Tsuyokute New Saga Volume 1

Chapter 1 – Prologue

The humans, elves and dwarves that are blessed by the god of light are named the humanoid race. The demon race, who even though they are few in numbers, individually possess powers far above that of the average humanoid. The huge continent “Loyndars” is divided into east and west, nobody knows when it started but the two sides have been in a continuous conflict. It lasted for a thousand years, but it unprecedently became peaceful 300 years ago. It was because of the Demon race’s King, there was a change in ownership of the demon king title and the new king is comparatively moderate compared to the previous. Though there are sporadic skirmishes that occur, the humanoid races are getting used to the peace But then the peace was suddenly broken. Under the rule of a newly crowned Demon King, during the 2826 Genesis Calendar of the fifth month, the demon race attacked the other territories and the “The Great Invasion” began. Against the humans who had gotten used to the temporary peace and steadily fought increasingly intensifying battles against their own, this surprise attack which should also be called the general offensive, began. Not caring about their own appearance, the demons battle tactics of not worrying about the sacrifice of innocents was terrifyingly effective, and in the blink of an eye, numerous countries had been destroyed. Rather than controlling the human race for the demon race, the goal of the demon king was to completely annihilate them. Those that resist are massacred, those that surrender are taken as prisoners into the Demon Race’s Territory and are never seen again. Of course the human race wouldn’t just be silent about this, they immediately formed a treaty to each countries as expected, they created a coalition army made from troops of each race. By all rights, the human side had enough war strength to oppose them. But foolishly, each country and race had disputes over who should be in charge, and thus the cooperation broke down and the tired main force was crushed. Afterwards, the humans keep fighting hopeless, one-sided defensive battles. The Garugan Empire perished on the 4th month of the year 2827 After humanity’s largest fighting force was destroyed humanity had no choice but to lead a desperate suicide attack. The remaining military forces banded together and challenged the Demon King’s main army to a reckless final showdown gathering the majority of the attention. Using that chance the hand-picked elite infiltrated the Demon King’s castle to strike at heart of the enemy and slaying the source of this era of despair, the Demon King. The chance was low, but there was no other way, it was certainly the last gamble. Then humanity won that gamble. Barely. The Demon King’s Castle’s deepest part, Maou’s Chamber. The chamber was enormously large, a small town could easily fit into it.
Crammed onto the floor there was a pattern of geometric shapes and undecipherable characters, other than that there was nothing that stood out other than the altar in the middle. The deathmatch in front of the altar, the battle that decided the fate of the world just ended. There was only one person standing, hailing from the Human Tribe the Magic Swordsman Kail. The figure covered by silver armour was covered completely with wounds, with cuts all over his body and his left hand having being almost minced was surely of no more use. The fact that he was standing let alone alive was already a miracle in itself. However he was standing purely on willpower, looking at the defeated Demon King. Kail maintained his vigilance even while looking at the Demon King’s body slowly crumble away. And then when he confirmed the Demon King was completely eradicated, as if all his strength had been spent he sat down onto the floor. “With this……it’s all over……” However, while the demons are much stronger than humans there are many of them who are selfish and arrogant. The demon army that was massed with the overpowering charisma and strength of the Maou should lose at this rate. Many deaths were produced because of this war, but originally the humanoids’ death rate was higher. The number of deaths in the demon army was also large enough to end the invasion. The humanoid’s were saved, slowly but surely they’ll realize this fact. But Kail felt no joy. Those that were sacrificed for this victory, up until this point there were far too many who were lost. I see the sword in my hand, no the remains of what used to be a sword. It was a magic sword with a stone on it that could be called my friend and comrade, however now it’s just a piece of scrap that won’t talk anymore. I see the door leading to the outside firmly closed. I’ll surely join you later, is what my comrades said who stopped the demons advancing on us. In the end none of them caught up to me. I look at the World Tree’s Staff lying on the floor a little bit away. The staff that the Elven spirit user who had been fighting with me used up to this point, she sacrificed herself in the fight just now. In exchange, she ceased to exist in order to save me. Recalling the smile she showed me at the end tears streamed down. Out the things I wanted to protect none of them were left. The hometown I was born and raised in, the friends who I laughed together with, those with whom I lived through near death battles. Even the one I loved….. I had lost everything. There was no sense of joy nor accomplishment. What lies in my heart are only sadness and emptiness. After losing my thirst for revenge which was the only drive I had left, I was now like an empty husk. Here we are at the heart and deepest part of Demon’s Castle Even if we killed the Demon King, someone else will become the new Demon King.
It was planned for us to escape silently after the deed was done, however I didn’t feel like it. Although it couldn’t be done as planned. Kail had deep wounds all over his body, they weren’t at the level where you could say it’d just be alright if you leave it alone. They were wounds that could take one’s life. But there were no more healing potions, there also weren’t any comrades left that could heal me. But even that didn’t matter anymore. As I laid my body down, the only thing left was to accept my death. Thinking that, I closed my eyes. If I just lost consciousness like this everything would’ve probably ended. The feathers that grow on the Maou’s back, whether it was coincidence or fate, the feathers floated around. Jet-black feathers were gently touching Kail’s face. His conscious that was about to be swallowed in darkness cleared up, he thinly opened up his eyes and in the wide space with nothing much in it only the altar stood out. From there, a red light was visible. ” …… What’s that?” Barely able to straighten his body, he walked to the altar that seemed to draw him in. What decorated the altar was a gem of stunning crimson as if it was dripping blood. The size was probably as big as a baby’s fist, it seemed to give off a red light like a pulsating heart. Kail could use magic so he could sense the tremendous amount of magic hidden within it. “Is this… a magic item?” Just as its name specifies: a magic item is a tool with magical properties. Even those that couldn’t use magic could use it. If I think about it, the movements of the Maou were strange during the battle. He received an attack he would’ve been able to dodge. Although it was my victory, it felt as if he was trying to cover something while treading over thin ice. “What was he trying to protect, was it this?” Then Kail remembered that the Maou was not watching him who had killed him in his last moments but the altar instead. The light that kept flowing out of the gem became stronger. As if it was going to release an enormous amount of energy at any moment. “Did it go out of control because the Maou died?” It’s probably an incomplete product, like this it’ll end up going out of control. The result of an incomplete magic item being unstable, is exploding. The more proportional the amount of magic put into it, the bigger the explosion, I can’t even imagine how big the explosion would be if this ended up exploding. Looking back on it I don’t know why I did something like this.
Was I attracted by the mysterious beauty that was out of this world? Or did I just want to quickly be at peace? Anyway Kail grabbed the gem in what would be called a casual movement. At that moment the jewel began letting out a red light, as if it was exploding and attacking Kail. It wrapped around Kail immediately, dyeing everything around him red. After that he didn’t understand anything anymore. Kail was awakened by a gentle warm light across his face. He noticed his uninjured body was lying on a bed. “…… This place is?” Kail said with a fading voice while looking around. It’s not like it was a place he was unfamiliar with. Rather, there was no place he was more familiar with. Against the wall was the training sword he got from his father and the recommended books he got from his mother were lined up also there were gifts he got in his childhood days. The position of the desks and chairs in his room were exactly as he remembered them, even the bed he just slept in. They’re not only familiar, they should’ve been things he couldn’t see anymore. I can’t be mistaken, it’s the place where I’ve lived most of my life till now. It’s the room I used to live in, but it was destroyed by the invasion of the demon race. “I ……just what?” Just as I was trying to use my head which didn’t seem to work well since I didn’t use it so much, the door was opened vigorously and a cheerful voice was heard. “Just how long are you going to sleep? Get up already?!” The one was came in was quite a young girl who looked to be in her mid-teens with quite peculiar long red hair as her distinctive characteristic. With unhesitating behavior full of vitality, just by looking at this girl you’ll get happy. “Lize ……”

From the time I was born there were far more days that I’d seen her face than not, we were raised as if we were family, there I muttered the name of the childhood friend that I shouldn’t have ever been able to meet again. “What, you’re already awake… Seriously…. You’re a sixteen year old from today onward, at least become independent. Saying it all bossy with her hand on her hip. This girl was always like this since long ago. Even though we’re the same age she treats me like a little brother just because she was born a few months earlier. Seeing Lize’s face, Kail was stunned for a while, then he understood something.
“Oh, … it’s a dream…” He muttered that with a helpless laugh. It’s a dream that’s cruel yet very happy. He thought it was his reward for saving the world, yet it felt like irony to him. There’s nothing except for an irreplaceable time of peace, the days of peace he once lost. But it was fine even if it was a dream or an illusion….. Since I´m able to return home even if it´s for a small moment. “Kail?” Kail raised his body from his bed without any regard for the earnest voice of his childhood friend. “What’s the matter?” Kail furrows his brow as he approached her untill they could feel each other´s breathing. Kail unintentionally embraced Lize without saying anything. “K-K-K-Kail?!” “Lize! Lize! Lize!” He wished that for every time he called her name this time could be lengthened even by one second, thus he strongly embraced her. “H-hey just what the heck are you doing?!” Lize tried to escape from Kail’s embrace however she was too weak to do so. “A-Ah ……” Eventually the resistance disappeared, Lize was quiet while her face was bright red. Kail noticed her discomfort after a while. Feeling Lize’s body heat with his whole body, smelling the perfume of flowers and hearing her voice. “S-So suddenly..” a small voice began speaking, “I haven’t prepared my heart yet.” Then I gradually began to realize some things. “Huh?” That it’s strangely realistic for a dream. As if to ascertain something I moved my left hand behind her back. Moving my hand to her bottom, and I grab her ass slightly hard. “Eek!?” Lize’s body reacted significantly all of a sudden. “Huh?” Soft and warm, as if trying to make sure of it I began to grope around. “E-Eh, Ah? Wha.., No, Wai….t!”
Lize said in a upset voice. If I remember right, she was worried about her ass being bigger than those of the same age, I thought that with a clear mind. Kail had forgotten at this time. While being busy he didn’t notice the physical phenomenon where a certain part of his body became “energetic”. In response to touching the ass of someone of the same generation, that part became even more “energetic”. Of course because it had become rather hard and he was hugging her harder she began to notice the “energetic” part. More like it was in good form. “!?!?!” Lize’s bright red face paled suddenly. “N…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!” With incredible power Kail was peeled off, allowing her to not just use her arm as a whip, but also by slightly dropping her waist gathering all her power in her arm. A hit from a great angle that sent Kail flying by using the whole body from her waist to her toes. Kail who’s flying through the air while spinning around, plunged into the bookshelf. “Y-You idiot! What are you trying to do first thing in the morning!” Lize said that while slightly in tears, in a loud voice and went out while she violently closed the door. Kail who was buried upside down in a pile of books was fully awakened by the pain not just in his jaw but by the pain in his head which made him finally notice the sense of discomfort. “Eh…? This isn’t a dream?” At that time Kail who had his right hand tightened the whole time from the moment he awoke, slowly relaxed. What fell out of Kail’s right hand while making a sound as it fell to the ground was what was decorating the altar, a red gem that looked almost like a drop of blood.

Chapter 2 – The Town of Rimaze 

“It doesn’t seem to be a dream.”
Seated upon the bed, Kail muttered while his head and chin were still throbbing with pain.
“A dream shouldn’t be this painful… then what the heck’s going on?”
He was fully conscious, however he couldn’t grasp his current situation.
I should be in the Demon King’s castle where I was battling the Demon King and just barely won, I should have even received a fatal wound but if this isn’t a dream then what’s going on?
The first possibility that floated to my mind was that I was under attack via magical hypnotism or illusion from the demons.
I immediately looked out the window but the same gentle town of the past spread out towards the horizon.
There’s no mistaking it, this is my hometown, the town of Rimaze.
Also, I saw Lize walking back home with her shoulders perked up and an angry pace so I tried to call out to her, but I didn’t know what to say so I just saw her off.
It’s possible for large-scale illusion magic to recreate a town like this, but only a high level mage would be able to create an illusion close enough to mistake for the real thing.
However, in order to reproduce the appearance you’d have to know what the original looked like.
I tried to look for any differences, but on the bed were the same scratches, and in the books were the same doodles I made as a kid. It’s impossible to make such a realistic illusion with this amount of detail.
It isn’t hypnosis or memory tampering as I’ve already heightened my magic resistance so those things won’t work on me. Even if it was hypnosis once the target becomes aware of it the magic is destroyed, it’s that kind of thing.
(In the first place, they shouldn’t have felt the need to use such an attack on me in that situation.
I was so gravely injured that, even if they didn’t finish me off, I would’ve just died….)
After I thought about all that, I checked my left arm. The result was that there weren’t any particular wounds that would make it unusable.
The injuries were to such a degree.
“It has healed…. No, it’s different.”
Even the world’s greatest healing spell shouldn’t be able to heal it, it’s shocking.
and there should be a scar. Speaking from experience it shouldn’t be wrong…
However, my left arm wasn’t injured at all. Of course I can move it without a problem. It was as if there was no injury from the start.
“Even old injuries have disappeared.”
The scar from last year that should have been there was gone. Further examining my body the wounds on my arms and legs were gone too.
Trying to move my body was abnormally nice. Things like fatigue and pain that were bothering me had all cleanly disappeared..
“But my body’s ability has somewhat dropped… I also feel as if my arms have gotten thinner.”
I jumped trying to confirm it but compared to before, it felt as if it body’s ability had significantly dropped compared to half a day ago.
Kail decided to try to leave the room after thinking a little.
Heading for the first floor’s living room, where there should be a mirror.
For the time being I left the room while checking my surroundings but nothing happened, after leaving my room I understood this was exactly as I remember my old home.
After checking the mirror in the living room I became even more certain.
It´s certainly my face, but all my facial scars have disappeared, but above all else.
“Like I thought…. I’m young again.”
I had completely forgotten my birthday because of my day-to-day battles, but I should have at least been more than twenty years old.
Yet reflected in the mirror is a face that’s of someone in his mid-teens at most.
That means, that was… no this was a thing for rejuvenation?”
Taking out the red gem that was inside his pocket.
Like always it gives of an otherworldly beautiful glow that’s as mysterious as ever, but I don’t feel any tremendous magic like that time.
Certainly rejuvenation magic exists however it’s a forbidden art that needs a tremendous amount of magic power.
“No, even if it was rejuvenation it shouldn’t need that much magic. Also it wouldn’t explain this situation…”
Kail had been holding his head while in front of the mirror.
My hometown that was supposed to be destroyed, my childhood friend that was supposed to be dead and my rejuvenated body….. There is only one answer to explain this all.
But I shook my head to that foolish thought.
But Lize certainly said that today was my sixteenth birthday.
“Sixteen years old… Then it’s that? I came to the past?”
Although it’s not impossible. Just like a story out of a fairy tale.
Those four years, it would still be more believable for those four years to have been a dream or a delusion.
But there is the red gem that could be called material evidence. Above all, the experience of fighting with the fierce demon tribe, there is absolutely no way that could have been a dream or a fantasy.
But common sense denies it by saying there’s no way it could have happened.
“Shit, something like this…. It’s more convincing to say that I’m crazy.”
Kail had been holding his head for a while but made a wry smile when his belly growled out in hunger.
“No matter what kind of situation it is, I still gets hungry… No I should think of it as proof that everything’s normal.”
Kail went to the kitchen hoping he’d find something.
But a decent meal was already in the kitchen when he got there.
On the table was freshly baked bread, dried meat and vegetable soup. There was also scrambled egg with salad and also a dessert.
For breakfast they were all elaborate dishes.
“Seems like Lize prepared all of this.”
In a family where everyone sucked at housework nobody could stand up against her who cooked all the meals.
Tempted by the nice smell I reached out my hand, in that instant the possibility of poison entered my head but I lightly shook my head and began eating.
It was a nostalgic taste.
This soup was said to be a specialty that was handed down in Lize’s family as a special recipe.
She passed away before I got to ask her so when I was free I tried to reproduce the taste but it didn’t work.
“I should eat it…. before it cools down….”
Kail began to eat furiously while tears involuntarily welled up.
Warm food after a long time of only eating preserved food was really delicious.
“As expected I ate too much.”
There was a considerable amount, but not being able to control myself I ate it all.
“After eating it all it seemed like a first rate meal…. right?”
At that time I heard a sound coming from the front door, I understood a person came inside.
I thought Lize was back but the sound of the footsteps were different.
But it wasn’t an unfamiliar sound. Actually it was a presence and sound I was familiar with and that person went straight to the kitchen.
“Yo.”
Who came in was someone with short blond hair that was well kept in it’s own way, but he was a guy with the impression of a neighborhood brat who had just grown up.
Wearing clothes easy to move in and a cheap sword on his waist.
“Seran……”
Kail had an inseparable bond with this bad company, he was childhood friend of his like Lize and that shitty bond continued until the very end.
“Well, this is rare that you who’s weak in the morning is already awake.”
“Oh, oh …… Oh, that it’s umm ….. How’ve you been?”
“We also met each other yesterday, what’re you saying?”
Seran answered with a strange look.
Kail stabilized his breathing and had a good look at Seran’s calm face but was different.
“….. It’s still the same old stupid face, the Seran of now still misses the experience that he had in the future. But the guy in front of me is still the same failure as in the past.”
“I don’t really understand what you’re saying, but I understand that you’re insulting me.”
And he’s young. He’s probably the same age as the Kail of right now.
I didn’t notice because of the confusion this morning but I felt as if Lize was also as young as I remember.
“Well I don’t have time to bother with you, now for breakfast, breakfast….. isn’t there?!”
Seran that looked at the empty pot spoke out.
“You, couldn’t have possibly eaten it all!?”
“Oh It was delicious.”
Kail recalls that this guy was always making a racket about food.
“Damn, because Lize seemed so hyped while cooking yesterday I intended to take it for myself today, although she’s really violent her cooking skills are really good.”
Seran who was trying to lick the pot with his finger.
“If you want to eat it that much just ask if she could make you some.”
“It’s already impossible, don’t you know how much I pissed her off yesterday. Even now I only came in after she left.”
Kail didn’t really care about something like that, so he asked something that bothered him.
“Oh, I’m going to ask you something weird.”
“What?…. Ah there’s a little bit of meat left.”
“Just listen ok….. What day and year is it today?”
“What?”
“Well, I kind of forgot the date.”
“You really ask weird questions, today is the 24th of the 5th month of year 2823.”
It’s the date of four years ago. This really seems to be the past.
“You aren’t mistaken right?”
“I don’t know what’s bothering you but I’m not mistaken. Well It might be wrong by one or two days though.”
After Seran said that he clapped his hands while saying “Ah”.
“Speaking of which it’s your birthday today, I totally forgot this bastard’s birthday…. What? did you want a present or something?”
“No, I don’t have a hobby of getting a present from someone who calls me a bastard you know.”
Seran had cleaned out the pot of all the leftovers and said there’s no helping it to me.
“Well it can’t be helped I’ll settle with giving the breakfast as birthday present.”
“Hey? Isn’t that kind of cheap?”
Hey this wasn’t yours in the first place, Kail who was saying that was ignored by Seran who was trying to leave.
“Where are you going to?”
“If there isn’t any food I don’t have any business here anymore. I don’t have a choice I’ll go to Lize and see if I can get something to eat.”
It was probably delicious, I heard such murmur from him.
“Wasn’t she upset a little while ago? She’ll either punch or kick you while asking no questions.”
“What, if I apologize with my head to the ground she’ll at least give me a serving. Because even she has a soft spot for beggars.”
“Since the old days…. No, like always if it’s in order to obtain your target you’ll choose any means necessary, even if it means throwing away your pride.”
“Fu, don’t praise me like that.”
“I wasn’t praising you.”
“Oh, my birthday is on the eight of the 2nd month, so as my present you should give me precious metals or a fine woman.”
Seran left while waving his hand.
“Should I say that guy hasn’t changed at all or should I say he doesn’t change at all.”
Kail makes a wry smile while watching Seran’s back.
It’s been a long time since this kind of exchange. It was one of the casual things in our everyday life, but now it makes me really happy to be able to do this again.
“Well, I wonder what I should do from now on.”
Kail folded his arms and began thinking.
It seems like I really came to the past but just how did it happen.
Magic to return to the past, or those who tried to use it, I’ve never heard anything about it.
Even if I think about it alone I won’t find any answers. I would like to talk to someone who actually knows about it so I can’t ask just anyone for a consultation.
At the moment there is only one person I can think of that can help me.
“…. Like I thought there’s only one person, I just hope that person is awake though.”
While scratching his head Kaill decided to go to the person who could help him.

Chapter 3 

The Leonard house where Kail lives in located in the outskirts of the town of Rimaze. A few stories high with a wide garden, in the neighborhood it’s known as something like a mansion. I was tempted to go into the town to see the state of affairs but I headed towards my destination, a detached dwelling in the corner of the garden. A sturdy one-story stone house with only one window and a low height. Immediately after opening the door there was a steep staircase going downward. After going down one level there was an opened sturdy door with an unique nostalgic smell. In the room stood a bookshelf where books were tightly packed and crammed in. Without any windows in the room, there was a magic tool with the property of [Light] hung onto the wall illuminating the room. . By the way, in order not to damage the books this building has a special magic infused product which is able to adjust the temperature, humidity and the brightness. The archive of books in this semi-underground place was made in order to eliminate all great enemies of books like humidity, sunlight, temperature, etc. Taking everything into account this cost an unimaginable amount of magic and gold. Many different books were aligned widely, from picture books for children to books about ancient magic banned by the kingdom. And on the table in the center of the room was a giant pile of books. There as if buried by the mountain of books was a woman who was reading. After noticing Kail, the woman raised her head and smiled sweetly. “Oh, Kail-chan. It’s unusual for you to come here. Certainly at this time.” Is what she said to me. I knew she would be here but actually meeting her made my chest tighten up. While hiding his feelings Kail spoke up. “It’s already morning. Did you stay up to read books all night again, Mother?” “Oh? it’s already morning?….. As I thought I can’t tell what time it is when staying here.” Kail’s mother Seraia responded while yawning. She should have passed thirty a long time ago, but she has short trimmed hair with a baby face and is also petite so she looks much younger than her actual age. If Kail stood next to her instead of being parent and child they’d look more like siblings at best. Lise absolutely insisted that the texture of her smooth skin was because of some magic drug or dubious ritual.
“I have a quick question actually.” Because of Kail’s words Seraia looked at her son’s face with interest. “It just keeps getting more unusual, that you’d have something to ask me…. Ah, if it’s about my encounter with your dad than I can tell you all you want. That was twenty years ago….” “That’s for another time.” Kail stops his mother who tried to tell a dangerous story, The story about her meeting with his father. Once she begins she’ll continue hours, this caused a trauma for the once small Kail. “I want to know something about magic.” “About magic? Well if I actually know about.” “Finding someone more knowledgeable than mother would be quite hard….” Magic is divided into three large systems of magic. Sacred magic to perform miracles with the help of the gods. Elemental magic that uses spirits to control earth, water, wind and fire. And ancient magic that uses ancient language for control, with the help of academic development in the time of the ancient magic kingdoms. Among these, humans use the sacred magic and ancient magic, Seraia is an user of ancient magic. Ancient magic is divided into five classes, lowest class magic, low class magic, mid class magic, high class magic and highest class magic, if you can roughly understand ancient magic then you’re at the lowest level. Also if you can use a higher level of magic you’ll receive a title. Those who use lowest class magic are a ‘Magician’, low class magic users are a ‘Sorcerer’, mid class magic users are a ‘Wizard’, high class magic users are a ‘Mage’ and highest class magic users are an ‘Archmage’. Those who hold the title of Archmage in the human race are countable and here is one of them. The famous Seurat St. kingdoms capital Glorious has the princess Sakira. And Selaia is one of the few famous Archmage´s of the capital. Not knowing whether it’s a lie or the truth, but I heard she was nominated to be the youngest court magician in the Garugan empire. Kail’s grandfather who passed away before he was born had a considerable amount of wealth, using the inheritance she was living comfortably while gathering books. Why they chose to live in such a frontier instead of living in retirement in the city, Kail doesn’t know anything nor has heard anything about it. However there’s no one more fit to ask about magic than her. “Well… Is there a magic that sends you go back into the past?”
“There is.” Selaia said it frankly as if it was nothing. “Ah, there is?!” “Yeah, there isn’t much known about it, but there certainly is a magic that interferes with time.” “But I never heard of anything like it. Such a handy, no, cheat like magic.” “If you think about it it’s obvious. Just because it exists doesn’t mean everyone can use it. Explaining the finer details, it’s something that’d take years of time, also the magic theory behind it has already been found. The reason it hasn’t been used would be the amount of magic power.” Magic power is the is like an energy source for magic, magic users always have magic power. If someone has a large amount of magic power even the lowest class magic becomes an attack with powerful force. “If you gave time magic a rank it’d be ten times more than highest class magic. A human or even a dragon or a god wouldn’t be able to use it. Simply put imagine that the flow of time is a giant flowing river and humans are ants, do you think the ants could change the flow of the river?” “That’s…… impossible.” “Even if we summoned the greatest magicians of this world and they would use all their magic power it would still be impossible to change the flow of history.” That’s why only a few people know about it, so says Seraia. “I see… What if someone wanted to go back a few years into the past?” “Years? Something like that would need an tremendous amount of magic power. Gathering so much magic power in one place…. that would be impossible.” Well I wouldn’t have to think about that, I denied the thought in my head. “And if you had a Magic item?” To Kail’s words she raised her voice with an ‘Ah’ sound. “I see, that’s interesting, if it’s a magic item then the magic power can be gathered. Since there isn’t a need to gather it all at once…. Since it’s a matter of time collecting something like magic would be better if there weren’t any time restraints.” Seraia shakes her head in denial after thinking about it a little. “Well I thought a little about it, but there are many problems concerning it. First would be the gathering of magic power. Even if there was the time you’d need to be able to get it ready, even if an Archmage spent a thousand years it still wouldn’t be possible.” “Then…. what if the forbidden ritual was used?” After hearing about the forbidden ritual Seraia frowned. “Certainly using that ‘outside the rules’ method you’d be able to collect a large amount of magic power…. How do you know about it?” The forbidden ritual is a sacrificial ritual where the life of someone gets converted into magic power, this way you’d be able to attain an enormous amount of magic power.
For this ritual even someone without any magic power can be used, magic users who turned to the dark side sacrificed a whole village for the purpose of an evil experiment, are the kind of stories being told. There are few who practice these methods, the methods are also not revealed. “I just read a little from a book. I don’t know much about it.” At the end of the battle, the human race who no longer had any other options tried to use this forbidden method. Although they almost used that method, in the end they placed their bets on the last us. “I see…. hypothetically speaking even if you used that method it’d still be impossible, going back just a few years would already cost half the human race living on this continent.” “Right, sacrificing half the human race for a magic like that isn’t possible.” In other words, if you sacrificed such a great amount you’d have the necessary amount of magic power. Kail remembered that around the Demon king’s castle there was a mountain, no, mountain ranges of corpses gathered. The humans that were kidnapped from all around the continent whose live force was sucked out, they were like withered trees. “the other problem would be the catalyst. For normal magic a simple gem or magic stone would be alright, but a catalyst that has to hold such an amount of magic power doesn’t exist.” A catalyst that can absorb magic power is called a magic stone or gem, these stones are frequently used because they are easy to preserve. However each magic stone and gem has a limit, if that limit would be passed the magic power inside would go out of control and explode. “The only possibility would be the legendary “God Dragon’s Heart”. “What’s that?” “Well …… It’s this.” Selaia takes out an old book from the chaotic pile of books. It seems like the person herself is able to take care of the storage. “Oh, It’s this, this. This is the legendary “God Dragon’s Heart”.” Being shown the open book, I was able to read about the story concerning the “God Dragon’s Heart” and there was also a picture shown there.” In ancient times there was a dragon who was said to be a force above most of the great Gods. In the end the dragon dies, however it’s carcass had remnants of his power that surpassed the Gods who live an eternity of time. The ones that managed to get his remains were the humans of the ancient kingdom of Xarles. Thus Xarles was able to extract tremendous magic power that was hidden in the “God Dragon’s Heart”. Xarles was able to obtain a near infinite magic power source which brought the kingdom prosperity. However the “God Dragon’s Heart” was finally exhausted of its magic power after a thousand years of use. That was the cause of the Ancient kingdom Xarles’s downfall over the course of history.
“So, that doesn’t mean you can’t refill it just because it got emptied, it’s probably history’s most powerful vessel.” “I see…..” Kail unconsciously put his hand on top of his pants pocket. The gem that looks precisely like that in picture. “However when Xarles’ kingdom fell its whereabouts were unknown. It’s almost been a thousand years, I wonder if it still exists? Maybe it already left human hands and it’s in the demon continent.” “Yeah… That’s right” “Other than, that would be the size of the magic circle which would be really big. It would probably be as big as a little town. It’d be bad if it got exposed to other elements so it’d have to be a room.” “…………” The size of the Demon king’s room was big enough to fit an entire town wasn’t it. Also the floor was covered with clean demon language, at the time I didn’t give it much thought and I immediately went for the final battle, thinking about it I should’ve thought more about it. “In other words you have to make a magic circle the size of a small village, the legendary “God Dragon’s Heart” and sacrifice half the human race on this continent right?” “Well yeah something like that. And? Impossible right?” “Yeah, that’s impossible…” Kail who met eyes with Seraia simply said so. “But you’re asking weird things aren’t you, it’s as if Kail-chan is from the future.” “What do you mean, isn’t something like that impossible.” “That’s also true isn’t it, I’m relieved.” The two people were going, ‘hahaha’ about it while laughing. (Though Kail had a forced laugh while moving his shoulders.) I decided not to think about my mother who was easily appeased by such a small effort for the time being. “Leaving that aside, it’s been awhile since I’ve had such a long conversation with Kail-chan.” “Was it…. Like that?” “It was. ‘Cause Kail-chan had been clearly avoiding me recently.” “Ah, I didn’t mean it like that but….” Kail remembers, it really was like that. Around this time I was avoiding my mother for no apparent reason for some time. Well if I said it was because of puberty that’d be it, but I myself don’t know the exact reason for doing something like this. “Seriously, I was lonely you know. Thinking I was a failure as a mother for being hated by her own son.”
“Certainly I don’t think mom looks or acts like a mother. You’re a slob and a houseplant and you don’t try to show interest in anything other than books. You’re useless in housework and also can’t do anything mother-like. From others’ eyes you wouldn’t look like a respectable mother at all.” “Yeah, I think I was aware of it but being told that by my own child with a straight face…. Kind of hurts. “ “Even if you’re like that… For me you’re the best mother I could wish for.” And I also did not want to lose her again. “Hmph, you’re saying some nice things.” Selaia is hugging Kail with a smile. Well Kail’s physique was bigger so it looked like she was the one being hugged. If it was the Kail from before he would’ve tried to get away as soon as possible, but now he was trying his best to suppress his tears of embarrassment and joy. It would be suspicious to cry here so he reluctantly turned his face away a little. Seeing this action Seraia who is shaking her head with another smile, hugs her son even tighter. “Now then since we talked so much, I got hungry. Since Lise is the one cooking breakfast today it should be good.” Kail’s face twitched when Seraia said she’d look forward to it while getting ready to go home. “Oh …… I’m sorry, I ate all of it.” After thinking about it, it would only be natural that mother would also have a portion. Seraia’s kept smile now freezes. “If…. If it’s like that it can’t be helped. Mother will eat some preserved food like always, hehehe. “No, that, I’m sorry, really” “No, it’s alright….. Ah, it’s it Kail-chan’s birthday today right. Then the breakfast can be your birthday present….. Hehehe.” “No, Isn’t that kind of cheap? My birthday present?”

Chapter 4 – Determination 

On top of a hill east of the town of Rimaze lies an old ruin but because it’s old it’s mostly debris. The ruins have a thousand year old history behind them, everything inside had already been looted by people called Treasure hunters. Since it didn’t have any academic worth, it remained as a part of the town’s landscape.
But the place itself is still fine, which makes it a good location for a hidden base. This allows it to be used as a playground by children, Kail also played here when he was a child.
Kail was watching the sunset from the top of the ruins. From here I can oversee the whole town, I also like watching the sunset from here while observing the town. It’s been one year since I calmly watched the sunset like this. “To think, I could actually look at the sunset so calmly.” Kail muttered while watching the whole town that was dyed crimson by the sunset. “…… This is bad, I almost cried a number of times and it has only been a day.” Involuntarily I almost started to cry again, but today it can’t be helped, I convinced myself with that.
This afternoon I looked around the town of Rimaze. Everyone I met in town was exactly as I remembered. Again I felt the reality of actually going back to the past.
While watching the sunset Kail takes out the “God Dragon’s Heart” and mutters softly. “Going back to the past….. What did that guy want to do over?” That guy is him, the demon king.
Time travelling was something the demon king wanted to accomplish. And the purpose was to go back into time, of course he must of wanted to do something over.
I don’t know what his reasons were but, he wanted to accomplish it whatever the risks. Otherwise he wouldn’t have tried to destroy the human race like this. But there are no opportunities to find out. “A….. Second chance….” “So you were here, I was looking for you.” Kail hides the “God Dragon’s Heart” because of the sudden voice that came from behind. I know who it is without even turning around, its Lize.
From the tone of her voice I understand she’s moody, I recalled what happened this morning. (After waking up I immediately began to hug her, then massaged her ass and pressed my crotch against her.)
“I’m so sorry.” The second Kail turned around he prostrated himself and apologized.
From an officer’s perspective his actions this morning were completely that of a sex offender. It’s my long awaited time of happiness, I don’t want to go to prison.
“……You’ve reflected on it haven’t you.” “Because I had a strange dream and was still half-asleep, together they were the reasons for my actions this morning. I have reflected from the depths of my heart.” He apologizes anyway while his face is still on the ground.
After some time of silence, Kail raises his head to see what has happened. When he did, he saw Lize who had her arms crossed and was facing the other way with her eyes closed. (I’m so glad, she doesn’t seem to be that mad. Since she always smiles when she’s mad.” At the same time I could see some healthy-looking thighs and also a little bit of white cloth since she’s wearing a miniskirt. (So it’s white….. Nowadays she still doesn’t wear anything with sex appeal.) If I get noticed, it will definitely be the end, I’ll either get my head crushed or be sent flying away with a kick, I’m certain of it. I should face down again before she notices me.
After a little while, Haa~aaa~, Lise lets out a big sigh. Kail determined that it was a sign, then he allowed all his strength to leave his body.
“Seriously, if both of you are going to apologize then don’t do anything stupid in the first place.” “Both?… Oh, you’re talking about Seran. So he really went to your house while making a racket.” “Yeah, He apologized while prostrating as well. Seriously, you’re two of a kind.”
While saying she was shocked, Lize sat next to Kail. Kail also straightened his sitting posture and the two watched the sunset together. “Though I feel a little insulted to be compared to him…. well, did you forgive him?” “Yeah, In exchange for one kick and a condition.” “So he still ended up getting kicked…. And what was the condition?” “A Neruda fruit, bird, and squid from the forest of Taasu. Because I ran out of supplies.” Neruda is actually a delicacy which you can get from the forest of Taasu which is a small distance from town and in this area it’s considered a bit of a specialty.
“The trip is half a day, isn’t that a little severe for a single meal?” “I gave him a lunchbox so he doesn’t have the right to complain. Rather than that did you really eat it all? I made enough for four people.” “Ah, yeah since it’s been a year since I last ate something that delicious.” Just before 10 I thought I heard a commotion…. Leaving Seran aside even Seraia-san was going “Feed me something~.” When I heard that I knew something strange had happened.” “I apologize that my mother bothered you… I seriously mean it.”
“Be thankful since I didn’t have a choice but to help you out until Roel-ojisan comes back.” “Roel?….. Oh, you’re talking about my old man, speaking of which he wasn’t here was he.” I had totally forgotten about him, my father with a weak presence that I finally remembered.
Kail’s father; Roel makes jewelry such as necklaces and rings mainly crafted from gems. It seems like he’s skilled, but because of that, it takes time and he’s only known by a few, that kind of feeling. Inconspicuous, small build, always laughing quietly, he’s that kind of person. Anyway, he doesn’t stand out. Instead of Kail and Seraia who can’t do any housework he does bits and pieces of it, looking at it from the side, he acts like a stay at home dad. From time to time he goes on a trip for some days to deliver something to the capital every once in a while, he’s probably there again.
“Hey you…. didn’t just forget about uncle did you?” “Of course I didn’t, I just had trouble remembering. Rather than that I have something to ask you.” Kail who wants to ask about something, left the stuff about his father behind. “…..What’s the secret ingredient?” “Secret ingredient? You mean of the soup?” “Yeah, I tried a lot of things but they didn’t work out.” “It’s supposed to be a family secret but…” “Please, it been on my mind.” Isn’t it okay for family? Kail was asking like that and she replied with a “Sigh” “It’s the fruit of Neruda I was talking about.” “Neruda? Isn’t it sour and hard to mix with the soup?” “You have to prepare it first. After peeling it you have to dry it in the shade for about 3 days.” “I see! I’ll try it next time.” “It’s used in quite a lot in cooking. But since when did you start doing something like cooking? I didn’t know anything about it.” “Even I grow every day. I’ll let you eat something next time.” “~ Hmm, I’ll look forward to it.” “In exchange, do the cleaning for me, since I can’t do what I can’t do. Also lend me a hand with the cooking. After that I’d be happy if you could help me with cleaning.” “You can’t call that growth.”
It was a silly unimportant conversation, but it’s a peaceful time. The peace I had been trying to obtain for the past year, but couldn’t.
“Speaking of which, I’m surprised you could find me here.”
“I can see through all your moves you know…. By the way, what was that dream you saw this morning about? “ To Lize’s simple question Kail stopped moving. “Could it have been a dream where you saw me dying?” “Well…. Something like that…..” “I see… So that’s why you were so worked up.” Lize was joyful while trying to act uncaring.
But Kail had remembered. The death of Lize.
A year ago, no three years from now, this town located nearby the demon territory was the first target of their army’s advance. Of course the town was easily destroyed, the residents were massacred, and the village was burnt to the ground. In my eyes the town was like hell itself, I’ll never forget the devastation at that time. Lize was also there at that time……
When I arrived, rescue wasn’t possible. In the last moments she showed a weak feeble smile, holding her in my arms while she gradually lost warmth. I continued to scream until my voice turned hoarse… But those eyes would never open again…. Only remembering it makes it feel as if my blood started flowing the wrong way. Thus, I swore that no matter what, I would avenge them.
“Wh, what happened? Your complexion looks strange.” Kail turned to Lize after hearing her voice. “I, It’s nothing.” “You’re also sweating a lot…” “I only feel a little bad, it’s no problem at all.” “I hope you’re alright.” Lize said it without worry, but she was actually feeling puzzled as to why Kail had a sudden change of attitude. In reality she was scared. Kail’s face a moment ago was a face she saw for the first time.
It was a face of neither anger, sadness, or hatred. It was a face with a feeling of deep darkness in it. If it’s Kail I know everything about him, I thought so but now it might be different, it was this kind of feeling. I think I have to reconsider how I think about Kail. It’s certainly peaceful now. But this peace ends in three years. I’m the only one that knows about it, if I don’t do anything, it’ll just be the same as last time. I’ll see that scene once again.
“As if I’ll let that happen…”
“W-what happened?”
Kail suddenly stood up which made Lize voice a question in worry, without answering, Kail looked straight into the sunset.
If it goes on like this I’ll lose my family, my home, the world, even the childhood friend in front of my eyes, I’ll lose everything. I don’t want to have feelings like that again, never again. Kail clenched his teeth so hard it it looked as if they would break.
“I’ll change it….”
Because of that (the village being attacked) happening, wondering if there was another way, it was a year full of regrets. In the midst of despair I was just standing there. It became like this because of fate, undeniable fate. Giving up and resolving myself I could only accept it. I convinced myself.
“Then I’ll change destiny.”
Miraculously, I got a chance to start over. I will absolutely not let go of this chance.
“A stupid fate like that, the fate of this world, I will change it.”
Kail clenched his fist hard, so hard it looked as if it would bleed. That fist was raised towards the horizon of the setting sun. It was aimed towards the west – which means it was aimed at the Demon’s territory.
“I will absolutely do it, no matter what kind of trick I have to use!”
Kail once again solidifies his commitment for the second time since that day one year ago. That time it was for revenge, this time its the determination to protect.
Lize suddenly stood up, she was staring wide-eyed at Kail who was shouting towards the sunset. (Eh? What? What does that mean? Why is he suddenly saying weird things? This guy?) Kail who suddenly talks about fate and the world, Lize who knew everything about him as his childhood friend, now feels as if he’s suddenly a different person. As if he’s somehow become more dangerous. Lize was now scared for a different reason than before, she felt startled after noticing something. “Co, Could it be this morning, after I hit you to hard-“ Lize’s face turned blue not knowing what to do.
“Wh-Wh-Wh, What should I do…. In a situation like this I should- I should….. If, If I hit him again he might be healed?”
Kail who was burning with determination, didn’t notice Lize who was having the same amount of determination while clenching her fist.

Chapter 5 – Rescue Plan

Early in the morning Kail reminds himself of the resolve he had at sunset yesterday, after staying up the whole night thinking about it he went to his desk.
Even with all my determination I still couldn’t think of a specific method.
To be precise, I should specify that I have rejected most of my ideas.
My first idea was to tell the truth to someone.
Saying that I’m from four years of the future and that the demons are going to attack in three years time, it was an idea.
Of course they wouldn’t believe me. In their place I would’ve just laughed through my nose if I hadn’t experience it myself.
If you think about it logically it would be impossible.
Four years later I would be known as the “hope of the human race,” but now I’m just a normal kid, I don’t possess the power to back up this title.
And it’d be good if the worst was that they wouldn’t believe me, because they could also just put me in prison for being a madman, I wouldn’t enjoy that.
On the contrary by creating chaos for the human race they could accuse me of being an agent for the demons, put me in jail, and execute me as a traitor.
The only thing that can be seen as evidence is the “God Dragon’s Heart”. If I showed this, I might be believed.
If it was seen by someone who recognized it as the legendary treasure, they would understand, however it also carries some risks.
If it’s something this valuable then it could attract the eyes of some with evil intentions.
Even if I personally asked them to believe me, there would only be a small group who would.
That’s useless. I’m here now in order to have the whole human race follow me
In the first place, the reason why the human race was driven to the verge of extinction is obvious.
Our reaction was terrible…. Our guard was down and there was no cooperation.
This was the thing Kail speculated the most about during that one year of battle.
Even if demons are stronger overall than the human race, if humans combined their strength they could’ve won. I won’t say that much, but we should at least be around the same level.
If the human race just strengthened their defense, they could’ve prepared for the big invasion and had less victims.
But having the complete human race work together, it’s easier said than done. At the moment that’s pretty much impossible.
First of all, the humans with their pride are the least organized.
Territorial wars, economic issues, problems with religion etc….. And these are just the crust of the pie.
Skirmishes also occurred frequently, if we didn’t share the demon race as a common enemy then a large war would’ve already occured a long time ago.
The other humanoid races; the ones called the Elfs and Dwarfs are also having an interracial war.
Kail was holding his head in exasperation over the many problems that needed to be solved.
“I wish the populace would listen without needing any evidence. Even I would listen if I thought there was an impending danger.”
It’s not the time for the human race to fight between themselves is what I think, even if force is needed to achieve unity.
But still, a fake peace of three hundred years really was long.
Leaving the Elves who are said to live a thousand years aside, humans have changed alot over three hundred years which to us is many generations.
Even if you have an enemy for many years, if there isn’t any direct danger you’ll lose your sense of wariness and let your guard down.
The town of Rimase that’s close to the Demon territory has walls around the city and guards protecting them, but even with that I wouldn’t say their sense of danger would be high.
Including Kail himself, the citizens of this town never would have imagined that their town would perish one day.
Even this town thats close to the Demon territory is like this, then the rest of humanity it doesn’t even need to be said.
The next idea was to infiltrate the demon territory and kill the demon lord, well, the demon lord of three years from now.
Since the invasion was something that he ordered, if I could assassinate him, the great invasion probably won’t happen.
“The problem is that it’s absolutely impossible.”
The problem is that I don’t know anything about the Demon king.
The only thing I know about the Demon king is his appearance, I don’t even know his name.
With only that amount of information, it’s impossible to find him in the vast demon territory.
In the first place, the human race doesn’t have any means to receive information from the demon continent, so there isn’t a way to know what’s going on there.
For example even if I was really lucky and found him, whether I can take his life or not is another question.
He shouldn’t be stronger than how he was from four years from now but it’s good to think he’ll be around the same level of power.
Even though Kail was the one who finished off the Demon king, it was only finishing what his companions started.
Even with his strength, many lives were lost in the process.
A hundred of humanity’s elites who had survived till then had infiltrated the castle.
But only ten had reached the demon king, in the end only Kail survived.
I could only think I was really fortunate, it was a close win. If we were to fight again it’d be impossible.
After a big sigh Kail sat before his desk.
“In the end it’s impossible to stop the invasion by myself…. Then that means it’s a lost cause.”
Then I should consider changing my mentality; and think about what I can do with this situation.
Kail grabbed the notebook that was on his desk.
“The only advantage that I have….. Well it could only be this, having a better memory than most others.”
As I thought all I can do is make use of the events that’ll happen from now on.
What happened these past four years, in other words what’ll happen in the next four years is what is written in the notebook.
Of course I didn’t carry a record on me, so it’s pretty amazing I was able to recall everything from my memories.
This is what I was single mindedly writing about yesterday, not knowing whether it would be helpful or if I was just single mindedly writing on and on.
It contained knowledge about the attack methods of the Demons against the cities to the weather conditions, even cooking that left an impression on me. I wrote about everything that I could remember.
If I use it effectively I should be able to achieve a lot. But…
“The problem is if I will be able to use it.”
I shook my head attempting to slow down my brain that had gone into overdrive, of course that didn’t give me any ideas.
The other thing that seems to be useful is my strength.
Four years from now I would be the strongest magic swordsman of the human race, but I now only possessed these thin arms.
“I should ascertain my strength properly. It’ll also be good for my body…”
It’ll be a good change of pace, looking at the sword that was leaning against the wall my mood improved.
All of a sudden I felt the presence of a lot of people moving about outside.
And I also smelled something nice.
“…..Guess I’ll eat some breakfast.”
While rubbing my hungry stomach I head downstairs.
“Ah, good morning Kail! It’s great you can wake up without any help.”
Lize who came to make breakfast again greeted me.
“Ah, good morning.”
“Oh ~ agoodaemorninges” (Best representation of chewing while eating)-misher
Seraia who had already started eating said it with a smile to Kail.
“Good morning mother, it’s better if you don’t speak while eating.”
I also added that she had jam all around her mouth.
“Hey, eat it before it goes cold.”
Kail sits on the chair Lize readied for him.
“Thanks… Wait, Lize aren’t you acting strangely friendly since yesterday?”
Kail who had been in his room for most of the day thinking, was hungry, they asked him if he needed any help.
If it was just that then it would be okay, but it didn’t feel like normal kindness. More like a worry or something, it felt like a parent taking care of a child, or someone taking care of a sick person.
“It’s nothing like that. Ah, that bread is a little big so I’ll cut it.”
It’d be bad if it got stuck in your throat, while looking at Lize’s figure cutting the bread, it felt like she was protecting me, it’s probably just my imagination.
She must be worried since I lost consciousness suddenly after I set my resolve.
After I lost his consciousness and opened my eyes, I was in the church of the Earth Goddess where Lize had brought me to be healed.
“By the way Kail-chan, are you going to stay in your room all day again? Isn’t that bad for your health?”
“No I’m going outside later, I want to practice a little with the sword.”
I feel that mother was implying its time to go out, of course I didn’t say it out loud.
“Oh, hasn’t it been awhile since Kail-chan swung the sword.”
“That’s right saying that you’ll train, what happened?”
The two look at Kail with a questioning look.
“It’s a little change of pace.”
While biting on a piece of bread I remembered, that around this time I had been slacking off my sword practice.

Chapter 6 – Teacher 

On the hill with the ruins at the outskirts of town, Kail focused on swinging his sword. Rather than just blindly swinging his sword, he also mixed in feints and released a blow with killing intent. While imagining incoming attacks, he moved around to defend against them. If you looked around you would see no one, but in Kail’s imagination there was an enemy, or to be precise, an enemy with killing intent that was projected in his eyes. This was a technique that Kail had asked his sensei to teach him: a move allowing him to fight an illusionary enemy. By applying illusion and hypnosis magic on yourself, you would be able to create an illusionary image of an enemy. However, that did not mean that you could just slash at it. The enemy would dodge and counter your attacks. Since it could make a nearly perfect illusion of the opponent, it was perfect for training alone. Many people who possessed magic power learned this technique. Normally, an image of an opponent you knew well would be made. Kail was able to make a near perfect image after just one battle. And the enemy Kail is imagining is the strongest one he knows, the Demon king.
“This won’t do, I was killed within 10 seconds.” After fighting for a while, Kail put down his sword and dispelled the illusion.
When we actually fought, I managed to somehow end up in a stalemate. But now, it was completely impossible to win. Of course, it was not due to the Demon king becoming stronger. Rather, I had become weaker. No wonder I was killed dozens of times. “I tire out pretty fast too.” I tried to stand up with the help of my sword while breathing roughly, but I ended up taking a rest while being sprawled on the ground.
According to Kail’s memories, the person he was three years down the road would not have needed rest, let alone being out of breath. The speed at which the sword was swung along with the movement of his body could not keep up with the image he had. Although both experience and skills were possessed, but his body was weak and unable to handle the burden. Muscle pains will probably pester me tomorrow.
“So I was this weak.” Lamenting his utter lack of basic strength, he sighed. Now that he thinks about it, he spent his days lazily wasting time, not practicing with the sword or with magic. Kail is now regretting how he spent his days in the past.
“No, I think you actually got better.” Suddenly hearing the voice behind him, Kail, who was lying down with his arms and legs stretched out, immediately got up. The one who approached him was a well-built woman in her thirties with a tan, who had a two-handed sword strapped to her back. Having a face with well refined features which makes you think twice about approaching her, while also having a beauty which is reminiscent of a wild carnivore, that kind of a woman. Even though she’s supposed to be the same age as Kail’s mother Seraia, she looks youthful in another way.
“Se-Sensei!? since when did you…..”
Her name is Leila, she is Kail’s sword sensei and a former gladiator, she’s also Seran’s adoptive mother.
Gladiators are those who fight against other humans or humanoids, or magical beasts that are a danger to humans. They fight in an arena with spectators, in other words those that fight for glory. Even though you risk your life in those fights, the more dangerous it is, the more fortune and fame you can get. Leila fought on the world’s greatest stage, the Garugan imperial’s capital Ruos, while other gladiators dropped out because of injuries or death she remained undefeated for five years and ruled the arena as an Empress. Ten years ago, after her retirement, to avoid the annoyance of having to deal with interpersonal relations, and so with the help of Seraia, her old friend, they settled down in the town of Rimase. Kail heard she took Seran in because of a benefactor at the orphanage.
Because of her wandering nature she sometimes suddenly vanishes, this time too she just vanished and probably came back just now, it’s obvious looking at her dirty clothes.
“Since when were you watching.” “Since you were killed for the sixth time I guess? Rather than that just what kind of monster is your opponent.
The current you probably gets ripped apart within 5 seconds.” “…. I was able to last an average of 10 seconds you know.” Apparently Leila was able to vaguely see the Demon king whom I was fighting with.
“It’s fine if you challenge a strong opponent, but if the difference in power is too great it doesn’t have any meaning you know…. Rather, when did you meet that opponent just now? It seemed he was reproduced pretty accurately.” “…. From my imagination, I made an image of the strongest enemy I could think of. Rather than that, if it was sensei how would you challenge him?” “Me? Let’s see…. In desperation, I’d get into reach at the expense of an arm or leg. Then I’ll make an attack with my whole body….. If that doesn’t beat him then it’d be my loss.” “I see…. As expected, it’ll end up like that.”
It was the exact same method Kail used when he defeated the Demon king. Kail makes a wry smile, thinking that the disciple and teacher think alike.
“Well, that’s only if it’s one-versus-one. With comrades I would’ve used a different plan.” “That’s true. I wouldn’t do something as challenging him alone.” I don’t think I can win fairly, I can’t be picky about how I win.
“Anyway isn’t it admirable that you’re training even while I was away. Since it’d be a waste of your talent for you who is able to use everything I teach you after seeing it only once.”
Leila said this about Kail, even among the most talented sword users in the world, you’re probably a “genius that appears once every hundred years,” that’s how much talent with the sword he possesses. The truth is that after Leila began to teach him, his skills increased rapidly. But having no motivation recently he was called a no good disciple.
“Aren’t you also teaching Seran?” “Reluctantly, since he’s my son. If not I wouldn’t even want to have anything to do with such an idiot.” Leila usually says that Kail is an useless disciple, while Seran is her worst disciple.
(From Leila’s POV)
“Anyway, Kail you’ve certainly become more skillful.” Kail’s physical ability hasn’t changed much from what I saw before going on my journey. But the level of his techniques has skyrocketed. As if he has been fighting in real battles for years. Right now he can’t keep up with his high level techniques, but if his body catches up he can grow even stronger.
But above all, his change in attitude. In Leila’s eyes he was just a carefree little puppy, but after not seeing him for a while, let alone a wolf, he has even grown to the extent of being called a lion.
“Did something happen?…. The atmosphere around you has changed a lot.”
Acknowledging that this person wasn’t someone you can lie to, Kail decided to answer in a roundabout way.
“It was just a little change of mind. I’m thinking of seriously training in both the sword and magic.” It’s not as if getting stronger won’t help. No matter what I do from now on, I should be able to do more the stronger I become.
“You….. You’ve changed so much it has become gross.”
Leila has a face as if something is really gross. “Although I’d wish you’d be a little happier about the growth of your disciple.”
“They say people shed skin, but with you it’s fo-, no as if you’ve shed your skin five times.” “It feels as if I’ve shed so much, that my bones are exposed, like that.” “But, is it really only a change of mind? It kind of seems as if there’s another reason.” “It’s nothing….. I just want to sincerely become stronger, that’s all.” Kail who grips his sword, solidifies his determination. “Are you alright?….. You sure you didn’t eat anything wrong?” “Please stop it with the sincerely worried face. Even this much would hurt me a little.”
(End of Leila’s POV)
“That guy, just what on earth happened to him.” “That really isn’t like him. ” A little distance from where Kail was swinging his sword Seran and Lize were watching the two from within the bushes of the forest. When Lize saw Kail going somewhere, she got interested and followed him, On the way Seran seemed bored and went with the flow. Eventually they ended up here. And hesitating whether to talk to Kail who was intensely swinging his sword, they ended up spying on him. “It seems like mom also noticed how strange Kail was acting. However just when did he raise his skills so much?” Even though it’d been awhile since Seran saw Kail practicing with the sword, he never thought he’d have raised his skills so much.
“Is it even possible to change so much in such a short period of time?…. But it doesn’t feel as a fake or as if someones possessing him, it’s without a doubt Kail himself. Because of their long friendship it’s uncomfortable to put into words.
“Yeah, fundamentally he hasn’t changed but….. It feels like the kind of change made over many years without meeting him.” At first I thought it was because I hit him, but after observing his actions this morning that doesn’t seem likely. That’s why I can’t get used to the changed Kail.
“I can’t think of him as the same person who was peeing on an ants nest with me saying “tt’s a flood!” three days ago.” “Seriously you guys really don’t do anything useful, do you.” “Hey mom. As I thought, you noticed us.” After parting with Kail, Leila headed towards where the two were hiding.
“Welcome back Leila-san.” “Yeah, I’m back Lize-chan. You’re probably the only one greeting others properly.” “So you came back after failing to die again.” “I should say that to you, you stupid son. Did you properly do the housework as I told you to? You didn’t cause any problems for Lize-chan right?” “He came every day to leech off us” “Don’t immediately let it out, you bastard! Actually didn’t I do a lot of errands in exchange!” “Well I’ll slowly listen to that part later….. Rather than that what’s with Kail’s attitude? He’s acting weird.” You two also got interested, isn’t that why you’re watching like this? Is what Leila says.
“Ex-Exactly! Always unmotivated with eyes like that of dead fish, Kail is trying his best at something!” “It’s gross to think he’s the same as the one who stated that his future dream was to live a of the heritage of his parents and live a life of laziness with dignity.” “I now understand how the two of you see Kail…. In the end it means you guys don’t know the reason why Kail changed.” Leila missed the mark thinking these two might know something. “Ah, his attitude suddenly changed when he wokeup two days ago. I don’t know what happened, but even if I ask, he just changes the subject. Seriously not even telling me, his best friend” “He said he saw a strange dream, but can something like that change him that much?”
“Hmmm, speaking of something that can change the brat so much, would be….” While Leila crossed her arms, she clapped her hands with a pop as if she came up with something. “Could he have found a woman?” “Whaaaat!?” “?!” “Seran yells while Lize turns into stone. “To be precise he met a woman. So he finally found one? So that kid did.” In Leila’s eyes Kail who she knew from the time when he was little, was like her own child. Without reason she begins to grin. But the two childhood friends didn’t have time for that.
“Damn! Hogging all the good things for himself, that bastard getting ahead of me…. Absolutely unforgivable!” Seran who clenched his fist while burning with anger. “Didn’t you call him your best friend a little while ago.” “There are exceptions for everything! A childhood friend that “graduates” before yourself is an enemy more hateful than the killer of your parents!” Leila who was thinking how nasty the jealousy of a man was, suddenly asked a question.
“But if it’s like that than who’s the one he likes?” “Now that you’re saying it, who is it? Looking at different places would be a bad idea….. Not to brag about it, but Kail and me don’t have any girls we like in this town.” Lize who was still turned to stone says it while looking.
“That really isn’t something to brag about.” “But you know, it’s certain that if it isn’t something like that, then he wouldn’t have changed so much…. Damnit, seriously who could it be.”
Then Lize who was silent until now started to sway. Leila stops Seran who tried to call out to her. “If you care for your life it’s better you don’t stop her…” “The fighting spirit flowing from her back isn’t half-assed….” Seran wipes off the naturally flowing sweat while looking at Lize’s back.
“Amazing, beginning with a straight right feint to the flank, then a flowing blow to the liver. That really can’t be dodged.” “Kail was totally blown away. He probably won’t be able to eat rice tonight.” “Even though Kail let his guard down completely, those were still some good moves.” The parent and child were commenting while having an easy going attitude.
“Confess now, who’s the girl.” “Aaah…. Wh- what are you talking about? Rather what are you doing all of a sudden!?” Kail was looking at his childhood friend that came running along and suddenly flanked him.
“Don’t play dumb! Who is it! Just who did you touch?!” “Ca-calm down, I understand what you’re trying to say, but you’re totally wrong about it! Rather how did it end with becoming such a weird conclusion?” “Leila-san said it, also Seran said it couldn’t be anything else!” “They really don’t say anything useful do they! That pair of parent and child! Rather shouldn’t you know that Seran and I aren’t liked by girls of the same age category!” I became a little sad after saying it out loud, but it’s the truth.
Even while Kail was pretty popular before, after he became a lazy good for nothing, it became like the current situation. Seran was a useless good for nothing from the beginning so nothing changed for him.
“We- well it’s true that there isn’t a girl in this town that would like you….. That means blackmail! Mind control! Magic! Drugs!” “Didn’t you just say some dangerous things?! I wouldn’t do something against the law like that!”
“If it isn’t against the law then…. Could it be you forced Aria-chan!?” Remembering the child from the neighborhood that was attached to Kail, and who’s like a little sister to Lise. “Isn’t she only three years old! What kind of brute would?!”
“Then… Co- could it be Rozel-sama!?” This time it’s the opposite, she cared for Kail and the others as grandchildren or even great-grandchildren and she’s the elder of this town. “This time the Elder! She’s already close to a hundred years you know! In your head just how much of an indiscriminate bastard am I!”
“Bu- but there isn’t any other girl in this town you could hold a love interest for!”
“No, I’m telling you you’re wrong about it. That’s why at that time I’ll properly….”
He was too late to stop his gaping mouth.
“At that time? Properly?” “No, it was a misunderstanding…. It, It hurts! Don’t strangle me!”
Of course, Kail couldn’t tell her that she was the one.

Chapter 7 – Policymaking 

“Have you calmed down?” “Yeah….” “Are you reflecting on it?” “I’m sorry, I went a little crazy.” Lize who was kneeling in front of Kail apologized. From the moment Lize assaulted Kail it had taken a while to calm her down, the sun had gone down considerably. “Well the most important thing is that the misunderstanding was solved…. But just what made you so upset?” She always went berserk when she got too emotional, but this time it was really bad. Lize opens her mouth and says while wiping her tear-filled eyes with her finger. “But…but…… Kail can’t do anything without my help, but before I knew it you’re doing things without anyone…… it…. it’s frustrating……” The more she speaks the smaller her voice becomes. (Did she used to play coy like this….. No it’s just that I haven’t noticed.) Kail convinced himself by saying; just act happy, everything will be alright. Kail who didn’t act like the Kail from yesterday made Lize worry, he probably was the cause of it, but he didn’t think it’d end up like this. The usual was him being hit in the gut while laughing, but it seems like she’s back to normal. “I get it already, I’m not mad anymore. Cheer up a little.” Kail comforts Lize while stroking her head lightly. Lize blushed slightly from having her head stroked. “Yeah…. After thinking about it, Kail couldn’t possibly have the guts to follow through when the time comes. I’m really sorry, I only understood it after thinking about it calmly.” “Youuuu… don’t insult someone you’re apologizing to.” “What do you mean?” “No, It’s already ok…. Go home first, I’ll go back after a bit more training. I want to concentrate a little.” “Alright. I’ll wait while making dinner.” “Ah….. Also tell the two over there.” Kail said it while facing the bush where the parent and child, Leila and Seran were hiding. Lize headed toward the bush, after a while Seran came out and was making a big wave while smiling. Kail lets out a big sigh while thinking about how smile pisses him off. He gathers his motivation to resume his training. Next was Magic training. “[Strength] [Haste]!” Kail casts a speed spell and a strengthening spell on himself. These are the most basic self-reinforcment spells for a magic swordsman. When reinforcing the body its natural abilities improve, the feeling of magic flows through the body. What is this? The effectiveness has increased.” Unlike before, the magic flowing through my body has slightly improved. I tried to move my body around but instead of it being less than it was, its become the same as 3 years ago. “[Enchant Weapon]!” Next I reinforce my sword through magic that lets you reinforce your weapon by letting magic flow into it. At first it was at the level where it just shined a little, but now the entire sword is shining. “Hey hey ……” Being a little lost regarding his own magic, Kail decides to slash at a stone that’s at least two times his size inside the ruins.
When he did, the stone was cut in half without any resistance, as if cutting a piece of butter. Even though it was a practice sword with a dull edge. “As I thought…. My magic has improved.” Kail muttered, while looking at the stone he cut confirming his previous feelings. In order to use the ancient magic that Kail uses, you need to be able to use magic power and have control over your magic. Magic power can be called the source of magic, while using magic it’ll deplete, the more magic power you have the stronger the force of the magic. If you can increase your skill level you’ll be able to lessen the use of magic power, you’ll also be able to increase the activation time of magic. The force of magic control is the power to understand the logic behind the magic, and being able to form the image of it, in order to use magic you’ll need the necessary chant but if you’re able to conquer that you’ll be able to use magic without a chant. In the case of attack magic, you’ll be able to widen and adjust the effective range, in reverse you’ll also be able to concentrate it. Also if you increase the consumption efficiency of magic power, you’ll increase the number of times you’re able to use magic. While I’m at it, divine and elemental magic spells both use about the same amount magic power, but the force of magic control is different, divine requires the power of belief and elemental requires power over spirits. Magic power and the control of Magic Force, these two are the most important foundations in order to use magic, because of this you won’t be able to use magic above your own rank. If you don’t have enough magic power then you “can’t use” that magic, when you aren’t skilled enough in the control of Magic Force then you “haven’t mastered” that magic. It’s fine when you don’t have enough magic power since it won’t activate, if you aren’t skilled enough at magic control with something like fire magic you’ll end up lighting yourself on fire, or with ice magic you’ll end up as a popsicle which is what happened before. Magic can also be trained to extend the control force of magic etc. But the magic power is mostly fixed from birth and difficult to increase. In the case of Kail he was a little above average. “But right now I’d be able to use the highest class of magic.” In my fights up till now the only moments I used magic against demons were when I knew the weakness of a demon, or when I used self reinforcement magic. I mainly used my sword to fight. Since it’s better to cut them down with my reinforced self then use magic to attack, but now that my magic power has risen I might be able to use it differently in fights now. “Though I don’t know the cause….. I’ll just think the ways I can fight have broadened.” Kail decided to think positively while holding his sword. “Five…. So it’s impossible with just this.” Kail lowers his arm. Even though it was just a light blow, not being able to withstand the magic reinforcement he hurt his muscles a little. “My magic power may have risen, but my body right now will only get flung around by it. I can only get use to it little by little.” As expected my weakened body is a giant minus, it can’t keep up with my sword skills and magic. Anyway my body and magic became unbalanced. While my body had weakened, my magic power had become stronger, my potential has increased. If I keep training like this I can get stronger than my previous self, in other words I gained the determination that I can become much stronger than I was three days ago before time traveling. “Stronger than that time…”
After losing everything in the “Great advance” one year ago I was really desperate. I’ll die if I don’t fight, I’ll die if I don’t win, in order to survive I kept fighting on, becoming stronger through various means, before I noticed I was called the strongest magic swordsman in the world. But the price was huge. I used dangerous magic reinforcements and drugs, in the end after repeating this reckless process my body was breaking down. No matter how much I rested, the most I would live was 10 years. “I’ll keep getting stronger…. for the sake of living to my happy and healthy old age.” Kail decided his ultimate life goal. The dinner that day was delicious, as an apology from Lise. She used an oil that took a lot of time to acquire, served small fish from the river that were crushed into a meatball soup, soft rabbit meat, and for dessert she had prepared a honey cake. “Yeah, you came back at a good time.” “No seriously.” “Why are the two of you even here.” Kail complains to Leila and Seran the parent and child. I have a lot to say about what happened this afternoon. “Isn’t it fine, that rabbit is the one I caught you know.” “I want to eat something good since it’s been a while since I last came back. As if I would eat face to face with this guy after coming home.” “Kail-chan , the more people there are, the tastier the meal will be.” Kail makes a small sigh, that’s right, in this past year I haven’t eaten with many people so it was always quiet. After continuing the lively meal for a while, Kail formally asked. “Mother and sensei, everyone else, I have something to ask of you.” “wmhmhmhmhht?” “Mother, speak after you have finished eating.” Kail takes a note of what happened this morning. “I’m a little worried about you guys, but since I don’t have anyone else I’ll ask you four.” “That isn’t an attitude you should take when you’re asking something of others, but out of consideration for the food, we’ll listen to you.” Seran arrogantly says. “In the territory of the human race, is there someone whose influence can affect not just a nation but the whole continent?” Kail was already determined to become stronger than before, however at the same time he realised his limits. No matter how strong he became, he wouldn’t be able to change the flow of destruction. If he wants to change the flow, then he would need the power to destroy an army that can block out the horizon, but that’s just not possible. So the most realistic way would be to prepare before the war starts, together with different countries and races we should cooperate and when they strike we should quickly respond. This should be the best chance of survival the human race has. For that I have no choice but to gain a position with enough influence. “Someone who can move the country.” Leila thinks with her arms folded. “Simply put the one who can influence a country would be a king with great power.” I wonder if it’s the current emperor of the Garugan empire, says Seraia. “I- I see…” The Garugan empire is a militaristic nation that has continued to expand. Kail remembers the young emperor who died because of his pride and arrogance.
“You’re talking as if you’ve been there personally.” “I just know some things through rumors…. Any other positions you can think of?” “Let’s see….. The highest priest of the church of the Earth goddess has big influence.” She gives the name of the most faithful servant of god. “They might be a little weak but there’s also the mercenary guild and the magic academy. Since their connections are amazing.” I was in their care for a while, Leila says while remembering. “Other than that, would be…. as expected I can’t think of anyone.” “Ah, if he was still around wouldn’t Randolph-sama count?” Lize says the name of a great hero from three hundred years ago who fought in the last great war, and he took the life of the demon king of that time. “Ah, let alone humans, he would also be able to influence the elves and dwarfs.” Seran also agrees. “Hmmm, a hero….” Indeed a hero can influence a lot of people, he’s also really strong. Only three years left…. No time to think about preparations only two years and six months are left. In that time I won’t be able to become the emperor or the highest priest. Then there is only one possibility left. “Then I have no other choice then, I must become….. A Hero.” Rather than saving the world and becoming a hero, I’ll become a hero in order to save the world. The order is reversed but that can’t be helped. “I’ll become a hero. I don’t have any other options left.” Kail stood up powerfully – And began to refill his bowl. While watching Kail’s back that was overflowing with spirit four people began to whisper to each other beginning a conversation. “Hey, while I was travelling something happened didn’t it?” “But I can’t find anything wrong. I brought him to a healer and even had healing magic cast on him just to be sure, but the they said nothing was wrong.” “Hmmm….. Didn’t Kail-chan and Seran-chan say that they were special, or that they were warriors specially chosen by the heavens? Did he relapse into that again?” “Ah, we did, we did. That time we were isolated by all our friends. It was seriously terrible.” “It was the time when they started to get the hang of the swords and magic wasn’t it. Saying they made special skills or something like that….. I believe it took about 10 serious beatings from Seraia and me before they calmed down.” “Please don’t remind me of unpleasant things. However if that really did relapse then….. Just stand back and watch, he’ll just going to regret it in the end.” “That’s true… For one; he’s actually positive and motivated for now.” “If it’s Kail-chan it’ll be fine.” “You don’t have anything to back up your words like always…. It can’t be helped this time, we’ll just have to watch over him.” While Kail was refilling his bowl he felt some warm gazes from behind.

Chapter 8 – How to become a hero?

 The next day after he decided to become a hero, Kail was yet again thinking in his room. Of course it was about how to become a hero. Of course he doesn’t have any other choice than to become one. Of course he must become a great hero that the populace and even the king can’t ignore. Of course I don’t think I can become one just because I want to, there aren’t any precise qualifications either. Only one week ago Kail was the strongest magic swordsman and was exactly the hero he wanted to become. However it was in a time of war, it can’t become a reference, since it was a special situation. Also the heroes of the past where heroes for fighting against the demon race. They only became a hero after stacking up their reputation in the fight against the demon race, of course it won’t be a useful reference for Kail who wants to become a hero in order to fight the demon race. In this time of fake peace, he was thinking desperately how to become a hero. “Hey~, got a little time?” Seran comes in without even knocking. “Oh, it seems kind of amazing.” Seran was surprised when he saw the state the room was in. The desk in front of Kail was a mountain of books, and the surroundings were the same. All of it was brought from the archive, Seraia’s pride. There was a wide-range of books, the culture and mythologies of different countries, the folklore of a hero, from knowledge about magic to the ecology of monsters and the history of the demon race, there were many different kinds. “Today is the first time I’m grateful of my mother’s book addiction. Since the needed knowledge is within my hands’ reach.” Kail closed the book he was reading. “And, do you need something from me?” “Ah, are you really thinking of becoming a hero?” Seran asks while sitting on the bed. “Oh, of course. Also as soon as possible.” For that I have drawn up a plan, Kail says while going to his desk. “But you know, you can’t become a hero just because you’re saying you will.” “That’s why I’m thinking so hard….. Don’t you have any good ideas?” Seran who felt my honesty said. “Well…. How about joining the army? It’s easy to take credit, also you’ll be able to easily raise your reputation you know.” That’s no good…. My freedom would be severely limited, and it takes too much time to even join them. “Or how about becoming a gladiator like mom, you’ll be able to quickly become famous right?” “Well that’s true but you’ll easily make enemies there. That’s the reason why master came to such a town right?” “Other than that would be….. Simply put, how about defeating the Demon king?” “If I could do that I wouldn’t be so troubled.” Kail makes a big sigh. “Well I haven’t found out how to become a hero but what someone needs to become one…. Seran, what do you think is needed to become a hero?” “Well probably…. That’d be strength right?” The ones who were called heroes in the past all had various kinds of strength and honor. “No, that’s so obvious it doesn’t have any meaning. What I think is important is; gold, personal connections and luck.”
“Though it’s kind of strange. It’s somehow convincing.” “Firstly gold, in order to be an ideal hero one must never ask for a reward.” “Ho, Ho” “Simply put, for example if there is a certain village. There is a demon attacking the village bringing ruin to it, coincidentally you’re staying at that village. If it was you what would you do?” “Well if it was a village I stayed at for the first time, I would try and find a cute girl, wouldn’t you?” “You’re missing the point…. Anyway, you defeat the monster and get offered a reward, not like there’s anything wrong about it.” Since all the villagers are paying, so in the end your positions are equal. They will thank you but that’s it. “Then what if you don’t accept the reward? After exterminating the demon you’ll even pay them for the damages saying, “If there’s somebody in trouble it’s only obvious to help.” with a smile then leaving the village.” “I’d be seriously moved by that. It’s enough for it to be told generation after generation in that village.” “Actions that seek nothing in return, doesn’t it fit the image of a hero? Unless you posses a giant amount of gold you won’t be able to do this.” “So that’s why you need gold.” Seran nodded while saying, I see. Helping others without reward, however this would be useless with just gold. For example, charity of nobles and wealthy merchants from time to time, they might be thankful for this but it’s just a pastime with gold, they would be called hypocrites behind their backs. Even my own actions, exposing my body to danger while saving them. Of course they would still feel envy, however it’s better than just gold. “This is the most effective way to gain fame. However doing it too flashy and you’ll end up making enemies.” “Enemies?” “Oh, the adventurer kind.” Adventures, they’re a so-called anything doers. Carrying luggage, searching for herbs the easy jobs. Also hard jobs like escorting caravans or defeating demons. You can say that getting rid of these harmful demons is their specialty. Of course it’s obvious to receive rewards for it, but if someone comes along and does it for free what do you think would happen? The obvious will stop being the obvious, in order to receive their rewards there might even appear some deaths. “I see, that’d be a bother to their business. Well guess you can’t help but be resented.” “Well lets hold back on that part. Since when you’re trying to accomplish something sacrifices are neccessary.” “Hey, that’s kind of dark hero.” “Anyway, in order to become a hero gold is needed. The more the better.” “Hmmm…. Indeed if we have gold we won’t have a hard time.” “And after gold comes connections, becoming a hero with only gold is not possible, if we want to do something it’s better to have connections. And it’s better the higher or famous the person is.” “Ah, in old folk tales about heroes, there are usually those with authority backing them.” “Simply said you could call it a give and take relation. The ideal situation would be having them owe me one-sidedly, in short they should help me however they can. In other words blackmailing them.” “I kind of get the feeling we’re getting further away from being a hero.” “Anyways if those with influence and fame regard you highly, you’ll get famous.” This is starting to sound a little creepy, Seran says. “Finally…. just like I said a little while ago you can do nearly anything if you have money and connections, you can become many things that way. But a hero isn’t one of them.” “So that’s where luck comes in?” “That’s right.” Kail says that this is the most annoying one. “Luck you say, that isn’t something you can gain with hard work.” “And the luck I’m talking about isn’t just any luck. A hero’s luck has to be in another class than normal luck.” A hero shines within the tragedy of the people in times of war and confusion. And the greater the misfortune the greater the light will be.
“Luck that is able to surpass anyone’s misfortune. All of that is what makes a hero.” “Hey, don’t tell me….” “Rest assured, I wouldn’t hire someone to do something bad and resolve it in order to earn credit. Even if I didn’t do something like that, this world has no perfect peace. Someone somewhere probably has something misfortunate happening to them.” “Well that’s so true, coincidently appear at the right time is up to luck right? Isn’t this something you can’t do anything about?” “In order to make that happen…. Well I have a card up my sleeve so don’t worry about it.” Kail picks up the booklet that he left on his desk and taps it with his finger. I have written things that will happen in the next four years, in a certain way you could say it contained the misfortunes that have yet to come. Leaving aside those who can’t be helped because of the “Great advance”, there are ones I can prevent by knowing of it beforehand. But not everything that was written inside, it would be meaningless to prevent something before anything actually happens. After something misfortunate happens, I should gallantly appear and immediately resolve the problem like a hero would. Even if the injured people were to increase, in order to change that misfortunate future I will believe. “In order to become a hero….. I will use any means necessary. Even if I have to use cowardly or despicable means!” “That? aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself?” “It’s fine, you’re the only one I’ll tell this to anyway.” “I see… Then let me ask you something important, why do you want to become a hero?” “As expected that bothers you? Doesn’t it?” Seran initially thought it was a relapse of his so-called puberty period. If that was the case the plan was to watch over him with warm eyes, but it doesn’t seem to be like that. He felt a strong intention of ‘I’ll absolutely become it’ from Kail. “When I looked at you I understood that you’re serious about it, except it seems like your goal isn’t to become a hero but your goal requires you to become one.” As expected of a someone I’ve known for a long time, Kail was moved a little. I never expected him to notice it. One day it might be the time, the time to tell you of my real objective. However, it’s still too soon now. “Yeah… I have my reasons but it’s not about trusting you or not, I’m just sure that it’d be better not to tell you for now. Just believe me about that, my best friend.” “I see, well if you’re saying that much it’s alright.” After noticing that asking anymore would be useless, Seran stands up. “Well, good luck. I’ll sincerely root for you.” Seran left the room while waving his hand. Kail made a weird face while looking at Seran who left. That guy…. Why is he saying it as if he isn’t involved.” Kail’s mind had already made up to involve him. “Oh well…. Anyway I have to save one, two countries anyways. After that the enemy– Evil, I have to defeat a great evil at that. If I have gold it’ll work out anyhow, With the connections I should raise my fame little by little…..” Furthermore recognition was needed too, just fame is bad. I need actual fighting force. Not an army but something close to it, a force I’m able to use at free will. “Should I just make a mercenary group? Or a free-standing magic weapon and mass produce it….” I lament about the mountain of things to do.
In any case, there isn’t much I can do in such a rural village. It’s about time to travel, Kail muttered while looking out the window.

Chapter 9 – Reunion

“What I’m trying to say is I will be going on a journey.” “Hmm a journey…” Leila received Kail’s report about his departure at her home. “Did you tell Seraia?” “Yeah, she cried a little but I managed to convince her.” Leila made a wry smile. “Since she’s overprotective…. What did you say to Roel?” “Roe… Ah, you mean dad. What? When did he get back?…. Rather he was already back? Well I’ll tell him if I meet him.” “Don’t say it as if it’s just an extra… Well it’s good to learn more about the world. With how strong you are now you’ll be able to beat most of your opponents….. By the way take Seran with you while you’re at it.” “I was already planning to do that, but is it really alright?” “Oh, he’s perfect for being a shield for magic or arrows. There are also other uses, like a sacrifice or scapegoat.” “That’s just wasteful. It’s alright if he can take the hit and die for me when it counts.” “You guys, don’t say something like that in front of the person himself.” Seran who heard us began to complain. “What about what I want?” “Of course there isn’t anything like that since the beginning. In the first place I was planning to have you go on a journey in order to train your spirit and learning about how severe the world is.” Actually, according to the flow, Kail knows Seran will be forced to go on a journey one year from now. And Kail joined him to journey around together. Many things happened at that time, but Kail thinks that all in all it became a good experience. “I was thinking about whether to leave you to mercenaries with influence of the old, or putting you at the frontline against the demons…..” “Hey!?” “It’s alright, unlike in the old days there are only a few skirmishes now. Seems like even rookie’s can survive…. But it’s alright since Kail is with you right? Since you aren’t planning to do anything meaningful with your life, are you.” “What the hell are you saying! Even I have a future dream I want to accomplice.” “Hoh, how about saying it?” “Obtaining a beautiful, rich and virtuous wife, a cute maid to whom I can do with whatever I want whenever I want. I want to live a frivolous life surrounded by two or three women!” Leila who was clenching her fist with a lot of strength spoke while ignoring her son. “For now it’s alright as long as he’s alive, if he were to ever give up and come back it’s alright to ignore him.” “It’s not like I feel pressed or something…. Well he should have a lot of uses.” “Initially, the plan was to have a dozen maids, so I it’s reduced it quite a bit….” As expected, raising Seran while ignoring him was a failure on my part as a parent, Leila says while sighing. No, this guy was absolutely born with this personality, Kail says comfortingly. That evening, Kail was training with the sword in the usual ruins. Since I finished my training my muscles were aching, while I was thinking I had to go back soon, Lize appeared. “…………” “What happened?” I look curiously at Lize who doesn’t have her usual cheerfulness.
“Just now Seraia-san came to me, and said while crying “Kail-chan says he’s discarding me.”” “I deeply apologize about my mother. No seriously.” Kail bowed deeply. “And, is it true that you’re going on a journey?” “Oh… Including the preparations for the journey, we’re planning to leave in two or three days.” “Destination?” “First city will be the capital Marado. There’s a lot to prepare for, but after that I mean to earnestly begin work.” Kail and the others live in the country of Jirges, the capital is Marado which is about 5 days traveling from the village. “I see….” Then Lize says with a determined look. “You know Kail….” “I’ll say it bluntly but I have no intention of taking you with me.” Kail interrupts her knowing what she wanted to say. “Why!? Seran’s coming with you right?” “Unlike you that guy doesn’t mind how he’s treated.” “I won’t become deadweight!” “I know it well, that strength of yours.” Actually her strength is enough to make me strain my body. Especially these past few days, I unconsciously hold my flank. If Kail’s a genius with the sword, then Lize her talent is close combat, from a young age she trained together with the armed priests of the Earth Goddess Karis’s church. Even though I say talent she doesn’t have as much as Kail, so she works hard. Working harder than anybody, in exchange, she raised her skills a lot, she always said she’d make a fortune with this in the future. But Lize’s mother who lost her husband in the war before Lize was born, had to raise Lize all by herself and even though she never said it she always wanted her daughter to walk a path of peace. And Lize probably also thought something like that two years ago, when her mother who was always weak died of illness. Since then Lize was helping around in the house of her aunt and the aunt’s husband. Even now she still continues training, but she never hit anyone other than Seran or Kail. That Lize couldn’t sit still when she heard that Kail was going on a journey. Certainly, if let alone Lize would probably be force to reckon with. “If it’s about mother…. I’ll apologize as many times as is needed in front of her grave….But.” “It isn’t just that…. Simply put; it’s a little of my own selfishness too. I want you to stay in a safe location, I don’t want you to encounter any danger… Absolutely.” I remember the time when Lize gradually lost her life in my own arms. I don’t ever want to feel like that again. At least this town will be peaceful for another three years. I don’t know what kind of changes my actions will bring, even so it’s safer here than having her coming along. “Also I have to ask…. I need a hometown. If I have a place to return to, the weight on my heart will be lessened. Kail says while looking into Lize’s face from the front while grasping both of her shoulders. “Before anyone else I want to tell you I’m back first. And I want you to tell me “Welcome back.” That’s why….. Please believe in me and wait here.” “Kail….. I….” Kail slowly closes his face in on Lize’s face, and with a little distance, they kissed just like that. “Auu ……” I look down to see Lize’s blushing face. “Kail changed after all…. You became more cunning….. If you do something like this…. I can’t refuse.” “Just say it’s the freedom of an adult.” “Aren’t you the same age as me…” “….. It’s something mental.” Kail smiled gently.
It was a gentle smile Lize had never seen before. Even I, myself understand I’m being overpowered, but it’s a smile that lets someone follow obediently. Kail hugged Lize’s body, unlike before she obediently entrusts her body. “You should come back safely…. Absolutely. Since waiting is hard you know?” “Don’t worry it’s not like I won’t come back, also I won’t overexert myself.” Only this was a complete lie. in order to accomplice his goal, Kail is prepared to go through any danger. “Yeah…. I understand.” While embracing the feeling of guilt Kail continued to hug Lize. “Well, Let’s go home” While saying that Kail holds out his hand while Lize hesitates a little before taking his hand. In order to go back, we’ll have to walk through the main street, we’ll probably be seen by our friends of the same age. In this small town I predict this rumor will be spread before the end of the day, Lize was a little shy but couldn’t care less. “Yeah lets go home” Lize strongly held Kail’s hand with a superb smile. (Now that I think about it, last time my first kiss was when I was eighteen wasn’t it….. I was a late bloomer, ironically.) Kail was walking along the road while remembering unimportant things. The main street of the town of Rimase near dusk. The people returning from work were starting to increase, it’s probably the most busy time around now. In the vibrant street, shops were trying to earn something in the last hours they are open, by calling out to others. However different from usual there was one difference that Lize found. In the midst of everyone, there was a person who looks like a traveler. Wearing a sturdy mantel, a dagger at her waist and a small bag of luggage. Summarized they were typical travelers’ clothes, so no one cared. “Ah, an Elf ……” Just like Lize said the female Elf traveler is walking while facing our way.

Elves are a tribe that doesn’t leave the forest they live in much, if I had to say they would be a peaceful tribe. Even though there isn’t an Elf settlement near the town of Rimase, it’s not as if Elves don’t appear here at all, but it’s still unusual. Long ears and a beautiful appearance, are the racial traits of Elves. This Elf too, was very beautiful, but that isn’t all, I feel a kind of gracefulness from her. In addition I feel a strong will in those eyes that look ahead, like the beauty of a honed blade that has been crafted by a master craftsmen. She left an unforgettable impressing once seen, all the people she passed by involuntarily looked back. “As I thought Elfs are beautiful people, if Seran saw her he wouldn’t leave her alone.”
I’ll have to send him flying at that time, Lize said that while lightly laughing. But Kail didn’t hear it. I start walking as if being pulled away, from the hand I was holding. “Ka…il?” Lize’s somewhat anxious voice. But Kail does not answer. He kept looking at the Elf as if his heart had been stolen. And Lize muttered his name in a faint inaudible voice. “Ekses……” The Elf Urza had been called eccentric by those around her, and I myself was aware of it. Most of the Elves don’t leave the forest from where they are born, but wanting to see the outside world she fled from the forest. On the road she met with various troubles but, she who was able to wield elemental magic and a dagger was somehow able to overcome it, and fully smoothly journeyed on. Urza’s POV; It’s wasn’t as if I needed anything special from the town of Rimaze, it was just that I stopped by in the middle of my journey. The moment my eyes meet with a man walking on the main street, he makes a ghastly face. Urza thought that it was the face of someone who had seen a ghost. I’m used to being stared at by men because of curiosity, however this man is fundamentally different. Surprise, Joy and hesitation…. I understand he isn’t hostile but I get he’s looking at me with some kind of feeling. There’s no doubt that it’s a face I’ve seen for the first time, I thought of going to talk to him, but at that moment the human man muttered something. “Ekses……” Normally it would be an inaudible voice, but unlike humans Urza who’s from the Elf tribe with superior hearing, didn’t let it slip past her “Why do you know about that!?” Urza screamed. Kail regained his senses after hearing the screaming. “Eh…. Ah shit! It was forbidden to say in front of others! Sorry Urza…. no wait that’s wrong! Well that’s…. Ah, nice to meet you? Welcome to the town of Rimaze?” “You think that kind of deception will work!” Seeing Kail who was smiling weirdly while checking out the surrounding townspeople, she could only think he was messing with her which made her even angrier. “Oh yeah you did say you came to the town of Rimaze once…. for it to be at this timing…. how close.” Kail was holding his head, regretting blurting something like that thoughtlessly. It wasn’t as if Kail had forgotten her or didn’t care about her. However it wouldn’t be easy to go to the forest she lives in, also at this time she was travelling around, in order to gain experience so he thought it would be too hard. When I have time I’ll definitely go to meet her, I’ll definitely go to find her is what I thought but I would never have expected to meet her here. Being annoyed by the man’s muttering Urza tried to reach for the dagger at her waist thinking she no longer cared. “Idi-, Stop it!” Kail applied non-chanting [Haste] on himself and closed into her fighting range in a moment. So that she can’t pull out her dagger he holds both of her hands, and in order to prevent her from being violent, he suppresses her with his body. From the spectators’ eyes it looked as if they were hugging. In order to rend her powerless, Kail had to knock her out, but there’s no way he could do that to her. “Wha! You, get away! You bastard!” I have to break free, Urza was struggling while thinking that, but there’s no way for a delicate Elf to escape.
“Calm down, there are some patrolling soldiers, we’ll get caught!” What’s bad was that this was the main street and that we’re already the center of attention. If she as an outsider tried to draw her weapon and try to attack the weaponless villager Kail she’d be thrown into prison no questions asked, it wouldn’t be weird even if she got sentenced to death. “Shut up! Let me go!” But Urza won’t listen while in a state of anger. If it continues like this she will definitely try to pull out her dagger with force, and try to cut me down. I’m convinced, since that’s the kind of personality she has, moreover if she starts using spirit magic then I won’t be able to stop her. “There’s no other choice….” Since it’s an emergency I’ll have to use magic to render her powerless. But Elves originally have high magic resistance, so it’s hard to use magic on them. If she tries to resist she’ll certainly begin to go on a rampage so I’ll have to use my trump card. “[Sleep Ekses]!” I trigger the build up Mana and activate hypnotic magic by saying her name. “You, You bas…tard…” While leaving a gaze burning with anger, Urza falls asleep. Kail hugs Urza’s delicate body that was about to fall to the ground. It was just like a little while ago, it was no different than when he held her five days ago. In my mind, was a recollection of the evening of that battle, the piled up bodies of the many. Also the time when she protected me showing that ephemeral last smile. “We’ve…. Met again haven’t we.” I stroked her beautiful sleeping face gently. 。 Kail smiled gently to Urza who was breathing faintly. At that moment Kail felt a tremendous shockwave in the flank, which sends him flying. Kail whose body was convulsing somehow managed to look up. “What the hell are you doing….” “Y, You….. really love liver blows don’t you, ugh…..” Lize was looking down on Kail and speaking with a voice and gaze as if they were missing emotions. “No, it isn’t like that. Please listen to me, calm down, let’s talk it over. How do I say this, she also lost her family and loved ones, so we’re comforting each other’s wounds….. I, I was also sad when you weren’t here anymore you know.” “Hah, what kind of gibberish are you spouting!?” “A, A misunderstanding!….. But maybe it isn’t, the, there are various circumstances!” “you’re too noisy! It’s not as if you’re Seran so no matter how beautiful a woman is, it doesn’t mean you can just assault her out in the open…” “No no, that’s totally a misunderstanding Gya!?” “As I thought I really can’t trust you! I’m coming along! I’ll come along no matter what! As if I’d let you out of my sight~~~!!” As if I care about what Kail wants! Next to the peacefully sleeping Urza the assault continued untill the patrolling soldiers stopped it. By the way, since Lize’s assault on Kail is a common occurrence in town they were let off with only a warning.

Chapter 10 – Setting Off 

Living room in Kail’s house. Three people were seated there whilst drinking the tea Lize brewed.
Urza finally calmed down while still being wary of the two in front of her. But she hasn’t let her guard down and hasn’t touched her tea yet. She must have been confused when she woke up and she saw Lize and a tattered Kail being lectured by people that looked like patrol soldiers. Like that I led the two of them all the way here.
“From my view, it looked like you suddenly getting close to me and putting me to sleep then pushing me down afterwards.” “That’s why I’m saying it’s a misunderstanding….”
“….. Is it time to start talking yet?” In front of me is Urza who is talking quietly, that’s when I start speaking with a loud voice.
“Well um… . Nice to meet you, I am called Kail. You’re name is Urza-san right?” “You think that’s going to work now! Now say it, why do you know my true name?” Even if she has calmed down a little, she still snaps when I say something lousy. However Kail thinks her anger is only natural, those who have some knowledge of the situation would also agree.
A true name is what an Elf who uses spirit magic has, and unlike a normal second name it’s a name that holds a magical usage. In order to use spirit magic, a true name is needed in order to make a [Contract] with the spirit, this way you’ll be able to borrow the spirits power, which means that without it, you can’t use it.
The true name should only be known by those closest to you, only letting your parents who named you, your lover or your own children know, because in fact this true name could be used to exploit your life. The true name is directly connected to the soul, that means if magic that affects the body like the hypnosis Kail were to be used with true name, she wouldn’t be able to resist it. She would show absolute obedience if I used the magic of captivation [Charm] and she would easily be affected by hex or curse magic.
From Urza’s perspective it’s like her life is in Kail’s hands.
“Except for my parents and myself, no one knows my true name. Just where and how did you find out!” No, I heard it from you. Is what Kail says in the corner of his heart.
Sharing the feelings of those who have lost important things, we supported each other’s backs in fights. Because of that we deepened our bonds. Before that final battle, the eve before entering the demon lord’s castle, she came into Kail’s bedroom. “My true name is Ekses….. When it’s just the two of us call me by that name….. Beside each other from now on….” Urza said, while clinging to Kail as if she was entrusting her whole body to him.
(She was cute wasn’t she…. the Urza from that time.) With tear-filled eyes, I tried my best to remember her when she clung to me.
“…..What are you getting embarrassed for.” When returning to myself Lize was staring with half closed accusing eyes.
Correcting his attitude and clearing his throat Kail said to Urza while looking straight into her eyes.
“I’m sorry, I absolutely can’t say. However I’m the only one who knows it, and there is no one else who knows, there also isn’t a way to find out about it, you can rest assured about that.” I tell Lize about it at the same time. Lize looked as if she was about to say something but after seeing Kail’s face she breathed in and became silent.
“Don’t mess around! You think I could trust that?” As expected Urza’s side wouldn’t be convinced. “Lying about this matter would be simple, I can tell all kinds of believable lies….. But that wouldn’t have any meaning.” (Well truthfully it was a mistake on my part because of the sudden meeting…. I can’t think of a good excuse.)
Also what would happen if I told the truth?
“Four years later when we were having love with each other you kindly told me your true name. Ah, as evidence there’s a birthmark on your ass that looks like a heart, seems like I’m the only man who knows that…. Ah, you’re also really weak behind your left ear, and other various things….” If I would say something like that I’d be cut down and ripped to shreds by magic without doubt.
“Also I hate lies… that’s why “I can’t tell” any. You’re probably anxious but I express my sincerest apologies to Urza.” Next to him Lize is looking at Kail while showing a face that says ‘what the hell is this guy saying’, but he ignores her. In order to persuade Urza, a straightforward approach like this has the highest chance of success whilst taking into account that she announced “I hate liars!””
“Also whether you trust me for telling the truth…. For example even if you use the magic of truth determination you wouldn’t be able to completely proof it right?” The magic of truth determination is literally a magic that determines whether someone is telling the truth or not however the accuracy rate definitely isn’t high. Calling it known worldwide is alright, but they’ve already researched on how to counter such a handy magic, the only ones that still use it are crime organizations and the military in particular. Moreover, if the person in question believes hard enough in a delusion it becomes the truth. For that purpose it’s only used as a last resort, if someone can’t find any concrete evidence.
As Kail expected Urza’s attitude changed slightly, softening a bit. “….However, whatever it is I couldn’t possibly feel assured from just that. Normally shouldn’t I silence you even if I have to kill you?” “Wait a second!?” Indeed Lize’s face changes when she hears the word kill, Without thinking she tried to stand between Kail and Urza but she was stopped by Kail.
“A [Partial Contract]…. Are you serious you bastard?” Urza opens her eyes in surprise.
A [Contract] is when a spirit user brings out their true name in order to borrow the power of a spirit, it’s something like a transaction with a spirit, a partial contract is not done with a spirit but with a human, but not in order to borrow his or her power but in order to put a condition on them. However in order to perform a [Partial Contract] you’ll need to know the true name of the person, but in this case it’s already known so its no problem.
“Good job, knowing about the [Partial Contract]…. The only ones who know about this are Elves and spirit magic users.” “This’ll be the condition: “I won’t abuse Urza’s secret true name” how about it?” “You know what’ll happen the moment you break the condition right?” “Oh, I’ll die” A [Contract] borrows the power of the spirit god, disobeying it means death. Kail said this as if it was nothing.
“…… Do you really understand it? If I perform the [Partial Contract] I’ll be able to put you under spells you know? That’s why doing something like purposely ending your own life…..” “I’m not worried about that, Urza doesn’t have a personality that’s capable of doing that.” “Why does that have to be said by someone I just met….” “Also if you really wanted to do something like that you wouldn’t be warning me like this right?” “…… Hmph!” Urza diverts her face with an interesting look on her face.
“I understand, my life’s also on the line. I’m not going to hold back you know.” “Ah, I don’t mind…. I’ll certainly tell you how I know about it when the time is right, I promise.” “Well even though you’re saying that….. Right now is impossible, I can only perform the [partial contract] on a full moon.”
In order to perform a [Contract] Elves have to borrow the power of their guardian spirit their spirit god is said to be the god of the moon, also the phases of the moon are related to their it.
“The next full moon….. If I’m not wrong it’s a half month from now.” So I’ll be stuck in this town until then…. Is what Urza said. Afterwards, Kail says without guilt.
“Ah, I’m sorry, actually I’m going to depart from this town tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.” “Nani?!”
Two days later, in front of Kail’s home, early in the morning. “Well then, see you later Kail-chan, don’t go eating only meat and fish but also vegetables.” “Ah, I get it already so….” Seraia was clinging to Kail who had finished his journey preparations “It’s alright, since I’m going with him.” Lize who was preparing for the journey like Kail, wouldn’t let him do all the work so she thumped her chest. “Yes, yes Lize-chan. I leave Kail-chan in your care.” Seraia said it while wiping her tears with a handkerchief.
Kail stood up trying to leave since he was tired of this scene that has been repeating itself the whole time. “Well I’m going so.” “Come back sometimes. Stay healthy.” Seraia is waving goodbye, while she’s wiping her nose.
“You have to do your best Kail…. Also cherish your comrades.” “Ah, I get it already da….. Wait you were here dad?” Kail’s father Roel was standing behind Seraia, yet, I only noticed him now.
“Although he came back the day before yesterday, and was around the house yesterday.” “I, I didn’t notice it….” Now that I think about it, the meals were prepared yesterday even though Lize wasn’t there….. Is what Kail remembered.
“Darling…. Like I thought, isn’t something like a journey too early…..” “I understand you’re worried but it’s alright. Because no matter what he’s our child….” “Yeah…. It’s like that isn’t it, since he’s our child. What would we do if even we didn’t trust him…. I’m sorry darling” “No, It’s alright as long as he comes home….. Seraia”
“Well, I’m going now, stay healthy you two.” Quickly saying goodbye to these parents who were slowly creating their own world. There isn’t anybody who wants to see a love scene between his own parents. “I’m leaving~” Next to Kail, Lize was waving her hand.
“So is it alright on your side?” “Yeah, I properly said goodbye to aunty and of course I reported it to father and mother’s graves.” “Preparations for the journey?” “That also alright, compared to the time I was camping in the mountains for one month It’s easy.” “You also did something like that didn’t you…. But my thoughts are still the same about wanting you to stay here.” “No matter what you say, it won’t matter. Since I’ve already decided to come along.” To Lize who said that with a big smile, Kail just sighed and gave up thinking that no matter what he said it wouldn’t work.
At the meeting place Seran and Urza were waiting there. “Well, to think such a ladylike beautiful person would become our comrade!” “I’m just monitoring him! I don’t remember becoming your comrade! By the way why are you getting all friendly and saying I’m coming with you….” “To go on a journey with Kail, I was brooding over us being two guys. And Lize isn’t a healing sight.” “So you’re a man that doesn’t listen to what others say….” Urza rubs her temple as if she has a headache.
“It’s alright if you just ignore that guy.” “Actually it’s better if you think of him as nothing.” Kail and Lize said that next to each other.
“What did teacher have to say?” “Hah? It was just like always. Actually “Why are you still here get going already” is what she said to me.” I made a wry smile thinking that’s just like her.
“Well then with the three of you, lets depart.” When Kail raises his voice Lize and Seran replied cheerfully, Urza was the only one complaining saying she wanted to spend a few days slowly.
“Huh? Was the East Gate here?” Lize said to Kail that began walking. The capital Marado they were going to go to first, lies in the east of the town of Rimase, but the direction Kail’s
walking to is where the north gate is. “No this way is correct. I’m changing the first destination. At first I wanted to go to the capital because I wanted to buy something there, also to gather up gold in order to buy it along the way. but that isn’t necessary anymore.” “What was it you wanted to buy?” “It’s a magic tool that is a little expensive…. It would’ve cost about thirty thousand Gador.” Gador is the unit of money in this country, with one Gador you can buy yourself a single meal in a stall, with ten thousand Gador you´ll be at least be able to live for a year. Even if we put all the things we had together it probably wouldn’t even be close to ten thousand.
“Thirty thousand, that’s a lot of money. How were you planning to earn all of that?”
It would take a considerable amount of time in order to earn it decently. “I’m not planning to do anything dangerous. I was planning to earn it through a decent method of becoming a gladiator and betting on myself and keep on earning that way.” “And you’re saying that’s a decent method?…. But didn’t you say that being a gladiator would make it easy to make enemies?” “Not really since we don’t need to become famous that way. Since our goal is to earn some funds as quick as possible….. Well in that situation I would’ve wanted Seran to appear in a handicapped match.” “Handicapped match?” “Oh, it seems like you would have to fight against a bunch of monster with a blindfold or while having your hands tied up.” “Isn’t that called an execution? Hey” ” It seems like the prize money is amazing you know, it seems like an amount that won’t be used up in an entire lifetime.” “I kind of get the feeling it doesn’t have any meaning if my life ends….. Just why would I want to become a show for others” Urza shakes her head while saying that humans are barbaric.
“Well anyhow the thing we were going to buy there already lost its meaning. Since this excellent spirit magic user Urza has become our comrade.” While Kail is acting as if he’s introducing Urza, oh, Seran and Riza both start to applaud. This part here, would be the thing called ‘the flow of childhood friends’.
“Like I said I don’t remember becoming your comrade so…..” Urza said it with a sour face but Kail didn’t mind.
“Well then I’ll be explaining what our first destination is. We will first go to the Sangurd Mountains.” “Sangurd? What are we going to do by going to such a place?” Sangurd mountains are located at the northern border of the counrty Jirgs and is half a month of traveling from the town of Rimase away. “Won’t that take a while?” “Ah it’s alright since we’ll be using the magic [Wind Walker]”
[Wind Walker] is a magic that receives the blessing of the Sylphs which lets you travel a few times faster than normal, it’s a spirit magic with a small burden. I guess it’d be half a month’s journey in three days. This magic may be very handy however, because there aren’t many humans that can use spirit magic, just by being able to use this magic you can get hired for a high price.
“Seriously you’ve saved me a lot of trouble since there are a lot of uses to spirit magic.” “That’s why…. I keep telling you….” Urza gives a tired response to Kail’s radiant words.”
(Just like usual if you disturb her pace, she succumbs to pressure….) Kail remembered that he always dealt with Urza this way when he needed something in the past.
“And what are you trying to accomplish by going to the Sangurd mountains?” “If you think about Sangurd do you think of any legends?” “Well….. If I’m not wrong it was a story about a hidden labyrinth.” Lize remembers the fairy tales she’s heard about lores. “That’s right, the labyrinth is called humanity’s greatest.
The magic kingdom of Zars that was recorded down in history as the most flourishing kingdom a thousand years ago, because of that there are many legends and lores about it this day. The “God Dragon’s heart” that Kail carries is one of them, but other famous things include “Magic King” of the magic kingdom’s great labyrinth. The great labyrinth left by the one recorded as humanity’s greatest mage “Magic King” Magic King Sildonia Zars, inside is said to be all the treasures he could collect.
It is said to be somewhere on the Sangurd mountains but thousand years after the fall of Zars, we have yet to even find its entrance.
“Isn’t that a story of legend? Is it really true?” “You couldn’t be planning on saying to find it are you? We don’t know how many years it would take.” “No, I have a detailed map about locating it and the middle of it, here it is.” Kail who takes out the old map from his chest shows it with a sparkle. “Eh? Is it really genuine?” “I found it inside mom’s ancient documents collection. The ancient documents itself are from the time of Zars, so it’s without doubt genuine.” At any rate I’ve already been there, is what I added inside my heart.
In the middle of the “Great Advance”, the situation on our side was rapidly deteriorating and in order to strengthen our forces the human race was even clinging to legends. Because of that we got information from a country that was once part of the Zars kingdom, inside, ancient documents about a map and the place where the labyrinth was sealed. At that time I shouldn’t have even known the whereabouts of the ancient documents, however Kail’s faint memory got a shock. Kail returned to the once destroyed home town, because of that robustness a part of the archives were still intact, inside were the ancient archives and this map was certainly there. Of course it’s not as if it was there on purpose, but because of this we could group our forces and reach the demon lord’s castle. That way I was able to give the finishing blow to him, I can only feel some faith and guidance from my mother.
When looking at the map I directed my gaze towards my home. I make a wry smile thinking my parents are busy creating a world of their own.
“…… It seems like it isn’t just a big lie. This paper is made from a thousand year old magic tree. Most of it was lost in the wars of old, right now it’d be impossible to make it…..” Such a thing can only be made a thousand years ago, Urza said interested.
“Be that as it may, even if you have a map the area is terribly wide, there are also dangerous traps, complicated riddles and there is even a magic golem inside there….. Or it should be.” “You’re saying it as if you’ve seen it yourself?” “….. I’m simply imagining things” Kail who thinks from the bottom of his heart that he doesn’t want to go in again after remembering the labyrinth.
“In my expectations we would be wiped out even if we were ten times stronger….” “Then that doesn’t mean you have to say it out loud.” I don’t have a death wish, says Seran. “I don’t have one either, but I would really like the enormous treasure and numerous magic items inside. No matter what we want to do, having money would be better.”
“Treasure, ah it has such an irresistible sound….. however I hold my life dear” Kail speaks to Seran who has started glaring at him.
“It just means we don’t have to go in from the front” “Oh, then you mean to?”
“It’s simple, we dig.”

Chapter 11 – Dungeon Attack (Physically)

“Life can be really unpredictable. Half a month ago I wouldn’t have ever dreamt of challenging a legendary labyrinth.” Seran says, while he’s digging with a scoop and having a light-emitting stone wrapped with a band around his head illuminating the space in front of him.
“I also didn’t expect that when I made a vow to become a hero, I’d be digging a tunnel.” Kail says, while wiping his sweat with the towel from around his neck, he also has a light-emitting stone on his head while carrying out the dug up ground.
“You guys, the one who wants to say that most of all, is me!” Behind the two of them is Urza who also has a light-emitting stone on her head, she was holding the map while giving instructions to them while controlling the earth spirit, Gnome.
“Seriously, why do I have to do something like this….. Ah, Seran don’t dig there yet!”, Urza says, “The surroundings haven’t finished hardening! The second Kail has carried out the soil, immediately cast [Detect Magic] since there might be another deviation!”
“I have the feeling you’re the one trying the hardest out of us….” “Since she’s a serious person, she probably hates not being able to help.”
“Stop all the idle talk! Get moving!” “”Yes!””
Thinking it wouldn’t be a good idea to disobey her, the two idiots respond at the same time.
The Sangurd mountains, about whose size it is said is similar to a small kingdom, within these mountains Kail and his party were digging in a hillside area deep in the mountains where almost no humans ever came to explore. The surroundings were completely covered with untouched forest, but a tiny part seemed like a small open field, on the steep rocky mountain was an exposed slope with a gaping hole big enough for humans to pass through it. This is the labyrinth’s hidden entrance only known to Kail and his party, originally the entrance was directly at the back of the mountain where the entrance was hidden by a big boulder. Also this place is the closest to the treasury in the deepest part, it’s the right place to start digging.
‘Digging’, even if I say ‘digging’ through a mountain with only a small group, that would probably be something that would take years of time. However due to Urza’s contract with the earth spirit Gnome, Gnome was able to turn rock into soil, so we could dig through it with human strength and scoops. At the same time so that an accident like a cave in wouldn’t occur we continued to dig while hardening the rocks around us, in order to breath inside, Urza used her contracted spirit of the wind, Sylphide’s power in order for us to breath inside.
Therefore, we were able to dig very efficiently.
Originally Kail was going to use a magic tool for this job, he was planning to earn the money for buying the magic tool by fighting in the arena, however thanks to Urza he didn’t have to do it anymore. For that he was really thankful. He was also thinking of either hiring some people or having someone cooperate with him, doing whatever he could do with a small group while advancing forward, in the beginning he was planning to only dig with Seran and himself, but it would’ve probably taken much more time than it has taken now.
“Ah, good work all three of you~” Having finished today’s work, Kail and his party were greeted by the cooking Lize, while they came out of the tunnel. Kail’s party’s base camp was directly beside the tunnel’s entrance, there were two tents there. The three of them dig the tunnel, and Lize would perform chores like cooking, this is already the fifth day of this life style and they’ve gotten mostly used to it. “The laundry has already dried, you guys probably wouldn’t prefer to eat like that, so all three of you go get changed immediately,” Lize said, “since dinner is almost ready. Ah, put everything together since I’m going to wash it.” following Lize’s snappy orders the three went into the tent in order to change.
“Fu I’m tired~, I can’t move anymore~” Seran who finished changing was exhausted. “Become more serious, since were almost there.”
“I’ve been doing physical labor all day long, It’s to be expected. Even your legs are trembling.” Just as Seran said, Kail stood there looking alright but his knees were laughing. “My body is alright, but as I expected, I’m mentally exhausted because of controlling the spirits” Urza sighed and also sat down. Controlling a spirit and using spirit magic makes use of a slightly different contract, since you’ll be able to directly order the spirit around. For example if you order the spirit of flame Salamander “Light these hundred candles one by one.” He would be able to execute it. Depending on the spirit it has things it can do and things it can’t do, it also depends on the skill of the caster. The spirit can follow more precise commands if the caster has a lot of skill, and compared to the ancient magic that Kail and the others use, spirit magic is said to be more versatile. “It’s ready~” Lize carried the food to the other three who were exhausted.
“Lize is seriously good at cooking. Even though I’ve traveled a lot, I’ve only tasted something equal in towns…..” While being moved, Urza was looking at the food in front of her. A soup with stewed meat and vegetables, cooked chicken, fruit that she got from who knows where and a variety of wild plants. All of them having a good taste, now I’m looking forward to dinner every day. It’s not like Urza doesn’t know how to cook, but the best she can manage is at the level of preserved food.
“The chicken meat was fat in a good way (since it’s the right time to be in the mountains.)” “Fumu…. Oh? Is this meat different?”
“Ah, that’s bear meat. It’s fresh since I finished it off just now” “Since when did you….” Urza just tasted it before eating it, but because of the exhausted two guys and their happiness, she didn’t say anything and just continued eating.
Lize who was used to it didn’t say anything but she suddenly raised her hand.
“And when do you think you’re done with the digging?” “Let’s see…. With this speed, I think tomorrow or the day after.” Kail answers whilst drinking tea after dinner. While digging he used a magic called [Detect Magic] in order to search for the treasures’ reaction and to make adjustments to the direction and to measure the distance left. In the beginning its source only had a really small magic reaction, but the more we kept digging the stronger the reaction got. “I see, then after were done with eating we’ll have to take a bath then sleep early and make preparations for tomorrow.
A little bit away from the campsite was a little spot with rocks that were emitting a lot of steam, it was a hot spring that could fit a dozen of people. It’s not as if the hot spring was there from the beginning, Urza used the spirit of the earth; Gnome to make a dent in the earth. With the water spirit Undine she measured the amount of water and heated it up with heat stones and thus she made an improvised hot spring.
“I never imagined it would’ve been possible to take a bath inside the mountains every day. When I went camping in the mountains once before I could only wipe my body with a wet towel~” Lize who was naked inside the bath was lying on her back while stretching her body completely inside the water. Since that body has always been trained there was absolutely no wasted fat. The waist was only describable with one word: stunning. Her limbs were muscled, however it’s absolutely not buff, but like that of a girl her age, coupled with her slightly tanned skin she’s overflowing with beauty. Turning around her body her large healthy ass which could only be called magnificent was shown floating. Even through the water the sex appeal could be felt.
“Since my journey is also long. These kind of things are necessary.” Race-wise many Elves can be called delicate but Urza can be called an exception. She’s the so called stand alone type, now that she isn’t wearing anything it can be understood that she has a very balanced style. It isn’t at the level of big breasts but they have a beautiful shape, not vulgar or filthy, she was a beauty who you could put in a royal palace as art. Still, sitting on the end of the bath and possessing such nobleness while having long blond hair that reaches her waist, together with the appearance of her white nape she emanated a mysterious charm.
“How nice…” Lize says, while comparing her own bare undeveloped chest to Urza’s large breasts and sighs. “Is it like that? In the village I was raised in, it was said that having a waist like Lize’s would be popular.” “Re-Really?” Lize looks at her ass which has developed opposite to her chest. “Yeah, since you’ll be able to give birth to a lot of healthy children.” “……The old grannies in my town told me that a lot. But if I had a figure like Urza-san’s…. Ah, a heart.” On Urza’s white skin there was something that looked like a heart shaped birthmark, right on her ass. “P-Please don’t tell anyone. It has always bothered me……” Urza says embarrassed while trying to hide herself inside the baths water. Even though she’s older Lize thought of her as cute, while Urza’s face was blushing fiercely inside the hot water.
Lize praised the instant hot spring with a light ‘aha ha’ laugh.
“But still, magic is as handy as expected. I’m envious since I can’t use magic” “No, I think it’s already amazing that you can beat a bear with your bare hands without help.”
Just now she glanced at the dismembered bear, and judged it was roughly an adult bear around the size of two people.
“Well I’ve trained both my body and mind as a monk, something like that wouldn’t pose a problem” “As expected is it…… All for Kail’s sake?”
“Eh? Ah, yeah…. I guess, I don’t have any redeeming features except for this” Lize says, while scratching her cheek with an embarrassed smile.
After that she straightened her posture and said to Urza with a serious face:
“Well Urza-san, it may not be that convincing coming from me….. But you don’t have to worry so much about it.” “Worry?” “Even I get Kail is trying to hide something and that it concerns Urza-san’s true name…..” “…………” Urza’s face becomes serious. The reason why Urza is here, is because her true name is the thing she cherishes even more than her own life, was found out. “The only thing I can say is for certain is that guy might make us angry, but he would never do something that would make us cry. That’s why he won’t do something that would hurt Urza-san, I’m planning to wait until he tells me about it.” By seeing the smile on Lize’s face which shows that she trusts him from the bottom of her heart it felt as if she was pulled out of a deep miasma, then she felt the strength leaving her shoulders. (Well it could also just be that I’m tired of trying…..)
“Even so, since I’d be worried if I let my eyes off him, I’m here now. Ah, that’s why you don’t have to worry, if that guy ever thinks of doing something to Urza-san I’ll take responsibility and….” Lize clenched her fist and said that to Urza while laughing lightly. “Just Urza is fine.” “Eh?”
“I’m saying you don’t have to add -san anymore.” “Understood………. Urza.” The two began to laugh.
While the two women were shortening the distance between them.
“Let me go~~! I’m going to peep!” “Won’t you stop already! How disgraceful.” Kail was holding back Seran who was desperately trying to peep. “It’s a bath, It’s an open-air bath you know! You would peep right! Normally!?” It was a cry straight out of Seran’s soul “Don’t you want to see!?” “Of course I want to look!” Kail also cried out with words directly from his soul. “However I won’t let you see the two of them naked! That’s something for me alone…..!” “You just said the two of them! Not only Lize but Urza-chan too!?” “…………” “Why did you go silent!?” “Shut up already! Look forward to tomorrow! So just go to sleep already!” “I don’t give a damn about tomorrow! I live now! In this moment!”
The two men were furthering the distance between them.
“Ugh, Damn it all. Today was also a failure…..” “Ma-Making me waste physical strength for nothing….”
“What the hell are you guys doing, just after washing it, it’s already this dirty!” Lize who was angry at them and gave them a lecture since the first thing she saw after getting out of the bath, were those two, who were muddied and dead tired while trying to catch their breath, increasing the laundry.
Noon the next day, having finished lunch and finishing the break, Kail was going to continue the digging when Urza began to talk to him from behind. “To think the legendary labyrinth would be conquered in this way….. It’s a little late but I’m still having second thought if this is really alright….”
“It’s not like we have another choice, if we went in from the front we’d be annihilated so we can only use this way” Kail says while remembering when he really did go in from the front.
There was a map, but even if we knew what kind of traps there are, it’s not as if they’re easy to pass, and there were many traps that weren’t mentioned on the map. The irony of mentioning shady traps. The map itself was also one of them. The magic cast on the map only activated after we got closer to the treasury, the map was filled with many complex new paths that appeared on the blank areas. Of course I had to pass through them, also on the new paths a lot more traps appeared….. I don’t have that feeling of despair this time, even thinking back about it I still feel a chill in my back, Kail recalls. (The author of this map either has a screw loose or has a bad personality….) I look at the signature of the author which was written on the corner of the map.
“Syldonia-Xarles”. This is what was written on the map in ancient words. Anyway, never again do I want to enter this labyrinth, but I want the treasure. The idea of digging the tunnel came forth from this thought.
“By the way has Seran still not returned?” After he finished his lunch, Seran said he was going to take a nap and left the cave, but he still hadn’t returned. “That guy always slacks off one way or another…… Now that I think about it, he said something like “I’ll try to find a safe place where I can look from up close!” I wonder what he meant by that?” “No you don’t have to worry about….. since I’ll keep him busy.” “By the way Kail. I have something to ask you.” Just when Seran isn’t here, Urza began to speak.
“Since I don’t like to be roundabout it I’ll ask you straight up. Those two have known you since you were little so they trust you but I’m different….. Kail, why do you aim to become a hero?”
On the journey to this location, when I heard Kail’s goal was to become a hero I thought he was an owner of megalomania. However after hearing about his goal I thought about what he was doing now and what he had to do and he showed that he kept going forward firmly, he puts in all his effort.
“That ring is also part of your training isn’t it?” “Ah so you’ve noticed it. It’s a ring with [Gravity] cast on it” I look at the simple ring on Kail’s left hand.
[Gravity] is a magic that controls gravity and it can change the weight of its target, it’s a magic that usually gets used in order to capture magic beasts alive or in order to trap them. In the case of the magic tool that has [Gravity] inside, it usually gets used in order to make war prisoners or criminals powerless, it’s also called the “Ring of restraint.”
“Of course I can release it whenever I want. Sudden battles won’t be a problem.” If I wanted to I could release it in an instant, so as long as I’m not completely surprised by an attack, fights aren’t a problem. “That ring doubles, triples your body weight right?” “It’s around that. It’s my teacher’s advice, it seems like a good way to strengthen your body by putting a load on the body in a daily basis.” This may be simple but it’s very efficient, I used to wear it a lot.. Anyway I’m raising my basic physical strength while digging this hole, it’s like killing two birds with one stone.
“At first I thought you had some masochistic hobby including the ring with it…..” “Hey?”
“Well I also thought….. That you had such needs, daily we, Lize you….. with that playful love….. Pl-Play? Or something like that….” “What kind of misunderstanding are you having?!” “No, Seran is the one who told me that…..”Those guys’ playful love is a high level play, so it’s better that you don’t mind them” is what he said.” “That guy really doesn’t say anything good….” “When I first heard it, I thought you had some sort of perversion, so I looked at you with eyes of contempt while I pitied the depths of your human being….. However it seems like I was wrong, I’m sorry.” “No, it’s alright…… Don’t mind it.” Kail almost felt like crying.
“So I want to hear it again, why do you aim to become a hero?” “Because….” When Kail tried to say something, together with a ‘CLNCK~’ sound Kail felt the scoop in his hands hit something. “This is…. Gold? Yes, we’ve arrived!” Touching it with his hands he felt it was cold and hard, the reaction from [Detect magic] was also at its max. “We only need the finishing touches, I have to tell Seran and Lize.” Kail tries to go outside, but he looks at Urza with a sorry face that also looked a little sad then he said.
“Sorry, I can’t say it now. However one day….. Together with Lize and the others I’ll definitely tell you about it one day.” Looking at Kail’s back going outside after saying that, Urza noticed something and sighed.
“Being with these guys messes up my flow….” she muttered on her own.

Chapter 12 – Treasure

“Amazing…….”
“Th-This is…..”
“Fueeee……”
Seran, Urza, and Lize were speechless after uttering just one word.
Breaking through the outer wall of gold, which had a width where more than ten hotels could fit in, it was truly a treasure trove that could blind one’s eyes.
Ornaments such as rings, bangles and necklaces made of gold and silver. Of course there were jewels scattered everywhere, sculptures made of crystals with the size of humans, tapestries carefully embroidered with gold, a transparent glass that shines with the brilliance of a rainbow with images of animals in it, a portrait of a noble woman who smiled so realistically it was almost as if she was alive…..
impossible to make with the technology of today, great merchants or nobles, even royalty will pay a heavy sum in order to obtain this.
Furthermore, gold coins from the ancient kingdom were piled up to the ceiling like a mountain, how many thousand, how many tens of thousands, how many hundreds of thousands, no it’s even more, I can’t even imagine how much there is. It truly is, a mountain of gold.
There are also diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, topaz, opals, amethysts, pearls…… It’s so much that I wouldn’t even be able to count all the different kinds and numbers of all the jewels that were left behind here.
Precious herbs and magical trees which are ingredients for certain magic drugs, even rare and almost unattainable loot, like a unicorn’s horn and ingredients from dragons were both lined up.
It’s probably being preserved with a magic called [Preservation], even though more than a thousand years have passed, they were still in their fresh and original state.
In the corner the magical metal mithril is piled up as ingots.
It’s perfect for weapons or armor since it’s light and has high magic resistance, but there is a shortage of supply, and only the dwarfs are capable of purifying it.
Since its worth is around ten times that of gold with the same weight, there was never enough to buy of it.
No matter which superpower, none of them would expect such a spectacle, since it was a mountain of treasure, with enough value to buy a country, no, even several countries.
But in one way or another this amount was only to be expected.
In the magic kingdom Zars, at the time of prosperity it controlled half the continent and controlled 3 quarters of the whole human race, it’s obvious that they believed they could finish off their nemesis the demons.
The person who became king in their time of prosperity was the Mahou Ou 『Magic King』 Sildonia Zars, this is the labyrinth and treasure left by that king, having this much was only to be expected.
This surreal sight will even attract humans without greed, it holds a dangerous charm. At the moment, Lize and even Urza who’s an Elf, whom are said to have less greed than humans, were both breathless, both of them were looking around dazed.
But only Kail who had already experienced this sight was calm.
I speak silently yet powerfully to Lize who was unsteadily approaching the mountain of jewels and Urza who was looking at the Mithril.
“Both of you get a firm hold on yourself.”
Lize and Urza who were staring at the treasure got a shock and began to tremble, they turn around to look at Kail.
“Listen carefully….. I came here because my goal has a need for a lot of gold, but my goal isn’t the gold itself, it’s only the means to an end. It’s better to have gold than not having any at all, but you have to use it with care, never let yourself become the means used by gold.”
It might have been a little extreme but saying something like this is for the best. Because there were plenty of people that were ruined by gold.
“That’s why….. Look at him!”
Kail strongly points his finger, in that direction was:
“Hyahha! It’s gold it’s go~old! With this I can live in luxur~y!”
Seran was looking like the embodiment of a money monger, while jumping into a mountain of gold.
“….. That is the fate of a person that is used and dominated by gold…..”
“With this I’m rich!!”
Seran who was throwing gold into the air with both of his hands was laughing out loud.
His eyes seem to have become clouded.
“It certainly is ugly…..”
“Yeah I don’t want that to happen to me…..”
As if their hearts were doused the two of them looked at Seran with eyes full of pity and they shook their heads.
At that moment, the uniquely calm one (Kail) was looking over the numerous treasures with tranquil eyes.
(Thank you Seran. Because of you, the hearts of these two can stay pure. This means it had some worth in bringing you along….)
I was looking over Seran with gentle eyes while he was going “It’s gold, It’s gold” as if he was lost.
“Kail recalled the feeling of last coming here about 2 months ago.”
At that time the economy had been breaking apart and was turning into shreds. Even if we had a treasure of this amount the things we could’ve done wouldn’t have been a lot. Since bread was more important than gold, silver, and jewels at that time.
But the Mithril was crafted into weapons and armor by the few remaining dwarf master craftsmen, the alchemists were also able to produce magic drugs.
If we didn’t have that equipment that last suicide attack would’ve failed. Kail silently headed to the back while the three of them were distracted by the treasures.
The back was positioned where the three of them couldn’t see it, it was between giant statues and jewelry.
On the pedestal was a sword, or to be precise, it looked like a bastard sword which could be wielded with two hands. On the thick blade of the sword that shined like a mirror there were words written in ancient magical letters, on the sword’s hilt was a red gem embedded which clearly had some great magic power.
It was probably made of Mithril and has a good balance, the more I look at it the more I understand it’s a first rate sword, and not just any sword but a legendary one. I could just keep on looking at it, it was a sword with a presence that would make you feel as if you could be sucked in any moment.
After Kail takes a deep breath lightly and takes a step forward while coming closer to the sword:
Faint light gathers around the sword, then the light transforms into particles and they move in front of the sword, where all the particles have gathered a girl appears. Her age would be around twelve or thirteen I guess, her gray hair could be called mysterious, she may be beautiful, but it’s a girl who has a surreal feeling to her.
She stood there with her eyes closed, wearing something that can be called spacious nun’s clothing.
She slowly opened her eyes and spoke in a clear, solemn voice.
“Well done for withstanding those numerous ordeals and being able to stand before Sildonia. Sildonia will praise…. Wha!?”
She couldn’t finish what she wanted to say. Kail closed her mouth while embracing her and brought her to a corner of the room. “Don’t speak so loudly, we’ll get noticed by those three!”
He’s relieved to see after checking that the three of them weren’t coming this way to see what’s going on.
The young girl that was struggling hard inside his arms says angrily: “Yo-You rude person! Who do you think I am….. mph!?”
“I’m telling you not to speak so loudly. I know who you are…… You’re the 『Magic King』 Sildonia Zars right?”
Well a replication, to be precise, Kail says in a small voice.
“The real source is the gem embedded in that sword where the real Sildonia has put his personality and a part of his knowledge within. You’re something like a shadow made of magic power….. Right?”
“Wh-Why do you know about that!? Even though the only ones that should know about it are Sildonia and original self!”
The young girl, Sildonia, replied with a high voice while panicking.
“Ah, I also know all the answers to the questions you’re about to ask so can I just skip it?”
“Wait, this is Sildonia’s time to shine or so to say, that’s the reason I’m here so….. Wait how do you know about it?”
As a matter of fact, I know all the answers and questions because of the interactions I had the previous time.
“I guess I don’t have another choice….. The answers are; Dragon in the east on the second floor, wolf in the west on the third floor, demon in the north on the fourth floor and mural of humans in the south on the fifth floor……Seriously you have a bad second nature if you let someone search through all of the rooms.”
“Oh, so you went through all of them. If you don’t try at least that hard….. Wait a second why do you know the contents of the questions?!”
“Well, we didn’t exactly take the straight route, we shortened it.”
“Shortened?”
“We dug a hole directly into the treasury opposite from the front door.”
“What the hell did you do you bastard!? That also counts as Sildonia’s grave!”
“About that, I also had some circumstances of my own. Please let me do the real final test. If I do that you’ll understand….. I’m going to grab the sword.”
“……So you also know about that?”
“Yeah, If I do this you’ll also be convinced somehow.”
Kail grabs the hilt of the sword that’s stuck in the pedestal. At the same time Sildonia becomes more surprised.
“Wha!?…… You bastard just who the heck are you?”
“Just quickly read it already. If it can somehow convince you, this’ll end without you having to use the final trap.”
“!?….. Ei~, there’s no other choice! Pull it out!”
Sildonia’s body transformed into particles of light yet again, and they got absorbed by the gem in the sword’s hilt, at that moment, Kail pulled out the sword.
The gem gave off a blinding light that seemed to wrap around Kail’s body, then it abruptly disappeared.
After that Sildonia’s shadow reappears, but she had a scowl on her face.
“………Time travel…… To think that it really exists?”
“You’ve understood everything with [Perfect Reading] right? Then it’s exactly as it seems. Also I have the “God Dragon’s heart” with me.”
[Perfect Reading] is a now a lost special magic, that can read the memories and personality of the target completely. Simply put, you’ll obtain knowledge about that person’s life, they’re unable to lie or to deceive, even the memories they’ve forgotten are completely read, that is how it was explained to Kail last time.
The magic activates when you hold the sword’s hilt, the final test was the determining of whether you’re suitable to obtain the treasures after having your real purpose and personality read.
“……No that magic isn’t that convenient? You’re able to read memories and thoughts to a certain extent, but that’s it. Well, I wanted to use a bluff like that.” Says Sildonia
“Hey!? It was a bluff!?”
“Rather, it’s not like it’s a lie….. More than anything your soul shows the proof of what you’re saying.”
“Soul?”
“…… Yeah you, has your magic power increased since you came to the past?” “You know the reason?!”
This was also something that Kail was still curious about. But he had to let it be, since he didn’t understand the reason until now and had no way of figuring it out.
“Hmm, well actually Sildonia once made a hypothesis about it…… To think there’d be an example now.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“No, giving a detailed explanation would take too long…… Rather than that, some people are coming over you know? Are they comrades?”
“Ah that’s bad…… Of course they’d notice it by now. Ok, they don’t know anything about this so let’s get our stories straight.”
“So you’re saying you haven’t talked to anyone about this yet?”
“Because it’d be confusing….. It’s not like I can just tell them right? Well I thought you’d understand what to tell them, and what not to tell them.”
“Well you’re right because of this situation. Because it’s a problem concerning the fall of the human race…… I guess I don’t have another choice.”
Having no other choice but to cooperate, Sildonia sighs.
“Then here I go….. Oh!? It’s a talking sword! And it’s name is Sildona Zars!?”
“How fake…..”
“Well sorry sorry, I lost myself because of the tension.”
Seran who was laughing hahahawawa just now, is trying to worm his way out of the situation, but the most important is that Urza and Lize didn’t hear it.
It wasn’t impossible since there was someone more interesting than Seran there.
“Hmm, delicious food. It seems the food in this age isn’t that bad. Are you the one who made this?”
Lize had a face that didn’t know what to say, and she looked at the regular child who was actually a thousand year old king, who was eating the lunch she had brought with her when they decided they were going to take a break inside the treasury.
“Ah, yeah I used the honey of a magic beast I captured….. Or rather than that…… Are you really that 『Magic King』?”
“To be precise, the real one put a part of himself in the gem inside the sword so I’m something like a magic being. Thus I am Sildonia Zars, yet at the same time am I – myself.”
Sildonia tells us about what she is, as if it’s something normal. Most of the time a magical being is something like a homunculus or a synthetic chimera, a being with borrowed life.
In the ancient magic kingdom it was frequently used, but now, technology wise, it’s hard to create, so there aren’t many who research it.
“Ah, everything myself eats or drinks will be turned into magic power so nothing is wasted….. Hmm, the first meal in a thousand or hundred of years isn’t bad.”
Eating sweets, drinking tea and saying it as if it isn’t anything at all, but the technology in order to turn food into magic power doesn’t exist at the moment, which shows just how far the ancient magic kingdom was with their technology.
“However, why are you in the form of a child?”
“This form is also the form of the original you know. The original used magic all the time so her body stopped aging. So she looked like this until she died.”
“Eh~……. But why have I never heard of this before?”
Sildonia is a character from a legend so there are many famous tales about him being told, but there was never one where she had the looks of a young girl.
“A thousand years have passed since my time right? It’s only natural that the stories would change. But above all, the original didn’t appear that much in front of others…..”
In a nonchalant tone she said, that that is probably the main reason.
“However, just why would she leave a copy of herself, something like that…..”
Urza asked a legitimate question.
“Of course there is a reason. It’s because she worried about the treasures here. The wealth here doesn’t have anything to do with Zars, in other words, these are the assets of myself.”
“All of this was her personal assets….. Well it would certainly become a reason to start a war over.”
Seran looked at the treasures around him, and said that it wouldn’t be weird if it becomes the source for a war to start.
“Yeah, while searching for a worthy successor myself knew that there was a possibility that people would go to war over this treasure, so it was decided to seal it within this place. This place was also meant to only entrust the treasures to those who were able to find this hidden place and overcome all ordeals.”
“So that’s why you’ve prepared so many annoying traps.”
Urza says, while looking at the map with traps that make someone shiver just by thinking about them.
“No, that’s just a hobby of mine. It was effective too.”
“I see…..”
“However, there were only a few who were able to find and enter this labyrinth, to think that a thousand years would pass before one would stand before Sildonia…..”
Sildonia sighs and shakes her head.
“Well the ones who can stand before myself get a final test from myself, futhermore, if they are able to convince myself, I would hand the treasures over to them. It was planned to activate the final trap if I didn’t like the invaders.”
“The final trap?”
“It’s the self destruction of this labyrinth. Since the activation only lasts a second, those who reached this place…… Well they’d be buried alive.”
She says it lightly, but the color of Seran and the others’ faces change.
“If you did something like that you’d also be buried you know!”
“Myself is a sword at the moment. It wouldn’t be a problem even if it got buried, even if a thousand of years pass it’s fine if Sildonia just keeps sleeping. The one who obtains myself at that time….. Well thinking about it now won’t do anything.”
She says calmly, but the three of them can’t seem to calm down and keep looking at the ceiling, making sure it won’t fall down.
“Originally I would bury someone who does something idiotic like directly digging a hole into the treasury without question, however……”
She glanced at Kail, but he was drinking tea while looking as if he didn’t have anything to do with it.
“Well, don’t worry about it, you’re a pretty interesting bunch so I’ll accept you for now. However, the condition is that I want to observe all the actions everyone takes, is this alright?”
“Sildonia hasn’t been outside for several hundreds or thousands of years”, Sildonia says that to these three, while waving her hands around.
Sildonia voiced her desire to leave as she couldn’t stand being buried alive.
“…. By the way, why a sword? I thought someone like the 『Magic King』 would put his copy in something more magic related.”
Seran says to Kail, while looking at the sword in his hands. Since I use a sword myself, of course I’m interested in a legendary sword.
“Well myself doesn’t know about it either, I haven’t heard the reason from the original. If she either had a hidden reason or if it’s just a coincidence…… Since the real one isn’t here, no one knows.”
Sildonia says, while looking at herself: Her sword form.
“Anyway since it’s a sword, the only way to use it, is as one….. A wielder must be chosen…… Well, Kail can fill the role.”
“Yeah, I also request it. A masterpiece like this would be well liked.”
“Hmm, Sildonia will be useful.”
Kail knows best, that Sildonia’s words which are overflowing with confidence were neither a lie nor pretense.
Even though I’ve only known her for about a month, I really relied on her help a lot. It was also the same in that final battle.
“Well, Well…… Until the wielder loses his life, I will follow you as your sword…… Until the end.”
After saying those words with a smile, she used her final trump card, the result was that I was able to cut down the demon lord. But at the same time it caused the destruction of Sildonia.
A reunion with someone that should be no more, with those who were lost.
Kail is looking at Sildonia who’s eating her sweets, I don’t know how many times I’ve done this but I’m thankful for this destiny and luck.
“Hey, hey, I also use a sword you know, how is my form compared to Kail’s.”
Seran turns to Sildonia with a smile while being full of self-confidence.
Sildonia looks at Seran’s body as if she’s appraising him, then she shakes her head and sighs.
“……It’s no good. I can’t accept you psychologically.”
“To think you’d just bluntly say that. It seems the sensibility of people from a thousand years ago is the same as now.”
“Well I get where you’re coming from, saying something like that is a fundamental fact.”
“It’s alright, the world is big. There’s probably someone who’ll accept you for what you are.”
“I want to cry…… ;____; ”

Chapter 13 – Shopping 

 ‘Jirgs Kingdom’ is a wide country that is located around the middle of the continent. Even though it’s facing the demon territory and sharing its border with it, the land is fertile and has a warm climate. The country is slowly and securely developing under the rule of their king, Remonaz; it’s a stable country at the moment. The country doesn’t have a clear direction it’s heading to, but its national power can be called something to be reckoned with by the whole continent. I have heard that the capital has a population close to ten thousand, and is surrounded by reinforced walls. In the center lies the white royal palace, which is able to be seen from anywhere within the capital, a high tower flag is visible from the palace. “Ho~~, There are a lot of people. It seems like the humans of this era have prospered a lot.” When Kail and his party left one of the many shops, and started to walk around, Sildonia materialized herself and suddenly speaks up. Kail and his party entered Marado just a while ago, just like Sildonia said, it was literally overflowing with people. “Umm, In the legends it’s said that Zars was a city with a million people, or so I’ve heard.” “This scene isn’t that uncommon, right?” Lize asked. “Yeah, it’s just like what you’ve said. However that was just the knowledge of Sildonia, I have not experienced it. This is the first time Sildonia is walking among humans.” Sildonia said. “I see, so that’s why….” I remember when Sildonia was asking a lot of questions about things, whilst we were travelling to Marado. She is an unbalanced existence who has a lot of knowledge, but doesn’t have much experience. “Oh, it has a good smell to it.” Lize follows with a wry smile after Sildonia, who was unsteadily moving towards the stall, while being lured by the smell. “She completely looks like a kid who came from the countryside.” Seran was going, “Yare, yare.” the whole time, but both Seran and Lize are in the same boat, since they’ve rarely left the town of Rimase, and it’s their first time in Marado. Gazing at the things they’ve never seen before is exactly something a country hick would do. “Hmm, it’s not on the level of Lize’s cooking but it’s still good. Now the stall there is…….” Sildonia returns while munching on some meat skewers. She just kept eating, under the pretense of it being for her magic supply. “You can leave the eating for later, I want to go shopping like planned.” “Shopping….. You were going to buy armor and weapons, weren’t you?” “Yeah, the equipment we have now isn’t good enough. At this rate we won’t be able to put up a decent fight, we have to get the best armor we can get.”
Except for Kail’s sword, Sildonia, the rest only have some basic equipment that can’t even be compared to that of normal adventurers. “Of course even if we buy good equipment it only strengthens us to a certain amount, but there’s no doubt that it’ll make us stronger.” And above all it’ll become harder to kill us, I added. In this one year, I have seen more than enough comrades dying—– that’s what I don’t want to see anymore. “Being able to keep a life with gold, that’s a cheap price. I’m not going to regret it.” In a small town, one shop dealing in weapons and armor is enough, but in a big city like this, there are a lot of them. There are many shops aimed at beginners, intermediate, and experienced fighters. The shop Kail and his party went to was the best one, shopping there once would already cost tens of thousands of Gador, and its usual clients were all well known adventurers and nobility. The shop was built from sturdy stones, and it has no sign, since it doesn’t need one. This isn’t a shop like the ones on the street, where you can just come and go, only people who have a recommendation can come in. The entrance was guarded by buff looking guys, the old man in the middle, who was wearing the shop’s uniform, came over to Kail’s party in order to talk to them. “Is there anything you would need from our shop?” “Yeah, I want to buy equipment.” “I may offend you, but have you received a referral from someone?” “No.” “Then are you aware of the condition for entering this shop?” “If I’m not mistaken it was…… For a completely new customer, without a recommendation, he has to pay a certain amount of money, right?” Kail remembers it from the last time, his previous life. “Yes, I give my utmost apologies, but first time customers will have to entrust an amount of one thousand gador. Of course, it’ll be returned before closing time.” The clerk apologetically bowed deeply, but he said it clearly. Inside the store they deal with very expensive products. Leaving aside nobles, or those who’ve already paid the price, most customers are fully equipped adventurers and mercenaries, so if they ever visit with the intention of robbing the store…… That’s what they’re afraid of. For that reason they don’t accept customers without a referral, but they can’t just completely refuse any new customers, because they might miss new opportunities for business, so they made a system where they temporarily hold onto your money. It’s a suitable way to do it, also if you can’t pay up immediately, that just means you aren’t qualified for the shop. “Is it alright if I pay with five Zars gold coins?” Kail hands over the ancient magic kingdom’s coins which are known as Zars coins to everyone.
Zars coins have a fine design, and have simple protection magic cast over them, for that reason even after a thousand years have passed, quite a few are still left on the continent and can be used in shops with high grade items. Because of the good quality of the Zars coins it’s treated with care, its maximum worth is estimated to be twice that of a thousand Gador. Furthermore, the use of the so called equivalent, a ‘gem’, is some kind of crystal which is said to be worth ten thousand Gador, they are only used by the rich nobles, so there aren’t many people with gems. When the clerk took the coins into his hand in order to confirm it, he bowed deeply yet again. “I certainly have received it. Then, I shall guide you inside.” After a heavy and sturdy door opens, a passage was revealed, after advancing for a little, a similar door appeared. For the sake of crime prevention they probably have reinforced doors. After entering the opened second door, a wide floor could be seen. There weren’t any windows, but there were magic tools with [light] cast on them, and the humidity and the heat were also adjusted to the right temperature. And there were a lot of armors and weapons that were hung, in such a way that they looked as good as possible, on the shelves. Maybe it’s because of the time, but there weren’t any customers, well, this isn’t a shop where everyone could just enter, originally. “I welcome you to our store. I am known as the shopkeeper, Fespa. It is a honor to meet you.” A portly man about fifty years old, greets Kail and his party. The ones responsible for new customers for this store are either the shopkeeper or the ones responsible for the floor. In order to check what kind of customers he has, checking if they’ll be worth it or not, in order to know what kind of attitude he had to take with customers, even now, Fespa is doing the same, even though he’s smiling gently his eyes are sharply observing Kail and his party. “What kind of business would you have here today?” “I would like to be shown some magic armor and weapons.” “Understood. We have a big amount, so, let me guide you.” Even if I ‘simply’ said, magic armor and weapons, there are many different kinds. There are those that simply raise the sharpness or the weight of a weapon, or those that are empowered with the elements of flames, ice, light, darkness, and in contrast, there are armors with resistances to one of those elements…… There are also many other types, but basically there aren’t a lot of them made. Because, unlike with magic tools, it takes more time and labor for armor and weapons, most of the ones going around were those made by the ancient magic kingdom. “Hoh, there’s a great number that comes from Zars…. Oh, if it isn’t Merans’s work.” Sildonia says, in front of one of the armors with a crest from the ancient magic kingdom. “How knowledgeable. This here is one of the ancient magic kingdoms master magic armor maker Merans’s work…..”
“No, that guy wasn’t that great. It’s true that he made some masterworks but he got carried away. When the original piled up all of his mistakes he began to break into tears. Well after that he did repent on it…..” Sildonia said. “Wha!?” Said the guy from the shop. “Ah, don’t mind it….. This child is, well, she’s a pitiful child…..” Kail makes a remark in a quiet voice, since he would be sorry if the person in question heard him. “Eh?….. Ah, I sincerely apologize for my rudeness.” Fespa who understood what I meant, called an attendant, when he did, a female attendant led Sildonia to the negotiation table with a friendly smile. “Hmm? What’s wrong….. Oh, aren’t these some nice snacks.” As expected of a high class shop, it has high class snacks for premium customers, while Sildonia keeps eating the snacks, Kail bows his head and Fespa answers with a smile that says; you also have it hard, haven’t you. “Hoh, this is….” What caught Kail’s eye, was a light blue armor within a glass case in the center of the shop, he though it probably is the most expensive high class item inside the store. It’s an armor made from leather from an animal, it’s called ‘leather armor’ and is an armor for warriors who fight with speed. Normally the leather used is from livestock, but this armor used a leather that is fundamentally different. “So this is an armor made from the dragon race….. Does it also have magic cast on it?” “Yes, a dragon’s skin originally has high defensive power, magic resistance, increases your own defensive power, and also has resistance to heat and cold. Furthermore the cloth within the armor is woven from the feathers of a phoenix.” He’s probably used to the questions from first time customers, without hesitation he keeps his explanation going. “When you say phoenix, you must mean the immortal bird?” “Yes, the legendary beast said to be equal to dragons. It’s called the sign of life, so that’s why it has resistance to poison and sickness, and furthermore, though it may be small, it also has the effect of speeding up the wearers recovery.” It was truly a great armor, the way the shopkeeper suggests it, means he can call it a ‘one of a kind’ masterpiece with pride, since this armor can be called a masterwork among all these masterpieces. If I look at the bottom of the case I can see the attached price tag which has three million Gador written on it. It’s enough to buy a castle with some land, located a little bit away from the capital, and you can even buy employees for the castle, it certainly isn’t a price for an armor. “Well then, the armor is on this side so let us go…..” “All right, I’m going to buy this.” “Wha?!” Ignoring Fespa, whose eyes have totally widened, Kail talks to Seran. “Seran, size wise I think it can somehow fit you, but what do you want?” I asked Seran, who was talking friendly with the female attendant, but he didn’t seem that interested.
“Hmm…. Well, the color is blue so… Since my image revolves around ‘red passion’, I’ll pass.” “I see, then I’ll wear it. Well this’ll be alright as my armor and my weapons are okay, so…… There’s only Urza’s and Lize’s part left. I would like to see some female armors, so…” Kail said to Fespa, who was still wide eyed. For Urza I bought a mithril dagger and breastplate, most spirits hate metals such as steel or iron so spirit mages usually don’t wear much armor, but the magic metal, mithril, is an exception. Furthermore, in this world something like a spirit stone doesn’t exist, it only exists in the realm where the spirits live, so I bought an amulet that has such a stone embedded within. It’s said that after you wear this amulet the distance between you and your spirit shrinks, truthfully the moment I held it, it felt as if my affinity with the spirits had increased for a moment. “I have heard that the next patriarch is using it too…… But to think it’d be to this extent, I think it’s even possible to make a [contract] with an upped spirit rank.” Urza said with an excited face while panting. For Lize, I bought a gauntlet; which is a part of armor that protects the parts of the hands and arms. These are also made of mithril so they’re sturdy, but they also have fortification magic cast upon them, so together with Lize’s skills she should be able to defend against a reasonably strong swordsman’s attack. I took the cross armor, which is a cloth armor that places precedence on speed, and it’s easy to move in. However this armor itself has [protection] cast on it, which is said to be a magic that increases one’s defensive power, so it’s sturdier than normal metal armor. “Yeah, it’s a good feeling!” He confirms there aren’t any problem with its movements for Lize, by making a few light jabs. “Are there any other leather armors made of dragon leather?” If it was possible, I would’ve liked Lize to also have a sturdy but easy to move in dragon race’s armor. “I’m sorry to say it, but there aren’t any others…..Since it’s a rare piece that doesn’t appear much, even within our own shop we’ve only handled it a few times.” “I see….” I talk to Sildonia who was still eating snacks with a small voice. “If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t dragon’s material never scarce?” “Yeah, in the past, dragon material was used plenty of times, also that armor wasn’t made from a young dragon, but an aged one. If it’s an armor, you should be able to easily make ten or twenty out of them.” She puffs out her chest with pride. If only there wasn’t any chocolate around her mouth.. She would’ve looked a little cooler. “Then it’d be faster if I got someone to make it for me directly…… Even if I say that, it’s not like it’s easy to find a craftsman that can directly obtain dragon material.” I sigh lightly, thinking it’d be a hassle just to find one. Only Seran’s equipment remains however. “If I’m equipped with it, girls will go “Wonderful! Hold me!” Is there an armor or sword that would make beauties say that? Especially for a woman such as yourself?”
Kail shakes his head, seeing him approach the female attendant whilst wearing a straight face. “Can you please get a one handed long sword and some leather armor for this guy. If there isn’t any, some rags patched together will do.” “Yes….. Understood” The female attendant who was overflowing with professionalism, replied with a frozen smile. “Also, are there any magic stones or magic potions?” “Yes, of course we have some.” A magic stone is a stone where magic can be put in. It will become a disposable item eventually, since after one use it’ll disappear together with the stone, for that reason they are expensive, so they’re not frequently used. Even so, for those who can’t use magic, they’ll be able to even use high class magic with this, so there are one or two adventurers who use this as their trump card. “Here is the regularly used: ‘attack type magic stone’ which has [explosion] stored within.” What was removed from the shelves was a darkish stone, big enough to fit inside the palm of my hand, it was a magic stone that had magic characters written upon it. [Explosion] is a mid ranged attack magic which causes explosions, and it’s the perfect magic for for fighting against a great number of enemies. “It’s usually used by touching the part which has the magic characters written upon it, and saying the magic’s name. When you do so, the stone will light up, and activate its magic after five seconds, so you’ll have to throw it to the target within that time, that is the way it’s normally used.” Fespa explains how to use it. “For magic potions we primarily possess the ‘recovery through drinking’ type.” I was shown several vials containing liquids, but there were many different types of recovery magic potions. Those that heal wounds, or recover stamina, those that erase poison, or heal illnesses, and the highest level potion can even heal lost limbs like an arm or leg in an instant. Magic potions and magic stones are consumable items, but here they’re all luxury items where each one costs at least a thousand Gador. “As expected there are a lot of handy ones….. All right, I’ll buy all the magic recovery potions there are.” “Eh?” Fespa involuntarily looks at the more than one hundred magic potions on the shelves. “Since we don’t have someone that can use recovery magic at the moment….. Ah, attack type magic stones also look handy. I’ll also buy all of them.” “…………” “Wha-What form of payment would you like to use….” To Kail and his party, Fespa faces them from the counter, while wearing a business smile. After all, they have almost bought ten million Gador worth of stuff, within the shop they can feel the stares from other clerks here and there. It’s probably their vigilance, to make sure that we won’t do anything bad.
“It’ll become a little too much if I just pay with coins….. Is it alright if I add some gems?” “Since it’s a large amount, our shop would also appreciate it if you would do that……” If he paid for everything with one Gador coins, the shop would end up being buried beneath it. Afterwards, what Kail pulled out, was a port bag, which is commonly called an ‘obtaining’ bag. [Port] is the highest level magic which enables its user to obtain things from certain locations into their hands, so an obtaining bag is a magic tool that possesses that function. And this bag is connected to that treasury, so it’s supposed to be able to take everything out of there. After all, it’s a labyrinth no one could find for a thousand years, the excavated site was so thoroughly buried, rather than taking out the treasure haphazardly, it’s safer to keep it there. By the way, Kail is the one who ended up dividing the treasure. Sildonia was amazed when she heard we hadn’t decided to split the treasure in advance, after a simple discussion it was decided that Kail, the one who found the map and gave the instructions, was left in charge. This port bag itself is already quite an expensive thing, so Fespa showed a little surprise on his face, but while pouring out Zars coins with a jingling sound, large rubies, diamonds and emeralds, seeing those being lined up, his face became that of someone who was absolutely speechless. Immediately he calls for a gem expert and welcomes him, but with only one glance he understands they’re all real, he also understood, that they were all worth at least a hundred thousand Gador. “Umm…… There is a need for detailed evaluation, so is it alright to take a little of your time?” “Yeah, I don’t mind, then is it alright if I equip the armor in the mean time?” I was allowed to try out other armor, but as expected I wasn’t allowed to try out the dragon leather armor. “Ye-Yes…. go ahead.” After a while, Fespa spoke up to us in a tired voice, but his business smile didn’t break. “We have certainly received the correct amount….. Is there anything inconveniencing you?” “Ah, it’s easy to move in, and it’s exactly like how you explained, so there aren’t any problems.” Having donned the blue armor, shouldering a sword on his back and wearing a cloak, Kail became the center of attention with his appearance. “You guys don’t have any problems either, right?” Both Urza and Lize nodded, but Seran was the only one with a dissatisfied look on his face. “What’s wrong? Were there any problems or something?” “No, the armor itself doesn’t have a problem. It’s just… The only regret I have is not asking for that attendant’s name…..” “I whole-heartedly couldn’t care less about that.” “Sildonia doesn’t have any problems too.” Sildonia answers with a smile for getting a load of snacks for free. “…… Well if the person in question is satisfied about it, then it’s alright. Well, if I have the chance, I’ll come again, so at that time I’ll be in your care again.”
Kail lightly raised his hand and waved, Fespa and the others came all the way outside the shop in order to bid them farewell. After seeing off the ones that simply became number one in this store’s sales records, the clerk and shopkeeper breathed in deeply. “I wonder who in the world they were.” The clerk spoke up to Fespa after not being able to see Kail and the others anymore. “I don’t have a clue….. However, for us to not know of them, means they aren’t famous adventurers.” They have a list with the famous adventurers and mercenary groups. “Then, since they paid with Zars coins and gems, they’re newbie adventurers that struck gold…… That should be about right, isn’t it?” “That would be the option with the most probability. However that amount of money, I wonder what kind of treasure they found.” “Maybe they might’ve found the legendary『Magic King』labyrinth’s treasure.” “It might be like that.” Fespa and the clerk lightly laughed. “We might have made a killing, but they were customers who were bad for my heart…… Oh, contact the workshop immediately in order to procure more magic stones and magic potions, since our stock has run out.” “Hai.”

Chapter 14 – Time, Soul and Magic

 After shopping and finishing lunch, Kail and his party went to an inn. Rather than an inn, it was more like a hotel, it was a respected one where even nobles from other countries stayed at. “However, we really did some flashy shopping. Won’t we stand out because of that?” Seran said, while looking at today’s loot with everyone gathered in the same room. He’s probably trying to say, won’t we stand out and have some bad rumors floating around, since we went shopping with the tremendous amount of ten million Gador? “That’s a place that is frequented by nobles, they won’t easily leak information about their customers.” For customer dependent shops like that, a customer’s trust is their life line. It’s out of the question to talk about what a customer has bought there. “Well, though it may take some time, it’ll definitely leak from somewhere, but we have some time before that happens. We’ll be leaving here tomorrow morning, so one day won’t be a problem at all.” I also add in, that as long as we stay here, it won’t be a problem with the security. “I see….. Wait what!? We’ve just arrived at the capital but why are we only staying for one night?” “Yeah, since the only business we had here was shopping. The next destination is…..” “Then I can’t stay here doing nothing like this! I’ll be going out for a while!” Seran said that, and ran out. “Then I’ll also go take a look around, for a little while. It’s my first time in a capital, so I want to have a little fun.” Lize also stands up and tries to leave, when Urza suddenly says she’ll accompany her. “I’ll go together with you. Since I’ve been here before, I can show you around.” “Thanks, I’ll count on you Urza.” “Those two have strangely enough become friends…..” Kail made a complex face, while seeing Urza and Lize leaving together. “Then, myself will go buy food, or shopping….. Well then, let’s go.” Kail stops Sildonia who was about to leave.

“Hey wait a minute. You and me both have things we want to ask, also, I want some advice on a lot of things.” Since on our journey there wasn’t a single time when we’ve been alone together. “Ah….. No, no, it’s not like I forgot about it or anything, and it’s not as if I got caught up with the flow, yeah.” Sildonia sat again, facing Kail, but there was still some regret about outside, which Kail didn’t notice. “The first thing I wanted to check was…… Is it really possible to go back in time?” This is the thing that has been bothering me the most.
Right now, I’m trying to prevent that future from happening, but if the things I do now are immutable, then that means they don’t have any meaning at all. “Change, is a weird way to word it. As a premise, the future is always undecided, so it can freely change.” “It hasn’t been decided you say….. That’s something that has really happened you know?” “That’s where you’re mistaken. What really happened, is that at the same time that you leapt through time, you came to another world. In this world nothing has happened, so nothing has been decided yet.” The original of myself had a hypothesis over this in the past, Sildonia explained. “There isn’t only one flow of time, it’s just like a tree with many branches, your soul has jumped from branch to branch in order to reach this one. It may be a play on words, but simply put, you didn’t go back in time. You have come to this world, which doesn’t have any records of what’s going to happen from now on.” As proof, Sildonia pointed to the “God Dragon Heart” Kail was holding. “That “God Dragon Heart” is probably the catalyst that brought your soul to this world. Originally there was only supposed to be one of them, but now there are two of them. Also, it was something that is originally in this world, probably in the demon territory…….. The moment that there are two of the same items, it has already become a contradiction, you can already think of this as another world, different from your own world.” “I kind of understand, yet I kind of don’t understand….. Then is there the possibility that something different may occur in this world than what I know from the previous one?” “No, only the branches are different…….Your existence itself is already a difference, except for myself, and the others, the history should be precisely the same as the one you know. All events are things that shall happen at a certain time, except for you coming to this world, there isn’t any difference between the events. For that reason….. that ‘Great Advance’ you know of shall probably happen too…..” “I see…..” Thinking it’s another world, I was hoping for such a weak answer, but it isn’t that easy. “……However, that just means we’ll be able to prepare for it right?” “Right now, you’re talking with myself. Just this has already changed your experiences, this means you’ll be able to do what you want to do.” “Hearing just that is enough.” My actions, what I’m trying to do certainly isn’t meaningless, I’m happy just knowing that. “In reality, myself thinks what you’re trying to do, trying to stop that ‘great advance’ by having the human race prepare for it, and create a reputation for that to happen…… Is a great idea. However, there are many difficulties.” “What, I have a lot of trump cards, also the legendary『Magic king』 is with me, it isn’t that difficult, right?” To Kail’s words, Sildonia showed a fearless grin. “Well then, next is the reason why your magic power has increased, for this, myself also has a hypothesis.” “Yeah, I would also like to hear that.” Kail becomes interested. Since it’s about what’s happening to my own body and I don’t understand what’s going on. “In order to explain this, I’ll have to explain just what magic power is, but if I use the premise that magic power is something which is a part of the soul, so it’s inseparable, do you understand?” “Yeah.” “Well then…. Do you know a fusion magic, which is a taboo even among taboos, called [Fusion], exists?”
“No, I’ve never heard of it.” Even Kail, who has some knowledge about magic, has never heard about it. “Hmm, seems like it’s been skillfully buried with history. Since the original of myself has sealed it away because it was really dangerous.” “…..What kind of magic is it?” “Simply put, it’s a fusion between souls, it’s an evil way to significantly increase your magic power, by absorbing someone’s soul.” Even Zars actively studied on a way to increase magic power, in their training they thought of a lot of ways to increase magic power, however in the end the strength of one’s magic power is mostly already decided from birth. That’s where they thought of a way to strengthen the soul itself, which is how fusion magic came to exist. However the soul is one’s life and that person itself, thus the same person can’t have the soul of someone else, which would mean he’d have to become someone different. “Another example, would be like having chocolate melted in beer. That would be like donning a layer around itself. Then, voilà you’ll have a human with the memories and personality of someone else. A normal person’s mind wouldn’t be able to withstand it and would probably go mad.” “That really doesn’t have any meaning does it.” Even if it’s for the purpose of becoming stronger, it’d be inconvenient to become a cripple. “Also, the reason for this unexpected situation that has happened to you, would be because of your innocent soul, which has been taken advantage of.” “Masaka……” “Yeah, it’s a new born baby.” “That’s the worst.” Kail covers his face with one hand. In order to strengthen your magic power you’ll have to absorb the soul of a baby, it’s truly a forbidden magic. “Be that as it may, for example, a newborn human baby. Fusion, if you absorb one, it’ll affect the soul, also a sane human wouldn’t even try to do something this evil. Afterwards, a certain hypothesis was made. If it’s exactly the same soul, such a problem wouldn’t occur…… But something like having exactly the same soul doesn’t exist.” Then if it doesn’t exist you just have to make it, in Zars a research for artificial souls was being carried out. “Making a soul….. Thinking back about it, it was truly a research where you didn’t even fear god.” What arrogance, it was Sildonia, that was smiling wryly, but in Zars at that time, there was a majority that believed they would one day surpass God. “Well, anyhow, the research about creating the exact same soul as your own ended in a failure, since this magic was too dangerous, it was sealed…… Well then, Like I said just now, the things that came into this world, were your soul and the “God Dragon Heart”. Also somewhere in this world there is another “God Dragon Heart”. Then, what do you think happened to the soul of the one called Kail Leonard in this world?” “What happened to it, you say…….. Could it be?!” “That’s right, It’s there.” Sildonia was pointing at Kail’s chest.
“Ah, don’t misunderstand. The one talking with myself is also the Kail Leonard of this world.” “Please wait a minute….. Even I’m confused because of this.” Kail holds his head while growling. “It’s not that difficult if you think about it. It just means that the person in question, isn’t aware of the fusion right now.” She then adds, ‘and it has also been done in a perfect way.’ “The Kail that came here, probably had a stronger mentality, and the Kail of this world was strongly overpowered, for sixteen years your memories and experiences are exactly the same, and it can also be said over the personality and mentality. In other words it’s like transparent water that starts flowing together without any problems, so the soul has about doubled itself. Furthermore, it happened without the person in question even noticing it.” “To think such a thing happened to my soul…..” But a part of me was somehow convinced by that explanation. The days where I continued to fight, where I continued to kill after my hometown perished. My spirit was conscious of what was gradually going to happen. It was about the peaceful past, just around this time he was spending his days carelessly, or so he felt it was. He thought that, because he lived in his hometown, he wouldn’t meet Lize and the others ever again, but it seems to be an effect from the fusion between souls. “…… Well about my mentality, let us say you’re right about that.” I say nonchalantly, but I smile wryly, thinking it might be because of my previous carefree nature. “Anyway, your soul has been empowered, thus increasing your magic power. Right now, you aren’t able to fully use it yet, but you’ll probably be able to use the highest class magic in the future.” “I see, the highest class magic.” Kail subconsciously leans forward. The highest grade magic, which is said to be capable of causing natural disasters, those who can use it have their names written in history, but right now there is no one who can use it. “Could it possibly be….. That I could also use the attack magic that the 『Magic king』 used?” “Yeah, the original of myself was special, it should be a magic that people other than the original can’t use….. But it isn’t impossible.” There are many legends about ‘Sildonia Zars’, and there is even one where she destroyed an army of a thousand demons on her own. There is an attack magic that makes that possible, but a thousand years after she passed away, the other users kept disappearing, now it’s a legendary magic. “I would be able to use that……” “Well, that’s just something that may happen in the future. From what can be seen, the complete fusion between souls will take a while, and about whether you can master it, or not, that’s a different case. That itself will probably take a long time.” “I see, but it still is some useful information. If it means I can get even stronger….. By the way, has anything else changed in my body? And does it have any bad influences?” “Don’t know….. Since there isn’t a precedent for it. If it’s a hypothesis, I can name as many as you want, but leaving aside good things, do you also want to hear all the shady ones?”
“……. No, I’ll leave it at that.” “That’s a wise choice. After all, even if the possibility is tremendously low, your soul might have changed, meaning it may have become an organism from another realm…..” “I already said, that it’s better if you don’t say it!” “Well, if there are any abnormalities, feel free to name them. I’ll consult for you if you want to, though Myself doesn’t know if it can be solved that way.” Sildonia says while laughing ‘kaka kaka’. After that, we talked some more, Sildonia rounded up the conversation when it was sunset. “Well then, with this, today’s conversation is over. Myself and you should also go out.” The stalls that are open around this time should be tasty, she happily says. While thinking it was a hassle, Kail made preparations to go out, then Seran wildly opened the door when he came back. “What happened? It’s seems like you’re in a bad mood.” “Damn it! So it really was a lie that city women are liberating! Even if I try to talk to them, they don’t respond. Though every single one of them, has eyes of a dead fish! Even their hearts are rotten.” It seems like he failed, while hitting on girls. “I think, there’s no mistake that your heart is the most rotten one. However, today you’ve given up quickly, aren’t you always so sticky, that you never know when to give up?” “It seems like they were going to call the guards. As expected of the capital, the security is uselessly good. Like I thought, city woman are dirtied, so they’re no good. A pure hearted woman fits me better.” “Notice it already, that as long as you don’t fix that attitude, you won’t get any women.” Then, Seran makes a face as if he has noticed something, and he begins to think with a serious face. “No, wait a second, we have gold, so. If I go with the method of using gold….” “You’re saying the lowest thing, with a straight face, aren’t you.” “Alright! Well then, give me some allowance!” Seran holds out his hand toward Kail. “…..Don’t go waste it.” While thinking that it’s already wasted on him, for once, he gives some Zars coins while being on guard. “Don’t worry! If it’s me it’ll be ok! Well then, the night life’s waiting for me—-!” While holding on to some baseless confidence, Seran ran out. “He lives while giving in to his desires doesn’’t he…. Well, that’s one of the types who usually live the longest.” Sildonia said heartily, while seeing off Seran’s back. “Well, it’ll probably become a good experience.” The next morning, Urza and Lize, who had finished their preparations for departure, came to Kail’s room. “Yeah, as expected, the capital is great isn’t it. I had fun yesterday.”
Lize says happily, she probably has seen a lot of rare things. “It was a new experience to go to things with the two of us, instead of alone…… By the way.” Urza looks toward the bed. “What is that?” She points toward Seran, who had his back toward us, was rounded on the bed, which made it impossible to miss him, even if you didn’t want to. “Hmm, he got his gold taken by a girl, who lied about her mother having an illness, a girl who was nice to him brought him home, and he was brought to an ambush……. In one night, he was deceived forty-five times in total, so he has lost his faith in humanity a little.” Sildonia explains while drinking tea. “That should’ve been a good lesson for him…… well then, that thing doesn’t matter so let’s talk about what we’re going to do from now on. Next we’ll head for the town of Acken.” Acken is a town on the east border and it’s even a big city within Jirgs. “I’ll say it straight, I don’t have a clear view of what we’ll do from now on. For the reason…… actually it seems like Sildonia has the ability to see a little into the future.” “Eh?…..Ah! Yeah, right, it was like that. Myself had an ability like that…. no I do have, yeah.” Sildonia who affirms it after remembering what we talked about yesterday. “Her reaction is kind of….” “It’s just your imagination….. so even if I say that it’s just the powered up version of star reading, this is the “Mahou ou” we’re talking about. I think it has credibility.” Kail says the most plausible lie he could think of. “While talking about my goal, it seems that what came out from the prediction was that going to this town would be best. I’m thinking of believing that.” How about it? I ask the two of them. “Yeah, I’ve already decided since the beginning to trust Kail, so I don’t think anything in particular.” “…….. I was originally travelling without a destination, so I don’t mind where ever we go.” Lize and Urza didn’t have any objections, but Seran who was waving his hand was still having his back towards us. When I asked him it seems he didn’t have any problems with it. “Well then, up to the town of Acken.”

Chapter 15 – Application of contract 

In the evening, two days after we set off from the capital of Marado, if we keep going at this pace, we’ll reach the destination town of Acken tomorrow, so for tonight we’re staying at a port town along the road. It is a port town worthy of being called one, with a big port where imported goods from other countries pass through in order to get to the town of Acken. Just like a port town should be, there were many inns where we could stay, but considering the security, we chose the most luxurious one among them. “Fu, it was a good bath.” At night, Lize returns to the women’s room, one of two rooms rented, after having taken a bath. “I’m used to sleeping outside, but sleeping on a bed is better, isn’t it.” “You’re right….” Urza replies, with her head in the clouds. Urza was sitting on the couch, beside the window with a relaxed figure, while looking at the full moon in the sky. For spirit mages, especially for Elves, the moon is something deeply connected to them, it is the time when they can receive the strongest blessings from the moon goddess Luna, who is also the guardian spirit of the Elves. It’s a little fun for Elves, to bathe in the light of the full moon like this. Lize knew that it’d be wasted effort, to try to talk to her, so she was lying on the bed. “Then I’m going to sleep. Urza should also drink moderately.” Because we have to get up early the next morning, Lize says, then she shuts her eyes. Lize falls asleep immediately, afterwards, regular sleeping sounds could be heard. Urza kept looking at the full moon, while smiling a little wryly at her pace. “……. At times like these, I want to drink wine, that I normally don’t drink…..” When she drank a little wine, from the goblet she had put aside, her cheeks became slightly red. After a while, drowsiness began to hit Urza, but thinking it wasn’t that cold, she thought it would be alright if she fell asleep like this, so she slowly closes her eyes. Fu………. Spirit God Luna…… Your blessings for this journey…….. “Crap–! I totally forgot!” “Urza, shut up.” Lize, who’s half asleep began to speak. “Ah, I apologize…… Or rather, I can’t stay like this!” Urza jumps out of the room, and rushes to the room next door. “Kail!” She entered the room without even knocking first, but both of the beds were empty. “Tch…… Seran’s probably enjoying the night life…….. But where did Kail go to?” Seeing that the sword Sildonia wasn’t there, she thought he was out training again, having a lead, she went outside. At that time, Kail was in a scarcely known field, a little away from the mail town, lying down sprawled on the ground. His breathing was rough, and he was sweating large amounts, you can see he was just training intensely for a long time. Sildonia, who was watching from the side, said she was impressed. “Hmm, you called it illusion projection didn’t you? It seems pretty interesting. It’s a technique that didn’t exist in the time of myself, but it seems like even though many things were lost, many new things have also been gained……. As expected, humans are dependable.” “It’s a fake, in the end, I wouldn’t last a second in a real fight…… But the chance isn’t zero……. There is a worth in continuing….” Kail answers while breathing roughly. Even if it was an illusion, until just a while ago, he was fighting against over a hundred demons. “My physical strength has been raised a little….. But, I still have a long way to go.” My movements keep getting sharper, and I’m able to move how I want to, but I have understood that I still lack in basic strength. A month hasn’t even passed since he started giving his all by seriously training, so it can be said it’s only logical. He thought he had found a new way to fight together with his magic, but right now, that’s something for the future. “I’m tired…… Let’s return quickly and go to sleep.” I forcefully move my body. Since it seems like I’d end up sleeping here, if I stayed like this. “Yeah, since the strain would be too much if we continued like this. Rest is also important.” “However I also thought about this last time, but this really is a good sword.” Kail admires the sword in his hand, that fits perfectly, while looking at it. “Of course. This sword which is Myself, is the crystallization of Zars’ magic techniques, you couldn’t find a better sword made by human hands than this. Well, it’s also housing Myself, so isn’t it only obvious?” Sildonia just kept thumping her chest with pride. “It’s sharpness also seems great. I have used other mithril swords before, but none of them were this sharp. “ “No, this sword which is Myself, isn’t made of mithril to be precise, you know?” “Huh? Then….” ‘Just what?’, just when I was about to ask, an intruder appeared. “I’ve found you! So you were here!” With a ghastly face, Urza came closer to Kail while breathing roughly.
“Wha-What happened?” “Have you forgotten! It’s the [Partial Contact]! It can only be done on a night with a full moon, you know.” “……Ah, now that I think about it.” Kail, who was looking at the full moon in the sky, had completely forgotten. “It’s something you brought up!” “……Can’t we do it next month? I’m tired and I want to sleep.” Kail says really sleepily, that he wants to quickly go to sleep. “It’s something that concerns my true name you know! Don’t say it as if it’s a hassle!” “But, you forgot about it too….” “Sh-Shut up! Anyway, I’m going to make preparations, so wait here!” Sildonia left the two, and went to the inn, after saying “This kind of seems like a hassle”. (Be that as it may, to think I’d be doing this ritual with a human partner……) “Why did it become like this?” Urza was writing the magic circle in spirit language, while thinking of the reason she was doing this in the first place. With this [Partial Contract] you’ll be able to make your partner uphold an absolute promise, but at the same time it’s something that usually doesn’t happen since they usually don’t know the True Name. However with the exception when your partner does know it, or if you let your partner know it, then this ritual also gets used as a ceremony. There you present your True Name, where you and your partner swear everlasting love to each other – in other words a wedding ceremony – this [Partial Contract] holds almost the exact same meaning as a wedding ceremony. For that reason teenage Elf girls talked romantically about this [Partial Contract]. Also Urza would usually imagine her partner in the far off future, with whom she would be holding the ceremony, she would blush, whenever she heard the story about the ritual. (Even so….. Even if I don’t have another choice, to perform the ceremony with a man, whom I met only half a month ago……) Certainly, this was something she never thought would happen half a month ago. However, because of the situation, she had to accompany Kail and his party, but in reality she wasn’t that dissatisfied. Originally, it was a journey in order to gain experience without a clear destination, she also didn’t have any complaints about her travelling companions. Lize is a good girl. They don’t share the same age, race, or personality, but she became a good friend. Lately, I’ve been feeling a friendship beyond all of what I’ve felt these past years. Humans….. I don’t know if it’s exactly right, but talking with Sildonia was fun too. Urza, who was originally intelligent and curious, tried asking many things from time to time, but after a little while, she became so knowledgeable, that even the elders couldn’t compare to her. While she was like that, her normal appearance, combined with her innocence, she saw a lot of wry smiles and bright smiles on her face. Seran is…… Well, taking away all the times we took our eyes off him, he was kind of interesting. Then Kail……. He was in a certain sense, the biggest problem. From time to time, he interacts with me, as if he has known me for many years. However, without thinking of it as being overly friendly, it’s kind of weird, saying it myself, but it’s as if he’s used to handling me, I was conscious of him controlling my actions then letting it go. But what worries me the most, is that look in his eyes. Usually, we are normally interacting with each other, but from time to time he stares at me and when our eyes meet, he looks away as if nothing happened. I’m already aware about my own appearance, also since I started this journey there were many times I was looked at by men with eyes full of lust. Of course, it wasn’t a nice feeling. At first, I thought he was the same, so I ignored it, but Kail was fundamentally different. It isn’t like that of family or friends, how do I say this, it’s as if he’s protecting me from afar, when I’m looked upon with those eyes, it feels like he can see through my heart, I can’t calm down, however, I don’t feel bad because of it. Anyway, it’s my first time experiencing being disturbed like this. (…… Let’s stop this, I have to concentrate on the [Partial Contract] now.) I get the feeling, that the more I think about it, the more mysterious it gets, Urza put her ideas on hold for now. After finally having finished the preparations for the magic circle, Urza speaks to Kail who was waiting. “Alright, preparations have finished. Kail, stand over here……. Don’t sleep! Wake up.” “Eh?…… Ah, I’m sorry I was drowsy so……. However, that took a while didn’t it? I thought it’d be easier.” “A [Contract] isn’t something that simple! It’s alright already, so stand over there, I’m starting!” Within the light of the full moon, the ritual begins. Being lit by the light of the full moon, highlighting the mysterious beauty of Urza – who was casting spirit words with closed eyes – even more. While seeing Urza like that, Kail thought it was exactly the same as last time. Kail has already experienced this [Partial Contract] once before, in other words, he has already done it before. The night before the final battle, Urza didn’t know whether it would be the last night they would have, they talked about the ritual and Kail agreed to it. The Urza of that time, was able to contract with a lot of high level spirits, it wasn’t wrong to call her a great spirit mage, and she wouldn’t have to wait for a full moon to use such a ritual, also, she didn’t need a magic circle like this one. And the promise we made at that time was: If we come back alive from this battle, let us live the rest of our lives together.
It was also a true marriage vow. However, we weren’t able to fulfill the promise from that time. Covering Kail, she died in front of his eyes. Leaving only a sad smile in the end. I’ll never be able to forget about that scene. Eventually, warm soft light spilt from the magic circle and began to wrap around the two. When it happens, the consciousness becomes light headed. It was the same feeling as anemia, but without the discomfort, rather, it was a pleasant feeling of floating, the feeling of lethargy covering the whole body. Kail remembers the last time something similar happened. It was the same for Urza who was looking at Kail with unfocused eyes. And I begin to speak, as the heat is rising to somewhere. “……. In the name of the great spirit, God of the moon Luna, I Urza Ekses order thou…. I prohibit you the misuse of my true name, or to tell others…… Do you swear it?” “I swear.” To Urza’s question, Kail answered immediately. In the same way like last time. When I do, an exceptionally strong light comes from the magic circle facing the moon, going up like a tower, then the light became a meteor, and bursted into particles of light. And the light around us, dances downward like powdered snow, it was a fantastic scene. Urza lightly sighs, and then raises her head, Kail was right in front of her eyes. “Ah…..” After thinking, he was looking at me with the same eyes again, without having the time to resist, Kail’s lips sealed Urza’s. Only for a moment, truly the fragment of a moment, Urza thought it’d be alright to entrust herself to him, but when she did, she immediately regained herself. “Wha-Wha-Wha-Wha What the hell are you doing! You bastard~~~!?” Kail regained himself because of Urza’s screaming. “Eh?……. Ah! No, well that’s…… Since the last part of the contract is a kiss so….. Eh? Was I mistaken?” The last time, that was what he had been prodding over with Urza. “Th-That’s something you only do at a marriage ceremony as a bonus at the end! The contract itself had already ended the moment you swore the vow!” “Ah…….. I see, in other words, this is something like an unfortunate accident isn’t it?” From Kail’s perspective, she was his lover, which he acted lovely with on a daily basis, of course, Urza wouldn’t be convinced by that. “…… It’s an add on, since we have a magic circle and I have a spirit stone in my hand, let’s make a [Contract] with another spirit.” “Hoh.” “The contract partner is Salamander. The spirit of flames may be hard to control, but as I am right now, I should be able to…… And for the first order, I’ll ask him to burn down this sex offender, right before my eyes.” “Hey!?” “Hey, it’s started you know! Be grateful that you’re still breathing!” “But burning someone to death also stops his breathing!” After that night, from the suburbs of the port town, the screams of a man, and rising fire, could be heard for a while, it was a rumor around town as an unnatural phenomenon. “Why do all three of you together look so sleepy.” The morning of the next day, when they passed the corridor, Lize the only one who had enough sleep, asked the sleepy looking Kail and the others. “Well, a bit of a misfortunate accident….” “Shut up! You don’t have the right to say that, you bastard!” Urza whose anger still hadn’t dissipated, raises her voice, to counter Kail. “Also why is it that I smell a burnt odor from Kail?” “That also was something like an unfortunate misunderstanding…….. No it’s nothing at all.” Kail shuts up, because of Urza’s glare. “Ah, by the way the reason why I’m sleepy is…” “I didn’t ask you Seran.” “So it’s like that……” “By the way…… The [Partial Contract] has ended, so are you still going to keep on travelling with us?” To Kail’s question, Urza was speechless for a bit, but she made a grimacing face at the end. “I-I don’t have another choice right. In the first place, I still don’t know why Kail knew my True Name.” “I see….. If it’s like that, you really don’t have a choice, do you.” Urza was about to say something to Kail, who was looking a little happy. She went “Hmph!”, and faced the other way, then walked next to Lize, who was in the front, with angry footsteps. Being able to stay together with Urza. To Kail, this was something he was purely happy about. There are many reasons for why Kail wanted Urza to be their travelling partner after that coincidental meeting, because a spirit mage is useful, because she can become a fighting force……… But the main reason, is because he wanted to be together with her. The fight against the demons, an everyday life where you live with death by your side, in the midst of losing bits and pieces of humanity on a daily basis, but the reason why Kail never fell into despair, was because Urza was by his side. They could only be called real lovers, just a month before the final battle, but Urza’s existence itself was a healing factor to him. If in the final battle against the demon lord, Urza and he both survived, they would, just like they swore, live the rest of their lives together.
I truly loved her from the depths of my heart. If my reunion with Urza was at least one or two years later, I might have been able to set my feelings straight to some degree. I might have been satisfied by just knowing she was alive, but a reunion I never expected happened just a few days later. Thus I confirmed again that, I still love her from the depths of my heart. (However…) While Kail was thinking about all of that, his sight wandered to Lize, who was walking next to Urza. If that great advance never happened I’d probably have married Lize. Actually there was a marriage-like talk once. Getting married, having children….. Living a peaceful live in the that town of Rimase, we probably would’ve lived happily ever after like that. After losing Lize, it was just like something from a pipe dream…. Right now, that dream was within my reach. (If I do say so myself, but I know I’m dishonest sometimes….) Truthfully, I love the both of them the same amount. But if I can make an excuse, I want to blame it on this special situation, that no one else has ever experienced. I promised both of the two woman to marry them, that we’d live the rest of our lives together, but both of them died and parted with me, right before my very eyes. And I was reunited with them at almost the same time, and now they’re here with me. If there is someone else who’s in the same situation as me, I’d love to meet him. So much that I want to get advice from him. “……Alright!” After thinking for a while, I say something while clenching my fist, as if I have determined something. “I have a mission of preparing for the “Great Advance”! It isn’t the time to let my heart astray over something like this, when the world is in danger! Personal things can be postponed!” Using the great excuse of saving the world, he postpones the inevitable, and in a certain way he makes the worst decision, then Kail yet begins to walk strongly again. “Don’t these guys seem kind of weird?” “That’s the thing called youth.” Actually last night, Sildonia who was out of the main body of her sword, saw the whole event, so she nodded with an all knowing face to Seran who was twisting his head.

Chapter 16 – Princess

Acken is a country located to the east of Jirgs, it has become one of the biggest metropolis, -second only to the Jirgs kingdom- due to the small distance between Acken and it’s neighboring countries located to the east.
Foreign travelers, people from within the country, and merchants talking and trading with each other, are making it a lovely and bustling town.
“Well then, it’s a different kind of liveliness than the capital.”
Lize says, after entering the town of Acken while looking around and being moved.
“So, we’ve arrived at Acken, but what are we going to do now?”
“Let’s see, since we’re going to stay for a while, first would be an inn……”
“Hey, I just heard an interesting story!”
Seran, who immediately went to get something to eat from the stalls, came back excitedly.
“Interesting?”
“Yeah, since the one coming to town tomorrow, is none other than princess Mirena.”
Kail’s eyes become round at Seran’s cheerful sounding voice.
“…….Are you serious?”
“Yeah, that’s right, the one called 『The treasure of Jirgs』.”
Kail makes a questioning face, in contrast to Seran’s merry feeling.
“She’s making her debut now. It doesn’t matter what you say, it’s still that “Treasure of Jirgs”, you know! I always wanted to see her at least once. I heard where she is, so let’s go and check it out.”
When Seran says that, he immediately begins to walk.
“So Kail, are you also going?”
Lize’s words had an interrogating sound to them, but he decided to ignore that.
“…….Well it’s worth a look at least. For one, we are also citizens of the Jirgs kingdom, if there is a chance to see the future queen’s face, I’d like to take it.”
I also want to ascertain something, is what I add inside my mind.
“…….You do have a point, then let’s go.”
Urza and the others don’t seem to have any complaints, so we all decided to go.
The mother god of Earth, Kairis, is the deity of Jirgs and most of the towns have a temple for her.
Also, if there is an orphanage within the temple, like the one in the town of Acken, the princess goes to it, to pay a consolatory visit.
By the time Kail and the others reached the temple, it was already crowded by many onlookers.
However, Seran plunged into the area where the children were gathered without any hesitation.
“There! Get out of the way! You brats! You guys are ten years too young for such a beauty!”
Mercilessly pushing the children away, while kicking, he continues.
“O-Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll give you this, so eat it.”
Kail, who followed behind him, was handing out the sweets he specially bought for Sildonia.
The children who were about to begin crying, immediately got a smile.
“The thing called: ‘having no shame’, has become strong it seems……”
“I absolutely don’t want to learn it…..”
“Myself’s sweets~……”
Urza and Lize also followed after a little while, but as expected it was a little embarrassing.
Beyond the crowd, the very first row was completely composed of the city guards, they have set up a perimeter, so no one could come closer.
In the center, clearly different from the city guards, what stood out were the silvery white plate armors they donned, they were knights with a simplified crest of a dragon on their chest.
That dragon crest is proof of Jirgs’s imperial knights, having it, means they are imperial knights.
The imperial knight squad of Jirgs, is made up of around a hundred knights, compared to other squadrons of knights they are few in numbers, but their mission is to protect the king, so they don’t need too many of them.
For that part, the whole squad is composed out of the few elites within the army, no one from the Jirg’s kingdom itself, those with a heart of loyalty and the elites among the elites were chosen from them.
Something only those that excel in martial arts and swear absolute loyalty can become, something everyone that wishes to become a knight yearns for, that is the imperial knight squad.
That imperial knight squad was patrolling the area with vigilance.
Well, it isn’t unreasonable since a person important to the king will momentarily pass by.
After a little while, the carriage that was being protected by the imperial knights, was moving in front of the orphanage.
The carriage was a luxurious white one, with gold and silver details on it, there, on the side was the royal family of Jirg’s lion crest standing out.
This is an indicator, that shows that this carriage is something that can only be ridden by royalty.
The horses pulling the carriage, are twice the size of normal horses, and this carriage is being carried by two eight legged demon horses called Sleipnir.
Untamed Sleipnirs are bad tempered and wild, they are hardly usable, but it’s an exception if they are raised for that purpose from childhood, these two are probably the same.
The guy that reverently opened the door of the carriage, looked like the leader of the imperial knights, and appeared to be in his mid-twenties.
When a young woman appears from within the carriage, the crowd starts to cheer loudly.
Beautiful clear eyes, perfectly shaped nose, pale vermillion lips, slender limbs, jet-black hair extending to the waist as if it was high quality silk, pale white skin…… Piece for piece, as if they were all goods of the highest quality, were found upon this miraculous young woman.
Wearing a light green dress and a silvery white tiara, which seemed to only be fit for royalty, but in the end they were only things that supported the beauty of the person wearing it.
If I have to name someone alike, Urza would come to mind, but it was as if her beauty was crafted by a master sword-smith, who made a well-honed sword, I wonder if it can be said that the princess has the same attractiveness as gems and gold, she just started walking slowly out of the carriage, however, she was a young woman who, with each and every movement she made, attracted the people with some kind of charisma.
She is truly the one, praised as “Jirg’s national treasure”, the first in line for the throne, princess Mirena do Jirgs.
“Yup, just as the rumors say, she is a beauty…… But above all….. That is amazing…..”
Seran sang, while he was looking at the rich twin hills, around the chest of the princess, which was slightly being shown.
“….. Comparing it, the difference in power is overwhelming. Dragon and lizard tears.”
This time, Seran makes a sign of grief, while looking at Lize’s lacking chest.
Immediately Lize grabs Seran’s chin with her open palm.
“E-Even though the only thing I did, was to express my honest impression and the facts….”
“Don’t think the truth is always right!”
Lize shouts at the crouching Seran.
“You guys, keep it down a little.”
Now Kail who didn’t want to stand out also let out a sigh.
In front of the orphanage, the children were forming in lines, and one of them, a little girl about ten years old, rushed over to the princess with a flower in her hand.
However maybe because of the tension, she tripped while she was running.
Then the princess put one of her knees on the soil filled ground and asked the little girl who became teary-eyed “are you alright?” With a gentle voice and smile.
Maybe because of that, but the tension dispersed and the girl answered “yes!” cheerfully with a smile on her face.
The crowd who saw what happened, naturally began to applaud.
The princess answered the applause, by waving her hand whilst wearing a gentle smile.
Leaving aside small countries, in a large country like Jirgs, there aren’t that many chances for royalty to come into close contact with the citizens like this, the only thing would be, if she could wave her hand at them from the balcony of the royal palace.
However, princess Mirena broke that stereotype, ambitiously participating in matters within the country, like public projects, and ceremonies, even when a disaster within the country happens, she will keep getting involved with the public.
For that reason, it could be said that she had great support from the citizens.
This time too, she participated in a festival from another town, she was supposed to return to the capital after that, however, the consolidatory visit to this orphanage in Acken was unplanned and was only made possible, because of the princess’s strong wish, so they had to change their plans.
This is what Kail overheard, from the conversation of some onlookers.
And the princess without breaking her elegant posture, went into the orphanage with the children while having a smile on her face.
Since Kail and his party completed their objective of seeing the princess, they left the crowd in order to find an inn for today.
“Well~, it’s that thing called satisfaction, you know. To think we would be able to see the princess in a place like this.
Seran says cheerfully.
“Certainly she was an amazing beauty…… especially…… those were amazing….”
Thinking back about the princesses that didn’t look the same age as her with her chest, she stopped trying to compare it to hers since she was getting sad.
“She’ll become the queen of a country right? Then if it wasn’t like that wouldn’t she be unable to do it?”
Being an Elf, Urza didn’t know much about the monarch’s of humans, but just what is the princess, I felt something different from her, that other humans don’t possess.
The three of them were talking about princess Mirena, who they just saw, while walking, but Kail was behind them seeming as if he was thinking about something.
He begins to talk with a small voice to Sildonia at his side.
“And, there is no mistake, it’s that princess?”
“Yeah there’s no mistake…… according to my memories Princess Mirena perished at 16 years old, when she was returning to the capital from Acken.
Kail was looking at the orphanage behind him.
When princess Mirena who was called the “treasure of Jirgs” perished, the whole country grieved about it.
The cause was an attack by a magical beast, the one who attacked her was a reptile with eight snake heads, the powerful magic beast, Hydra.
A Hydra is only second to a dragon, and a small village would perish within a day if it was attacked.
Actually, there are many magic beasts in the forest next to Acken, from time to time, there are people who get attacked when they take the road through the forest.
And about one month ago, it seems people were attacked by a Hydra, close to the town of Acken.
Seems it was a terrible thing, so a large scale extermination party was sent to kill it, but in the end, they were unable to exterminate it, is what I heard on the road to Acken.
“…….. However it would’ve been better, if I could remember the details some more.”
When Kail first heard of this, as a citizen he thought it was a pity, but he wasn’t that sad for the princess he had never seen before.
The only things he remembered was; when princess Mirena was going back to the capital from the town of Acken, she was attacked by a Hydra, and perished.
I’m also not sure about the date but it was around the eighth month, or something like that.
“According to my memories, it was supposed to be a little later…… But it seems we were just in time.”
Right now we just entered the seventh month, I thought we could go about it leisurely, but we were on the borderline.
“Is it different than your memories?”
“That seems the most likely. Or the rumor changed a little before it went around Rimaze…… but it’s not as if I remember it clearly.”
Kail grumbles while scratching his head.
Because it was vague, I wanted to investigate the town of Acken beforehand, but now it doesn’t seem like I have the time for it.
“It’s not as if we didn’t make it, so it’s alright, we just have to take action immediately.”
“Well, of course.”
“However, I would never have imagined the imperial guards, and one whole corps of them at that, to stay here as bodyguards.”
If you think about it, the princess who is the first in line for the throne, is away from the capital, having imperial guards with her as guards, it’s something you can take for granted.
Just now, I already saw a few dozen of them, there is probably a whole corps of around hundred, who came to guard her close by.
Then I remember the one who looked like the captain, at the princess’s side.
“……. He was here, yet he let the princess die? Why did it become like that?”
“Was there an acquaintance or something?”
“Something……. like that.”
Kail was scowling, thinking he didn’t want to remember the unpleasant past.
Certainly a Hydra may be a formidable foe, but it isn’t likely that the Imperial guards let the princess die, even though a whole armed corps of them were there.
Furthermore, there isn’t any need to defeat it, they were supposed to get the princess away even if it meant using their own bodies as shields, that too is one of the roles of an Imperial guard.
“Either there was something unexpected, or the Hydra was simply just too strong…..”
We have to properly make preparations, Kail thought.
“By the way, it’s a simple question but can you win against a Hydra?”
“I have fought with one before, and easily beat it at the time. Well, it was just an eight headed one.”
A Hydra increases its body size and number of heads the longer it lives, becoming stronger.
It is said, that if it has more than ten heads, it’s stronger than an unskilled awakened dragon.
“The me right now, can beat ten heads and below. Also, it’s not like I’m going to fight alone. At that time everyone and the Imperial guards will be there too.”
We’ll manage somehow, is what Kail said.
“Fumu, it’s certainly so. The you right now will be alright, so long as you don’t fight alone against a Hydra with more than ten heads. Well, a situation like that probably won’t occur.”
“……..Can you please not say things like that?”
Kail shut Sildonia up since he was having a bad feeling about it.
When I decided to become a Hero, the first thing I thought about was the princess’s death.
Appearing when the princess’s life is in danger, and saving her.
It was the perfect way, almost like something that happens in an epic story.
If I really was thinking about the safety of princess Mirena, then it would be normal to warn her beforehand, but I can’t and I won’t.
Even if I warn her, I won’t know if she would believe me or not, it’s more likely that I’ll be restrained as a suspicious person.
And most important of all, it wouldn’t have any meaning.
If I don’t save the princess when she gets attacked, and if possible at the last minute, she won’t be thankful enough.
Probably, because of it, other victims will be produced, but there is no other way.
“I’m sorry, but I’ll be using you…..”
Kail left the guilt he felt in a corner of his heart and looked back at the orphanage, where the princess was, bitterly muttering those words.

Chapter 17 – Abnormal Situation 

“Well then, it seems like the question is: how I can coincidentally save the princess’s life.” Kail was pondering on the bed, while sitting cross legged. After that, Kail and his party found an inn, and now Kail is the only one in the room, together with Sildonia. The other three went out for things like shopping and strolls. “Is it bad if you just follow when the princess and company go out?” If it’s here, then it’ll be easy to know when they leave, is what Sildonia says This inn is the best one in the town of Acken, naturally the princess and her entourage are also staying here. Kail and his party, were staying at the second floor, the princess and company had bought the fourth and fifth floors, and you wouldn’t even be able to come close to the stairs. “That is only obvious, if it’s possible, I want to avoid being obvious about it.” Kail makes a frowning face, when he thinks about what would happen if they were caught. Until now, Kail wasn’t able to investigate as much as possible, about the princess’s movements. The detailed schedules of royalty, are affiliated with state secrets, it isn’t known for how long princess Mirena is going to stay in this town of Acken. Investigating that is a hassle, of course it’s also a felony. Even if you’re able to save the princess safely, even though the chance is small, they might ask why you were able to be there at the time, you know? Since it’ll be a bother if it’s investigated later on. That’s why I investigated the Hydra instead, all the places where he might appear. I’ll be on standby at a place where he might appear, is what I wanted to do, but it seems like I don’t have the time for that right now. “Even so, it isn’t likely that we’d just encounter it….. I don’t have another choice, after the princess leaves, I just have to follow her from behind.” When Kail was thinking he didn’t have another choice, Seran who went wandering outside returned. “Hey, I was investigating some things about the princess, and found out something interesting.” “……. And just why did you investigate the princess?” “Well you know, if I can, I would like to have a fated encounter with the princess. For that reason I was trying to find out about how she could get in a real life dangerous situation, where I spectacularly save her then our love would….. rather what happened? Did you hurt your head?” “No it’s just…… when I thought about how we were trying to do the same thing my heart broke a little……” The objective was different, but what they were trying to do was the same. “Well anyhow…… what were you saying about something interesting?” “Yeah, when I asked around about the employees of the princess to others. There was one guy that seemed as if he knew something, it was hard to get it out of him. But by putting some gold in his hands I was able to make him talk!…… Rather what happened? Did you hurt your head again?” Seeing my childhood friend who made all my worrying and planning for nothing, I made a deep sigh. “If you don’t think of a good excuse since there’s a chance you’ll be found out…. more importantly, what is the kind of interesting thing you heard about the princess?” “Well, it’s that maybe, because she’s the princess, but for the sake of security, it seems they’re going to leave at sunrise while the gate is still closed.” “What did you say? Are you sure about it?” “Yeah, certainly, the imperial guards were whispering about things like that.” Cities that have an outer wall like Acken, usually have their gates closed from sunset until a little after sunrise, so nobody can leave or enter. “Leaving before sunset tomorrow…..that was outside my expectations.” If I didn’t know about this, I may not come in time. “Even if there’s a chance for success…… anyway, thanks Seran. “Yeah? I don’t really get it, but if you’re in my debt for eternity, it’s alright.” “I’ll treat you to something tasty next time…… rather it might be time to leave Acken as soon as possible.” “Eh? We didn’t even stay one day, why such a hurry?” “I don’t have another choice, do I, in order for us to tail princess Mirena and company.” “What? Could it be we’re going to follow the princess, by any chance?” “Yeah, it seems like princess Mirena’s life is in danger……” “Alright, I understand! Going after beauties, is my specialty among my specialties! Leave it to me!” Seran said, with so much power you’d think it’d be impossible. The morning of the next day, just when the eastern sky was becoming bright, Kail and his party were laying in wait outside of the outer wall.
Yesterday, leaving Acken and making a camp nearby, taking turns as the lookout, they went to a location nearby the gate. “And, how are we going to do it? It’s useless if we get too close right?” Of course, I don’t want them to find out that we’re following them, and it would be meaningless if we were too far apart. “Hmm, this is where one of myself’s abilities come into play.” After she said that, Sildonia’s body gives off particles of light, and changes her form. After the light faded away, a magnificent bird, rather, a single giant hawk appeared. “Ah? W-What happened?” “Myself’s core is the jewel on the sword, this body, is a clone made up of magic power, meaning changing it, is but a simple thing.” Sildonia, who became a hawk, said proudly to Lize and the others, who were shocked. “Also……” When she said that, she flew high into the heavens. After waiting a little, a distant scene of landscape appeared, on the swords jewel. [Like this, I can project whatever the clone sees, through my core.] From the jewel, Sildonia’s bragging voice could be heard. At this, Urza and the others raised their voices in admiration. “How great, depending on how it’s used, it may be more useful than a powerful weapon.” “Yeah, this is useful right.” “I’m so jealous, you can peep all you want.” There are also magic tools, that can project distant places, however you can only see the place where it is installed. Seeing the landscape, while moving around, is something unthinkable, according to logic Thanks to Sildonia’s special ability Kail was saved many times by being able to grasp the situation within the war, the last time. With this, we’ll be able to see the princess, and the rest, from the skies and rush to their help with the perfect timing. “With this, we’ll be able the protect the princess, without any problems.” “The remaining part, is to find out in what kind of danger she’ll be.” “If it’s possible, I want to save her in a cool way. Hopefully……” “You guys, we’re going to follow the princess, so please be quiet……” Though Kail gave a warning to the three of them, who were continuing with their talk, in a corner of his heart he was grateful. The three of them immediately agreed, when Kail said something ridiculous like “I don’t know the specifics, but the princess is going to be in danger.” After Sildonia helped convincing them, they simply believed him, he was grateful they were coming along. Actually, Kail believed that Seran and Lize were would agree to help him, even if it was an unreasonable request. However, in reverse, Kail would be thankful if Lize and the others would lend their help without hearing the reason why. Kail took pride in the trusting relationship they had between them. That’s why he felt sorry for Urza, on that part. She has no reason to follow Kail, but like now, she is still accompanying us, even while wearing a sleepy face. (After things have calmed down, I’ll take her to a famous sweets shop in the capital.) When Kail was thinking that he was the only one who knew she had an unexpected sweet tooth, he heard Sildonia’s voice from the jewel of the sword. [I’ve located the carriage…… but there’s something strange about it.] At the moment, in the human-races territory within the continent, most of the highway’s are made by the ancient magic kingdom of Zars’ time, and they’re still being used now, a thousand years later. On the projection, we could see the well developed highway, on there, was a carriage moving onward, with the same crest we saw yesterday. [I can only see about ten guard like people around it. And they don’t seem to be the imperial guards we saw yesterday. Aren’t those the city guards?] “The imperial knights aren’t following? That’s impossible.” However, just as Sildonia said, only ten guards, that seemed to be the guards of Acken, were guarding the carriage.
[Also this path doesn’t seem to be the one that heads towards the capital.] “What do you mean when you say that?” Quickly taking out the map, in order to confirm it, it certainly seems there is a fork in the road, it was a path that went further into the forest, and beyond that was only a single village. “So, the name of the village is Sanes……. if I’m not mistaken it’s the village that was destroyed a month ago by a Hydra……” Sanes, is a village that produces wood from special trees, and it’s mainly a good forestry village, it was a village with no other features than that. Going this way, means that the destination can only be that village, but for what reason are they going there. “What is the meaning of this? It’s just a bunch of things I don’t understand…..” There are a lot of things I don’t understand, however if the carriage is going onward like this, then we don’t have another, so just like planned, we’re going to follow while keeping our distance. The sun is already high up in the sky, it happened around the midway point, between Sanes and Acken. [Oh, I guess an abnormal situation has occurred.] “What happened? Did a magic beast appear?” [No, the coachman stopped the horses and suddenly began to attack the guards.] “Hey, that’s abnormal enough!” Seran made the obvious retort, but ignoring that, Kail began to run at full strength. I went there at full speed, so it shouldn’t have taken much time, but, by the time I got there, most of the guards around the carriage were already cut down. What Kail saw, was probably the last guard showing no intention of surrendering, without caring for his life, getting stabbed ruthlessly. There were only two left standing, one was the coachman, and the other was an attendant who came out of the carriage, both of them had drawn swords in their hands. The man wearing the clothes of a coachman turned around and looked this way, thinking it was a chance, Kail raised his speed by casting【Haste】without a chant. At a time like this, he was thankful for the leather armor that didn’t make much sound while moving around. The other one that found Kail’s presence, warned his comrade, but he was a breath too late. Kail was behind the man who looked like a coachman, grabbing his dominant arm, that held his sword, and swung Sildonia who was in sword form down. Since he was hit with the blunt part of the sword, his arm didn’t get severed, but as if his bones were completely crushed, the man that looked like a coachman drops his sword and groans painfully on his knees. Furthermore, Kail throws a sharp kick onto his flank. The coachman’s whole body was sent flying, and after he hit the ground he started rolling away, and just when you thought he stopped, he could no longer move. Having taken down one completely, Kail headed toward the attendant like man. Seeing his comrade being taken down instantly by an interloper when they thought the job was done shocked him, but the attendant like man recovered and held up his sword. “Kail!” Seran’s voice could be heard, somehow it was a voice without tension in this situation. “Leave the princess to me!” While giving a thumbs up, Seran slipped past the two of them, and ran at full speed toward the carriage. I won’t let you go, is what the attendant like man said, trying to catch Seran. “Hey, I’m the one that’s not going to let you go.” Kail receives the attack with the lower side of his sword. “You two, go after Seran…… I’ll come, after taking care of this guy.” Without losing sight of the man in front of him, Kail tells the two that just came down, to go on. It seemed like Urza wanted to say something, but Lize immediately went to the carriage, so Urza after being dazed for a moment, ran to the carriage. “Well then….. it’s been some time since a battle with my life on the……” Kail started to swing his sword with a fearless smile. Syncing his breathing with his slash unexpectedly, he felt that he cut through something. Having movements that seemed as if he received special training, having a pile of combat experience, Kail thought he would have enough skill to fight against him. “Who are you? Why are you doing something like this?” He was not expecting an answer to that obvious question. “…………” To the question, the attendant like man, stayed silent.
“That is princess Mirena’s carriage. These are actions to take the princess’s life…… is how I can interpret them right? If that’s the case, seeing you trying to deal with an unexpected interloper like me, means that the plan failed.” This is a questioning, to see his reactions. Like before, he doesn’t answer, but I could clearly feel his impatience. Probably, the best thing this man can do right now, is to kill Kail quickly and go to where the other three are. However, this interloper is stronger than expected, he understood he was even stronger than himself, when he was crossing blades just now. Do I go on, or do I flee, hesitation was showing on the man’s face. Without missing that hesitation, Kail shows an opening on purpose. Not letting the chance get away, the man put a lot of strength in his blow in order to end it with that attack. Kail dodged the attack by a hair’s breadth, letting it graze only some of his hair. Kail who without breaking his posture dodged the attack, in reverse the man broke his posture, when he swung his sword, he could not defend against the sword that swung down on the wrist of his sword hand. “Gua!” While still holding the sword the hand flew in arc through the air. Grabbing his wound on instinct, the man felt great pain, the hand fell down somewhere in the bushes. Kail bound the man from behind with a rope, and stopped the bleeding from his hand. [You certainly are skilled.] :”Well, since I’m used to it.” In the past, when fighting against the Demon race, treating wounds like these were an everyday thing, so I got used to it. “Well then, guess this is okay for now…… since there are a lot of things I want to ask these guys.” Killing them would have been easier but in order to understand the situation I wanted to catch them alive. It’s alright to say that the current situation is full of questions. Why are the imperial guards not here, the identity of these two, and what their objectives are, and finally, how is princess Mirena at the moment…… Thinking I had to confirm it, I went towards the carriage, when Urza walked toward me. “Has it ended?” “Yeah, more importantly is the princess alright?” “If it’s about that, it’s alright. We went inside the carriage and there didn’t seem to be any wounds however……” At that time, Kail and Urza felt a slight shaking and sound. Looking at the place the sound came from, a tree falls down, then all the birds in the area flew away as if they were fleeing from something. “……This sound is.” [Yeah, it’s exactly what you’re thinking it is.] From the jewel Sildonia’s voice can be heard. Kail quickly analyses the current situation. The first idea was to get away from this place, but that would mean to give up on the captured ones, and it also means to give up on the wounded and fallen guards. Also, that was quicker than he expected, even if he ran normally, he wasn’t sure if they could get away or not. Foremost, in order to let the princess escape, there is no other choice than to use the carriage. “It’s no use, the reins were cut off. It’s going to take a while in order to repair them.” Not knowing whether the timing was good or bad, Seran’s voice could be heard coming from the carriage. Hearing his voice, Kail made his resolve and gives out orders. “You three, defend the carriage. Other magic beasts may appear!” At the moment, princess Mirena’s safety is our first priority, it would be bad if she got injured. Furthermore, there may be more comrades of these two that might aim for the princess’s life. “However, you alone….. against that?” When seeing it come closer, Urza’s face began to lose its color. “I won’t try the impossible and there is a chance of victory. Making a calm judgement, I think that this is the best way. Please go.” “……I believe in you, so don’t die.” Urza said that, with a painful face and voice, heading to the carriage. Seeing Urza’s back, Kail laughed a little, but still the sounds became louder and louder, looking at the trees at the side of the highway. Pushing aside the trees, and appearing in a grand manner, what appeared was something even first class adventurers want to avoid, fighting with a Hydra. The swaying numbers, were about twelve or thirteen, I guess.
“While facing the Hydra that was larger than his home back at Rimase, Kail began to complain ‘having a bad feeling, strangely hit the jackpot’.”

Chapter 18 – Hydra

There are a few reasons as to why a Hydra is feared by others. First of all, the giant body of the beast enables it to deal attacks with high destructive power, its specialty would be attacking at the same time with its many heads. Even though it only has one body, it feels as if you’re up against many different enemies at the same time. Also, its strong scales and thick skin will repel any average attack, furthermore it can also attack with poisonous breath. However to Kail, those things weren’t that much of a danger. No matter how powerful and fast it may be, as long as it has the intelligence of a beast, there will be a pattern in the attack, so it´ll be easy after understanding what it is. Being able to dodge the attack by predicting it is easy enough, and its ability to use its heads in a simultaneous attack is useless against Kail, since he’s used to fighting against greater numbers. Its poisonous breath should originally be the most dangerous, however Kail´s dragon leather armor has the function to nullify most of the poison, so there wasn’t any reason to care about it. Its defensive power with its scales and skin, were also no problem to Kail. “Take that!” Dodging the attack of the snake head, that could swallow up a human body in one go, he slashes against the neck of the snake together with a yell. With the famed sword Sildonia and Kail’s skills combined, they were able to easily cut off the snake’s head which fell down like a big tree. This made the fourth snake head that was cut down, Kail only got some scratches, so it seemed like Kail was dominating the fight. [Hmm, it’s easier than I imagined. I thought he’d put up a little more resistance.] Sildonia in sword form, said it, as if she were amazed. “It’s also a surprise to me. it seems that my body has become stronger than I imagined.” I had body strengthening magic cast on myself, but I’m happy that the miscalculation let me fight the Hydra this easily. But, however. “Even so, I’m at a loss here.” In Kail’s sight, was the part of the first snake head that was cut off, but there was already a new head being regenerated. The most annoying part of a Hydra, is its life force and regeneration. Even normal magic beasts can heal from a life threatening wound over time, it’s not only the wound itself, but also the part that was lost that heals. “As expected, the regeneration is annoying.” I was winning, but I don’t have any way to definitely kill it. Even so, if I keep dealing damage, it should fall down after some time, but in this situation where there might be more enemies, I can’t take my time and have to end it quickly. The only way to kill a Hydra with its regenerative abilities is to instantly kill it, but dealing a fatal wound that would kill with a sword is hard because of its size. It’s magic, Kail thought of being able to deal a fatal wound with attack magic, but that would not have any meaning, as it would just recover. An attack magic that could kill it instantly has to be higher than high level magic, but Kail can’t use any at the moment. “It would have been better if I trained my magic a little more.” In the first place, Kail’s specialty isn’t attack magic, it’s auxiliary type magic. Because of not having enough magic power, leaving aside high level magic, Kail couldn’t even use mid level attack magic, even if he used it in battle, leaving aside human opponents it wouldn’t even scratch most of the demon race, so he just took them down with his sword. Now that the problem of having a shortage of magic power has been solved, Kail could even use the highest level of magic, but right now he had his hands full with training his body, so he still hadn’t trained his magic at all. [It’s no use to complain about what you don’t have. It’s also important to fight with what you have on hand you know.] “I know without having you tell me. Moreover, compared to that time, I’m feeling rather blessed right now.” While he says that, Kail grabs a bunch of magic stones from his pocket filled with the attack magic:【Explosion】.
“No matter how strong your life force may be, you’ll collapse if I destroy you from within.” No matter how much the Hydra regenerates, it’s not as if the number of heads increase. Kail’s gaze was aimed at the part of the body, where the snake heads were attached. However the Hydra knows what its own weak part is. For a while now, Kail has been trying to get close to it’s weak part, but the snake heads have been getting in the way. In order to reach its weak point, I first have to get past more than ten snake heads first. “…… Guess I’ll have to use that.” Kail makes a back step, and increases the distance between him and the Hydra. Since its regeneration will go down when it moves, it didn’t go after Kail and waited for its lost head to regenerate.
Dropping his waist, as if aiming for the Hydra, he aims his sword. “…………【Haste】!” Concentrating, the activation period was only for a moment, just raising my speed, I once again cast the magic that raises my speed beyond my limit. Kail who was originally good in auxiliary magic, could easily use the magic by finely controlling it. Just at the moment the Hydra finished regenerating all of his heads and began a lunge towards Kail. Breathing in deeply, together with a compact yell, he made a rush with all of his body and soul. A rush that destroyed the ground with every step – that speed – surpassing the Hydra’s speed and reflexes. The snake wasn’t able to react to it, Kail stabbed his sword into the main body of the snake. After a dull sound of being stabbed in the stomach resounded, the Hydra lost to a human that was only a hundredth of its weight while rushing at each other. After stepping backward the snake heads let out screams of pain while vomiting blood.
Simply put, using magic to raise his speed to the limit, using the force of his rush in a simple attack where he just collided with the enemy. However, it is powerful because it is simple, when used against a human opponent he would’ve been turned into pieces of meat. But even among magic beasts the giant Hydra had an overwhelming life force, this attack may have gravely injured it, but couldn’t finish it off. Kail was moving his sword around, as if to gouge the flesh around it, then he pulled out his sword and powerfully put his left hand into the hole. When his upper arm was inside, one of the snake heads recovered from the shock, and attacked Kail from the side. While his arm was stuck he had no way to dodge, he was sent flying into the ground, but immediately recovered his posture. He felt a surge of pain going through his body, normally his bones would have been crushed, but he only suffered severe bruises at most. “Ouch…… But still, I’m glad I bought this armor.” While Kail was yet again impressed by the defensive capability of this armor, he sheathed his sword and broke his combat posture. Even when the Hydra was coming at him in a blind rage. Just when the snake head’s fangs were going to reach Kail, at that moment the Hydra exploded. “Alright, it went well.” Making a guts pose while clenching his fist. If Kail just threw the magic stones with 【Explosion】, it wouldn’t have caused much damage, because of the scales and thick skin, but he just put them inside the Hydra’s body through the wound. If an explosion happens within the body, defensive power doesn’t have anything to do with it; as expected, having more than half of its body blown away, the Hydra was eliminated. [So you won. It’s truly praise worthy for you, to beat a twelve headed Hydra one on one…… By the way what was that move you used just now? It had a lot of power.] “It’s called ‘Shukuchi’.” It was something Kail invented on his own, and didn’t have a name, but when someone from an island nation in the east saw it he called it ‘Shukuchi’ in surprise, so I’ve been calling it that since then. “Well, it’s a technique based only on speed and strength. Since it takes some time to prepare, it would work against a magic beast, but wouldn’t work on skilled fighters.” If the fight isn’t finished with this attack, it’ll leave a big opening, so it’s a technique that isn’t used much. “For now, my body can keep up with the magic I use, so I tried using it…… but still, even if I did this myself, it’s still horrible.” Looking around, a large amount of flesh and organs were splattered about in the forest, with blood everywhere – because of the explosion, it had become a horrible sight. Furthermore, it stinks, it originally smelt like rotten fish, but because of the explosion, it smelled like burned rotten fish with some blood on top. “……They won’t get mad, right?” The once white royal Carriage, was now covered in blood with some flesh and organs on the roof, Kail’s face twitched a little because of this sight. “An act of god, an act of god”, while trying to convince myself of this I drew closer to the carriage, there I saw felled several large-sized wolf-like magical beasts, called hellhounds, in the surroundings of the carriage. A few had their heads crushed, others were burned to death, so it seems like Lize and the others did this. “So, these guys also attacked us…. but, this is weird right?” Magic beasts usually have their own territory, so it’s rare when different races appear at the same place. Especially here, when there was a Hydra this close by, so having the weak Hellhounds appear is abnormal. “Kail! So you were alright?” The ones who probably beat the Hellhounds, Urza and Lize, walked toward me. “To think you’d really beat a Hydra….. how amazing.” Urza groans, as if she can’t believe I really did it. “Of course, something like a Hydra isn’t a match for me!” I say a little proudly to the two. “But, if you could, couldn’t you have beat it in another way?” While looking around, Lize said it in an annoyed tone. “…… I’m repenting on it a little.” Well, I thought it was a good idea, when I came up with it, Kail said. “Also, Kail, you stink terribly.”
Kail who was bathed in the Hydra’s blood had a bad smell on himself. “…. Is that so?” “I’m sorry, but please don’t come near me until the smell is gone.” Urza and Lize were stepping away from Kail, while furrowing their eyebrows. Kail who dropped his shoulders a little, backed away from the carriage. [……You wanted them to praise you a little more didn’t you.] “Shut up.” Kail who became a little sad, got a water bucket and began to wash his head. Inside the carriage were three women. One was princess Mirena whom we saw yesterday, today she was wearing a white dress. The others were probably her handmaidens; one of them was a little girl of about ten years old, and the other was a woman who looked a little older than princess Mirena. All three of them were sleeping against each other within the carriage. “To think they’d be sleeping in this situation, they really don’t have a sense of danger.” Seran said, with a voice that held both admiration and tiredness. “No… it seems the three of them were put to sleep with drugs.” Urza says, while seeing the princess and the other two. “Let’s use some magic medicine, that would dispel the effect of most drugs.” “I understand.” Urza takes out some magic medicine, and fed it to the three of them. “Ah, Kail take a look at this. It was left at the driver’s seat.” What Seran showed me, was a bag made of old leather, with a magic circle on it, the bag was tightly closed. “This is…….a bag that summons magic beasts?” “Yeah, and it was made by some powerful guy.” The organs of a magic beast can be used in order to make medicine, if it’s a big one, the bones and claws can become ingredients for weapons. Depending on the type of magic beast, you may earn a fortune, so there are adventurers that specialize in hunting magic beasts. Like that, in order to lure monsters, they use a special monster summoning bag, that baits them with the smell they like. And this bag, has a powerful smell that can bait Hellhounds and even the Hydras. “So they tried to lure out magic beasts with this. And then they tried to attack the princess……” The princess was put to sleep, so she didn’t have any chance to run away. The ones who set it up, were probably those two, this means that princess Mirena’s death was not because of an accidental attack by magic beasts, but an assassination disguised as one. “Anyway, since the reins are fixed, let’s move the carriage.” “I see, well then……” Thinking whether to return to Acken or not, for the sake of the princess’s safety, at that moment princess Mirena slowly opened her eyes. “Oh…… Am I still alive?” When she opened her eyes, princess Mirena asked as if she were surprised. “I thought I wouldn’t open my eyes again…… But it seems luck is on my side for now.” Rather than it being said to someone, it was more like a confirmation for herself. At that time, she finally looked at Kail and the others for the first time. “Are you the ones that saved me?” “Yes. My name is Kail, Kail Leonard. In the middle of our journey we saw that princess Mirena’s carriage was attacked by thugs and magic beasts, we decided to help out.” While sitting on one knee, Kail was bowing down, and said the line he prepared beforehand. “Thank you very much. If you all didn’t pass by, then my life surely would have been lost.” At that time, the elder maid woke up and after she saw Kail and the others, she stood before the princess in order to protect her on reflex. “It is alright, these people seem to be the ones that saved us.” At the princess’s words, she let down her guard a little, but it seems like the maid was trained in martial and magic arts, so without alerting them she watched Kail and the others. When princess Mirena was trying to go outside, she was stopped by Kail. “The danger has already passed hasn’t it?” “That is so, but well…… how do I say this, the surroundings are in a terrible situation right now.” It was a situation where it was alright to say he was bluffing with all he had. “I do not mind, since I have to see to it with my own eyes.” Princess Mirena left the carriage, but as expected she couldn’t stay motionless in this situation, where everything was covered by the corpses of humans and magic beasts. As expected, she looked at the Hydra that had a giant hole in it, but without losing her cool she looked over the field. “I have grasped most of the current situation. This is the halfway point between Acken and Sanes, is that not so?” “Wha-, yes, just as you have said……” I wonder if it can be called a strange destructive power, feeling a weird kind of awesomeness, confused Kail. “It kind of feels different than the impression from yesterday.” “Yeah, it’s as if she’s another person.” When Lize and Urza were whispering to each other, Sildonia talks to Kail in a voice that only he can hear. [Kail, a cavalry unit is coming from the direction of Acken. This time there is no mistake that it’s the Imperial knights.] Even now, Sildonia’s hawk clone was surveying the area.
“I understand…… Princess Mirena, it seems the Imperial knights are heading this way from Acken.” “So they finally show up.” “This will make things easier.”, the moment Seran said that, princess Mirena spoke up in a sharp voice. “You may not! If we do not leave from here immediately, those knights coming here, will kill me, and of course, all of you too.” “Eh? No they’re the Imperial Guards…… why would they?” “The assassination this time that was aimed at me, the mastermind behind it was the second in command of the Imperial knights Zentos.” “Wha…….Zentos……Is?” Kail became speechless. “Aruca! Burn the surrounding corpses!” Kail and the others, as if doubting their ears, saw the maid called Aruca perform fire magic without hesitation. “Their objective is my death, for that reason they shall have to make sure as long as there are corpses in this place. If they are all burnt to a crisp they shouldn’t be able to determine it immediately. Right now, buying time by any means is most important.” It was a matter of fact, but princess Mirena’s simple explanation was totally different from her image when she was in Acken, Aruca had already started to burn the bodies with【Fireball】, a flame magic. “Ninos is together with me inside the carriage, Aruca will be the coachman.” The younger maid, Ninos would follow the order but Aruca was disagreeing. “But to leave from Mirena-sama’s side……” “Being the coachman is an important job. You have to take care of the surroundings and it’s something I can only ask of you.” “……Yes.” Saying she doesn’t have another choice, Aruca went to the driver’s seat. “You all must also come inside quickly, I shall explain the situation.” Princess Mirena says while facing Kail and the others. For a moment, Kail and the others were confused, but thinking it’d be better to listen to her they went into the carriage. Then Seran made a face, as if he had thought up a plan, opening the magic beast summoning bag “There!” and threw it in the area of the Hydra’s corpse. “If we have to buy time, then it’d be better that the magic beasts do it for us. If another Hydra comes along, then it’d be even better.” Seran said it, while having the smile of a prankster brat on his face. After everyone was on the carriage, they once again went toward the village of Sanes. Not like the slow travelling from before, it was at full speed, in order to outrun them.

Chapter 19 – Plot 

On one side of the forest was a highway, it was a long, straight road, and one carriage was running on it at full speed.
Compared to a normal horse, the Sleipnir that is pulling this carriage surpasses them in endurance, speed, and strength, even if they’re pulling this large carriage, as long as they go at this speed, the Imperial knights won’t catch up to us.
Inside the carriage was Kail’s party of four, and the princess, together with the young maid Ninos, the six of them were sitting face to face.
Since it’s a big carriage, there isn’t any problem, even if the six of us are sitting in it, as expected of a carriage of the royal family, even though we’re travelling at this speed, there are almost no sounds or vibrations coming through.
“First of all, once again, I want to thank you for what you have done. If all of you weren’t there at that time, then I would not be alive right now.”
Princess Mirena deeply bowed her head.
The maid Ninos, who was beside her, refrained saying anything about her master bowing her head to others, though she felt dissatisfied, since she also got her life saved by them, she also bowed her head to them.
It wasn’t much, but Kail and the others have already introduced themselves, and explained the situation.
But they only told them their names, and that they met them coincidentally at that place.
“Are you sure that Ze…… were you speaking the truth, when you said that the second knight captain was the one that planned this?”
“Yes, it is like that. And the one that ordered him to do it, was my half brother, prince Kalnas.”
“Pr-Prince Kalnas you say!?”
Kail was speechless once again.
Certainly, after the princess’s death, there was hostility within the country behind the scenes, there were all kinds of rumors saying that prince Kalnas, who was younger but was lower in the line to the throne, because he was a half blood, assassinated her, or that the demon race was involved with it, such rumors were spread everywhere.
However, rumors are just rumors, it calmed down after a while, and the princess’s death was treated as an unfortunate accident, Kail also believed that they were just rumors.
“Umm, in other words, this is the so called family feud over the throne….. is it not?”
“Yes, it is exactly that.”
“Wow….”
Receiving an unexpected answer to her question, Lize’s head began to hurt.
“Are you…… absolutely certain that it is no mistake?”
“Yes, since I heard it from the person himself last night.”
“Eh? Was prince Kalnas here, in Acken? Because if he was, then the rumor certainly didn’t spread around the town.”
“Yes, he came. But I think it’s only natural he didn’t stand out. After all I’m here.”
Princess Mileina who said it as if it were only natural.
“Last night, after Zentos gave me some medicine, which made me a little hazy, my brother explained what he was planning to do in full detail.”
This is what the scenario was.
Hearing that a village close to this one, was attacked by a Hydra, the princess wanted to pay a consolatory visit, naturally the Imperial guards were against it, since the danger of magic beasts appearing was high.
However, without giving up, the princess took a few guards of the town, and left before dawn, when the Imperial guards went after her, they were already too late, since she had an unfortunate meeting with magic beasts, and thus lost her life…..Is the kind of scheme he made up.
“I see….. even if princess Mirena changes her plans, you made use of your plans to reach out to the heart of the citizens.
Like at the orphanage yesterday, and when Kail said this, Seran who was quiet until now, as if he was thinking about something, spoke up.
“I remember now. I thought I saw her somewhere, but that kid is the one that was trying to give a flower yesterday, at the orphanage, right?”
Seran pointed at the maid Ninos, who made a surprised face.
“Oh, so you were watching that? I have my maid change her clothes for that.”
But I’m surprised you were able to notice that, is what princess Mileina said, a little shocked.
“Since she was a cute child, I was certain she’d be a beauty in the future, so I paid extra attention.”
Seran said it to Ninos, with a smile, but she made a disgusted face and hid her body.
“In other words……that was planned.”
Helping a little girl who fell down up, it may be simple, but it has a great effect.
So if it was planned from the beginning, then that means it wasn’t an accident, but something done on purpose.
“In order to gain popularity, such deceit is needed.”
Seeing princess Mirena laughing in a classy manner with her hand in front of her mouth, Kail thought of an old proverb: ‘Like a devil smiling as an angel’
“Hey, she just said gaining popularity.”
I have the feeling, that the more we know, the more we don’t want to know more….”
[Well, for those with a political position, popularity is important.]
“……. It seems like there is more about human politics, than I thought.”
The sword Sildonia, Seran, and the others began to whisper to each other.
Of course, since we’re inside the carriage, we could hear everything clearly, but princess Mirena went on with her explanation, without minding it.
“I already knew that my brother possessed such desires. But I left him be, since I judged that he didn’t have the power to actually put his word into action.”
“Ummm…. does that mean he isn’t outstanding?”
“Yes, getting straight to the point, he is incompetent. It is alright to call him useless, for not being able to even fulfill his duties as royalty.”
Princess Mirena ignored Kail’s concern about the royal family without hesitation.
“However, the second Zentos sided with him, the situation changed drastically. He is outstanding, and also well respected.”
“But how could such a useless piece of…… I mean, how could prince Kalnas gain captain Zentos and the other knights as his comrades?”
To Kail’s question, princess Mirena shakes her head.
“No, the ones following my brother, are probably only Zentos, or at most, a small fraction of the second knight squad.
“Then does that mean that most of the Imperial knights are just following their superior’s orders?”
Seran said, surprised.
“Yes, I do not know whether they are doubting something, or not. But just that would be enough.”
“Just think a little more for yourselves….”
Seran complains, but it was none other than princess Mirena that denied him.
“If the soldiers were to think for themselves, the army would not function and fall apart. they who listen to their captain’s orders and move for the country’s sake as Imperial knights, it is the right thing to do. Putting your personal feelings before your mission, is absolutely not allowed within the Imperial knights, it may never happen.”
“However, does that mean they would listen? Being ordered to kill the current princess…..”
“They will. If the captain tells them it is a secret mission from the king, they would have no choice, but to accept it.”
They were probably told that the princess has sinned greatly, even though she may be royalty, by revolting or that she is dealing with another country, but having the princess, who is popular with the whole country, being executed would lead to a revolt, so they had monsters do the work, so it was just a matter of passing the order along to the subordinate Imperial knights.
If the captain, who receives orders directly from the king, were to order them, no matter what it may be, the knights have no other choice but to accept.
“……. That’s why, except for the captain himself, the other knights do not have any reason to know of it, only the truly loyal get chosen for this position. The second commander of the Imperial knights Zentos Orudi, was supposed to be a knight that was worthy enough…..”
Even now, princess Mirena is still shaking her head, not accepting the situation.
“In the first place, Zentos was placed as my brother’s knight, to oversee his actions, so he wouldn’t do anything stupid, that’s why he became his direct subordinate. Thus, I did not suspect Zentos of anything in the least. The moment he became his comrade, I had already lost….. in other words I made a grave mistake in reading the situation.”
Princess Mirena, seemed to be heartbroken, but without showing it on his face, Kail was feeling the same thing.
Kail had met both prince Kalnas and Zentos in his previous life, and the two of them were exactly as princess Mirena described them.
An assassination for the throne, in a way, the death of the princess was such a simple thing, but Kail had totally let the idea slip past him.
Kalnas and Zentos, since he knew the two of them, he kept filling his head that there was no way he could do it, and that there was no way he would do it.
(A failure upon knowing it, I guess….)
The princess’s death was because of an accident with magic beasts, it was a failure not doubting it at all.
“Of course, it is not as if I didn’t have a plan, I had a proper plan before this happened. I was planning to stay at Acken for two more days, in that time, the Imperial guards fifth platoon was supposed to arrive and I was planning to return to the capital with them.”
The Imperial guards fifth platoon is traditionally an imperial knight platoon, made up of only women, in Jirgs they are called the most cheerful platoon and having the most tales told about them, it was so famous that there were many plays about this platoon.
“The captain of the fifth platoon, Kiruren, is a direct attendant of my mother, so I have trust in her. Whenever I leave the capital, they are always with me, but they are very popular so, they are recalled to their base many times.”
Then princess Mirena let out out a small sigh.
“This time too, they got recalled in order to receive an important guest. So as their replacement, the second platoon and their captain Zentos, were sent. Since after Kiruren, I trusted Zentos the most….. now that I think about it, I found it strange that my brother tagged along without reason.”
“I see, I understand most of the current situation….. so the question is what we’ll be doing from now on.”
“Having the other side giving up since they failed….. Is impossible, as expected right.”
When Seran said that, Kail answers, that it was out of the question.
“Since the plan, ‘using magic beasts’ failed, they have no choice but to think of other ways. It’d probably be something like, ‘princess Mirena being kidnapped by an unknown group’. Then when they eliminate the thugs that kidnapped the princess, she was already dead….. is what they would think of.”
“Yes, I also think it’ll be like that. The second knight platoon, is probably going after the kidnapped me, in order save me…… Is what they will say.”
Princess Mirena agrees with Kail’s idea.
“Kidnappers? Who are you talking about……. wait could it be?”
When Seran pointed at himself, he made a face, as if he had eaten something bitter, and Kail nodded.
“Then is it that? We suddenly became evil villains that kidnapped the princess all of a sudden?”
“Yes, it’s like that, and just the kind of evil the guards will slaughter, when they find it.”
Then, as if suddenly realizing it, Kail looked at princess Mirena.
“So it’s like that….. by explaining the situation like this, you’ve given us nowhere to run, haven’t you?”
“Yes. “
Princess Mirena said it without an inch of guilt,.
“Running away for a day, until the fifth platoon finds us, would be impossible for only the three of us. Earnestly said, the only ones I can depend on, are Kail-sama and the others.
The reason why princess Mirena explained the whole situation like that about the royal family, was in order to have Kail and the others understand the whole situation.
Not explaining a way for prince Kalnas to let Kail and the others live, but rather not that they know the whole situation they have to be killed is what it means.
For example ditching the princess and running away, if we did that we would be blamed for the assassination and wanted posters would be spread everywhere, only an endless chase can be imagined after that.
In other words, for Kail and the others to be saved, would mean they have to safely bring princess Mirena back to the capital, and prove their innocence.
“We are already on a way road. Let us do our best and survive.”
Princess Mirena, made a smile that was said to even captivate demons.
Apparently, she wasn’t just clever, but also had some mental toughness.
Kail thought, that he had to think she was reliable at times like these.
“Well, in the first place, abandoning the princess and the others wasn’t an option for me…..”
“Oh, what do you mean by that?”
“Actually, the attendant and coachman, were probably Imperial knights in disguise, I was planning to interrogate them for later, and let them live however….. well, I forgot to take them along.”
It may be because that was how much the thing about Zentos shocked him, but they have probably told the others about Kail so he can’t escape now.
“Well, this just means that all of you cannot abandon us and run away on your own.”
Princess Mirena put her hands together, and happily said that, Kail could only bring about some dry laughter.
“Of course, if we safely arrive at the capital I promise to reward all of you. If you wish for it then status or becoming a knight will be…..”
“No, I want neither gold nor fame. If possible I would like HONOR“
“……. What a strange wish, is it not.”

Chapter 20 – Breakthrough

The sun was slowly sinking into the horizon, it was almost evening, and the carriage was progressing smoothly.
If we progress without problem like this, we’ll arrive at the village of Sanes, no, we’ll end up there.
“If it becomes like that, we’ll be trapped like some rats in a bag.”
Kail groaned, while looking at the map.
The highway we’re currently on, only goes as far as the village of Sanes.
If it becomes like that, we won’t be able to use the carriage anymore.
It may be because of this flow, but we only had one objective.
“If we clearly look at the situation, our advantage is, that if we buy enough time, help will come our way.”
The help princess Mirena was talking about, was the fifth platoon of the Imperial guards, who are said to arrive between tomorrow morning and noon.
“When Kiruren and the others notice that I am not in Acken, they will immediately go out to find me…….. Even if it’s to the village of Sanes, they should arrive around tomorrow evening.”
“How probable is it that they will be given fake information at Acken?”
“That would be impossible. If either my brother or Zentos were to say anything, they would only be seen with suspicion for later investigation. In the first place, if I had died, then they would have no need to do that.”
At this point, their plan contains many flaws, is what princess Mirena said.
“If those girls arrive, then combat prowess wise, we would be even. And the one that would be bothered if it became a fight, would be their side.”
In other words, if we can hold on until tomorrow evening, then we’ll be saved.
“Then that means, the other side must be getting impatient….”
Now we’ll have to think of a way, to buy time until then.
“What if we take refuge in the village of Sanes and make our stand there?”
Kail shakes his head to Seran’s idea.
“It would be better if we don’t. They would just silence the whole village.”
“Wha- seriously?”
“Yeah, They have already done this much. If it’s just one village with one or two hundred villagers at most, then they would just simply silence them all. Then it’ll only be a matter of giving a magic beast or evil kidnapper the blame.”
“A mass silencing and a massive blame. How forced.”
Seran complained.
“How about escaping into the forest?”
The one who proposed it was Urza, who’s familiar with forests.
To an Elf, a forest is like a garden they’re used to, with Urza’s cooperation, it should be possible to run away.
But if we were to do that, then we would have to leave the carriage behind.
When looking at the princess and the others – and no matter how you look at it, the princess whom we have to protect the most – is clearly not suited to walk through the forest.
“I apologize, however my stamina is equal or below that of an average citizen. If we were to escape through the forest, then I would certainly become a deadweight.”
Since it was not the time for strong acts or lies, princess Mirena told us about herself.
Also, if we were to enter the forest, the danger of meeting magic beasts will become even more so when it’s night.
“If we were to name a problem, it would be when fire is used.”
“Fire…… certainly a forest fire would be troublesome.”
“If they’re out of time, then they would certainly try something like that.”
“And, they’re probably going to blame us for everything.”
Urza said it while making a sigh.
And as expected it would hurt to abandon this carriage.
Of course, because of its mobility, but also because of its durability, worthy of being owned by the royal family, combined with its weight, size, and the Sleipnir’s strength, it becomes a powerful weapon, but most of all, the carriage itself, can protect princess Mirena’s life.
If we were to abandon it, retrieval would become impossible.
The situation has a lot of negative sides, but it doesn’t only have negative sides, it also has some positive sides.
[The knights are still coming after us. their number is about eighty like before.]
A report from Sildonia is received. Her hawk clone is observing the knights from the skies like before, Kail was thankful that he was able to observe the knights so easily like this.
“It is handy isn’t it, that intelligent sword.”
Princess Mirena said it, as if she were impressed.
‘Intelligent sword’ is a sword that has intelligence and is a type of magic life form.
We told the princess and the others that we found Sildonia in some ancient ruins, and that she has excellent searching abilities.
After thinking for a while, Kail says it without wavering.
“It may be dangerous, but it would be better if we turned around.”
“Return? You couldn’t possibly mean to Acken right?”
“Leaving a village aside, Acken has thousands of people in it. Silencing all of them would be impossible.”
“Certainly, if we are able to escape into Acken, then they would have a hard time finding us, since there are many places to hide, however…….”
“Also, we’ll be able to join with our allies, the fifth platoon, even faster. At the latest, noon, if we’re lucky, Mirena-sama’s safety can be assured by morning.”
“However….. that would mean, we would have to go through the knights coming after us. Do you have a good way of doing this?”
This highway is a one-way road, if we were to return to Acken, that would mean we would clash with the knights coming after us.
“No, there is no need to either fool or bypass them. We will break through the front.”
“…..Yes? Ummm……. you have heard that there are eighty knights have you not?”
For a moment, Mirena made a face that said, just what is this person going on about, but when she saw Kail was being serious her face became confused.
Of course, from all the plans Kail thought up, he deemed this one the one with the highest chance of being saved.
And most of it, could be called a breakaway.
Kail asks Sildonia.
“And, you’re certain that Zentos isn’t with them?”
[Yeah, the guy that was next to the princess yesterday, right? I checked it a few times, but without mistake he isn’t there.]
“I see….. More than anything, that’s good news.”
The cavalries leader Zentos, isn’t with them.
I do not know for what reason this is, but we’re lucky that Zentos isn’t with them.
“Then we have more than enough chance for victory. The only thing left is to find a suitable place to confront them.”
While saying that, Kail took some magic medicine and magic stones from his bag, while making a jingling sound.
“Well.”
Princess Mirena sees the number of magic stones and had a surprised face.
Just this mountain of magic stones would cost a hefty sum by itself.
“Mirena-sama, please take some magic medicine with you for insurance’s sake. In the slightest chance you are injured, please drink it immediately.
It was something that Mirena remembered seeing before, it was a magic medicine with high level healing magic, that would be able to heal almost any wound, as long as you were alive.
Royalty always have one on them, for the ‘what if’ chance they got injured, but Mirena’s was probably taken when she was put to sleep.
Of course, its price is accordingly high, it was a price that could be said to buy someone’s life.
“…………”
Princess Mirena once again looked at Kail and his party.
Since she didn’t really have the leisure to think about it that deeply, but these adventurers were able to beat two Imperial knights and slay a Hydra.
Furthermore, from what they said, it seems the Hydra was killed in a one on one.
And the mass of magic stones and medicine, no matter how you think about it, they aren’t some adventurers that were simply passing by.
“You all….. just who are you?”
Kail answers princess Mirena’s question with a simple shrug.
“What, we’re just some wannabe hero and his party passing by.”
“What is the meaning of this! This sorry state of things!”
An inn in Acken, the same inn where Mirena and the others stayed at, while walking around in anger, a man was yelling at the knight in front of him.
The man, dressed with fine clothes on his plump body, was Kalnas, the prince of this country of Jirgs.
And the one standing in front of him was the knight, famed to be the strongest within Jirgs, it was the captain of the second platoon of the Imperial knights, Zenos.
These two had already been informed that their plan, to assassinate princess Mirena and trying to disguise it as an magical beast attack, had failed.
On the table was a card with ancient letters on it, it seemed like it was a magic tool that had the ability to have someone send messages to each other over long distances.
It was a magic item from the time of the ancient magic kingdom, it let people converse with each other for a few dozens of seconds a day, it was a rare and wanted magic tool.
Because of this, they received a report from the vice-captain, that princess Mirena had escaped.
“There is no need to worry. We should be able to slay princess Mirena momentarily.”
Zentos said, while bowing his head deeply.
“Then why are you still here! Go and personally slay that woman and return!”
“The vice-captain has made the right choice after his mistake, so there is no problem. In the first place, if your highness stayed in the capital so that I could have taken direct control over the mission.”
“I-it’s only obvious that I would have to oversee it! Passing judgment on that annoying woman is my job after all!”
“However, because of that, you have exposed yourself to possible dangers. There is no way I can leave your highness’s side. The fifth platoon will return momentarily, you should be aware of their captain Kiruren’s temper, and her royalty, princess Mirena, are you not?”
“Ugh…”
Prince Kalnas could not rebuke it.
“If they were to arrive earlier than planned, she would definitely pressure his highness. At that moment, would you be able to deal with it on your own?”
“Th, that’s well…”
Kalnas understood that even if he was royalty that woman would cut him down without worry. And he also understood that Zentos was the only one that could hold her back.
“Damn!”
Kalnas who became even angrier kicked the chair up.
In the capital she stands out too much and is always followed by Kiruren or the fifth platoon, so he thought that this was the perfect chance when she was out of the capital and away from the fifth platoon.
And once the plan was set into motion failure was not allowed.
“It was also preparation if they were to hold suspicions about princess Mirena’s death. At the time we get found out we could just push all the responsibility on the vice-captain or someone else, so we cannot get blamed if we are not at the place where the princess died.”
“S, so it was like that! That is important.”
“Also there is no way the princess can get away. She is surrounded by a forest of trees, the princess can’t run away through the forest with her dress and the carriage can only be used on the highway.”
Zentos explained it all in an indifferent, emotionless way.
“And if….. this is truly just a what if situation, but if the princess were to return to Acken, then it would be better if I was here, ahead of her.”
“No way that would happen, you don’t mean to say that she’ll break through those knights, do you?”
“Yes, if it were me that is what I would do. The chance may be small but that would have the highest probability of being saved.”
They didn’t receive a detailed report, however they do know the princess group was saved by some adventurers that were able to beat two Imperial knights and a Hydra.
They are probably adventurers they met coincidentally, and they have a considerable amount of skill.
If those adventurers are truly heroes, then we have to keep the option that they might return to Acken open.
“At that time, I shall personally cut them down…… in the first place, this is only a small amount of people. The only way for the princess to actually bypass them is if the heavens themselves side with her.”
After being told that much Kalnas calmed down and sat on his chair.
“Do you understand that since you agreed with my idea, failure is not allowed! Don’t fail me anymore than you already have!”
“Please leave it to me, I shall surely answer to your expectations.”
Zentos who drooped his head after passing Kalnas’s side.
At that time Kalnas did not know what kind of expression Zentos had on his face.
The sun had gone under long ago and it had become night, Kail who was in the driver’s seat spoke to the ones inside the carriage.
Inside the carriage were princess Mileina, Lize and the two maids, the four of them.
“Mileina-sama and the maids, please prepare yourselves for the impact by keeping yourselves low. Lize, I’m putting Mileina-sama and the maids in your hands.”
“Leave it to me.”
Lize gives an energetic reply.
[You can go now.]
Sildonia who was looking at the knights from the air to give us the right timing, let’s us know it is now.
“I see, well then……【Brave】!”
This is a magic that can control the spirit of someone, it gives courage to inexperienced recruit’s and adventurers.
If I cast this on the Sleipnir’s then they will probably not flinch no matter what happens from now on.
“You guys have also finished your preparations, right?”
Kail yells to the ones above the carriage.
“Yeah, just leave it to me!”
“It’s alright.”
Sern and Urza who have attached themselves to the roof so they won’t fall off, give an answer to my question.
After confirming it, Kail takes the reins and hits the Sleipnir’s, when he does they let out a neigh and begin to run in the opposite direction from just now, in the direction of Acken.
“Lower your speed!”
The Imperial guard’s second platoon’s vice-captain gives out an order to the surrounding knights.
Until now it was a wide road and they were able to proceed easily with eighty man, but after a while the road became narrow and now it’s more like a grassland’s road.
In other words it was a width where the knights were about to slip off.
Furthermore it is night at the moment, even if they use magic tools with【Light】, it can’t be compared to this morning, there was a need to heighten their alertness.
The ones siding with princess Mileina are travelling adventurers.
According to the report of his subordinate, he is skilled and holds enough power to slay a large Hydra, so he can’t be underestimated.
Then one of the knights in the front gives a report.
“Vice-captain! We have located the carriage, it is running towards us!”
“So they’ve came!”
There was some tension among the knights, but the vice-captain had already warned them of the possibility that they might try to break through with the Sleipnirs rushing strength.
“Spread out!”
At the vice-captain’s orders the knights spread out in a half circular shape without any wasted movement.
It is a formation usually used against escapees, if the enemy is trying to break through then we lure them in with this formation, and not only can we attack from the front but also from the sides.
And since the sides are covered they have no worry they might escape, it was a formation that wouldn’t let them get away once they were inside.
Anyway what we have aim for is the Sleipnirs, once those legs have been crushed we will be able to take out the rest of them easily.
“We aim for the legs! as long as we can seal their mobility.”
Most of the Imperial knights are able to use magic, they had also prepared arrows beforehand, so at the vice-captain’s orders they readied themselves.
Just when they were about to enter the range of the magic, the knight in the front was hit by something from the air while he was preparing himself.
Instinctively I looked up into the sky, though the vision wasn’t very good but it seems to be a large bird.
And when I was planning to check what it was, the knight was blown horse and all away.
What fell from the sky were magic stones with【Explosion】, but that wasn’t all.
There wasn’t only one explosion but many at the same time, furthermore, magic stones were also thrown from the carriage itself.
And they weren’t thrown wildly, all of them ended up near the knights, and the number of thrown stones just didn’t end.
And it wasn’t only explosions but also pillars of flame, freezing ice winds, wild tornadoes, and even poison to top it all off.
Most of all, even though they had been trained to withstand heat and explosive sounds, the horses began to panic and became uncontrollable.
“So, something impossible like this!?”
One of the knights raised his voice but all of the knights thought the same thing.
It is not as if the Imperial knights underestimated them, nor did they have their guards lowered, Kail’s group was just beyond their, no, beyond commonsense itself. ,
Of course it was because of the sheer number of magic stones Kail and the others used, if they were to be converted to gold then it would be more than a million gador, it was truly outside of their expectations that they would just throw a mountain of those stones at them.
The Knights fired off their magic and arrows, but because of the explosions their light was destroyed so they could only fire at random.
“Do not break formation!…… Damn, everyone dismount!”
Even while the vice-captain tried to give out orders, magic stones just kept flying around.
And just when a giant horse had closed in through the dust clouds, the vice-captain was blown away and lost consciousness.
“I guess I should say…… it was amazing wasn’t it.”
Leaving the site of great chaos, princess Mileina said it in a shocked way while checking the situation from the back of the carriage
As Kail expected, Urza and Seran got some wounds from stray arrows and magic so they switched with the maid Aruca and are now resting inside the carriage after they took some magic medicine.
On the carriage were some places that had burn marks, but they weren’t any problem for now, the Sleipnirs were also injured so we gave them some magic medicine.
“Well it was a simple scheme. Pushing through with the power of a large amount of magic stones, it is simple, but it went well.”
This was all because of Urza’s wind spirit Sylphid who redirected all our thrown magic stones to the right place and Sildonia who attacked them from the sky while they were distracted by the carriage.
“If it wasn’t for that silver line of luck it would’ve been a crazy stunt.”
Seran remembers when he activated the magic stones and handed them to Urza.
(It was also great that Zentos wasn’t there.)
In the first place if Zentos were there Kail wouldn’t try something like this, the Zentos Kail knows could’ve just taken care of a Sleipnir or two in an instant within all of that chaos.
In many ways I don’t want to fight with Zentos, this was Kail’s true intention.
“Well, anyway with this, we can rest easy for now.”
There probably weren’t that many deaths, but most of the horses were incapacitated and it’ll take some time before they can send someone after us, and even if they do, their numbers have greatly decreased.
After this we’ll have to slow our pace over time and have the Sleipnirs drink some stamina healing magic medicine or else they might break down.
From here on, there might be another ambush, but because Sildonia is checking ahead for us and most of the second platoon’s men can’t move, we can relax a little.
But whether to say it was as expected, or whether to say it was only natural, but things didn’t go that well.

Chapter 21 – Confinement

When the sky was being illuminated by dawn, just when we were so close to reaching Acken, the carriage was blocking the road while leaning towards one side.
“As expected, it was impossible.”
Kail says with a bitter voice, while looking at the broken wheel of the carriage.
It must have been damaged when we were breaking through, rather, it can be said that it did a good job holding up until now.
It was fortunate that there were no grave injuries, but the carriage had completely broken down.
“This is a lost cause, it’s not as if it can’t be repaired, but it would take some time.”
Seran said while looking at the carriage, looking as if he had given up, because they didn’t have that kind of time.
“If it’s like this, then there’s no other choice than to abandon the carriage…… We will have to let Mirena-sama and the maids each ride a Sleipnir, while we go on foot with Urza’s magic
【Windwalker】and get there as soon as possible.
Since we’ve come this far, we should keep going onwards towards Acken, but of course our speed has dropped considerably compared to before.
And the second knight squad in the back is a problem.
With the assault of magic stones, most of them must have been neutralized, but it wasn’t as if we were aiming to kill them, so most of them shouldn’t have any grave injuries.
Right now the ones that can do battle will probably follow us, with the anger and desperation of a dying person.
And the worst scenario would be that they attacked us from behind, while we’re being ambushed by a group ahead of us.
Since the enemies’ objective is princess Mirena’s life, who has currently lost the protection of the carriage, she’ll be targeted immediately if we were to engage in close quarters combat.
“Everything but that, as long as it doesn’t become a pincer attack…..”
There wasn’t any time to think about it leisurely, Kail immediately made his decision.
“There is a need to stop the enemy that is coming after us. In other words, someone has to stay behind and stall for time. And since the first priority is to protect the princess…… only one of us can stay behind.”
It was said with enough will and determination that nobody objected to it.
“Could it be, Kail you will……”
Urza’s face became pale when she looked at Kail’s.
The same scheme as before won’t work on the knights coming after us, so they will come to kill us with all their power.
To stop all of them on his own would mean…
Urza tells him it’s too difficult for him, but Kail just smiled gently while saying ‘don’t worry about it’.
“In other words good luck.”
Kail hit Seran’s shoulder with a ‘pom’ sound.
“……..Eh?”
Seran, whose shoulder was hit, let out a sound while being stupefied.
“It’s like that right, it truly is a job that fits Seran greatly.”
Lize agrees with him.
“Eh?’
“Alright, we can’t stand here forever. We should hurry and start moving out.”
When Kail gives out orders while taking care of the braces around the Sleipnirs, the maids and Lize snappily begin to move.
“Listen when someone is talking! What, so you’re telling me to duke it out with eighty Imperial knights on my own!?”
“No. most of the enemy have been neutralized and most of their horses were crushed.”
[Yeah, I just confirmed it, but the followers still consist of thirty of them.]
Sildonia explained.
“Ha, that’s a relief….. rather, aren’t those thirty bloodthirsty, angered, Imperial knights!”
“Sorry, but we don’t have any more time to waste talking like this. Since they’re probably close to us already.”
Kail grabs both of Seran’s shoulders from the front and looks him in the eye.
“Rest assured, if you were to die I will tell master that you died fighting bravely. Is there anything you want me to pass on to her?”
“I don’t have any words left for that old hag!”
While we were saying that, the maids had already finished their preparations, together with the princess, they were all on the Sleipnirs.
“Alright let’s move out. Urza please cast【Wind Walker】on everyone.”
“Eh, ah……. no, but…….”
Urza looked at Seran with a face that seemed at a loss for words.
“Quickly! We don’t know when they’ll catch up to us!”
“U-Understood!”
When Urza ordered the spirit of wind Sylphid, Kail and the others had a wind vortex cast around their legs.
“Alright let’s go! Seran I’m leaving this place to you.”
“Good luck!”
In the end Kail and Lize gave a thumbs up toward Seran and left.
Urza and princess Mirena together with the maids looked back at Seran a few times until they could no longer see him.
“…… They really left me behind. What kind of bastards are they.”
Seran looked at where Kail and the others disappeared and sighed, he couldn’t stay like that, so he moved into action.
Looking around the highway he found a long dexterous branch and cut it down, from his backpack he took out his sleeping bag and cut a square cloth from it and tied it to his branch.
What he had made was the sign of peace in all ages, a white flag.
“And that’s that……. wait, they’ve already come?”
From the highway, that goes to the village of Sanes, neighing horses could be heard.
Just as Kail said, they were just in time to escape.
Seran went up the carriage that lay on its side, and waved the flag in a way he would stand out.
“I surrender! I don’t have any will to fight! I shall answer any questions you have, so at least spare my life!”
He screamed it out as if he were singing.
“Stop!”
Even though he drank some magic medicine that healed him, the vice-captain still had a slight pain over his whole body, but he still gave his order.
After that bombardment of magic stones, they scraped together what horses they could find and resumed the pursuit after treating minor injuries.
“Everyone, dismount and proceed with caution!”
Since they didn’t want to get bombarded by more magic stones, they got off their horses and spread out, or else they wouldn’t be able to continue their pursuit.
Originally, against such an opponent they should proceed with more caution, but they didn’t have time to waste in the first place.
If the fifth platoon were to arrive, then the royal mission by his majesty would have become a failure.
Since he wouldn’t be able to use magic stones in close range, they all proceeded slowly while staying in formation.
“I’m sorry! All the things until now were all because of that idiot Kail, I was only dragged into all of this! Please forgive me!”
Seran who was waving his white flag from above the flipped over carriage, had jumped off and was now welcoming the approaching knights with a prostration.
Including the vice-captain the surrounding knights became slightly confused.
When they found the carriage they expected a fight, but it was outside of their expectations that the enemy would be alone and prostrate himself before them without any will to fight.
According to their orders they were supposed to kill everyone involved in this incident, originally they would just cut him down if he were to attack first, but they couldn’t do that when he possessed Intel about the Princess.
Foremost, the carriage was capsized in front of them, even though the chance is small, they still had to check whether the Princess was there or not.
“Please allow me to explain the current situation! As you can see here, the carriage’s wheel broke down and it flipped over. In order to get the princess and the others away they are now riding the Sleipnirs.”
Seran told everything, before he was even asked.
“Those guys treated me like a disposable pawn! That evil bastard Kail, he told me to hold back you sirs of the Imperial knights…… there is no way I would be able to do that! Right! Ah, please rest assured, we have already used up our magic stones, they also don’t have the carriage anymore, so it’s only natural you’ll be able to win with these numbers! Good luck to you all!”
They didn’t believe his claim, there was no change to the knights sharp gaze filled with killing intent.
Seran was becoming teary eyed.
“Wa-wa-wa….. Uhm well….. Ah, I got it! I have some nice information! They have a mountain of gold, here look at this!”
What Seran took out was a leather bag, it made a jingling sound when he emptied it, what came out were Zars gold coins, jeweled rings, they were all spilled out.
The price of it all could easily surpass a hundred thousand Gador, as expected, even the Imperial knights had foregone their wits and their expressions had become excited.
“We found these in an ancient ruin. Do you know of it? It’s the legendary labyrinth of the Sangurd mountain range! Because of that we were able to ready that large amount of magic stones!”
Hook, line, and sinker! Was everything Seran could think about.
“I know where it is! I will spill everything about it so please spare my life!”
Seran was prostrating on the ground while in tears.
When the vice-captain saw that he sighed and clicked his tongue.
“That’s enough! Someone confirm the interior of the carriage, after that, resume the hunt. This man….. eliminate him.”
The vice-captain thought that he couldn’t waste any more time and ordered his men, his men moved out exactly as he ordered them to.
The knights that were close to the carriage checked the interior with their swords drawn.
And a knight that was close to Seran had his sword unsheathed and closed in that way.
“Ee~e~ek!?”
Eliminate, together with those words and the knight with the unsheathed sword that closed in, Seran screamed out like a frog that was dying.
While looking around him in a panic, when his eyes crossed with one of the knights he crawled to him still on his knees and clinged onto his leg.
“I don’t wanna die! Please I beg of you! I would do anything, so please help me!”
Having a face covered in tears and snot.
The knight that was clung to by Seran looked at him with eyes of annoyance and a bit of pity.
And he grasped his sheathed sword.
“Hey, is it really alright!”
Urza who was worriedly looking back and said to Kail as if she couldn’t hold back any longer.
“What do you mean with ‘is it alright’?”
“I’m talking about Seran! Is it really alright like that!?”
Ah…… There was no other choice, even I don’t want to die you know. Since our lives our valuable.”
“Wha!?”
To Kail’s words Urza becomes angered.
“I have understood that he was a disposable pawn…… however I don’t think he can buy us that much time.”
Princess Mirena asks worriedly from the back of the Sleipnir.
Rather than that, she was probably more worried that he would spill everything about us.
“Ah, it’s alright. There is absolutely no need for worry.”
Lize says with a smile toward princess Mirena.
“However…”
“Lize why are you also being so calm! Aren’t you guys childhood friends!”
Urza asks the same to Lize.
“Eh?….. Ah, I see. Urza didn’t know did she.”
‘So that is why she didn’t get it’, Lize says as if she understood what went wrong.
“I don’t know? What are you talking about?”
“Well you know….. not even needing to be compared to me, Seran is many times stronger than even Kail.
The knight was going to cut down the pathetic man who he was looking down on, but he heard a faint sound of falling metal.
When he looked at what it was, he saw something metal had fallen down near his feet.
It was a something known as 『The bracelet of restraint』,【Gravity】magic was used on it, making the body’s gravity increase five-fold, it’s usually used to make sure criminals don’t escape, and if a normal person were to wear it, even walking would have become the most he could do.
So why is something like that here? The moment he thought that, his world was shaking greatly.
“Sorry, but you’re the most skilled one among these guys right? Then I’ll have to erase you first.
The second he heard that voice, the ground and air had swapped places in an instant, that was the last sight the knight saw and in the end he never noticed that his head was removed from his body.
The surrounding knights who saw that instantly froze up. To this illogical scene, their brains couldn’t keep up with what happened.
That small pathetic man who was begging for his life, with a speed that can be called godspeed, he cut off their companion’s head, they couldn’t keep up with that.
Many of them had lowered their guard and sheathed their swords, to the simple scene they were seeing just now, the gap was too great, making the veterans of the Imperial guard react an instant too slow.
And that instant was enough for Seran.
Seran ran off, that speed was truly like a gale.
He aimed at the knights walking towards the carriage, who didn’t notice what happened since their backs were turned, slipping close to them, he swung his sword.
All of Seran’s slashes were aimed at the vital points, the head, the neck, the heart……. places that would instantly kill humans, he pierced and slashed them all with terrifying speed and precision.
After killing six of them, all of the other knights finally noticed what was happening, but at the same time Seran leapt as if he had grown wings.
So high that it could be said he was flying, going for the knights who would be the most bothersome, his aim was the vice-captain who was giving out orders from the rear near the horses.
However, rather than a slash, he gave a flying kick towards the chest area.
Seran, who landed quickly, stomped the vice-captain who was blown away flashily and held his sword at the vice-captain’s throat.
“Nobody move!!”
Like the fierce roar of a tiger, it was a large voice filled with fighting spirit.
It was a voice that would make common civilians faint from just hearing it.
Naturally the knights didn’t lose consciousness, but the attacking movements stopped after seeing the vice-captain being pinned down with a sword against his throat.
Seran didn’t think he would be able to have them disarmed by just holding their vice-captain hostage.
Once more, he just wanted the movements of the knights to freeze just once more.
What Seran took out of his pocket were magic stones, of course it was a lie when he said they used them up.
And it was thrown in the center of the horses.
Most of the horses were blown away and injured because of the explosions, the other uninjured horses ran into the forest.
The knights wanted to capture the horses immediately, but Seran still had his sword at the vice-captain’s throat, so they couldn’t move, like this, the knights lost the horses.
At that time, the first Imperial knight’s body, whose head was cut off and bleeding like a fountain, as if finally noticing his own death slowly fell to the ground.
“With this, you’ve lost your horses.”
Seran said with a fearless smile.
Looking at Seran, the knights were looking at him in fear, as if they had met an unknown organism on the road.
“Even so, I was really lucky, I didn’t think I’d be able to cut down eight of them in the first attack. Or was it that my acting was too good?”
A clear provocation, but that just added to the eerie feeling around Seran.
And Seran resumed his attack before the knights could regain their spirits.
When he kicks the vice-captain from under his foot, he flew to the first knight as if he were a mere pebble and not a fully armored man.
Should he treat the heavily injured vice-captain or should he let him go, the instant he was thinking about it, truly in an instant, Seran put his sword through the face of that knight.
“He is…… strong? And even more so than Kail-sama?”
Seran is stronger than Kail, the one who had beat a Hydra who is stronger than a lower dragon, on his own made princess Mirena confused.
“It’s not like that, the me right now…… if I use body strengthening magic then I’ll be close to fighting evenly with him.”
To Lize’s statement, that Seran was stronger than him, Kail said in retort with a grumpy voice.
“Seriously!? Evenly with Seran!? Kail when did you become that strong?”
Lize said it as if she were truly surprised.
“Ah, but if it were to become a fight then he’ll know that and won’t let you use any magic…… it’ll probably become a one-sided harsh battle.”
At the words of Lize’s imagination Kail’s face immediately made an unpleasant face.
“P-Please wait a second! Just what are the two of you saying?”
Urza said as if she couldn’t understand what they said.
“….. When did we ever say he was weak? Certainly with the sword he is stronger than me.”
Not that I want to admit it, or so Kail says.
“Certainly Seran doesn’t have any talent when it comes to magic, his personality is rotten from the core itself. But when it comes to the sword he’s a genius, no, such a word can’t even describe it, that’s just how much talent he has. And he trains at it with all his effort. If it’s just the sword, then he has talent that far surpasses my own.”
Kail was told by his sword master Leila that he was a genius with the sword that appears once every hundred years.
And her own son was a genius once every thousand years, no, his genius surpassed even those, and he would be an unprecedented genius that shall never be surpassed in the future years to come.
[Just why do I have to teach a brat with enough talent who will surpass me in a few years. How stupid.]
While grieving that it was the worst, she forced Seran to learn the sword against his will.
“He has times when he suddenly disappears or says he’s going somewhere alone right, most of those times he’ll be practicing with the sword on his own. When it comes to other things he’s pretty much a lost cause, but he’s relatively serious when it comes to the sword.”
“Well it certainly is so. But in return he lost a lot of things that are important to a human.”
The two childhood friends made expressions that would make you think whether they were praising him or badmouthing him.
In a sword fight, including his previous life, he never won against Seran even once.
Leaving aside Seran from the time with the demon lord for now, if it’s the Seran of right now, then with magic strengthening he would be even, and if Kail used his trump card, then it would be his win.
But if it were a fight with only the sword, then at the moment he wouldn’t even come close, Kail was aware of the gap in strength.
Also Seran’s strength, actually his annoying point isn’t only the sword.
It was the personality that would use any means necessary, since he didn’t have any pride in the first place, he won’t hesitate to use any cowardly or despicable methods.
That is because he knows it’s efficient.
“But……. he didn’t show anything close to what you say. If he has that much power, then why does he act like that normally?”
It seems Urza still isn’t convinced, as expected.
“…… If anybody sees the usual Seran, then who do you think would put his guard up?”
To Kail’s words Urza felt a cold chill along her back as if someone had dropped ice cubes on it.
“Impossible…… could it be the way Seran normally behaves….. are you trying to say it was all just an act?”
No matter who it is, if they met someone with that attitude for the first time, then they would underestimate him.
Actually I underestimated him too, even though I travelled with him for some time, I couldn’t see his true ability.
And if it were to become a fight, then they would be instantly killed, if he takes that attitude for such a reason then…..
As if there was something near her, fear came over Urza.
“No half of it is his original personality, at most, the other half would be acting.
“I also thought it was half in the past, but recently I’m thinking nine tenths of him is actually like that.”
“…..Certainly. As expected, he was just born with that kind of personality.”
“Ah, so it’s like that. I’m relieved.”
Urza who became a little relieved, let out a sigh.
Kail looks back, and thinks about the fight that should be happening right about now.
“Most of the Imperial knights are just following their orders. If it was possible I didn’t want to let them die…..”
If there are thirty Imperial knights, then Seran can’t hold back.
And he won’t show any mercy to an enemy that came at him with killing intent.

 Chapter 22 – Clash

The Imperial knights and Seran were confronting each other. There were only eight Imperial Knights left standing, Seran had already slain more than twenty of them in total.
Leaving the start aside, after what happened, the difference in skill was as clear as night and day. Seran was wielding a great sword. It didn’t seem that different from a normal sword, but with his slashes, even if they met sword or armour, he cut through all of it. Those slashes were sharp and were aimed with precision at vital points, even if they tried to block or dodge them, they just didn’t have enough skill. The gap between the Imperial knights and Seran, was as big as the difference between a cat and a tiger. But of course, Seran wasn’t uninjured, there were some wounds here and there on his body, and his breathing had become slightly irregular. No matter how strong he was, he was up against thirty of the country’s strongest elites; in the beginning it was going smoothly, but after the knights had recovered themselves, they built up their formations and attacked him with superior numbers.
(As expected of the Imperial knights, they have a lot of tenacity. Their eyes are still alive…) After thinking that, he let out a sigh. “What a hassle.” Seran said without any power.
“Let’s end it around here.” “What did you say….?” One of the surviving knights said, with a questioning look.
“I already said it at the beginning, my job was to slow you down. My objective isn’t to slaughter all of you. The horses are gone and some time has passed, you don’t have any way to go after the princess anymore…….. in other words, I don’t have any reason left to fight anymore.” Having said that much, Seran sheathed his sword, and with a twirl he turned his back to the knights. This surprised the knights, normally, this would’ve been the perfect chance to cut him down, but they couldn’t imagine the image of him being cut down by them, the only thing they could see was them being cut down in reverse.
“Of course, if you guys want to continue it’s a different case, but you should’ve understood the difference in power. If you guys will run away, then I won’t follow.” If it’s for their mission these knights will not fear death, but that didn’t mean they would waste their lives. Because of Seran their mission had already failed, it wouldn’t make any sense to die now.
“If you’re going to make a choice, do it quickly. That vice-captain is barely alive, and if you’re quick, you could end up saving more guys. I have some magic medicine that can heal them, but as one would expect, I don’t have any reason to share them with you.” Seran who had taken some distance, leaned against a tree in the forest and drank some magic medicine that he had taken out.
The knights should have come to a decision after looking at each other. Two of them lend a shoulder to the vice-captain, the others also gathered up the ones who were still alive. While they were doing that they let their guard down, because when they looked at Seran, they saw that he was doing nothing and didn’t seem to follow them at all.
After gaining some distance, when all the knights were behind him, he started running towards Acken —– as he ran without a sound, Seran took his last magic stone and threw it from behind at the knights.
The knights were blown up by the explosion, and Seran, instead of running away, gave the finishing blow to those who were still alive.

“Sorry, but I never planned to let any of you get away in the first place. Because one or two of you would have run away for your dear lives, I had to put up an act.” It would’ve been a hassle if it came to that, Seran said, while giving the final strike to the vice-captain, who was kept barely alive for this reason.
“You guys found out about the treasure in the Sangurd mountain range. That treasure is one of Kail’s important lifelines, there was a small chance that you’d leak this.” If Lize was here, then she’d retort with: “No, but aren’t you the one who talked about it”, but Seran was totally serious.
Having them let their guard down a little by talking about the treasure, and silencing them for the reason of knowing about it, was a necessity, and came only natural to Seran.
“Fu~~……. I’m tired.” After confirming that he was the only human alive in the area, Seran sat down. Even for Seran it’s dangerous to fight against thirty Imperial knights, the magic medicine may have healed his wounds and stamina, but he was still mentally exhausted.
“I somehow managed on this side, so you guys better do your best too.” Seran muttered, while looking in the direction of Acken.
In an Inn’s room within Acken, Zentos was looking at the card that was supposed to show the regular report.
Even if the vice-captain were to die, there were replacements – if there was no report anymore, then that would mean that there was no one to replace him with left.
His face was emotionless as always, but his clenched fist was trembling.
When he left his room, he gave instructions to his subordinate Imperial knights.
“All of you protect his highness, don’t let anyone come through until I return.” Not even giving them time to rebuke, Zentos rode his favorite horse and left Acken.
Kail and the others had almost reached the exit of the forest. If they were to leave, then they would get close enough to see Acken from there. ‘Only a little more’, just when they were thinking that, Sildonia reports something.
[Hey Kail, a knight is coming this way.] “How many?” “No it’s only one and……hey!?] Sildonia raises her voice in surprise.
“What happened?” [Hmm, I thought I took some distance, but I was attacked with 【Energy Blade】. He must be pretty skilled if he can hit me from that far with this much power and accuracy.] 【Energy Blade】is a low level attack with a low attack power that can hit enemies from afar, because of its cost and range it’s a regularly used attack magic.
“I see, attacking without a warning against a bird that was showing strange movements… Also being able to control magic from a distance, and he’s come alone….. it can only be him.” So he really did come, Kail let out a big sigh.
“I wished from the depths of my heart that he wouldn’t come, but it wouldn’t go that easily it seems.” Despite not wanting to fight him, there was no other choice than to meet him.
Kail stops the Sleipnirs and gives everyone instructions. “Everyone retreat a little and go on standby. If you feel anything abnormal, then immediately return the way we came from, and join up with Seran.” “But…… will you be alright Kail?” Lize said anxiously to Kail’s words, which didn’t have any nervousness in them until now.
“….. The only thing I can say for certain is, I’d have an easier time fighting that Hydra or those thirty Imperial knights.” “Zentos has come, hasn’t he.” Princess Mirena probably guessed it from all that, and makes a harsh face.
“He is Jirgs’s greatest knight. Are you saying that you will fight him on your own?” Kail already knew that himself. Cowardly or not, if possible, he wanted to fight Zentos two on one together with Seran. “I also wanted to avoid that, however, there are no other options available. Don’t worry, I’m not going to try the impossible.” ‘Please rest assured’, saying that much, Kail left everyone and started walking again.
After distancing himself from Lize and the others, Kail stood in the middle of the road with a Niōdachi stance, a single cavalry unit ran towards him at breakneck speed. When he noticed Kail, taking into account that it may be a trap, he dismounted from his horse and moved forward.
Zentos, who dismounted, was coming closer, if he takes another step, the battle will probably begin, but Kail began to talk to him at the last second. “Don’t worry, there are no traps, and I’m the only one here.”
“So you are the traveller that helped out princess Mirena?……. I see, it seems like you’re pretty skilled.” Zentos strengthened his vigilance. ‘One more step’, Kail had a clear understanding of his attack range.
“Well I expected as much…… but why are you alone? Shouldn’t there still be around 10 knights on your side?” “I don’t want to lose even one more subordinate because of this. It’s alright as long as I kill all of you on my own.” Zentos had enough confidence and skill to say that he could kill everyone on his own.
“I see, I’m sorry, but most of the knights that came after us were about to be annihilated. And saying something like that is, well…… if it’s possible, can’t you surrender? I don’t want to let you die, nor do I want to kill you.” “……What did you say?” Zentos raises his eyebrows. He never thought that in such a straight way, he would be asked by a man at least ten years younger than him to surrender.
“Certainly, with these charges you may be sentenced to capital punishment, princess Mirena promised me a reward, and I can use that to ask her that you be let free. Of course, that is only if you accept some conditions.” To Kail’s words Zentos’s face became even more confused. Because he understood that Kail was speaking the truth. He was earnestly trying to save him, the one who wanted to falsely accuse them of killing the princess.
“I do not understand the reason, why would you try to save me?” “It would be regrettable if Zentos Ordi died here, I just earnestly think that.” “…… I am happy that you think so highly of me, however, there is no way I can stop here.” “As expected, I already thought that you’d say that.” Kail sighed, but he had no other choice now.
“I just want to ask one more thing, why lend a hand in the princess’s assassination? At least, I know it isn’t for gold, and not for status either, right? And is Kalnas worth all of this?” “You know a lot don’t you…… or did the princess inform you on all of this? Let’s just say I have my reasons.” This was an answer I expected.
“…… Even so, wasn’t the plan full of holes? Right now it’s on the verge of falling apart, truth to be told, it was just sloppy.” “If I can silence all of you, we can make it work somehow.” “Isn’t that a little too forceful? I think some guys will stay suspicious.” “Die now, you don’t have to worry about it.” Zentos draws his sword, and after saying that, more talking would just be useless.
“I cannot let you buy anymore time. I have to defeat you quickly and go after the princess.” “…… Well, of course you figured it out.” Kail draws his sword after saying that, this was the most time he could buy.
Kail was actually stalling for time. Even if the opponent is Zentos, if the fifth platoon were to come here while I stalled for time, then there was a possibility of him being captured alive. But like this, it is only kill or be killed.
However, that ends here, Kail began to chant his magic. And Zentos too, began to chant magic.
“【Haste】【Strength】!” “【Haste】【Strength】!” At almost the same time, they both cast self strengthening magic that raises their speed and power.
This is how a fight between Kail and Zentos, his teacher as a magic swordsman, began.

 Chapter 23 – Conclusion

The first one to move was Zentos.
Rather than rushing with an attack from the front, the strike was aimed towards the head from above—– However, that was just an illusion, it was an illusory slash by using the magic【Illusion】. Because it was an illusion filled with killing intent, if it was used against a first rate warrior, then he would’ve reflexively attacked the illusion, thinking it was real. However, his real attack was an upward slash from below, only a fraction of a second late because of his attack from above, both of his attacks nearly moved at the same time. No one would live if they faced this attack for the first time, an instant kill attack mixed with a magic feint, Zentos had defeated a lot of enemies with this attack. “But Kail dodged it without any difficulty. “Wha……!? ” Zentos voiced out his astonishment.
Kail dodged to the side, and calmly swung down his dominant sword arm on Zentos’s sword. But Zentos jumped back in an instant, only receiving a scratch.
“You bastard.” Having his killing blow dodged and being injured made Zentos glare at Kail while gnashing his teeth.
But Kail being Kail, he clicked his tongue. He clicked his tongue, because he just missed one of the best moments to capture Zentos alive.
“If I was able to cut off one of his arms, then I could’ve subdued him…..” Kail said, in a bitter tone. It was because he knew Zentos would try to end the fight as soon as possible, and he knew that he would start with that killing blow.
This time Zentos used normal slashing attacks at Kail, the sword attacking again and again. Kail received those attacks one after one while slowly retreating.
For a while, Zentos’s continuous attacks, which could be called fierce attacks, were redirected by Kail, dodging them skillfully. Patiently enduring it, and when a small chance appeared in Zentos’s attacks, he attacked immediately.
The attack was easily dodged, but at almost at the same time a kick was aimed at the balls, the gold target.
Because he swung down his sword from above and sent off a kick at the same time, Kail was only standing on one leg of course, but because of his excellent sense of balance, Kail was able to make a powerful kick without breaking his stance. Zentos was somehow able to intercept the kick with the handle of his sword.
“What a bastard, using detestable tricks!” “I learnt them from my teacher!”
Using kicks like this was because of Leila’s teachings, maybe because of that, both Kail and Seran used kicks a lot of times times in a fight. Continuing, Kail used Zentos’s sword as if it were a springboard and made a big jump backwards, by making a flip in the air he had made some considerable distance.
“As expected, you’re strong.” The Zentos that Kail knows, is the one three years from now, but there isn’t much of a difference between then and now. There wasn’t much difference between their skill with the sword, you can say it’s nearly the same level. But if we were to compare speed and power, Zentos would have fundamentally exceeded Kail’s. Originally that difference was supposed to be negated with magic, but Zentos could use magic comparable to Kail’s own, so the difference in power didn’t change.
He is stronger than my current self, that was Kail’s evaluation of Zentos.
But Kail had the advantage, he could take his time.
“That is a good sword…..” Zentos was looking at Sildonia, the sword Kail was holding. From all these exchanges he understood that it was a true masterwork. Zentos’s sword was one fitting of a captain, but Sildonia was literally on another level. Zentos had the disadvantage that he had to pay attention to how he used his sword, since if it broke he would be in a bad situation.
“Thank you for that, this fellow is also happy about it….. Ah, I’ll try asking again, but won’t you surrender? Ah, if surrendering is out of the question, how about fleeing the country? I’ll help you with the preparations.” “……. You’re a really persistent guy aren’t you.” “Then how about I give you some funds for escaping?” “If you want to save me that much, then how about you sing a song about it.” “That’s something called luxury.” Kail says, while lightly laughing about it.
(There isn’t a disturbance in his heart….. just which kinds of things has he experienced at that age) Seeing Kail like that, Zentos had given up on the mental warfare. In the first place, to actually have small talk with an opponent in a dangerous battle, isn’t something someone with normal nerves can do. Considerable combat experience. It’s as if he has a lot of experience fighting against opponents stronger than himself.
And the thing that bothers Zentos the most, is the way he strangely reacts to all his attacks. It was as if he had fought against him many times, it was that kind of reaction. In fact, the feint which used illusion magic, was a special move that is known by only a few. Since most of the opponents who had seen it, were killed by it.
“You bastard…… including my first attack, why are you able to react to them so easily…… do you know me?” Zentos doesn’t remember ever seeing the man in front of him. But he knew for certain that he knew something about himself, he was absolutely certain of that.
“Let’s see, I kind of know you, yet I kind of don’t….. it’s hard to explain in a few words, since I have lived a weird life if I say so myself…… If you want, shall I explain everything from the start?” “Since it’ll take long I’ll refuse…… I can’t waste anymore time like this.” Kail grinned at Zentos’s words. “Well it’s only natural, since I’m fighting to prolong this fight.”
Kail’s greatest advantage, it is time.
To Zentos it may seem as if princess Mirena has reached somewhere safe already. In reverse, Kail only has to buy time until backup arrives. At that point, it was already obvious to him who would win.
Kail didn’t have to win, all he had to do was prolong the fight, Zentos understood this all too well.
“…… So the one who doesn’t have a choice but to fight this duel, was me.” According to the original plan, I should have already beaten him, no, I didn’t have any other choice than to have beaten him already. Zentos finally became conscious of the fact that he was the one cornered, instead of the enemy.
The look in his eyes had changed, of course he went in with full power from the start, but now he’ll come with desperation. The attacks from then on, would be given with everything he had got, not just attacks with the intention to fatally injure, but attacks with his own life on the line.
“So that’s what it means.” Kail felt the killing intent coming from Zentos and readied his stance.
“With this next attack I’ll kill you, then I’ll go after the princess.” “….. It’s Kail, Kail Leonard….. that is my name.” “…… I shall remember it, Kail.” “Yeah, it’s the last name you’ll ever hear…… it’ll just be a few dozen seconds, but remember it.” That is where their conversation ended, now their swords will talk for them.
Zentos held his sword in a low stance, and he leaned forward in order to rush ahead with his whole body. He completely abandoned his defense, with attacks that may have the intent to take each other’s lives, noticing that a half hearted defense would be in the way, Kail took a completely offensive stance.

When one of them had entered the attack range, Zentos lowered himself while Kail released his attack at the same time. Zentos, who aimed for Kail’s heart, had his shoulder pierced, but he ignored it and went on.
The instant Kail tried to pull his sword back, it was hit by Zentos and got raised up. Both of his hands were raised up high, he was somehow able to hold onto his sword, but Kail’s hands were high above his head as if he was cheering ‘banzai’. And in front of Zentos was Kail’s wide open torso.
“You’re mine!” An upward slash from the lower left, with Zentos’s skill, he’ll be able to bisect him together with his armor. Because Kail’s sword was being swung down from above his head, Zentos understood that his sword would reach first if he attacked with full power.
The blade hit the body, after Zentos felt he had landed a hit —— with a dull metal sound his sword was cut into half.
“Wha….” When Zentos spreads his eyes and involuntarily looked up, he saw Kail’s face close up and inside both of his eyes were both a mix of respect and sadness.
“As expected, even though it was dragon leather, the armor was cleanly cut…… but, this guy was impossible to cut.” Kail’s hand went to his waist, where his armor was cut, and took something out. What came out of that cut off part from his armor was a red, blood red gem, the 『God Dragon’s Heart』.
Even Zentos’s slash, which could cut through stone and steel, was not even able to scratch the legend from the age of myths: the 『God Dragon’s Heart』 . Kail’s face was becoming pale, even though the 『God Dragon’s Heart』was able to block the slash, it wasn’t able to block the shock wave, because of that, his ribs and internal organs were damaged, even now he could feel the pain.
And Zentos was lying in a pool of his own blood. He was cut all the way from his shoulder until his heart, a completely fatal wound, the reason why he didn’t die instantly was because of Zentos’s powerful will.
“So….. you let….. your sword get deflected on purpose……” Zentos said, in a thin, fading voice. “No, it wasn’t on purpose. I was serious, I was seriously attacking….. and from the beginning I knew that I would be cut in half.”
If they were to fight decently decently, the moment Zentos would attack him without caring for his own life, he wouldn’t be able to win, no matter what Kail thought up, this was an unavoidable outcome. That’s why he expected he would be killed, from there he would try to turn it around, Kail thought about this if he had to fight against Zentos yesterday.
And having no time, and not being able to prepare himself, the only possibility Kail came up with, was this.
“Even after several bouts, I also lost count of how many hundreds of times I used the shadow enemy to train. This result was obvious, it could even be called inevitable.” If Zentos were to go in with an ‘all or nothing’ attack, then he would do the same, but if he missed a little —– a fraction of a paper sheet, or if he got the important timing wrong, then Kail’s life would’ve been forfeit. He didn’t understand it in the bout, but just how reckless it was amazed Zentos even as he lay dying.
“Why….. such a reckless thing……” “Of course it’s because I trusted your skills. If it was Zentos Ordi, then he would certainly try to take my life with that attack.” I trust you from the bottom of my heart, to Kail’s serious and sincere words, Zentos smiled faintly.
After that, at the end, a fading voice muttered something, Zentos stopped breathing.
“Sorry…. I have…… no matter what may happen, no matter what has to be sacrificed, I have people I have to protect.” Kail looked back, thinking of how Urza’s and Lize’s face would be there.
“But you were also among the people I didn’t want to die…… to think I’d have to see you die for a second time….. farewell, comrade.” With an injured body, dragging his pained heart, Kail returned to where Lize and the others were.
An inn’s room, within Acken, Prince Kalnas was walking around his room like an animal. Angered, he kept muttering if princess Mirena still hadn’t been assassinated, when the door was violently opened. “Hey, Zentos just what happ~ugh…… Gaah!?” Prince Kalnas was sent flying. The one who entered the room like that was Kail.
From behind Kail, the women of the Imperial Knight’s fifth platoon were coming in. And behind them was princess Mirena giving orders to the knights.
After the fight with Zentos had ended, Kail and the others went towards Acken and met the fifth platoon on their way there.
And with princess Mirena’s orders, they entered the inn and restrained the remaining knights of the second platoon, entering this room.
“Kiruren, immediately search this room, leaving Zentos aside, my brother should’ve certainly left some evidence.” “Yes!” Princess Mirena gave an order to the tall beauty behind her, who had sharp eyes and an unapproachable air around her whole body, it was Kiruren, captain of the Imperial knight’s fifth platoon, and her close aide.
“Also restrain prince Kalnas. Like this we’ll return, interrogating him on the way, after obtaining evidence and a testament, I shall report this to father.” “Yes…… but will he really talk?” Kiruren knew prince Kalnas good enough. Even if he’s asked, he won’t talk about it, he’ll probably make some pathetic excuse, or shift the blame on someone else, and in the end, he would be declared innocent.
“I do not mind if you get a little rough. If he doesn’t talk after that….. just make it so he regrets what he did.” “….. I understand.” Kiruren bows her head and moves away in order to hand out orders to her subordinates. Princess Mirena let out a small sigh, went to Kail, who sat down like he was tired after he sent prince Kalnas flying.
“I wish for Kail-sama and the others to join us when we return.” “Yes…… also, for listening to my selfishness, thank you very much.” Kail stood up, and lowered his head to the princess, who agreed to the demand, to at least beat prince Kalnas for now.
“No, Even letting you hit him hundreds of times more would be allowed to thank you…….. most of the things may have tired you out, but it has finally ended. After we arrive at the capital I shall thank you once again.” This time princess Mirena bows her head toward Kail.
Like this, the big incident of princess Mirena’s assassination had ended in a failure.

Chapter 24 – Medal and a New Beginning

The capital of the Jirgs country, Marado.
In the center was a towering, white, large palace that took five years to make, even to the neighboring countries, it was a sign of Jirgs’s prosperity.
Deep within the palace, where the royalty lives, Kail and his group were in one of the drawing rooms. Even though it’s just a drawing room, it’s a room where the king sometimes greets his guests, so it was a luxurious room, Lize just couldn’t calm down in such a room and was fidgeting the whole time.
Maybe because of that, when Seran was trying to hit on one of the maids like usual, she sent him flying like always and it calmed her down a little.
Thinking she was out of place in a human palace, Urza had a sour look on her face, and Sildonia was just earnestly eating the brought out confectioneries.
And the one sitting opposite to Kail and the others, was princess Mirena, who was drinking tea while laughing lightly.
“You do not need to be that nervous, since all of you are important guests.”
“I’m sorry, they’re just a bunch of guys doing whatever they want…..”
Kail apologized as their representative.
After a while, they were informed that the one they were waiting for was coming, so all of them stood straight and waited.
The one who came through the door opened by the maids, wore a mantle with the lion crest of the Jirgs royal family embroidered on it, it was a middle aged man with a crown on his head, it was the king of Jirgs, King Remnas.
“Oh Mirena, so you were safe!”
After entering the room, king Remnas trotted towards princess Mirena and gave her a hug.
“Yes, Father.”
“Hmm, when I was informed of what happened, my heart almost stopped beating…….”
After rejoicing about his daughter’s safety, he asked with a frown on his face:
“And you’re absolutely certain, aren’t you?”
“Yes, there is no mistake that Zentos, together with my brother Kalnas, who is now imprisoned, are the ones responsible. I have already gathered the evidence and testimonies.”
“I see…….”
King Remnas raised his hand with a bitter look on his face.
Even if it’s royalty doing something like this, they can only be sentenced with capital punishment, the one who has to decide over that life, is none other than the king.
“Father…… brother was injured at the magic beast attack, and shall need to recuperate for a long time.”
King remnas face became surprised at his daughter’s words.
“Are you sure it’s alright? This way?”
“Yes, it’s good like that, for the sake of the country of Jirgs.”
Princess Mirena was implying that rather than letting this be known to the world, it would be better that it would just be dismissed as an accident.
“….. I understand, that’d certainly be for the better. Kalnas will be sent to Kurtim.”
Kurtim is a place in the North Country of Jirgs, surrounded by mountains; it’s a healing resort for the royal family.
At that place you’ll be under strict imprisonment, under the facade of being injured, and being treated for an illness.
Probably until death.
“I…… cannot act like a cruel person. No matter how foolish a son he may be.”
I cannot let others know of my decision, King Remnas thought.
“However, the thing I can’t believe the most is that Zentos actually cooperated with him.”
“Yes, even now I still don’t understand why he did. Why would he do such a foolish thing like this…..”
“Hmm, maybe because of a conspiracy of another country or…… I do not want to think about it, but maybe the demon race was involved with it. Properly examine the evidence and testimonies.”
“Thank you.”
Then king Remnas looked at Kail and the others for the first time.
“So you are the travellers who saved Mirena.”
“Yes.”
Kail and the others were going to kneel, but king Remnas stopped them by raising his hand.
“It’s alright, you are the saviors of my daughter, and this is no official place. Rather than as a king, I want to thank you as a father.”
“Those words are too high for us……”
Kail answered while his head was lowered.
“You may have already heard it, but the story will be that it was an attack by magic beasts. You do understand that you may not talk about this manner to others, do you not?”
“Of course, we will not compromise the county of Jirgs in any way.”
“It’s alright father, not only did they save my life, they also put their own lives on the line, these adventurers are trustworthy.”
Princess Mirena put in a good word for us.
“I see, if you say so, then I shall trust them……. I shall properly reward you for your services, you did well.”
After saying that, king Remnas left the drawing room.
A horde of magic beasts, one so big it even had a Hydra that was stronger than a lesser dragon, they attacked princess Mirena and prince Kalnas on their way to the village of Sanes causing many victims.
Among them were the elites of the Jirgs kingdom, half of the Imperial knight’s second platoon and their platoon captain Zentos lost their live, furthermore, prince Kalnas was gravely injured and is now recuperating.
Luckily some travelling adventurers were there and rescued princess Mirena.
This is how it would be reported to the outside world, only a few knew the truth of what happened that day.
And Kail’s party that was able to save the princess from such a horde of magic beasts, were evaluated well.
Normally Kail would’ve been elevated to the rank of knight, but he refused, so he was awarded with the St.Randonel medal of honor.
This was a medal of honor, named after the holy saint Randonel, it was the highest award a civilian could receive and hadn’t been awarded to anyone these past few decades.
“Hey, does it suit me?”
Before the award ceremony for the medals, Lize who wore a dress, made a light twirl while holding the hem of her skirt.
For the sake of the ceremony, Lize was lent a dress, the dress itself was made after the image of a flower and had a light pink color, Lize also wore a hairpin decorated with a flower in her hair, it fit her well.
“Yeah, it looks really good on you.”
Kail, who also wore something formal for the ceremony, answered.
This wasn’t some flattery, but his true feelings, because he was fascinated by it for a moment.
“Really? I’m not used to it, but something like this might be alright from time to time.”
Lize must have known that Kail was speaking his true feelings, so because of that she was happily looking at herself in the mirror.
Urza was wearing a light green dress with little exposure.
Her hair was raised up, showing her long ears which are an Elf’s trait, Urza’s beauty was as if it was taken from a first rate piece of art.
“I think that I feel really out of place here after all……”
But in contrast to Lize’s face, Urza said something with a frown.
Not being a citizen of Jirgs, there were a few complications with the medal of honor for Urza, who is affiliated with the Elves, but because of princess Mirena’s strong will, she was able to stand here now.
“Also I don’t like dressing up like this……”
She says, while remembering being used as a dress-up doll by princess Mirena’s maids.
“I understand that you aren’t used to these things, I’m not telling you to be friendly with everyone, but can’t you at least smile a little?”
“Hmmm……. L-Like this?”
To Urza, who had a forced smile that didn’t even look like one, Kail just said it with a straight face ‘well something like that’.
As expected, a sword wasn’t allowed, so Sildonia couldn’t be here and had to stay put.
He remembered Sildonia, who was in a bad mood because she couldn’t join in on the feast that would be there at the party, and if he should wrap up the surplus of candy for her. When Kail was thinking that, Seran, who was also wearing formal clothes, spoke to him.
“But still, was it really ok to just turn down becoming a knight?”
“Yeah, the current me doesn’t need something like that.”
In fact, the current Kail doesn’t need the status of a knight, rather it would just get in the way.
Of course, there are good points to becoming a knight, but at the same time, he’ll have a responsibility and obligation to the country of Jirgs and his actions will become restricted.
Kail can’t just become known within Jirgs, he has to go to different countries and tribes and has to spread his name among them.
For now it’s enough if he can receive the medal of honor and raise popularity within the country of Jirgs.
“It suits everyone well.”
Princess Mirena had come into the waiting room.
She had a white dress for the ceremony, that figure of hers was truly fit to be called the ‘Treasure of Jirgs’.
“If it was possible I wished for all of you to become knights, who would serve Jirgs instead of receiving medals of honor……”
Well knights that serve me to be precise, she added within herself.
Kail and the others know about the great scandal of Jirgs.
She wanted to bind them with a collar named status, princess Mirena herself knew first hand of what they were capable of.
Not knowing whether it was fortunate or not, she wanted them to fill the opened up spots of the Imperial knights.
Especially Kail, who was able to beat Zentos one on one, furthermore, princess Mirena felt he had something different from others, and dearly wanted Kail to serve under her.
But as expected, because they are her benefactors and knowing them first hand, she knew that they wouldn’t spread it around to other countries.
The conclusion princess Mirena had, was to just reward them for now.
“No, since that would clearly be inappropriate. Furthermore, we will be receiving a reward, so this is more than enough.”
Together with the medal of honor we will also get a reward.
This would be meaningless to receive for Kail and the others, but if they were to reject even this, then it would seem suspicious so they’ll gratefully accept it.
“Well, since Kail-sama surely has his own circumstances.”
“No, it isn’t such a big reason like that.”
“Well is it like that? However……”
Kail wasn’t sure if the smile that appeared on her face could be called devilish or not.
“For example, it’s about the day before the attack when all of you saw me on that day. That day knowing that I would leave, knowing where I was going……. no matter where all of you were heading to, I think it was a little unnatural for you to appear coincidentally at that time.”
“Ah…….”
Kail’s mouth opens involuntarily.
After seeing him react like that, she began to giggle like a child.
“Just seeing that face has satisfied me. But, If it’s possible please tell me about it one day.”
Well then, I shall see you at the ceremony, princess Mirena gracefully left after saying that.
“It kind of, it feels as if a huge nail has stung me……”
Kail was holding the area around his heart with a wry laugh.
When the huge double-door was opened, they stood before a huge audience.
In the room were marble pillars each decorated into the finest of details, on the wall was a painting, telling the legend of the country of Jirgs together with the names of the previous monarchs, on the ceiling was a flag containing the crests of knights and nobles.
From the door onward, was a red carpet leading until the pedestal where the throne was, the one sitting on it was king Remnas with princess Mirena smiling at his side.
Close to the king was the court magician and the important retainers of the country, in the surroundings were nobles and knights who serve the palace.
If this were a ceremony to elevate them to knighthood or nobility, then there would be more eyes looking at them while glaring, but since it was just a medal of honor, it’s not like that, and most eyes had a hint of positiveness .
In accordance to the etiquette that Kail was taught beforehand, Kail stood before king Remnas.
“Citizens of the kingdom of Jirgs, Kail Leonard and his party, you have done a truly magnificent job in saving princess Mirena. Therefore, I bestow upon you the St.Randonel medal of honor.”
“……. I shall gratefully accept it with respect.”
By king Remnas’s hand, the lily, which is the flower of courage and proof of St.Randonel, which could be seen from the capital that was spent on it, was put around Kail’s neck.
Seeing that, the princess began to clap, and reacting to that, the rest began to applaud.
This was the first time that the once great hero Kail Leonard’s name was spread to the world, later he would be called by many second names, ‘The hope of the human race’, ‘The one who mastered both sword and magic’ and the ‘Sensual* hero’.
.
Tsuyokute New Saga – V01 – Extra (Side Story)

It’s alright to not know, the story that shouldn’t be known.
After the award ceremony ended, King Remnas was drinking alone in his bedroom on the highest floor of the palace.
Being a King, King Remnas doesn’t have that many chances to be alone, so recently his close aide, the Grand Chamberlain, has driven off people in order for him to be alone these past few nights. Actually, King Remnas was drinking wine, to dull his anger.
Frustrated because there was no helping his confined son —— wasn’t the reason.
“Seriously, both Zentos and Kalnas, every single one of them is just useless!”
It was anger directed towards the failure of Princess Mirena’s assassination this time.
Both within and outside the country, King Remnas’s reputation wasn’t bad.
There were no major projects, everything from military to diplomatic and national problems were all settled, the citizens weren’t dissatisfied with anything.
Neither bad or good, a mediocre king, that was the evaluation for King Remnas.
And it was precisely because he was only capable to this certain extent, that King Remnas understood how extraordinary his daughter was.
From a young age she had absorbed all the knowledge she needed in order to become an Emperor.
Since she understood things would be easier in the future if she was popular, she used her position as a Princess to come into contact with the citizens and earn popularity.
In reality, she’s popular, even more so than the King himself.
And lately she has begun to give her opinion on State affairs, but of course, only being an heir to the throne, she still couldn’t say much, but little by little she was raising her influence.
At this rate, in a few years, five years at most, I shall be abdicated from the throne, and Mirena will succeed it by making herself Queen.
And unanimously, it is something that the whole country wishes for.
If it becomes like that, then Jirgs will certainly progress further under the reign of a beautiful Queen.
One day she would certainly become a Queen whose name shall be left in history.
And I shall become a thing of the past, a forgotten thing.
I’m only thirty-eight, in five years I’ll only be forty-three, I can still go on longer.
That girl will easily destroy and surpass the things I have stacked up over the past ten, twenty years.
At this rate I’ll only be treated as Mirena’s father, nothing more, just an extra.
From a young age, without leaving my name etched into history like other great Kings, I’ll just be buried by history itself…….
These emotions grew together with Mirena’s growth, getting stronger day by day, it began to weigh heavily on the mind.
And on a certain day, a choice was finally made.
“Mirena’s ways are too forceful. She will certainly plunge the future of Jirgs into crisis.”
He deceived himself like this, and in his heart, decided to get rid of Mirena.
But he couldn’t punish her openly, because the Princess had no known faults.
And if it’s done half heartedly, then she would certainly retaliate.
If it’s like that, then assassination is the only option, but it carries a high risk.
If it failed and got discovered, then it may become a civil war that splits the country in half, then the chance to win would become small.
That’s when he thought about his other child, Prince Kalnas.
Even in his own eyes the prince was foolish, yet that just made him easy to manipulate.
That’s how Zentos was ordered to kill the princess, because Prince Kalnas was induced the idea of killing his own sister.
The Prince, who already had an inappropriate ambition, immediately got into the mood for it.
Without knowing that he was being manipulated.
Even if it was successful, I had no intention of letting Kalnas succeed the throne.
An heir only needs to be blood related, I have more than enough to choose from, or I can just make more.
But his foolishness was beyond expectations.
I had Zentos go with Mirena instead of the Fifth Platoon. By having her away from them, I had assisted him in many ways, but he couldn’t even properly kill her.
“Even so Zentos…… if you were going to die anyway, at least do it after killing the princess.”
Even though Zentos was told he could use any means necessary, without using forceful means, he went out on his own and ended up dying.
It would’ve been better if you just got involved from the start.
“They still haven’t noticed anything, but I have to think of something before they notice it……. Seriously those travelers did such an unneeded thing…..”
Remembering the award ceremony in the midday.
Since they know of the situation, one of these days, they will have to be taken care of.
If possible, together with the Princess…… while thinking that, he drank the glass of wine in one go, at that time, King Remnas’s bangs swayed.”
“Hmm?…..Wind?”
While thinking there shouldn’t be any wind in a closed room like this and looking around, a figure was standing before the unused fireplace.
Wearing black clothes and covering the face, only showing his eyes, it can only be seen as a suspicious thing.
This is the king’s bedroom deep within the castle’s residential area, in other words, the most protected place within Jirgs. Infiltration within this place is forbidden and it shouldn’t be possible, well, that doesn’t count if you have assistance from within.
The person instantly came close to King Remnas’s side, put both his hands behind King Remnas’s back and closed his mouth with his hand, in an instant his movements and voice were sealed.
He was clearly an experienced fighter; King Remnas, who didn’t have any knowledge of martial arts, couldn’t do a thing.
“…… Are you thinking it’s strange that I got here without anyone noticing me? It’s simple, within the fireplace is a secret way out, that leads from the Capital to the outside, doesn’t it? I just came in from the opposite way.”
That small voice was whispering into his ear, it sounded like a familiar voice, but it was not recognizable enough.
Certainly, there’s an escape route within the fireplace that leads out of the castle if something were to happen.
But that is a top secret among secrets, the exit is hidden somewhere and the only one who knows about it and still lives should only be myself.
“I was a guard here once when it was being evacuated….. Seriously, I just went with the flow and protected you at that time, but to save someone like you…… well anyhow, because of that I learned about this secret escape route.”
‘Well I’m glad it wasn’t for nothing’, the intruder muttered that.
Not knowing what the intruder was saying, ‘I’ll try to get free’ is what king Remnas was thinking, but no matter what he did, the intruder didn’t even budge.
“You were drinking on your own at the right time. If it was impossible today I was planning to return a few times more until a good chance appeared…… I wonder if this is because of my good timing or is it just that you had bad timing?”
The intruder —– Kail, said so ironically.
After the award ceremony he waited for a moment like this and was happy that it was today.
“Well, it’s only natural that you want to know the reason why I’m doing this…… there are a lot of reasons, but in the end I guess it’s just some personal hate and revenge…… well it’s a little different than that. If I had to say it, I’m just taking out my anger on you, I guess?”
After hearing that, King Remnas began to groan in anger, but Kail didn’t seem to care about it.
“It’s useless to tell the current you, but at the time of that {Great Advance}, I went to you for guidance, and you told me I should go and help out the dwarfs in the surrounding nations. However, because of something like not wanting to lose your position because of political reasons, we were a moment too late. As a result, by an army of demons, bigger than you can imagine, the dwarfs quickly perished.”
At that time Kail was a renowned magic swordsman who was skilled, but that’s all he was.
Being a survivor of the town of Rimase, he told him of the danger of the demon race’s army and how strong they were, but he was ignored.
“And after that, it just continued…… in the end it became the reason for Jirgs’s demise. At that time you only gave some foolish plans and just tried to pass the blame to others…..”
Then Kail made a big, truly from the bottom of his heart, sigh.
“Seriously, ~ifonlyyouguyscouldjustbealittlemoreresponsible. Then I wouldn’t have to go through such troubles…… I’m troubled because there are many leaders like you.”
Maybe it was because his anger was piled up, or maybe it was because he remembered the past he couldn’t save, he put strength into his hand and twisted both of King Remnas’s arms.
King Remnas began to growl in pain.
“Ah, sorry for that. It’s something meaningless to the you right now. That was truly just me taking out my anger on you…… also, I wasn’t trying to have you atone for something you still haven’t done…… However, for the sake of your own safety, and because you didn’t want to give up your throne, you tried to do something evil like killing your own son and daughter, just for those reasons, then I don’t need to hold back.”
Kail puts even more power into his hands and begins to walk.
“Above all else, you gave my comrade such an order, I cannot forgive you for having killed my comrade for such a reason.”
“Zentos’s last words were, ‘I apologize, my Majesty.’”
The instant he heard that, Kail was able to understand everything.
And he became certain after listening to King Remnas speaking to himself.
“If you think about it, it’s simple, there’s only one reason why a guy that loyal would do something like assassinate the Princess…… you’re that reason, Your Majesty the King. If I think back to when you died and the kingdom of Jirgs fell, Zentos was strangely relieved, as if a weight had been removed from him….. it would have been good if he could just choose the King whom he would serve.”
It wasn’t far from the balcony they were approaching.
Understanding what Kail was trying to do, king Remnas moved violently to try and get free again, but yet again, Kail didn’t budge at all.
“That Princess-sama is….. kind of sinister, but clever. She will probably put her emotions above her interests, but she’s way better compared to someone like you, who only cares about rewards and status, so I cannot let her be killed. Also, after you killed the Princess, you were planning to kill us too for knowing your secret, right?……That’s why I’m sorry, but you’ll have to leave the stage here.”
The big windows were opened and the cold evening wind came in.
“Well even if I leave you alone you’ll bite the dust in a little more than three years from now. It’s just a difference of whether it’s sooner, or later. Then there won’t be a problem if it’s earlier, isn’t that right?”
King Remnas trembled because of Kail’s indifferent way of telling him he’s going to die, as if it was meant to be, he didn’t stop his desperate groaning.
“Well then, I took my time talking on and on. It’ll be bad if I waste anymore time like this……”
They arrived at the handrail of the balcony.
Normally, it would be a good balcony where you could gaze upon the beautiful courtyard, but now a deep darkness was hanging over it.
This was the highest point in the whole castle, being five stories tall, and if you fell from here, the only things still beneath you would be stones, meaning that it was a certain death.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be said to be an accident, nobody will know that you got killed by a kid, so your pride and status will stay undamaged…… ah, I’ll be troubled if you were to scream, so I’ll just have you fall down.”
Kail gives out a chop towards King Remnas’s neck.
A light blow, but because it was well aimed, it was enough to take away his consciousness.
“See you later, Your Majesty the King.”
This was the last voice King Remnas ever heard, before his consciousness went dark.
That night, the patrolling soldiers heard a loud sound, when they went to see what it was, they had discovered that King Remnas had fallen to his death.
Not finding any evidence of there being an intruder, he became terribly drunk and went to the balcony to feel the night air, but ended up slipping and fell to his death, that was the theory they came up with.
Falling to his death because he was drunk, since it sounded bad, they changed the story to him dying because of heart disease……