“Why should I care? The lives of the lowly matter not. Once the pleasure quarter is complete, we’ll put up a blank gravestone in a corner and say a prayer for them.”

What a piece of shit.

“You think I’ll go out easy?!”

Jigoco pulled his dagger and lunged at Gorgoru, but the ex-adventurer swordsman knocked it from his hand and rendered him helpless. This must be their “master.”

“Your role is done. Master, finish him.”

The master nodded, flipped his sword, and put the tip to Jigoco’s back.

“…Stop right there!” a familiar voice called.

Earth spikes shot up from their feet, binding them all.

Only the master dodged the first strike, but he failed to dodge the follow-ups; he, too, was taken down.

“You’re…Tia?! Why is the Great Sorceress’s apprentice attacking innocent civilians?”

“Howl away, thief.”

I had not expected Tia to lead the charge in person.

I figured she’d leave this to her other apprentices.

“I’ve heard all your wicked schemes. We’re revoking your trading license and seizing your assets. You’ll be executed in the town square. Your employees will be punished in accordance with the gravity of their crimes.”

“Why? I merely ordered some land purchases?! Jigoco handled all the dirty work!”

“Are you a half-wit? Ordering a crime is the same as committing it yourself.”

“Do you have proof? Proof I ordered any of this?!”

“I heard everything. That’s all the proof I need.”

“Absurd! I’ve never heard of anything so oppressive! I’m appealing to the Great Sorceress herself!”

“Are you? And who do you think you’re talking to now?”

The frosty glare in her eyes was one she’d never used at the Hero’s Rest.

“Y-you mean…you’re the…?!”

Gorgoru managed to take the hint.

“That’s enough chatter. Take him away!”

Tia’s minions had been filing in, and they took Gorgoru into custody.

“Case closed,” Tia said, winking right at me.

Looks like she knew I was peeping.

She’d earned that “Great.”

“Er, um. Why is this happening?”

“Compensation.”

With the Gorgoru Company gone, their stores and factories all became property of the Hero’s Rest.

Including what they’d gotten in the land grab. Where the previous owner wanted it back, those requests were granted, but many of them had already started new lives or taken the money in the first place; the deeds for these properties all came to us.

On paper, these had been put up for auction, and the Hero’s Rest had simply successfully bid for stores, factories, and warehouses. I loaned the funds necessary for these bids. I hadn’t had enough copper coins on me, so I had to pay with a copper ingot that had been wasting space in my Inventory.

“Really a headache for a deal this size,” Arisa grumbled as we finalized the deal. “Why does the fortress city only allow copper again?”

“Can’t get anything else reliably.” Tia shrugged.

The Jungle Labyrinth had monsters that dropped high-purity copper ore, and the fortress city had an ancient coin press system, so they’d wound up using copper for their currency.

This coin press system had a huge start-up cost, and once it was running, it produced an absurd number of coins at once, so from an efficiency standpoint they’d wound up only minting copper. Accepting foreign currencies caused problems from an administrative standpoint.

“This is a good thing, Roro,” Lulu said.

“Exactly! Now you’re ready to scale up to how your grandmother ran things!” Arisa chimed in.

We hadn’t planned on it, but Roro now had the holdings she’d dreamed about.

Naturally, with that many properties, she needed more than four employees; even with my party helping, it wasn’t nearly enough. She’d been forced to take an introduction from Tia to the merchants’ guild and borrow staff from them.

“Satou, can’t wait to work with you!”

“I’ll leave the staff dorm unlocked, so come see me tonight. I’ll stay up.”

We’d put the rejects from the last round of hires on provisional contracts, but perhaps we’d been too hasty. While we settled them in…

“Is Roro here?” Tia said, making her usual entrance.

But she had company.

“Are these the staff we asked for?”

“They are. Roro said—”

“Lujib! Tonperry!” Roro cried, the moment she saw the two old men.

Those names sounded familiar. That’s right—they were the factory and workshop owners her grandmother had used.

“That tiny little Roro, all grown up!”

“You fool, she’ll be our new employer! You’ll call her ‘Boss Roro’ and like it!”

“Oh, right. Got lost on a trip down memory lane.”

They set about catching up.

“Um, shouldn’t we be—?”

“Right, right. Boss Roro, we’ve also found the former chief of staff, Tovan. He quit to move to the country during your mother’s time—but he’s brought his wife with him!”

Old man Lujib, former factory owner, was pointing at a middle-aged gnome and a little girl. She only looked like a little girl—she was actually a brownie, a house fairy. Tovan himself only looked like a middle-aged gnome—his actual age was far higher than either of those old men.

“It’s been too long, Roro.”

“Uncle Tovan! Wow, it’s really you!”

She was jumping for joy, talking like a kid again.

“And this is my wife, Aekiki.”

“W-wife…this little girl?” Roro yelped, gaping at the very young-looking brownie.

“Nice to meet you, Boss Roro. I may not look it, but I have reached the age of majority, don’t worry.”

Aekiki seemed used to how people saw her and was ready with an explanation. Given her actual age, the expression she’d used was a bit of an understatement—but I knew better than to point that out.

“I once handled the books at the Braiheim Company, so I imagine I can be of some assistance.”

“Braiheim—that’s Tovan’s hometown, right? Did you screw up and get sent packing?”

“I did not! My hardheaded parents wouldn’t approve my marriage to Aekiki, so we ditched the place!”

“Eloping at your age?”

“Leave it,” the gnome growled, not letting his old friends tease him.

If memory served, gnomes and brownies were unable to have children, so a conservative gnome settlement would have been against their marriage. The fragility of life here might mean people placed greater stock in matters like that than they did in modern Japan.

“I’ve checked all four of them out, so don’t worry about a thing. They worked well with your mother and grandmother, so I’m sure they’ll be a great help to you, Roro. Tonperry has a lot of connections, so he should be able to help you find craftsmen.”

“Thank you so much, Tia.”

They were clearly already getting along swimmingly.

Tovan would be able to back her up in my place, and Aekiki could take over accounts from Arisa; Lujib could handle factory lines, and Tonperry knew half the craftsmen in town. With Roro in the lead, Hero’s Rest now had the management it needed.

“So many new people, Satou…,” Hou said, looking tense.

“Yeah. Hou, you’re a veteran now—you’ll have to show the new hires the ropes!”

Roro called her over, and she started making friends.

Hou’s group was used to the job by now, so I put them in charge of training the new hires. With Tovan and the old guard shoring up the core staff, the Hero’s Rest was well on its way to operating without my party’s help.

A half a month after that, they’d successfully weathered the expansion.

Tia’s broad-ranging support had helped, of course, but our factories had hired a ton of the poverty class as welfare labor, and we’d found several capable individuals among them. That had helped with the rapid expansion; the new storefronts were remodeled and operating, and we had second and third smaller Hero’s Rest stores operating near the gates.

……Yeah, maybe overkill.

Roro had wanted this expansion, but it had been a bit too rapid, and she’d been ready to turn tail and run several times.

She was slowly easing into her new role and getting good at managing her numerous new staff.

She no longer needed us at every turn, and I’d passed off most of the duties I’d been handling.

About that time.

Roro was growing independent, and I could leave the shop for extended periods of time.

And if I was around, Roro would continue to turn to me over her new core staff.

We could head back to Shiga Kingdom, but while we were here anyway, I wanted to join my party in their plans for a castle conquest.

Castle Conquest

“Take that, sir!”

Pochi was wearing golden armor and a yellow cape, throwing herself into a squad of ten Tauruses—bull-shaped monsters.

Sword arts as powerful as her frame was tiny, swiftly slashing the Tauruses’ tendons and rendering them inert.

“Lyuryu! Now, sir!”

LYURYU!

The white baby dragon bonded to Pochi let out a breath so focused and narrow, it might as well have been a laser, blowing off the heads of every immobilized Taurus.

This dragon was still less than a yard from head to tail, but the power of its Dragon Breath was prodigious, and the Tauruses were mowed down, their heads turning to ash and crumbling away.

Far higher DPS than its level should allow—which was helping Lyuryu gain levels steadily. It seemed to need a lot more XP per level than the beast girls did, but that level gap wasn’t proving to be an issue so far.

“Mrow, delicaciessss!” muttered Tama. She wore a pink cape over her golden armor.

She was likely lamenting the loss of the Tauruses’ eyeballs. The ears on her helmet moved with her cat ears, lying flat as she gazed dejectedly at the corpses.

“If you stop to sulk, the others will be incinerated, too,” Liza called.

Her words were strict, but her armor-clad tail slapped Tama’s back encouragingly.

“Right! Tama fiiight!”

Tama vanished into her shadow, and I saw her pop back up where Pochi was leading the forerunners.

“Nin-niiiin?”

She’d come up behind a Taurus, and in the blink of an eye, she’d claimed its head. And as that spin completed, she snared more Tauruses with her shadow, shooting through the crowd and leaving severed heads in her wake.

The corpses were all swallowed by the shadow. A ninjutsu mastered by our party’s shadow ninja. She’d likely tucked them away to keep their bodies from being harmed by Lyuryu’s next Breath attack.

“Ah! You stole our prey, sir!”

LYU?

“Lyuryu, we’re racing Tama now, sir!”

LYURYU!

Feeling competitive, Pochi and her dragon upped the speed of their devastation.

“The children are all fired up, and we have naught to do,” Arisa declared.

“Mm, youth,” Mia said, pulling the age card.

“Liza, Nana, not joining the competition?” Lulu asked—but they were making precision attacks anytime Pochi and Tama looked like they might be in danger of getting surrounded.

“No, Lulu, a tank cannot shine against weaker foes, I declare,” Nana said, thumping her shield on the ground.

“Nana, three champions, two o’clock.”

“Yes, Arisa, moving to engage.”

“Master, I’m joining her.”

Nana and Liza headed off to intercept the Taurus champions as they came around the corner of the castle.

“Less resistance than I expected.”

“Sure we didn’t just get stronger?”

It had been the better part of a month since Zanzasansa, the necromancer, had led an undead army to the fortress city of Arcatia. My party had struggled against the greater demon there, but clearly that had motivated them to gain some more levels since.

“Conceit bad.”

“I know! I’m keeping my eyes peeled!”

They’d already cleared out all the Jungle Labyrinth’s trickiest areas, including the area around this castle, and were now taking a stab at the grand finish—the castle interior.

The Arcatian adventurers considered this place untouchable, but thanks to Arisa’s Space Magic, we could Warp directly inside the castle and conquer it off the books.

“Master, any signs of Tauruses fleeing the castle?”

“None. Not just the gates; I’ve got an earth wall too high for them to get over all around the exterior walls. And spells are strengthening the ground so they can’t tunnel under.”

It wasn’t just my spells—Mia’s pseudo-earth spirit, Genomos, was helping out a lot.

“It’s nice to be prepared.”

“We can rest easy?”

“You could say that, yeah.”

Even as we chatted, Arisa was casting Deracinator and Dimension Slasher to back the party up.

“Mrr, mage.”

Nana had been hit with a magic attack.

That said, she’d dealt with it using the “Magical Slash” she’d learned from the Hero and the master swordsman, so had taken no damage.

“Magic and projectiles do not work on me, I declare,” she cried.

I clapped for her.

She was making that move look easy, but it was actually pretty hard to pull off.

“It’s hiding where it can’t be sniped.”

“Go, Genomos.”

The Taurus mage was in cover, so Mia sent her pseudo-spirit to take it out.

“Archer spotted! Sniping!”

A Taurus archer had poked its head out on the balustrades, so Lulu took it down with her Fireburst Gun.

That was a mid-range weapon—sniping with it proved how good Lulu was.

“Nana, heads up! The captain and the elites are coming out from back! They’ve got gunners with them!”

“Yes, Arisa. I’ve completed the charge required to activate Fortress, I report.”

This was the toughest place in the Jungle Labyrinth, the interior of the Tauruses’ castle, so it was absolutely swarming with the things.

The gunners were firing rot shot, but Nana blocked that with her armor’s Fortress function, and when the volley died down, Liza charged in, trailing red light in her wake, slaughtering Taurus elite with her Magic Cricket Spear.

“You haven’t come to watch for a while. Everyone’s showing off.”

“Eh-heh-heh, Arisa, you’re using a lot more attack spells than usual,” Lulu said, ratting her out.

“W-well, I don’t have to focus as much on commands! That frees me up to take more actions and cast more spells!”

“Today only?”

“Urghh!”

Lulu grinned at her.

These sisters were very close.

“Master, I heard things were crazy busy. Can you afford the time away from Hero’s Rest?”

“I can, yeah. Things got hectic after the expansion, but we’ve staffed up, and Roro’s gotten used to delegating.”

This was also a test, one I hoped would wean her off me.

If she strengthened her ties to her new leadership, that would make the Hero’s Rest management that much more stable.

“Breeeeach?”

“Gate guardians eliminated, sir!”

Oops, no time for chatter. We were about to breach the main building of the Tauruses’ castle.

“Lyuryu did great, too, sir!”

LYU…RYU…

“Lyuryu?”

The dragon settled on Pochi’s head, drooping, and dove into the artifact on her chest—the Dragon Cradle.

“Sleepy tiiiime?”

“Sleep helps babies grow, sir!”

Lyuryu had just hatched and took a lot of naps.

Pochi rubbed the Dragon Cradle pendant gently, speaking in motherly tones. “Leave the rest to us, and take a load off, sir.”

“Listen up! There’s a whole herd of powerful cattle inside!” Arisa said, confusing everyone with a bad joke.

This one in particular required, you know, the kanji.

“S-so let’s give ’em all we got!” she spluttered, recovering.

Everyone reset, and our scout—Tama—led the way.

The Tauruses’ lord led a bunch of advanced Taurus types—Taurus knights, Taurus warlocks, Taurus bishops, and Taurus captains—but the party handled them with ease.

“‘Helix Spear Attack—Avalanche’!”

Liza was using her special attack like a regular one, charging through the Taurus king’s guard into the audience chamber where the Taurus king awaited.

“The gold one in back’s the boss!”

A massive Taurus king was seated on the throne behind a “herd” of the advanced types we’d already fought—scattered among them were attack-focused Taurus executioners and Taurus avengers, as well as defense-focused Taurus king’s guards and Taurus paladins.

They were all buffed quite a bit—they must have been casting Support Magic while we were on the way.

“No prince or queen? Did she take the kids back to her parents’ place?” Arisa joked, but against this many powerful foes, even she sounded tense. “But putting your mages in front is just silly.”

BZUUMZOOOO!

As Arisa raised her staff, the Taurus king raised his scepter like a mace.

And the Tauruses stampeded toward us.

“Take this—Vortex Blade Rampage!”

Arisa thrust her staff forward, unleashing an advanced Space spell.

The space faults in the chamber were disrupted.

The Tauruses were sliced up by faults thinner than molecular fiber.

“Ha-ha! Say hello to my cubed steaks!”

“Splatteeeeeer?”

“That looks painful, sir!”

Arisa was cackling, but the kids were covering the visors on their helmets with both hands.

“Remain vigilant.”

“Yes, Mia. Some enemies remain alive, I report.”

Like they said, the king and some of the top-tier Tauruses had used some kind of artifacts to protect themselves from Arisa’s spell. Likely the kind that took a hit for you.

“Garuda—Tempest,” Mia whispered.

The pseudo-spirit Garuda had been hiding, translucent, but now it revealed its golden form, activating a secret art and pulverizing the walls and ceiling of the audience chamber.

That art used up Garuda’s mana, so it faded out.

The Tauruses momentarily appeared to be wiped out, but a few had survived—much like they had survived Arisa’s Space Magic spell.

“Mrr.”

“Surviving Garuda’s Tempest? These are some tough cookies.”

“But they’re not unharmed.”

The king was covered in blood; those at lord or paladin class were on death’s door. Looked like the king’s guard had hung in there, too.

BZUUMZOOOO!

The king howled and thumped his scepter, and a squad of unharmed Tauruses appeared—brought in with Space Magic. The king seemed to have a minion “Summon” skill that pulled in Taurus captains and Taurus leaders that were patrolling outside the castle.

“Well, he is a king. The rest is up to Liza and the girls.”

“We’ll take care of it. Pochi, Tama, follow me. We’ll cut a path open. Nana, keep the rear guard safe.”

“Nin-niiiin!”

“Roger that, sir! Lyuryu’s sleeping, but I’ll fight for the both of us, sir!”

“Yes, Liza.”

They’d grasp the final victory together.

BZUUMZOOOO!

“Here we go!”

Liza’s cry and the king’s bellow overlapped.

The Taurus army began to advance, and Liza’s eyes lit up.

“‘Blink—Helix Spear Attack—Bore.’”

The red glow of a “Spellblade” swirling before her, she was through the center in the blink of an eye.

Like an isekai hero after meeting Truck-kun, the Tauruses went flying.

“‘Quick Draw, Vanquish Slicer,’ sir!”

Pochi went spinning down the path she’d opened, her blades like whirling death.

The Tauruses tried to dodge her fearsome weapons, but shadows grabbed their legs, preventing it.

“‘Ninpo—Shadow Bind’!”

“Aku Soku Jajan, sir!”

Tama’s ninjutsu had the Tauruses pinned down, so Pochi used magic to alter the length of her Holy Sword, a streak of blue light following it as she cleaved them in two.

A Taurus assassin appeared behind the cleaved one, aiming at Pochi’s back from behind.

“Not todaaaay!”

Tama threw a kunai, blocking the assassin’s swing—then used a wind technique to blast the assassin into the air.

“Hah!”

Unable to defend itself, Lulu’s shot pierced its brow.

“Nice assiiiist!”

Tama waved at Lulu, then vanished into her Shadow.

“We’ve closed off the labyrinth behind us. Nana, you can join the fray.”

“Mm, Genomos.”

At Mia’s command, her pseudo-earth spirit put up some sturdy barricades.

“I shall sally forth, I cry!”

The thrusters on Nana’s back fired, and she shot at the king far faster than she usually could.

The beast girls had already eliminated his minions, and Arisa and Lulu had felled anyone who slipped past them.

BZUUMZOOOO!

The king howled, and multiple layers of barrier armor appeared around him—almost like the demon Golden Boar Lord. His specter took on a dark red glow. He was level 60—he had plenty of tricks in his bag.

“‘Helix Spear Attack—Pile On.’”

The king had stopped moving, and Liza hit it with a “Spear” combo. The king blocked several “Thrusts” with the specter, and the rest merely succeeded in punching through the barriers.

“Tankier than I thought. Oh well.”

Liza took a step back, putting the Magic Cricket Spear in her golden armor’s Storage.

This must have looked like an opening—the king swung his aura-laced specter like a club, aiming for Liza—but Tama’s Shadow Bind and Lulu’s sniping blocked the blow.

“Your feet are open, sir!”

Pochi prepared for a Quick strike, aiming for the king’s Achilles tendon.

BZUMZO!

It let out a roar and stomped the ground, generating iron walls that protected its feet.

“Oopsie-daisy, sir!”

With a metallic screech, Pochi’s Holy Sword slid across the top of the iron wall.

That was clearly not ordinary iron. If it had been, no matter how thick it was, Pochi’s blow would have sliced through it.

The king’s specter swung toward her back.

“Falliiiiinx!”

Tama popped out of her shadow, using the disposable shield item, Phalanx, to stop the king’s blow.

“‘Shield Bash’ to ‘Blast Fort,’ I announce.”

With the king’s arm fully down, Nana hit his shoulder with her shield, thrusters fully engaged, then shattered his barriers with her special move.

“Not yet.”

“Yes, Mia! ‘Blast Armor Rush,’ I announce!”

The barriers had cracked, so Nana pushed through with her special move.

“I got thiiiis? ‘Vorpal Faaang’!”

Tama slipped through the crack Nana made, her special move driving two swords home.

This team play shattered the king’s barriers like so much glass.

BZUUMZOOOO!

“Not happening!”

The king howled and tried to regenerate the barriers, but a shot from Lulu’s Fireburst Gun hit the source of them.

“Nice, Lulu!” Arisa cried, and hit the king’s face with a Fire spell to distract it.

“‘Blink—Vanquish Strike,’ sir!”

The king’s belly was wide open, so Pochi shot in like a bullet.

BZUMZZZO!

“Yikes, it’s stuck, sir!”

Pochi’s Holy Sword was in to the hilt, but the king crunched its abs and wouldn’t let her retrieve it.

BZUUMZOOOO!

It also put up several more barriers, surrounding her.

Nana smashed through these just as she had a moment before, but failed to handle all of them. Arisa backed this with Space Magic, but that still left a single barrier between the king and Pochi and the rest of us.

“Pochi, look out!”

The king dropped the specter, trying to crush her between its hands.

“Don’t worry, be happyyyy!”

Tama’s Shadow Bind snagged its arms—but it was already up to speed, and she didn’t quite manage to stop them both.

But that proved more than enough.

After all

“‘Lightspeed—Draco Buster’!”

Moving at a speed beyond “Blink,” Liza’s “Thrust” punched through the barriers and the king’s chest.

Dragon fangs bit through everything, and her dragon spear with a special move was insanely powerful.

BZUUMZOOOO!

Even with a spear through its heart, the fight hadn’t left the king’s eyes.

It shifted targets to Liza and went for the pincer move, both hands coated in that dark red aura.

Liza’s eyes caught it, and without flinching, she used her final call.

“‘Peak—Spellblade Blaster.’”

An instant later, the king swelled from within, countless Spellblades tearing their way out of him and shredding his body.

BZUMZZZO!

His aura-laced claws reached for Liza’s eyes—and his knees crumbled.

“You were a powerful foe.”

BZUMZO…

As if in answer to her words, it died—with a satisfied look on its face.

“Even a monster carries itself like a king,” Arisa said.

“Indeed it did,” Liza agreed, then turned to face me. “Master, if I may make a request—”

“Bury it properly, rather than turning it into materials?”

“If it’s not too much to ask.”

“Of course it’s not too much, Liza.”

I used Magic Hand to seat the king’s corpse on the throne, and I asked Arisa to give it a proper funeral pyre.

We all watched in silence, and as we started to gather the loot, Tama said, “Secret passaaage?”

She tapped the wall with her foot—and it moved aside, revealing a secret staircase behind the throne.

“What’s waiting for us down there?”

“Lots of treasure, sir!”

“Hidden boss.”

Everyone shared their theories as we headed down.

According to my map, this connected to the depths below the castle, and there was a level-66 Taurus queen waiting. Mia’s guess was on the money.

“Fooog?”

“White billows.”

“There’s a big Mrs. Cow behind it, sir!”

“Cows can sit like pandas, but that doesn’t make them cute.”

The Taurus king had been nearly six yards tall, but the Taurus queen was gigantic, well over thirty yards tall.

“Not that large a room, so let’s make this quick,” Arisa said, patting Lulu’s shoulder.

“Sorry, Arisa. In a room this size, the ricochet on an Acceleration Gun could be scary.”

“Oh, right, that happens. My Fire spells would crisp it right up. Mia, you wanna go?”

“Mm, got it. …”

Mia began a Spirit Magic chant.

That was calling out Behemoth. Ending with a kaiju fight? Apparently not. The queen sensed the rising mana and opened her eyes, turning to face us.

BZUUUUMZO.

She’d used a minion “Summon” skill, but the king had already summoned everything—nothing happened.

“She spotted us.”

“So it seems. We’ll have to buy time for Mia’s incantation.”

“Aye-aye!”

The beast girls all darted off.

The queen had been looking baffled, but when she saw them coming, she pulled six arms out, brandishing them high.

BZUUUUMZO!

“Look out! She’s got an Item Box!”

Arisa was right—she was pulling giant weapons out of her Item Box, arming each of her six arms.

“Huge! Girls! Brace yourselves!” Arisa shrieked—and the queen started flailing wildly.

The weapons were massive boulders or lumps of bone—she was too far away to reach the girls directly, but they cracked the walls and floors, sending tons of rubble flying through the air.

A blow to the face, impossible to dodge—but hardly their first time seeing the like.

“Deracinator!”

“Ninpo, Shadow Aaaarts!”

Arisa’s Space Magic blocked the barrage, and Tama created a Shadow shelter for the front line to huddle in.

Projectiles reached the back line, but Lulu used a Phalanx to block them.

The dust hid us both from each other.

BZUUUUMZO!

“……Create Behemoth Majuu Ou Souzou.”

The queen’s howl and Mia’s cast overlapped.

“Go.”

PUWAOOOOWWNNN!!

The behemoth’s powerful roar shook the room, and it charged through the dust at the queen.

The air churned, and through the dust I caught a glimpse of the queen, her barriers shattered, buried in the wall beyond.

“Hot damn, that behemoth is mighty!” Arisa yelped.

The dust made it hard to see, but it seemed to have the upper hand.

In time, the dust died down, and we could see again.

PUWAOOOOWWNNN!!

Her limbs—three arms and two legs on either side for a total of ten—shattered, and the behemoth was standing over the queen, kicking her triumphantly.

“Behemoth, finish her.”

PUWAOOOOWWNNN!!

At Mia’s cry, the behemoth’s horns were wreathed in purple lightning.

And just as those horns pierced the queen—

“It vanished?!”

The queen had disappeared, the dust in the air flowing in the space she’d occupied.

“Like your Teleportation, Arisa.”

“Master, can you tell?”

“At the least, it’s not anywhere connected to the castle.”

I’d thought this would be over quick, so I hadn’t placed a marker on it.

“The queen didn’t have any ‘Teleport’ skills, right?” Arisa asked.

“Not that I could see.” I nodded. “That seemed less like her choice than like someone else snatched her away. Does Space Magic tell us anything?”

“Uh…doesn’t seem like there’s any traces that’ll let us track her,” she said, using her magic to investigate.

“Weeeird.”

“Is it over, sir?”

Tama popped out of her Shadow.

“Whew…how is that not bothering you?”

“That space has a negative impact on my calculation circuits, I report.”

Liza and Nana both looked rather ill.

Tama’s Shadow was a lot like the Shadow Jail made with Zena’s Shadow Magic; if you didn’t have an aptitude for it, it gave you something rather like motion sickness.

“Oh,” Arisa muttered. She looked up at me. “Might be the DM’s handiwork.”

“The DM? Oh, the dungeonmaster?”

She elaborated, saying the traces were a lot like the spatial distortions found around the Jungle Labyrinth.

Made sense—anyone capable of “Warping” space over the entire dungeon could also teleport monsters under its control around.

“Not that I have any way of proving it.”

“That’s fine. Since it abdicated the fight, victory is still ours.”

My party all cheered.

“Treasure rooooom!”

Tama led us through a crack in the wall to a gymnasium-sized space with treasure chests everywhere.

Standard-issue precious metals but also Magic Items and potions—similar to what we found when we beat the floormaster in Celivera Labyrinth.

The magic gear included lots of weapons and armor, but it was mostly Taurus size; 90 percent of the human-size equipment was cursed.

No matter how high the attack value was, if it made you go insane, we didn’t need it.

We could sell some of this stuff off in the fortress city, but the bad-news stuff was getting dropped straight in my Sealed folder forever.

“Master, I found a scroll!”

I was there so quickly, I’d almost teleported.

“Thanks, Lulu.”

I took it from her and looked closely and discovered it was a Plating scroll.

This was the first we’d seen drop, but apparently the Jungle Labyrinth did offer scrolls.

I used the scroll, adding it to my menu’s spell list, then took out a random iron sword and a silver ingot and tried Plating it.

“That came out beautifully.”

I could change the amount of silver used at will, and that changed how thick the Plating was.

A pretty handy spell.

“We can mass-produce silver weapons for fighting undead.”

“Gonna sell those through the Echigoya Company?”

The Magic Swords I sold were better than the competition’s, but these silver weapons would go for a far more reasonable price and could be good for us. They do say silver banishes evil.

“Master, is that only possible with metal?”

“I’d assume so? Plating means a layer of metal…”

“Could you use it to coat paper in plastic? Like lamination?”

“What might work…alua?”

Alua resin hardened into a jewel-like beauty, so I tried laminating some good paper I had in stock.

“……It worked.”

Was that Plating?

It might not quite match the spell name, but since this worked in my favor, I decided not to think about it.

This would let me easily make company IDs that couldn’t be forged.

“Then please! Give this a soft waterproof coating!” Arisa said, taking out a BL doujin created by the demon lord Shizuka.

“Pendragon! The Pendragon party returns!”

When we got back to Arcatia, we found adventurers and citizens alike cheering for us.

“We’ve got a parade ready to go!” said a golden lion adventurer, Tiga.

“You arranged this?”

“Yep! That was you going crazy in the castle, right? I saw the elf kid make a massive earth wall all around the outside of it.”

Oh, so they’d seen our setup.

I’m shocked they didn’t try to stop us.

“Don’t sweat the details, just get on this carriage! The guild provided it, and the townsfolk decorated it!”

He was pointing at a topless carriage. They’d gone absolutely crazy with jungle materials.

“Wowzers! I dig it! Thanks, Tiga!” Arisa shot him a thumbs-up, and being a goof, he returned the same gesture.

“The heroes return in triumph! Music! Dancing! Are you ready?!”

“““Yeah!”””

Men and women dressed for a samba started tapping out a merry rhythm on percussive and wind instruments made southwest of here. It was a bit racy, but lots of fun—and they escorted our carriage along.

“Pochi! Look here!”

“Yes, sir! Pochi sees you!”

“Tama, let’s draw together!”

“Okies!”

Pochi and Tama seemed to have made a lot of friends among the locals.

So had the other girls.

“Nana, call us larvae!”

“Lady Mia, you’re gorgeous!”

“Lulu, we’ll bring food over later!”

“Black Spear! I’ll best you yet!”

“Arisa! We’ll be playing Shadow Ogre later! In the square!”

People were calling out in all directions.

“Young master, treat Roro well!”

“Young master, when’s your next culinary concoction?”

Some of them seemed to have the wrong idea, but I just waved without correcting them.

“No one mocks smooth-skins anymore!”

“Seriously. Those little ones could mop the floor with us.”

“Looks ain’t everything. Strength is all that matters here!”

Even those who’d looked down on humanfolk—and races that looked like them—had to respect the feats my party had pulled off.

“Hmph! Are you defanged? Domesticated? No matter how strong they are, a smooth-skin is a smooth-skin! I won’t stand for it!”

“Hardheaded asshat.”

“Rhinofolk don’t have hair, either!”

“Shush! I’ve got hard skin!”

“Yeah! Not like that soft-smooth skin!”

A rhino and a monkey were arm in arm, fighting popular opinion. Guess discrimination ran deep.

These views came with the weight of history and couldn’t be overturned that easily. As long as progress was being made.

“Oh, we’re not headed to the Hero’s Rest?”

“Looks like the Great Sorceress’s Tower.”

Arisa and Liza were right; the parade route led right there.

They’d sent word to the Hero’s Rest, too; Roro, the hamsters, and Ms. Nona were all headed to the tower, too.

“Pendragon’s here! Fire the volley!” an elderly mage yelled, and the mages on standby all sent fireballs into the sky.

They made a racket and filled the sky with smoke.

You’d think this would startle people, but the citizens seemed used to it, and everyone just cheered.

“Master, Tia’s in Great Sorceress mode.”

“At least call her ‘Great Sorceress Arcatia,’ then.”

Arisa was still calling her by her incognito name, so I corrected her.

“Come to think of it, the Great Sorceress is a so-called smooth-skin, but has no one ever taken issue with that?”

“Beats me. They might have her in another bracket.”

“So arbitrary!”

Arisa rolled her eyes, and I had to agree.

“And in public, she always wears that giant witch hat pulled low over her eyes and has several high-powered obfuscation items, so normal people might have a very vague image of her unless they get up close and personal.”

Since she spent most of her time as Tia, I bet not many people had ever seen the Great Sorceress up close.

The carriage stopped at the back of the square, and we were waved to the podium where the Great Sorceress stood.

My party in tow, I stepped on up, and the band and dancers spread out around us, going all out.

“Conquering the castle is a feat for the ages, Pendragon.”

We lined up in front of the Great Sorceress, and she spoke, her voice a bit lower and stern.

“They’re crazy!”

“What if you’d failed and the Taurus army came pouring out?!”

The rhino and monkey were still heckling, not reading the room at all, but the lionfolk and tigerfolk around them beat them into silence. Such violence.

“Hmm, for those unaware and thus concerned, allow me to explain. These adventurers had a plan and ensured no stampede would occur even if they failed. They brought this plan to me for my approval. Even if a stampede did occur, I deemed their plan would handle it—that is why I granted permission.”

We hadn’t asked for permission at all, so she was just soaking the blame to appease the citizens.

“And no stampede occurred. Pendragon’s party pulled off the unthinkable and conquered the castle. I am here to celebrate that feat.”

She snapped her fingers, and there was a drumroll. Eight apprentices emerged, each carrying a tray with a Crown of Thorns and an adventurer badge.

The Great Sorceress took one of these in hand, and the drumroll ended in a bang. Silence settled over the square.

“In honor of your heroic achievement, I grant each of you a Crown of Thorns, which banishes evil, and the title Knight of the Great Sorceress.”

I knelt, and she placed the crown on my head. Her apprentices did the same with my party.

“And I grant the Pendragons new adventurer badges.”

She took the badge from the tray, holding it up for all to see.

Interesting.

That wasn’t a golden lion.

“……Light dragon!” an old man near the stage gasped.

His murmur spread through the crowd.

“A light dragon badge!”

“They actually exist?!”

That cry made a smirk appear on the Great Sorceress’s lips. She looked us over.

Clearly, she’d arranged a little surprise. I turned my “Poker Face” skill off, letting the emotions show.

“We haven’t given out this rank in a long time,” she whispered in Tia’s voice. Then she turned to the crowds. “My blessing on the new light dragon adventurers!”

There was a flash, and the translucent image of a dragon made of light shone within us. The crowd cheered like the sound exploded out of them.

The illusion was likely a spell cast by her apprentices.

Beaming, my party waved to the crowd, and the cheers grew even louder.

Pochi and Tama seemed especially pleased and were racing around the tiny stage, tails and hands waving alike.

LYURYU!

Pochi’s excitement proved infectious, and Lyuryu popped out of the Dragon Cradle.

“A dragon! A tiny dragon!”

“It’s blessing the birth of the light dragon adventurers!”

The crowd kicked up a fuss about Lyuryu, who responded by letting out a cry toward the heavens. A ton of flower petals soared in from somewhere, filling the air.

“Wow! Lovely! Beautiful! I should let them hear my voice as well!”

“Wait, Arisa.”

“Save that for later.”

Arisa had been on the verge of an impromptu recital, but Lulu and Liza stopped her.

“Bring out the drinks and food! People of the fortress city—tonight we feast in the heroes’ honor!”

At the Great Sorceress’s word, they started rolling in barrels of ale and carts laden with food.

She headed back into the tower, and I was swept up in a rush of local big shots eager to say hello. Once that finally died down, I managed to join my party.

“You made it through, Master,” Arisa said, handing me some fruit water. I downed it in one swallow, catching my breath.

“Satou, Lulu, everyone—congratulations!”

A clear voice from the throng.

The owner of the Hero’s Rest, Roro, was pushing through the crowd, her face as beautiful as her voice.

“Thanks, Roro.”

“Roro! Thanks!”

Lulu and Roro exchanged a hug.

“Young master! Congrats. Look who we brought!”

Ms. Nona, a regular at the shop, was leading a parade of little ones.

“Congrats, Mashter!”

“Congrats, Nana!”

“Congrats, I’m hungry!”

The hamsterfolk kids from the Hero’s Rest offered their platitudes.

“Larvae!” Nana cried, sweeping them up with godlike speed.

They fidgeted, trying to escape, but no one could escape her hugs.

“Reluctant.”

“Yes, Mia. More hugs later, I promise.”

She let the hamsters go.

“The doggy’s with them, sir.”

“Eh-heh-heh!”

Pochi and Tama were carrying puppy-mode Fen around.

“Don’t clump up in the corner, guest of honor,” said Tiga, a golden lion adventurer. “We’ve got seats for you over here; come regale the adventurers with the tale of your conquest.”

With Roro’s team in tow, we took him up on that invitation.

The fortress city had a surplus of monster meat, so the banquet tables were laden with meat dishes.

“Wow, wild and craaaazy?”

“So much meat, Pochi doesn’t know what to do, sir!”

“Then stuff your face! You’ve earned it!”

Tiga gave the beastfolk kids a gentle nudge toward the meat dishes.

“Tastyyyyy?!”

“Meat is strongest, sir!”

LYU?

“You eat, too, Lyuryu! Growing kids need food, sir!”

LYURYU!

That first bite must have pleased it, because Lyuryu began digging into the pile of meat, too.

One more bottomless stomach.

“There’s lots of food, sir. Take your time, don’t spill anything, sir!”

Pochi was busily looking after her dragon.

Pleased to have a chance to play at being the big sister.

“Oh! Look! The cat-eared girl who saved us!”

“And the dog-eared girl and little dragon that kicked those monsters aside when we got surrounded!”

Adventurers in the crowd around were sharing stories about us.

But we’d saved so many people, it was hard to remember them all.

“Oh, Black Spear’s here!”

“True, I’d love to get a spear lesson from her, even just the once.”

“The little ones are strong, too, but she’s on a whole other level!”

“I’d love to talk about magic with Lady Mia.”

The young adventurers were giving Liza and Mia admiring looks.

“The dolls Nana makes are sooo cute!”

“Oh? Are they? You’ve gotta show me sometime.”

“Lulu, when’s the next self-defense class?”

“Or the cooking one!”

“Arisa, once you get your free grub, come play at the usual spot!”

The housewives were gathering round Lulu, while the naughty kids were trying to get Arisa to come play.

Considering they’d spent the bulk of their time hunting in the labyrinth, they’d sure done a good job getting to know people.

“There you are, Roro!”

A leprechaun girl with a rich snob vibe showed up.

“Oh, Keri!”

“How many times have I told you not to shorten it?! My name is Kerina Gure! Next head of the Ussha Company!”

This was how Roro and Keri always spoke.

“Madam, friendship is a wonderful thing, but take care of work first,” said her secretary and minder, Tomali Toloole. Behind her were some portly merchants of several races.

“I know that! A foreign merchant came looking to carry goods from the Hero’s Rest, so I brought them by to introduce them to you. We went to the store, but the gnome on duty said you’d be here today. You sure gave us the runaround!”

Behind the merchants was the gnome in question, Tovan. The crowds were a bit much for someone his size, and he was really struggling to get to us.

“Thanks, Keri—Kerina Gure.”

Roro started to address her the usual way, but since this was work, she rephrased.

“Don’t worry about it. Once Tomali and I finish our current task, we’ll be off to the Blybrogha Kingdom, so I simply wanted to get these introductions out of the way.”

Sincere gratitude made Keri blush and turn away.

She soon gave way to a parade of merchants, greeting Roro in turn.

Tovan finally caught up, bowed, and stood just behind her. Making it clear that Roro was representing the interests of the Hero’s Rest.

“Micha of the Ussha Company from Latiluti. We would love to strike a deal for some of the Hero’s Rest’s preserved food.”

“Raf of the Mof Company from Chipucha. We’re considering all of your broad array of wares.”

The first was a ratfolk, the second a frog, and on went the line of eager merchants. All from countries bordering the jungle.

Tovan helped organize the race for Roro’s attention, keeping the burden on her to a minimum.

It was still hard work, and thus—

“H-help, Satou!”

She threw in the towel quickly, turning to me.

Not long ago, she’d been eking out a living running a little shop; this was too much for her.

That was fine, but I’d rather she’d turn to the gnome working right there with her. He was a grown-up, so he merely smiled and let this happen, but I bet inside that must have smarted.

“Oh dear, too soon for you, Roro?” Keri said, taking control of the line of appalled merchants.

“Sorry, gentleman,” I said, bowing my head for her. “Coming all at once may have been a bit overwhelming.”

“Every one of these companies can be trusted,” Keri said. “They’re longtime business partners of the Ussha Company.”

And they had her seal of approval.

Naturally, taking her word for it wasn’t ideal, but it was also true that the Hero’s Rest lacked the manpower to do proper background checks. As long as we avoided doing any deal so big they’d end us, any other problems that cropped up would have to go down as a learning experience to help Roro get the skills she needed.

“That’s reassuring. We’ll hash out the details at a later date. Roro, does that work?”

“Yes! If you say so, Satou!”

She was radiating faith.

I appreciated her trust, but perhaps I’d better keep my distance so she’d start trusting Tovan.

Keri led the merchants off to the site of their next deal.

Once I was sure no merchants were in earshot, I chided Roro.

“That was a bad move. The Hero’s Rest is your business. Asking for my opinions or advice is one thing, but you’ve gotta make the final decisions.”

“S-sorry.”

She hung her head.

“I’m not mad or looking for an apology. Listening to what those around you have to say is a good thing. Just don’t pass the final judgment call to anyone else.”

“……Right.”

She looked like a kid getting scolded.

“Satou,” Tovan said. “Roro regrets the error, so I think that’s enough.”

I apologized for saying too much, and the awkward silence was soon broken by a cheery voice.

“Roro!”

The new clerks from the store were coming our way, waving.

“Roro, I lost track of you, and find you flirting with the young master?”

“I-I’m not—”

“Aw, look at her blush!”

She was soon surrounded by girls, and beet red.

“Boss! Young master, Arisa—everyone’s here! This way!”

The rest of the staff were incoming.

Tia had lent a hand during the land grab incident, and the Hero’s Rest had gotten way bigger all at once. She’d had to hire a lot of people, and lots of them had barely spoken to one another yet.

“Master, a moment?” Arisa whispered, one eye on them.

“Sure. What?”

“About Roro’s faux pas.”

“How she passed the buck to me?”

“Did she?” Arisa blinked, then gave me a look. “What is wrong with you? You’re not dense enough to be a rom-com lead.”

“I’m saying she’s still depending on me.”

“She isn’t! That was more…”

“More what?”

“Manipulative,” Mia said, when Arisa couldn’t find the right word.

“Oh?”

“Defensive,” she added, clearly grasping what Arisa was trying to say.

“You get it now?”

“You mean she senses that I’m trying to pull away from the Hero’s Rest, and she’s trying to stop me from leaving?”

I was aware she had a crush on me, but it didn’t occur to me that making me decide things was her way of keeping me around.

“Roro isn’t the kind of girl who’d make calculated romantic gambits, so I’m sure it’s an instinctive response.”

But in that case—

“Me being around is stopping her growth and preventing the new team from coming together?”

That was bad.

“A mean way to put it, but arguably that is the upshot.”

“Mm, agree.”

Arisa and Mia were both nodding gravely.

I considered this a moment, then made up my mind.

“Perhaps it’s time we stepped away from Roro and her shop.”

“Yeah…probably for the best. Who should tell her?”

“I’ll do it.”

I felt it was my job.

“Lost in thought, Satou?”

Roro handed me a goblet of liquor, sitting down next to me. Quite close. Our shoulders were touching.

She must have been drinking; her vibe was noticeably more…beguiling.

“Mm, yeah.” I hesitated a moment, then dropped it on her. “We’ll be leaving the fortress city soon.”

Roro buried her face in my shoulder.

I’m pretty sure I heard a suppressed sob.

I’d said from the beginning we’d leave eventually, but this was pretty abrupt.

“Roro?”

“……Yeah.”

I brushed her hair, and she managed a soft response.

“I know. You were never going to stay at the Hero’s Rest for long.”

Her voice shook. Trying to convince herself.

“But…but I haven’t done anything for you, Satou.”

She wrapped her arms around me.

“Satou…I-I’d like…”

“We can’t, Roro.”

I wasn’t getting swept up in this moment. She had her whole future ahead of her.

“I…know. You have Lulu and the other girls.”

Her head was down, and I could see her face.

But even I could tell this had hurt.

“Thank you for everything.”

Her head came up. There were still tears in her eyes, but she gave me the best smile she could muster.

Unable to watch, Arisa and Lulu burst out of cover.

“It’s okay, Roro. It’s not like you’ll never see him again.”

“Exactly! If you’re in trouble, he’ll come running from the far side of the world!”

“Ruff!”

The wolf pup, Fen, joined their comforting.

Roro scooped him up and held him tightly, nodding once again.

A few days later—

We’d finished passing on our tasks and were all packed up outside the Hero’s Rest.

“Nana, thanks!”

“Nana, hugs?”

“Nana, snacks?”

As the hamsters and Nana were saying good-bye, Roro came out with a bundle of bouquets.

“Lulu, everyone, thank you for everything you’ve done.”

She handed one bouquet to each of us, then looked up at me, clutching the last to her chest.

“Satou, the Hero’s Rest would not be what it is without you.”

Tears welled up, and she choked on her words.

“Boss! Go for it!”

“Give him a hug!”

Encouragement from her staff spurred her forward.

The Arisa/Mia iron wall was giving them such a glare.

“We’ll come back sometime.”

“Promise you will.”

Roro handed me the flowers—then tugged my arm. I felt something soft on my cheek.

“Eh-heh-heh…just a little thank-you.”

With a bashful grin, she wiped her tears before they could flow.

She knelt down, comforted by Lulu and the hamsters.

The regulars took her place, each coming toward us. Ms. Nona and several other girls went to Roro instead.

“Young master, you’re really going?”

“Yeah, that was the plan all along.”

“Leave Roro to us.”

“We’ll keep her safe from anyone shifty!”

The regulars thumped their chests.

And mingling with them were those who had dealings with the Hero’s Rest—and of course, the staff of the shop itself.

“You move so fast. A farewell gift.”

“Thank you, Kerina Gure. You hadn’t left yet?”

“My task proved harder than I thought…making territorial types cooperate is always a tall order.”

It sounded like it. But she’d left that work behind to see us off, and I was grateful for it.

“Big crowd…”

“You’re here, too, Tia?”

“Well, yeah. You bailed me out when Zanzasansa came, so I figured I should.”

In apprentice mode, she handed over some books and potions.

And with that, we left the Hero’s Rest behind. We could hear sobs until we were out of sight. Roro’s—and the veteran staff’s as well. My party wasn’t in high spirits, either.

“Welp, let’s get it together and move out!”

Arisa always knew how to fix a bad mood.

“Master, keep your head high! You’ve got us!”

She was trying to comfort me—I guess I must have looked dejected.

“True. Let’s make a circuit of the countries around the jungle.”

At that distance, we could come running back if anything happened to Roro or the Hero’s Rest.

Interlude: Writhing in Darkness

“And you call yourself a greater demon!”

A weaselfolk clad in a mage’s robe was screeching at a lump of flesh in a massive tank.

The flesh pulsed with every foul word. A bark-like skin remained on what could just barely be identified as a face.

Between that and the weasel’s words, this must be the remains of the bark demon Satou’s party had fought.

“She-she-she, how goes things, demon summoner Zomamurgormi?”

A cloying voice emerged from the darkness; a beastfolk male, wearing a hood pulled low to hide his face.

“How unlike you to pay us a visit. The plan is within the expected parameters,” the weasel replied. From what Zomamurgormi said, he knew this hooded figure.

“She-she-she, well, I see what the emperor’s brother sees in you. Yet I have heard the necromancer entrusted with the demon lord’s relic came up short. Was that ‘expected’?”

“……You’re aware? He was but a sacrificial pawn. A test to see what forces the Great Sorceress could muster.”

“She-she-she. Using Psychic Magic to turn his adoration of the sorceress into obsession, his reverence into twisted love—that poor frog.”

They were speaking of Zanzasansa, who’d led an undead army to attack the fortress city of Arcatia.

“Hmph, inferior races exist to serve at the whims of their betters. As it should be.”

“She-she-she,” the hooded man seemed less than impressed with the weasel’s superiority complex. “Were you able to detect the all-too-vital Purple Moon Core?”

“The familiars I sent and the demons possessing adventurers were all taken out by the Great Sorceress’s people.”

“In other words…not yet?”

Zomamurgormi looked very shifty.

“Oh dear.” The hooded man sighed.

“They even took out my greater demon!” the weasel roared. “Why is the divine beast Fenrir, who listens to no one, working for the Great Sorceress?! Why was a hero there?! Was he not sent back to the land of the heroes after eliminating the demon lord in Parion Province?!”

“Your intel’s out of date. There are two heroes. Hayato was the Saga Empire’s hero, while Shiga Kingdom has a hero named Nanashi. I’d imagine that was the one who appeared at the Jungle Labyrinth.”

“Two heroes?! But if they mowed down the greater demons I propagated in a single blow, they’re far beyond the level of an ordinary—”

“She-she-she.”

“What’s so funny?!”

“The Light of Freedom leaders summoned a spawn of the evil god in Shiga Kingdom—and Nanashi annihilated it.”

“A spawn…? A human defeated the avatar of a god?!”

“She-she-she. My nephew was there—he said Nanashi worked with the guardian sky dragon.”

“If a sky dragon’s helping…no, impossible. Stories of the spawn predate the Flue Empire, and it destroyed countless countries that had magic far more powerful than what we have today! You could reduce Shiga to ash without taking that down!”

“It seems their casualties were minimal.”

Zomamurgormi muttered, “Impossible” again, then shook his head, refocusing.

“If this hero is that absurd, then no ordinary tactics will suffice.”

“She-she-she. If you need spies, I can provide.”

“I’ve no use for anyone who works for money. I have summoned demons that specialize in infiltration.”

“Won’t the Great Sorceress detect them?”

“She will…so I’ll eliminate her first.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I’ll use a curse. The relic left behind by the Dark Lord of Necromancy will make that trivial.”

“She-she-she, here’s hoping.”

“……Still, activating the curse is hardly simple. I’ll need you to provide what I need for the ritual.”

“She-she-she, if we can verify the Purple Moon Core, that is no problem at all.”

The hooded man promised his familiars would fetch the components, and he vanished beyond the darkness.

“He’s gone? But even with the sorceress cursed, if the hero arrives, there’s little I can do.”

Zomamurgormi stared into the dark, pondering this.

“No matter how superhuman his skills, the hero is only human. If I scatter seeds of calamity in the neighboring kingdoms, he’ll wear himself out resolving them.”

The weasel ordered the demons to possess generals and ranking nobles, causing chaos to distract from his attack on the fortress city.

Zomamurgormi used up all his mana summoning demons, and he collapsed in a chair, gazing at the bubbling tank.

“The Purple Moon Core…if we had that, we could locate the invincible flying fortress the foolish gods hid away,” he muttered, speaking to no one in particular. “Submit that to His Majesty, the emperor’s brother—and he’d tear that false emperor, worshipper of Sai-ance, off his unearned throne.”

He began to chortle, watching the greater demon in that tank slowly rebuild itself.

Touring the Neighbors

“This is the ratfolk country?” Arisa said, looking around at the brown brick buildings.

We’d left Arcatia behind and were making a circuit of the countries that bordered the jungle.

Currently we were in Latiluti, a ratfolk country to the southwest of Arcatia. It was close enough that we could dash back if anything happened to Roro.

“Larvae…”

“Adults.”

Nana had started to stagger off toward some white-haired ratfolk that bore a bit of resemblance to hamsters or mice, but Mia stopped her.

“We call them all ‘ratfolk,’ but there certainly are quite a few different types.”

“Yes, I never knew there were this many varieties.”

Lulu and Liza were looking at serene ratfolk, who looked more like capybara—some bushy-tailed squirrelfolk and some long-haired ratfolk—who had a rather literal name.

The natives here spoke the southwest common language and the southwestern ratfolk language, which resembled the gray ratfolk language. I picked up the skill for the latter, but since the former was more than enough, I didn’t activate it.

“Small dooooors?”

“The buildings are tiny and cute, sir!”

Except for those of the big merchants and the government offices, all the buildings had small doors—too small for grown humanfolk to enter. Even Pochi and Tama might well bang their heads on the lintel. Not that they had lintels.

Perhaps that’s why most shops were outdoors. Only the big trading companies had shops with an interior.

“Master, look there,” Lulu said, pointing at some Hero’s Rest merchandise being sold at one of these outdoor stalls.

“The advanced shipment we gave that merchant. Looks like it’s selling well.”

Based on the packaging, this was the stuff we’d traded to a merchant who’d brought me a scroll.

The import fees must have jacked the prices up, but the insect repellent and preserved food stocks were visibly declining as we watched. If they took off in all the neighboring countries, that export business would ramp up quick.

Ensuring the future of the Hero’s Rest.

“Sniff, sniff! I smell pancakes, sir!”

“Mrow? I dooon’t?”

Pochi seemed sure of herself, but Tama just looked baffled.

“Th-that’s—”

Pochi led us to a stall that made my jaw drop.

“Corn!”

“Corn? This is yellow grain. Not worth eating like this, but if you grind it up like wheat, it’s usable.”

There were big baskets of corn at the stall; heaps of kernels, already off the cob.

The smell of the corn must have reminded Pochi of pancakes—I guess I had made pancakes out of the corn flour we harvested from the walking corn in Celivera Labyrinth.

“Can I try a bite?”

“Go ahead.”

There were five varieties of “yellow grain” for sale, and I tried some of each. They were dried out and harder than I expected. Chewing them produced no sweetness. Not the sweet corn we often ate—more like the dent corn used to feed livestock.

But there were a lot of uses for that.

“I’ll buy all you have.”

“Well, those are some big pockets! Guess I’m closing up for the day!”

I said I’d like some on the cob if he had any, and since the big purchase had put him in a good mood, he went right to the fields and came back with two huge baskets. On the cob, with the husk still around it.

“What are you making with these?”

“Just wanna try a few things.”

After we left him, I moved to a deserted area. I held a husk-covered corncob in one hand and took a Treespirit Pearl out of Storage with the other.

“Oh, I get it!” Arisa said, brightening up.

I grinned at her and started channeling mana and wishes into the Treespirit Pearl.

“That should do it…”

I peeled back the husk and tried a kernel.

Sweet.

“Well?”

“Success. It turned into sweet corn.”

It was a long shot, but since I had a clear image in mind, it had worked out. If it hadn’t, I’d have spent some time doing selective breeding, but the Treespirit Pearl had let me do it in one try.

I’d send half this sweet corn to the elves in Bolenan Forest to cultivate, and I’d hand the rest over to the corn farmer the next time I went to buy some corn. More places growing it should increase the variations.

Fried corn, corn tempura, pizza, salads—there was no shortage of uses for sweet corn, and my cooking repertory would expand considerably.

But first—

“It’s delicious, sir!”

“Yum, yuum!”

“Nice.”

I made enough sweet corn for everyone and boiled up some corn on the cob.

That’s the best way to serve fresh harvested corn.

Once we’d had our fill of corn, we went back to perusing the market.

“This buckle is cool, I declare.”

“Unique craftsmanship.”

Ratfolk had tiny hands, and lots of them were good with them; they were crafting a lot of detailed accessories and textiles. Many extremely small, but they had a fair selection for larger races, and we bought a bunch.

I hadn’t had my eye on these countries; the next time I stopped by the Echigoya Company as Kuro, I’d have to show them some samples.

“Adventurer! High-ranking adventurer!”

“Me?”

A wealthy-looking long-haired ratfolk merchant had come up to Liza.

“I can tell by the way you carry yourself and the Magic Spear beneath that cloth! You’re an Arcatian adventurer, yes?”

“I am. And you are?”

“Forgive my lack of manners. I am Som of the Mizenu Company. Would you be willing to pay a visit to my shop?”

Liza and Nana both glanced at me.

He seemed to have business with us, so we accepted his invitation. A wealthy merchant would be well-versed in his country’s products and specialties.

“Bone weapons and Taurus materials?”

We were in a reception room at a large merchant’s, enjoying milk tea with a sweet scent reminiscent of chai. Som had broached the subject.

“Yes, Arcatian bone weapons are extremely popular in these parts.”

The jungle on their border hadn’t gone full labyrinth, but that troublesome rust ivy was all over the place.

“Then we’re happy to provide what we’ve got on hand.”

We’d left most of it in the warehouse at the Hero’s Rest, but I’d made a fair number of bone weapons for fun. Some of these were too goofy to hand over, but there should be no problems selling the stuff I’d made to test the different materials.

“Th-these are all masterpieces! I’ve got a good eye for weapons, I can tell. Clearly none of these come from the labyrinth directly—but identifying the maker may prove difficult. It’s not Morton…and Zanzasansa’s work is much more ominous. It most closely resembles Loppe’s work, only far better…hmm…”

Was he a bone weapon fanatic? He even dropped that necromancer’s name…

He was unlikely to get the right answer, so I found the right moment to move on to the price.

He also wanted untouched Taurus parts, so I provided those as well. We had far too many anyway.

“With swords and spears of this caliber, it’s hard to put a price to them. I elected to make a generous offer—what do you say to this?”

It was a generous offer. There were more than a hundred semi-Magic Sword and semi-magic weapons, but I hadn’t expected that to earn us a figure that would be over 20,000 if converted to Shiga gold. That was full-on Magic Sword pricing.

“That price doesn’t include the Red Ice Blade or the Blue Fire Blade. I’d recommend putting those up for auction or offering them to the king in return for a title.”

If two swords could buy a title, that was a bargain. I didn’t need one, nor did I plan to stick around until the auction ended, so I sold them at the price he named.

“Lord Satou, I hate to say this…”

But the price was too high, and it would take him approximately ten days to obtain the funds.

“Then let’s buy some of your wares to balance out the difference. Do you handle yellow grain?”

“That would help a lot. Of course we handle yellow grain. We have it ground or in kernels for livestock feed—enough to fill several wagons.”

This saved me time buying up the corn, so I borrowed an empty storehouse and had him deliver the purchase there. I tried asking about corn with the husk still on, and he agreed to provide a hundred baskets of it by noon tomorrow. Big merchants could make things happen.

Naturally, grain alone could not cover the full price, so my party and I pursued the Mizenu Company’s offerings from end to end. Some Blybrogha gems and a bunch of cinnamon helped, but in the end we had to resort to his stock of Earth Pearls and a whole lot of stones. I’d been running low on Earth Pearls, so that worked for me, and the stones came in handy for Tama’s ninjutsu.

“Do you have a lot of quarries here?”

“Yes—I can’t share specifics, but it is one of our few exports.”

The price had seemed rather low, and the answer certainly explained that.

There were farmlands on the side of the country opposite the jungle, but the soil there was poor—enough that they were grinding up the stones in lieu of fertilizer. I did a quick search on my map and located the quarries; I’d have to figure out where to get what with Clairvoyance later.

With our deal done, we changed into locally produced clothes we’d purchased and left the shop. Naturally, the girls were wearing local jewelry, too.

“Nothing like wearing local fashions!”

“Oui, ouiiiii?”

“I like how it’s all jingle jangle, sir!”

The kids spun, showing off their new duds.

Mia didn’t say anything, but from the look on her face, she was enjoying it, too.

“Lyuryu says it’s having fun, too!”

The Dragon Cradle on Pochi’s chest was flashing white.

The White Dragon within was quite a sleepyhead but could pick up on Pochi’s emotions in its slumber.

We spent the time until evening checking out a landmark of anthill-like towers and sampling the local grub as we walked around. There was a lot of cheap food using corn flour; we’d have to spread this cuisine back in Shiga Kingdom.

“It’s not just ratfolk working the stalls.”

“Merchants from out of town?”

This country was bordered by kingdoms of dogfolk, bearfolk, and frogfolk, so there were lots of them; but there were also rhinofolk, foxfolk, and weaselfolk.

As we pursued another stall, Nana suddenly looked up.

“Master, soldiers coming, I warn.”

A company a few hundred strong was advancing from the gate. This country’s official army.

Scouts ran ahead, clearing people out of the main road and securing space for the army to march through.

At the back of the crowd, I could see generals and knights riding mounts that looked a lot like rhinos.

“Mew, mew!”

“Master—!”

Tama and Arisa didn’t need to tell me.

The general and army leaders were all possessed by demons.

Doing anything here and now would be dicey, so I let them pass, resolving to handle things as Kuro that night.

“Have you gone mad, General Jiba?!”

When I got to the palace that evening, chaos reigned.

A demon’s arm had grown from the general’s shoulder, and it was hoisting the king into the air. He was fighting back with the power of the City Core, but he didn’t have enough left to free himself.

“Here to help,” I whispered in the king’s ear with “Ventriloquism.” I then used “Warp” to close in, cut the demon’s arm off with a self-made Holy Sword, and free the king. The whole front of the general turned into a giant mouth and tried to bite me, so I kicked him away.

He hit the wall, and blood-covered knights burst in the door.

“Secure the intruders!” the king yelled, relieved at the reinforcements—but the knights quickly abandoned humanity, becoming demons, too.

I’d hoped to yank the demons out of them in time to save them, but I was too late.

I moved in with “Warp” and sliced and diced with a Holy Dagger.

It was all lesser demons, so none of them even put up a fight.

“Now, then—”

I put the Holy Dagger back in my Item Box and turned to the king.

“Wh-who are you?”

“Kuro. A follower of the hero Nanashi.”

“Of the hero? Oh! Well, you’ve saved me, Sir Kuro.”

He’d been inexplicably terrified, but just claiming to be a follower of the hero made him turn around real fast.

The king ordered his servants to clean the room and led me to a resplendent reception parlor. Clearly a room he used to welcome foreign VIPs.

“Do you get a lot of demons here?”

“It’s been over twenty years. We have barriers up, so how could they breach the palace?” he wondered, munching on a biscuit that smelled of cinnamon but was not the least bit sweet.

“Perhaps,” the prime minister ventured (he’d joined us here). “The recent string of missing merchant caravans and remote village collapses was the work of the demons.”

“Very likely.”

I’d have to check the scenes to be sure.

I’d scoped things out when we arrived and found no demons or worshippers, but the general and knights had returned from their excursion possessed, so perhaps I’d better dig deeper.

“Where were those men dispatched to?”

“The Jungle Labyrinth.”

Aha. There’d been demons in Arcatia, too, so they must have been possessed inside the labyrinth.

“Your Majesty!” the head servant burst in, whispering in the king’s ear.

“What? It was Jomujo?!”

I’d used “Keen Hearing,” and it transpired that the second prince—believed to be loyal to the king—had used the City Core terminal to dismiss the demon detection and defensive barriers. The former ran along the city walls, while the latter was meant to keep them out of the castle proper.

“Minister, we must eliminate this demonic threat.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

He possessed a few bells made by the Flue Empire. These could detect demons.

“I’d love to ask your help, Sir Kuro…”

“I’m afraid I’m a busy man. I can’t be there all the time, but I’ll help eliminate the immediate threat.”

I traded dagger-size Magic Swords for a few of those Demon-Sealing Bells. Those should be a good size for ratfolk. They were similar in function to the Champion’s Swords, which was more than enough for lesser demons.

He tried to give me a title and invite me to live here, but I brushed him off. He also offered me the hand of the princess, but since my tastes weren’t broad enough to fall for a ratfolk girl, I politely declined.

In return for saving his life, I merely asked for a favor later, to be called in when the need arose.

“Water city.”

“Yes, Mia. The frogfolk country has much water, I confirm.”

Mia and Nana were gazing down at the gondola-filled canals.

We’d left Latiluti behind, heading to Chipucha. Domains in the Shiga Kingdom and western regions often had names that ended in “ork,” but not so much out here.

“Can we ride a gondola? It feels like we’re in Venice!” Arisa was pretty worked up. I got that.

“Meow?”

As the gondola swept along, Tama peered over the side.

“What is it, sir?”

“The houses have doors underwater?”

“They do, sir! I would drown!”

Tama and Pochi both shivered.

But all frogfolk residences had doors underwater.

“Fiiiish?”

“Mr. Tadpole, sir!”

There were some oversized tadpoles in the water.

“Those are larvae, I report.”

Nana stopped the kids from reaching into the water.

Frogfolk kids were like real frogs and started out as tadpoles.

“Whoa!”

The gondola passed by a huge building, and the view of the lake opened up before us.

“There’s a town in the center of the lake, too,” Liza said.

There were several buildings out there, growing out of the water.

That city was for frog and fishfolk only. All the entrances were underwater.

“Is that white building the castle?”

“That’s the government building, ribbit,” said our oarsman.

He had a bit of an accent but was using the southwestern common tongue.

“What’s that?”

“Those are corves from the Mazuna aquafarm, ribbit.”

“Nazuma?” I asked. It had sounded like the Japanese for “catfish” to my ears.

“No, no, Mazuna, ribbit.”

“The fishing industry’s big here, then?”

“Fish are good, but our main product is Mermaid Tears, ribbit.”

This appeared to be the name of a gemstone.

It was not actually the tears of the mermaids—finfolk—but was called that because an ancient king had said it was every bit as beautiful.

“Outsiders also go for Magic Items made with water stones, ribbit.”

Likely not too useful to Chipucha natives—they had more than enough water.

“Those men have very big mouths, sir!”

“Are they hippo? They’re pulling a very big raft.”

Rafts carrying a ton of cargo were coming from the city on the water.

Hippos seemed to be doing the work of horses, pulling them along.

“We’re here, ribbit. This is where outsiders enter, ribbit.”

The gondola stopped at a pier leading into one of the buildings above the surface.

This market must be entirely for outsiders; it didn’t appear to be connected to the underwater dwellings.

“Feels like coral.”

“It’s not mortar or concrete—what’s it made of?”

“Mazuna spit, ribbit,” said a frogfolk working a stall.

“Made from the fish you’re raising?”

“Right, ribbit. It’s made by mixing Mazuna blood with transmuted Mazuna milt and mud from the lakebed.”

He pulled a jar of mud and a bottle of the Mazuna milt from under the counter.

“If you’re curious, buy some, ribbit. The mud is ten large copper a jar, and the Mazuna milt is three silver a bottle, ribbit.”

“That’s outrageous. The going rate is four large copper for both.”

He’d started at ten times the actual price, so I responded with the exact figure.

“Not your first time, ribbit? You sure fooled me, ribbit. You’ve hurt my feelings, and I shan’t recover unless you pay at least eight large copper, ribbit.”

His performance wasn’t fooling anyone, so I said, “I could go as far as six large copper, but if it’s higher than that, I don’t need it,” and turned to leave.

“W-wait, ribbit!” he yelled, grabbing my sleeve and pleading. “Six! Six is fine, so let’s shake on it, ribbiiiiiit!”

This stuff clearly wasn’t selling.

We inspected the souvenirs at several shops, looking for something to eat.

“What?!”

There was a crowd forming up ahead.

“Say that again, asshole! Who do you think I am?!”

“Put a lid on it, you phony adventurer! You’ve never even been to Arcatia!”

Things were getting heated. The adventurer was a beastfolk, and his opponent a local frogfolk.

The latter gave the beastfolk a surprisingly strong kick, but—

“Ugh, he drew his sword in his street brawl…”

“That is not appropriate.”

Liza glanced at me, so I nodded, and she used “Blink” to block his path, disarm him, and put him on the ground. Liza didn’t even need a spear to impress.

“Lady, that was incredible, ribbit! Are you from Arcatia, ribbit?”

“Yes, we only just left the fortress city,” she said, and for some reason, a cheer went up, and locals started asking for handshakes.

“What’s going on?” Arisa wondered.

“Arcatia adventurers are very popular in these parts, ribbit.”

“Their hard work in the labyrinth is what keeps the labyrinth from encroaching on us, ribbit.”

Some king a few successions back had said so, encouraging citizens to become adventurers and make expeditions—and the practice had continued to this day.

“This country’s only at peace because of Arcatia, so that fool of a frog’s got us all worried, ribbit.”

“True, true! ‘Zanzasansa the Ungrateful’! How dare he even dream of turning against Arcatia, ribbit!”

Apparently, this was the hometown of the necromancer who’d led an army of undead to attack the fortress city; he was well-known among the locals, and the rumor mills were churning with the disturbance he’d recently caused.

The frogs ribbited away, talking shit about Zanzasansa, but the topic soon shifted to how dirty the lake water was these days.

Sounded like the palace had a magic device for purifying the water, but it wasn’t working right.

If the palace was struggling, perhaps I could lend a hand? Considering that, we left the gossipers behind, looking for something good to eat.

“…Yikes.”

Arisa saw the bug dishes for sale and flinched. These bugs were realistically sized, and that just made it worse.

I’d eaten a lot of weird things in labyrinths, but wasn’t exactly fond of dishes that were visibly insect laden. If they were as big as shrimp or crabs, I could dig right in, so I knew it was a bias/all in my head.

I’d had caterpillars at lunch with the Shiga Kingdom prime minister, and those had been great.

“Is this the local specialty?

“Doesn’t seem like they’re selling Mazuna at these stalls.”

From what I could tell via my map, that was a white-meat fish.

“Outsiders can’t handle the bugs, ribbit!” the frogfolk laughed, taking no offense at Arisa’s reaction. “But you like the Mazuna dishes, ribbit! Ours is cheap and plentiful, so buy a cup, ribbit!”

“People, if you’re after Mazuna, ours tastes the best, ribbit!”

The competition spotted us, and everyone started trying to hawk their fish.

“Ours is good, too, ribbit!”

“Ours is the original! It’s not like the other stalls, ribbit!”

“Hmph, we serve the real deal! Frauds, be silenced, ribbit!”

They seemed ready to throw down.

Most stalls were run by local frogfolk, but there were some run by dogfolk or ratfolk. Even a small number run by rhinos or weasels.

“Come quick, ribbit!”

“We’ll take twenty percent off, ribbit!”

“Then we’ll go as high as thirty, ribbit!”

Now they were competing over sales.

Every barker was too desperate—which made it hard to choose, but we picked the shop with the most satisfied looks on the faces of the diners.

“Hmm, so this is Mazuna. Based on the way they’re cooking it, it might be a kind of eel?”

I’d used Clairvoyance to sneak a peek, and the Mazuna had been a gruesome-looking fish—a bit like a snakehead. But it had a basic flavor that went very well with salt and citrus.

I found myself craving white rice, so I slipped an onigiri out of Storage and split it with Arisa when she asked.

“I like this! The more I chew this translucent dried thing, the more flavor comes out of it.”

“Oui, ouiii! The shellfish and giant prawns are good, too!”

“Pochi likes the white fish best, sir!”

The dried thing Liza had was a freshwater jellyfish called, imaginatively, a lake jellyfish.

“Good lotus root,” Mia said, happily munching away.

These grew to massive sizes in the muddy lakebed and were extra crunchy and flavorful.

“Yes, Mia, it’s not just the fish and dried seafood that is tasty here, I agree.”

“I like this ‘slippery’ lake jellyfish.”

That was a dessert involving fresh jellyfish in a sweet-and-sour sauce—a bit like agar. It had the chewy texture of squid noodles.

“Yo, madam! This slippery’s bitter!”

“Ach, sorry! Take another batch!”

A complaint from outside our room.

Using “Keen Hearing,” I heard the madam talking to the chef.

“Tono said it’s bitter.”

“Did I not soak it enough?”

“He’s got a sensitive tongue.”

“I think it’s the pollution in the lake… I’ll have to figure something out.”

“Please, chef.”

Did all frogs not end sentences in “ribbit”? Beside the point. It sounded like that broken device was affecting the local cuisine.

If I wanted to enjoy my gourmet tour, perhaps I’d better stick my nose in.

That evening, I visited the palace as Kuro.

“Do we still not have a Water Pearl big enough for the device, ribbit?”

I heard yelling in the king’s room.

“We received a report they’d left the hidden village three days ago. They should be here any day now, ribbit!”

“Then why aren’t they, ribbit?!”

“I couldn’t say…”

I took a peek, and a minister frog was being browbeaten by a frog in a crown—presumably the king.

“Your Majesty, bad news, ribbit! The transport team have been attacked, ribbit!”

A frog lady knight came bursting in.

This Water Pearl sounded important, so I did a map search for it and found an especially large one being transported by a batfolk possessed by a demon.

Just to be sure, I used the Space Magic spell Clairvoyance and found a dude with a mask covered in blood, who was very suspicious-looking, but, you know, being possessed was already a red flag.

I slipped away, “Flashrunning” across the sky until I was right up against the batfolk.

He didn’t try to fight, just attempted to fly right past me at speed, but I wasn’t standing for it. One handy-dandy Sticky Net spell, and I had him trussed up and on the ground.

He bounced off the soft ground, and I “Flashran” down. The impact had knocked the demon loose, and I grabbed it, peeling him away.

“Grabbing incorporeal demons isn’t fair, poo!”

This thing had wings growing out of its nose.

But also no mouth, so I had no clue how it was talking.

“Why’d you steal the Water Pearl?”

“I’m not telling, poo! Making trouble, of course, poo!”

So he was telling.

No use applying logic to demons.

“From the way you speak, you’re related to the greater demon that appeared in the fortress city?”

“Bwak-poo! Master’s famous, poo!”

The nose at the center of the thing started doing a jig, snorting.

“Did the greater demon order you to steal the pearl?”

“You don’t need to know, poo!”

Its nostrils flared distractingly, blowing so much air, it kicked up a dust cloud and blasted itself skyward.

I cast Sticky Net to prevent its escape, but before the spell landed, the demon itself burst into a shower of light and mincemeat.

“A self-destruct?”

The flesh chunks turned into a black mist and dissipated.

My log claimed I’d dispatched a lesser demon, so that was clearly not a fake self-destruct.

“So a signal to its allies?”

I checked the map, but there were no other demons or worshippers, and nothing that had turned to run at the sight of the light.

“And the pearl…shit, that’s what the blast was for.”

I searched for it but found only fragments.

It seemed the demon had blown itself up so I couldn’t get the pearl back.

“I can collect those fragments easy enough…”

I just had to lock on to the map info and use Magic Hand to stick them all in Storage.

A few larger lumps aside, most were basically dust.

And tiny particles were unstable, easily melting into the air on your palm.

That was close. If I hadn’t stuck them straight in Storage, most of those would have been lost for good. Still, now I couldn’t exactly take them out of Storage.

I considered this, then figured it was best to talk to someone who knew better.

“Hello, Ms. Aaze.”

“Satou!”

I’d used Telephone to call my beloved high elf in Bolenan Forest.

She responded with joy, but when I asked if there was any way to restore a shattered Water Pearl—

“Use Mana Section to partition off a space, then fill it with magic and take it back out. The magic will turn all the fragments into putty, so you’ll just need to knead them into a ball again.”

“Thank you, Ms. Aaze, I’ll give it a shot.”

“I’m glad I could be of assistance!”

We ended the chat reluctantly, and I attempted her technique.

I was scared to make the Water Pearl on my first attempt, so I first filled a Mana Section with magic, then tried bringing a shattered water stone back to a pearl shape.

…Tricky.

If I filled it with magic too quickly, it would just make a lot of water and burst.

I had to slowly add magic, coaxing it along, toeing the line.

I got some handy-sounding titles and a skill, so I activated and tried again.

Ah, much easier.

Once I’d re-formed the stone, I could mold it like putty. Once it hardened, I’d need the Stone Object spell, but in this state, my regular magic and Magic Hand could both work with it.

Hmm.

I’d played around a bit, familiarizing myself, and the lump in my hands had formed a Water Pearl.

I’d been curious and taken some time applying a lot of magic, and the water stone really had turned into pearl.

The size of it was much smaller.

I think because it had been lacking in materials of the water attribute.

“Did you find the thief?”

“Search everywhere! The future of our kingdom depends upon it!”

My “Keen Hearing” picked up soldiers combing the mountains.

Not really the time to horse around.

I took out the actual pearl’s shards and dust and re-formed them into a single Water Pearl.

It had lost some bits during the explosion, so I think it was a tad smaller than the original, so I added in the one I’d accidentally made to enhance it.

“I see someone over there!”

I put the pearl in a Magic Blocking Bag and dropped it next to the batfolk thief (who was still knocked out).

That settled that.

Perhaps I’d been optimistic.

“How could this happen, ribbit?!”

Around the time the Water Pearl arrived, I’d switched back to Kuro and popped by the frog king’s chambers.

“We spent a hundred years cultivating this into the shape of the device key! Why is it round, ribbit?!”

“Did the thief swap it for a different pearl?”

“Why on earth would they do that, ribbit? Think before you speak, ribbit!”

The king kicked the minister for that careless remark.

I had not imagined the blown-up pearl had a specific shape.

“Damn you! Damn you!”

“Y-Your Majesty, curtail your fury!”

Yeah, I couldn’t let this power harassment go unchecked.

“You seem beside yourself, Your Majesty.”

“Who are you, ribbit?”

“Intruder! After him!”

The minister yelled, and the knights tried to burst in, but I’d used Sticky Net on the door to block their entrance.

“Don’t be hasty. I’m Kuro, a follower of the hero Nanashi. I mean you no harm.”

“A follower of the hero, ribbit?!” the king exclaimed.

I took the pearl from him.

“Th-the pearl!”

“Watch.”

I cast Mana Section, then used Stone Object from my spell menu to change the shape at will.

“He’s molding it, ribbit?!”

“I can make this any shape you like.”

“Wh-what do you want, ribbit?!”

“I don’t want that lake getting any dirtier.”

It would ruin the good food.

“Poppycock—”

“Y-Your Majesty!” the minister shrieked in his ear.

“Keen Hearing” told me he was arguing that my motives didn’t matter if I could fix the key.

“Fair enough, ribbit. Make yourself useful to me, ribbit.”

The frogfolk king leaned back in his chair, stroking his goatee.

Attitude aside, I’d better wrap this up before he changed his mind.

The minister brought over a mold for the key’s shape, so I altered the pearl to fit it.

I handed the finished pearl over to him, and he left the room, holding it high.

Not long after, the soldiers carried him back. Badly out of breath, he reported that the device was functional again. Clearly, he’d run the whole way there and worn himself out.

“I’m grateful to you, ribbit, follower of the hero—”

“Kuro.”

“Sir Kuro.”

The failing device must have been very stressful for him—the deep furrow in the king’s brow finally relaxed, and he gave me a grateful hug.

We rolled straight on in to a banquet, and the king, minister, soldiers, and ladies-in-waiting all did a hopping dance with lots of liquor.

This last beverage was a local product, a very red drink made from fermented Mazuna eggs—distinctively flavored, but not that high-proof. It certainly chose who drank it, but it went great with the lotus root and Mazuna deep-fried dish the maids brought me.

“My bosom buddy, Kuro! What reward do you desire, ribbit? I know! My daughter’s hand in marriage, ribbit!”

The ratfolk had done the same thing. Why were kings so eager to marry off their daughters to saviors of the land?

There was a frog in a dress next to him, not looking especially displeased.

Perhaps frogfolk were amenable, but my tastes didn’t stretch that far, so I bowed out.

“I’m sure there are frog knights who would be a better match.”

Several knights had been giving me jealous looks. I couldn’t tell which frogs were good-looking or not, but given how the maids flattered them, they were likely hunks.

“Then how can I repay you?”

“Hmm.”

Honestly, all I wanted was clean lake water.

“How about trading rights for Mermaid Tears? I operate a trading company that may wish to bring them to Shiga.”

“Oh! We would love to trade with a country of that size! Absolutely consider it! Your Majesty, we must accept this offer!”

One of the ministers was very eager, and that got through to the king.

“Mm-mm. That would certainly be profitable, ribbit. I have no qualms about granting trading rights, ribbit. But that benefits us and hardly repays you, Kuro, ribbit.”

It was more than enough, but he didn’t agree.

“Your Majesty, you must not trouble the man,” the frog queen admonished, but he was stubborn.

I spotted something unusual around her neck.

“Is the gem on that necklace a dark stone?”

“Oh, you can tell? It’s a protective amulet employing a dark pearl.”

“Yes, ribbit, it was excavated from a cave on the lakebed—”

“Your Majesty!”

The ministers rushed to shush him.

They’d rushed so fast, they’d wound up piled in a heap on top of him, so I hoped they’d get off soon.

“I heard nothing. Queen, may I have a look at that pendant?”

“It’s a national treasure—but I suppose the savior of our country has earned a look.”

“I thank you.”

I took the pendant from her and took a close look at the rune carved in the gem and at the spells engraved on the frame.

This would generate a barrier with a darkness attribute. Blocking not just attack spells but also fire and acid. I got the gist, so once I got back, I could use dark stones and pearls to make my own.

“A wonderful amulet,” I said, returning it to her.

I assured the king that would suffice, but he insisted on granting me something tangible, so I accepted a present made by the kingdom’s most celebrated magic craftsman. It was a very impressive-looking tool, so I figured we could put it up for display in the Echigoya Company headquarters.

“Is this our fifth country?”

“No, our sixth.”

After leaving the frogfolk kingdom, we’d been touring the jungle’s neighbors, staying three days in each. We were finally at the last of them—Blybrogha itself.

If we went any farther, we’d wind up in the woods where the Bulainan lived, but if those research-loving elves got their clutches in me, I’d be stuck there for months. Best not to visit at all.

Blybrogha was run by a type of fairyfolk called “leprechauns,” but it had lots of other fairy and beastfolk living here. No elves, though—they kept to themselves.

“Any demons?” Arisa asked, annoyed.

Every country we’d visited had lesser demons up to something.

“Nope, we appear to be good.”

From what my map told me, no demons or worshippers here.

“Long noooose?”

“An elephant, sir! I’ve never seen a giraffe, but I have seen an elephant before, sir!”

This country used elephant-turtles to transport goods, and had quite a lot of them. That had helped their Prince Smartith earn himself a solid rep in Shiga Kingdom.

They had unique architecture—half plant, half building. We headed down the main street, tasting the wide variety of local produce, making some big purchases. Many of the fruits were on the smaller side, but all were sweet and tasty.

They had a ridiculous number of herbs—to the point where they had stores that only sold herbs. Even the food from the stalls was seasoned with a ton of them.

“It’s so hot here. Because it’s next to that jungle?”

“Probably.”

The City Core could adjust the temperature, but it wasn’t like there was a physical wall around the jungle border, so it made sense the neighbors would be affected by the temperature within.

“Pretty.”

“Yes, Mia. Jewels and related crafts are plentiful, I report.”

This country’s jewelry and silver were the pride of the southwest, and even Shiga imported a bunch of them.

“They’re so cheap!”

“Maybe a third the price we see in Shiga itself.”

The high-priced items weren’t on display here, but what we did see were clearly quite a bargain.

Gems were often used in magic tools and for transmuting, and the scrap gems left over from that were really a steal—I’d have to buy a ton later.

“Sniff, sniff! I smell salt, sir!”

Pochi’s nose caught the scent of the ocean.

Blybrogha was on the coast.

“Been ages since I smelled the sea.”

“Pochi will take you there, sir! The salt is this way!”

She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the harbor.

“Master, I have found a familiar ship, I report.”

Nana was pointing at a big ship with sails and oars.

“……Weasels,” Liza growled. My “Keen Hearing” heard her.

That was a merchant ship from the Weaselman Empire. Lots of weasel merchants and crew were running around on deck. We’d seen weasel peddlers in many a land but had avoided direct contact with them.

I debated whether to say anything to Liza, but then we heard some unexpected screeching.

“Hey, you there!”

We turned to find Keri, from the Ussha Company—an acquaintance from back in Arcatia.

“What a coincidence, Keriko-tan,” Arisa said.

“Yes, so it—what the hell is a Keriko-tan?! My name is Kerina Gure! Do not abbreviate, do not apply unorthodox honorifics!”

Keri responded amiably at first but soon realized what Arisa had done to her name and pounced on it.

“I thought you were headed back home?” she asked.

“We made a few stops along the way. How goes things in the fortress city?”

Keri gave us a few updates on Roro.

“Worried about her? She’s doing just fine. She had Tia backing her, and the puppy and golems keep her safe. And she has the hamsters, too!”

She was way ahead of us and told us all the details.

“Might you be Satou?”

As we renewed our friendship, this nation’s Prince Smartith spoke to me. By his side was Keri’s secretary, Tomali Toloole.

“Hmm, you’re acquainted with the Ussha girl?”

“Yes, Your Highness. We were business rivals in the fortress city of Arcatia.”

“Hngg?!”

My joke got her flustered, and she started hopping up and down, trying to clap a hand over my mouth.

“Ma’am, we are before royalty.”

“B-but, Tomali!”

Tomali Toloole put Keri in a hold, settling her down.

“Satou, you’ve met the prince before?”

“Indeed. I declared him an official Merrymaker!” Prince Smartith answered for me.

““A Merrymaker?!”” both girls cried as one.

Come to think of it, I’d heard that title bore considerable weight with leprechauns.

“I do beg your pardon,” Keri said, clutching her skirts. “I had no idea you were a Merrymaker, Lord Satou.”

“Please, don’t worry about it. Nothing you’ve done has ever bothered me.”

She looked visibly relieved and inexplicably hoisted her skirts.

Some sort of Blybrogha ladies’ greeting, like a curtsy?

“Go on.”

“What?”

“You intend to flip up my skirts, yes?”

Har?

“You aren’t?” she looked up at me through her lashes.

“I’m not,” I said, firmly.

I had no time for children’s pranks, and if I even joked about it, the iron wall would declare me guilty.

“If the lady does not suffice, my skirts are available,” Tomali Toloole joined in on this mess, shimmying her tight skirt up with a sexy gleam in her eyes.

“I am flipping no skirts.”

“Heavens, why not? Merrymakers are pranksters by nature!” Prince Smartith fumed.

Apparently, this was a requirement of the role.

That did explain why both leprechaun girls had suddenly gone wild.

“More importantly, Your Highness, I should warn you—”

Attempting to divert the discussion, I cautioned him about the demon activity in the neighboring countries.

Afterward, with Keri in tow, we went to the palace, where the prince and king welcomed us.

The main course of the banquet was the same Blybrogha whole caterpillar dish that I’d had over lunch with the Shiga prime minister, and it entirely rose to the occasion, delighting my tongue once more. Arisa tried to run at the sight of it, but I sliced it up so it didn’t look like bugs, and the smell tempted her into trying a bite—the exquisite flavor left her munching away with an anguished look on her face.

As the banquet went on, I rose from my seat to exchange pleasantries. Since I was the prince’s guest, a whole lineup of Blybrogha dignitaries and merchants came to introduce themselves.

“Many foreign guests balk at the caterpillars, so it was a real pleasure to see a look of appreciation on your face from the get-go, Sir Pendragon.”

“Indeed! I can see why the elf lady Misanaria allows you the honor of her company.”

“And why Prince Smartith bestowed the Merrymaker title upon you.”

All I’d done was enjoy a good meal, and that curried everyone’s favor.

The tourism minister did his job, telling me all about Blybrogha’s sights and wares. He even provided an introduction to a restaurant that required them.

“She-she-she, you’re a popular man, Sir Pendragon.”

A weasel merchant barged in, with an obsequious tone. He was wrapped up in clothing far too warm for this region—I assumed he was associated with the large ship in the harbor.

“A pleasure to meet you, Sir Pendragon. I am Torimisori for the Sahbe Company, a merchant from Dejima Island in the Weaselman Empire.”

“Sahbe Company has a store in Shiga as well, yes?”

“Indeed, the branch run by Homimudory.”

I thought as much.

“You’re selling manned golems and golem parts here as well?”

“She-she-she, and importing many other industrial goods and cleaning devices.”

This man’s tone bugged me enough that I double-checked my AR display to ensure he wasn’t possessed.

Industrial goods?

“I’m very curious how the Sahbe Company’s in-dust-trial goods are made,” said a Blybrogha minister, arms folded, scowling at the weasel merchant.

“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty. Even if you were to visit Dejima Island, touring the factories requires permission directly from the emperor’s brother—who rules over that island.”

“Hmm, so they are national secrets. I suppose one should expect as much from an empire of your size.”

I’d have liked to tour those places myself, but I imagined Liza would object to visiting a weasel-run country. I’d have to put it off.

“And what cleansing devices are these?”

“They purify miasma.”

“Like Holy Magic?”

“Not at all. They employ undisclosed means to absorb miasma into the device, removing it from their surroundings. Extracting that miasma is a free service, part of the maintenance package.”

“I imagine those would sell to any country bordering the Jungle Labyrinth—even Arcatia itself.”

“She-she-she, naturally, they are our best clients.”

The fortress city already had several cleansing devices, so I wasn’t sure they’d need any more—and performing maintenance deep in the labyrinth was a lot to ask.

“Sir Pendragon—,” the weasel began, but as he spoke—all lights in the hall went out.

A stir ran through the room, but more voices cheered—likely an event.

“Ladies and gentlemen, are you pranking each other?!”

A bizarrely dressed leprechaun gentleman appeared in a spotlight.

Seriously?

This handsome older fellow was Prince Smartith’s father—the king.

“It’s time for a pie fight!”

“““Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”””

The lights came back on, and the tables around us were now covered in cream pies.

A pie came flying in from behind, so I dodged—and it hit the weasel in the face. I backstepped to avoid the cream splatter, moving over to where Nana was using a bowl and candelabra to defend the party.

“Don’t play with fooood?”

“Exactly, sir! Pies are for eating, sir!”

Each time Nana batted a pie out of the air, Tama and Pochi caught it, and Liza put it away in her Fairy Pack.

We were having lots of cream pie for snacks tomorrow.

“Honestly, playing with food? The leprechaun king should repent,” Liza said.

“Mm,” Mia agreed.

“They’re pretty good, but a bit cloying.”

“Perhaps because of the butter in the cream?”

Arisa and Lulu were sampling the pies.

LYURYU!

The smell of them lured Lyuryu out of Pochi’s pendant, and it caught a cushion-size pie with its body, burying its head in the sweetness.

“The sweetness is definitely cloying. Are they using honey instead of sugar?”

I’d taken a bite while using Magic Hand to back Nana up.

The back half of the cream pie fight was all focused on firing on Nana, who’d yet to take a hit, but she emerged triumphantly cream-free.

Impressed, the king swore he would award her a medal and the title Defense Lord, but Mia and the beast girls wound up giving him a lecture on playing with food instead.

Good thing he wasn’t the sort of king to punish disrespect.

We spent a few days sightseeing in Blybrogha, acquiring a lot of gemstones and silver. The merchants Prince Smartith introduced me to allowed me to acquire top-shelf flower teas, so I was thoroughly pleased.

“How’s Roro holding up?” Arisa asked, as I took a look at the fortress city with Space Magic.

“Still doing great.”

The Hero’s Rest was booming, and Roro, her staff, and the hamsters were run ragged, but she seemed to be making the most of it.

Every now and then someone would make a false complaint, but puppy Fen and the ex-adventurers on staff drove them off. If they tried to wield authority, Tovan could handle it, and if he couldn’t, then they’d turn to Tia, who’d happily lend them a hand.

“……Might be time we left the region.”

“Yeah, it’s about that time.”

We’d stuck around to back Roro up, but at this point we were just being overprotective.

If anything happened to her or the Hero’s Rest, the bats hiding in her Shadow would alert me—perhaps we should head back toward Shiga.

Interlude: The Great Sorceress

The Great Sorceress’s elegant days began with a cup of tea.

Gazing at the lives of the people below, she set her cup down and rang the bell to signal the start of work.

“Time for work!”

Her apprentices had been waiting and rushed in with volumes of paperwork.

“Tia! The reddening of the water supply has died down.”

“Good. What caused it?”

“Miasma from the labyrinth. Here’s a detailed write-up.”

“Thanks—so the miasma cleansing devices are deteriorating? Didn’t a merchant come by selling more?”

“Yes, the Sahbe Company. Should we buy one to try?”

“Yeah, best to experiment before the current devices break.”

Tia directed one of her apprentices to purchase the new device and moved on to the next thing.

“We’ve finished forming a party to explore the castle interior. Tiga will be leading it.”

“That’s a relief. There should still be traps, so warn them to be careful.”

“Tia, Father Mokro is squabbling with the necromancers’ guild.”

“Why is he still here?! I’ve got my hands full, so take some guards and go mediate.”

“All right, I’ll handle it.”

The line of apprentices with reports and questions showed no signs of dying down.

Lunchtime came and went with no respite—as hungry as she was, she couldn’t afford to stop and eat.

“Tia, please take a break,” her head apprentice said, putting a light meal on the table.

“Thanks, is it that time?”

“It’s well past lunch into teatime.”

“Oh my, I had no idea,” the Great Sorceress insisted, taking a bite of the meaty meal. “Hmm, no signs of any demons today…”

“Seems like their invasion is over. I wonder what their goal was?”

“Who knows? There’s no shortage of things they could want here.”

The Great Sorceress shrugged, avoiding the question.

“Learn anything through your investigation?”

“Zanzasansa got the relic from a starving wolf-ranked ratfolk adventurer. There were witnesses to that, so tracking it was easy, but the adventurer in question perished in the labyrinth, so we’ve been unable to track it to the mastermind.”

“Ah. Thanks.”

The Great Sorceress gulped down the last of the food, considering this.

Most likely the same villain that sent in the demons. But why go to the trouble of letting Zanzasansa take the fall? If they’re after the demon lord bones in the temple, there’s no need to target the fortress city specifically… I have to assume that whole incident was a distraction. In which case, their real call is the False Core drawing mana from the source.

Her hand wavered over the empty plate.

Without a word, the head apprentice took a fresh plate out of her Item Box.

Rimi’s been my head apprentice for ages, but I haven’t even told her that the False Core is actually the Purple Moon Core. So how would they have worked it out?

Her hand found food and carried it to her mouth as her mind spun in circles.

More importantly, if anything does happen to me, only Roro—my descendant—can inherit the Purple Moon Core. I’ll need to tell her this at some point, but…

She dithered on that point so hard, she forgot to eat, but it didn’t take her long to make up her mind.

It’s far too soon. At least let her fall in love, get married, have children…

“Is something wrong, Tia?”

“Not at all.”

Brushing off her concerned apprentice, she downed the last bite.

At the moment, Satou’s the only suitable candidate for her hand. Too few humanfolk in the fortress city. How can I bring him back here? He had no desires for power, no lusts—perhaps I’ll have to stimulate his curiosity, his thirst for knowledge.

The Great Sorceress had a pretty solid read on Satou’s personality.

A stoic man and a shy girl don’t exactly make sparks fly, so should I prep a love potion? If I can just get things rolling, youth should take care of the rest and they’ll have a couple of kids before I know it, she concluded, washing her meal down with some tea.

Neither party wanted her meddling, but she was serious about it.

“Let’s get the afternoon toils over with so I can pop by to see Roro!”

The Great Sorceress rolled up her sleeves and found double the morning workload waiting for her.

“Rimi?”

“If you get this done, tomorrow you’ll have time for fun!”

“Right…”

Her soul nearly fled her open mouth, but her hands reached for the paperwork.

Clearly, her office would be burning the midnight oil again.

Azure Land

“Master, we’ve taken out the large monsters in the vicinity.”

“Good work. Lulu’s got refreshments over there, so take a breather.”

I’d made a tower with Stone Object and was mass-producing barracks around it with Create House.

This was the Azure Land, a monster-ridden, untamed area to the southwest of Shiga.

My friend and former member of the Shiga Eight, Gouen, should be reaching the borders soon—so I was patching up the ruined base a smidge.

I’d dismantled the existing shacks, expanded the overgrown clearing to ten times the original size, prepared enough buildings to house Gouen and the criminal slave army, Violet, added several wells and fields large enough to feed them, then made some canals for doing laundry and carrying away waste, funneling water from the river through them.

The river was a bit far away, and the piranhas were alarmingly aggressive, but they were also good eating, so we just put a stronger than usual monster ward on the gates leading into these canals.

“With you around, making settlements is as easy as a video game,” Arisa said, seeing me using Defense Wall to make fences along the canals so no one would accidentally fall in.

She was busy using Space Magic to trim the branches from some trees I’d felled.

Once that was done, Mia had Genomos carry those branches, while a little sylph cleaned up the leaves.

“Master, prey, sir!”

LYURYU!

Pochi and her White Dragon came back dragging a snake monster they’d caught.

Lyuryu had slept in the Dragon Cradle the whole time we were sightseeing but popped right out the second there was fighting to be done; it seemed to be having a great time hunting with her. Dragons really were fond of battle.

“Maîtreee!” Tama cried, coming back from scouting. “Almost tiiime?”

“Faster than I thought.”

Gouen’s company was one mountain away.

I hadn’t finished the barracks’ interiors, but I had water going to basic toilets, baths, kitchens, and enough cots for everyone, so they could make the rest from this pile of lumber we were leaving.

This was the edge of the Azure Land, and pretty far from the nearest minor magic source; the old settlement had been supplied by an old-fashioned Magic Furnace, but that was good enough for a location of this scale. The original magic barrier generator had been ancient, but we did maintenance on that along with the furnace, and it should be as good as new.

“Gather round! Time we skedaddled.”

We wrapped up our base building before their scouts topped the mountains, retreating to the ruins of a city hidden way off in the forest of the Azure Land.

“Today we’ll be tackling the Emperor Serpent nest to the north.”

“Smells like a challeeenge?”

“Pochi’s arms are ringing off the hook, sir!”

LYURYU!

The beast girls and the dragon were in full golden armor.

This was a ruined city at the heart of the Azure Land. While we were touring the southwestern region, I’d been making exoarmor for the golden gear, and this was a performance test and evaluation round.

“You’re still improving the ruins, master?”

“The base is done, so now I’m making farms.”

I figured I’d make some fields for the cassava and corn we’d acquired on our travels—mostly just for us to eat.

Magic should make short work of it, so after that I planned to check out the City Core.

With that under my control, I’d just activate the city defense functions and leave it be.

“Attention. The flying craft is ready, I report.”

Nana called to everyone from a smaller airship that looked a lot like a hovercraft.

I’d used leftover parts and monster materials to make this van-size craft to transport them to their hunting grounds.

“Got your lunches? Don’t get hurt!”

“Mm, ready.”

“Your lunch is in the warmer, so eat it later, Master.”

“Thanks, Lulu.”

My party flew off to fight a boss monster well over level 60.

The Azure Land had plenty of 50-plus-level threats, so we’d made a detour to help them train.

I was planning on releasing all six cities in the region in turn.

Thinking about that, I used the Cultivation spell to expand the fields, and had mini golems plant the cassava buds and corn kernels. They were all about palm-size, and it was fun just watching them work the fields.

They could handle planting if I was watching, but to fully hand off the farming, I’d need to make a proper core, like the devices elves used. Golems made with magic could handle combat and simple labor but weren’t great at adapting to the circumstances at hand.

“That should do it for the farm. I’d like to grow my own sugarcane, too, so maybe the next ruin we hit should be a bit warmer…to the south?”

Muttering to myself, I headed to the City Core.

When my friends weren’t around, I talked out loud a lot more often.

“Master, you’re not in the base—where’d you go?”

Arisa got in touch with World Phone.

I had a card with a rune to focus Telephone on, which let her contact me even over distances.

“Another city ruin. Just needed a thing and popped over to fetch it.”

When I’d examined the Azure Land City Core, I’d found a supply of living statues for farmwork underground in this ruin; there was even a facility for making and maintaining them. So I’d come to check it out.

I told Arisa I’d unlocked another city and was reviving the underground facilities.

“Hah? That sounds like fun! Why didn’t you call us?”

“Sorry, sorry, I only meant to grab a few and pop back.”

They were supposed to have a stock of one thousand statues, but most had been caught up in a ceiling collapse, and the Fixify spell meant for long-term storage had broken. Once I cleared the rubble and dirt, I only found seventy statues in usable condition.

The rest of them were missing pieces but seemed like they’d be usable with some repairs, or at the least I could reuse the cores. The production system was busted, but I’d checked with the elf engineers to see if it could be patched up. They’d been optimistic, so here’s hoping.

The maintenance system only took a few repairs to get up and running, so I downloaded farming programs into fifty of the surviving statues and cleaning programs into the remaining twenty—at which point Arisa called me.

“You were doing that all day?”

“Oh, is it dark out?”

I’d totally lost track of time.

“Sorry, I’ll be right back.”

Mollifying Arisa, I left the statues to the reprogramming system and used Return to go back to base.

Naturally, I’d reactivated the city defense systems so that monsters couldn’t regain control of it.

The other ruins had underground fish cultivation systems or preserved food factories—I’d have to take my party around and release each of them tomorrow.

“I’m back.”

“Welcooome!”

“Welcome home, sir!”

Tama and Pochi pounced on me the second I stepped in.

Mia and the other girls came running up behind them.

“We have lots of soup veneers, sir!”

“And dark stooones?”

Tama pulled out a big one.

“That’s huge. Where’d you find it?”

You could get other attribute stones from monsters, but we’d never found a dark stone that way.

“It was in a valley on the way.”

“The valley was very dark and obvious, I report.”

“I figured it was either a coal vein or a dark stone, and it proved to be the latter.”

“There were loooots!”

Tama was pulling a bunch out of her Fairy Pack.

“From what we saw on the way in and out, dark stones were forming in areas that remain in shadow all day long.”

That made it sound like any cave would grow them, but we’d never found any.

There must be some other condition.

“They’re good for ninjutsu, so why don’t you keep them, Tama??”

“Mew! I only need theeeese?”

She picked up ten gravel-size and one fist-size dark stones.

“You can have them all?”

“Mew? But this is plentyyyy?”

“Okay, then. I’ll hold on to the rest. Lemme know if you need more.”

“Aye-aye!”

Looking after attribute stones could be tricky, so perhaps they were best left to my Storage.

Oh, right.

I could apply the principle by which I’d turned water stones into a Water Pearl and upgrade these into a dark pearl to incorporate into Tama’s golden armor.

That would help her with Dark Magic—er, Shadow Ninjutsu.

With the idea fresh in my mind, I wound up pulling an all-nighter upgrading her armor.

This body didn’t need much sleep to refresh itself, so I tended to put my hobbies first.

“Behemoth—Disaster!”

At Mia’s order, the Behemoth split the earth and brought down a torrent of rain.

A massive boss monster and its minions were swallowed by the crack in the ground, burned by lava spewing up from it—and their lives ended.

Three days since I’d improved Tama’s armor—and we’d finished releasing the other five city ruins. I’d left the repairs on the underground facilities to the elves and was out with Mia today.

I’d planned to help with the repairs myself, but where I’d expected only Bolenan elves, the research-loving Bulainan and Beliunan contingents showed up, too, and were repairing and magically upgrading things with such merriment, there was no space for me to contribute.

While I was twiddling my thumbs, Mia had shown up, and since she required far more experience than the others and was falling behind again, she asked me to take her out so she could do some catch-up leveling. Thus, it was just the two of us.

“Victory!”

She threw a peace sign at the behemoth.

This grind was primarily her summons dominating everything.

The behemoth counted as a party member, so Mia got plenty of experience from its kills.

“Next?”

“Mm, wait.”

I’d been about to pick her up and do some “Skyrunning,” but she spotted something first.

It appeared to be a patch of tasty mushrooms.

“Satou, hand.”

Per her request, I took her hands, and we walked to the mushroom patch.

Mm?

My vision altered.

There were ruins before us that had not previously been there.

I quickly ran my eyes over the map, and we were not in the Azure Land but the Otherworld: the divided land.

“Satou?”

“Mia, let’s back slowly away.”

“Mm.”

Holding tightly to my hand, she and I reversed direction.

“We’re back.”

A single step away had been enough to put us back where we were.

I squinted but could make out no teleport traps, warps, or dimensional rifts.

I stuck a marker on our current location and set a seal slate.

This time, I stepped into the Otherworld alone, making sure I could get back with Return.

“No problems escaping—” I considered this a moment, then looked at Mia. “Wanna explore?”

“Mm, let’s.”

If she was with me, I could keep her safe from anything, and with pseudo-spirits guarding her, she’d be fine even if we got separated. Worst came to worst, I could take the risk and use “Unit Deployment” to escape from literally anywhere.

Hand in hand, we stepped into the Otherworld.

It looked exactly like the forests and landscapes of the Azure Land, but the ruin wasn’t the only discrepancy.

It was like a find-the-difference puzzle—just little bits of weirdness, like they’d long ago copied a patch of land and just maintained it as is.

“How big is it?”

I couldn’t use my map here, so I tried tossing rocks around, but they didn’t seem to be hitting any walls. I hovered, using Laser to take measurements, but they didn’t seem to hit anything—at the very least, it was over a dozen miles wide. That meant it was bigger than the space generated by my Desert Mirage.

“Ruins?”

“Yeah.”

These didn’t look like Lalakie or Flue architecture.

I did a quick comb through my reference materials and found similar constructs in the data we’d found at the Tower of Wisdom. This suggested it resembled civilizations that had held sway after the fall of Lalakie.

Conveying that to Mia, we moved onward.

Her massive behemoth had not been able to follow us, so she’d summoned a new sylph.

“Golem?”

“No, just statues, I think.”

There were ten-yard-tall pillars by the stairs to the main entrance and statues half that height standing guard at their bases.

“Spirits,” Mia said, pointing at the gate, her eyes silver.

I turned “Spirit Vision” on myself and found the spirits swirling around the gates.

A moment later, golden bands appeared out of nowhere, wrapping round the statues like golden mummies—and coating the statue surface in a glass-like substance. Not sure of the exact composition, but those bands were an orichalcum alloy.

The principle here eluded me, but I could make good use of this Bandage-like orichalcum, so I very much wanted a sample.

“Moving.”

The statues smoothly stood up.

They’d just been stone—but now they’d turned into guardian constructs.

It looked like glass, but the way the clothes and capes moved was every bit as soft as fabric.

“Invaders, exterminate!”

Ominous words in the ancient language.

They’d popped up on my radar the moment they started moving, but those white dots now turned red.

“Vanished.”

“‘Sense Danger.’”

I picked Mia up and “Warped” away.

An instant later, the ground where we’d stood collapsed, and through the dust cloud, I caught a glimpse of a statue with its fist down.

These seemed to have some sort of optical camouflage.

Whatever the camouflage or invisibility effect, my eyes could always sort of see them, and the red dots were on my radar, giving them away.

“Also—”

They were moving fast, but not too fast for my eyes to follow.

They were around level 50, but a bit too nimble to let Mia face them; I kept my distance with “Warp,” blasting them with Implosion.

Shockingly, the glass-like orichalcum covering the statues maintained its shape.

That alloy looked fragile but was every bit as tough as regular orichalcum.

If I was fighting with regular weapons, this might have been pretty tricky.

“Not exactly a safe space.”

“Mm, caution.”

Mia didn’t seem inclined to retreat, so we kept going.

They’d shown up on the radar before they took action, so as long as I didn’t let my guard down, we’d be okay.

“The outside was stone, but not the inside.”

“Mm, imposing.”

Soaring ceilings, elaborate reliefs on the walls and columns—it gave off a kind of religious vibe.

Statues like the ones at the entrance showed up here and there, but I grabbed them with Magic Hand before they moved, sentencing them to my Storage. At that point in time, they were still just statues.

There was some extra golden Bandage orichalcum on a pedestal, so I put that and a magic device designed to help equip it in my Storage. Seemed useful enough to justify the trip here.

“Satou.”

Mia was pointing at a mural.

On either side of it, vast chunks of land floated in space—between these, flying whales and castles were trying to shoot through one another’s barriers with light beams. I didn’t notice until I got closer, but that sure looked like demons and airships joining the fray.

“Lalakie?”

“Likely, yeah.”

One of the landmasses looked like Lalakie.

Their flying castles looked like what we’d seen in the Seadragon Islands and Lalagi.

“Look here.”

“Something written…”

In ancient writings, it said, THE FREEDOM ARMY FIGHTS THE EVIL LALAKIE EMPIRE, RULED BY THE FOOLISH GODS. I assumed it was the title of the mural. Based on that, these ruins had been left behind by the armies of the Dogheaded Demon Lord. They’d called themselves “freedom fighters.”

Nearby the bit about the foolish gods was some additional exposition.

“Read,” Mia requested, so I translated that for her.

Opposite Lalakie, floating island of the god, was the flying fortress Arcatia.

“Arcatia?”

“No, Mia. This one’s Arcatia.”

She’d confused it with the name of the fortress city.

Was Arcatia the name of some utopia? I had stronger associations with a space pirate ship flying the flag of freedom, but if it was named by someone reincarnated, either origin was possible.

“Blacksmoke Island.”

“Where the samurai were?”

“Mm.”

I’d meant to ask why she’d brought that up, but I remembered before she answered.

The pirates who’d attacked that island had been looking for the flying fortress. Nobody had specifically mentioned the word Arcatia, but it seemed likely this was what they meant.

Mia and I kept exploring the ruins, collecting statues.

We found several other murals depicting historical events. Obviously, since they’d been left by Lalakie’s enemies, they frequently depicted Lalakian oppression and the harsh conditions of lives in nations forced to turn to the Freedom Army.

“Paintings.”

“From this point on, they’re depicting a different time?”

Later generations had worked on these; the paint supplies and canvases were different. The Fixify spells were dying, and they were all in bad condition.

I assumed they depicted leaders of the Freedom Army, but I could only identify Doghead.

“Demon Lord,” Mia muttered, and I nodded.

By the time these paintings were done, he’d already dressed like he had in Celivera Labyrinth.

“Children?”

“And their dad?”

Next to Doghead was a man in a black suit and three little girls. Half the man’s face was peeling off, and the lower half had a beard—all I could make out was a strong chin.

But it wasn’t the man who took my breath away. The little girls’ hair—it was pink, like Princess Menea’s of the Lumork Kingdom. Coincidence? Or were they connected to the Lumork royal family? I was curious.

I would have been far less intrigued if they’d had purple hair, like Arisa.

“Read.”

“Um…‘The God of Freedom and his apostles.’”

Given the sequence of pictures, these were likely the army’s leaders. They’d called Doghead a false god, but these outranked him. Was this who Doghead called his lord?

“The Evil God?” Mia asked, looking up at me.

I had to nod. Wasn’t good to leap to conclusions, but given what we did know…

“And yet ‘freedom.’”

Perhaps that was why the demon lord worshippers’ names always had freedom in them.

We’d have to stop by Lumork on our way east and see if we could find anything out about this god or his apostles.

“Not sure we should go farther.”

“Mrr?”

“There’s a secret passage behind this painting—or rather, a hidden teleport.”

I wasn’t sure how to activate it, but whatever was hidden back there was probably important.

“Right,” Mia said, looking around. “Satou, writing.”

Her silver eyes had found a longer passage.

“True…and it’s in Japanese?”

With “Spirit Vision” on, I could make it out.

Hiragana and kanji, but it bounced around and made no sense.

I tried “Miasma Vision” and “Magic Vision” in turn, and they made different writings appear. There were still gaps, though…but I could fill it in. Or rather, I recognized it as Jugemu, a famous Rakugo story.

For the hell of it I recited Jugemu, and the teleport behind the painting lit up—and a magic circle appeared beneath our feet.

I’d expected as much, so I held on to Mia and waited for the teleport.

“We’re under our previous location,” I said.

A moment later, the lights came on.

“Floating rock.”

A massive boulder was hovering in the air not far from us.

It was so big, the far side of it was hazy, every bit as big as Lalakie itself—or the flying fortress, Arcatia.

Lalakie had been a city, but this was much more military-looking.

“…Threat.”

“Yeah.”

No clue what kind of superweapons it was loaded up with, but if something this dangerous fell into the hands of demon lord worshippers, the world would be in big trouble.

I used “Skyrunning” to touch the side of the fortress and put it in Storage.

As I did, a massive gust of wind blew through the cavern.

Oh, shit.

The humongous loss of mass had generated gales, yanking the smaller flying rocks around.

I quickly put up a Shelter spell to ward them off.

“Mrr.”

“That one’s on me,” I admitted, gently helping to straighten her ruffled hair.

The wind died down eventually, and I put the cluster of floating rocks in Storage, too. A gift for the professor studying flying rocks at the Echigoya Company.

“Satou, passage.”’

Mia pointed up ahead to some sort of hangar; it was jam-packed with parts for the fortress and what looked like weapons. I collected all of them in turn.

I didn’t see any libraries or research notes stored down here, so Mia and I went back to the transport point and continued our tour of the ruins, collecting more statues.

Anything on paper had disintegrated by now, but we did find some clay and stone tables with period records.

But that one painting was the only sign of this god of freedom.

“Pretty.”

Outside the back of the ruins, we found a garden with glass-like translucent columns.

At a glance, they appeared colorless, but according to my AR display, they were a special orichalcum alloy, much like the statue Bandages.

“Magic circle?”

“Certainly some sort of magic code.”

The monument near the front had TO STRIKE AT THE FOOLISH GODSin big letters on it, and the columns behind it had magic circles and complicated magic theories inscribed on them.

“Comprehend?”

“Not right away.”

There were a lot of principles and runes not understood by modern magic theory.

This would be tricky, but based on what the monument said, it could well be some sort of anti-divinity measure and run afoul of their taboos—best I worked this out myself without asking anyone else for help.

Once we got back to the base, Arisa found out that Mia and I had gone exploring without her and blew her top.

Guess I’ll have to go somewhere with her next time.

Two days after Mia and I explored those ruins, the full party was in the third ruined Azure Land city, some ways from our base. This one was near the coast, and we could smell the sea.

We’d arrived early in the morning and found a smaller ruin on the coast itself; at Arisa’s request, I’d made a private beach and resort. That meant our actual goal—testing their new gear—was put off until afternoon.

“Well?”

“Great viewww!”

“This is exquisite.”

“Yes, sir! Extremely, extremely great, sir!”

I’d applied the transparent orichalcum alloy from the Otherworld garden to the golden armor’s helmets. I’d found the recipe for it in the tablets we’d recovered. Unfortunately, I’d found nothing about the Bandage orichalcum; I’d have to reverse engineer that from the sample.

“Hmm, you can adjust the transparency.”

Since the rear guard had been using veils, I tried making visors instead.

Arisa’s first impression? “Pretty soldier Mercury, fighting in a sailor uniform!” but I didn’t think there was that much resemblance.

“It’s so light, I could easily forget I’m wearing this.”

They could also turn it back into a golden helm, making it only transparent on the inside—like a one-way mirror. These changes had required some complicated mana signals, so I was relieved they weren’t accidentally injecting magic and blinding themselves.

This let me see my party’s faces while they were training and make sure they weren’t too tired or feeling unwell. That was a huge boon in my book.

“Master, the transparent shield feels fragile, I fear.”

“I get that. Let’s keep the shield as it was.”

The see-through one could go in Nana’s Fairy Pack as an emergency backup.

“But, Master, why leave our base behind just to show these off?”

“Well, the real goal has yet to come,” I said, pulling golden armor enhancement parts out of my Storage and laying them out on the tarp.

“Oh, badass! Exoarmor?” Arisa cried. “These leg parts look like they could move three U.C. bots at once. What are they?”

“What they look like. Hover gear.”

Make them too small, and they were unstable—didn’t want any pratfalls.

“These are flying parts. Just for moving—no aerial combat.”

The beast girls knew “Skywalking,” but that could only get them so high. I’d made these to travel to hunt sites faster. If they kept them on all the time, the folding wings would get in the way.

“These are skypower engines, I report.”

“Also flying parts, yeah. Skypower engines with smaller wings, so better agility.”

They looked like inner tubes.

“Two types?” Mia asked.

“We’re evaluating them, so I made more than one kind,” I explained. “This is the gunner option—one type for the front line, and one for Lulu.”

I’d made small-caliber Fireburst Gun barrels arranged like a Gatling gun for rapid fire.

The reason there were two types is because they had different types of golden armor, and Lulu’s gear had no aim assist attached.

“The heavy armor’s artillery option is for attacking bases like the Taurus castle, while the pods with mini missiles that autotrack and fire in bulk are—”

“Whoo-hoo! Full armor! I’m going full armor!”

“No, Arisa, the armor quantity does not change, I advise.”

“Not what I meant! This type of gear is called full armor!”

“A trooope?”

“Yes! You get me, Tama!”

“Pochi knows this one, sir! You have to honor the tropes, sir!”

“Yes, Pochi. I have updated my trope list, I confirm.”

Ignoring Arisa’s cultural hazard, I explained the rest of the new gear.

External magic assists to Nana’s “Castle” activation, heavy armor options that could be thrown out there like Phalanx-style barriers, a “Slash” strengthener for Pochi, “Stealth” buffs for Tama, “Thrust” boosters for Liza, plus a second type that used an Acceleration Gate to enhance that “Thrust.”

Arisa and Mia got self-barrier options, and at Arisa’s request, I’d made a bunch of auto-intercept devices that would hover and take out minor assailants. Funnel-shaped, heat sink–shaped, et cetera. These were as powerful as advanced Practical Magic, and I’d applied those principles to them.

And since a single Phalanx had been underpowered against the bark greater demon, I’d prepared a new type that generated three at once. They could equip far fewer of these than the original type, so I was unsure whether to make it standard-issue or not.

I’d made some bracelet-shaped Phalanx activators while I was at it, but only Mia and I could use that without an assist from external magic—even Arisa proved unable to, so they clearly needed improvement.

“Master, I know we’re here to experiment,” Arisa said, as we were figuring out the sequence of tests. “But won’t this tear up the farmland you’ve just plowed?”

“We haven’t planted anything on it, so no worries.”

We’d cleared the stones, and the soil was nice and soft in case anyone fell over. Any disruptions our testing caused could easily be fixed with magic.

“Let’s start with the hover option.”

This was a part added to the front liners’ golden armor, and we had Tama test it, since she weighed the least.

I held it close to the armor’s attachment slot, and it snapped in place like a magnet. This was a system that employed Space Magic principles, and the attachment couldn’t be taken off again without the aid of a specialized repulsion field. But in case of malfunction, there was a built-in purge function.

“Whoahhh…”

Tama started out wobbly, but as she got the hang of hovering, she could zoom around.

“That’s amazing, sir! Pochi wants to—”

“Ack!”

Pochi boldly darted out, but got ahead of herself and face-planted into a tumble.

“That was shocking, sir! Pochi never fails twice—”

This time she was too cautious, and her legs shot out ahead of her into a backward somersault that ended in a headstand.

The shock absorbers on the golden armor were pretty strong, but I was glad we’d tested this on soft soil.

“You okay there?”

“I’m okay here, sir! Pochi is hauntless, sir!”

She probably meant dauntless. Tama gave her an assist for her third try, and she managed a successful hover. Liza and Nana didn’t flop as badly as Pochi, but they had their share of struggles before making it on their own.

“Well?”

“Good for maneuvers. But if it’s permanently equipped, the protrusion on the inner sleeve would get in the way during combat.”

“So mostly good for long-distance travel, then?”

She could just manually purge it at the end of that movement cycle.

“With the flying parts, seems like the skypower engine is better than the jet?”

“Yes, the jet is faster, but you can’t stop in midair.”

“Not just that—without a decent grasp on aerodynamics, the jet’s pretty risky.”

The jet engine provided more speed, but the skypower engine more stability. I should try a version with both engines where the jet only kicked in when speed was needed.

“Try aiming with the new artillery pieces.”

“Yes, Master. Checking armaments in turn, I report.”

A rain of Fireburst Bullets from the Gatling on her right arm took out one goblin-shaped golem after another. Ogre-shaped golems were advancing behind them, and the larger barrel on her left arm roared, blowing big holes in their torsos with each shot. The rapid-fire bullets were half the power of the Fireburst Gun, while the big barrel was twice the force.

“How’s the recoil?”

“Left is normal. My right hand is a bit numb, I report.”

A side effect of the rapid-fire mechanism?

“Try the one on your back.”

“Yes, Master. Aiming the cluster bomb at the oversize golems, I report.”

There was a boom, and light flew from the barrel on her back, bursting before the golem’s eyes. The fire spread out, burning off the beast’s hide and scorching the goblin-size golems accompanying it.

“Large-size beast intact. Using ‘Armor Pierce,’ I announce.”

The cannon on her back roared again, and the light bullets traced a spiral, piercing the beast’s brow.

The beast’s head snapped back—and flames burst from the back as the skull shattered.

“Defeated, I report.”

The cannon on Nana’s back was a large barrel version of Lulu’s Fireburst Gun, and the piercing projectile was five times as strong as the original.

“Last, try the rocket-assisted projectiles.”

“Yes, Master. Releasing safety. Protective cover purge”

The covers on Nana’s shoulders and knees flew away, and mini-missile heads appeared.

“Eyesight-aiming system switching to RAP mode—aiming complete. Firing, I report.”

The lens at the tips of the mini-missiles glinted—proof they were aimed—and at Nana’s cry, they shot out of the pods with a fwoosh like leaking air, belching smoke in their wakes as they accelerated toward the targets.

The golems fled, but the missiles pursued, evaded their attempts to fight back, and coated the targets in fire.

“Bliss! Those circus-like trails are so good! Missile fire should look like this!” Arisa was clearly drunk on the vibes, but I got why.

Next, it was Lulu’s turn to test her new artillery.

“Well?”

“The power’s impressive, but it’s heavy and bulky, so I could be in trouble if an enemy gets close. I’d rather have this big cannon on my pack as a portable weapon, like the original Fireburst Gun.”

“Didn’t care for the missiles?”

“The smoke hides my line of sight, so a rapid-fire gun would be way better.”

Nana seemed to have fun with it, but Lulu’s estimation was lower.

I promised to make the big barrel portable—a heavy Fireburst Gun, if you will.

“But you can’t use that to hunt small fry.”

“No, but if I equip the right-handed rotating Fireburst Gun to both hands, I can increase my extermination speed.”

“Yes, Lulu. I agree with that proposal, I declare.”

Hmm, for clearing bases, Arisa’s and Mia’s magic or pseudo-spirits were more efficient, so perhaps I was better off going for suppressing fire with dual-wielded Gatling guns.

“On to the next thing!” Arisa yelled, and we kept testing.

I’d made a lot of optional equipment, but half of them didn’t pass muster and went right into Storage. Of the stuff that proved useful, a lot of it required improvement before we’d put it into regular use.

Well, Liza’s “Thrust” support booster and Acceleration Gate didn’t need improvements, and the other front liners wanted something like that of their own. Perhaps I should standardize their exoarmor?

“‘Vanquish Cyclone,’ sir!”

Pochi was combining her exoarmor with “Vanquish Slicer” in an attempt to create a new special move, but it wasn’t going that well.

“Wibble, wobble, wabble, sir!” she wailed, dizzy.

“Pochiii!” Tama ran over to her.

The idea was to spin while throwing out “Vanquish Slicer” slashes, but she’d lost her balance in the middle, her blade touched the ground, and she’d gone flying across the air.

“Master, leave Pochi to Tama and me,” Liza said, seeing me about to call a halt to the testing.

She was using a bladeless Holy Sword to practice with, so I took Liza at her word.

“How far’d we get?”

“We’re done with the guard gear tests. I appreciate the charm of them, but I’d rather have exoarmor that boosts forbidden spells or the like.”

“Mm, one-shot kills.”

“So, uh, a power boost from external magic?”

“Yeah, that could be good.”

I scribbled down some notes.

“I’d like different staves for forbidden spells and long-range barrages.”

“Is the emerald branch one lacking?”

“I want it a bit longer.”

“Mm, Mana Vortex.”

“When you cast a forbidden spell, the magic swirls, and to avoid backlash from it, you need to place the focus away from yourself.”

Aha, that made sense.

“Got it. A long staff would be heavy and unwieldy, so I’ll think of something.”

“A system like the floating shields?”

“I feel like that would just up the backlash.”

“Ah…you’ve gotta take that into account with length, yeah.”

“Tripod.”

Mia put three sticks together, and then posed with her staff on top.

“Simple is best?”

“Yeah, even one leg might be enough to support it, so make both and we’ll see what’s easier.”

I had a lot of crystal branches from the World Tree I’d collected during the jellyfish incident, so I could easily make something a mile long if I wanted. But that was excessive; three to five yards was probably the upper limit.

“Also…anything that would help with mana recovery. I’d also love to collect the excess mana lost when casting advanced or forbidden attack spells.”

“Excess?”

“Yeah, like the white devil.”

To help me grasp the concept, Arisa referenced an anime—since this was magic-related, probably the Administration Bureau, not the Federation.

I assumed she meant absorbing the excess mana for use on her next attack.

“I get what you want to do, but is there that much excess?”

“Wanna try?”

She pointed at the sky.

I had plenty of magic, so I tried firing Inferno upward.

I watched closely with “Magic Vision.”

“—Yeah, there’s a pretty sizable swirl.”

I did a Mana Transfer to Arisa so I’d have space in my MP bar, then reached for that swirling magic.

Seemed doable.

It was pretty instinctive, but I tried gathering the magic the way I absorb it from items, and it worked.

“Damn, really?”

“Unfair.”

They both looked pretty dumbfounded.

If you can absorb from items, why wouldn’t you be able to absorb high-density magic from the air?

“Well, I’ve got the principle down, so now I’ve just gotta make something that can automate it.”

“Please.”

“Mm, anticipate.”

I’d just have to run through a list of parts from monsters that absorb magic.

Might be good not just for the mages but for Nana’s “Magical Slash” weapons. Cut through a spell, then absorb all that magic—pretty nifty.

“Pochi would like a katana for ‘Quick Draw,’ sir!”

“Pochi, luxury is the enemy.”

“Even though you’ve got lots of spears, sir?”

Pochi had Liza dead to rights, so she coughed awkwardly. “Separate strokes,” she said, feebly.

“It’s fine, Liza. The katana I gave you on Blacksmoke Island not doing the trick?”

When she’d been training with the samurai general, I’d given her a short katana, the size of a wakizashi—because her previous katana had been too long to use with “Quick Draw” techniques.

“I want an amazing katana that can be combat prune, sir!”

“…Prune?”

“Combat proven?” Arisa suggested.

“Yes! That, sir!” Pochi nodded sagely. “I wanted to say that, sir!”

“What kind of katana are you thinking of?”

“One that can slice through anything and grow longer when I fight big foes, sir!”

So like the Holy and Magic Swords I’d made specifically for Pochi.

That was easy enough. The shape of the weapons was different, so I’d have to make adjustments, but I could get it done by end of day.

I checked with Tama, and she asked for ninja blades on the same level as her main dual daggers.

“Master, I believe that is all the evaluations, I report.”

“There’s one more—possibly the main one.”

I took out dismantled gold and silver armor and a new inner lining.

“With only one lining—it works for both sets?”

“Yeah. Nana, help test it.”

“Yes, Master.”

She started stripping, so I quickly turned my back.

“It’s a jumpsuit now? A leotard running from ankles to the throat—kinda futuristic.”

Nana finished putting it on, so I turned back.

It sure showed off her curves—kinda sexy.

“But the fabric’s rather thick for a leotard.”

“Well, it is an armor liner.”

There was a bunch of stuff built into it—life-sustaining circuits, magic circles to keep them comfortable, et cetera. As time-consuming as the silver armor, and far more expensive.

“This golden armor comes apart differently—looks weaker to impacts.”

“I’ve taken care of that weakness.”

Applying the connective tech from the Bandage orichalcum we’d found in the ruins should eliminate weaknesses in the joints.

Even if it didn’t, it was only a 10 percent reduction, which the new liners could compensate for, but I didn’t want to sacrifice the safety of my comrades by any percent.

“How is it different from the current model?” Arisa asked.

I flashed a grin.

“Nana, hold your hands out to the sides, and say, ‘Golden armor, release!’”

“You didn’t!”

“Yes, Master. Golden armor, release.”

Arisa swung toward it with a gasp, while Nana’s golden armor automatically dismantled, stowing itself away in the subspace built into the liner.

Cool, stage one success.

Steadying my racing pulls, I told her the next command.

“Next, hold your arms out to the sides again, and say, ‘Golden armor, equip!’”

“Yes, Master. Golden armor, equip.”

The armor popped out of the liner, floating through the air and putting itself on Nana.

I had her hold her arms out so they wouldn’t get in the way of the armor’s process. It was easier to program with a standardized pose. If I put marks on the liner itself, I could maybe improve that.

“Master, that’s the best thing ever.”

“Do go on, Arisa.”

We exchanged high fives and checked with Nana.

“Anything feel wrong or uncomfortable?”

“Everything is in order, I report.”

This equip/release system made use of the research results the professors at the Echigoya Company had achieved. The goal was to let them swap between armor sets or shorten the time to don the armor in emergencies.

I planned to send this data back to them in the hopes of improving it further.

“Any way to transform while striking a pose?” Arisa asked, a bit too eager.

“We can change the default pose, but it doesn’t work while you’re moving. And it does require enough space for the pieces to go on.”

Once I fully grasped the principles of the Bandage orichalcum, maybe we could equip it on the run, or eliminate the liner in favor of bracelets or belts. That would require further research, so it was probably a year off at best.

I had Nana test swapping to the silver armor, and all checks went smoothly.

The sets we’d used today were mock armor without the remaining magic circuits installed, so I planned to do a few more improvements before getting Arisa and Mia to help me add those circuits.

“Master, can I test this in combat?”

“You can, but it might cause bugs that the test didn’t, so better stick to weaker foes and not tax anything.”

With that reminder, I headed off to Shiga Kingdom.

Given the bugs we’d found in testing, I wanted to make sure the theories the professors gave me were all accurate.

Interlude: Drowning in Darkness

“You failed?”

“I did, poo!”

The demon summoner Zomamurgormi was receiving a report on his plan’s failure.

The scheme to bring about a coup d’état by possessing the Latiluti ratfolk general and his knights had been prevented.

“Absurd! The trouble on the roads and surrounding village left the capital undefended! You fanned that fool prince’s ambitions and had him release the barrier, yes?”

Zomamurgormi was pounding the table in fury.

“How could that plan fail?!”

“The hero’s follower appeared, poo!”

“What? We already baited him? No, perhaps he just happened by. I was hoping to get the stupid prince on the throne and start a war with their neighbors, plunging the region into chaos, but so be it. If the hero’s eyes and ears are on the ratfolk country, arguably that’s all according to plan. Advance the other distractions and keep his hands full.”

Muttering, he tried to convince himself.

At this point, he still had some wherewithal, but a few days later, he heard of another plan’s failure and rather lost his shit.

“Another failure?”

“Yep, poo!”

“It’s not funny!”

The lesser demon showed no remorse, so he struck it with his staff, recalling the plan in Chipucha, the frogfolk country.

“You were supposed to taint their precious lake, yes? Shatter the key-shaped crystal for the purification device, prevent them from transporting the new one. The first part was a success, I thought? If you failed to stop the transport—you fell for a fake?”

“Nope, poo.”

“No? You failed to steal it, then?”

“The hero’s follower stole it back, poo.”

The demon did a little jig, clearly not fussed about getting hit.

“I told you to shatter it so it wouldn’t matter even if they stole it back, you imbecile!”

“I’m told they did shatter it, poo.”

“Excuses! It takes a hundred years to make a key-shaped crystal! If you broke it properly, they’d never find a replacement!”

“I wouldn’t know, poo!”

Zomamurgormi hit the demon with his stick for a while, but it was incapable of feeling pain and merely laughed.

“Anger and hatred feel so good, poo!”

“Damn it, I’ll just have to resort to numbers. So many the hero can’t keep up, no matter how many followers he has!”

With that desperate cry, he ordered the demons to put every plan he had in action.

But every one of those plans was foiled by Nanashi’s followers, or the light dragon adventurers—the Pendragon Party.

“…Impossible. Does he have all-seeing eyes?!”

Every one of Zomamurgormi’s plans had been foiled, and he felt utterly defeated.

“I’ll have to move up my other plans and curse the Great Sorceress through the underground veins.”

His voice growled like the rumbling earth.

“We’ve yet to lay a finger on Blybrogha—if we hint at demons there, the hero will catch wind of it. No, that’s exactly what we’ve done every time. Spread rumors of demon encounters, but send no demons there—that should tie him up until my real plan succeeds!”

He was pinning all his hopes on that.

“He operates out of the area—he should be willing to spread rumors, at least!”

“She-she-she, you called?”

“Sir?!”

A man with a hood over his eyes emerged from the shadows.

Only the tip of his nose was visible—but that was enough to prove this man was weaselfolk, like Zomamurgormi himself.

“Are your plans going well?”

“Tch.”

Clearly, the visitor knew full well they weren’t, and that irked Zomamurgormi.

“I’m moving things up. Get me the materials I need for the curse ritual. And I need you spreading rumors of demon activity in Blybrogha.”

“She-she-she, so many demands.”

“It’s all for His Majesty, the emperor’s brother. We are comrades and must work together.”

“She-she-she, I can hardly refuse if you bring up His Highness, the emperor’s brother.”

The hooded man made a point of rephrasing the honorific, which earned him a glare.

“And preparations for a western invasion are progressing back home as well. Creating an uproar to pin down the Shiga hero will support our homeland as well.”

“An invasion? Makiwa? The smaller eastern nations? Shiga won’t stand idly by either way.”

“We plan to cause a disturbance within Shiga as well.”

“One big enough they can’t afford to send their armies?”

“I can’t share particulars. The tactician said something about using a relic of the past and recycling the deposed prince.”

“The emperor’s still valuing that bald enigma?” Zomamurgormi scoffed—but then the dots connected. “Wait, by relic you mean—not the Holy Husk—?”

“Demon summoner,” the hooded man interrupted rather forcefully. “The walls have long been lined with shadows. Ensure your lips remain sealed. And for that plan to succeed, the Shiga hero must remain absent.”

“Even if it means my plans fail?”

“I wouldn’t say that. Keeping the hero in the southwest and discovering the truth of Arcatia’s Purple Moon Core are both vital. And I’ll spare no expense to help.”

“Then handle those rumors of demon activity in Blybrogha.”

“She-she-she, let us hurry to complete the curse ritual.”

With that, the hooded man vanished into the darkness.

“‘Shadow Walk’…a useful artifact.”

Zomamurgormi moved to the tank with the lump of flesh floating within.

“If the plan is to succeed, I must revive this, too. ……Summon Lesser Demon Kakyu Mazoku Shoukan.”

A magic circle appeared beneath his feet, and multiple lesser demons appeared outside of it.

“Sacrifice yourself to restore your lord.”

“Gotcha, poo.”

“Going back to him, poo!”

“Our flesh to the master, poo!”

Ordered to give up their lives, the lesser demons did not resist—they willingly agreed to be consumed by the lump of flesh in the tank.

“It should be restored within a trimoon.”

Zomamurgormi summoned till his magic ran out, all to revive the greater demon.

Once out of magic, he flopped onto a chair, his body like lead, chugging the magic potion he’d left on the table.

“But will that alone slow the hero down?” he muttered.

“Lord…vive…poo.”

The tank flesh mumbled, the fluid bubbling.

The greater demon most likely meant “Revive the demon lord.”

“You wish to see the Dark Lord of Necromancy revived, demon?”

“Poo.”

The flesh lump’s lips signaled agreement.

“Foolish. The demon lord system was invented by those decrepit foolish gods.”

“Great, poo.”

“Great? The demon lords?” Zomamurgormi did not even attempt to conceal his contempt.

“Hero, poo.”

“Send them against the hero?”

“Poo.”

Heroes and demon lords were opposing forces, doomed to face each other.

That was a famous line from a heroic fable he’d once read.

“Very well. I have a handy priest in the fortress city. Lend me your minion. I’ll control his mind and ensure the demon lord is revived.”

“Poo,” the demon murmured, and an intermediate demon appeared in the darkness.

One skilled at Psychic Magic—the same one that had controlled Zanzasansa.

“Work time, poo?”

“Yes. Go to the fortress city and charm a priest named Mokro. Have him revive the demon lord—while claiming he is purifying the soul of the demon lord residing within the Temple of the Evil God.”

“Sounds like fun, poo!” The demon danced and began to fade out.

“Wait! This task must be done at the same time we curse the Great Sorceress! If you go now, you’ll just be eliminated!”

“I knew that, poo!” the demon insisted, vanishing into darkness.

Muttering to himself, Zomamurgormi headed to his chambers.

“With all these pieces in place, I must slip past hero and sorceress alike and obtain the Purple Moon Core.”

At some point, his goals had shifted from “determine if the core exists” to “obtain it at all costs.”

“Then the flying fortress will be mine, and His Majesty, the emperor’s brother, will be restored to his rightful position.”

A hoarse laugh echoed in his wake.

The intermediate demon came back from the darkness, sharing a smirk with the greater bark demon.

Like the weasel’s ambitions had been planted by these demons.

Intermission

“These are product samples I obtained in the southwest.”

In the Echigoya Company’s main offices, I was laying out what I’d acquired on my sightseeing tour.

I would have preferred to get right into my theoretical questions with the professors, but figured I’d better clear out the backlog here first. I was an adult—work before pleasure.

“That is a splendid piece. Where’s it from?”

“Chipucha, the frogfolk country. Art pieces using water stones.”

The manager seemed to like it, so it would soon be on display in the Echigoya main hall.

“These Mermaid Tears are ideal. Lower-ranking noblewomen and girls can’t afford Heaven’s Teardrops.”

“I wouldn’t recommend dealing in Blybrogha jewelry. The old families have a monopoly on trade, and the Ghookuts Company handles all the sales. It would be difficult to wedge ourselves in—”

“Not a problem. The Pendragon boy got approval directly from the Blybrogha prince.”

“Lord Pendragon did…he was out that way, too?”

She looked surprised.

“He’s like a tumbleweed.”

“Sir Kuro…,” she tittered.

“More importantly, getting rights to Blybrogha is huge! We weren’t that strong on non-magic tool jewelry.”

The girl in charge of the jewelry counter was pumping her fist.

I guess Ishirallie’s Heaven’s Teardrops were exclusive to the Dragonpen Trading Company.

I’d been leaving that in the hands of Marquis Ashinen’s second son, and hadn’t met him in a while, but the money he’d been leaving at the merchants’ guild for me had been steadily increasing. Next time I was back in the capital as Satou, I’d have to invest that somewhere.

“We’ll have to find a way to thank Sir Pendragon.”

“No need. I lent a hand when he was in a jam, and this is my thanks. But if that ain’t enough, then just help with those scrolls he collects.”

“Yes, we’re gathering those steadily. Mostly from the Wilde Labyrinth, but lately we’ve acquired several from the Bloodsucker Labyrinth in the Saga Empire.”

Oh-ho? I impulsively wanted to check the list right away, but I’d have to leave the pleasure for later.

“High society is abuzz with rumors that Lord Pendragon has disappeared, so I’m relieved to hear he’s doing well.”

Disappeared?

I’d sent letters to Count Muno and the prime minister when we left Arcatia and while we were touring the southwestern lands, but they must not have arrived yet.

Both were sent via seamail, so monster and pirate attacks could prevent them arriving at all.

“Sir Pendragon never cared for the limelight, so he’s in for a surprise on his return.”

“Meaning?”

“Rumors that he slew a demon lord have spread through the city, and there’s a party outside his manor every day.”

One of the older employees dropped a bombshell on me.

I took a quick peek with Clairvoyance, and there was a huge crowd outside the place. There were even stalls open to feed them.

“Nobility living nearby must be rather displeased.”

“No, they’re…holding tea parties and balls, telling everyone they can see the demon lord killer’s house from the garden.”

That was a very capital dilettante.

I’d been considering heading back, but perhaps I should linger in the Azure Land for a while longer.

“Enough about the boy.”

I heard business reports from each and gave advice when asked.

Profits remained absurd, and the philanthropic work done to redistribute that and contribute to society was only growing, as was the size of our staff. Our employee roster alone already put us ahead of the Ghookuts Company as the largest merchant in the kingdom.

What caught my attention—

“We’ve long planned to back immigration to Muno County, and it looks like we’ll be sending the first wave next month.”

It sounded like there’d been a lot of flying monsters to the south, and they’d been unable to secure wyvern riders to guard the airships, which had delayed plans.

Muno City was rebuilding and would take the first wave; subsequent waves could go to Brighton City and the outer settlements.

“Then I should take care of improvements to those locations by the end of the month?”

“““Mm?”””

I’d thought I was making a routine check, but not only the girl in charge, but the manager and Tifaleeza were equally shocked.

“Is that too late?”

“N-no, I just assumed we’d be leaving development to Count Muno’s people.”

Ah, hence the confusion.

“I’m just doing what I did around the capital.”

The Echigoya Company was taking care of the vast quantities of materials for the settlements and all the food distributed to the immigrants, in return for which they’d been provided with some prime real estate for their offices in Muno City, as well as free warehouses and factory locations—so it was an even exchange. If reclaiming Brighton City went well, we were already under contract to receive real estate equivalent to what we’d obtained in Muno itself.

“I don’t mind profiting in Muno County, but keep it from harming the populace.”

“Understood. Magistrate Lottel was extremely wary of our ulterior motives…,” the manager said, wincing.

Given Nina’s position, a new merchant in the capital bringing this big a project without seeking egregious demands would be suspicious.

“Next, on medicines—”

The company alchemists could now make my hair restorers, but when I suggested making fewer myself, I got a firm no.

Apparently, theirs weren’t yet “highest quality,” so they wanted me still turning in a steady supply. It sounded like these were a secret weapon for unsticking negotiations with certain noblemen. Hair growth and hair tonics had been big sellers back on Earth, too.

They had more orders for Magic Swords and rune jewels, so I’d have to get those ready before my next visit.

By the time these reports and requests died down, it was noon, so I ate the lunch of the day in the Echigoya employee cafeteria with everyone.

“Ah! Sir Kuro!” redheaded Neru cried, spotting me across the hall. The staff eating with her saw me and kicked up a fuss. Like I was an idol or a celebrity stopping by.

It was the first time I’d ever eaten here, so perhaps their surprise was inevitable.

Neru’s friends were eating at the next table, looking so nervous, they clearly couldn’t taste the food, so I felt a little guilty for intruding. I’d have to send some treats round to make up for it.

The cause of the commotion, Neru herself, looked delighted the whole time.

After lunch, I headed to the labs.

“What’s this?”

Princess Sistina was inexplicably deep in a debate with the professors.

“Sistina, sixth princess of the Shiga Kingdom.”

“I know that. Why is she here?”

“Hello, Sir Kuro!”

As I was asking Tifaleeza, young Aoi came running over. He was the grease on this lab’s wheels, functioning as their wrangler.

“Aoi, what’s going on?”

“You mean Lady Tina?”

That sure was a chill way to talk about a princess. According to Aoi, she was stuck on her own research, had heard through the grapevine we were studying weird things, and had popped by for a change of scenery and gotten sucked in.

“She’s not getting in the way?”

“No, not at all. Lady Tina’s one of them. She’s still young but knows all kinds of things, and they’re doting on her.”

“Lemme know if things start to slow down, and I’ll drive her off for you.”

“Ah-ha-ha, that won’t be necessary.”

Judging by the professors’ faces, I didn’t need to worry, but I said so anyway—it might be hard for them to broach themselves.

“Here to check progress?”

“Yes, and I had some theoretical questions.”

I showed him the paper in question, and he went to grab the author.

“Oh, Sir Kuro! Questions about my paper? I’d be delighted!”

I showed the wrinkly man the paper in question, pointing to my concerns.

“Oh, sorry, that’s not right! I flipped the negative when I wrote it!”

He didn’t seem especially rueful, just quickly corrected it with a fountain pen–shaped Magic Item.

“If the root portion’s reversed, I imagine it didn’t move right.”

It had not.

I was careful not to break character, but inside I was screaming like Hikaru.

Didn’t let a smidge of it show. That “Poker Face” skill sure came in handy.

Shaking it off, I asked a few more questions, clearing up my sticking points and anything I found unclear.

As I was thanking him, the princess spotted me and came over with the other professors.

“Nice to meet you, Sir Kuro. I’m Sistina, the sixth princess. Professor Jahado was nice enough to allow me into the laboratory.”

“Not your field, is it?”

“No, but I was at an impasse.”

“No one at the royal academy or research institute you can go to?”

To my mind, it seemed like she’d make more progress with that option than by talking to someone from an unrelated discipline.

“They both sent me packing.”

Did they? It must take a lot of courage for even the royal research institute to send a princess packing.

Perhaps that was just how outlandish her subject was.

“I used to have mentors and friends I could turn to, but they’re out west working…”

“Sir Kuro, you’re aware of Viscount Pendragon’s party?”

I’d been wondering if she meant me, and Aoi’s question made that pretty hard to miss.

“The boy? He connected to your teachers and friends? Either way, I just ran into him in Blybrogha.”

“Thank you—,” Aoi began.

“Boy?” the princess snapped, sounding annoyed. “Are you referring to Professor Satou? What a rude turn of phrase!”

Her brows had turned on end.

She normally called him “Sir Satou,” but I’m guessing she wanted to make sure Kuro knew where she stood.

“He’s aware of it. No place for you to butt in.”

“My! What an attitude!” she fumed, but I ignored her, asking about the others’ progress.

“We’ve finished the airship, but…”

“There a problem?”

“Ordinary people can’t ride it.”

“The acceleration crushes them.”

At Aoi’s prompting, they were now working on anti-G suits.

“We’ve asked former knights who can use ‘Body Strengthening,’ but anyone under level 30 passed out during the acceleration phase.”

Curious how fast this was, I checked the data.

“……Are you trying to reach the void?”

“Oh! That would be nice. I would love to get there!”

“You fool! We have to make it fly level first! How many times—?”

They had ridiculously huge acceleration boosters working together to get up to very high speeds.

From what I could tell, the shock wave upon breaking the sound barrier was damaging their instruments and knocking out the passengers.

“Still, surprised you could achieve this power.”

“As well you might be! But look here!”

“This is the fruit of our labor!”

They showed me the schematics for a Magic Furnace.

Fending them off, I ran my eyes over it.

“……Hmm.”

They were attempting to make a hybrid system combining a bluecoin-fueled Holytree Stone Furnace with a standard Magic Furnace.

Per theoretical values, this would allow them to get output beyond what the Holytree Stone Furnace alone could achieve. Based on the figures from the tests, the strength of the furnace itself proved inadequate, and they hadn’t yet achieved the theoretical values. Still—

“This is the actual output?”

I asked them to boot up this hybrid furnace—according to the schematic, they were calling it a “twin furnace.”

Red and blue lights shot out, turning purple and filling the area.

“We originally wanted to call it the ‘purple flame furnace’…”

“But if what you call it is something that ominous, it’s bound to explode!”

“And so we thought of something else.”

Purple was considered bad luck.

“It’s not really hitting those theoretical numbers.”

“This is the limits of capital technology. We’ve put out requests to the Ougoch Duchy and the Bolehart domain.”

Ah, Dohal and the dwarves could make a better furnace.

I’d have to try myself back in the Azure Land. Or maybe I’d have better luck in Torazayuya’s labs in the Bolenan Forest?

“If we release the limiter, we can get twice this!”

That sounded ominous—and a moment later, the stable purple light began to billow. Before Aoi could run to put the limiter back on, the twin engine detonated.

“Sense Danger” warned me of it, so before it blew, I yanked Aoi back with Magic Hand and kept the princess and professors safe with “Flexible Shield” and “Shelter.”

There was no trace of the twin engine—save for the shards of it embedded in distant walls.

I checked my map, but no one had been injured in the blast.

“What was that?!”

Foreman Polina came running at the sound, and Aoi and Professor Explosion (the man who’d released the limiter) apologized profusely.

Still…

“Perhaps you’d better take a few more safety precautions.”

It wasn’t safe underground, and at the least they should put walls around the area, shoring that up with Hard Clay and Hard Stucco. Add an incline to the walls so the flames would escape upward—which might double as a defense against intruders.

To keep them safe, I could leave a few adamantite golems armed with the Phalanx system here. Disguise them as assistant-type living dolls, and no one would complain.

I resupplied materials lost in the blast from Storage and provided a few materials that might be good for the boosters.

“Maybe use this for the passengers.”

“This being?”

“Armor liners with good shock absorption.”

It was a sample I’d made while designing the new golden armor liners.

It fit my figure but would adjust itself 20 percent in either direction, so any smaller knight should be fine.

“It’s like a leotard or the space clothes in sci-fi films,” Aoi said accurately. I merely grunted, handing the sample over.

That should let them pilot the high-velocity tests safely. I had plenty of extras, so I gave them ten suits. I’d made a bunch extra for experiments and hadn’t used many up.

“Professor Jahado, how goes the improvements to the skypower engine?”

“That’s done and dusted. I’ve got three types for different purposes; I’ll show you the schematics later.”

While he was getting those, other professors submitted finished papers and schematics of their own. It hadn’t been that long since my last visit, so the quantity was impressive. Gathering brilliant minds together really did allow them to bounce off each other.

“Mm, you’ve got some, too, Aoi?”

“Yes, I may not be as talented as they are, but I’m trying to recreate Japanese devices with magic.”

“These two already exist. Don’t pursue this one. The others are fine. Make a test, calculate the costs, and run it by the manager or Tifaleeza.”

Aoi’s magic appliance proposals had one dicey-looking one, so I took that off the stack.

I’d leave the judgment call on profitability to the manager.

Oh, right—

“I got the thing you asked for.”

On my way out, I remembered that one of them had asked about floating rocks, so I put a few sizes of them in a warehouse. I need hardly tell you how delighted he was.

I also gave the manager the Demon-Sealing Bell I’d obtained in Latiluti.

“The flying fortress? From the legends?”

Having wrapped up my work at Echigoya, I put on my Akindoh guise and paid Hikaru a visit, where she was enjoying her role as the dorm’s caretaker.

“Yeah, it was hidden in the Azure Land.”

“It actually exists! Sharorik always believed it did, but Melbon and Litty swore up and down it didn’t.”

Even in her day, it had been the stuff of legends, its very existence unclear.

“Does it still fly?”

“The heart of it’s been removed, so not at the moment.”

I’d checked it out in my Storage, but the central computer-like portion—a part known as the Purple Moon Core—was missing. It had Magic Furnace–like energy sources remaining, so some parts of it would function.

“Ah! Then we can rest easy.”

I imagined whoever hid the flying fortress in that subspace had taken it away with them.

“How’s Shizuka doing?”

“Mm, she’s drawing her heart out. She’s got passionate readers, which has proved motivating—perhaps a little too motivating.”

Hikaru had brought Shizuka’s books to tea parties, and they’d proved very popular among a certain set of noblewomen—starting with the wife of Count Litton.

Even though this world had no printing presses…

“The originals?”

“I’m making copies with magic.”

“There’s a spell that does that?”

“Mm, but I was told it was taboo, so I’ve been keeping it to myself.”

A reincarnated mage had made a Practical Magic spell for that.

I guess if we can use Light Magic to project images, knowledge of printing procedures would make crafting that spell pretty easy.

“Oh, and rumors of your disappearance are spreading through high society, Ichirou.”

I’d heard as much at the Echigoya Company.

“They’re that widespread?”

“Mm, you went off to the west, and nobody’s heard from you since.”

We’d taken a rather unconventional approach to reach Arcatia.

“Can I leave some letters with you?”

I didn’t want to worry anyone, so I gave her letters from the prime minister and other acquaintances. The prime minister was well aware Pendragon’s merchant, Akindoh, was regularly visiting the dorm, so it shouldn’t seem weird.

As long as I dated them the day we reached the fortress city of Arcatia, there’d be no issue with it arriving before the letters sent via the sea route.

“I’ve got food prepared, so I’m delivering it in time for dinner—wanna tag along, Ichirou?”

“No, I’ve got other places to be.”

I wanted to see Shizuka, but if I popped in unannounced, I might find myself in another lucky perv scenario.

So on the way out, I left presents for Shizuka and Hikaru, made from the Mermaid Tears we obtained in the frogfolk country, Chipucha.

“Master Satou!”

Yuuneia had been farming, but she stopped to wave.

I’d wrapped up business in the capital and stopped by Paradise Island on my way to the Bolenan Forest.

“Sister, Master Satou is here!”

“Y-Yuuneia, don’t drag me!”

Rei’s face was covered in dirt, and she had her hands covering that. I didn’t think that was something to turn beet red about.

I headed inside like I owned the place and got some cold wheat tea and corn on the cob ready.

“Thanks for waiting! Wow, those look amazing!”

Yuuneia chugged the tea, then pounced on the corn.

“How do you eat this?”

“Hold it like that and nibble the kernels off the sides.”

“It smells amazing—is that soy sauce?”

“It is. Japanese-style corn on the cob.”

I put a bag of seed kernels on the table, with a written list of instructions.

“It’s so good! Sister, this is the best!”

Yuuneia was getting soy sauce all over her face, but she paid that no heed, munching away on corn with the rhythm of a typewriter.

Rei seemed somewhat reluctant to follow her lead, so she used the Practical Magic spell Multitool to remove the kernels to a plate and eat them with a spoon.

“Sweet and tasty. Is it a vegetable or a fruit?”

“The former. The sweetness comes from improving the strain.”

I’d used a Treespirit Pearl to cheat my way to that.

I thanked Rei again for her report on miniaturizing Heavenslight Protection, telling her how I’d used that technology to complete the Castle function.

“I’m glad I could help,” Rei said with a satisfied smile.

I told them how the girls were doing and showed them Light Magic images of everything we’d seen in the southwest, sharing tales of our travels. While passing out the gifts we’d bought for them.

When we got to the Azure Land, I mentioned the flying fortress.

“A flying fortress?”

“You’ve never heard of it?”

It had been active during the Lalakie age, so I thought she’d have heard stories.

“It’s also called ‘Arcatia’—”

“Arcatia?! The devil fortress?!” Rei yelped, blanching.

I knew it had been a key figure in the Lalakie opposition, but I hadn’t expected quite such a vehement reaction.

“You’ve heard of it, Sister?”

“Yes, Arcatia was the demon lord’s vanguard. The Heavensbreaker Decayspear could shatter the Heavenslight Protection. So many people I knew fell from the flying castle in the impact.”

Such awful memories—Rei didn’t want to share in detail.

I was certainly curious about that weapon that could puncture their defenses, but not enough to make her dig into her painful past. I had the real thing in Storage, so I could just investigate it myself. And we’d found some records in the ruins where I’d found the fortress.

Yuuneia and I teamed up to play the clown, and Rei caught the intent—at least outwardly, she was acting like herself again.

“Can you do that for me?”

“But of course, Ms. Aaze.”

My next stop was the Bolenan Forest, where Ms. Aaze asked me to collect hives from a creature known as the fairy bee.

“Thanks, Satou. I’m so glad!”

Aw, yeah.

She must have been in a real jam, because she straight-up hugged me for it. I gently put my arms around her, too.

Gotta make the most of an unexpected windfall.

“Um, I think that’s more than enough.”

The priestess Lua was tugging at my sleeve, pulling me back to reality.

Cruel, I thought—but then I checked the time on my AR display, and we’d been standing like that for more than ten minutes. I looked down to find Ms. Aaze looking up at me, blushing furiously.

I cleared my throat and released her from the embrace.

“Welp, better go get them hives!”

“Wait, Satou. Weren’t you here for a reason?”

Ms. Aaze’s embrace of bliss had defeated me so hard, I’d forgotten my actual purpose.

“Oh, right, I wanted to ask about this.”

“Transparent orichalcum?”

I’d taken the glass-like shape-shifting Bandage orichalcum out of my Item Box.

“Wow, that’s pretty neat,” Ms. Aaze said, holding it up to the sunlight.

“First you’ve heard of it?”

“Um, there might be something in the archives, but I don’t know about it now.”

Lua seemed equally unaware, so we checked with the knowledgeable elders.

“My, that is a rare sight!”

“I couldn’t begin to imagine how one might transmute this.”

They were soon engaged in a furious debate about the orichalcum’s properties.

Word got around, and other research buff elves flocked to see, and soon the vast hall was filled to the brim.

“You’ve heard of it?”

“Yes, Lady Aaze. I read some ancient documents that mentioned the existence of an orichalcum variant that meets this description.”

This was the same elf who’d called it a rare sight.

“Can I see those?”

“I’m afraid I no longer have them.”

He’d left it with a different high elf, and that high elf was now in a sleep tank, so nobody knew where the documents had wandered off to. If we knew the title, I could have done a map search, but it was too long ago for anyone to remember.

“Satou, shall we check the memory archive?” Ms. Aaze suggested.

I must have looked very disappointed.

It had been a while since I’d met her in demi-goddess mode, so I took her up on the offer.

I left the Bandage orichalcum to the elves and headed to the memory archive in the depths of the World Tree with Ms. Aaze.

“I’ve heard the Evil God created such orichalcum while Lalakie was still aloft,” she said, speaking as an avatar of the gods.

As much as I liked ditzy Ms. Aaze, the dignity she had in demi-goddess mode was equally delightful.

“Satou, are you listening?”

“Sorry, your beauty took my breath away.”

I was just admitting my faux pas, but somehow that made the demi-goddess’s cheeks blush faintly. A beautiful reminder that they really were the same person.

“Back to the topic at hand, are you aware of the particulars?”

“I am not. I’d suggest asking Bulainan’s Liize—no, Keze, or Saaze of the Beliunan.”

If memory served, the current leadership of the Bulainan did not include a Liize.

“Is that all you wish to ask me?”

It seemed a waste to end this conversation so soon, so I asked about the flying fortress as well.

“I have no direct knowledge. But Ize was fond of venturing out, and I have those accounts—if you don’t mind secondhand.”

That must be one of the high elves asleep in tanks in the World Tree.

“Allegedly, the Evil God designed the flying fortress, and it was built by the apostles. Once complete, it was used by the resistance to battle Lalakie, but I know little beyond Ize’s impressions that it was incredibly powerful.”

Other than the first line, it sounded like Rei knew more about it.

“I see you’re out of questions. I shall let the current me handle things from here.”

With that, she went limp and toppled toward me. Much as I would have liked to hold her for a while, contact with the memory archive was exhausting. I called Lua in and had Ms. Aaze carried to bed.

I spoke to Saaze and Keze, but learned nothing further about the flying fortress or the Bandage orichalcum.

Saaze was grumbling that the rock belt was wider than they’d imagined. At first, I wasn’t sure what that meant, but then I realized this was an asteroid belt encountered by the Satellite One, the space golem out looking for jellyfish.

“We found several jellyfish on the rock belt. You called it, Satou—that’s where they come from.”

Satellite One had been taken out by debris several times, but they just kept sending out another one.

“This time we’re not entering the belt, just doing an orbit of it.”

“How about sending several at once, then?”

“Yeah, a practical suggestion. Let’s take Satou’s advice there.”

I also suggested having parent and child vessels, and sending the child vessels into the thick of the asteroids while the parent hung back in safety, waiting to receive transmissions from them. That would require significant modifications from the current design, so it was put down as a concept for future iterations.

As for Kez…

“Satou, we’ve received the orichalcum from Ms. Aaze. I have no words to express how piqued my curiosity is. If you were here with me, I’d have flung my arms around you and taken you out to dance. Erm, Ms. Aaze’s looking terrifying, so I’m ending the transmission here. I swear I’ll have something for you before Saaze, just you wait.”

With a beatific smile, the call ended.

I looked back to find Ms. Aaze out of bed, her cheeks puffed out adorably.

Gosh, she’s the cutest.

I was seized by the impulse to take her home with me, but Lua and the innocent faces of the brownies helped me restrain myself.

“Ms. Aaze, thanks for sending the samples.”

It wasn’t often she made a face where you could hear the tsun sound effect—I leaned in, whispering, “Ms. Aaze, you’re the only one I want to put my arms around, the only one I want to dance with, and the only one I adore.”

She turned redder than ever before and darted back at “Warp” speed, her beautiful lips and slender fingers all atremble. She tried to speak but formed no words and soon turned and ran for the hills.

Lua went dashing off after her, so I figured I’d let her handle the rest. Me giving chase would just make things worse.

“Was is that mortifying?” I asked the squealing brownies, and they all gave me a thumbs-up.

I left the gifts I’d brought Ms. Aaze with the brownies and headed back to the Azure Land.

I’d given Bandage orichalcum samples not just to Keze but to Saaze and the Bolenan research elves as well.

If they looked into it, they’d figure out far more than I ever could.

Back in the Azure Land, I forgot the improvements I’d been planning to make and joined my party in the hunt for the fairy bee hives. I even brought Zena and Karina in to help reach the number they needed.

After that, I spent a while incorporating Autoequip/Dequip functions into the golden and silver armors and moving the exoarmor and optional gear into the final design phase. After some trial and error, I wound up with three types of exoarmor—the Attacker model for the front lines, the Gunslinger model for artillery support, and the Caster model that boosts magic.

Whether that helped or we’d just hunted the monsters in the Azure Land ruins region to nigh extinction, I’m unsure—but my party all hit level 65, and we threw a huge party.

I’d been disguised as Akindoh when I met Zena and Karina, but perhaps it was about time I headed back to Shiga as Satou.

But no sooner had the thought crossed my mind than I heard a bat screeching.

“Master, what is it?”

“Roro’s in trouble.”

That signal came from the familiar I had hidden in her Shadow.

“Crisis.”

“Master, what’s happened to her?” Lulu fretted.

“Sorry, that I can’t say. But don’t worry,” I whispered.

From what I could see on the map, the threat wasn’t to her specifically.

“Pochi, Tama, gather round!”

They’d been out collecting food and came back, the new silver armor blasters going full power.

“Master, ready to move out, I report.”

“Okay, then let’s do this!”

Back to the fortress city of Arcatia, where Roro awaited!

Arcatia Again

“Roro!”

Return brought us to the backyard of the Hero’s Rest, and Lulu burst into the shop, worried sick.

“Wait, Lulu, she’s not here.”

Roro was at the Great Sorceress’s Tower.

We headed there at top speed.

I scoped out my map on the go, and it looked like there was a curse on Tia, and Roro was caught up in that. I had Arisa fire up Tactical Talk and shared that info. Didn’t want to shout it out loud on the go and have anyone else hear the bad news.

“Master, Clairvoyance was canceled out.”

“Same.”

We’d both tried to get a better look with Space Magic, but interference prevented it.

I could probably have forced the issue, but doing so felt like it would break something, and I didn’t want to risk it. Situationally speaking, it was likely a barrier built into the curse on Tia.

“Master,” Liza said, hissing.

The guards on the Great Sorceress’s Tower saw us running in and braced themselves.

“Halt!”

“This is the Tower of the Great Sorceress Arcatia herself!”

Diligent wolf and bearfolk guards stopped us at the gate.

“We’re the light dragon adventurer party, Pendragon! Knights of the Great Sorceress!”

The beast girls aside, we were all in our regular clothes, so I held the adventurer badge and knight’s emblem aloft.

They hadn’t remembered our faces but remembered the parade—intimidated, they waved us on through.

“This way!”

Relying on my map info, we raced to the tower top.

Several people called out to us, but we brushed past them.

“Satou, miasma.”

Mia was right—the miasma levels here were off the charts.

Not bad enough to immediately affect our health, but linger long and you’d definitely get sick.

This was likely caused by the same thing that led to Tia’s curse.

“And magiiiic?”

“It’s splashing at us, sir!”

“Yes, Pochi, I sense massive mana waves, I report.”

“Something huge—I imagine they’re using Ritual Magic. From what master told us, I’m assuming—”

Trying to remove the curse on Tia.

“Roro’s with them, right? Is she okay?” Lulu sounded anxious.

I was worried myself, but I doubted Tia would do her harm.

“She’s not a new host for the curse, right?”

“Absolutely not,” I said immediately. “This is Tia we’re talking about—she’s likely brought Roro here to protect her.”

I wasn’t sure exactly why, though.

“Master,” Liza warned, up at the head of the pack.

The doors before us were open, and the Great Sorceress’s star apprentice, Rimi, came bursting out.

“Wait! We cannot let you go farther.”

She blocked the passage with a Practical Magic spell Wall. Tia and Roro were both behind the doors she’d come out of.

“We received a help request from Tia herself,” I said, borrowing some help from my “Fabrication” skill.

“From Tia?” She almost bought it but shook her head, glaring at me. “Don’t lie to me! She’s in no state to call anyone here now!”

A tough challenge. I brought in “Negotiation” and “Persuasion” to back up “Fabrication.”

“No, not ‘now.’ She sent word the instant the curse took hold.”

With that lie, I held up the Knight of the Great Sorceress emblem.

“Tia—no, the Great Sorceress—put a spell in this emblem for just this eventuality.”

Naturally, she’d done no such thing.

“She called you with that? What for?”

What for? What for…? Right!

“Naturally, to break the curse.”

I had a glove prepared in Storage. I took it out (via my pocket) and put it on.

This was an upgraded version of the glove I’d used when freeing the hero of his curse in Parion Province; there was a magic circle on the back that glowed with the blue light of the holy. While the previous one had just been for show, this time I had actually stitched a Holy Stone circuit into the fabric—it was a legit Magic Item.

I could do the same thing barehanded, but this helped convince people and minimized the time I had to spend on excuses.

Making the glove glow blue, I shot the apprentice my best urgent face.

“On my title as Knight of the Great Sorceress, I demand to be let through.”

We glared at each other a moment longer, then she folded.

“……Fine, but only you! The rest of you sit in that waiting room.”

She waved me along.

“This way. Move quickly—don’t disturb the barrier.”

As I looked closely, the floor outside the door had a barrier employing thorns to ward off evil.

I entered the room, taking care not to shatter any defenses. There was a large canopied bed within, and Roro was seated on a chair to one side, looking concerned.

Whew.

Roro herself appeared unaffected.

The map had told me as much, but seeing it with my own eyes was far more reassuring. Roro was wearing the same kind of robe the Sorceress’s apprentices wore, and had a Crown of Thorns on her head—likely to protect her from the curse and the miasma.

“Master, how’s it looking?” Arisa said, via Tactical Talk.

Once we were in the tower, there was no more interference.

I told them Roro was safe and sound and took in the rest of the room.

A bedroom with western-style furnishings, a ward centered on the bed, a complex web of magic circles on the floor around it—clearly designed to get rid of the curse.

The apprentices were standing in a circle around that, chanting—like we’d expected, a curse-breaking ritual.

“The ritual is underway. When you approach the sorceress, do not step on the circle or tools.”

“I’m clear to approach?”

“Go ahead. This won’t end with a single spell.”

I’d assumed she’d keep me waiting till the ritual ended, but I was waved straight over to Tia’s side.

I guess technically Roro was also inside the magic circle.

“Satou!” she said, spotting me, then clapped her hands over her lips, lowering her voice. “The Gr—! Tia! Tia’s in big trouble.”

She started to call Tia the Great Sorceress and quickly rephrased, so clearly she’d learned who Tia really was.

“I know. I’ve got this.”

I waved her back in her chair and pushed through the lace curtains around the bed.

That’s a lot of miasma.

There were several censer-shaped magic tools on the bed, absorbing the miasma, but it was still every bit as thick as in the heart of the labyrinth.

And the source of it was Tia herself. She was writhing in agony as it poured out of her.

Hoping to reduce the miasma however I could, I stopped suppressing my spirit light, then put my hand on her brow, the stone in the glove giving off that holy glow.

This seemed to help—Tia’s eyes had been screwed up in pain, but now they fluttered open.

“Welcome, my knight,” she managed, forcing a smile. “So you never…told Roro?”

About you being the Great Sorceress?

It was clearly a big secret, and it wasn’t like keeping it did Roro any harm.

“No need to talk. Move your index finger for yes, and your thumb for no,” I said, taking her hand. “Is the culprit the one you mentioned before?”

Her index finger moved. Yes.

“Are they after Roro?”

Her thumb moved. No.

“Any effective countermeasures?”

Both fingers moved—a yes and a no. In other words, they had ideas, but weren’t sure how effective they’d be.

““……Remove Curse Juso Jokyo.””

As we spoke, the apprentices finished casting the spell.

I had “Miasma Vision” on, and I saw the tenfold to twentyfold layers of curse on her shatter one after another.

Hmm, maybe they wouldn’t need me.

For a moment, I was nonplussed, but a moment later, the miasma flowing out of her restored the curse like a rewound video, and she was once again surrounded by layers of the thing.

“You have…a rare skill,” Tia rasped.

She’d noticed me using “Miasma Vision.”

“You saw it…until he…gives up…”

They were planning to keep removing this curse, huh? I put a finger to her lips.

“I understand. Let me help.”

Between the girls on Paradise Island and Hayato, I’d gotten pretty good at handling curses.

I showed her the glove with the Holy Circuit embroidered on the back. There was mithril thread soaked in blue sewn into it, and it should look pretty powerful.

“Blue light…a sacred treasure?”

Nothing that fancy.

“Relax.”

Not answering her question, I began peeling away the curse afflicting her.

I had the “Remove Curse” skill, so it came right off. I also had “Reverse Curse,” so I sent this all back to the caster. Cursing people really was digging your own grave. Arisa would probably pull that old line about only cursing people if you’re prepared to get cursed right back.

Tia’s breathing evened out a bit.

“I feel better—that treasure is something else.”

She was speaking normally now. She turned onto her side, reaching for the water, so I helped her up and held the glass to her lips.

Just a bit more—hngg?

It was so thin, I’d almost overlooked it, but there was a line of a curse running down her back.

“Pardon me—,” I said, getting onto the bed and adjusting my grip on her.

“Huh? What?”

I ignored her blush, inspecting the line of the curse on her back.

Holding her like this gave me a clear view.

That’s the one.

I made scissors with my fingers and snipped that curse line.

“Wow, my whole body feels light!”

The instant I snipped that line, the miasma ravaging her was banished by my spirit light.

“Okay, then— ……Divine Destroy Curse Shin’i Juso Juurin.”

Still in my arms, Tia started chanting, and eliminated the rest of the curse.

She was the Great Sorceress—that was one heckuva spell.

“Crap—Roro!”

She’d spotted some of the remnants shooting toward Roro.

Not on my watch.

I grabbed the remnants by the tail (if that’s the word) and yanked them back, rolling them up in my hands like a dumpling, then extinguishing them with a “Sacredblade” on my palm.

Trying to curse Roro, what a dickwad.

“That…was absurd,” Tia said, laughing.

“All thanks to this glove!”

I felt like she knew better, but I stuck to that story.

“Lady Tia!”

The head apprentice came in through the lace. Roro with her.

“Lady Tia?”

“S-Satou?!”

Mm?

They were both acting odd.

Like Tia and I had planned it, we both followed their gaze—and realized our positions.

Since I’d used both hands to ball up the curse headed Roro’s way, that had left Tia completely trapped between my arms.

“Er, he wasn’t—,” Tia spluttered.

Getting into bed with her looked bad, but I’d just been healing her, so no need to fuss about it. Spluttering just made it look like we had something to hide.

But it was awfully cute how Roro puffed out her cheeks.

“Lady Tia, the curse?”

“Banished. Between your efforts and Satou’s, we got rid of it. Thank you,” she said, looking grave and bowing her head to me and her apprentice.

“Rimi, bring the crow cage. I want to prep a familiar.”

Her head apprentice scrambled off through the curtains.

“You mean—?”

“Yes.” She nodded, pulling a Hero’s Rest nutritional supplement out of her Item Box and knocking it back. “This ain’t over yet.”

With that, miasma—no, curse tentacles—sprouted at her feet, reaching for both Tia and Roro.

Blue light flashing on my glove, I got rid of them all.

“Satou?” Roro gasped. She couldn’t see curses or miasma, so my actions must have looked rather bizarre.

“Well done. Keep that up a bit longer, please.”

She followed the supplement with a Magic Recovery potion.

“I brought the crows!” her apprentice came back with a huge cage. The crows inside were no ordinary birds—those were monsters. Five of them.

“Help with the familiar ritual.”

“As the Great Sorceress commands.”

At the end of a long chant, they cast Engage Familiar, and the crows were now contracted to Tia.

“I’m afraid I’ve got a tough job for you. Feel free to resent me for it.”

KWZAAA!

They all spread their wings, cawing triumphantly, as if insisting they could handle it.

Tia put on a Crown of Thorns just like Roro’s and cast an enchantment on it that upped her curse resistance.

“Satou, that should be enough.”

I stopped banishing curses, and the much feebler tentacles hesitated a moment, then went after the familiars.

KWZAAA!

They tried to bind one of the crows, but each time it cawed, the tentacles were forced away—and another one pecked at it, dispersing it.

I made to help, but they seemed quite proud and cawed at me for it.

“Their species resists curses innately. I doubt they’ll buy us all that much time, but while they are, we can come up with a plan.”

She said if we moved too far from the crows, they couldn’t fight the curse, so we had our briefing in her bedroom. Roro wasn’t the culprit’s target—only Tia—so she was free to roam a bit farther.

Rimi included, her apprentices had been casting that ritual without rest or sleep, so she ordered them all to take a nap.