the one to say we should do this today.

“Weather’s nice...” I observed. “Looks like we won’t have to worry about rain or fog.”

“Yes, a small blessing when we’re facing off against that thing.”

“No doubt about it.”

The skies above Vesparta were clear yet again. That was a good thing. This close to the mountains, the weather could be rather fickle. However, perhaps due to the season or simple coincidence, we’d had a stretch of continuous clear skies.

The sky’s temperament was an important part of challenging the mountains. My mom could’ve given us an accurate forecast, but she wasn’t here for us to rely on. Regardless, the day we’d chosen had ended up being clear and perfect for hunting.

I’d given a lot of thought to how we could defeat Id Invicius. Honestly, I didn’t really have any good ideas. If it had possessed obvious weaknesses, someone would’ve defeated it long ago. After all, humanity had no reason to leave a monster with such a ridiculous ability at large. The reality, however, was that it’d had free rein to do whatever it wanted for at least twenty years. This proved that nobody had found a way of dealing with it.

I doubted I could come up with an immediate solution to fighting such a monster. At the very least, it was impossible with what knowledge I possessed. However, we had someone here who shattered all common sense—Lucy Diamond.

Id Invicius’s invisibility had to be some form of magic. It would be absolutely outrageous for it to be a natural trait of the species that didn’t require any mana whatsoever. So, to break this deadlock, an expert in magic was indispensable—and there was nobody better suited to the task than Lucy.

“Oh yeah, Nidus mentioned getting a search party together to look for you...” I said. “What’s going to happen to that?”

“I can’t help but feel responsible...” Surena responded. “It’s possible that information from both sides might miss each other, and the party will still get deployed.”

“I see...”

From the looks of it, Pisces and Pauford had been in Surena’s party from the start—they hadn’t been part of a group sent to look for her. Thus, if information about her survival wasn’t relayed properly, we could end up bumping into other adventurers as we went to battle the monster. Even though they wouldn’t send amateurs on a search for a black rank, most reinforcements would be meaningless in a battle of me, Surena, and Lucy versus Id Invicius. Numbers wouldn’t help us against an opponent like this—the casualties would just multiply.

Perhaps, if a search party had already gone into the mountains, they’d fallen prey to Id Invicius. Its peculiar lack of presence made it extremely dangerous to approach when you didn’t know about it beforehand. We had to keep this in mind when we went into the mountains ourselves. While the formation of a search party or rescue party was something to be thankful for, it wasn’t really helpful at this point.

Our goal was to kill Id Invicius—or at least render it harmless. And if there’s a possibility that a search party of adventurers is out there, well, our foray into the mountains is going to be quite difficult.

As that thought crossed my mind, Liberis’s undisputed ultimate weapon showed up.

“Heeey, did I keep you waiting?”

“Lucy... It’s rare to see you up and about so early,” I quipped to the new arrival.

“Ha ha ha! It’s not so bad every now and then. Only every now and then, though.”

I was glad to see that she wasn’t as tired as yesterday. It would be problematic if she complained about being sleepy in the middle of our march, or even in battle.

Lucy took a quick look around, then sighed. “Hrm...? She’s still not here?”

“Uh... Who?”

Surena, Lucy, and I were currently gathered in front of the gate. Lucy seemed to be implying that we were waiting for another person. Well, it would be pretty strange for Lucy to have come all the way out here on her own. Maybe she had a wizard accompanying her as a guard or watcher or something. But if that was the case, they should’ve been with Lucy this whole time. Even though this mystery was going to be clarified soon, I couldn’t help but let my thoughts wander.

“Looks like this is the right place. Good morning, Master.”

“Huh...? Allucia?”

“Yes, Allucia Citrus,” the newcomer confirmed.

“Citrus?! Why are you here?!”

And there was the answer. The proud knight commander of the Liberion Order, Allucia Citrus, was here and fully armed with her beloved new sword in its black sheath. How could we not be shocked by this? In a sense, it was far more unexpected to see her here than Lucy.

“I’m not quite sure how to answer that,” Allucia said. “I just happened to reach a good stopping point with my work, so I decided to take a nice long break and come to Vesparta for some relaxation. I then just happened to see Master Beryl and decided to come say hello.”

“Hah?! There’s a limit to such shameless lies!”

I couldn’t help but agree with Surena on that front. It was beyond transparent at this point—there was no way that excuse would work. I’d gotten here the same way, but Allucia’s status was on an entirely different level. Can’t really complain about everyone doing whatever the hell they want, though. We’re all guilty of the same thing. Only Surena can say anything about it.

“Master, it seems you are on your way out,” Allucia said, keeping up the farce. “Where are you heading?”

“Ha ha ha... Let’s see...I suppose I was thinking of having a picnic halfway up the Aflatta Mountain Range.”

“That sounds wonderful. But is the Aflatta Mountain Range not rampant with monsters? It seems you’ll be better off with at least one more escort.”

Allucia already knew all the details of why I was in Vesparta. After all, the information I’d gotten from her had kicked everything off. It was perfectly obvious to her where I was going and why. The only things she hadn’t known before were that Surena had already been rescued and that our goal was to hunt a specific named monster—and she’d just found out about Surena.

“So she says. What do you think, Surena?” I asked.

“Tch! I resent it, but we couldn’t ask for better. I resent it, though...!”

“How cold, Lysandra,” Allucia teased.

Surena was technically in charge of this hunt, so we couldn’t ignore her opinion. Still, her reaction to this suggestion was rather harsh. I was well aware that these two didn’t get along, but Allucia had definitely come here partly out of concern for Surena’s safety. Surena had to know that too. She couldn’t just tell Allucia to get lost.

If Allucia truly hated Surena, she never would’ve shared the information about her circumstances with me. The adventurer’s guild and the Liberion Order were separate organizations. Allucia could’ve easily claimed to know nothing about Surena’s plight. However, she’d chosen not to do that and had even pushed things in the right direction—her actions implied her obvious concern about the situation.

“If you’re coming, then let’s get going already,” Lucy said. “I’m not made of free time.”

“I’m surprised you can say that after coming this far,” I quipped.

She definitely wasn’t one to talk. She’d shelved all of her work as the magic commander and the headmistress to make this long journey. She was as guilty as the rest of us.

At any rate, Allucia was intent on coming along no matter what Surena said, and Surena hadn’t exactly said no. There was no point wasting more time here.

“Haaah...” I sighed. “Now, now, you two, leave it at that. Time is of the essence.”

I forced the two of them to stop arguing—as much as I could, at least. Time was now an extremely valuable resource. We couldn’t keep the two commanders here for long. It wouldn’t have been a problem had they shown up on an official mission, but that wasn’t the case.

I didn’t know anything about Lucy’s schedule, but Allucia had likely forced an opening in hers. We needed to accomplish our objective as soon as possible.

“Shall we get going?” Lucy said. “Beryl, lead the way.”

“Yeah, yeah.” As I started walking, I turned and asked, “So? Miss Magic Commander, you got any ideas?”

“A few,” she answered. “The rest will come when we make contact.”

“We’re counting on you here,” I told her. “Honestly, wizardry’s our last ray of hope.”

“I’ll do everything I can. After all, I’m also endlessly curious.”

By “ideas,” I was referring to a way of overcoming Id Invicius’s trick. She’d definitely given it some thought, but there was no telling what would work until she saw the thing for herself. Lucy had once said that the magic humanity had successfully analyzed wasn’t even ten percent of all the magic in the world. If that were true, it was highly likely that Id Invicius was using magic that was still unknown to us. That said, if Lucy was incapable of doing anything about it, the probability of having any options beyond running away would basically plummet to zero.

Even if we managed to do something about its invisibility, its durability was nothing to sneeze at. Its hide wasn’t damaged by even my blade. That had to be something magical, so I was hoping Lucy could solve that too.

Worst case, its tough hide was natural, and we would need a masterwork of even higher caliber than my Zeno Grable longsword. Unfortunately, I had no idea where we could find something like that. And if one did exist, would we be able to arrange to borrow it?

At any rate, this was definitely a formidable foe. I walked on for a while, theorizing that we had to carefully scrutinize multiple possibilities while keeping retreat in mind.

Suddenly, Lucy interrupted my thoughts.

“Ha ha!”

“Hm? What is it?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said. “Remember what I told you that one time? You take the front, and I take the rear—a splendid combination, don’t you think?”

“Aah, you did mention something like that...”

Had it happened before we defeated Zeno Grable or after? I didn’t remember the exact time, but the memory of such a conversation lingered. I’d refused on the spot at the time, but you could never guess what the future had in store. I could have possibly foreseen a situation like this.

Regardless, she was right about watching my back—I could think of no greater heroic figure than Lucy for the job. Naturally, I could also trust Allucia, Surena, Ficelle, and Curuni to the rearguard. Maybe I’m just sitting on my high horse and being picky. Anyway, the girls were swordswomen who would fight by my side. Having a wizard watch my back was a first for me.

“Well, I suppose that’s true,” I conceded. “I doubt I could think of anything more reassuring.”

“Right? Right? Feel free to show me as much respect as you want!”

“I’ll refrain.”

“Ha ha ha! How cold.”

I felt no unease at the prospect. I knew how outrageously strong Lucy Diamond was, even if I’d only witnessed a fraction of her power. I doubted I was placing my hopes too high. Lucy was exactly the kind of woman to surpass any and all expectations.

“Lucy, Allucia...”

“Hm?”

“Yes? What is it?”

I came to a stop and turned around. The two of them gazed back at me in confusion. I didn’t call Surena out—after all, I’d been under the impression that I would have to save her alone.

“Thanks for going along with me on this.” I bowed my head. “Please lend me your strength.”

It was honestly a little late for this, but I hoped they could forgive me for that. So much had happened so quickly in these last twenty-four hours. But I had to get this across. I’d nearly just gone along with it casually because they’d shown up so out of the blue, but my self-respect wouldn’t allow that. It’d taken a while to remember my manners, though.

“Ha ha ha! I suppose we have to now that you’ve asked,” Lucy said. “Let’s enjoy our picnic while gathering some materials from a named monster.”

“All is as you wish, Master,” Allucia added. “Wielding a sword for those in need is a knight’s duty.”

“Thank you. I’m counting on you two.”

Their reactions were polar opposites, but both felt good to hear. I was truly blessed with wonderful connections.

Now then, all that’s left is to find that bastard and beat it up. Just you wait, Id Invicius—Liberis’s strongest force is coming to grab you by the throat.

◇

“Hup, there we go.”

“Haaah... Mountain roads aren’t meant for walking on.”

Surena, Lucy, Allucia, and I were now ascending the Aflatta Mountain Range. We were using mountain trails, so there was no way they’d been maintained in any way. Once in a while, we had to go up sudden slopes and sections with bad footholds. After experiencing this several times, Lucy began complaining.

“Don’t grumble after volunteering to come along...” I told her.

“Ha ha ha. Whining makes the walk better,” she refuted.

A part of me understood what she meant. Allucia and Surena weren’t the type to chatter pointlessly, and the pair didn’t get along on a personal level. That combination naturally led to our march being utterly silent. That would be perfectly normal for the Liberion Order, but not to Lucy.

I wondered if the magic corps ever went marching en masse. I frankly knew nothing about them as an organization. I only knew Lucy and Ficelle as individuals. Kinera was a teacher at the institute, so I doubted she ever joined the front lines as part of the magic corps.

However, as one of the kingdom’s armed forces, I was pretty sure they had to do these things, at least occasionally. I wasn’t part of their organization, though, so I had no idea what the reality of the matter was.

Either way, I was never going to get involved with their internal workings. Even if I wanted to, I had no talent for magic, and no amount of effort would solve that. So, I could only give up on such aspirations.

“We’re almost there,” I warned the others. “Keep your eyes open.”

“Understood.”

We’d been ascending for a while and were now a ways up the slope of the mountain. We’d encountered several monsters along the way. This only made sense—the wildlife in the mountains was diverse and plentiful.

However, regular monsters couldn’t possibly stop the four of us. We’d killed every last one in an instant. No large packs had attacked us, so Surena, Allucia, and I had handled almost all of them. Lucy didn’t even have anything to do. It was best to preserve her mana anyway, so I was glad that the rest of us were able to clear the way without her.

Our march up the mountains went on smoothly. Finally, Surena, Allucia, and I all noticed something simultaneously.

“Oh...”

“We’re here...”

“I see... So this is its territory? What a strange sensation...”

All signs of life had vanished. We were now in Id Invicius’s territory. It hadn’t changed much in the last few days.

Despite it being a scaredy-cat, it hadn’t run away. Doesn’t make any sense. Looking at it another way, constantly moving its nest might’ve just been inconvenient for a wild beast.

Lucy sighed. “Haaah... You’re all amazing. I can’t tell at all.”

There was both admiration and exasperation in her voice. She was a combatant, but it wasn’t her primary duty. That was why she couldn’t really sense bloodlust or presences around her. She probably wouldn’t even notice if someone attacked her from behind. That still wouldn’t be enough to kill her, though. I’d mentioned the dangers of the mountain range before all this, but it turned out she basically always had defensive magic deployed all around her body.

I’d gotten a taste for what defensive magic was capable of during my trendy lunch with Kinera that one time. If Kinera was able to produce such a defensive shell, it wasn’t hard to imagine that Lucy’s had to be far stronger.

To add to that, if Lucy could escape from any attack without dying on the spot, she had a cheat in her healing magic. It was impossible to defeat her unless you decapitated her in one blow or gouged out her heart or something.

So, her complete dismissal of needing to sense any presences was a crazy power play to all those who lived by the blade. But she had the strength to back it up, so there was no point complaining about it. As always, the world is an unjust and irrational place.

“Being able to sense those things is pretty much essential to a swordsman...” I told her. “Well, I guess that’s got nothing to do with you.”

“Indeed. I don’t use a sword,” Lucy said. “On that note, can Fice sense this stuff too?”

“She sure can. I’d say her senses are relatively sharp.”

“Haaah... A world beyond comprehension...” From my point of view, Lucy’s world of magic was far more inscrutable. Not that I was even trying to understand it.

Anyway, sensing life and bloodlust wasn’t exactly something you could document in a reference book or quantify as a formula. It was all intuition. Still, we depended on this sense to achieve victory, so it couldn’t be ignored. We lived in a world where having dull senses for these things led to death. Maybe from an outside perspective, the worlds of swordsmen and wizards were equally incomprehensible.

“We’ll keep the same formation and focus on protecting Lucy,” I said.

“Understood.”

We were now within Id Invicius’s striking range. Considering the magical elements at play, Lucy was the most pivotal member of our party. However, forcing her to take the full brunt of the mission would hurt our pride as swordsmen.

So, I took the vanguard, Lucy the rear, and Surena and Allucia watched the flanks. This formation held as we entered its territory. Protecting our wizard was important, but we had no way of taking the initiative against Id Invicius—if we just lined up to strike all at once, it would leave us wide open for a horrible attack.

The plan was to somehow dodge its first attack, then have Lucy analyze its invisibility trick. We couldn’t proceed until that was done. I wanted Lucy to be able to focus entirely on observing our target.

Her insight would be our lifeline. We couldn’t allow her eyes to be damaged in any way. And in the worst case, if any of us got hurt, Lucy could heal us. It could take several minutes to get back into the fight, but Lucy and the uninjured could buy that amount of time.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this atmosphere,” Allucia remarked.

“Yeah, I don’t want to either,” I said.

“True,” Surena agreed.

Being in an ecosystem that was supposed to be bustling with life yet sensing none of it was extremely abnormal. Surena and I were experiencing it for the second time, so we had some familiarity with the feeling, but it was a first for Allucia, so it affected her more.

I understood how she felt. It was really uncomfortable. Such a sensation would be normal inside a building on your own, but feeling this way out in the wilderness was, quite frankly, creepy. I really didn’t want to get used to it.

Though we saw no signs of life, that didn’t mean we could let our guards down. Keeping an eye open was pretty meaningless against this opponent, but we still had to stay alert. As we proceeded carefully, Lucy called me to a halt from the rear.

“Beryl, stop.”

“Hm?”

“Heh... Ha ha ha! I see, I see... It seems Id Invicius is a real rookie.”

“Wh-What?”

I was perfectly okay with stopping when the world’s greatest wizard told me to, but I couldn’t make sense of what she was saying. How was Id Invicius a rookie? I glanced around me, but I couldn’t spot it, let alone sense the characteristic signs of there being a large monster around. It seemed Lucy could, though. I was extremely curious—what was this about?

“It’s closing in,” she said. “To the left. Lysandra’s side.”

“You can tell?!”

All three of us shifted our focus. We couldn’t see it, of course. We were greeted only by an unbroken view of the mountainside.

“It’s overflowing with mana,” Lucy explained. “Or, I suppose it’s more accurate to say that it’s leaking...? Anyway, it is definitely using magical defenses. Ha ha! But at that density, anyone with a sensitivity to mana would notice it right away.”

“Man...that’s amazing,” I muttered, keeping my eyes fixed in the direction she’d pointed out. “I didn’t think you’d find it before it even revealed itself...”

The rest of us couldn’t see it, but it was still nice to know which direction the monster was coming from. Now we had to see if it attacked. What would we do if it didn’t? We couldn’t swing our swords blindly at the air, after all.

After a tense few seconds of waiting, Lucy shouted, “Here it comes!”

“Graaaah!”

A huge monster immediately manifested in front of our eyes. It was aiming for Surena, but with a fraction of a second of warning, she was more than ready. Someone as strong as her could easily make use of that much time.

“Hah!”

She parried the strike successfully, blocking the impact by crossing her two swords and warding it to the left to lighten the burden on her muscles. I was to her right. Lucy and Allucia were behind her. Parrying to the left was a good decision.

“Hmph!”

“Haaah!”

Right as Surena fended off the attack, Allucia and I charged in from both sides. I was a fair bit closer, but our strikes landed at about the same time. Her acceleration was as explosive as always.

“Tough as ever...!”

“Mrgh...”

Unlike last time, I hadn’t swung one-handed in desperation. I’d put all my strength into the attack, using both hands. Allucia had done the same. Despite this, the feedback I’d received was unsatisfying. I hadn’t cut through any flesh at all—Id Invicius’s sturdy exterior had blocked my attack completely. I could hear Allucia grumbling too. It didn’t sound like her attack had been effective either.

“It’s gone...”

Just before our swords had come into contact, Id Invicius had suddenly vanished into thin air. Judging by the sensation left in my hands, though, I’d definitely struck it. It felt strange to wield my sword against an invisible foe. The information processed by my brain and the feeling in my hands were completely mismatched. I doubted there were many monsters out there like this, so it wasn’t like I had to get used to the feeling. But I certainly didn’t want this battle to drag on.

“Hmm. Hmm, hmm, hmm... I see... What an amusing use of mana... Child’s play.”

Once again, Id Invicius had erased its image and presence—it was withdrawing after one hit. Lucy was nodding meaningfully in the direction it had probably gone, the corner of her mouth raised.

Judging by her words and expression, she knew something. It was a little annoying that this invisibility, which had all the swordsmen completely stumped, was mere “child’s play” to her. When it came to magic, she really did tower above all others. It wasn’t an exaggeration to call her a singularity in this world.

“Looks like you figured it out,” I said.

“Yup,” Lucy confirmed. “I’m a genius, after all.”

“Yeah, yeah...”

I’d just been thinking the same thing, but still. It was good fortune that Lucy had an idea of what we were up against after only a single encounter. Even if I asked how it worked, I probably wouldn’t understand the explanation.

“We’ll do something about that invisibility on our next encounter,” Lucy said. “Will our attacks work, though?”

“Unfortunately not,” I told her. “I’m pretty sure its toughness is some kinda magical trick too... What do you think, Allucia?”

“This is my new sword’s first major sortie, so I don’t really want to accept such an outcome...” she answered. “But Id Invicius is unbelievably sturdy. I doubt it can be physically cut at all.”

“So you think so too, huh...?”

Even if we did something about its invisibility, there was still one other problem: It was far too tough, and our attacks seemed to make no difference. Allucia felt the same—neither of us could picture cutting the thing successfully. There was something about it that seemed supernatural. If neither of our blades or techniques worked, I wanted someone to show me where in the world you could find a way of injuring the thing. It was invisible too, so aiming for normal weaknesses, like the eyes and the inside of its mouth, was out of the question.

“Hmm... Now that I think of it, Allucia, is that a new sword?” Lucy asked.

“Y-Yes,” Allucia confirmed. “I took very good care of the one I’d been using before...but everything has a limit.”

“I see... Beryl’s sword will probably be fine too,” Lucy muttered. “Lysandra, yours are pretty sharp too, yes?”

“Yes. They’re a rarity made from a slain dragon’s fangs,” Surena explained. “They’re in no way inferior...I think.”

Our problem was our weapons. Lucy’s magic might work, but there was no telling until we tried it. My sword and Allucia’s were masterworks that had just recently been forged. Surena’s were made from a dragon’s fangs—her nickname Twin Dragonblade wasn’t just for show. If none of our swords could deal damage, then I was stumped at how we could possibly break this deadlock.

“Well, it’ll work one way or another with your weapons,” Lucy said without explanation. “Here, hand them over.”

She was acting as if the answer were so simple, even though the rest of us were at a complete loss. Now, she was asking three swordsmen to hand over their lives.

“You want...our swords?” I asked.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” she said, an air of exasperation to her voice. “Just hand them over. It’s running farther and farther away.”

Uhhh...what to do? It was true that we didn’t really have time to waste, but I was somewhat reluctant to let go of my blade. There was no telling when Id Invicius would attack again. As eccentric as she was, I didn’t think Lucy was going to mess up our weapons, though.

“Understood.”

“Here.”

Ignoring my internal conflict, Allucia and Surena quickly unbuckled their sheaths and handed over their swords.

I feel kinda dumb for worrying about it. The two of them saw Lucy as the reliable magic commander. I saw her in the same light, but due to our outrageous first meeting, I had a hard time wiping away my poor impression of her. Lucy was a woman who jumped back and forth between being a good and bad friend. Now wasn’t really an appropriate time for her to be shady, so it was best for me to just take the plunge.

“Fine,” I conceded, removing my sheath from my belt. “So? What’re you doing?”

“To put it simply, I’m amplifying them with mana.”

“Hmmm...”

I kind of understood what she meant. Our current weapons did nothing to Id Invicius, so she was going to boost them with magic. This probably made perfect sense to a wizard. The problem was how exactly she was performing said amplification. There were probably a myriad of ways of doing it. I wanted to avoid the weapon’s weight changing or its center of gravity shifting.

“That’s fine and all, but are we going to be able to wield them normally...?” I asked.

“There’s no need to worry about that,” she told me as she took my sword. “Let’s see...”

“Uhhh... Well, I’ll leave it to you.”

I couldn’t help but worry. She wasn’t a swordswoman by nature. I honestly doubted that she would understand the delicacy with which weapons were wielded. That said, we were confronted with the reality that we couldn’t deal any damage to Id Invicius. We had to try everything we could.

If our mana-fueled strikes failed, she could just undo whatever spell she’d cast on our swords. I’d seen magic meant to boost physical capabilities before, but I’d never heard of applying it to a weapon. Still, if Lucy was saying it was possible, it had to be. And if she could amplify them, she could also reverse the process to return them to normal.

“Hmm... Just as I thought, the residual mana ratio is just as it was,” she muttered, touching each sword.

“Residual mana ratio...?” I parroted.

I couldn’t see mana, so I had no idea what was going on, and her words seemed nonsensical. If I took it literally, the ratio of mana that remained in the weapon was good. Not that this makes sense either. I wonder if they teach this stuff in lectures at the institute.

“There’s no point giving you a detailed explanation right now,” Lucy said. “Here, try it out.”

“You’ve got a point. Hmmm...”

She couldn’t start a lesson in the middle of the mountains, so I chose to just accept what she was saying. And though I was still curious, knowing the inner workings of this was a low priority. So, I focused only on the result. I took a look at my sword, but I couldn’t sense any differences. My concerns about the weight and center of gravity changing had been unfounded.

“Um, how long does this...amplification...? How long does it last?” I asked.

“With your weapons, about an hour,” Lucy answered. “It typically disperses in just a few minutes, but with such nice materials, it lasts longer. Normal iron wouldn’t work this way.”

“Hmmm...”

Since I couldn’t tell the difference, all that was left was to actually try it. I had no idea what kind of result to expect. But if this enhancement was going to be effective against our foe, then one hour seemed like plenty of time to finish things. We’d never expected the fighting to last that long, and if it did, we would likely be defeated.

When not at war—in a battle between small numbers—it was pretty much impossible for the fighting to last an hour without a victor. Beyond just the question of winning or losing, you had to consider temporary withdrawals and such.

But in this case, Id Invicius was invisible, so we had to find it before we could fight it. However, Lucy already had a grasp of its tail. If this went on for an hour without being settled, we were pretty much guaranteed to lose—that would typically imply a situation where we were somehow holding out and waiting for defeat rather than pushing for a victory. I wanted to avoid that. If we ended up in such a situation with this group, then maybe it was just better to quickly give up on the whole endeavor.

“One more thing,” Lucy said. “Its limbs are covered in mana. Don’t let it hit you at all. It’s strong enough that metal armor will be rendered meaningless.”

“Thanks for the warning...”

Mana could be applied to both offense and defense. That was easy for anyone to imagine. Both Surena and I had fallen victim to it. I could’ve guessed that armor was useless, even before hearing it from Lucy.

Just as Lucy had amplified our weapons with mana, Id Invicius had done the same to its body. Those vicious claws were drenched in mana. I had no intention of letting this battle draw out, but it didn’t seem like it would either way. Our party was made up of some of the strongest fighters alive, but even so, a careless misstep could crush us all in an instant. It’s a seriously unappealing prospect.

“Right, next...we go that way,” Lucy said, straightening up and pointing in the direction Id Invicius had probably gone.

“You really can tell...” I muttered.

“Of course. It leaves quite a dense trail.”

If I had to guess, she was referring to vestiges of mana. There was definitely a lot of guesswork going on in my head when it came to this magic stuff. Even if Lucy was utterly wrong, I couldn’t really complain. But considering how confident she looked, it was hard to picture a future where she was wrong. I still had a long way to go before I could act with such confidence in any situation.

“I’m glad you can track it,” Surena said. “Master, let’s hurry onward.”

“Y-Yeah.”

Surena strode forward, and I followed in a fluster. Both she and Allucia really trusted everything Lucy said. I did too, but the degree of trust was somewhat different. Unlike me, the two of them had interacted with wizards plenty of times before this. Though the two couldn’t use magic themselves, they had far more knowledge about people who could.

I had too little experience teaming up with wizards. That was why I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it. I’d worked with Ficelle before, but that had been in a face-to-face clash in a confined space. I didn’t know what magic could provide beyond simple firepower.

Well, even ignoring the fact that Lucy towered above all others, having a wizard who could adapt to all kinds of situations was pretty useful. I could understand why Liberis invested so much into discovering and raising wizards. Maybe one day I would fight shoulder to shoulder with Mewi. That was an extremely interesting and enjoyable thought, but for that day to come, I had to survive this day of days. So, I focused my attention on the task at hand.

“Straight that way. Mm... A little to the right, I think.”

“We probably can’t get through that way. We’ll have to take a detour.”

Navigation duty had shifted from me to Lucy, but she was only tracking Id Invicius’s mana and didn’t give much thought to the route itself. Every now and then, we had to deviate from the straight-line path to our target.

If we tried really hard, we could probably have done without the detours, but that would’ve left us utterly defenseless—I wanted to avoid having to scale any steep slopes or sheer cliffs. If we were attacked in a position like that, no real counter would be possible.

I didn’t claim that Lucy had a lack of combat experience. If anything, she had far more than the rest of us. However, the experience accumulated by swordsmen was just different. Our approach to battle couldn’t be compared to the way Lucy could handle threats from all directions, at long range, and with her bare hands. So, if we followed her directions to the letter, she would be the only person capable of putting up a fight. That would be problematic. Not only would we be incapable of protecting her, but we wouldn’t even be able to protect ourselves. It would be impossible to react to Id Invicius’s attacks without a stable foothold and clear sight. At the very least, we needed space to dodge.

Several minutes after following Lucy’s guidance and making small changes to the route, I sensed something clearly abnormal in this space devoid of life.

“Hm...?”

“Someone’s there,” Surena observed.

“Ooh, and who might that be?” Lucy mused. “To think that other people would be all the way out here.”

I did sense people. Due to the complete lack of life within Id Invicius’s territory, they were really easy to identify right away. Only Lucy couldn’t tell. It was amusing how vividly the difference between swordsmen and wizards was depicted here. We were all combatants on the field of battle, but we had a huge variation in our approaches. There were merits to both styles, but the experiences we’d gone through and the intuition we’d developed were different on a fundamental level.

“Have they noticed us too...?” I muttered.

“They must have,” Allucia said. “They’re here, so they can’t be amateurs.”

This was made evident by the fact that they were now moving toward us. Just as Allucia explained, anyone with experience in close combat would notice when other people entered this abnormal space. Looking at it the other way around, you could say that they were accustomed enough to battle to be able to sense our presences too.

If this was the search party of adventurers who were out looking for Surena, it would be simple to explain the situation. However, it would be a bit of an issue if this happened to be a hostile force. Well, if they aren’t open to talking, we’ll just have to beat them up.

Preparing for the worst, Surena and I took the front, while Allucia stuck with Lucy, seeing how she was capable of bursting into action the fastest. A while later, two people stepped out of the treeline in the distance.

“Stop!” one shouted. “Who goes there? Identify yourselves.”

It was a young man who looked to be about Randrid and Henblitz’s age. He was somewhat lankier than them, but that didn’t mean he lacked strength. His muscles were just very tightly packed. You could say his entire body had been trained purely for battle, cutting all excess fat. The fact that this was visible through his clothes proved the extent of his abilities. At a glance, he appeared quite skilled. He had silver hair that resembled Allucia’s, but there was a violet tint to it that gave off a very different impression. Much like her, there was a certain mystique to this.

Judging by his equipment, he wasn’t a knight. He wore a long coat with several metal plates affixed to it and carried a drawn longsword in his hand. It was no normal longsword, though. Squinting to get a better look, I could see its undulating edge. It was a flamberge. This weapon focused on creating lacerations and causing heavy bleeding. To put it bluntly, it excelled at killing. I didn’t believe in any gods, but going entirely by his appearance and weapon, he looked like the god of death. That was how tranquil and dominant he seemed.

As I continued observing him, Surena stepped forth and announced herself.

“I’m Surena Lysandra. I’m hoping that’s enough for you. If not, then I must ask you to identify yourselves as w—Ebenrain?! I never thought you’d be mobilized...”

“Lysandra, in the flesh? Haaah... Guess you’re fine, then. Glad to see that part’s solved.”

Once she got a better look at him, her tone changed completely. The man named Ebenrain also blinked in surprise for a moment, then sighed in relief. It seemed they were acquaintances. From what he was saying, maybe they were the adventurers who’d come to look for Surena. However, the way Surena had said “I never thought you’d be mobilized” bothered me a bit. Maybe he was just that much of a big shot.

“Ebenrain...” I muttered. “Um... Joshua Ebenrain...?”

His name and hair weren’t exactly common. I happened to have known a young man who’d shared those exact features. Well, not a young man at the time—the person I’d known had been far younger. Hearing me, he turned my way.

“Hm? You know m—”

He froze in clear shock, his expression twisting completely.

“D-Don’t tell me... Master Beryl?!”

It was a completely unexpected reunion. How could anyone have predicted this happening all the way out here? However, I wasn’t quite sure you could call this a happy reunion.

“Yeah... Long time no see, I guess?” I said. “Never thought you’d call me ‘Master’ again.”

Joshua Ebenrain was one of my former pupils. However, he’d left the dojo before learning all of our techniques.

“Oh... I suppose it is impertinent of me to call you that,” he said, shaking his head slightly. “It’s good to see you again, Mr. Beryl.”

“Aah, call me whatever. I did teach you for a bit.”

He was quite different from the Joshua I’d known. It’d thrown me off a little. It had been a long time since I’d seen him, so maybe it was normal for him to have grown in both body and mind. Even at my age, I was definitely still growing.

“Hmph. You too, Ebenrain?” Surena said, scoffing. “The world is both vast and small.”

“Me too...? I see, so you’re also...”

There was a strange sympathy between them. I knew the possibilities weren’t zero. I’d spent a long time teaching swordsmanship, so I had plenty of pupils who’d achieved great success. The world was big, but in any occupation, the higher you went, the fewer the people. That was why in the world of martial arts, it was entirely possible for those who’d risen to the top to know each other or to have had the same teacher. I’d simply never considered that I would be that teacher.

“Aah, sorry to cut in,” Lucy said, “but now isn’t exactly the time for chitchat. I’m sure you feel the same.”

“You’ve got a point there...” I agreed. “Joshua, we’re chasing a named monster. What about you?”

My reunion with him had been unexpected, but we couldn’t exactly renew old friendships. We were here to defeat Id Invicius. Joshua’s objective was to rescue Surena—he hadn’t explicitly been ordered to defeat the monster. I doubted he would get in our way, but I was curious about how he would move next.

“If it isn’t a bother, I’d like to accompany you,” he answered after a moment’s consideration. “If the knight commander and even the magic commander have set forth, then my group can’t be the only ones slinking back to town.”

His eyes were fixed on Allucia and Lucy to the rear. Those two were celebrities. The fact that I was walking shoulder to shoulder with them, and with Surena, was somewhat unreal.

“I see. We could do with the help,” I told him. “We’ll be counting on you.”

There was no reason to refuse him. A battle against Id Invicius would be better conducted with a small squad of elite members. His abilities were in no way lacking for this. Joshua hadn’t learned all of our techniques, but looking purely at his skill with a sword, he stood out prominently.

I did have some slight anxieties, of course, but he’d grown considerably since those days. I was sure he’d matured, and I could at least guarantee that he wasn’t scheming to stab me in the back.

“I’ve caused you a lot of trouble,” Surena said. “Allow me to thank you properly.”

“It’s fine,” Joshua said. “Working in a group like this is an experience that makes the hassle worth it.”

Setting aside the fact that they seemed to be normal acquaintances, everyone saw him as having enough skill to be selected for Surena’s search party. I had no idea what kind of life he’d led since leaving the dojo, but Surena wouldn’t have been talking to him like this if he were a bad person. I was secretly relieved to see he hadn’t fallen off the proper path.

“We haven’t fully introduced ourselves,” Joshua said. “This is my partner. I guarantee she won’t slow us down.”

“I’m Misty. A pleasure to meet you.”

She was beautiful and gave off a similar impression to Frau of the Liberion Order. Anyway, enough with the casual observations—she had to be able to handle herself if Joshua was vouching for her.

“Hmm... What interesting equipment,” I muttered without thinking about it.

“Thank you,” she said, her tone exceedingly businesslike. “My primary duty is supporting Master Joshua.”

“I-I see.”

It was like she was intentionally keeping all emotion out of her voice. Being able to do that was probably a requirement for some professions.

My interest was in her weaponry. She had a bow and a quiver of arrows on her back, and a dagger and a whip hanging from her waist. It was quite the rare lineup of weapons. The bow and dagger made sense to me, but not the whip. It was questionable whether you could even call the whip a weapon—in my personal opinion, at least.

Unlike a normal weapon, it was extremely hard to handle, and it had no killing power. It was plenty capable of inflicting pain, though. So if the goal was to make a target feel pain, it was an excellent tool.

However, it was surprisingly difficult to kill an opponent like that. Maybe a human might fall to it, but would it be of any use against a large monster? She’d claimed to be Joshua’s support, so maybe she wasn’t equipped to defeat her opponents. She could have been there to seal an enemy’s movements and throw them off-balance from afar—Joshua would be the one dealing the finishing blow.

It was a fairly interesting approach...but quite difficult to establish a party where you depended entirely on someone else to be able to finish your foes. It would bring up the question of what to do in the event that you were left alone. Well, it would work out one way or another as long as you had the technique to make up for it...but if you did, it made more sense to just equip yourself with gear to fight on your own. I had no intention of butting in on the affairs of people who weren’t even my pupils, so I kept that to myself.

“Ah. Joshua is strong enough that he now has someone completely dedicated to providing him support,” I reasoned, approaching the conversation from a different angle.

It was indeed very specialized equipment, but I could see it from another perspective too—they were able to fight effectively as a team, even with such an extreme setup. Joshua was simply that good.

“Yes. Master Joshua is the black rank of the Salura Zaruk Empire’s adventurer’s guild,” Misty explained.

“A black rank?!”

I shuddered at the thought. Black ranks were the strongest adventurers in the guild. One could easily count how many there were across the entire world, including Surena. It was quite the shock that Joshua had reached such heights too.

That said, this fact guaranteed his skill. He was at least at Surena’s level, which was an extraordinary feat. I was honestly glad to hear it. He had a tendency to take things to an extreme, after all. But this tendency had apparently combined well with his growth in maturity to mellow him out.

“We have only worked together a handful of times, but I can vouch for their abilities,” Surena added.

“Feels nice hearing that from you,” Joshua said. “Anyway, looking forward to working with you all.”

“Y-Yeah, likewise,” I said. “Lucy, let’s move out.”

“Mm, very well.”

We couldn’t afford to waste more time on introductions and idle conversation. Only Lucy knew how far away Id Invicius had gotten in the meantime—the rest of us had no way of telling whether it could still be tracked. Even over just a few minutes, a wild beast could cover a considerable distance, and this was especially true for a large, agile specimen.

“It’s that way,” Lucy directed. “I doubt it’s gotten far. Its territory must have limits.”

“Hmm, you’ve got a point there,” I agreed.

According to Lucy, it was still within our reach. Id Invicius was huge, but its territory couldn’t be endless. After all, a single monster could only claim so much for itself. It would have to communicate to other fauna, “Hey, all of this is mine,” and actually enforce those boundaries.

I doubted Id Invicius would totally abandon its territory and take off on such short notice. Things could change if it got more wary of us, though. I wanted to finish it off for good, and considering our party lineup, I felt like we had a chance. Frankly, it would be impressive if it did manage to outrun us. But if it moved its territory, the investigation would have to start over from square one, and I definitely wanted to avoid that.

“All right, let’s get going...” I said. “Allucia, something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing. Let’s hurry.”

“I see... Got it.”

She’d been awfully quiet ever since our encounter with Joshua and Misty. He couldn’t really be called my pupil, but nonetheless, her reaction was somewhat unexpected—she was meeting yet another person who’d studied the blade under me, after all.

That said, just as Lucy had told us, now wasn’t exactly the time for chitchat. If Allucia was thinking the same thing, maybe I was reading too much into it. If anything, I could be criticized for stopping to ask her about it.

“We’re the ones tagging along,” Joshua said, “so I suppose we should take on the dangerous vanguard or watch the rear.”

“Handle the rear,” I decided. “Surena and I will take the front.”

“Understood.”

Our new formation was set. Surena and I led the way, Lucy and Allucia took the center, and Joshua and Misty watched the rear. Joshua’s enthusiasm was commendable—since he’d joined our expedition late, he’d offered to take the most dangerous positions. He wasn’t the type to hold back or abandon his allies. On that one point at least, I trusted his personality. Everything else, well...I would just have to reevaluate from scratch.

Besides, no matter how outstanding his sword skills were, I doubted he could pierce Id Invicius’s armor. I also wasn’t sure we could unveil Lucy’s magic to adventurers we hardly knew. But this wasn’t something for me to bring up. If Joshua’s attacks weren’t going to affect Id Invicius, it was better for him to watch the rear rather than serve as a vanguard.

We advanced in this formation for several minutes, and then, it happened.

“Mrgh... It’s approaching,” Lucy warned. “Get ready.”

“Got it.”

How convenient to be getting a rough idea of where an invisible enemy was. There were very few wizards who could accurately identify something like this, but the way battles were carried out could change drastically with the development of magic technology. Would there even be a role for swordsmen in such a future? Lucy’s existence was so far out there that I couldn’t help but think about that.

“There! Here it comes!” Lucy shouted.

“Bring it on!”

I couldn’t see the thing, but if Lucy was saying so, it had to be there. I held my beloved sword at the ready and lowered my stance, instantly shifting from walking to being combat ready. Though I wasn’t watching the others, I was sure all of them except for Lucy had done the same. They were all people I’d taught or who’d gone through a harsh life where their survival had depended on such instincts.

“Graaaah!”

The massive monster appeared out of thin air once more. I caught its destructive claws with my brilliant blade. This was the starting signal to the third round against Id Invicius.

“Shhh!”

As I blocked the attack at the last second, Allucia let out a short exhalation and kicked off the ground. She thrust her ink-black blade into one of its forelegs. Yes, into. Her sword hadn’t been repelled like before—it had definitely overcome Id Invicius’s defenses.

“Graw?!”

It’d probably never expected a sword to pierce its skin. Id Invicius’s reaction was delayed, giving Allucia time to quickly retreat out of its range.

Hmm, looks like Lucy’s magic really worked.

Our attacks were indeed working, and this brought the difficulty of this battle down considerably. If we could only do something about its invisibility, victory would be well within our grasp.

“Lucy!” I called.

“Ha ha ha! Leave it to me!”

In short, it was up to our wizard. Since Allucia had attacked, she no longer had a knight protecting her, but she still took a step forward.

“Graaah!”

“Hmph... It ended up this way because you’ve only fought those weaker than you,” Lucy lectured the thing. “Well, I suppose there’s no point in telling a beast that.”

She held up a hand with an almost elegant movement. As she did, Id Invicius, who’d always vanished and retreated after a single strike, fell back—but it didn’t disappear. Under any other circumstances, this would have been a normal sight for a monster, but here, it was quite the opposite.

“Grrr!”

“It didn’t vanish...?” I muttered. “No, it can’t!”

Even regular animals were usually quite good at sensing presences around them. They were more sensitive to stuff like the wind, atmosphere, and the gazes of others than people believed. Id Invicius could tell that all eyes were still following it, even though it was supposed to be invisible. It knew by instinct that something was wrong.

I had no idea what exactly Lucy had done, and I doubted I could make sense of it if she explained it. All I could do was immediately take action. Id Invicius wasn’t vanishing—it was both visible to the eye and it gave off a presence. Our party was full of experts, so there was no better opportunity during a big hunt.

“It’ll stop working if it gets too far from me!” Lucy shouted. “Close in!”

“And you?!”

“I can move on my own!”

I confirmed the situation quickly with Lucy. The fact that we were able to convey everything in so few words showed how accustomed to battle she was.

“Got it! Surena!”

“I’m with you!”

Allucia had already jumped to the fore. She was sure to take decisive action on her own, but she was a little too far ahead and thus too out of sync with me, so we couldn’t link up immediately. I couldn’t work with Lucy—our approach to battle was too different. And I didn’t know how Joshua and Misty fought. So, in an instant, I knew it was best to pair up with Surena. She followed my charge, her red hair flashing through the air.

Id Invicius’s body was so large that no normal human would have been able to catch up if it had tried jumping away. However, the abnormality of the situation had created a blank in Id Invicius’s thoughts. This only lasted one or two breaths, but any swordsman who couldn’t take advantage of that was second-rate at best. Surena and I had plenty of time.

“Haaaah!”

“Hmph!”

“Graaawr!”

“All right! We got through!”

As for where exactly we aimed on its enormous body, Surena and I knew each other well enough that we didn’t need to discuss it beforehand. If we weren’t going for an instant kill, it was common sense to start by chipping away at the limbs. This was especially effective against monsters. The eyes were good targets too.

Things changed based on individual judgment, personality, and the current situation, but this time around, it was best to stick to the basics. Surena and I slashed at both of Id Invicius’s forelegs, dealing definite damage. Now, it couldn’t run away anymore—as long as it didn’t rise and start walking upright or something.

“Well, we did manage to cut it...” I muttered.

“But I don’t really want to get used to the sensation...” Surena replied.

“True. Well, let’s leave that for later!”

We’d figured we would get through its hide after seeing Allucia’s attack pierce through. And indeed, Id Invicius’s skin didn’t repel our blades—that was something to be happy about. However, the sensation of cutting it was, well...strange. It was a little hard to explain—like the feedback I’d been expecting from the blow and what I’d actually felt were vastly different. It was simply weird. Maybe it was similar to slamming a block of butter with a club, yet bisecting it cleanly. Even that description didn’t seem quite right.

But this probably unraveled the truth behind Lucy’s amplification spell—our weapons’ edges weren’t doing the slicing, but instead, the magical component was forcibly prying open our opponent’s defenses. It was amazing in terms of pure destructive potential, but it worked against a swordsman’s intuition. Judging by her expression and tone, Surena seemed to have mixed feelings about it too. And if I had to guess, Allucia shared our opinion.

Man, swordsmen sure are hard to please. We were liable to complain when the sensation of a blade going through flesh was a little off. But it was a small salvation to have people I could share such feelings with.

“Misty!”

“Right away!”

Anyway, setting aside such unnecessary grumbling, our priority was finishing off the named monster before us. As that thought came to mind, Joshua barked an order, and Misty responded immediately. She quickly grabbed the whip at her waist and cracked it toward her target.

It was quite a long weapon. In general, the longer a weapon was, the harder it was to handle, but Misty didn’t seem to have any trouble controlling the whole thing. Using something like that would’ve been impossible for me. The techniques needed for it were far too different from wielding a sword.

“Master Joshua!”

Misty’s whip hadn’t strictly been an attack—it’d coiled around Id Invicius’s foreleg, stopping its movements for a moment. I doubted she had the physical strength to actually restrain such a large monster. No normal human could do so, and she knew this. She didn’t brace herself and instead let her body get yanked into the air.

“Well done!”

Normally, this would’ve been a suicidal move, but Misty and Joshua worked as a team. Annoyed by the whip around its leg, Id Invicius tried to shake it off, but that simple action created an opening.

“Tch!”

Joshua’s flamberge flashed forward in a slash. To repeat myself yet again, a split-second opening was more than enough time for a first-class swordsman to exploit. Joshua was one such swordsman.

However, while his sword struck true, it didn’t damage Id Invicius. The way he carried himself was excellent. His title as a black rank wasn’t just for show. The weapon in his hands had to be quite the masterwork too. But even so, no unenchanted weapon could pierce that sturdy skin. The feedback ringing through Joshua’s hand from the failed strike had to be reinforcing that fact in his mind.

This was a monster who vanished completely and couldn’t even be wounded by any normal weapons. You would typically question how such a thing could possibly be defeated. That was how it had survived all these years with free rein to hunt whatever it pleased.

“Ha ha ha, is that your trump card? How boring...”

However, we now had the extremely alien element called Lucy Diamond on our side. She’d stripped it of its ability to vanish and had even overcome its impenetrable physical defenses. Those two features would normally make it invincible, and nobody in the world would be able to beat it. However, using only her skill with magic, Lucy had torn that veil of invincibility away.

Magic truly was terrifying. It was territory you could never reach while only wielding a sword. I was beginning to understand why the kingdom was so desperate to secure wizards and fund magical research.

“Grrrr!”

“Hmm, resolved to fight to the death now? It’s a little late for that—especially against this lot,” Lucy declared coldly.

We were fighting on a mountainside but had a clear space around us and relatively stable footholds. Id Invicius had chosen this spot to attack because it was more convenient in case it decided to flee from us. After all, even though it could turn invisible, bumping into foliage would give it away. It wasn’t physically vanishing from the world. That was why it was best for it to assault its targets in locations where there were no obstacles—it was a good strategy for both attacking and escaping.

However, its tricks no longer worked, and this battlefield was now disadvantageous for it. Frankly, it would have been unreasonable for a human to predict such an outcome, much less a monster. Still, we couldn’t afford to let it learn from this encounter. We had to bring it down here and now. Surena and I needed to settle our grudges too.

“Hah!”

“Graaaah!”

Following up after me, Surena, Misty, and Joshua, Allucia regained her balance and rushed in once more. It felt nice to be so in sync with such talented swordsmen, all without even having to communicate with each other. We all understood what the others wanted to do, and we were all extremely quick to take action in response to the situation. It was a great blessing to be part of such a formation. Had I remained holed up in the countryside, I probably would’ve never experienced this.

“Seems you really have no more tricks up your sleeve,” Lucy said. “Haaah, what a disappointment.”

“Don’t say that...!” I snapped.

Even after tearing away its invisibility and rock-hard defenses, Lucy seemed discontent. I really wanted to complain to her about it. We hadn’t been able to raise so much as a finger against it until she’d taken care of those issues—if it had even more tricks up its sleeve, the entire battle would turn on us in an instant.

“It won’t run away with those wounds,” Lucy said. “I suppose we can finish it now.”

“Yeah...” I agreed. “Mind if I ask a favor, Lucy?”

“Oh? What is it?”

Things were pretty much settled. Id Invicius had no way of handling this incessant barrage of attacks. That was why we had the time to talk like this. Against normal opponents, Id Invicius would probably have managed one way or another due to its sheer physicality. However, it wasn’t facing normal opponents—it was fighting swordsmen and a wizard who could be considered top class at a national level.

That said, the reason we’d managed to corner Id Invicius was almost entirely because of Lucy. If not for her, all of our martial might would have been utterly useless.

“Can you undo the magic on my weapon and Surena’s?” I asked.

“What...?”

Unfortunately, we creatures known as swordsmen weren’t docile enough to simply accept such a conclusion.

“Undo it? Why?” Lucy asked.

“To keep it brief, I guess you can call it a swordsman’s stubbornness,” I answered. “I understand if you don’t get it. We don’t get wizards either.”

Her reaction was perfectly reasonable. We had a way of winning for sure, but here I was, trying to throw some of that away. I understood how irrational that seemed. However, not everything could be decided rationally when walking the path of a swordsman. If our personalities had allowed for it, we probably would’ve chosen other professions.

“Haaaah... Even if you’re fine with that, then what about Lysandra?” Lucy asked.

“She probably feels the same. Surena! Come here!”

“Right away!”

I really did understand Lucy’s hesitation. I was being selfish, and my behavior was irrational. Surena didn’t ask a single question—she just ran over to us. I hadn’t mentioned anything about undoing the magic to her. But, setting aside whether Lucy would undo the spell on the spot, I was almost certain Surena would agree with my suggestion. She was a top-class swordswoman, after all.

“Master, is there a problem?” she asked.

“No, I was just thinking of having the magic undone from our weapons.”

“Ah!”

Even though we had the advantage, we didn’t have time for a nice long chat. However, even without Surena and me in the fray, Allucia, Joshua, and Misty were there. They weren’t going to let Id Invicius get away. Both of its forelegs were injured, after all, so we had some room to breathe.

“True. It doesn’t feel right to end things this way,” Surena agreed immediately.

“See?” I turned to Lucy.

“Haaaaaaaaah... I truly don’t understand you swordsmen...”

Surena really did see things the same way as I did. I was glad our thoughts aligned. You really could call this a swordsman’s vice. Calling it our nature would sound too nice. The skills we’d developed through constant training didn’t work against this foe at all. How could we let such a thing stand? It was like picking a fight against the world, and you could frankly call it arrogant. I understood how ridiculous this seemed.

It was possible that swordsmen might become unnecessary in the future. That could come from an end to all conflict, or perhaps with the end of close-quarters combat due to the development of magic or other technologies. I didn’t know what the future had in store.

However, this was the present, not the future. And right now, swords were the main force on the battlefield. They were also the symbol of war. I couldn’t possibly allow some inexplicable magic trick to shut that out so completely.

This was no more than unnecessary pride. If told to throw such trash to the dogs, I could say nothing in my defense. And normally, that would have been the right thing to do. But we weren’t normal. We were tremendous eccentrics who’d chosen to walk the path of swordsmen. We were deviants who challenged the irrationality of the world using no more than a metal stick. It was precisely because of who we were that, even with our lives on the line, we prioritized this inexplicable pride.

Such action wasn’t going to influence the world in any significant way. It was the ultimate example of stubborn futility for the sake of self-satisfaction. Above all else, the skills Surena and I had tempered to overcome traumas that still lingered within us didn’t work against this opponent. We couldn’t possibly allow that to stand. But these emotions had only come to the fore after we’d gotten the advantage in this battle. This request truly was an act of self-gratification. We swordsmen are utterly beyond hope.

“I can technically redo the spell if needed, but we might not have the time,” Lucy eventually conceded.

“I don’t mind,” I told her. “Now that you’ve come this far, you’ll manage one way or another even if we can’t do anything, right?”

“Haaaaah... Yeah, yeah.”

Surena and I were in agreement. There was no way we were letting this thing get away after chasing it so far and cornering it. Even if Surena and I were knocked out of the fight, Lucy could surely finish it on her own.

“Hup...” Lucy held up a hand in resignation and canceled the spell. “There, have at it. I’ll gather your bones.”

“Thanks, I guess? Don’t know if it makes sense to say this, but...thanks.”

I couldn’t tell just by holding my weapon, but the magic was probably already gone. All that was left was to try it out.

“Whew, I’m itching to test my skills,” Surena said. “This is the way it should be.”

“What a coincidence,” I replied. “I was just thinking the same thing!” I kicked off the ground.

Frankly, undoing the magic lowered our odds of success. Both Surena and I understood that, but this experience was still strangely refreshing. While we’d talked, Allucia had taken charge of keeping Id Invicius in place. Joshua and Misty were putting in work too, but their attacks didn’t even cause the monster pain. I should commend them for keeping it in place like that.

“Hmph!”

“Graaaah!”

I leaped out in front of the monster and struck with an attack that had plenty of force behind it. Normally, this would have been a splendid hit, but the feedback in my hand didn’t match that expectation. Id Invicius was terribly tough—it felt like my blade had struck something immeasurably hard. Things were a lot better now that my opponent wasn’t vanishing, but this wasn’t a battle I could win through attrition. I had to find some way of breaking through its defenses. However, I’d just relinquished one means of doing exactly that.

“Master?!”

“Don’t mind us!”

Seeing my sword bounce off, Allucia turned pale. I could understand her panic. After all, my attacks had just been working moments ago. However, Surena and I were doing this intentionally, so there was absolutely no need to worry about us. Fretting would have put Allucia off her guard, and I didn’t want that to happen, so I’d quickly dispelled her fears.

“Haaaah!”

Surena followed up with an attack of her own, but it, too, was perfectly repelled. That would typically cause her to lose her balance, but she managed to hold her ground. Her core strength was astounding. I definitely couldn’t pull off the same thing. A swordsman’s goal was to cut down their opponent with swift and powerful strikes, and Surena had indisputable skill to accomplish both those aspects at such a high level. But such skill wasn’t enough here.

“Tch! Still not getting through...!” Surena spat, unable to hide her irritation.

Hmm, what to do? In the worst case, Lucy could take care of it for us or reamplify our weapons. That would be a pretty lame way to finish things, though. Going for its existing wounds was a valid tactic, but I didn’t really want to resort to that. It would make undoing the magic on our weapons meaningless.

“Allucia! Take over for a bit!”

“Right!”

We had to somehow get our blades to work, and to do that, we needed information. Observation was the best way of achieving this. So, I apologetically left the front line to Allucia.

Our attacks had only started working because of Lucy’s magic. Its defenses hadn’t been peeled away. There was some kind of trick to it, so there also had to be a valid way of getting around that trick.

If magic amplification allowed us to kill it, that meant it had magical defenses. In other words, Id Invicius’s entire body was probably covered in mana. Its invisibility would be impossible without mana too.

Top-class swordsmen were facing off against it now—though it was a bit embarrassing to count myself among them. Our weapons were all very well made. Was it truly possible for Id Invicius to negate all that firepower with mana alone? That was how it seemed. However, I questioned whether it was possible to cover every inch of its body for such a long time.

“Hmmm...”

There was one other thing of note: Even before Lucy broke its invisibility, it’d only revealed itself during the moments it attacked. You’d think it would have been more efficient to attack while invisible. There had to be a reason it couldn’t.

Did it have to ration its mana? Was that how it worked? I couldn’t understand any of that. I wasn’t a wizard. However, in battle, there was always a reason the most logical approach wasn’t used. So what could it be? Finding that out was the key to defeating Id Invicius. Of course, I had no real evidence to base this theory on, but the intuition I’d developed from wielding a sword for many years was telling me that.

I watched the battle a while longer without saying anything. Had I been fighting on my own, this would’ve been impossible, so I had to make full use of this opportunity. Id Invicius possessed tremendous mana and used it in an outrageous way. But it couldn’t do two things at once. Did it not have enough mana to maintain its invisibility and its absolute defense?

No, that wasn’t it. During our first encounter, my sword had struck home after it’d fully turned invisible. Despite this, I hadn’t cut it at all, so it was safe to assume that it could do both at once.

So why did it only reveal itself when it attacked? There had to be some kind of logic behind that. Was it a matter of compatibility between its two skills? Or was it forced to concentrate its mana to protect one specific spot? Maybe it had to devote so much effort to being invisible that it couldn’t maintain it when using its mana to attack. Lucy had mentioned that its limbs were covered in mana. Maybe its defenses weakened only when it attacked.

“It’s too focused on defense—that would be the most logical conclusion, but...”

That was the limit to what I could glean given our current information. All that was left was to observe it based on that assumption. That said, Id Invicius was just plainly huge and agile. It wasn’t easy to spot anything out of place in its movements. And this wasn’t a beast I was familiar with—I was basically seeing it for the first time.

“Ah! I get it...”

After spending more time on observation, I finally figured something out. As it took on multiple opponents, it was obviously getting wounded. Allucia’s sword was still amplified by magic, so as long as it reached its target, her blade cut flesh.

Looking at it another way, it should’ve been fine letting anything but Allucia’s sword hit it. In other words, it could’ve simply ignored Surena, Joshua, and Misty. It’d had enough time to come to that understanding.

However, it was reacting to attacks it should’ve been able to ignore. It was getting hit only where it was okay to get hit. It could be a simple defensive reaction in the spur of the moment, but if it didn’t move like that, it would give itself plenty of opportunities to counterattack. Id Invicius was prioritizing a seemingly meaningless defense.

I had an idea. Now, I just had to double-check. I had no way of verifying this on my own, so there was nothing better than asking a specialist.

“Lucy, you can see the flow of mana, yeah?”

“Hm? Well, yes.”

“Is there anything unnatural about Id Invicius’s flow? Anywhere weird on its body?”

Maybe it was just a coincidence. However, in battle, it was common sense to move with conviction rather than rely on coincidence. If there was the slightest chance of overcoming this, it was only right to exhaust that possibility completely. Otherwise, victory would forever remain out of reach.

“There is,” Lucy answered like it was nothing serious. “Close to the base of the neck...no, closer to the chest? It’s thinner or muddier there... Well, something like that.”

“Thought so! Thanks!”

She’d provided information we swordsmen practically die for ever so easily. I hadn’t actually expected to get such a clear answer. I wanted to praise myself for not shouting, “If you knew that, then why didn’t you say so?!”

I mean, I did get where she was coming from. The flow of mana was probably a perfectly natural sight to wizards, so Lucy hadn’t seen any particular reason to mention it—she’d deemed this information unnecessary in this fight and didn’t see the need to share it with us.

There was an unnatural flow of mana at the base of Id Invicius’s neck and around its chest. I doubted Lucy would make a mistake regarding anything magical. Maybe it was okay for a wizard to ignore such information, but it was worth paying attention to as a swordsman.

I didn’t understand the magical principle behind it. Still, prodding at something that felt out of place was the basic theory behind finding a path to victory. To add to that, my intuition matched the information I’d gotten from Lucy.

Maybe there was something preventing it from concentrating its mana in that one spot—it could be a weak point. This was a trifle to Lucy, who could beat it without worrying about that, but it was different for a swordsman. Striking that spot was well worth trying. If it wasn’t a weak point, I would seriously be out of ideas.

“Surena! Aim for the chest!” I shouted as I rejoined the fray.

“R-Right!”

Judging by the distance and the difference in speed, my attack would come after Surena’s.

“Ooh, now that I think of it, none of you can see mana... And yet, you still noticed. Quite impressive.”

I heard a faint sigh of admiration behind me. It seemed Lucy had really forgotten about that. Well, even without understanding mana, my power of observation in the midst of battle was one of my greatest strengths as a swordsman.

Anyway, things weren’t going to get started until we got a hit in. Leaving this to Allucia would be meaningless. Her weapon was still amplified by Lucy’s magic, so she was able to get a slash in regardless of any weak points. It wouldn’t be much of a reference for me and Surena.

Fortunately, it’d suffered quite a lot of damage to its forelegs. We’d been correct to hamper its mobility to prevent it from running away. Also, it was naturally forced to sacrifice its forelegs to protect its chest. This helped back my theory.

That said, it was actually pretty hard to aim for the chest against a creature that walked on four legs. The face and limbs were much easier targets. In a normal confrontation, it was out of sword’s reach, and there was generally never a reason to explicitly aim there. Against a monster this size, there were openings to pull it off, though. We needed to watch out for stomping and flailing forelegs, but I doubted Surena would commit such a fundamental error.

She ran in a straight line, feinted left and right, then slipped in under its legs. Feints worked surprisingly well against any opponent, not just humans. As long as they weren’t some supernatural being, all creatures generally made decisions based on sight. Even though Id Invicius wielded mana, it was the same as humans in that regard.

“Hmph!”

“Grah!”

Surena followed with an upward slash. It didn’t bounce off like her previous attack.

“It...worked!”

I’d definitely witnessed her blade sinking in, even if only a little.

“Okay!”

It was the difference between zero and one. If the blade worked at all, then the monster wasn’t invincible. It could be defeated. If we kept at it, we could win. In a battle where a single moment could decide life or death, a single ray of hope couldn’t be overlooked. Swordsmen were creatures who clung on to the very end in such struggles to the death.

“Surena!”

“Got it!”

Even though she’d slipped in successfully, it was hard to stay under there for long. The monster was sure to move, and more importantly, it was dangerous. Also, if I wanted to get an attack in as well, there was the simple problem of space.

It felt so pleasant to get all of that across with nothing more than a single word—a name, at that. A casual part of me observed that I really did live for battle. But that was fine. This was surely what I’d wished for during my childhood.

“Haaaaah!”

I roared, dashed, arrived, and slashed. A clearly different sensation from before ran through my palms. Id Invicius was tough, but I could cut it. I wasn’t sure whether I’d reached its meat, but I had definitely pierced its skin. I now had conviction that my blade worked. My spirit soared, surpassing the fear and panic I’d once felt in the face of this enormous foe.

All kinds of emotions ran through my heart in an instant. This was probably the polar opposite of a zen state, but it wasn’t a hindrance at all, nor was it unpleasant. It was a form of energy that I needed at that moment.

“Graaaah!”

Naturally, one hit wasn’t enough to bring down this opponent. My blade worked, but due to its sheer size, it couldn’t be killed quickly. Things would’ve been different if I could’ve bisected it in a single slash, but that was definitely impossible against a monster this size—at least with human strength and without magic.

“Allucia, shave away at it! Joshua, only this part of the chest can be cut!”

“Right!”

“Understood!”

Following Surena’s example, I fell back out of range of its forelegs. Being able to attack didn’t mean we had to sit there and wait for a counterattack. Considering its size and strength, one blow would take us out of the fight.

However, I’d already participated in such battles multiple times. Zeno Grable and Lono Ambrosia had been the same, and if anything, the saberboar boss from last summer had been too. The plan was to avoid fatal wounds while steadily driving in attacks. Such was the motto of our dojo: fight without losing.

On my own, and even teaming with Surena, it would normally be impossible to beat Id Invicius. The ability to turn invisible and its absolute defenses were beyond us. We wouldn’t even have been able to identify the weak point on its chest.

It was due to Lucy’s aid that we’d broken through that iron fortress. If Allucia, Joshua, and Misty hadn’t been here, we wouldn’t have had enough hands on deck, leading to a much more difficult time. Though it was a bit weird to interpret it this way, it was precisely because of their help that we’d discarded the possibility of using some nonsensical magic to obtain an unsatisfying victory over our fated foe.

“Heh... Ha ha...!”

The current situation was born of many coincidences and lots of luck. The world wasn’t so soft that the best result always came to be, of course. You could almost laugh at this grand intersection of fate. That just seems to be my style.

I didn’t fit the picture of a hero who cut his way through all obstacles in the world on his own. But with everyone pushing my back, I somehow managed to face forward. It was quite a lot of progress compared to my days of always looking behind or down.

I’d once recklessly charged this enemy only to limp home beaten and bruised. Since then, I’d improved my skills, but no matter how much I polished my art, I would never claim to be able to beat this thing on my own. A swordsman’s compatibility against its abilities was far too lousy—I wouldn’t even have been able to observe it in a one-on-one fight.

Regardless, victory was now in sight. A part of this was because I’d definitely grown, but a far larger factor was because I was blessed with many connections. I could also rely freely on these reassuring allies of mine.

This was a choice I could make because of my age. On a global scale, there wasn’t much my strength could accomplish on its own. But figuring that out at a young age would’ve been too much to ask of me.

Still, I’ve come to realize that now. That’s why I can beat you. You’ve looked down on us humans too much, Id Invicius, though it might not sound convincing from someone who’s totally relying on others to win.

“Graaaaah!”

“Quite the roar. I get how you feel.”

Id Invicius was clearly panicking. It cried out in irritation. Or maybe it was trying to bluff. That said, I really did understand how it felt. It should’ve had an overwhelming advantage, free to pick off humans at its leisure, but the entire situation had been flipped on its head due to the appearance of a single person: Lucy Diamond. It was a horrible joke if you looked at it from the monster’s perspective.

We couldn’t afford to lose. You could say this was the kind of monster that was impossible to defeat without someone of Lucy’s level around. If we didn’t kill it here, it was easy to imagine the harm it could inflict in the future.

The battle was taking a hectic change in our favor as Joshua let out a sharp command.

“Misty!”

“Yes, sir!”

Misty immediately responded with a crack of her whip. I was glad to see that they were this coordinated in battle. Joshua did call her his partner, after all. She had a perfect grasp of what he wanted just from a single call of her name.

“I can only buy a moment,” she said. “The rest is up to you.”

“Grrrrrrr!”

Much like before, Misty’s whip wrapped around Id Invicius’s leg, but this time, she held her ground. It was like a tug of war. Obviously, she had no way of winning such a contest. Misty’s strength wouldn’t last for more than an instant—anyone could see that. Nevertheless, she braced herself for as long as she could, all to buy a split second. Thanks to that, its foreleg was halted.

“Oooooh!”

The path to its chest was now open—more than enough for a swordsman of Joshua’s caliber to exploit. Surena and I wouldn’t be able to make it in time. The reason was simple: We weren’t in sync with Misty. That was a necessity for taking advantage of such a small window. I wasn’t looking down on her abilities or anything, but it was pretty hard to team up with someone for the first time, especially when they were using an unfamiliar weapon.

Joshua charged in with a thrust, and at the moment of impact, he twisted his wrists a little.

“Graaaaaaah!”

“Tch! Still too shallow?!”

This was likely a means of making full use of his flamberge’s attributes. To put it really simply, it dealt more damage when you could scrape its jagged edges against something. This was a very logical means of taking down any living being, and I would be sure to scream my lungs out if I was ever struck with a twisting stab from such a weapon. I definitely never wanted to experience it.

However, even such a debilitating strike wasn’t enough to bring down Id Invicius. Was it simply too shallow? Or were we just one small push away? It wasn’t clear.

That was when Lucy provided some new information.

“Hmm... It seems to be regenerating little by little. That’s why it won’t go down.”

“Makes sense!”

I suddenly understood. Lucy could use healing magic, so it was perfectly logical for Id Invicius to be able to use its mana for the same thing. I was glad I had some experience with magic now. I didn’t need a full explanation to wrap my head around it.

Now that I thought of it, despite the amount of damage it’d taken to its forelegs from amplified swords, it was still moving around. Normally, it should’ve collapsed by now, but its regeneration was keeping it going. It was actually pretty simple to overcome this trick—you needed to damage it faster than it could regenerate.

However, that was easier said than done. It was honestly pretty hard to put enough force behind every blow while also focusing on volume. To add to that, there was only one spot where our attacks worked. Allucia and I specialized in a hit-and-run style—that was pretty much the case for all of our dojo’s pupils. We were technically capable of pushing through with overwhelming force, but it wasn’t our strength. It was probably possible for me to finish this. However, from a logical standpoint, there were still concerns regarding the reliability and safety of that approach.

Given all of these factors, our best bet was Surena. We could use her strength and stamina to bring it down all at once.

“The pupil is to surpass the master... That sounds fun too,” I muttered to myself. I then turned to the others. “Allucia! Take out the right hind leg! Joshua, Misty, with me!”

It was the teacher’s duty to create the opportunity to draw out the full extent of the student’s abilities. Without magic, our attacks couldn’t deal direct damage. However, the impact itself got through. Its exterior was endlessly tough, but it wasn’t canceling out all momentum and inertia or anything. I was able to tell this instinctively based on the blows we’d dealt so far.

“Hah!”

At my command, Allucia made the first move with her explosive acceleration. She didn’t take it on from the front like before but circled wide around it. Due to her agility, she was able to take this longer route without any notable delay.

“Ooooh!”

Matching her charge, I closed in on Id Invicius’s right foreleg. Even if it was gradually regenerating, this leg was still fairly injured. My attacks weren’t so weak that it could completely ignore them in that state.

“Here we go!”

Joshua followed in after me. My instruction to him had been brief, but he still knew what I was getting at. He, too, was a first-class swordsman.

“Hmph!”

“Haaah!”

“Tah!”

Me, Allucia, and Joshua all let out battle cries in unison. Our three attacks were perfectly in sync. Allucia delivered an intense slash to the thigh of its right hind leg. Joshua and I swung with all our might at the right foreleg. We didn’t need our blades to cut—the plan here was to deliver as much of an impact as possible. I was sure our weapons could endure it...even if some of that was just wishful thinking.

“Graaah!”

Suffering a blow to both its right legs at the same time, Id Invicius tilted over. I would’ve complained if it hadn’t, given its size. The bigger the monster, the more agility it lost from damage to half the legs holding up its immense weight.

“Impressive. Please leave the next move to me.”

One beat later, Misty’s whip cracked forth for the third time. She was pretty impressive. She’d figured out my intentions in an instant and was taking the most optimal course of action to follow up on it. I doubted anyone could serve as Joshua’s support better than her. Joshua was a black rank, after all, so his partner had to possess considerable skill.

“Grrrrr!”

As Id Invicius lost its balance, Misty’s whip coiled around its right foreleg. She wasn’t in a tug-of-war like before, but due to the weight difference, pulling on a beast that big usually wouldn’t do anything.

“Shhh!”

However, things were a little different when its weight was heavily slanted to one side. Any living being that walked on the ground, be it with two or four legs, instinctively tried to keep its balance.

“Graaaah!”

In theory, it was surprisingly simple to get someone like that to fall over. Putting that into practice against such a large monster took impressive skill. It was quite difficult to pull off using a sword, but with a whip, she could execute this tactic.

At this stage, we could probably beat it without resorting to this, but nobody wanted this battle to drag on. It was best to finish things quickly.

“Raaaaaaaaah!”

Id Invicius toppled over, exposing its weak point. The pinnacle of all adventurers, Twin Dragonblade, charged in. Flashing a fearsome face, she swung her two namesakes wildly.

Surena slashed and cut and thrust and sent viscera flying. She was a prime example of what you would call “blindingly fast.” It was a sight to behold.

“Hah!”

It only took a few seconds, or maybe a little longer. But in the end, Id Invicius’s chest was an atrocious mess of diced meat. Quite frankly, if it’d survived that, we wouldn’t be able to classify this thing as a living creature. That was how ghastly this scene on the desolate mountainside was.

From what I could tell, it was definitely dead. However, tension remained in the air for a moment due to how nonsensical its abilities had been. Even if this was something that would normally kill a monster, logic hadn’t really applied to this thing.

“It’s over?” Lucy asked. “Oooh, its mana is melting away... Ha ha ha! Well done, all of you.”

And seeing the battle from an angle we swordsmen couldn’t perceive, Lucy unraveled all the tension with her declaration.

“Aaaah! I’m beat...”

Now that I was convinced we’d won, all the strength left my body.

“Yo!” Lucy called out to me. “Good work.”

“It really was a lot of work...”

I was utterly exhausted. While part of this was physical fatigue, I was also mentally drained from challenging a foe who’d defeated me once before. That said, those thoughts had evacuated my mind during the latter half of the battle. I was more calculating than I’d thought.

“We...did it?” Surena muttered.

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “We—no, you won, Surena.”

She’d been the one to deal not only the finishing blow but the last series of blows. We’d gotten a tiny moment of reprieve since the battle’s end, but not enough to really even collect ourselves—even so, she wasn’t gasping for breath at all, which gave us a glimpse at her superhuman stamina.

It would be unreasonable to ask me to try to do the same. I would’ve definitely run out of breath while slashing like that. And that fact had nothing to do with my age—it was a simple difference in natural constitution and in style.

With its chest a mangled mess, Id Invicius showed no signs of moving. All hope would’ve been lost if it’d managed to get up despite those wounds, but Lucy had declared it dead, so there was no need to worry. Still, nobody here was crass enough to let out a victory cry. With Id Invicius’s death, silence fell over this region of the Aflatta Mountain Range, creating a strangely calm atmosphere.

There was something weird about the whole thing. It really didn’t feel right to shout “Yeah! We won!” Frankly, I wasn’t that energetic of a person to begin with. The mood was somewhat similar to the ending of my bout with my dad.

This was a clear victory. And even though we’d gotten Lucy’s aid, it was still a dazzling triumph on our part. Yet despite this, we refrained from cheering. Everyone present shared this feeling. We’d overcome an intense foe, but the relief from surviving the danger was more prominent than any joy from winning. I guess it’s a little hard to explain...

“Joshua, Misty, thank you,” I said. “Good job working with me on the spot like that.”

“It was nothing,” Joshua said. “I wouldn’t be a swordsman if I weren’t capable of at least collaborating in the midst of battle.”

“Master Joshua’s skills naturally shine under the light.”

We probably could’ve won with just the team of me, Surena, Allucia, and Lucy, but these two had helped give us that last push. Their replies to my gratitude were filled with their own sense of pride.

This was a world where those who couldn’t make a snap judgment in the heat of the moment ended up dead. Joshua was alive today because his mind was quick in a crisis—that was how he’d survived such a harsh environment.

“Anyway, that was a bit anticlimactic,” Lucy muttered casually.

“Uh-huh...”

I couldn’t muster the energy to argue with her. The world she saw was just too different from the rest of us. Maybe it was more the difference between swordsmen and wizards than anything on an individual level.

Even though it would be hard to produce more heroic figures like Lucy, if humanity’s standards could be dragged up to her level, the world would probably be peaceful. Well, new conflicts could arise from that elevation in power, but at the very least, humanity would no longer need to fear monsters. Beasts like Id Invicius were impossible for swordsmen to challenge on their own—even if Id Invivius’s power was a rare abnormality, it was best to cull such monsters when possible.

“Oh yeah, you mentioned its trick being child’s play...” I remarked.

“Ah, that? Well, from your perspective, I’m sure the thing looked impregnable,” Lucy replied.

It was like we were looking at completely different things. What was child’s play to her was an inexplicable phenomenon to us. I’d ignored her comment during the battle, but now that we had room to breathe, I couldn’t help but ask about it.

“I can partially reproduce it if you want,” she added. “See?” Lucy held up her right hand, and shockingly, it gradually disappeared.

“Hm? Whoa!”

Seriously? It’s totally invisible. Magic’s crazy. I doubted all wizards were capable of this, but if such technology were ever fully developed, swordsmen would become pointless. I was really starting to get anxious about whether swordsmen had a place in the future of this world, even if it wasn’t an immediate problem.

After maintaining the spell for a few seconds, Lucy undid the magic and took a breath. “Phew... That’s pretty draining. Not even I can conceal my whole body while running around. Doing so would require a constant expenditure of a vast amount of mana, leaving a notably visible trail. Using that sort of trick is meaningless against wizards and any monsters capable of manipulating mana.”

“Hmmm...”

This was a spell that exhausted even Lucy after a few seconds of use. It seemed it was pretty much impossible to keep it up constantly over the entire body using a human’s capacity for mana. This could have been the reason behind Id Invicius’s strangely cowardly behavior. Its skill was useless against anything that could perceive mana, and that wasn’t restricted only to humans.

From what I knew about magic, I could guess that there were far more monsters who could manipulate mana than there were wizards. Lucy had once told me that, of the vast amount of magic in this world, what had been unraveled and reproduced as wizardry wasn’t even ten percent of the whole.

That was why Id Invicius had been careful to suss out whether its prey could see mana—it only challenged those who couldn’t. That could explain why it’d been so skittish, though we couldn’t know for sure. After all, it was dead now, and we wouldn’t have been able to ask it even if it were still alive. The truth of the matter remained buried in darkness.

“Anyway, its colossal mana pool is of particular interest to me,” Lucy said. “Now then, how to bring this back...?”

“You’re set on hauling this thing back with you?” I muttered.

“Of course. What do you think I came all this way for?”

“Figures...”

I wanted to tell her, Just say you came to save me and Surena, even if only for appearances’ sake, but this was typical Lucy behavior. Besides, Joshua and Misty were still here. They didn’t know all the details, so there was no point in giving them too much information.

“In that case, we can have the guild form a collection team,” Joshua suggested. “Lysandra, you can make the request during your report. Misty and I will stay to preserve the scene.”

“That’ll help...” Surena said. “Are you sure?”

“We aren’t particularly worn out. We can last out here a few days. Besides, it’s not a bad thing to have Liberis’s bigwigs owe us a favor.”

If I remembered right, Nidus had also talked about a collection team after Zeno Grable’s defeat. This was definitely big game, so its materials had plenty of uses. After the battle with Zeno Grable, Surena had mentioned that someone would normally have to stay behind to guard the carcass, but due to the injured newbies, we’d prioritized returning.

This time was different, though. We had only combat professionals present, and nobody was seriously wounded. Surena had technically fought while wounded, but that could be solved by having her step away. Joshua was the cream of the crop among adventurers too—he wasn’t lying about being able to hold out for a few days, and he wouldn’t have climbed to the top of the ranks if he were the type to misjudge this kind of situation.

“You’re not just saying that to snatch the materials for yourself, are you?” Lucy cut in.

Joshua shook his head. “I won’t. If I did that with so many witnesses around, I’d have no future.”

“Well...that’s true,” Lucy conceded. “Then I suppose we’ll gratefully accept the offer. Come, let’s go.”

Lucy immediately turned on her heels. All of our roles had only just been decided—she really was quick to act.

“Joshua...” I called out before leaving. “You really helped us out. Thanks.”

“It was nothing... I’m glad to see you in good health, Mr. Beryl. Until we meet again.”

“Yeah...”

There was a bit of hesitation in my voice. Still, he and Misty had put in a lot of work. That was why I felt like I had to thank him for it. His response was extremely formal. I had no idea what’d happened to him since he’d been at my dojo, but experience had clearly molded his current personality. You could call it strange to worry about an adventurer who was no longer my pupil, but even though our time together had been short, I’d taught him swordplay. I couldn’t help but wonder.

Now wasn’t the time to be questioning him about it, though. Maybe we would one day meet again. If that happened anywhere except a battlefield, we would surely have time for a peaceful chat. I would just have to bet on that day coming.

“All right, let’s make our way back and report to the guild,” I said.

“Yes.” Surena nodded. “It seems things are going to be rather busy for a while.”

“True. Better than having nothing to do, at least.”

“Agreed.”

It wasn’t like I had a packed schedule, but that didn’t apply to all of us, though. Allucia and Lucy had forced an opening in their busy schedules to get here, and Surena always had plenty of work. So, with no reason to refuse Joshua’s offer, it was best for us to get back to Vesparta as soon as possible to deliver our report.

“Allucia?” I prompted, noticing that she was deep in thought.

“Aah, it’s nothing. Let’s go.”

“If you say so...”

She’d been fine during the battle, but ever since bumping into Joshua and Misty, she’d spent a lot of time like this. She probably had all sorts of things to think about that I couldn’t even imagine. This wasn’t exactly the kind of place the knight commander should be coming to alone, and though I doubted Joshua and Misty would blab about it, bumping into other people here probably hadn’t been part of Allucia’s plan.

After parting ways with Joshua, we turned our sights to Vesparta. The Aflatta Mountain Range was still as dangerous as usual, but with Id Invicius gone, the greatest threat in the region had been eliminated. We couldn’t let our guards down, but we could at least chat a little. There was something I needed to get off my chest.

“Oh yeah, Surena.”

“Yes?”

“Once everything settles down, come by the house again. Mewi was worried about you.”

“Ah! Is that so? Understood. I’ll be intruding once more in the near future, then.”

“Yeah, stop in whenever you want.”

Mewi was worried about Surena. That was a perfectly normal feeling to have regarding an acquaintance who was in danger, though Mewi and Surena had only spoken directly to each other two or three times. Mewi had spent far more time in far friendlier ways with her school buddies, but even so, Mewi recognized Surena as a friend and was worried about her—she hadn’t uttered a single complaint about me recklessly making the long trip here to save her. A part of me thought I was overthinking this, but Mewi was indeed worried, so as a father, I hoped Surena would show Mewi that she was doing fine.

“Master Beryl’s...house?” Allucia muttered, the air around her taking on a dangerous energy.

“Hmph. What’s that, Citrus? Have a complaint?” Surena prodded.

“No... It’s nothing.”

“You’re free to come over whenever you want to too, Allucia...” I added.

Maybe we were being a little too carefree, but we were still keeping an eye on our surroundings. We could move better if we stayed calm—being overly tense actually hampered our progress.

“You’re all such a pain...” Lucy grumbled.

“Ha ha ha...”

I had nothing to say in my defense, so I let out a strained laugh. This wasn’t exactly the mood one would expect us to be in after having just defeated a powerful monster. Still, it was fine. Lucy wasn’t any better—though she’d never really been in any danger because she kept defensive magic covering her at all times.

“Oh, yes. Lysandra,” Allucia said. Her tone wasn’t exactly gentle, but it wasn’t thorny either.

“What is it, Citrus?”

“You require more training. At least you came back without any physical defects.”

“Hmph. That’s true.”

Allucia’s words were cold. However, this was just a kind of petty revenge. It was proof of the trust these two had in each other. Surena huffed, but her expression showed no discontent.

From an outside perspective, Allucia and Surena didn’t get along. However, there was still a definite bond between them. Such a thing was difficult to develop even if you tried, so I was glad they shared this kind of relationship—they were both dear to me, after all. I hoped they could maintain this familiarity with each other and continue to grow even more.

“Let’s leave the criticisms there and focus on getting back,” I said. “Can’t exactly hold a parade for our victory or anything, though.”

Me, Allucia, and Lucy were all here on a “personal vacation,” so we couldn’t make any of this public. But we all knew what had happened, so that was good enough. I didn’t really want fame and fortune—well, maybe I wanted a bit of extra cash...

“Agreed,” Surena said. “Master, I know the circumstances were complicated, but it was an honor to fight by your side.”

“Think nothing of it. I’m more than satisfied to know that you’re safe—and I also got to witness your skills with my own eyes.”

How could I ask for more? As long as those within my reach were happy, I was content. I wanted world peace as much as anyone else, but it was beyond my control. So, I kept my goals within reason. Anything that was within my control, I didn’t want to lose. This time, I’d pulled that off successfully. The situation had gone as well as it could’ve, and there was nothing more to ask for. It’d been worth coming here so recklessly.

Right, all that’s left is to get back to town in one piece. It would be ridiculous to get this far only to fumble at the finish line. I continued basking in my sense of satisfaction while keeping myself from getting too carried away.

Let’s press on without rushing, get back, and report in. Not that I’m going to be doing any of the reporting—that’s Surena’s responsibility.

◇

On the way to Vesparta, I’d galloped at full speed, switching horses along the way, but there was no need to rush when traveling back to Baltrain. I spent nearly double the time on the return trip. Frankly, if I’d hurried, my stamina probably wouldn’t have held out.

There was no tension on this trip either, so it was quite relaxing, allowing for plenty of rest for both body and mind. That said, I didn’t want to keep Mewi waiting, and there was the knights’ training to consider too, so I wasn’t able to take things too easy. The return trip was just relaxing in comparison to the sprint there.

I arrived in Baltrain about two weeks after the battle with Id Invicius. A few days after that, I figured I should at least check in, so I once more visited the master of the adventurer’s guild.

“So? How was your vacation in Vesparta?” Nidus asked.

“Very enjoyable.”

“Ooh, that’s excellent. We just happened to wrap up some troublesome matters as well. That’s why I just happened to have the time for a meeting today.”

“Good to hear. I’m sure you must be busy, given your position.”

“Ha ha ha. Well, I usually just kick back in my chair, so I have to put in some work every now and then.”

I had no idea how long I had to keep this farce up. Nidus was showing no signs of stopping, so I was just following his lead. It was quite difficult keeping up with the obligations of organizations and formal circumstances. I’d wanted to avoid ever getting involved with this stuff, but here I was—it’d been unavoidable in this case.

Thinking back on it, it’d been the same during the incident after meeting Mewi. At the time, I’d complained a lot about bearing the brunt of such reckless behavior, but looking back at it now, I understood why I’d been chosen to go against the bishop’s plan—a single misstep could’ve caused a war between nations. It made sense to use a convenient individual in an unofficial capacity to avoid such an outcome.

I would’ve preferred to remain ignorant of such things, though. I didn’t enjoy getting thrown into troublesome situations. It isn’t like they’re doing these kinda things to me for fun, though. Understanding that now was progress on my part, at least.

“Well, matters on our end were cleaned up thanks to some outside help,” Nidus continued. “I must think of some way to repay that aid...”

“Ha ha ha. I’m sure it’ll be fine to forgo a reward if the ones who helped agree that it’s not needed.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

“Yes, I believe it is.”

I really didn’t need any kind of reward. It would have been so much easier if I could just say that to his face, but we had to keep up appearances. This really was a huge pain. It had to be done, so I went along with it, but I would never take the initiative for this kind of thing.

I hadn’t intended to put the adventurer’s guild in my debt, but that was how things had ultimately ended up. They were endlessly grateful that one of their highest-ranking members had been saved from extreme danger.

However, I hadn’t gone to save a black rank. I’d gone to save Surena Lysandra. She just happened to be a black rank adventurer. If it’d been a complete stranger instead, I probably would’ve hesitated—even if the guild had asked me for help. I would’ve said that it wasn’t within my jurisdiction. I was frankly incapable of sacrificing myself for someone I had nothing to do with. That was why I didn’t need any reward, though had this been an official request, maybe it would’ve been appropriate to accept. Once again, if I’m able to see that fact, it means I’ve grown.

I had a premonition that he would pester me about a reward if I stayed here too long, so I said, “I shouldn’t keep you too long with idle chatter, so if you’ll excuse me...”

“Oh, is that so? Please drop by any time you like.”

“Thank you.”

If you were to rank my combat abilities, I would probably be placed closer to the top of the scale. I could understand why any organization would want to recruit me. However, I’d already had more than enough of that with Allucia’s invitation. Besides, training the knights took up a good amount of time. It was a satisfying job precisely because it was the only thing I had to focus on. (I was pretty hands-off at the magic institute by this point.)

Still, a situation like this one could easily happen again. I was worried about Surena, of course, but I was also curious about Joshua’s activities. And if something ever happened to Porta’s team, I wanted to help. Instead of cutting ties with the guild completely, it was best to keep an appropriate distance while maintaining a relationship. I had no intention of making enemies.

“Until next time,” Nidus said.

“Yeah. See you later.”

And with that simple farewell, I left the guild’s reception room. Unless there was something specific going on, I had no reason to visit this place. However, when that something specific happened, I would have to come here whether I liked it or not. I never thought I’d get involved with the adventurer’s guild to such an extent. You could say it was yet another connection I’d made by coming to Baltrain.

Around a year and a half had passed since Allucia had dragged me out of Beaden. My environment had changed completely, but even if it was somewhat exhausting at times, I wasn’t discontent. Life here was pretty satisfying.

“Haaah... Guess I’ll go home.”

I’d only come to the guild to report in, but I felt somewhat fatigued. My brain understood why this venture had been necessary, though. Surena’s status was too high for everything to settle nicely just because she was back now—there would be lingering repercussions from this incident.

Still, getting caught up in all that is just...you know. A part of me couldn’t help but feel frustrated, but there was no point in complaining. If anything, Surena should be praised for growing to the point where she had so much influence as an individual. I’d taken care of her during her early childhood, but I’d had no hand in her success after that. It was quite the shock that she’d grown so much as a swordswoman, but I could never deny her abilities.

“It was a bit of a mess, but everyone’s back safe and sound, so I guess all’s well that ends well...”

It had been quite the tumultuous event. After we’d triumphed over Id Invicius and had returned to Vesparta, everyone had needed to complete different duties, so we’d all parted ways.

Lucy and Allucia had quite unreasonably forced their way to Vesparta, so they’d had to return to Baltrain as quickly as possible. Lucy had been quite fixated on the monster’s materials, though. I could only pray that Joshua had kept his promise.

Surena had been busy reporting to everyone. Technically, I wasn’t involved with the adventurer’s guild, so I hadn’t been able to accompany her. I’d ended up returning to Baltrain all by my lonesome. I’d considered hiring adventurers as escorts, but with a vague idea of the route, I’d decided to take a relaxing trip back on my own. It wasn’t like I’d spent the whole time in solitude on horseback or anything. There’d been plenty of merchants and couriers moving between cities and villages, and any time I’d just happened to be sharing the road with them, we’d chatted to pass the time.

“Hmmm... Going on a long trip would definitely be better with someone to keep me company.”

I wasn’t really suited to traveling by myself, though I did believe that taking in the scenery was a pleasure best savored alone. Due to spending my whole life at home and lacking experience going on long journeys, it was more relaxing to have someone by my side.

That didn’t mean I was okay with going with just anyone, of course. For example, things would be quite different if Mewi were tagging along. I just wanted someone I could casually enjoy spending my time with. I spent plenty of time with Allucia, though our closeness often had to do with work. Being around her wasn’t suffocating—we had pretty good chemistry. Still, she could be overly considerate of me, so I had a hard time feeling at ease around her sometimes.

“Anyway, sure has gotten hot...”

I made my way home at a steady pace. It was hot enough that just moving a little made sweat cling to my body. We would soon be at the height of summer. I wasn’t sure whether I should go back to Beaden this year, though I was curious about the saberboars. And now that Adel and Edel had joined the order, I was sure the dojo had even younger pupils.

There would be more children there who didn’t know who I was. Makes it kind of hard to just show up. Randrid was a good teacher too, so I didn’t really need to butt in. As long as there wasn’t an emergency, I didn’t have a reason to go back home.

Not too long ago, I would’ve loved to return right away and teach swordsmanship in the countryside in peace. But I’d since discovered that the human heart could change relatively fast, even at my age.

It wasn’t like I wanted to stay away from Beaden or anything. My mom and dad were pretty old, so I was worried about them, and it’d been my home for so many years. However, I had more important things to do in Baltrain right now. This was a duty imposed on me when I was in my forties, and I was going to do it to the best of my abilities.

It felt like ever since Allucia’s visit in Beaden, I’d spent all my time being manipulated by others. Maybe I should give some thought to my future.

I considered such things as I continued walking, and before I knew it, I reached my destination.

“I’m home... Oh yeah.”

Mewi was attending classes at the institute, so she wasn’t at the house. I was alone. After all those busy days, I’d zoned out a little. Life was best spent when you had periods of business and then time to relax. Being on edge all the time really wore a person out.

“Hmmm... Guess I’ll make something to eat.”

I had time until Mewi got home, and I was feeling a little peckish, so I decided to get cooking. Lately—or rather, ever since becoming the special instructor for the Liberion Order—I’d been fortunate enough to be free of any money problems. I was receiving a regular income that often felt like it was way too much.

I was a country bumpkin at heart, so I wasn’t inclined to go on a spending spree. I’d taken in Mewi shortly after becoming a special instructor too, so I’d quickly developed the habit of using the money when I should but saving it up otherwise.

That also meant I had plenty to spend on casually going out for food whenever I wanted, and anytime I spotted some interesting ingredients, I could just pick them up on a whim. None of that put any pressure on my balance book.

But I wasn’t really in the mood to eat out today, so I got the fire started. Suddenly, a visitor called out from beyond the front door.

“Excuse me, is anyone home?”

“Hm?”

I couldn’t mistake who it was. Despite the distance and the intervening wall, it was easy to identify her.

“Surena. Good to see you’re doing well.”

“I am, thanks to you.”

This was an expected visit, in a sense. Surena Lysandra—now my most frequent guest—was here with an absolutely bright expression on her face.

“Anyway, come on in,” I offered. “I don’t have much to serve, though...”

“Please, don’t mind me. Pardon the intrusion.”

Surena gave me a light bow and followed me inside.

“Taking the day off?” I asked.

“Well, yes...”

The reason I’d asked was because she was wearing a different outfit from usual. Instead of her usual jacket and shorts, she wore a shirt, a thin shawl, and a long, tight skirt. It was pretty rare to see her dressed like that. Actually, I’d never seen Surena in casual wear since our reunion in Baltrain. She’d always prioritized clothing that afforded her mobility, so it was refreshing to see her in more feminine attire.

I didn’t really have much of an opinion beyond that, though. She was pretty, and the outfit suited her, but that was all. However, Surena seemed to be giving off a gentler impression than usual. This extended beyond just her clothes and came from her expression and tone as well.

“Take a seat,” I offered once we reached the living room.

“Thank you.”

I’d already started the fire—it was probably fine to start cooking something while we talked. If I’d had a normal guest, I would’ve probably put the cooking fire out and welcomed them properly, but with Surena, I found myself taking things nice and easy—in a good way, of course. There was no need to be tense around her.

“Have things settled down?” I asked as I poured water into a pot and placed it over the fire.

“Yes. That said, there wasn’t much of an uproar to begin with...”

“Aah, that makes sense.”

Surena’s absence hadn’t been made public. Those involved in the matter had panicked, but it’d gone unnoticed by the world at large. Ultimately, it was fortunate that it hadn’t turned into big news. It would’ve been a major scandal for a black rank to have gone missing, and even if things hadn’t gone that far, it would’ve had a negative effect on the guild’s reputation. I was really glad things hadn’t ended that way. The fact that I’d been totally and utterly involved was probably something I would have to take with me to the grave. Surena and all those who’d accompanied us weren’t going to blab either.

“Anyway, you’re looking awfully cheerful,” I remarked.

“Is that so? Well...it does feel like a major weight off my mind.”

Her expression really was bright. She’d probably been putting up a tough facade ever since becoming an adventurer, but that veil had vanished here. In short, the way she carried herself right now was different than usual.

Id Invicius had killed Surena’s parents. Taking revenge against it successfully was a big deal. A weight that had continuously been tying her down had been lifted, and that was worth celebrating. Nobody wanted to wield a sword with negative emotions hounding them at all times. Maybe this wasn’t limited only to swordsmanship either—it was normal to want a life free of grief. I didn’t believe her only reason for becoming an adventurer was revenge, but it had definitely been a part of it. If she’d been driven entirely by revenge, she would’ve been more on edge, making it much harder to rise to black rank.

“That’s great,” I said.

“It is...”

There were many emotions behind my short words. Being more verbose would’ve been meaningless. Besides, I wasn’t really good at that stuff. This was more than enough. She’d walked a righteous path and had brought about a positive result. It hadn’t been the shortest path, but she’d never lost heart and had accomplished her goal. That was wonderful, even if said goal was revenge.

I recalled the conversation we’d had some time ago. Mewi had been there too. She’d asked Surena whether she had a goal now that she’d become the highest rank of adventurer. I hadn’t heard the exact details at the time.

“Oh yeah, was defeating Id Invicius the goal you mentioned having a while back?” I asked.

“Yes. I couldn’t track it at all because of its characteristics... But I received very reliable information this time around, which was why I was finally able to find it.”

“I see... It must’ve been hard finding an invisible enemy.”

This sort of thing was definitely difficult to talk about, though my threshold for embarrassment was low, so I found much less troublesome things harder to discuss than she did. At any rate, it must’ve been a lot of work searching for a monster that could vanish. I had no idea how she’d gotten information on it, but since it’d been recognized as a named monster already, its existence had been verified at some point.

The adventurer’s guild was an organization that’d built up great influence across borders. This would be impossible to maintain without significant organizational capacity and martial might. In Liberis, we already had the Liberion Order, the royal garrison, and the magic corps. Despite this, they allowed the guild within their borders, so there must’ve been plenty to gain from having them around. It was simply a good bargain to possess such a vast information network close at hand. There was a major limit to how much information one was capable of gathering as an individual.

Still, that didn’t really change the fact that it was best to never have to rely on such organizations. Even if I did my best not to stick my neck into trouble, it was entirely possible for trouble to find me. I was no longer just a dojo instructor in the sticks but the special instructor for the order—it was unrealistic to avoid trouble completely.

I could get most of the information I wanted from Allucia or Henblitz if I asked about it, but there were things that the order didn’t know about. I could always do some recon and gather information when needed, but wasn’t it better to have connections like those in the guild for that sort of thing? Above all else, I had Surena. If I ever had some concern, it was good to have someone I could ask right away.

“Whoops.”

I’d gotten lost in my thoughts while keeping up the conversation. I started to hear bubbles roiling in the pot in front of me.

Hmm, I can’t exactly start stewing meat or vegetables while my guest waits. I decided to make some tea instead. I’d bought some cheap leaves some time ago—Mewi and I had only tried them once or twice on rare occasions. We had almost zero visitors in our household, after all. Surena actually knew the taste of our tea the best because we’d served it to her when she’d come by. That was how few people dropped in. Still, some hot, inexpensive tea was better than the two choices of cheap wine or hot water offered in Beaden.

“I’ll brew some tea,” I told Surena. “Gimme a sec.”

“There’s no need to—”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I want to make some.”

I’d expected her reaction. She always showed me a strange amount of restraint, so I was able to completely shut out her objection by saying that I wanted tea. While she wasn’t exactly domineering, her usual attitude was rather blunt. Seeing her curl up like a small animal was charming. Maybe this was what people called “meek as a lamb.” I felt like she had a strange commonality with Mewi in that regard, and the thought brought a smile to my face.

“Well, I enjoy it, but I’m not exactly good at making tea,” I added. I didn’t hate or love tea, but I felt like I had to make a disclaimer after declaring that I wanted to make some.

“I’ve enjoyed the tea you’ve made before,” Surena replied. “I’ll gladly have some.”

All I was doing was measuring by eye and throwing some leaves into hot water. I couldn’t find the passion to figure out the proper procedure or the mountain of little tricks to bring out the best flavor. Both Mewi and I could drink it just fine like this, so I was pretty sure it wasn’t bad. I would never claim that was suitable for the palates of upper society, though. If Lucy ever asked me to make her tea, I would firmly refuse. I could easily picture her berating the quality.

I was somewhat hesitant to make tea for Allucia too, though it would probably be fine with Ficelle or Curuni. With those thoughts in mind, I realized I hadn’t really needed to give it any thought for Surena. The fact that I’d spent a short time looking after her during her childhood played a big role in that. As always, maybe I didn’t really see her as one of my pupils. But that was a good thing in my book, so it wasn’t a problem.

“Here you go,” I said, placing two cups on the table.

“Th-Thank you...”

Mmm... Despite being cheap, it definitely has a nice tea aroma. Maybe that was perfectly obvious, but my life before Baltrain hadn’t involved such luxuries, so even something so minor was a fresh experience for me.

“Hee hee... I never thought the day would come where you served me tea every now and then.”

“Neither did I.”

We continued chatting while sipping our tea. Truly, who could’ve predicted such a future? Here I was, personally making tea for Surena after she’d set up residence in Baltrain and had become a black rank adventurer. It was nice.

Had Allucia never dragged me out of Beaden, I would’ve surely still been bound by my dad’s curse and living peacefully in the countryside. That wouldn’t have brought me sorrow—I would’ve lived the normal life of someone who’d grown up in a village. But reality saw me in Baltrain instead, making all sorts of new connections with all kinds of people. And now, it was difficult for me to say that I wanted to shut myself back in Beaden. I simply had no intention to. That was how drastically my life had changed and how positively I now viewed this change.

“Oh, right,” Surena said, straightening up a little. “There is something I wanted to ask you, Master.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“It’s about...Ebenrain being your pupil too.”

“Aah, Joshua...”

The topic shifted to the black rank adventurer based in the Salura Zaruk Empire, Joshua Ebenrain. I had, in fact, taught him swordsmanship for a period. Neither he nor I had really made it public, so it made sense that Surena hadn’t known about it. Actually, pretty much the only ones who knew were the pupils who’d attended the dojo at the same time as him.

“It’s true,” I confirmed. “However, I was pretty young back then. I...threw him out.”

“What...?”

“He was expelled.”

Surena’s brow twitched.

Joshua was a genius with a blade. Looking only at his swordplay, he was probably on the same level as Allucia, though his style was different. He was extremely good at controlling his body and applying his physical strength.

At first, I’d had fun teaching him. He’d absorbed everything instantly, which had only made him stronger and stronger. In the end, I’d never found out whether our style suited him, but his talent had been outstanding nonetheless.

“It wasn’t because he was acting like a big shot or bullying those weaker than him or anything,” I continued.

“True... He can be haughty every now and then, but that comes from confidence... It isn’t really something to fault him for.”

“Yeah.”

He was serious when it came to swordsmanship. He never belittled or teased his opponents. That was why it’d taken me too long to realize—I’d only figured it out when his techniques had started overwhelming others.

“Joshua was strong...that was why he was so eager to kill.”

“Wha?!”

He hadn’t been bullying the weak—he’d simply paid no attention to those with less skill than him. However, against those he saw promise in...he’d shown no mercy. Even against fellow pupils in our dojo, he’d gone after them with the intent to kill.

In a sense, this was a bit of a contradiction, but in his heart, he’d seen this type of training as a way of polishing his art. Had he been blessed with a talent for magic instead, he would’ve surely become a peerless wizard. It wasn’t hard to imagine the number of victims he would’ve left behind in his rise to power.

“I did try to remedy this, of course,” I added. “But I couldn’t get him to change.”

“Is...that so...?”

There was nothing wrong with the desire to win. Frankly, it was an absolute necessity to those who studied the martial arts. However, in Joshua’s case, he’d wanted those with power to succumb to him. He’d wanted to kill them, to stand at the top. His temperament had been too extreme. That was why I hadn’t been able to teach him more of our techniques, why I hadn’t been able to let him carry our name, and why I had ultimately expelled him.

In a sense, I was at fault. I couldn’t object to any claim that this outcome was because of my lack of ability as an instructor. But people changed with time—that was what I believed.

“He seems to be doing fine now, right...?” I muttered casually.

“I wonder about that...” Surena said, her expression and tone somewhat meek.

“What do you mean?”

“Ebenrain’s skill is unquestionable. The guild trusts him too. However...there are wicked rumors about him.”

“I see...”

Wicked rumors, huh? Well, it was probably something only high-ranking adventurers knew about, and I had no intention of prying too far. I doubted Joshua and I would ever cross paths again.

I suspected it was nothing like him swindling people out of their money, and he wouldn’t have started to believe in weird ideologies. He was similar to me in that he had no fixation on those kinds of things. These wicked rumors were almost guaranteed to concern reports of people dying. That would be the case if he was still the same Joshua Ebenrain I knew.

“Do you believe them?” I asked.

“It’s hard to say. He does his job as an adventurer properly. Some might say that the rumors were born of jealousy and resentment. And above all else, there’s no evidence. Until now, I always believed them to be utterly fake.”

“Hmmm...”

Had Joshua tried to sate his desires haphazardly, he would’ve been tossed into prison long ago. Strong people were famous, after all, and those were the kinds of people he wanted to face. Those were also the people in the public eye. As a somewhat absurd supposition, if he’d ever set his sights on Allucia or Lucy, news of the matter would’ve definitely spread. The same went for if he’d targeted Surena.

My thoughts were naturally shifting to the accusations against him being true, but everything was just hypothetical. Attacking celebrities would cause quite the uproar, and Joshua was unlikely to get out of it unscathed. I bet he isn’t actually harming people. And if he is, he’s good at keeping things quiet.

“It’s best to be careful...but it doesn’t seem like there’s any point to actively doing more than that,” I concluded.

“Seems so. There is no proof Ebenrain has committed any crimes.”

Nobody was going to convict him for weird rumors going around. Well, maybe some bigwigs over in the empire would, but I didn’t know much about that stuff.

I was somewhat relieved. Joshua hadn’t clearly fallen off the path. I was glad he hadn’t become a homicidal maniac who attacked anyone he perceived as strong.

It was a little weird for me to worry about him at all. Still, if anything did happen, I couldn’t completely shirk responsibility for it, since I hadn’t nipped this tendency in the bud when I’d been his instructor. I could at least assume he’d drawn a clear line. Otherwise, he would never have risen to being a black rank.

“Besides... Misty, was it?” I added. “He’s got a skilled assistant, so it’s probably fine.”

“I know almost nothing about her, though... I can only pray that’s the case.”

The woman accompanying Joshua had been taciturn, so I hadn’t gleaned much about her inner thoughts. Still, she hadn’t seemed like a villain, and Joshua hadn’t either. He simply has too much spirit. If he’d grown capable of controlling that, then he wasn’t going to end up committing any crimes. Just as Surena had said, we could only pray that didn’t happen.

“Sorry, things got a little weird,” I said.

“No, I should be the one apologizing. I’m the one who brought it up...”

“It’s fine—don’t worry about it. It’s understandable to be concerned.”

This was supposed to be a fun chat to celebrate Surena returning safely and accomplishing her goal, but things had gotten somewhat grave when she’d mentioned Joshua. It wasn’t Surena’s fault for bringing it up, though—she couldn’t have asked me while Joshua was around, and it made sense for her to be curious. If anything, it was good she’d asked about it when it was just her and me around. This wasn’t the kind of information we should be spreading, after all.

Suddenly, the house’s princess returned, and our conversation about Joshua came to an end. This isn’t a topic Mewi should be privy to. It’s best to shift the focus to her.

“I’m back,” she said.

“Mm, welcome home,” I greeted her.

She then turned her gaze to our houseguest. “Ah...Ms...Surena.”

“Hello. Sorry for intruding.”

“Hi...”

The two had gotten a little closer, but Mewi still wasn’t quite sure how to act. Still, I hadn’t missed the clear relief on Mewi’s face when she’d spotted Surena. Mewi was really worried about her too. I’m glad she can see that Surena is okay.

“Mewi, want some tea?” I asked.

“Mm.”

“You got it.”

Having lived together for quite a while now, Mewi no longer showed any restraint with me. There’d been a level of aloofness between us at first since we’d been strangers living under one roof. However, she now recognized this place as her home, which I was grateful for. Though...that had amplified her habit of leaving clothes and stuff carelessly all over the place, but that was a separate problem.

“Here,” I said, placing a cup before her. “Careful, it’s hot.”

“Mm.”

With that, we were now all seated around the table.

Mewi took a sip of her tea, then glanced at Surena and muttered, “Uh... I’m glad you’re...um, safe.”

“Heh, thank you. Well, to tell the truth, Master Beryl saved me.”

Mewi showing concern for Surena meant that she had grown as a person and that much of her thorniness was gone. I hope she continues on this path of opening her heart to others.

“So Mewi, now that you have a goal in mind for the future, how’s your training going?” Surena asked.

“Ummm... Good, I guess...?”

“Ha ha. It’s hard to tell how much progress you’ve made on your own.”

Their conversation continued on from there. I found no reason to cut in, so the old man at the table just listened quietly. Surena acted quite differently in front of Mewi compared to when she spoke to Allucia or Lucy. This is a pretty rare sight.

These two had clashed at first—Mewi had still been wary of strangers, while Surena had exuded some crazy pressure for no good reason. Things would’ve gone a lot smoother if Surena hadn’t done that. But that poor impression seemed to have been overwritten now, leading to this point. That’s not all, though...

“Master, how does her progress look to you?” Surena asked.

“Hm? Not bad, though I don’t get anything about magic. She’s building up muscle little by little, and her swordplay is getting keener.”

Surena turned back to Mewi. “So he says.”

“Hmph...”

I was confident I could offer immediate impressions of any of my pupils, not just Mewi. How could I claim to be an instructor if I couldn’t? It did vary somewhat depending on the pupil, though. I was sure I could talk about Mewi for quite some time, but nobody here was asking for that, so it was fine to stick to the general outline. I wouldn’t be saying anything untrue, after all.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know much about magic either...” Surena continued. “But I know about swordsmanship and the way of life that comes from it. If anything ever troubles you, I can give you advice, though that might be unnecessary with Master Beryl around.”

“Sure... That might...be helpful...”

As I listened to them, something suddenly came to mind: Surena sees Mewi as family. She clearly treated Allucia and Lucy as strangers, but her stance here was different. If anything, it was much like when she talked to me, though it was slightly different since Mewi was a child. Still, there was a general atmosphere of closeness. If she didn’t see Mewi as family, she would’ve never offered advice. I absolutely couldn’t imagine Surena saying the same things to Allucia.

So, faced with this attitude, Mewi was having problems grasping how she should behave around Surena. She was surely bewildered by the shift from the inexplicable pressure to inexplicable friendship. However, it wasn’t my place to spell it out for her. If Mewi ended up at a complete loss, maybe giving her some advice would be fine, but this was a lesson in developing human relationships, so I wanted her to try her best on her own.

“Ficelle, Lucy, and Surena are all teachers in life to you,” I told her. “You can always rely on them—and on me too, of course.”

“Mm...”

Mewi had never really relied on anyone else before this. It sounded nice to be able to do everything yourself, but that was such a lonely way of living. I hadn’t achieved my current skill and status entirely through my own efforts either—my connections with many people, starting with my mom and dad, had enabled me to keep going. It was anyone’s guess when someone might come into their own, but having the help of others along the way was better than toughing it out alone. In most cases, the more connections, the better.

“Hee hee... It’s thanks to Master Beryl that I’m finally able to face the future,” Surena said. “I’m also able to reflect on the lives of others... I’m very grateful.”

“I’d like to tell you there’s no need for that,” I replied, “but I’ll accept your gratitude.”

“Yes, please do.”

Defeating Id Invicius had definitely been a major life event for her. I’d wanted to throw some karma at the monster too, but her need for retribution had been on an entirely different level. I’m glad she got what she wanted...and that she feels able to reflect on how she connects with other people. She’s grown a lot too.

“What’ll you do now?” I asked.

She’d gotten her revenge. She’d built up trust and accomplishments for years, all to that end. So how was she going to be using those boons from now on? I was definitely interested. A small part of me wondered whether she would retire as an adventurer. She’d achieved the shortest path to reaching the greatest heights in her field, but now, she had no reason to fixate on adventuring. Would the guild even accept her resignation? Who knows. Regardless, Surena was free to choose her own path forward.

“Ms...Surena,” Mewi murmured.

“Hm?”

“Are you gonna quit adventuring?”

I froze. Mewi was very sensitive to the subtleties in other people. She’d needed such skills to survive before moving in with me, but at this level, we could pretty much assume that this was an innate skill she had. Still, I hadn’t expected her to be this observant. She knew pretty much nothing about Surena’s background and circumstances but had still understood enough to ask her that—she’d likely followed the same train of thought as me.

Mewi was going entirely off of intuition this time, but if she kept accumulating experience and knowledge, her insight would probably grow many times stronger and become a tremendous weapon—not only for swordplay and magic, but for life itself.

Though I had great hopes for her future, I was also slightly apprehensive about it. Having an affinity for magic was already amazing, and adding her tremendous insight to the mix, it was entirely possible for her to grow into a heroic figure.

“I wonder...” Surena said. “It isn’t like I really have a reason to quit.”

Surena didn’t have a clear picture of her own future right now. What Mewi was asking required making a decision that would influence the rest of her life. Personally, I believed it would be a waste for her to retire now—I’d had the same thought when I’d heard of Randrid’s retirement. But people lived their lives for their own sakes, and it was rude for an outsider to butt in. In Surena’s case, she hadn’t actually decided on quitting yet.

“But, you have a point...” Surena continued. “I’m starting to think I’d like to try chasing a more ordinary happiness.”

Mewi fell silent. The word “happiness” reminded me of a conversation I’d had with Allucia. She’d also posed questions regarding “ordinary” happiness. Surena and Mewi had endured some unfortunate years, and there was no erasing the scars of the past. That didn’t make them unhappy, though. Surena had cut open a path toward her own future after being warmly welcomed by her adoptive parents. If Mewi ever ended up unhappy, it would be a result of my failures.

So what exactly did happiness mean to them? Mewi was at an age where she could discover that in the future. She even had mentors ready to lend her a hand. But what about Surena? I would never know unless I asked her.

“Surena Lysandra’s happiness, huh?” I said. “An interesting topic.”

“Well, I suppose so,” Surena agreed. “To be honest, I was thinking of trying to raise a family or something.”

“Hmmm.”

That her words came as a shock would be quite rude to say...but yes, I was a bit shocked. After giving it some thought, though, it really wasn’t so strange. Surena had lost her parents as a child but had received plenty of love from them before that. Even when we’d taken care of her, we’d coddled her. After that, her adoptive parents had raised her with love, molding her into who she was today. It was only right that she had a longing for familial love.

However, from the way she put it, a good portion of those feelings seemed to come only from admiration. Things would be a little different if she’d had her heart set on a partner, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Still, I thought it was fine. Maybe an old man with no wife or children of his own isn’t particularly persuasive, though...

“Have you ever given it any thought, Master?” Surena asked.

“I’d be lying if I said it never crossed my mind...but I have Mewi right now.” I brushed my hand over Mewi’s hair.

“Hmph...” Mewi huffed, but lately, she hadn’t been wary of my hand, and she didn’t try to swat it away. I was truly glad for this. Patting her head was great, though of course, I made sure to do so only at the right place and time.

“But let’s see...” I took my hand off of Mewi’s head and glanced at the wall. This house had practically nothing you could call art except for the one decoration in the living room. Due to the nature of the conversation, my eyes naturally drifted toward it. “If I ever marry someone I love and am blessed with a new life...” I started. “I’m sure it’ll be a wonderful child who loves admiring the flowers in the garden.”

“Hee hee. In that case, you’ll have to choose a very kind partner,” Surena teased.

“Really? You’re plenty nice yourself.”

“Even if I am, I’d still lose to you in a kindness contest.”

“Hmmm...? Well, let’s leave it at that.”

I was pretty sure being kind wasn’t a matter of winning or losing, but if Surena was set on it, then I didn’t see a reason to argue.

At any rate, freed of the pressure of her past, Surena’s smile carried the brilliance of someone who was gentle to her very core. That was what I believed. And after twenty years, that smile was blooming once more. For now, that was worth celebrating above all else.

Epilogue: An Old Country Bumpkin Contemplates the Future

Some time after my trip to Vesparta and settling my grudge with Id Invicius, things finally went back to normal. On one such normal day, I finished my usual training with knights at the office, went back home, and was greeted by Mewi.

“I’m back.”

“Welcome home.”

She had the day off from school today, so she’d spent the entire morning at home. She pretty much never went out to play. Whenever I came back from training, we often spent the time doing some housework and just lounging around.

Cleaning, laundry, and cooking were better done during the day. Well, cooking included making dinner too, but otherwise it was simply more efficient and safer to do things while it was light out.

Anyway, Mewi and I were both the type to quickly get something done once we set our minds to it. We generally finished everything either in the morning or early afternoon. There wasn’t much stuff in our house, so cleaning went relatively fast.

Naturally, this led to us having a lot of free time in the afternoons. Mewi sometimes went shopping in the western district or studied, and lately, she’d taken to going to the institute to exercise. Still, there was a limit to how much time she could kill.

That was why she had nothing to do sometimes—like right now. Exploring the town was a good way to pass the time, but she didn’t really care for that. I saw sightseeing in Baltrain as a fresh experience because of my long years in the countryside, but Mewi had grown up in the city—though she’d spent a lot of that time as a pickpocket—so maybe there was nothing particularly novel about it to her.

“You look awfully bored,” I commented.

“Mm...” she responded lazily. “I’ve done everything I have to do...”

It wasn’t like there was zero amusement available to her, but there was a surprising limit to what she could do at her age. It wasn’t like I could send her out to a tavern so early in the day, and I was entirely responsible for the house’s finances, so she couldn’t go on mindless shopping sprees either.

I gave it some thought. What had I done to kill time at her age? Immediately upon starting that thought exercise, I stopped. All I ever did was swing a sword around... Whenever I’d had the spare time to think, I’d practiced my swordplay. I felt like it wasn’t quite right to force that upon Mewi.

“All right... It’s a little early to start cooking dinner, so how about we practice swordplay together?”

“Huh?”

Well, it was probably fine to ask. I wasn’t forcing her. This was just a suggestion. I definitely wanted her to relax whenever she was at home, but getting rest and being bored with nothing to do were two different things—and she was definitely bored.

I didn’t see Mewi as my pupil, but since Ficelle was teaching the sword magic course that Mewi attended, you could technically say she was the pupil of my pupil. So, it wasn’t strange to invite her out to do some practice swings.

“Oh, I’m not forcing you or anything,” I added. “You just seem bored.”

“Sure.”

“R-Right. Let’s get to it, then.”

A part of me thought she would be against it or lack enthusiasm, but she accepted right away, which threw me off a little. A pretty embarrassing reaction from me...

We had wooden swords at home—just commonplace practice tools shaved down from logs. However, you could also say these were some of Mewi’s few personal possessions. Are practice swords even appropriate for a growing girl to own?

Anyway, it was far better to move one’s body than sit around in a daze. Mewi seemed to have come to the same conclusion, which was why it’d only taken her a few seconds to agree to some sword practice.

So, we stepped out into the backyard. It wasn’t large enough to run around in, but there was more than enough space for practice swings.

“I haven’t been to the institute in a while,” I remarked.

“Hmph...”

The sword magic class at the institute was Ficelle’s, so it wasn’t my place to butt in. Still, I was curious how things were going. I’d spent a lot of time away from Baltrain—most of these trips involved the order, so it hadn’t really affected my job as a special instructor, but as a temporary lecturer for the sword magic class, I’d been largely absent.

Even if I was just a temporary lecturer, I wanted to know how the students were progressing. And I wanted to know about Mewi more than anyone. She wasn’t one to talk much about her day, so my only way of gauging her progress was to observe her during her classes at the institute.

“How has class been going lately?” I asked.

“Mm... After warmups, it’s mostly focused on how to weave mana now. It’s hard.”

“I see.”

It seemed things weren’t going too well for Mewi. The last time I’d gone to watch her class was right before I’d left for Vesparta. I recalled them doing mana drills back then too. I really didn’t understand anything about that part of the class, but if Mewi was saying it was hard, then it surely was. The students I’d sparred with had also had difficulties weaving mana on the move.

That said, there was no reason to feel negatively about struggling to learn difficult things. It was good to be motivated. In all things, you absorbed knowledge faster if you wanted to improve rather than just slogging through reluctantly.

I had no idea how much more training she needed to become a proper wizard. Only those who possessed magic could really assess that, and I had absolutely no talent for magic. However, I knew how much training someone needed to become a swordsman. I definitely had talent in this field, and to a certain extent, hard work could compensate for a lack of natural aptitude. From that perspective, Mewi’s foundation wasn’t bad. She was relatively nimble and had decent reaction time. There wasn’t much that could be done about her current lack of muscle, but that would come with age.

She hadn’t done any real training before entering the institute, so considering that, her rate of improvement was actually pretty good. Her lack of bad habits and preconceived notions made it that much easier for her to accept anything she was taught. And while this might sound strange coming from me, she was blessed with good teachers too—including Lucy and Ficelle.

Those were my impressions of the last time I’d seen her swordplay. It was now time for me to see how she was doing.

“Then how ’bout starting with some light swings?” I suggested.

“Mm.”

We stood side by side in the small yard and began to swing our wooden swords. It was a totally insignificant event on a normal day, but this kind of thing suited me well. Teaching the knights was fulfilling and fun, but if anything, teaching more remedial lessons to younger pupils agreed with me more. This preference hadn’t changed since coming to Baltrain—maybe it was just my innate nature.

“Hah... Hah...”

“Ooh, you’re doing better than I thought.”

“Shut it.”

I stole a glance at her while continuing to swing my sword. I was a little surprised at how proper her form was. She got angry at me for pointing it out, though. Still, I was telling the truth. Even kids with muscular builds couldn’t stop their swords from deviating off course, but there was practically none of that in Mewi’s form.

As for her stamina, I didn’t know how much longer she could keep going at this pace, but at the very least, I could tell she definitely wasn’t slacking off on her daily training. I’d seen some of her power when I’d sparred with her, but at that time, I’d just wanted to offer her an opponent she couldn’t beat—just to see how she’d react. This time was different, though. As an instructor, there were things I could only see by observing her from up close like this.

“Mm. Your elbows aren’t sticking out more than necessary. Looking good.”

“Hmph...”

This time, she only huffed at my praise. She didn’t stop swinging, though. Good job. Now that I thought about it, a year had passed since she’d started learning sword magic at the institute. It was only natural to show some results after a year of effort.

I expected students to get better with practice, but I didn’t see Mewi and the other kids of the sword magic class training every day, so in my mind they’d grown by leaps and bounds. There was no smooth continuity. That made it all the more shocking when I saw them after a while away.

“Hmph... Hah...”

“Mm... Very nice.”

Before I knew it, I went from only glancing to observing her with all my attention. It was an inescapable impulse for an instructor. She swung down, came to a stop, swung upward, twisted her wrists, then slashed diagonally before ending with a thrust. The movements of her legs and waist also flowed into her form—she wasn’t just swinging with brute force. My impression of her remained the same as during our sparring session, but this time, I got to see things from a different angle.

To be honest, I’d seen this level of practice swings at the dojo and the order plenty of times—enough to spot the minute idiosyncrasies between individuals. However, I’d never been so happy to see Mewi’s growth. It was well worth inviting her out for this. She was sure to polish her technique more by the time she graduated from the institute, and I wondered how I would evaluate her when that time came. The thought of that near future felt exciting and somewhat lonely.

“This part... I can’t figure it out...” Mewi said. It sounded like both a question and idle mumbling.

“Hmm, let’s see.”

She repeated the motion. It seemed she’d hadn’t just been talking to herself.

“Your foot is moving ahead on its own,” I explained. “Try moving your leg from the hips...or rather, using your butt muscles.”

“My...butt?”

It sounded stupid, but the muscles there were very important. The large muscles along the entire back of the body put in a lot of work to propel a person forward. This applied to back muscles, the hamstrings, and the butt. Developing the muscles on your front side did improve your power output, but they did surprisingly little for your mobility.

So, when Mewi’s foot pushed ahead of her body, it was proof she wasn’t using her hips and butt, and it showed that some parts of the lower body weren’t working with others. This was pretty common during the growth process, and having your muscles move in perfect harmony was hard to pull off properly unless you focused entirely on the movements. Bone and muscle were connected through the entire human body—only by using those connections properly could the body be fully manipulated.

“Mrgh...”

“Ha ha, focusing on muscles you haven’t used before makes the body stiff. There’s no helping that at first.”

Almost nobody could learn a physical skill after only being told how it was done. Only a true genius could do that, but unfortunately, Mewi wasn’t one—at least not in swordsmanship. There was nothing to be pessimistic about, though. It’d been impossible for me to pull it off perfectly in one try too. Had I been able to, I would’ve won against my dad far sooner. This kind of skill was developed through an accumulation of training and time. Fortunately, Mewi had plenty of time. If she kept at it diligently, she would surely become a splendid swordswoman. I couldn’t know whether she had it in her to be a splendid wizard, though.

“Haaah... That’s tough...” she muttered.

“If it was easy, I’d be out of a job.” You didn’t need an instructor for anything that was simple to figure out, after all. It would practically erase the meaning of my existence.

“Hmph. But...I kinda get what comes next. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Sword magic class had set hours, and it was impossible to have one-on-one coaching with each individual student. That was why it was hard to give them all guidance. We couldn’t show Mewi partiality during class, after all.

So, this was a rare opportunity for both me and Mewi. A part of me had wondered whether she would be against having a one-on-one session with me, but considering how things were going today, maybe it would be best to create more such opportunities in the future.

We soon reached a good stopping point, and Mewi muttered, “Um... Old guy?”

“Hm?”

“Are...you and Ms...Surena getting married?”

“Hmmm...?”

I had absolutely no idea how we’d ended up on that topic. I froze on the spot. We’d skipped too many steps.

“Uhhh... Why do you think that?” I asked.

“I just kinda...thought so...”

“I-I see.”

It seemed she had nothing to base this on. Maybe it was because Surena had visited us recently and we’d talked about the future. Mewi had ended up interpreting that conversation a little differently than I had.

Surena Lysandra was certainly a charming woman. There was no mistaking that. However, I was incapable of seeing her like that. I feel like I just went through this with Allucia... Anyway, I didn’t believe Surena saw me that way either. I’d looked after her for a period of her childhood, but even if that had been a major influence on her life, her affection for me didn’t feel romantic in nature.

There was no telling unless I asked Surena directly, though—not that I ever saw myself inquiring about whether she’d fallen for me. Surena wasn’t a pupil to me. She was more like a far younger sister. From that perspective, my feelings for her were pretty similar to what I felt for Mewi.

“I’m not gonna ask how you came to that conclusion...” I said. “But I doubt it.”

“Hmph...”

Mewi seemed to give up on the topic. I wasn’t sure how she felt about it or how I should interpret her reaction.

“Even if I did, wouldn’t Surena become your mom?” I followed up.

“Ummm...”

I’d figured she’d thought of that already, but it didn’t seem to be the case. Seriously, how did she come to that conclusion? I really don’t understand.

“What’s...a mom like?” Mewi asked.

“Oh yeah... That makes sense coming from you. Hmm...”

Her words suddenly elevated the conversation to a new level. This was a difficult topic. Mewi had only ever had a big sister and didn’t remember living with her parents. I was doing my best to fulfill the role of her father—even if I assumed that was going fine, she had no substitute for a mother. The closest examples of mothers that Mewi knew about would be my mom and Randrid’s wife, but it was still extremely hard to explain what exactly a mother was to her.

“To sum it up simply, I guess you can say it’s the person who supports a family,” I answered. “That would include both you and me.”

“I don’t get it...”

“Well, I don’t really get it either...”

If my mom hadn’t been there, I could easily imagine my life turning out completely different. It was hard to put that into words, though. Familial connections were just special like that. I wanted Mewi to cherish such connections, but this wasn’t something I could explain to her—she had to experience them for herself.

“Whatever... I’m hungry,” Mewi said.

“Y-You sure change gears quickly... Well, working out gets the appetite going.”

I’d figured this would linger on her mind for a while, but she immediately set it aside. Maybe she’d realized that she wasn’t going to understand it right now, so there was no point thinking about it. Mewi had always been fast to shift gears. She’d personally experienced that letting such things drag on would be an impediment to her survival. That wasn’t the case anymore, but she couldn’t change the way her brain worked overnight. I, myself, was living proof of that—it was very difficult to change my mindset even when I knew I needed to.

“It’s my turn today, so I’ll get started,” Mewi said.

“Yeah, yeah, as you wish.”

Mewi was off school today, so it was her turn to cook dinner. Food didn’t pop up on the table automatically just because she was hungry. At first, her knife handling had been quite clumsy, but now she was very smooth at it. Her household skills as a whole had improved—she could cook an entire meal on her own now. She still tended to leave a mess around the house, though.

Mewi was a young girl right now, but with the passing of days and months, she would grow. In the not-too-distant future, maybe she would become a mother herself. I wasn’t thinking of setting her up or anything, though I hoped that she could one day be blessed with such an opportunity.

In this age, it was good to be able to fight, but the battlefield wasn’t the only place a person could flourish. Adults, children, men, and women all had their own battlefields. These intermingled and swapped places all the time, though. Mewi was still a child, but she would one day become an adult. When that happened, what battlefield would she stand on? Imagining such a future was my privilege as her foster father.

“You might make a good mom one day.”

“Hah?”

“Sorry, never mind...”

My impulsive comment was met with an absolutely chilling gaze.

Afterword

It’s good to see you all again. I’m Shigeru Sagazaki. Thank you very much for picking up From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman Volume 9. We’re finally nine books in—double-digit volumes are just over the horizon. When I started writing this series, I never imagined we would get this far. There really is no telling what life has in store for you.

As usual, the schedule was pretty tight. I spent my days tapping away at the keyboard, praying I would finish in time. Things ended up relatively borderline. I would prefer to not push things until the last minute, but when I can’t write, nothing comes out. It’s quite problematic. But ultimately, I think things turned out pretty well. Did you enjoy it? I do hope so.

Anyway, as the cover implies, this volume focuses on Surena. Much like with Allucia in the last volume, I wanted her to settle a score with an incident in the past. I’m glad I got around to it. I mentioned in the last afterword that there are things I want to write and things I have to write. I hope to deliver them all to you in proper form.

Also, we can’t forget about the anime. It’s finally airing next month, and I’m really looking forward to it. It seems to be getting a lot of publicity at events and such. It’s an honor to have it seen by so many people, and a little frightening too.

Following the anime, this volume, and volume seven of the manga, we’re also going to be publishing the first volumes of two spinoff manga. One is focused on Surena, and the other on Ficelle. That means we’ll have four series in publication at the same time. I’ve really gotta give this my all! Well, I’m just the writer, though. All the illustrations in the manga came out great, so please consider picking those volumes up too.

I’ll do my best in the coming year to keep the positive news rolling in. But in the meantime, I hope you will continue supporting the series.

Until next time.