In a Different World with a Smartphone (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 2

Chapter II: To the Demi-Human Kingdom 

All I could hear was the rattling of our shaking carriage. We were following the road as we rode a chain of three wide wagons, each drawn by two horses. 
The one at the front contained five knights from Belfast, while the one at the back had the same amount of Mismedian soldiers. They were guarding the carriage in the middle, which had my party, Mismede Ambassador Olga, and her little sister Arma in it. 
Linze and Elze sat up front, while the rest of us were in the midst of a heated battle inside the passenger car. 
“Grr... there, it is!” Yae flipped over one of the many face-down cards. And, sad as it might’ve been, it had a number different to the revealed one. 
“How unfortunate. The correct answer was here and here.” It was Yumina’s turn. Without hesitation, she turned over two of the cards... which were the two of spades and hearts. She took both of them off the table. 
As Yumina, Yae, and Arma played a game of memory match using the cards, Olga and I were facing each other in shogi. 
Doing nothing but letting the carriage shake us was boring, so we had taken out the shogi set. Then, I used [Drawing] to print out some paper and combined it with [Modeling] to synthesize thin wooden boards to create a set of cards. 
It would’ve taken too long to teach them the scoring hands for poker and the like, so instead I just brought up a simple game of memory. However, Yae was quite inept when it came to recalling things, so she had lost every single round. 
“I was defeated again, I was...” 
“Seems like it’s not your game, Yae.” With a wry smile, I moved one of my pieces. 
“And that’s checkmate.” 
“Agh...!” Olga glared at the board. It was hopeless. There was nothing she could do. 
“So I was defeated, too... You are far better at this than me, Touya.” Olga complained, clearly looking sour. Truth be told, as far as shogi players went, I was among the weaker ones. Still, I’d taught her how to play mere moments ago, so of course she lost. Honestly, I was afraid of just how much better than me she’d become after a few more games. Therefore, I took the liberty of ending it and taking the victory with me before that happened. 
“Yae, let’s switch. Try playing against Olga.” 
“Very well. Dolan-dono taught me how to play shogi back at the Silver Moon, so I might have better luck here, I might...” Taught? Looked more like he just forced you to play with him to me... 
“Alright, how about we try something other than memory now?” After switching with Yae, I shuffled my handmade cards, added one joker, and began explaining the rules of another game to Yumina and Arma. It was a game where tactics were the key to victory — the extremely advanced game of old maid. 
“Fgahh...” Kohaku was sleeping peacefully in a corner of the carriage. 
Upon learning the rules, the two quickly grew enthralled with old maid, while Yae and Olga, who were evenly matched in skill, glared at the shogi board with great intensity. That was how we spent our shaky journey to Mismede.

“And so, the cat beastman in boots became a noble and lived happily ever after.” The end of my campfire story was greeted by roaring applause from everyone listening. I couldn’t help but blush a bit. It started off as a little tale to tell before we slept, but I got caught in the moment and made it into something grand. 
“That was so nice, Touya!” Arma excitedly spoke up as the ears above her head twitched excitedly. I could also see that bushy tail of hers pleasantly sway side-to-side. 
“It was a wonderful tale, Touya. I have to ask, though. Where did you learn it?” 
“Ah, I got it from a bard who once visited the place where I used to live.” I answered Olga’s query with a simple white lie. The Mismedian soldiers gathered around the fire seemed to enjoy it, too. A story of a cat beastman in boots who saved his master and did lots of great deeds. A creature skilled with a blade, and sharp of mind. 
With the discrimination beastmen faced, I’d assumed such feel-good stories where they met prosperity were few and far between. Though, I did hope they excused the extra dramatization I added. 
“Touya knows many other stories.” 
“Really?! Please tell more of them, Touya!” Yumina’s words made Arma’s eyes light up. The little foxgirl excitedly bent toward me. I’m glad the two of them get along so well. Guess it must be easy to talk with someone around your own age. 
“That’s it for today. Wait for more tomorrow.” With a smile, I gently rejected Arma’s request. 
Suddenly, one of the smaller Mismedian soldiers stood up and placed his finger near his mouth, signaling everyone to be quiet. The ears on his head were twitching. They look like... rabbit ears? Guess he’s a bunny beastman. 
“We have several people approaching our position. They’re stealthily closing in... We’re their target, no doubt about it.” His words made the other soldiers silently unsheathe their blades, and sharpen their senses. They were about to do their job, basically. They entered a defensive formation meant to protect Olga and Arma. The Belfast knights also left their carriage and began observing their surroundings. 
“Who are they?” I inquired. 
“Probably just bandits. No threat on their own, but trouble in great numbers.” The one who answered was the captain of the Mismedian military escort group. He was a wolf beastman who specialized in dual-wielding blades. 
«Master, there are definitely people in the vicinity searching for us. I don’t believe they’re friendly, either. As the wolf said, they’re likely bandits.» Kohaku spoke in a voice that only I could hear. 
Bandits, eh? Guess it’s time to investigate. 
I took out my smartphone and ran the map app. It displayed the surrounding area. Alright... a simple search for “bandits” got a bunch of pins to drop on the map. Whoa, there’s quite a lot of them. 
“Eight to the north, five to the east, eight to the south, and seven to the west. There are twenty-eight in total.” 
“You can sense them too?!” The captain turned to me in surprise. We were outnumbered. Not like we couldn’t win, but we probably wouldn’t come out unscathed. 
“...Guess I can try it now.” It was a chance for me to test a specific application of one of my spells. By all accounts, it should work, but... 
“[Enchant]: [Multiple].” I buffed the map app with a Null spell that allowed the continuous abbreviation of chants and simultaneous activation. One by one, I tapped the bandit markers on the screen, setting them as my targets. It was kind of a pain, but I was done in no time, really. 
“[Paralyze].” With that, I unleashed the spell on everyone my app had highlighted. A moment later, I could hear several groans and thuds from the surrounding woods. 
“Ugh!” 
“Ngh!” 
“Gyah!” 
“Hhgh!” 
“Ahgh!” A vivid array of voices rang out, and then came the sounds of collapsing men. Apparently, it worked. 
“Wh-What did you do?” 
“Used a paralysis spell. They should all be immobilized now, I think...” 
“What, all of them?!” 
“If there aren’t more than twenty-eight, then yeah.” Due to the way my [Search] spell worked, my targets were only people I’d personally judge as “bandits.” In other words, if there were normal people who merely looked like bandits to me, they’d be caught by the spell, too. But that was quite unlikely, given where we were. I still decided to use [Paralyze] though, just in case. Didn’t want to hurt any bystanders. 
The soldiers and knights entered the woods and dragged out the collapsed bandits. Twenty-eight of them in total, as I expected. Each had a lizard-shaped tattoo on the back of their hands, which was likely a symbol of their gang. They were all partners in crime, no doubt about it. 
“Amazing! You took out so many in a mere moment...” Olga muttered, clearly dumbfounded. 
“Good thing none of them had any magic-warding talismans on them. Spells like [Paralyze] get blocked by even the slightest amount of magic resistance.” I was glad they weren’t prepared for something like that. 
Even if they were, there were several other problems with this method of mine. For one, I was lucky they weren’t moving much, because it was way harder to lock on to a moving target. Also, the targeting process itself was pretty darn tedious. 
“Well, that worked out. I didn’t expect anything like that to happen, though,” the guard captain lightly muttered. 
“Honestly, it’s all because of that guy who heard them coming. He was definitely impressive.” 
“Oh, you mean Lain? He’s a rabbit beastman. You won’t find a better pair of ears.” The captain laughed as he dragged a bandit off and looked over at the rabbit-eared boy. He was a small and meek guy with silky red hair. Looked about my age. Ah, so he’s called Lain. Oh, by the way, the wolfish captain’s name was Garm. 
“Paralysis should last about an hour for humans. What do we do with them?” 
“Well, were we in Mismede, we could take the simple approach of killing them before things get messy, but I guess that’s not how things go here.” Garm called over to the captain of the Belfast knights. The one who came over was a blond youth in clattering full plate armor. Dang, that guy’s handsome... 
Lyon Blitz, a knight belonging to the kingdom’s first order. Twenty-one years old. He was the son of Leon Blitz, and I still had trouble believing he and that general were related. Though he definitely was the second son of the general, the earnest and diligent Lyon was completely unlike his eccentric father. 
After listening to Garm’s explanation of the situation, Lyon took a moment to ponder before proposing his solution. 
“For now, let’s tie them all up and send a mounted messenger to the next town to bring some guards over. They should come by morning, so we can just hand the bandits over to them and resume our journey. What say you?” Garm didn’t seem to have any objections, so our course of action was decided. We bound and gagged the bandits. Just to be on the safe side, I also used earth magic to dig some holes and bury them, leaving only their heads exposed. With the paralyzing magic still active, it looked like a small field of limp heads. This looks kinda surreal... 
“We shall take care of the ruffians, while Mismedian soldiers will watch out for any outside threats. I leave the princess to you, Sir Touya.” Lyon whispered those words into my ear. 
It just so happened that, aside from my group and Olga, he was the only one who knew that Yumina was the crown princess of Belfast. No one else seemed to have met Yumina before, so there was no need to worry about her identity being exposed. Even the rest of the Belfast knights had never worked at the castle. 
Lyon was also the only one aware of my tentative status as Yumina’s fiance. I wasn’t informed of anything of the sort, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was tasked with protecting her. 
“Sir Lyon, I apologize for causing trouble.” Olga came to him and expressed her gratitude with a bright smile on her face. The young knight entered a flustered state in response. 
“Ah, n-no need for that. Th-This is merely part of my job! Don’t mention it, really!” His cool attitude completely gone, the golden-haired youth’s face turned red as he spoke to Olga. Looking at him, the foxy beauty giggled in a bemused manner. 
Ohoho... So that’s how it is. I slowly backed away, making sure they didn’t notice me. Standing behind one of the carriages, I silently observed as the two made some gleeful small talk. 
“Ah, young love.” 
“Yes, it is indeed beautiful...” 
“Yep, sure is.” 
“Such a wonderful thing...” 
When did you guys get here...? The twins, the samurai girl, and the princess, with Kohaku in her hands, were all right next to me, watching the two as I did. 
“Does Olga-dono know how Lyon-dono feels about her, I wonder...?” 
“I’m sure she does. Unlike a certain someone, she doesn’t seem very dense,” Yumina said. Huh? What’re you guys looking at me for? 
“...Density is one thing, but I also think that Touya is far too kind to everyone he meets,” Linze muttered. 
“Oh, I totally agree,” Elze proclaimed as she nodded her head. 
“I’m not sure what to make of that attitude of his, I am not.” Yae chimed in, uncertain. 
“Do you even know what we’re talking about?! Sit down!” Elze suddenly yelled at me, clearly angry for some odd reason. 
“Wh-What?!” I don’t understand. What’s this all about? Unable to resist them, I was forced to sit down and be exposed to a ridiculous amount of unreasonable scolding. Why, though? With most of their words just flying over my head, the strange event continued into the dead of night. 
 
“You’re kidding me, right? This isn’t a river; it’s a whole ocean...” Water. Marine blue as far as the eye could see... Though, I could make out the outline of the opposite shore if I squinted hard enough. It reminded me of when I went to Aomori as a kid and could see Hokkaido from Cape Omazaki. So, this river was about as wide as the Tsugaru Strait... 
After six days of journeying, we finally arrived at Canaan — the southernmost town in the Kingdom of Belfast. The plan was to take a ship and cross over to the Mismedian town of Langley. 
Naturally, being a town that connected the two kingdoms, Canaan had a significant number of demi-humans. With dog and cat beastmen being a given, there were also some who had wings sprouting from their backs or horns adorning their heads. Not to mention the dragonfolk with scales covering certain parts of their bodies and thick tails trailing behind them. From what I could tell, the humans and demi-humans around those parts coexisted just fine. 
Once we reached the riverbank, which looked more like a harbor, by the way, we saw a great number of boats. However, all of them were quite small. I could see some medium-sized barges, but none that really stood out in terms of size. 
They were all sailing boats, but none had many sails on them, making them all look extremely plain. I was told that the passengers were always joined by users of wind magic who could get the boat to the other side in about two hours, so such simple designs were actually optimal. Considering how gentle the river’s current was, I could fully understand the reasoning. 
Okay, so we’ll leave the carriages here and cross over to Mismede by boat. Apparently, there was another carriage waiting for us on the other side. 
We left the actual boat-hiring to Olga, Garm, and the other Mismedians. On the side of the road, not too far away from the boat, there was an open-air market. 
“Oh, that’s a handicraft stall.” 
“And this one here sells silks... Wow, you can find lots of things here.” Arma and Yumina looked at the wares being sold. Well, this is the last Belfastian town before Mismede, after all... Guess it makes sense that there’s a bunch of merchants hawking souvenirs. 
“Oho? Touya, look at that...” 
“Hm?” I followed Yumina’s gaze and saw Lyon standing before a jewelry stall. It sold various accessories such as brooches, rings, and necklaces. He had a strained, pensive expression on his face as he stared at their wares. Huh, I thought he was off sending a letter to the royal palace. 
Instead, he seemed to be seriously considering which accessory to purchase. But those trinkets were meant for girls, so... Ohhh, I get it. So that’s how it is... 
“Hey, Lyon. Getting something for your family?” 
“Eh? S-Sir Touya?! W-Well, I was just, uh, m-my mother, she’s... Yes! I was thinking of getting something for my mother...” 
“Heh...” His oh-so-splendid complexion made it very clear that it wasn’t for a member of his family. Also, there was something really off about buying souvenirs for a Belfastian in Belfast, rather than waiting until we got to Mismede. But, at least for the moment, I decided to spare him the embarrassment and keep any such comments to myself. 
“Boy, sure is a good assortment here. Oh, actually... Arma, how about you pick something? I’ll buy it for you. It’ll be a little present to remind you of Belfast.” 
“Really?! Wow!” Arma quickly and joyfully chose one of the brooches. It had the shape of a bunch of grapes, but the “grapes” themselves were replaced by neatly-placed purple crystals. The fox and the grapes... Man, this reminds me of that old fable. 
“It really suits you, Arma.” 
“Ehehe... thank you so much!” Arma smiled broadly as I paid for the item. Alright, here’s my chance to help Lyon out. 
“Does Olga like brooches like this, too?” 
“Hmm... Sis prefers flowery designs. Like, uh, she really loves elius flowers. I’ve seen her buy a bunch of them.” As she spoke, Arma pointed toward one of the accessories on display. It was decorated by cherry blossom-like flowers. A little plain, but still quite pretty. 
Lyon, eavesdropping on us, smiled a little. Bingo. 
“Right then, I’ll be off. Don’t take too long to get back to the boat, Lyon. We’re setting off soon.” 
“Ah, of course. I’ll be there in a moment.” A few moments after we left the scene, we turned around to see Lyon buying the elius hair ornament and getting it gift-wrapped. 
“Excellent work, Touya.” Yumina praised me. Guess she noticed my handiwork. The sister of the young knight’s beloved, however, seemed quite clueless. 
“Although, I would have liked it if you also bought me a present, Touya.” 
“...Sorry.” 
“Well, I’ll be satisfied so long as I get a ring on my left ring finger eventually.” With a bright smile on her face, Yumina wrapped her hands around mine. Darn it, Touya. You should’ve bought her something! That alternative’s too scary... 
As such thoughts spun through my head, we returned to the boat.

“That was fast.” 
“It was only two hours, after all, it was.” Elze and Yae left the boat while carrying the box containing the large mirror meant for the Kingdom of Mismede. They were followed by Arma and Yumina, who carried our baggage. Then came Kohaku and finally there was me, carrying Linze. 
“...I’m so sorry, Touya.” 
“It’s fine, no worries. I don’t mind at all.” She got seasick about an hour into the journey. It was clearly because she was reading. The boat itself was pretty steady, after all. I tried using [Recovery] on her, but it didn’t seem to have much effect. Strange, since it was clearly a negative status ailment. 
Wonder why it didn’t work... That aside, how come she’s fine with carriage shaking, but not boat swaying?! Then again, I knew people who could handle cars, but still got seasick, so this is probably similar. 
Once off the boat, I took a good look around Langley. We were now in the country of demi-humans — the Kingdom of Mismede. Not like the mere two hour journey resulted in some massive change, but compared to Canaan, the town in Belfast, this one had significantly more demi-humans than humans. 
There were stalls, just like on the other side, but just about every merchant was a demi-human. And they were so varied, too. It was quite a sight. 
“The town’s bigger than I expected.” 
“...That’s probably because it’s heavily influenced by Belfast.” Still on my back, Linze replied to my mumbling. As we eyed the town, Olga led us to three carriages, which looked about the same as the ones we left in Canaan. 
“What do we do now, Touya? If Linze isn’t well, we can always stay here for the night and move out tomorrow.” I could make out some concern in Olga’s voice. 
“Ah, I-I’m fine now. I got better once we left the ship.” Linze slipped off my back. Suddenly, Elze came up to her and whispered into her ear. 
“You could always ask him to carry you a little more, Linze.” 
“Wh-What are you s-saying, Sis?!” She suddenly grew flustered, yelling at a volume she likely didn’t intend. She was looking away from me, so I couldn’t see them so well, but I could tell her ears were red. Getting carried must be embarrassing or something, I guess. 
“Then, let us leave in an hour. I’ll send a letter to His Majesty the Beastking.” 
“Ah, th-then I shall accompany you. There’s no telling what could happen, ma’am!” 
“You are right indeed. Do join me, Sir Lyon.” She smiled at him and the two walked away. Well, that’s enough to make anyone feel all warm and fuzzy. It felt like I could finally understand those obliging people who found their vocation in arranging formal marriage interviews. 
“Mister Touya, once we leave, we won’t come across any large towns for a long while. You should buy everything you need here.” Garm, the Mismedian captain, explained the situation to me. We decided to spend an hour stocking up for the trip. 
Kohaku, Yumina, and I went to buy an assortment of things, such as emergency rations and tea leaves. What was that...? I looked around and sharpened my senses. Did I just imagine that...? 
“What’s wrong?” My strange behavior got Yumina’s attention. 
“Nothing... kinda. Felt like someone was watching us. Probably just imagined it, though.” 
“Sure it isn’t just someone curious about Kohaku?” In Mismede, white tigers were considered sacred. Even capturing them was a serious offense, let alone hunting them. If I put a collar on Kohaku and dragged the little furball with a chain, I’d be sent to the gallows without a trial. We had to make it obvious that he was following us of his own free will. Though, that was a bit troublesome as well. 
«No, my lord... You’re right. There is someone observing us. Specifically, the two of you, not me. They’ve completely concealed their presence now, however.» 
Kohaku’s words made me look around again. Who could it be, then...? I should be on my guard, just in case. 
We went on to buy ten or so fruits I had never seen before. They looked like pears, but were orange in color and had the smell of apples. After that, we returned to the group. Everyone else had already met up at the carriages, so we were the last to arrive. 
“That’s everyone, then. Let’s head off.” At Olga’s words, the knights and soldiers entered the carriages at the front and back. The rest of us filed into the one in the middle. Elze and Yae sat up front, and when the rest of us were about to step into the carriage, I noticed the cherry blossom-like hair ornament glimmering in Olga’s hair. 
“Oh, that’s a fine piece of jewelry. It really suits you, Olga.” 
“Eh? R-Really? Thank you very much.” Yumina noticed it as well, and when she praised it, Olga gave a bashful smile. I guess Lyon gave it to her when they went out together. Good for him. 
“I’d love to receive something like that from my beloved. I believe that expressing feelings through such trinkets is part of being a true gentleman. Of course, I have nothing against those who prefer to show it in their behavior, like through an embrace, or...” 
“Well alright, let’s get going!” The conversation was heading down a dangerous path, so I rushed into the carriage. 
Yumina might actually be the type to hold grudges, I didn’t expect that... Damn, I really messed up by buying something for Arma, but not for her. Still, I can’t bring myself to embrace her instead... I’ve gotta think of an alternative. Wait, no... if I get her something, then the other girls will notice too. Won’t be good if they take it to be proof of my love or something. Maybe it’d work if I give them all gifts and present it as thanks for everything until now? 
When I got inside the carriage, I took out my smartphone and began an image search for the latest accessories back home in my original world. Figured I’d get some inspiration for something to make with [Modeling]. 
 
Once we left Langley, the surroundings grew shockingly different. Unlike Belfast, there were a lot of overgrown plants all over the place, and the road was rough. Our carriages were slowly making their way through a place that was less of a forest and more of a jungle. 
I could totally see why people said that Mismede had far more monsters than Belfast. Woodlands like this were the perfect habitat for them. Every now and then, I could hear the howls of creatures I couldn’t hope to identify, but it seemed like they were just part of everyday life in this country. 
From what I’d heard, the high amount of monsters didn’t really have much of an impact on life in the settlements, though. That was because the forests were already full of creatures fit to be prey for the bigger ones. The monsters didn’t need to dig up people’s fields to find something to eat. 
However, every now and then, villagers who went out hunting ended up having an unfortunate encounter with a monster or two. In those cases, the people were the intruders, so they had to be prepared to be attacked. Wonder if there’s some bear-warding bell that could keep them away or something... 
“Doesn’t seem like we’ll make it to Eld village before dusk.” I checked my map app and saw Eld on the road from Langley to the capital, right beyond this forest. Just as Olga said, at the speed we were traveling, it was too far away to reach before sunset. Plus, I didn’t like the idea of heading there in the dead of night, either. 
“Mismede is like a colony composed of several individual clans. Towns and villages here are still made by separate clans just doing what they do. And, just as there are clans that have friendly relations with each other, there are also those that can’t stand one another. His Beastliness included, there are seven clan leaders responsible for gathering the distant races.” 
According to Olga, the seven Patriarchs each represented a type of demi-human: there were the beastmen, the winged races, the horned races, the dragonfolk, the dryadic people, the aquatic races, and the fairies, too. And, as things were, the Patriarch of the beastmen — the beastking — was the current ruler of this country. That might’ve been because beastmen were the majority race, so it was easier for the country to function. 
Also, even though the king’s seat was hereditary, the other patriarchs held a great amount of power. Guess they were comparable to influential nobles. In any case, Mismede, being an emerging nation, seemed like it had a number of problems going on. 
The sun was slowly hiding behind the horizon. I realized it was a good idea to start making camp while it was still light out. We would not go any further without resting first. 
We stopped our carriages at a wider part of the road and began setting up our camp. Once the firewood was gathered and a bunch of well-placed rocks turned our campfire into a little stove, we began making food. I contributed by cooking up a large pot of vegetable soup. Minestrone, to be precise. 
When the sun completely set and night truly blanketed us, we could hear lots of noises from the forest. There were probably lots of nocturnal animals. 
“I’m a bit scared...” Yumina inched herself closer to me as she nervously ate my soup. 
“Basic beasts won’t come close as long as Kohaku’s around. Hell, even monsters should notice, so there’s no need to worry. Giant insects and Slimes are another story, though.” Kohaku transmitted those words into my head, so I was just quoting what he said to me. In response, Yumina pulled the little tiger into a tight embrace. 
“Thank you, Kohaku.” 
“Worry not, Mistress. It will be fine as long as I’m here.” Kohaku whispered in such a way that no one but Yumina could hear. In response, Yumina smiled widely and patted the tiger’s head. 
Some people were taking turns keeping watch while we ate, and due to how unfamiliar the lands were, the Belfastian knights seemed really tense. 
“I’ll go pick up Yae and Elze. Kohaku, look after Yumina and Linze.” 
«Understood.» I walked away from everyone near the campfire, entered the large carriage, and used a [Gate] to return to my home back in Alephis, the Royal Capital of Belfast. 
I appeared in the living room to find Elze and Yae enjoying some chill-out time. Standing not too far from them was our super-butler, Laim. 
“Oh, is it time already?” 
“Why the rush, Touya-dono...? My hair still needs to dry, it does.” Yep... They went home just to take a bath. We gave them thirty minutes, so that people wouldn’t get suspicious and grow aware of the fact that I could teleport. 
We were able to magically create water, so we just told the others that we’d fill a tub and heat it up with hot rocks, but in reality, they were taking a normal bath back at home. They decided to go together so that one could keep a lookout while the other bathed, or so the story went. 
“Come on, let’s head back before someone notices that something is off. Did anything happen today, Laim?” 
“Nothing worth mentioning, sir. Ah, yes, I almost forgot. Julio was thinking of making a vegetable garden. What do you say about that?” A vegetable garden, huh... Dedicating land to growing fresh veggies sounds good to me... 
“Gotcha. He has my permission. Let him do whatever he wants.” 
“As you wish, sir.” With that settled, I soon realized that I couldn’t see Lapis or Cecile anywhere. What’re they up to...? I asked Laim, who said that Lapis already went to sleep due to business in the marketplace early in the morning, while Cecile went to see a friend who was visiting the capital. 
“Is there anything you wish for me to tell them, sir?” 
“Nope, I was just curious. Alright you two, let’s go.” 
“Okay!” 
“Indeed.” I opened a [Gate] and traveled back to our carriage with the girls. It only took a moment for me to realize that something was off. The forest was overflowing with the cries of countless animals. It was completely different from when I left. The sounds were on another level entirely. I ran out of the carriage, quickly finding everyone else. The soldiers and knights were brandishing their blades and looking out for any hint of danger. What the hell did I miss?! 
“Touya!” 
“What’s going on here?” 
“We don’t know. The animals in the forest suddenly started panicking.” Yumina ran up to me, completely perplexed. Soon after, the rabbit beastman, Lain, looked upward. 
“U-Up in the sky... S-Something huge is heading our way!” Everyone followed his gaze. As sudden gusts of wind rustled the treetops, I saw something large glide through the night sky. What on not-Earth was that? I could only make out a dark silhouette, but the beastmen, having eyes that could see in the dark, clearly saw what it was. 
“A Dragon... Why is it here of all places?!” Garm spoke words that conveyed his evident confusion as he stared straight up into the sky. His eyes were open wide, clearly showing his lack of understanding. 
A Dragon? A giant, winged... lizard? A Dragon flew over us just now? 
“B-But why would there be a Dragon here?!” Olga rushed to her sister, speaking in a frantic voice as she cradled the little girl. 
“Huh? Is it not normal to see Dragons in this area or something?” Arma looked scared beyond belief, but I had to get an answer from her sister. 
“D-Dragons... They normally inhabit the Sanctuary Grounds in the middle of this country. That’s their territory. No one’s allowed to go there, and Dragons don’t terrorize the people as long as no one intrudes on their land. That’s how it’s supposed to work, but...” 
“Did someone enter the Sanctuary?!” Olga’s words made Garm’s voice turn rough. So this might be the Dragons’ reaction to trespassers in their home... This is bad. In their eyes, it’s probably justified anger. If they believed their land was being invaded, they were only acting how you’d expect them to... 
However, Olga shook her head, clearly denying that idea. 
“No, that’s not the only explanation. Every few years, Young Dragons appear in our settlements and wreak havoc. Even if we cut down the adolescents that leave the Sanctuary, the others never come over to avenge them. That’s because they are the intruders in that situation. That being said, though...” 
“Can you beat a Dragon?” Garm turned to answer my question. 
“If we had a hundred of our best, like the elite royal soldiers, it might be possible. But any attacks that don’t critically injure them only make them even angrier.”  

What? A hundred of Mismede’s best soldiers? And even then, it “might” be possible...? Are Dragons really that strong? That aside, if this Dragon really is just some teenager running wild, it means that even the proud flying lizards have unruly brats among them, huh? I can’t think of anything more irritating. It’s basically a living natural calamity, right next to tornadoes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions in terms of disaster potential. 
I took out my smartphone, started the map app, and ran a search for “Dragon.” 
A number of pins dropped down somewhere in the middle of Mismede on the map. Guess that’s the Sanctuary Grounds, then... So that means this lone pin over here is the Dragon that was just above us. Hm... it’s gradually moving toward... Oh. Crap. 
“Hey! The Dragon’s flying straight for Eld...!” 
“What?!” Everyone was shocked at my words. 
“Why’s it heading to Eld of all places?!” 
“There’s a large pasture south of the village. Is it aiming for the cattle, maybe?” I had the thought that maybe if the Dragon ate some cows or sheep, it’d be satisfied enough to spare the village. Garm quickly dispelled that theory with a harsh truth, however... 
“Once it gets itself a taste of meat, the Dragon will just strike again. And when it comes to Dragon food, we’re as good as any cattle. Well, I’m sure some Dragons have individual preferences, but my point still stands.” 
At the rate things are going, the village is gonna be wiped off the map. Hmm, my Smartphone Strike has a limited range... With this much distance between us, nothing I try will work. 
“What do we do? Our mission is to protect the ambassador. We cannot allow ourselves to let any harm come her way.” 
“Khh...” Lyon’s words made Garm grit his teeth. To a man that serves his country, orders from higher-ups were absolute. If we were to go to the village and something happened to Olga, it would become an international incident. However, having half of our guards stay behind and making the others go save the villagers wasn’t a great idea, either. And I’d never visited Eld, so I couldn’t create a [Gate] to fast travel there. What am I supposed to do? 
“Do you not have something you can do, Touya-dono...?” 
“The problem is exactly that, Yae. I don’t.” I folded my arms and began thinking. Unlike the soldiers here, we aren’t obligated to do anything. We aren’t under any orders; we simply took a quest from the guild. And protecting Olga wasn’t a part of that arrangement at all. Our only role here is to deliver the fake teleport mirror to Mismede... 
“Wait...!” Right, that’s our task! I took the mirror from the inner carriage and leaned it against the outside of the carriage. The mirror itself was as big as the door, so it was hard to pull out quickly. 
“Touya, what’s this?” Lyon looked at it with a puzzled expression on his face. In fact, just about everyone was tilting their heads in confusion. 
“Err... right. This is my Teleport Mirror. It’s one of two. The other is in the royal palace back in Belfast, and you can get there in an instant by using this one as a door. I was thinking of letting Olga and Arma take refuge in the palace while we deal with this situation. What do you think?” 
“I had no idea you had something so powerful...” Olga muttered. 
“Our job is to get it to the Kingdom of Mismede. King Belfast himself gave us permission to use it in emergencies.” I spoke all the lies I could think of. I told them that it could only be used for one round trip per day and that it couldn’t handle crowds of people. I spent most of my rant trying to talk about how safe an item it was. Most of my appeal was directed toward the Mismedian soldiers. 
“Understood, then. We will use this to take refuge in the royal palace. While we’re gone, please do your best to protect the villagers in Eld.” 
“Very well, ma’am. Touya, do what you have to.” Garm gave a nod upon hearing Olga’s decision. 
“Got it. Now, Olga, Arma, Yumina, and... Garm, would you like to confirm what’s on the other side with your own eyes?” 
“M-Me? I don’t know if I, uh...” Garm sounded a little concerned. I placed my hand on the mirror. 
“[Gate].” Careful that they didn’t hear me, I spoke my magic word. The portal of light appeared a few centimeters in front of the mirror. This is actually a much better method than having to use [Enchant] on the thing so soon. We’re not at the Mismede Palace yet, after all. 
The first to enter was Yumina. She was followed by Garm, Arma, Olga, and myself, after which the portal silently closed. Standing in Yumina’s room in the palace, I turned around to see the connecting mirror. Good thing we prepared this in advance. 
“So... th-this place is...?” 
“Belfast’s royal palace, yes. Alright, Yumina. Go and explain the situation to His Majesty.” 
“Very well. Be careful, Touya...” I briefly clarified where we were to Garm, who was so dumbfounded his mouth was hanging open, and told Yumina to handle the rest. 
“Hey, Garm. Did that ease your mind a little? We’ve gotta hurry back now.” 
“Ah... y-yes. Time’s wasting, you’re right!” Just as I did the first time, I created a [Gate] a few centimeters in front of the castle’s mirror and passed through it. 
By the time we returned to the woodland, everyone was ready to move out. 
“Alright, you lot! The ambassador is safe now! We will now move to protect the villagers of Eld from the Dragon!” Seeing that their captain had returned safe and sound, the beastmen let out an enthusiastic roar in response to his orders. I watched them as I walked over to Lyon. 
“What about you and the knights, Lyon? There’s no obligation for Belfastians to help out here...” 
“If I were to claim that this was no concern of mine, my father would surely strike me with a fiery fist. We’re helping too, naturally. I am certain His Majesty would will it as well.” Lyon declared his resolution with not a hint of hesitation in his voice. Apparently, the soldiers had already discussed the matter at hand. Works for me. 
My map showed that it would still take a while for the Dragon to reach the village. Nonetheless, we had to hurry. Lucky for us, this beast seems to be a bit slow. If we go as fast as our carriages can manage, we’ll get there about an hour after the Dragon makes contact. 
Desperately hoping that we’d be able to avoid any fatalities, we jumped into the carriages and rode off at full speed. 
 
The village was a sea of flames. People were running, screaming, and stumbling in a panic. A Black Dragon was flying above the carnage, vomiting fireballs upon the settlement like the place was some kind of playground. 
It had mighty, robust limbs, a long, scaled tail, and large, menacing wings that sprouted from its back. Its red eyes, shining in the darkness of night, made it seem as though the Dragon was deriving some kind of sadistic pleasure from the destruction below. 
“Prioritize saving the civilians! Carry those who can’t move to safety!” Garm barked orders to his men. The beastmen hastily began helping those who couldn’t move due to injury and pulling out people buried under support beams, burning wreckage, and other such debris. 
“You heard him, men! Let none be left behind!” By Lyon’s command, the Belfastian knights joined the beastmen in helping the villagers. 
“Alright, we have to lure that Dragon away from the village.” I’ll get that scaleface’s attention and have him glide away from here. With any luck, that’ll give Garm, Lyon, and their men all the time they need to evacuate the villagers. It’s a basic plan, but that’s probably for the best right now... The men’s mission was to protect Olga. They couldn’t afford to lose their lives to some random Dragon attack. Also, our target was high up in the sky. Standard weapon attacks wouldn’t reach it. It was all up to magic users like me and Linze. 
“Strike true, Light! Sparkling Holy Lance: [Shining Javelin]!” A single ray of light tore the veil of night asunder. However, the Black Dragon gracefully evaded it and puked out another fireball. 
“Ghh! [Boost]!” I buffed my physical abilities and hastily switched positions. The fireball hit the ground and created an explosion that only served to spread more flames. 
This is bad... If we keep fighting here, it’s only going to result in more damage. 
“Kohaku!” 
“Very well!” In response to my call, Kohaku reverted to its true form. 
“Linze, hop on!” 
“O-Okay...!” I climbed on to Kohaku’s back, pulled Linze up to me, and made her sit up front. With that, we sped off away from the village. 
I turned around to see the Dragon spew a number of fireballs in our direction. We rode Kohaku through the grove as the tiger skillfully evaded the onslaught. Good, we’ve got that brat’s attention now. 
I brought Linze with me because she and I were the only ones capable of fighting the Dragon while it remained in the sky. We just need to take out its wings... Once we manage that, the real battle will begin. 
We came out of the grove and entered a wide pasture. A good place to fight. There was nothing to block our sight or hinder our movements. The collateral damage would be much smaller here, too. It didn’t have any good cover, but beggars couldn’t be choosers... 
“GRRrrRrraAaaAaAAGGGHhhH!!” The Dragon let out a deafening roar. In response, Kohaku suddenly began to snarl furiously. 
“Impudent whelp! You dare insult my master?! You are naught but an airborne newt!” 
“Huh? You can understand that noise?” Surprised, I dismounted Kohaku as the tiger began translating the Dragon’s words. 
“It said ‘How dare you try and spoil my fun, you insolent worm. I’ll rip you to shreds and eat the gristle off your charred bones.’ What a disgraceful creature... You snot-nosed brat, you cannot even speak a civilized language! I swear, this is among the many reasons why I so despise the Azure Monarch’s kin!” Expressing more fury through expression than I thought a tiger capable of, Kohaku glared up at the Black Dragon in the sky. 
“...‘Spoil my fun’? So you’re telling me it attacked the village as some kind of prank? What a selfish little...” I could totally understand if it was looking for something it needed to survive, or if it was exacting revenge for the defilement of the Sanctuary Grounds. If it was something like that, I had planned on chasing it off with a little pain. But now it turns out that this thing came and attacked the people for nothing but its own amusement? 
I refuse to hold back against something so sinister. 
“Linze. I’ll bring it to the ground. Get ready to slice off its wings.” 
“U-Understood, then...” Linze gave me a slight nod. I focused my magic and cast a Null spell. 
“[Multiple]!” Several magic circles appeared around me, all aimed at the Dragon. One became two, two became four, four became eight... Once the number crossed the triple digits, I cast my next spell. 
“Strike true, Light! Sparkling Holy Lance: [Shining Javelin]!” In a flash, the Black Dragon was assaulted by a barrage of one hundred and twenty-eight sparkling lances. I couldn’t use high quality magic yet, but I was unmatched when it came to quantity. It was much like not being able to use bazookas, but being skilled with machine guns. 
“GRrrYyYAaaAaAGGhH?!” The Black Dragon tried evading the shining onslaught, but dodging a hundred and twenty-eight of them seemed far too tall an order. Many of the projectiles dug into its body, drawing blood from its wounds and causing it to slump to the ground below. 
Unfortunately, it quickly got up and spread its wings in an attempt to rise again, but Linze didn’t allow that to go through. 
“Come forth, Water! Feel My Blade, Both Cold and Clear: [Aqua Cutter]!” A sharp edge of compressed water went flying toward it. With a slicing sound, about half of one of the Dragon’s dark wings was sheared off, and it fell to the ground with a crash. 
“GHhhrRRraAaAHHhH!!!” The Dragon released a louder roar this time, one I assumed to be out of pain instead of an attempt to speak. It tried to get up and fly again. But alas, unable to balance itself, the Dragon fell to the ground moments after taking flight. We had taken its ability to fly away. 
The Black Dragon suddenly glared at us with those intense red eyes. I could feel hatred swirling and brewing within them as it opened its maw. The motion was unlike the times it launched fireballs at us. I had no idea what it was trying, but I knew it was bad news. Taking Linze into my arms, I double-checked that [Boost] was still active before speeding across the ground on my enhanced legs. 
Seconds later, the Black Dragon opened its mouth, unleashing a flow of burning crimson that quickly engulfed the area. It spread from its mouth like a flamethrower’s nozzle. 
Guess it has different types of flame breath. We were unable to get closer to the Dragon, and that new menacing blaze was doing a good job of keeping us at bay. 
Linze tried launching another [Aqua Cutter], but the wall created by the beast’s fiery breath reduced its power and dispersed any damage it could’ve done. 
Suddenly, a silhouette dropped from above the Dragon. 
“Hyah!” It was Yae. As she fell, she sliced into the Dragon’s right eye. 
“It’s [Boost] time!” Following Yae’s display, Elze jumped out of a grove, gathered all her might, and launched a fortified strike into the Black Dragon’s side. 
“GHhRRraAaAHhH?!” 
“Ow... damn it! Its hide is way too tough!” 
“At least this one does not regenerate as the crystal creature did, it does not!” Complaining here and there, Yae and Elze distanced themselves from the Dragon. 
With its eye lost, the beast became enraged and released an onslaught of fireballs and blaze flows at the two. 
“Whoa?!” 
“We must get back, Elze-dono!” Yae and Elze hastily retreated. The fire that appeared behind them lit up the whole area. 
With the Dragon’s attention shifted to the girls, I looked for an opening, took out my katana, and closed in on it. With a quick jump, I landed a katana drop strike on the head of the repugnant reptile. 
What followed was a snapping and clanging sound... Even with the effects of [Boost] amplifying my body, my attack did nothing but let out a metallic sound and break my katana in half. 
“Gah...!” This guy’s tough as nails... I should’ve followed Yae’s example and taken out its other eye. 
The Black Dragon bent its head in my direction, its sole eye fixing itself on me and narrowing. Moments later, the raging beast gaped its maw and readied itself for another blast of flaming breath. 
Well... shit. Just as I thought my end was nigh, a knife flew in out of nowhere and dug deep into its left eye. 
Screaming in pain after losing its second eye, the Dragon threw its head backward and released an unrestrained flow of flame. 
“[Slip]!” Seeing an opening, I magically reduced the friction of the ground around the Dragon, making the senseless beast lose its balance entirely. Its gargantuan, heavy body suddenly came crashing to the ground. 
Man, that was close... That [Slip] spell of mine is super useful... Just a shame it’s useless against enemies in the air. That knife was a real lifesaver, though. Yae must’ve thrown it. I’ll have to thank her later. Actually, hold on... wasn’t Yae on the opposite side of where the knife came from? Well, whatever. I’ll worry about that later. 
The Dragon let out another furious roar. I had already lost my katana. Just as one would expect from a Dragon, it wasn’t an easy foe to do battle with. I needed something with more penetrative power. In that case... 
“Yae, Elze! Buy me some time! Linze, build a giant ice wall in front of me! Kohaku, you make sure that no harm comes to her!” Linze quickly began focusing her magic and speaking the incantation. 
“Come forth, Ice! Eternal Frozen Ridge: [Ice Wall]!” A thick barrier of frost materialized before me. It was beautifully clear and without any visible faults. Perfect for what I was about to do. 
“[Modeling]!” I placed my hand on the ice and began reshaping it. The object I was making wasn’t complicated at all. Magic ice was harder to melt than normal ice, but I was changing its shape without heating it, so that was really an unrelated piece of trivia. 
After a few seconds, I reformed it into the shape I needed — a large, icy magnifying lens. Complete with a stand that wouldn’t let it fall. 
“[Multiple]!” Small magic circles started appearing and expanding, all pointing toward the lens. One... Two... Four... Eight... Sixteen... Thirty-two... Sixty-four... One hundred and twenty-eight... Two hundred and fifty-six... Five hundred and twelve! 
“Strike true, Light! Sparkling Holy Lance: [Shining Javelin]!” All five hundred and twelve spears of light were fired into the lens. They were absorbed and refracted, focusing into a single point. I quickly used [Modeling] on the lens to fine-tune its thickness and set the focal point onto the Black Dragon. 
“Eat this!” In a flash, a strange sound pierced the air. When I looked at the Black Dragon, it had a gaping hole where its chest once was. Soon enough, the beast tumbled forward and fell to the ground, making the earth tremble something fierce. The fresh blood flowing from its chest painted the surrounding field a vivid red. 
“We really beat that thing?!” 
“We did it, Touya-dono! We did!” Elze and Yae cheerily ran up to me. And Linze, riding Kohaku, wasn’t far behind them. 
“Well done...” 
“I’d expect nothing less from my master. Truly, I can rest at ease now.” As I exhaled a sigh of relief at Kohaku’s words, the lens I built suddenly shattered into countless pieces. Whoa, that scared me! 
But, moments later, another fright came. A shadow cast itself upon the ground. I looked up to see yet another Dragon floating in the sky and blocking out the moon. 
“What... another one?!” This one was considerably larger than the one we’d just killed. It had red scales and a white mane trailing from the back of its head to the tip of its tail. Its horns were thick and its tail long. 
As we stood there in perfectly reasonable confusion, the Red Dragon, still floating in the air, began to talk. 
“I have no intention of fighting you. This child of my people seems to have caused much trouble. For that, I sincerely apologize.” 
“Wait, you can talk?!” 
“I am the Red Cragon, he who rules the Sanctuary Grounds. I came to bring back the unruly youth, but it seems I was too late.” The Red Dragon surveyed the fresh corpse with a sad expression, then slowly closed its golden eyes. 
So that was the reason it came here, huh? I’m sorry, if you were a bit faster it could’ve been different, but... 
It was kind of hard for me to say anything at that point, so Kohaku took a step toward the Red Dragon. 
“Red Dragon. If you ever meet with the Azure Monarch... tell it to properly discipline its kin.” 
“What? This presence... but that cannot be... The White Monarch?! Why are you in such a place?!” The Red Dragon was completely taken aback. I stared at Kohaku in utter blank, confused amazement. Was there even more to this tiger than I was unaware of? 
“I see... So the Black Dragon was defeated by none other than the White Monarch. I can see why it stood no chance. What a foolish child it was...” 
“Do not misunderstand. Your foolish ilk was exterminated by my master, Touya. The brat had the gall to insult this venerable young man. This end result is but a natural consequence of arrogance and idiocy.” 
“What?! A mere human is the master of the White Monarch?!” The Red Dragon directed its golden eyes toward me. It was clearly having trouble processing this information. Shortly after that, it gently landed on the ground, lowered its whole body, and bowed its head. 
“I humbly request you pardon my insolent manner... I also hope you can find it within your heart to forgive us for this Black Dragon’s actions. If possible, I would prefer the punishment—” 
“Hey, enough of that. It’s fine so long as you understand, but you’re not getting a second chance, understand? Make sure it doesn’t happen again by telling your kids to behave.” 
“Of course, sir. By all means. I will return immediately to the Sanctuary Grounds and voice what must be said. If that is all, I shall take my leave now. Thank you.” The Red Dragon stood up, bowed once more, and spread its wings before taking flight. It made a circle above us and disappeared toward the south. 
“Goodness gracious, how vexing... This is why I so detest that Azure Monarch.” Mumbling some complaints, Kohaku popped back into tiger cub form. 
The White Monarch and the Azure Monarch didn’t seem to have a very good relationship. Wonder if it had something to do with one being a tiger and the other a Dragon. Wait a sec... I looked around to see that the three girls were on the ground. 
“What’s wrong with you all?” 
“What’s wrong is that... we couldn’t move...” Elze spoke in a slightly hoarse voice. Ah, it was probably similar to Yumina’s condition when I initially summoned Kohaku. That Red Dragon was probably among the more powerful ones. I wondered if he too was a bearer of the Mystic Eyes. They certainly were exotic and golden enough. 
“Touya... were you really not scared at all through that?” 
“Yep. I was just fine.” 
“That feels somewhat unfair, it does...” Well, what am I supposed to do about that? Not like I can control whether or not I’m affected by stuff like that. It’s probably just another of God’s gifts. 
Now that I think about it, no matter how scared I’ve been, there’s never been any time I was petrified with fear. 
As those thoughts ran through my mind, I cast some Healing magic on the girls. 
 
“Sheesh, I’m tired.” I spread myself out on the grass and got comfy. The sun rose from the eastern sky, blinding my eyes with light. It’s dawn already...? 
After we beat the Black Dragon, we had to do a lot of running around the village. Linze used magic water to put out the fires, Elze searched around for the injured, and I restored them using Healing magic. Also, by the time I realized that I could’ve just run a map search for “injured person,” we were already done. No one died in the event, but the village was basically reduced to rubble. The financial cost was great indeed. 
“Ah, Sir Touya. So this is where you were.” 
“Ah, Lyon. Great work today.” The good knight approached me. Apparently, the situation was cooling down. I could even smell some food being made for the victims. 
“I must say, though, to defeat a Dragon with only four people... I am far past surprised. In fact, I’m simply deep into that feeling where you lose the ability to fully articulate a comment.” 
“Well, it was only a Young Dragon, so it wasn’t super strong yet or anything. That’s probably the only reason we won.” I explained that part to him, but conveniently left out everything regarding the Red Dragon. Suddenly, the wolf captain, Garm, came over to us. 
“Oh, Mister Touya. What do you intend to do with the Dragon?” 
“What do you mean?” 
“Well, just think of the ingredients. Selling it would net you a great amount of coin. Though, transporting it would be a problem...” 
“You’re telling me I can sell the Dragon’s corpse?” Apparently, draconic scales, claws, horns, fangs, and bones were great weapon and armor crafting materials, while the meat was rather delicious. It seems dead Dragons were extremely expensive commodities. And since I was the one to defeat the Black Dragon, I had the right to decide what to use it for. Hmm, in that case... 
“The villagers can have it. It should help them get back on their feet.” 
“All of it?! To them?!” 
“Mister Touya, do you know what you’re saying?! The price of a Dragon is staggering! That carcass alone would not go for anything less than ten royal coins!” Ten royal coins? Seriously? It was worth more than a hundred million yen?! Awesome! I’ll definitely keep it in tha— Oh. Damn. Right as I was about to reconsider my decision, I saw the villagers huddled together in my peripheral vision. Crap, they heard me. 
“...I-IT’S A SMALL PRICE TO PAY TO HELP THIS LOVELY VILLAGE. I TRULY HOPE THEY USE IT WELL.” I couldn’t retract my statement, so I forced out a sentence that made me seem far more benevolent than I actually was. I bet the truth of it showed on my face, though. 
“I think I speak for all of Mismede when I say this. Thank you, Mister Touya.” 
“Hah... indeed. Just as father said, you are truly a man of fine standing. I cannot help but admire you, Sir Touya.” Gazes of appreciation and respect converged upon me. No. Stop. I was just keeping up appearances... I could only hope that the girls would tolerate this mistake. 
I used the fake teleportation mirror to bring Olga, Arma, and Yumina back to us, and Olga didn’t hesitate before thanking me. Most of her gratitude was for defeating the Dragon and saving the village, but I had nearly nothing to do with there being no fatalities. That was likely due to our escorts doing a good job. 
Speaking of those guys, they were completely exhausted and getting some well-deserved sleep next to the carriages. And honestly, I really wanted to join them. As if to deny me that luxury, however, an old beastman hobbled over to us, supporting himself with a stick. 
“I am Solum, the village chief. I would like to give you my earnest thanks for defeating the Dragon that attacked our village, and giving such great support to our restorative endeavors.” By “support,” you mean my generous donation, right? Man, did I screw up by just handing it over... But with the village in this sorry state, they’ll need anything they can get. Ah whatever, no use crying over spilled milk. 
The chief called over some villagers who were carrying something. What’s that? Looks about one and a half meters long... A big black curved cone? Oh, I’ve seen this thing before. 
“This is one of the Dragon’s horns. Please take it for yourself.” 
“Huh? But I...” 
“We hear you damaged your weapon. You can use this horn to craft a new one, or sell it and buy something already made.” Well, he’s not wrong. Guess I should just take it, then. Once the chief passed it over, I couldn’t hide my surprise at how light it was. Despite that, I heard it was far harder than the finest steel. I began to understand why a creature as large as that could actually take off from the ground. 
As far as I was aware, the only materials stronger than Dragon parts were hihi’irokane, mithril, and orichalcum. 
Either way, I graciously accepted the horn and walked away from the village chief and the rest. To be honest, I was close to collapsing from exhaustion. But by some miracle, I was able to drag myself to the carriage. Looking inside, I saw Elze, Linze and Yae sleeping peacefully. I couldn’t really join them, so I simply slumped down and spread myself out on the grass next to the carriage. 
“Here, Touya. A blanket.” A moment later, Yumina came over with something I really needed. Perfect timing... I gave her my thanks and covered myself, all while trying to prevent my eyelids from drooping there and then. 
Ah, sweet warmth... I couldn’t hold it back any longer. My eyes closed and drowsiness set in. 
I woke up to see Yumina with the wide open sky behind her. Still not fully aware of my surroundings, I looked into her eyes as she stared at mine. 
“Are you finally awake?” I could feel something soft under my head as I heard her say that... Wait, is my head on her thighs or something? I rolled off to the ground to escape the situation. How long was I sleeping like that?! I hastily got up and noticed the villagers and now-awake guards who were grinning and looking at me like I was something adorable. Whoa, this embarrassment is next level. Resting on a girl’s thighs in front of a group of people...?! I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find it pleasant, but it’s still way too embarrassing, man! 
“Oh. He’s awake.” 
“...S-Seems like you slept well.” 
“Indeed. He looked quite satisfied, he did.” 
Chills ran down my spine. I fearfully turned around to see the reason for that. Three girls, silently standing there with full smiles on their faces. Their eyes, however, reflected no joy at all. W-Wait a sec, are they mad at me? 

“Err... did I miss something?” 
“Nope.” “No...” “You did not.” They were clearly lying. I could see it on their sulking faces. 
“Now now, ladies. Let’s leave it at that! The results of rock-paper-scissors are sacred. No grudges allowed, okay?” 
“Geez, I know that much...” 
“Mhm...” 
“This is rather vexing, it is...” Yumina made a little clap and spoke words that made the three look away and calm down. What was so important that they’d get mad at losing rock-paper-scissors over it? 
“Mister Touya, you should begin getting ready to depart. We have to report what happened here to the capital.” Garm came over with Olga in tow, telling us to get prepared. It broke the uncomfortable air, so I used the opportunity to head to the carriage. The stares boring into my back were distracting, but I pretended not to notice. 
«Kohaku, what exactly happened while I was sleeping?» I telepathically spoke to Kohaku, who seemed to be inside the carriage. I figured the tiger might know something, after all. 
«Well... How should I put this...? I suppose you could say that there was a catfight.» 
«Huh?» I had no idea what that meant, but it was clear that no one other than Yumina was in the best of moods. I had to do something about that... Aha! 
Struck with a sudden idea, I went to the chief’s house and made a little trade to acquire a certain something.

As the carriage shook and rattled, I exhaled a sigh of relief while looking at the satisfied girls. There were silver bracelets shining on Elze, Linze, Yae, and Yumina’s wrists. 
They were made by me, of course. I bought some silver objects from the chief and used [Modeling] to reshape them into bracelets. The design was based on one of the more moderate ones I found on the internet. Once my work was done, I gave one to each of them, to express my thanks for everything up to that point. 
They seemed pretty surprised at first, but none of the girls hesitated to take theirs. From the way they looked at the bracelets every once in a while, I could easily tell that they liked them. Though, the occasional grins were a tiny bit unsettling, honestly. 
“Olga, how long will it take us to get to the capital?” 
“We should reach Berge in just over two days. Touya, you should get a weapon in one of the towns along the way.” 
Good point. Garm told me the best place to get a weapon crafted from a Dragon’s horn is the capital city. But being unarmed until then probably isn’t smart. I mean, sure, I can fight just fine with magic alone, but being without a weapon at my side makes me feel a bit helpless. Hm? Wait. Can’t I just use [Modeling] to shape the horn myself? No, wait, I shouldn’t risk screwing that up... 
“Well, it’s only two days, so I’ll just make due with magic.” No point in buying a weapon if I’m just gonna use it for two days. Berge is the capital city anyway, so it’ll have way better goods. Olga suddenly seemed to remember something and pulled a cloth-wrapped object out of her bag. 
“I just remembered, the village chief gave this to me.” Olga passed it over, and I instantly realized that it was a cloth-wrapped knife. It was black, single-edged, slightly curved, and had a length of about twenty centimeters. 
“What’s this...?” 
“Hm? I heard it was found in the Dragon’s eye... Isn’t it yours?” Oh, it’s that weapon. So the chief retrieved it, huh? I took the knife from Olga, wrapped it up again, and tried passing it to Yae. 
“Here you go, Yae.” 
“Hm? But that is not mine, it is not.” Huh...? If it’s not Yae’s, then Elze, maybe? It wasn’t Elze’s either. Linze? No, she couldn’t even hold something like this properly. Whose knife is this, then? Weren’t we the only ones there? Did someone help us from the shadows? That means they weren’t our enemy, but it’s still super creepy... 
«Kohaku. Was someone other than us present during that fight?» 
«There was someone there. I could sense a presence at the top of a tree in the grove. No, there were likely two, actually... I sensed no killing intent, so I had assumed them to be mere villagers.» I telepathically confirmed it with Kohaku. Apparently, it was certain that someone was observing our battle with the Dragon. Why, though? I suddenly recalled that someone was watching Yumina and me back in Langley. Could it have been the same people? 
That wasn’t something I could figure out just by thinking about it. I examined the knife, but it didn’t seem like anything in particular stood out. 
For the time being, I decided to keep the blade on my person. Not having its sheath was a real pain, though. 
Seriously... who could it have been? 
 
“Hah... so that’s how it is...” That was all I could say upon catching sight of the pure white royal palace in the capital of Berge. To be blunt, it reminded me of the Taj Mahal. The all-marble tomb a certain emperor built for his beloved. That huge white building with a name meaning “Crown of the Palace.” 
Well, I said it reminded me of it, but there were a number of small differences too. When compared to the townscape, built primarily of sun-dried bricks, the palace really stood out. If I had to describe it, I’d have said that it felt as though an Indian palace got mixed into the world of the Arabian Nights folk tales. 
As our carriage ran through the town, I couldn’t help but notice just how undeveloped it was compared to Belfast. Even so, the inhabitants didn’t disappoint when it came to liveliness. Many species walked the streets, creating a nice hustle and bustle. Various cultures mixed, merged, and developed in a single direction. I could only assume that it was the way the town was supposed to appear. 
We left the streets, all lined with tall buildings, and crossed the long bridge toward the palace. Once we were over the town’s waterway, we entered the palace grounds. 
The five of us, along with Olga, left the carriage and met up with Garm, Lyon, and their eight soldiers before making our way through the garden. It was a beautiful sight. I could see birds frolicking around, and I even noticed some squirrels staring at us from up in their neatly arranged trees. 
We went up a long staircase and entered the palace interior. Bright sunlight fell through the skylight windows, only to become even brighter upon hitting the white marble floor. 
Surrounded by ornate pillars, we followed the corridor going through the middle of the courtyard until we reached a large, ornate door. 
The soldiers posted next to the door opened it for us with a loud creak. 
Sunlight shone through the windows and fell upon a large red carpet. Standing at either side of this carpet was a royal audience of various demi-humans. All of them were dressed in gaudy clothing, so I assumed them to be the ministers of the country or something along those lines. Some were horned, others were winged, so they were definitely a vivid group of people. 
Beyond the audience, seated on his throne up high, I saw the ruler of the country. 
Beastking Jamukha Blau Mismede. Apparently his beastman subspecies was Snow Leopard. At a glance, I thought he was in his early fifties or so. His face, surrounded by white hair and a beard, gave off a regal aura of power and awe. From his sharp, feline eyes, I could feel an indescribable force and even a little bit of mischief. 
We gathered before the beastking, making sure to bend our knees and bow our heads. 
“My liege... I, Olga Strand, have made my return from the Kingdom of Belfast.” 
“Hmph. Well done to you.” The beastking gave her a light nod. Then, he spoke to Garm and Lyon, who were kneeling right behind Olga. 
“Garm... and you, Belfastian knight. I am most pleased by your success in protecting Olga.” 
“Thank you, Your Beastliness!” “Thank you, Your Majesty!” Following those responses from the two, the beastking looked at me and the girls, squinted his eyes, and adopted a faint smile. 
“So, you are the ones sent by Belfast’s king, I presume? It has reached my ears that, despite being few, you were able to slay the Dragon wreaking havoc in Eld. Is this true?” 
“Yes. You have heard correctly. I was unable to participate, but the other four besides me were indeed the ones who felled the Black Dragon attacking Eld.” Yumina stood up, confidently and resolutely answered the beastking’s question. 
“...And who might you be?” The girl showed no hint of apprehension at being in the presence of nobility. In addition, she looked at the ruler with unwavering eyes, so naturally it would make someone like him slightly suspicious. 
“Pardon my late introduction. I am Yumina Urnea Belfast, daughter of Tristwyn Urnes Belfast, king of the Kingdom of Belfast.” Her words caused a stir among just about everyone present. That was only natural. The crown princess just appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Olga and Lyon were aware of the situation, but Garm couldn’t help but widen his eyes in shock. 
“My... what business brings the princess of Belfast into my domain?” 
“This is to show just how important we consider this alliance with Mismede. Here is a message from my father. I humbly ask that you read what he has written.” As she spoke, Yumina took out a letter and handed it over to him. 
When did she get that...? Oh right... she probably got it when I had her return to the Belfast palace during the attack. 
With a reverent dignity about him, one of the beastking’s aides took the letter and brought it over to him. After removing the seal and running his eyes over the paper, the ruler of Mismede looked at Yumina and smiled. 
“Interesting... I think I understand the situation. Give me time to consider what I’ve just read. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to give you my response soon enough. Until then, feel free to make yourselves at home in my palace.” The beastking passed the letter over to his aide. 
“Right, now we’ve got the formalities outta the way... There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask.” The beastking’s tone suddenly switched to a lighter one as he looked over at Kohaku. Well, it makes sense he’d be interested in that... 
“Is that white tiger with ya?” 
“That’s correct. It is Touya’s... servant, of sorts.” 
“Rawr.” Kohaku gave a short response, as if to affirm what she said. In Mismede, white tigers were considered sacred. There was a thing or two to be said about calling Kohaku a “servant,” but since I didn’t use a collar or a leash or anything like that, no one seemed to mind too much. 
The beastking spent a moment looking at Kohaku before slowly shifting his gaze to me. 
“...How very interesting. So, a white tiger-taming hero downed a Dragon, eh? Geheheh, s’been a while since my blood’s boiled this hard! So then, boyo! Wanna spar with me?” 
“...Huh?” A small sound leaked from my mouth, signaling my confusion. The ministers surrounding us heaved a collective sigh of resignation as well. Wait... what?! 

There was a gigantic arena behind the white palace. It reminded me a bit of the Roman Colosseum. Man, this country is way too inconsistent. 
I’d been inexplicably brought there for a duel with the beastking. Why is this even happening? 
“Do forgive us, good Touya. His Beastliness is the type who cannot resist fighting anyone he thinks is strong. In all honesty, we are quite troubled by it, too.” Chancellor Glatz turned to apologize to me. He was an avian with gray wings. By his looks, I’d say that he was in his late forties. He was clad in a robe as dull as his wings. His mustache stuck out prominently too. 
“I would be truly grateful if you gave him some serious pain! Fight with all your might, please.” 
“Wait, hold up! Isn’t he your king? Are you sure you’re okay telling me to do that?” I looked at Glatz with obvious confusion in my eyes. Soon enough, the people next to him began backing him up. 
“We do not mind. Fight as you please. His Beastliness always looks down on the importance of state affairs! There are times when he just disappears and we find him training with the soldiers, overpowering every single one of them!” 
“There was also that time when he got an idea for a new weapon and just walked out to the blacksmith’s! It ruined our schedule and caused me so much trouble!” 
“Don’t forget when he said something about starting a grand tournament... Did he even consider the budget?!” Damn... the ministers of Mismede really have it tough, huh? The king of this country is kind of a weirdo, I guess. Well, it’s not like Belfast’s king is much better in that regard, but still... 
Pushing those thoughts aside, I took a wooden sword and headed for the center of the arena. The audience was made up of my friends, the Mismedian ministers, and a number of Mismedian soldiers, all ranked captain and above. 
The beastking was wielding a wooden sword and shield. I had the opportunity to take a shield, but I turned it down. I was no good at using them and preferred to be agile anyway, so it was fine. 
“The fight will last until one side receives an injury that would be fatal with real swords or if one side admits defeat. The use of magic is also permitted. However, offensive magic aimed directly at your opponent is forbidden. Do both parties agree to these rules?” The referee, a horned fellow with dark skin, explained the rules to us. 
No offensive magic on the opponent, huh? Hm... that narrows down my options a bit. Still, the state ministers told me to go all out, so I guess I shouldn’t hold back. 
“Hey uh... are you sure you want to fight me?” 
“Heheheh. Of course, and don’t you dare hold back! Consider this a real battle. Use all you have and try to win!” I asked him for confirmation, and His Beastliness replied with a full smile. Man, is he really serious here? His body is really well built... Not the kind I’d expect for a man of his age, honestly. He’s probably done some serious training. 
Guess I don’t have any other option. If he’s so serious about it, it’d be rude not to go all-out. I’ll just take the liberty of treating this as a real battle. 
The horned referee raised his arm high and took a look at both fighters before speedily casting his arm down. 
“Round one. Begin!” 
“[Slip].” 
“Wha-?!” The beastking fell over in a way that was almost magnificent. I quickly closed the distance between us and placed my wooden sword against his neck. 
“Alright. That’s a wrap.” 
“W-W-Wait a sec! This ain’t fair! What was that all about?!” 
“It was my Null spell, [Slip]. Non-offensive magic isn’t against the rules, right?” 
“No no no! That’s cheating! That’s not allowed! It wasn’t even a proper duel!” His Beastliness childishly protested. Seems he was unable to accept the outcome. 
Well, he does have a point... But all things considered, that’s the most efficient way of taking down an enemy, isn’t it? Well, so long as I’m up against an enemy that can’t fly. 
“I want a rematch! No magic this time!” 
“Hmm, well... what do you think, Chancellor?” I looked at Glatz and the ministers surrounding him. They seemed pretty confused at first, but once they realized why I brought them into the conversation, a few of them developed sly grins. 
“Well... We would prefer it if you refrained from delaying our governmental affairs any further.” 
“G-Glatz! Don’t say that! This won’t take long! I promise! Just give me a moment, okay?!” 
“Hmm... I’m not sure if I should...” His Beastliness ran over to the Chancellor and they began to talk about a few things. I could hear the beastking say things along the lines of “I’ll be more serious, I swear!” and “I’ll be where I have to, promise!” over and over. 
In response, the ministers gave him several conditions, which made him drop his shoulders in resignation. Still, he ended up agreeing to whatever terms they had given. Did I just do something bad...? 
“Sir Touya. If you do not mind, we would like you to have another battle with His Beastliness!” The beastking took up a position opposite me as Glatz asked for another round. He sounded a lot happier this time... Is it just me or does the king look a little annoyed? 
“That spell is forbidden this time. Got it?” 
“Got it.” We readied ourselves once more. And again, the referee raised his right arm before swinging it down. 
“Round two. Begin!” The beastking attacked me the very moment the duel began. I faced him head-on and twisted my body to gracefully evade the blow. Then, after backing down a bit, I charged toward him. 
“Come forth, Sand! Obstructing Dust Storm: [Blind Sa—].” 
“You’re slow.” The beastking leaped to me with the speed of a bullet and bashed me with his shield, forcing me to reposition myself. Crap, he interrupted the spell! I parried his wooden sword, launched a feint attack, and backed away again. 
But it was no use. He predicted my movements and lunged right where I retreated. He went for my chest. I somehow evaded his attack, but he followed it up with an attack against my throat. 
The second thrust surprised me, but I was able to bend my head in a way that caused him to merely scrape my ear. Whoa, that was close! Backing away was a bad idea... I’ve gotta go on the offensive! 
“[Multiple]!” Small magic circles began to form on the ground around my legs. 
“Hm?!” The beastking halted his charge when he saw them. Though just about anyone would do that, honestly. Hook, line and sinker! You fell for my bluff! 
“[Boost]!” I used magic to buff my physical abilities and quickly utilized my explosive speed to close in on the beastking. Victory is mine! 
“[Accel].” The beastking suddenly whispered something. The moment the words escaped his lips, his large body disappeared. My blade came down on nothing but thin air. 
“Wha—?!” Dumbfounded, I suddenly felt someone behind me. I ducked down by reflex alone and saw the beastking’s wooden sword fly above my head horizontally. I rolled away from him and adjusted my stance. What the heck was that?! 
“You were able to dodge that, huh? Not bad at all, boyo.” 
“Was... Was that a Null spell?” 
“You’re right. It was my own Null spell. I call it [Accel].” 
I knew it. So it’s a spell that accelerates your movement... No wonder I completely lost sight of him! What’s more annoying is that I don’t know anything about it. Does it have a time limit? Does it boost his muscles? 
“How does it work?” 
“It simply makes the body a bit faster. That’s all there is to it. Though, when used, it creates this magic barrier around the body that eats magical energy like crazy, so you can’t really keep it up for long. Normal humans can’t even see the speed I move with when it’s up, so I’ve gotta hand it to ya for being able to dodge that.” Ah, so it’s just a simple acceleration spell, then. The magic barrier was probably there to protect the body from the high speeds. 
“I see. I get how it works now. That’s a good spell you have there.” 
“It is, isn’t it? I’m pretty prou—” 
“In fact, I like it so much that I’m gonna use it too! [Accel]!” And, just like that, I used the beastking’s signature move against him. In but a moment, I dashed past the beastking and my wooden sword cleaved through thin air. 
Huh? Aww shit, I messed up the timing. Could’ve sworn I aimed at his torso, but I was way off. This spell’s gonna take some getting used to... I tried to move a bit, but my own perception of speed couldn’t keep up with my body. 
“Wha—?! You just... But... that’s my—!” 
“Wow... it’s harder to control than it looks! I won’t miss again, though.” I kicked into hyperspeed and closed in on the beastking once more. He cast [Accel] too, and we began an extremely fast exchange of attacks, dodges, backsteps, and parries. The barrage of his attacks was as fast as lightning, but my defense wasn’t far behind. I was quickly getting used to the speed. I could only assume that the spell accelerated my brain power and reflexes, as well. 
Our battle in this supersonic world felt just about normal for the both of us, but it was probably extremely hard for normal humans to see. 
However, I had a trump card. I’ll just combine this [Accel] spell with... 
“[Boost]!” With a flash, I gained even more speed! Magical acceleration stacked on top of my enhanced leg muscles. I reached a speed bordering on divine. No naked eye could follow my movements. Though it lasted only for a moment, I had completely exceeded the limits of [Accel] alone. 

“How?!” In less than a heartbeat, I was behind the beastking, pushing the wooden sword against his neck. 
“Checkmate.” 
“...I’m not sure what that word means, but it seems I’ve lost.” His Beastliness raised his hands and accepted defeat. Accepting his admission of defeat, the referee raised his right arm. 
“The winner is Sir Mochizuki Touya!” Following that declaration, everyone in the arena’s audience began applauding. In truth, I had expected a barrage of booing and jeering, mostly because I had just defeated the country’s king, but apparently my worries were unfounded. 
“I didn’t expect you to know how to use [Accel] as well... I had extreme confidence in that spell, so I became a tad conceited. I guess I should rethink my strategies!” 
“Well... maybe? Hahaha...” I laughed it off. Null magic was personal magic. People who could use the same Null spell were few and far between. Though, I heard that those from the same lineage might’ve had similar spells. Regardless, it was only natural for the beastking to be unprepared for my display. It was basically foul play. 
Shame I didn’t get to use any elemental magic. I can’t cast spells properly if the incantation is interrupted... Though that was rarely a concern for mages. They were nearly always backline fighters anyway. Still, it’d be really convenient if there was a way to use elemental magic without having that pesky incantation in the way... 

Come evening, there was a minor party in the palace. The guests were mostly Mismede’s ministers, the elite nobles, and important merchants. From what I could tell, it was meant to celebrate Olga’s return and to welcome Yumina, since she was the princess of Belfast and all. 
It wasn’t a proper feast, so attire didn’t matter all that much, but it just so happened that I ended up in formal wear. 
Both my upper and lower body were covered in white, but the vest coat they gave me was black. Then there was a broad, navy blue sash. All I needed was a turban and I’d look like some kind of Sinbad or Aladdin cosplayer. 
The party had a buffet, so most of the attendees were taking bites from the selection and enjoying some small talk. 
The guest of honor, Yumina, still wasn’t there. Neither were Elze, Linze, or Yae. They’re probably getting changed into their formal clothes. They won’t be in any trouble, Kohaku’s looking after them anyway. 
“Hey there, Sir Touya. That looks really good on you.” Champagne in hand and clad in a snazzy tailcoat rather than the usual armor, Lyon came up to me with a greeting. Being the son of the baronial Blitz family, he was probably used to fancy events already. 
“Wait a sec, Lyon, why wasn’t I given clothes similar to yours...?” Regardless of whether or not my outfit looked good, I had to ask. Though, I guess it was for the best. I’d feel pretty low if I had to stand next to him while wearing the same suit. My fragile heart would receive a crack each time someone compared me to this handsome devil. 
“Er... Sir Touya... you haven’t seen Olga around, have you?” 
“Can’t say I have.” Lyon tried to casually ask me about Olga, trying to put on airs and hide the fact that he was anxious to see her. He has a point, though... It’s kind of weird that I haven’t seen the other guest of honor anywhere. Well, she’s probably just not here yet. Hope she gets here soon though, there’s only so much grinning I can do at fidgety Lyon over here. 
“Touya!” The moment those words reached my ears, I felt someone hug me from behind. I turned around and looked down to see a twitching pair of small, fox-like ears. 
“Well, if it isn’t Arma.” I patted the head of the small foxgirl. She was wearing an adorable dress. When I looked behind her, I saw a well-built gentleman with white facial hair. There was a pair of ears poking out of his hair and a long, thick tail trailing behind him. Could this guy be... 
“A pleasure to meet you. I am Olba, Arma’s father.” Called it. I shook the hand he extended, then took a moment to look at both the man and his daughter. Apparently, the hair on their ears and tails also turned white with age... 
“Nice to meet you too. I’m Mochizuki Touya. Ah, Touya is my given name.” 
“Hoho, so you’re from Eashen, then?” It’s been a while since I’ve heard that one. 
“I-I am Lyon Blitz, a-a knight from the first order of B-Belfastian knights!” Get it together, Lyon... Lyon shakily shook Olba’s hand right after I did. Guess he couldn’t help it. Arma’s father was also Olga’s father, after all. 
“You have my heartfelt thanks for protecting my daughters.” 
“N-No need for that, sir! I-I was merely following orders!” Lyon, please. There’s no need to freak out that much, man... With no intention of helping Lyon out of his sticky situation, I decided to begin some small talk with the old fox. 
“What do you do for a living, Olba?” 
“I’m a merchant. I deal in various high quality goods, some of which come from Belfast.” A merchant, eh? Various goods... 
“Recently, I’ve been trying to get my hands on this new game called ‘shogi.’ I’d quite like to sell it here. I hear the king of Belfast himself enjoys it quite a bit.” 
“Hmm? Shogi?” How did news of the game spread out this far? As it turned out, Olga wrote about it in one of the letters she sent him, and it wound up catching his interest. 
“I just so happen to have a shogi set with me. Would you like it?” 
“Oh, could I really take it? I’d be most grateful. I’ve wanted to see it with my own eyes for a while.” Luckily for him, I still had the shogi set I made during the trip. 
“No problem. I’ll make sure you have it by tomorrow. Though, I have some business to take care of, so... Lyon, could you bring it to Olba? Olga already knows the rules, so I’m sure she’ll teach you both.” 
“H-Hm?! Me?!” Once I brought him into the conversation, Lyon began to panic once again. 
“Lyon’s father is General Leon, one of the king’s most trusted aides. I hear he’s one of the king’s top picks for shogi opponents, as well.” 
“Hoh? A son of the General Leon?! Oh my, I would be really glad if you visited our home. There’s so much I want to ask you.” Olba spoke gleefully to Lyon, a full smile across his face. When it came to personal background, the young knight was a fine match for his daughter. I quietly hoped he’d make a good impression on the old fox. Well, whether they’d get married or not depended entirely on how the lovebirds felt, so I might’ve been doing something unnecessary in the end. 
“Yes! I’ll be sure to come and visit you tomorrow, then!” Lyon positioned himself like a proper soldier. The guy was as needlessly serious as ever. 
As I worried about the extremely diligent knight, the people gathered in the palace grew a bit noisier. 
What’s all the fuss about? I looked over to the entrance of the hall, where I saw His Beastliness, Olga, Yumina, and the rest of the girls. 
Olga was clad in a gaudy Belfastian party dress, while Yumina and the rest were wearing costumes that reminded me of Indian saris. Elze’s was red, Linze’s was blue, Yae’s was purple, and Yumina’s was white. Though different in color, they all looked really good. Kohaku was walking alongside them. 
“Oh, hey again, boyo. You’re looking pretty good. I almost mistook you for a Mismedian noble.” 
“Er, thanks... I guess.” The beastking stared at me with a grin on his face. This feels kinda awkward... I don’t really know how to deal with situations like this at all. 
I looked to my side to see Lyon intently looking at Olga in her fancy dress. Oh my... I could see a familiar hair ornament shining in her hair. I think it’s safe to say he has a shot with her at the very least. 
“I love your outfit, Touya. You look wonderful,” Yumina said, lavishing me with praise. 
“Yup. It just works.” 
“...I-It shows a different kind of charm...” Linze muttered. 
“Amazing, Touya-dono! It’s very flattering on you.” 
Everyone seems to think I look pretty nice... You guys better stop it or I’ll blush! 
“You all look really good, too. Oh hey, can I take a photo?” I took out my smartphone and brought up the camera. Once I got them all in frame, I took the picture, making my phone emit a flash. 
Surprised by the burst of light, the Mismedian soldiers posted next to the palace walls placed their hands on their swords. Uh-oh, guess the flash is a no-no. 
“What was that?” His Beastliness looked at the smartphone in my hand. Well, guess I’d have to explain it sooner or later... 
“Sorry, this is one of my Null spells. I can use it to record what I see and look back on it later.” 
“Hoh? Sorry, I don’t really understand.” I showed him the photo I just took. The four girls were on it, lined up and smiling. 
“Oho! A spell that lets you draw pictures right away, eh? I’ve heard of someone with a similar spell over in the Refreese Imperium! Is it possible to take this picture out, though?” 
Hmm... so the Imperium has someone who can do something similar to me? Now I’m a little curious about what kind of person that could be... Putting those thoughts aside, I decided there was no need to give a full explanation of how photos worked. 
“I can actually take it out, yeah! I just need a piece of paper and something to write with.” The beastking had someone bring me what I requested. I looked at the photo I took and cast [Drawing] to transfer it to the paper. Soon enough, the blank paper displayed a discolored, sepia-like version of the photo showing the four girls. It was like one of those old, monochrome photos. I could have colored it, but this much was enough to get the point across. 
“Incredible! That’s amazing, kid— er, Sir Touya! Could you draw a picture of me as well?” 
“Sure, no problem.” Since he was right there, I didn’t have to use the camera. I simply cast [Drawing] while using him as reference. 
When I gave him a photo... well, sort of a photo, of him doing a cool pose, he was completely overjoyed. But it very quickly got out of hand. Caught in the flow of the situation, I drew out Olba’s family, after which countless random party guests asked me to draw them, too. 
A single drawing took less than ten seconds, so I had no qualms about doing it over and over, but there were a number of people who weren’t satisfied with their poses or something and took multiple tries to satisfy. What am I, a Polaroid camera?! I’m getting tired... C’mon already. 
Lyon took advantage of the chaos and had me draw him next to Olga. I had no reason to refuse, of course. But still, when I did that one I felt less like a Polaroid camera and more like a photo booth. 
After I finished up with the requests of the more important guests, I ran out of the party hall to take a rest. I noticed a couch in the corner of the corridor, so I plopped down onto it and tried to relax. That was pretty easy, considering how silent the place was compared to the party. 
As I blankly stared at the corridor up ahead, something strange walked through the place where the corridors intersected. 
“What the—” An expression of disbelief passed my lips. 
There was one thing I noticed about the... thing walking down the corridor in the distance. To be blunt, it was a bear. Well, sure, the country of demi-humans was bound to have some bear beastmen. I’d actually seen quite a few of them at the party. The issue wasn’t that, but the fact that the thing I saw was not a beastman. It was a stuffed bear toy. 
I couldn’t say for sure, but it seemed about fifty centimeters tall, and no matter how many times I re-evaluated what I was looking at, it was clearly a plush toy bear... Why is there a toy bear walking around... Am I more tired than I thought I was? 
Suddenly, it stopped and looked in my general direction. Oh cripes, it’s looking me dead in the eye! 
Staaare... 
Staaaare... 
Staaaaare... 
Staaaaaare... 
Hasn’t this happened before...? What? The bear was moving its arm, clearly beckoning me over. 
Is it trying to ask me to come with it? Should I actually follow it? I pondered for a moment and decided to oblige. I reasoned that if things started to look bad, I could use [Accel] and get out of there. 
The waddling bear led me to a room not so far from the party hall. It was short and stubby, so it couldn’t reach the doorknob. Undeterred, it skillfully jumped up and spun the knob to open the door. It headed inside, but not before beckoning to me again. 
Guess it wants me to keep following... I entered the dimly-lit room and saw moonlight beaming in through the window. The room was spacious and properly furnished. 
“Oh? You brought over quite a strange guest this time, Paula.” Perplexed by the sudden voice, I started looking around. Moments later, I noticed a girl sitting on a red chair in front of the window. 
Age-wise, she seemed close to Yumina and Arma. She had white hair tied in twin-tails and eyes of gold. Wearing a frilly black dress, black boots, and black headdress, she looked like a proper gothic lolita. Normally, my eyes would be fixed on her clothing, but I couldn’t keep them from shifting to the things behind her. 
A set of thin, semi-clear wings, shimmering in the moonlight. They weren’t like those you’d see on birds, more like those of an insects. It was safe to assume that she was a fairy. 
“So? Who might you be?” 
“Ah, I’m Touya. Mochizuki Touya. Touya’s my given name.” 
“Born in Eashen, I take it?” Oh, how I’d love for that to stop. Well, it’s similar enough, so I can’t really say much else... 
“I see. So you’re a guest of this party. The famed Dragon Slayer, yes?” 
“Dragon Slayer? Well, I mean... I guess that’s not wrong. And you are?” 
“Oh, do forgive me. I’ve forgotten to introduce myself. I am Leen, the clan matriarch of all fairies. And this little darling here is Paula.” Clan matriarch?! This girl?! The surprise made my words catch in my throat, to which Leen giggled, clearly amused. 
“Despite appearances, I am far older than you. Longevity is but one of the main characteristics of the fairy race, after all.” 
“You’re older than me?! By how man—?” Wait, I better stop right there. It’s definitely not appropriate to ask a woman her age. Leen, however, didn’t seem to mind my train of thought. 
“Well, I’m not too sure... I’m at least six centuries older, that much is certain.” 
“Six centuries?!” 
“Thinking about this is a bother, so just assume that I’m six-hundred and twelve years old.” W-Wait, that’s a pretty major assumption... I can’t believe this petite-looking girl is over six centuries old... No holds barred in this world, I guess. That said, now that I know her age it’s easier to accept she’s the clan matriarch. 
“Do fairies age slowly?” 
“...That isn’t the case, no. We merely stop aging when we reach a certain age. Normally, it happens when we reach the appearance of a human in their late teens or early twenties, but it came earlier for me. That’s all there is to it.” I could see her pouting as she muttered those words. I figured she wasn’t too happy with the body she was stuck with for eternity. Man, no matter how I look at her, I can’t see her as anything other than a person Yumina’s age. 
As if to comfort Leen, Paula clambered behind her and patted her on the head. 
“So, about Paula... is she some kind of contracted familiar?” 
“She isn’t, actually. She’s a genuine stuffed bear. She can only move thanks to my Null spell, [Program].” 
“[Program]?” 
You mean like a computer program or something? Is this bear a robot?! “The Null spell, [Program], allows the user to give certain orders to inorganic objects and make them act accordingly. For example...” She took a chair from the side of the room and brought it over to me. Leen held her hand before the chair and focused her power, making a magic circle form under it. 
“Begin [Program]? Motion: Two meters forward? Starting Condition: Someone sitting? End [Program].” The magic circle on the floor quickly faded away. Once Leen sat down on the chair, it slowly moved about two meters forward before stopping. 
“Oh, I forgot to set the speed. But you get the general idea. It allows me to give magical orders to objects.” 
Yeah, I think I get it now. A name like [Program] is more than appropriate for this one. Even if it’s limited by the programming, the ability to make objects move on their own is super useful. 
“So, can you make Paula fly by adding an order that forces her to?” 
“Something like that is impossible, I’m afraid. It isn’t that great of a power. [Program] only allows for simple movements. Though flight would likely work fine for small model birds.” 
Alright, I think I understand better now. Seems like the spell has some reasonable limits. Doesn’t make it any less useful, though. 
“I’ll have a go at it.” 
“Sorry...?” I focused my magic on the chair. A magic circle formed on the floor, and I began to prepare my own [Program]. 
“Begin [Program]? Motion: Five meters backward at standard human walking speed? Starting Condition: Someone sitting? End [Program].” Once the magic circle disappeared, I quickly tested the program by sitting on the chair. It began moving backward at a slightly higher speed than before and stopped after five meters. Yup, this is useful. 
“What... What did you do just now?” Leen was staring at me, blinking hard and slow. 
“Well... I used [Program], didn’t I?” 
“Why are you phrasing it like a question...? No, forget that for now. You were able to use [Program] just like that?” 
“Erm... ahaha, I guess so...” She looked at me with great suspicion in her eyes. 
Staaare... 
Staaaare... 
Staaaaare... 
Staaaaaare... 
This happened with Paula already! They say pets resemble their owners, but I don’t know if that’s quite right here... Soon enough, she heaved a sigh and folded her arms. 
“There’s a lot I’d like to ask you, but I’ll leave it for another time... I told Paula to bring any interesting humans to me, and she didn’t fail me in that regard. You might even be a better find than Charlotte was.” 
“Charlotte?” I couldn’t help but react to the familiar name. 
It can’t be the same Charlotte, can it? “Yes, one of my disciples. I hear she’s Court Magician in Belfast now.” Oh. I guess it could. Wait, then, hold on... That means...! 
“Ah! So you’re the demonic teacher that made her cast spells until she collapsed, then forcibly restored her magic and made her cast more spells until she collapsed again, right?!” 
“What?!” 
Oh man, she’s scaring me. Please don’t glare at me like that, I’m fragile. I’m not the one who said it to begin with! S-Sorry? Should I say sorry?! I should say sorry! 
“Well, never mind that... Charlotte will be getting a slap next time I see her, though. That aside, Touya, your magical talents are really quite remarkable. Besides Null, what other elements do you have the aptitude for?” 
“All of them.” 
“...Well, at least nothing will surprise me anymore.” After another long sigh, Leen pondered something before slowly opening her golden eyes. She looked over at me and clasped her hands together. 
“Very well, then. You shall be my new disciple.” 

“Come again?” The twin-tailed gothic lolita made her wings quiver as she smiled in my direction. 
 
Yesterday, the matriarch of the fairies, Leen, told me to become her disciple, but I politely refused. Seriously, who would willingly work under someone so relentless? I’m not a masochist or anything, you know? Still, she seemed pretty annoyed by my rejection. 
Later on, the party reached a calm end. We returned to the rooms we were given and went to sleep on our soft beds. It’d been a while since I slept on something nice, so it took some time for me to fall asleep. Before I realized it, however, it was already morning and I was well rested. 
Alright, there’s something I wanna try out today! I browsed several sites on my phone and used [Drawing] to get transcripts and pictures of just about everything that looked useful. Think that should be just about everything... 
Once I was done with the light breakfast they brought me, I gathered the bundle of papers I prepared and got Kohaku to join me in going to see Chancellor Glatz. 
I told him that I wanted to leave for a bit, so he gave me a medal that doubled as a permit for crossing the castle gates. He also asked me if I could use [Drawing] to make a portrait of him. In all honesty, he was the one person I hadn’t expected to request one. 
After that, I met up with Lyon and gave him the shogi set. Sensing a small opportunity, I also told him that Reflet was planning on becoming the official town for shogi. 
“Oh? Are you going out?” Once Kohaku and I were done with our business in the palace, we set off for the main town. But not before we ran into Yumina and Linze. It seemed they had just eaten breakfast and were about to go out for a walk in the courtyard. 
“Yeah, Kohaku and I were gonna go shopping. You two wanna tag along?” 
“Of course,” Yumina responded immediately. 
“I-I’ll come too,” Linze replied hesitantly. I was thinking of inviting Elze and Yae as well, but Linze said they were training alongside the Mismedian soldiers in the arena... I could only hope that His Beastliness wasn’t there, too. 
The four of us crossed the palace gate and went out to town. Alright, now... wait. 
“Where can I buy metal?” 
“M-Metal?” 
“Yeah. Iron, copper, brass. Things like that. Ideally they’d be pressed into ingots.” 
“I’m not exactly sure what ‘ingot’ means, but I think you might find what you want at a blacksmith’s,” Yumina replied. 
Well, that makes sense. I took out my phone and ran a search for smithies. There were some points here and there. I figured I couldn’t go wrong by choosing the closest one. 
We took the street heading eastward and found the place on the corner near an intersection. I could hear the hammering before we even got there. 
“Morning. Welcome all. You here for a repair job? Or maybe your blade needs sharpening?” A horned employee greeted us with a smile. They were more than happy to sell pressed metals to me, so I bought some iron, brass, and lead. Several ingots about as thick as two small paperback books, to be exact. There was a tool shop right in front of the smithy, so I took the opportunity to buy some wood and rubber. The kind used on shoe soles. 
“And now for the gunpowder...” I ran a search for it and easily got a hit. Seems like it’s at a magical goods shop... Well, I guess gunpowder is kind of magical. 
I went there and bought three medium-sized bottles of the powdery stuff. I think that’s everything I need, then! 
“...What are you planning to make?” Linze looked at all the goods I bought and couldn’t help but ask. 
“Gonna forge myself a weapon.” 
“A weapon...?” After they tilted their heads in confusion, I took them to a nearby back alley and used a [Gate] to return to my room in the palace. I grabbed the meter-long Dragon horn I had left there earlier, and used another [Gate] to go to the forest we crossed before getting to the Mismedian capital. 
Good, nobody’ll see us out here. 
I placed my papers on a nearby stump and put an ingot on top to stop the wind from blowing them away. 
“Now I just need to take this Dragon horn, and...” Crap. I can’t actually make use of the horn right now, can I? It’s a little bit too long. Ah well, I’ll just trim it a bit first... Wait, it was too tough to cut with any of my gear, wasn’t it? 
“Linze, can you use magic to cut it? Somewhere around here, please.” 
“N-No problem!” I showed her where to cut and she got to it pretty quick. 
“Come forth, Water! Feel My Blade, Both Cold and Clear: [Aqua Cutter]!” With a watery sound, the Dragon horn was cut down to a more proper size. Whew, good thing I brought Linze along. I took the result into my hand, and it was far lighter than it looked. I felt as though I was holding plastic. The lightness made me doubt its strength, but it was a cold hard fact that it was far tougher than iron. I was pretty amazed by it all. 
Wait, I didn’t come here just to admire this thing. I’ve got a job to do! 
I glared at the papers I brought and memorized all the relevant parts. Well, even if they came out wrong, I could just use some fine-tuning to fix it up. Alright. It’s time. 
“[Modeling].” The horn began to slowly change shape. Barrel, cylinder, hammer, trigger... I made the parts, one after another. After that, I used the wood I bought to create a grip and put them all together. 
Ten minutes later, I held a slick black revolver in my hand. 
I based it on a gun known as the Remington New Model Army, but it turned out a bit short. Well, it wasn’t too different, so I didn’t really care. 
Since I wanted something that could rapidly fire, I turned a single-action gun into a double-action one and messed around with the cylinder, so the insides of this gun ended up completely unlike the original. I only used it as basis because I thought the design looked cool. Taking it in hand, I examined how it felt. 
Not too shabby, to be honest. Maybe it’s a little light? Actually, that’s probably not a negative. 
“Now, for the bullets.” Using the ingots and gunpowder, I made the bullet heads, cases, powders, rims, and primers, just as they looked on the internet. 
By the time I was done, I had fifty bullets of several varieties. That’s enough for now, I thought. 
Alright, time to load up all six revolver chambers... Oh wait, before that... 
“[Enchant]: [Apport].” I enchanted the gun with my item teleporting spell. And now... 
“Begin [Program]? Starting Condition: Wielder says ‘reload’? Action Upon Start: Hastily eject empty cartridges, use [Apport] to refill any empty chambers using bullets located within a range of one meter? End [Program].” And with that, I was done. Manually reloading was a pain, after all. I could’ve just made an automatic weapon instead, but my taste was more important than that. I considered revolvers to be the coolest gun, that’s all there was to it. 
I filled the chambers, aimed at a nearby tree, and pulled the trigger. The bullet went flying with an explosive sound. Whoa! The recoil’s way stronger than I thought it’d be. Linze and Yumina put their hands over their ears. Despite the grand presentation, it seemed that I actually missed my shot. 
I followed it up with two more bullets and noticed that my accuracy was pretty low. Am I just a bad shot? The bullets aren’t firing straight at a— Oh... 
Right, I forgot to make the rifling. Rifling refers to the helical grooves in the inside of a gun’s barrel. I read that it gyroscopically stabilized the bullet by forcing it to spin, which made it travel straight. 
And so, with another [Modeling] spell, I crafted the rifling for my gun. I shot some more bullets, and the difference in accuracy was clear as day. 
Once I emptied the whole cylinder, I decided to test the reloading mechanism that I’d programmed earlier. 
“Reload!” The moment I said that, the empty cartridges were instantly ejected and fell to the ground. Then, six of the bullets I had placed on the stump disappeared and reappeared inside the gun. I pulled the trigger again. Another bullet fired out. Yup, it works like a charm. 
“Are you finished?” 
“Yep, I’d say so. This is something called a ‘gun.’ It’s a weapon made to attack at long distances. You can use it with one hand and it’s stronger than bows and arrows.” 
“...Amazing. It’s like a small cannon.” Linze quietly spoke, gazing at my creation. It was true that not-so-sleek cannons also existed in this world, but since any single wizard who knew the [Explosion] spell was far more effective, they didn’t see much use. 
“I finished making the gun, but there’s still one more thing I wanna try.” After removing all the bullets from the cylinder, I took one into my hand. 
“[Enchant]: [Explosion].” I imbued it with explosive magic. Let’s see here... 
“Begin [Program]? Starting Condition: The bullet head escapes the gun’s muzzle and impacts something? Action Upon Start: Activate [Explosion] around the bullet? End [Program].” I placed the enchanted bullet into the cylinder and shot the same hole-riddled tree. 
With a fierce roar, the tree I shot and the ones unfortunate enough to be near it shattered into thousands of splintery pieces. The [Explosion] test worked. 
“Wha...?!” 
“W-Whoa!” Linze and Yumina fell to the ground, seemingly too shocked to stay upright. Good. That solves my issue of using offensive magic without an incantation. Then again, having to [Enchant] and [Program] everything is a bit of a pain, too... Wait, I could just do it with multiple bullets at once, so it’s not so bad. 
I could probably enchant some rubber rounds with [Paralyze] for non-lethal takedowns. Weapons this handy are few and far between indeed! Oh wait, [Paralyze] wouldn’t work if they had any magic-warding amulets on them. 
“Touya, may I also have one of these... guns, was it?” 
“I-I’d like one, as well...” 
“Huh?” Yumina and Linze’s sudden request made me ponder for a bit. I could understand why they, being rearguard fighters, would want such a weapon, but I couldn’t help but worry. Am I just being too overprotective? 
Yumina has a bow, a pretty dangerous thing in its own right, and Linze has the ability to clip a Dragon’s wings, so worrying about them handling a gun safely is kinda stupid. 
Also, being able to use magic without any care for affinity would be pretty advantageous. With a gun, even Yumina, someone without any aptitude for fire, could use [Explosion]. 
“Sure, why not? Pick a design you like.” I ran an image search for various guns and put them to paper using [Drawing]. After a long moment of staring at the options, Yumina finally chose a Colt Army Model 1860, while Linze went for a snub-nosed revolver known as the Smith & Wesson Model 36. 
Linze’s was fine, but I was a bit worried about how Yumina’s choice would fit in her hand. Then I remembered that it was just a design and I could handle the size myself. My gun was also made to suit me, after all. Right down to the specs and caliber. 
Honestly, my gun-crafting was rough. I was sure any gun nuts out there would give me a real earful. If I needed it to just shoot something out, a BB gun would’ve worked just fine. Even so, there were things you just couldn’t help but get picky about. Basically, I always wanted to fire a real gun. 
I had Linze cut the Dragon’s horn again and used it to make their guns for them. Just to be on the safe side, I programmed their weapons in a way that prevented anyone else but them from pulling the trigger. 
I created about a hundred rubber bullets, divided them between the girls, and let them get the hang of wielding and firing their guns. 
Being made from a Dragon’s horn, they were lighter than standard firearms and weren’t too hard for girls to use. 
Alright, now it’s time for the main event. The gun was actually nothing but a base for the creation of my real weapon. 
“[Modeling].” I took more of the Dragon’s horn and once again began giving it the form of a gun. However, unlike the other ones, this one was building up to be a bit strange. 
Extending from the trigger guard and tracing the lower part of the barrel, there was a blade. The grip made a bit of a curve and gave the whole object a somewhat straight shape. Overall, it was less of a gun and more of a shortsword. 
An unholy fusion of gun and knife! Though, “knife” wasn’t too apt either, considering the blade was thirty centimeters long and pretty broad. However, there was a reason for that broadness. 
“Begin [Program]? Starting Condition: The wielder says ‘Gun Mode’ or ‘Blade Mode’? Action Upon Start: Use [Modeling] to quickly transform the blade piece from shortsword to longsword in the case of ‘Blade Mode,’ or from longsword to shortsword in the case of ‘Gun Mode’? End [Program].” I also programmed it with the same reloading mechanism I’d tried earlier. I reloaded quickly, readied my weapon, and pulled the trigger. A gunshot rang out, and the bullet easily destroyed a branch. Great, the gun works just fine! 
“Blade Mode.” In response to my words, the thirty centimeter knife instantly became an eighty centimeter sword. The broad blade lost about two-thirds of its thickness and gained some length instead. 
I swung the elongated blade around. It didn’t feel the least bit heavy. 
“Gun Mode.” The blade became short and broad again. Alright, the transformation function works just fine. 
“Amazing. So it can be both a gun and a blade?” 
“Elze and Yae are purely vanguard fighters, while you two are purely backliners, so I decided to be a little more flexible in my approach.” To be honest, I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. The duel with the beastking made me consider that there’ll be situations where I can’t effectively use magic. The answer to that problem? A gun. 
“...So, what are you going to name your weapon?” 
“Well... ‘Brunhild’ works fine, I guess.” I answered Linze with a grin on my face. Instead of using the name of some legendary weapon like “Excalibur” or “Balmung,” I went for the name of the strongest weapon in one of my favorite retro games. Man, did I have fun playing that one... It was really old, though. In fact, it was a part of my grandfather’s collection. 
As I looked at my new weapon, Brunhild, I realized that I was actually part of those fantasy worlds I yearned for in my younger years, which made me aware of just how much my life had changed. 
 
After a few test shots and debugging of my program, I tested the durability of Brunhild’s blade mode. 
Though it was made of many parts, the whole section that was unaffected by the transformation was almost perfectly merged with the blade and the entire object had the toughness of a Dragon horn. I could easily cut down a rather thick tree. The sharpness was incomparable to my previous sword. 

Soon after that, we returned to the town around the palace and bought three leather sheaths for daggers and one for something a bit larger. I turned them all into holsters for our guns with my [Modeling] spell. They really stood out, after all. 
While I was at it, I also took the opportunity to buy three waist pouches for bullets. Since we were in town, we didn’t have to worry about being attacked by monsters, so I only gave the girls rubber bullets imbued with [Paralyze]. I still had a bunch of real bullets with me, though. It suddenly dawned on me that there was the possibility of them standing next to me while reloading and accidentally getting my real bullets into their guns... 
To prevent such a disaster, I reprogrammed their weapons. Now, the guns would only load the bullets that the wielder wanted. That was perfectly doable thanks to [Apport]. 
That meant we only had to consider the enchantments to put on the bullets. Since Linze used [Explosion] back in the ruins of the old capital, I was fully aware that it had the firepower to blast away a whole load of ruins, and it was lacking in utility. Maybe [Ignis Fire], then? One shot and they’d be engulfed in flames... No, that’s totally overdoing it as well. 
Well, as long as the opponent is human, [Paralyze] should work just fine. Even if they have amulets protecting them, the rubber bullets’ll still hurt a lot. Hm... guess I’ll need to think about it more later. 
“Wanna grab some food while we’re in town?” 
“Great idea. I’d love to try the local cuisine.” 
“Y-Yes, me too. I’ve heard a lot about this local dish called ‘Cully.’” 
Cully...? Hmm... that’s piqued my interest. Guess I’ll try it too. It was sold at a nearby food stall, so we went right for it. There was a menu with “pork cully,” among other variants. That smell’s pretty familiar... 
Yumina ordered a beef cully, Linze got a chicken cully, and I got a pork cully. Kohaku didn’t want any, for some reason. We sat at the nearby table and waited for only a few minutes before it was ready. 
This color, and this smell... I knew it! It’s curry. Not rice curry, though, since there was no rice. 
“Uh, guys? Just so you know...” I was about to warn them about the potential spiciness, but they had already brought some of it to their mouths. 
“Ack!” “Gah?!” They covered their mouths as tears formed in their eyes. 
Ah. I guess it is spicy, then. Shame it isn’t the sweet kind. Judging from how those two are acting, it must be super hot... 
They reached for the water jug on the table, almost fighting one another over it, as they poured some water into their cups and quickly gulped it down. As I watched them, I tried the curry myself, and wow, was it hot. That evaluation was coming from yours truly, who’d tasted quite a number of spicy curries, so I could only imagine how hard it hit the girls. 
“Whath a shtrong tashte...” “Ow, it’sh like my tongue ish on fire...” So hot they couldn’t even speak properly... Once we left the cully wagon, we went to get some fruit juice from another vendor. A few quick sips of that neutralized the deadly spice. 
“It’s not that bad once you get used to it.” 
“You hadh a chance to eat khullay before, Touyah?” 
“Well, something similar to it, at least.” I gave Yumina, who was still having trouble speaking, an ambiguous answer. Linze took the ice that came with the juice and moved it around in her mouth. Come to think of it, I haven’t had much of anything spicy since I came to this world. In my mind, Belfast was almost solidified as a kingdom of sweet foods. 
...Huh? As thoughts of dinner circled my head, I felt someone looking at me. This sensation’s a familiar one... 
«Master. Someone is observing us. I believe it’s the same people as before.» Kohaku spoke to me telepathically. I knew it. 
«The ones who were watching us back in Langley? Alright. Let’s say hello to them. Where are they located?» 
«Atop the tallest building to your right.» Pretending that I wasn’t aware of their presence, I looked up to where Kohaku had pointed out. I could see them on the roof of a three-story building. They were pretty far off. 
“Guess I should get ready... Reload.” I filled my holstered gunblade, Brunhild, with rubber bullets imbued with [Paralyze]. 
“Touya.” My sudden reloading made the girls look at me with apparent confusion, but there was no time to explain. 
«Keep an eye on the girls, Kohaku.» 
«Be careful.» It’s go-time. 
“[Boost].” I buffed my physical abilities and jumped upward. After landing on one of the buildings to my side, I made another leap toward the roof ahead of me. Roof after roof, I went straight for the building upon which I saw the mysterious observers. 
“Yo.” 
“Gh?!” “Hm?!” My sudden arrival and nonchalant greeting left them stunned. 
At least, I thought it did. I couldn’t see their faces. They wore similar-looking black robes, and from the little I saw, the clothes under the robes were black, as well. The faces under their hooded heads were hidden by white masks. Not completely white, though, since there were strange symbols on the foreheads. For a moment, I thought they were the same on both, but then I noticed that one had a hexagon, while the other had a vertically stretched oval. 
“Er, hey... can you talk? I’d like to know who you are and wh—” Suddenly, the one with the hexagon took out a test tube-like object and threw it on the ground. In a flash, the surroundings were bathed in an intense light. 
“Khh...!” The flash momentarily blinded me, and once I regained my sight, the observers had vanished. They escaped? Ha, not likely! I took out my smartphone and ran a search for ‘masked weirdo.’ And there they were. The two were running through a back alley to the north. There’s still time to catch up, good. 
“[Accel Boost]!” Speeding myself up with magic, I ran across the roofs again. The view went by me with insane speed, and moments later, I could see the two running through the back alley. 
I went ahead of them and stopped in their tracks. 
“Mmph?!” “Gh!” I still couldn’t see their faces through the masks, but I was almost certain they were surprised. However, Hexagon Mask quickly reached for another one of those test tubes. Not this time! 
Without hesitation, I took out Brunhild and fired at the one trying to blind me. 
The sound of a gunshot rang out as hexagon mask fell to the ground. No protective amulets, huh? Too bad. Having lost an ally, oval mask looked at me, then back at the one on the ground, seemingly not knowing what to do next. That’s my opening. Another gunshot rang out through the back alley.

“Alrighty! What now?” While they were still paralyzed, I tied them up with coils I made using [Modeling] and placed them against the wall of the alley. I could take their masks off and look at their faces, but with [Paralyze] active, they were still conscious. It would be pretty bad if they had some weird, cult-like laws that’d force them to commit suicide or kill me if I were to see their faces. 
“I’ll take away the paralysis, so don’t struggle, okay?” I gazed into their eyes and focused my magic. 
“[Recovery].” A gentle light embraced them both. That should’ve taken care of the paralysis. Now, if only we could have a proper exchange. 
“So, who are you two? Why were you observing me?” 
“......” Hmm... using their right to remain silent, huh? 
A moment later, I noticed that Hexagon Mask was making slight movements. Did I tie the wire too tight? No, probably trying to escape... It’d be quite a pain if they used some weird tool, similar to the flash bomb, to melt away the wire or something. To be on the safe side, I decided to remove their gadgets and whatnot. 
I placed my hand against Hexagon Mask’s chest. 
“Hyah?!” Hexagon Mask released a cutesy voice and I began to feel something soft in my hand. Once I realized what it was, I began to sweat all over. 
“Y-Y-You’re a girl?!” Hexagon Mask nodded slightly. I quickly withdrew my hand, but I could still feel the softness I’d held mere moments ago. Oh geez. My face was probably as red as a tomato. Wait... wasn’t that voice familiar? 
As I backed my hand away, I accidentally hit her and made the white mask with the hexagon fall to the ground with a clatter. The face under it was that of a woman I knew. 
“What the—?! Lapis...?” With a blushing face, my maid, who should’ve been at my home back in the capital of Belfast, gave me another nod. 
 
“We are ‘Espion.’ Intelligence operatives acting directly under the command of His Majesty, the king of Belfast.” 
“The king?” 
“Yes. Our current mission is to protect the princess.” Lapis’ explanation was easy to process. With how he just handed her over to me, I always thought that the king’s attitude with regards to Yumina was a bit too relaxed, and this explained it all. He was looking after her from the shadows. 
Wait, I remember that time I heard something through the ceiling of the Silver Moon Inn... I thought it was a rodent or something at the time, but it could’ve been these guys. This “Espion” group sounds like a mix of traditional ninjas and modern spies. 
“Are you the only ones protecting Yumina?” 
“Nooo, there’s several mooore. All of them are girls, toooo.” My other maid replied with her usual needlessly stretched pronunciation. Cecile, who voluntarily removed her mask, was giving me a smile completely devoid of any fear. 
They’re all girls, huh? Well, since their protective detail required hiding up in the ceiling and similar places, girls were probably the better option as far as Yumina’s privacy was considered. 
“Wait, how long have you been following us? Since we were still in Belfast?” 
“That’s what our mission was, yes,” Lapis responded. 
“Now that I think about it, neither of you were home when I used a [Gate] to return there. I assume Laim is in on it, too, then?” 
“Yes, hee is.” Well, they sure had me fooled. I asked them some more questions, and apparently, they weren’t lying about being part of the Maid’s Guild. Maid skills were necessary for infiltration missions, so just about every female operative of Espion was also a guild member. 
“Ah, wait. So, the one who threw the knife at the Black Dragon was...” 
“That was Cecile, yes. She’s a knife-throwing expert.” 
“Eheheheeh. Oh, I’m not thaat good.” Cecile’s cheeks turned slightly rosy as she blushed. So, that knife was thrown by this... puffy girl? Never judge a book by its cover, I guess. 
Suddenly, Cecile grew a bit despondent and fearfully looked up at me. 
“Sooo, uhmm... are we getting fiiired?” 
“Hm? Why would you be fired?” 
“Well, sir, we’re your maids, and instead of fulfilling our duties, we’re here on another job entirely...” Oh, that. So she felt bad about working for the king while being hired by me, then. 
“No, I don’t plan on firing either of you. The king only gave the order because he was worried about his daughter, after all. Also, if I fired you, I’d also have to get rid of Laim.” Do you girls think I’m that petty...? I was pretty confident I had the emotional depth to sympathize with a father worrying over his little girl. 
The two heaved a sigh of relief. 
“So, what are you going to do now?” 
“We will keep on secretly protecting Princess Yumina... but before that, we have something to ask of you, sir.” This time, Lapis was the one to look up at me, readying herself to say something difficult. Man, I just can’t get used to being called sir... 
“Would you be kind enough to keep us a secret from the princess...?” Ah, since it’s a secret mission, being found out is obviously a huge problem. 
“If she were to find out about our protection, the princess would get reeeally mad at his Majesty.” Oh, never mind. The real reason is a lot simpler. Well, he acted as though he sent her off by herself because he believed in her, so the truth would make it seem like he didn’t believe in her at all. Gotta be tough to be a dad, huh...? I don’t mind keeping a secret, so it’s fine by me. I let them keep following their orders, walked away from them, and returned to Yumina. 
I told Kohaku all about it through our telepathic link. To Yumina and Linze, however, I just lied by saying that they ran away. Well, it wasn’t a complete lie, since they actually did run away once after blinding me. They gave me some strange looks, but I was able to fool them and we all returned to the palace.

The following day, the kings of Belfast and Mismede were to have a discussion regarding the details of the alliance between the kingdoms. 
It was a proper summit meeting, but there was a minor bit of arguing over which side would come over to the other. In the end, it was decided that Belfast would come to Mismede, so I placed the mirror meant for teleportation (officially, anyway) in the conference room. 
Besides me, the other people present were Lyon, the other Belfastian knights, His Beastliness, Chancellor Glatz, and a bunch of Mismedian soldiers led by the familiar wolf beastman, Captain Garm. 
I opened a [Gate] just in front of the mirror, allowing His Majesty and his younger brother, Duke Ortlinde, to pass through. 
The fact that a person actually walked out of the mirror surprised many of those present, but that didn’t last long, for it was time to give the king a proper welcome. 
“Welcome to Mismede, King of Belfast.” 
“Thank you for the invitation, Beastking of Mismede.” They exchanged a handshake. It was time for matters of state. Being an outsider, I decided to take my leave. 
I headed out of the conference room and into the corridor. All I could do was hope that the two kings would get along. 
Suddenly, from one end of the corridor, I saw the stuffed bear, Paula, toddle along with her master, Leen. She was still clad in the same gothic lolita outfit as the last time we met. 
“Seems like the Belfastian king came over to say hi." 
“Yeah, just now. They’re having a conference in there.” I answered her while pointing at a nearby door, the only door with two guards standing by it. 
“Well, do you feel like becoming my disciple yet?” 
“How many times do I have to say no before you get it?” Refusing to give up after my first rejection, Leen had been asking me to be her disciple just about every time we met since then. 
Last time she said I could be a “provisional disciple.” Sounds too much like “provisional club enrollment” to me. Wait, isn’t that a lower position than regular old disciple?! Paula stood by her side, beckoning me forward with a small gesture. 
“Man, for a stuffed toy, Paula sure is lively... It’s almost like she’s alive.” 
“That just shows how many times I’ve used [Program] on her, doesn’t it? I’ve been setting her with actions and reactions to various situations for almost two hundred years now. She might as well be autonomous at this point. You humans cry when in pain and get mad when made fun of, right? Same principle.” Two hundred years...? So Paula’s behavior feels natural due to countless uses of [Program] over a long period, huh? 
Suddenly, I considered the possibility of creating a human-like doll via [Modeling] and then using [Program] to make a pseudo-android, but then I remembered that it took Leen two hundred years just for Paula. I wonder if we could copy and paste her programming... 
In response to my intense stare, Paula seemed to get a little uncomfortable. She backed off slightly. Oho, so even that kind of response is programmed too? 
“You said she’s over two hundred, but Paula sure doesn’t look it. Do you rebuild her regularly or something?” 
“That’s not the case, no. She’s under the effects of my Null spell, [Protection]. As the name goes, it’s a spell that, well, protects from certain things. Paula is protected against getting dirty, deteriorating, and getting gnawed on by bugs, among other things.” 
Protection magic, huh? I won’t lie, it’s pretty impressive that Paula still looks so good. Using it on clothing would remove the need for laundry, right? Hell, casting it on the body could remove the need to take baths... Though, that doesn’t seem quite right. Even if it protects from outside filth, it probably can’t do anything to the buildup of grime due to metabolic processes. 
“Wait, how many Null spells can you use, Leen? There’s [Protection], [Program], and the [Transfer] one that Charlotte told me about.” 
“Fairies have a high aptitude for Null magic. In fact, fairies that don’t have a single Null spell to their name are few and far between. I only happen to have four at present, however.” 
Four of the elusive Null spells, huh? That’s pretty amazing. But I guess I’m not really in a position to say that, given my own affinities. I can see why fairies are considered a species built for magic, though. Now I’m curious about what Leen’s fourth Null spell is. 
“Sir Touya? His Majesty, the king of Belfast wishes to see you. Please come inside.” 
Chancellor Glatz opened the door to the conference room and peeked out. Having no reason to refuse, I went in, which made both kings turn to stare at me. 
“Hey, Touya my boy. The talks went very smoothly. Thank you for all your help.” 
“Well, that’s good to hear.” The Belfastian king’s words made me heave a sigh of relief. My job was as good as done. 
“Very well. We shall now return to Belfast. We leave the rest to you. Thank you for your time, King Mismede.” 
Once they were done with their goodbyes, I secretly opened a [Gate] in front of the mirror and let the king and his brother leave. When they were gone, I began acting out our plan. With everyone watching, I took out a hammer and shattered the mirror into little pieces. 
“S-Sir Touya?! What are you...?!” 
“Ah, there’s no need to be upset. Just give me a moment.” Ignoring the flustered Glatz for a moment, I looked away from him and focused my magic on the fragments of the mirror. 
“[Modeling]” The broken mirror and wooden frame lost their original shape and turned into a number of small, oblong mirrors. Basically, I created some small framed mirrors approximately two centimeters high and fifteen centimeters wide. I picked one up and quietly enchanted it with [Gate]. 
“These mirrors are connected to Belfast. Now, when you have something important to tell someone there, you need only put a letter into the mirror. Though both sides will still have to use official documents to confirm their authenticity.” 
“I-I see... So messages that normally take a twenty day round trip will now reach them in an instant? That is most convenient! I will make sure to use it to further our friendly relations.” I handed the little mirror over to the beastking, and he gave a small smile. With that, my job was done. 
Finally, time to head home... Even though I have such a nice place, I haven’t had a chance to live there properly yet. I feel about ready to take a long rest. 
 
For the time being, Lyon and his knights decided they’d remain in Mismede. From what I heard, not having any Belfastians there could cause any post-meeting formalities to stagnate. 
There were those who insisted on protecting Princess Yumina on her way back to Belfast, but she did a good job refusing. Basically, she just told them to do their jobs. 
In all truth, however, them coming along would’ve been a problem. We were planning on getting home instantly using a [Gate] after all. 
Before we left, I gave Lyon a set of “Gate Mirrors” for sending letters. I thought the name I gave them was cool. They allowed people to keep in touch despite all the distance. If he gave one to Olga, he could talk to her even after returning to Belfast. Man, did he get fired up when I handed them over. To be honest, it was a little unsettling. 
I said my goodbyes to His Beastliness, Chancellor Glatz, Olga, and Captain Garm. Leen and Paula were nowhere to be seen, though, so I left without telling them anything. A shame, really, but there was nothing to be done about it. 
We left the palace and decided to go around town to pick up some souvenirs for Sue and the servants. While we did that, we also ran a final check of our things. All that was left was to open a [Gate] and return to Belfast, but... 
“Sorry, I forgot a souvenir I wanted to get.” I slipped a white lie to the girls, blended into the crowd, fired up my map app, and searched for the people I needed. Okay, up on this roof then? I activated [Boost], jumped up, and got myself right to where they were. 
“Eek?!” 
“Uwahh?! Ohhh, it’s just you, sir. Don’t surprise us like thaaat.” 
It was Lapis and Cecile, still wearing the masks from the other day. They were my maids, but their primary employer was still Yumina’s father — His Majesty, the king of Belfast. 
Apparently, His Majesty made Laim hire them, so I entertained the thought of docking or outright canceling their pay, but since they seemed to be skilled maids, I decided to let it slide. 
You’re definitely not getting paid for the next ten days, though! If you’ve got a problem with that, bill the king! 
“We’re about to use a [Gate] to return to Belfast. I figured I should send you two first.” With all the spying they’d been doing, they surely knew about my [Gate] spell already, so I figured I’d make the offer. 
“Whaaat? To Belfaaaast?” 
“Well, if we take the normal route home, we’ll get back ten days after everyone else... The princess would likely grow suspicious.” 
“That’s exactly why I’m here.” Smiling wryly, I opened up a small [Gate] for them. I walked through, they followed suit, and we all ended up back in our mansion. The living room, to be precise. 
“Welcome back.” 
My butler, Laim, was a bit surprised by our sudden appearance, but he quickly regained his composure and welcomed us home. 
“We’re back, Laim.” 
“We’re baaack!” 
“Please forgive us, the master of the house found out our true mission.” 
“So I see.” Lapis began to explain what could be easily deduced from this situation. In response, Laim could only offer a resigned smile. 
I had the two girls change into their maid uniforms and act as though they’d been here the entire time. Once they left to their rooms, Laim bowed his head to me. 
“Sir, please forgive me. His Royal Highness himself made me give the order to them...” 
“Well, I can understand a father worrying for his daughter, and it’s not like anything bad happened because of this, so I don’t mind it too much. Not to mention that it was probably really hard for you to refuse.” I had no intention of punishing him for such a minor slight. I wasn’t that strict. 
Sure, if this had connected to a life and death situation or made me lose something big, I would’ve reacted differently, but there was nothing for me to care too deeply about in this instance. Hell, if you looked at it from one angle, you could even say I had a new pair of guards watching my back... That might be a little bit of a stretch, though. 
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep it a secret from Yumina and the others.” Since I was about to leave and return with the girls, I asked him to be sure he’d welcome me as though I was just returning from my journey.

“You took ages! What were you doing?” Using another [Gate], I walked out to the same rooftop I left from, then headed straight for the others. Elze immediately voiced her displeasure. I gave them some half-hearted lies before we went to an empty alley, where I opened yet another [Gate]. 
Once we entered the living room, Laim welcomed us with a bow. 
“Welcome back.” After I accepted his greeting for a second time, the door to the living room opened. Lapis and Cecile walked through, looking like the proper maids they should’ve been all along. 
“Welcome back, everyone.” 
“Welcome baack!” 
“Lapis, Cecile. Nice to see you both again.” We exchanged a natural enough greeting. Everyone walked back to their rooms and then went to take a bath. We were all pretty tired after the trip. I decided to go in after they were done. 
It was a good chance to give everyone their souvenirs. 
To Laim, I gave a necktie pin and cufflinks, while Lapis and Cecile received different-colored tea cups. They said they couldn’t accept them, but it would’ve been weird if they were the only ones who didn’t get anything from me, so I practically forced them to take the gifts. 
Julio and his wife, Crea, got a straw hat and a Mismedian cookbook. I also gave the happy couple two matching bowls. The guards, Tom and Huck, each got a decorated ceremonial knife. Sue would be getting her gift the next day. 
I dropped on my bed and stretched myself out. Man, that was exhausting. Not just physically, either. I didn’t expect so much mental strain from traveling into a new country, but it was actually a lot of stress. Then again, I guess this whole world is new to me though, isn’t it...? 
All in all, I’m glad I made the trip, though. I came up with a ton of new ideas. I mean, hypothetically, I can send a mirror enchanted with [Gate] to Eashen and go there the moment it arrives. Plus, that new spell opens up a whole new world of things to do. I can [Program] a self-moving carriage or even create an automatic vehicle. The car idea is probably the best one... Wait, no, it’d probably stand out too much. Oh... I can use [Program] to give the map app an auto-targeting function! There’s so much more I can do now... Man, this is all so great! 
I thought about the autonomous doll, Paula. I should make something similar, yeah... I’ll use a cat or a penguin plush toy and... uhh... Getting kinda... sleepy. 

Huh? Oh, damn. Think I dozed off a bit there. Guess I was more tired than I thought. I didn’t change into my pajamas, so my body felt heavy. I decided to head for the bath, thinking hot water would reinvigorate my spirit. 
I took out a fresh pair of underwear and a bath towel from my dresser, then made my way to the bathroom on the first floor. 
The bath in the room was large enough to fit five to six adults. It was like a modest public bathhouse. The girls often took baths together, but I always went in alone. The butler and I were the only males who used it, so it always just ended up that way. I had no intention of going in with Laim, after all. 
“Well, it’s one of the luxuries in my current life.” My spirits raised, I placed my hand on the doorknob and entered the dressing room. 
“...Hm?” All four of them looked up as I entered. 
“.........Whoops?” Err... what are Elze, Linze, Yae, and Yumina doing here? All of the girls were in their underwear. 
Elze and Linze’s were matching, having the same small ribbons, though they were different colors. Elze’s was pink, Linze’s was blue. Both pastel. The lower garments were tie-side panties. Yae, standing next to them, was wearing a sarashi breast wrap and a fundoshi. That wasn’t too surprising. Guess that was the standard in Eashen. Ah, the whiteness of it’s just blinding. Also, the sarashi’s a bit loose, so it’s clear that she actually has the biggest pair out of all of the girls. Last, but not least, Yumina. She was wearing expensive-looking, but not overly wild, white underwear with frills and laces. Just like the twins’, the lower part was tie-side. I could only assume that it was the panty standard of this world. 
Weird, I don’t remember casting [Accel] at all... It’s impressive how much I can process in so little time. 
“KYAAHH!” All the girls screamed in unison. 
“Gyaaah!!!” I screamed in abject terror. Their sudden screams returned me to my senses, but all I managed to do was respond in kind. Was I actually staring at them more than I should’ve been?! A teary-eyed Elze launched her fist at me. Judging from the vigor of the attack, I could only assume that she had cast [Boost] to amplify it. And with that, my temporal lobe was violently rocked. I lost all consciousness.

“Well, you’re right that we were at fault for not locking the door, but...!” Linze muttered lowly. 
“I would like you to be more aware of your surroundings,” Yumina said. I’m on the ground. The girls are surrounding me. How long has it been since they started scolding me? Eons, perhaps? 
“I thought you all were already done and out...” From what they told me, I wasn’t the only one who took a short nap after returning to my room. I walked in just after they woke up, headed for the dressing room, and began to undress. Talk about bad timing... Or, well, actually... maybe it was good timing? 
“...You do feel guilty, don’t you?” 
“Huh? Ah, of course!” Linze glared at me with scornful eyes as I responded to her question. Since she was usually docile, it was a strangely powerful expression. 
“I would prefer such events to come after the proper steps have been taken...” Wait, what steps are you talking about, Yumina?! Don’t say weird stuff like that with your cheeks flushed red. You’re really freaking me out here! Well, it was a fact that I could’ve avoided the situation if I was more perceptive. On top of that, I couldn’t deny that I’d spent a long moment staring at them. Honestly, I wasn’t in a situation to talk back... 
The scolding continued for a while after that, and when it finally ended, it was already the dead of night. In case it wasn’t obvious, I didn’t get any sleep. After all, that marvelous sight came back to me whenever I closed my eyes... Putting the painful punch aside, it was actually a really great day!