Ishura - Volume 3 - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Hiroto the Paradox

The central citadel of the Free City of Okafu.

Excluding the self-proclaimed demon king Morio’s personal guards, people were rarely allowed inside its walls, but once one took a step inside, they were surrounded in a solemn atmosphere, completely opposite from the mood of the city below, thick with the sordid air of thriving mercenaries and scoundrels.

Hiroto the Paradox was invited into a room known as the “command room.” A self-proclaimed demon king consultation, one that would greatly affect the grand plan that had consumed his life.

“Save the formalities.”

Though only of average size, the mustached man had a brawny build, like a tiger.

He wore stiff khaki-colored clothes, reminiscent of the military uniforms in the Beyond. These weren’t clothes from the Beyond themselves, of course, but they must’ve been tailored to reproduce the same look.

Many visitors were attached to their original clothes from the Beyond—and fancied the otherworldly apparel. For all of them, that alone was their link to their original world.

“So we finally get to meet, eh? Hiroto the Paradox.”

On the other hand, Hiroto was small. More than his stature however, his outward features were that of a child.

His face, too, made him appear to be in his early teens, but his grizzled hair gave him a strangely mature air. It was this outward appearance that earned him his other moniker, the Gray-Haired Child.

Looking over his guest, sizing him up, Morio the Sentinel cut off the end of a new cigar.

Hiroto always had proper posture. Though, this perfection was solely to present himself to those he was negotiating with.

Lightly crossing his hands over his knee, he leaned forward slightly as he spoke.

“I’m honored that you’d regard me so highly. I’ve long looked forward to the day I’d get the chance to meet with you, Mr. Morio Ariyama.”

“I said to skip the formalities. You’ve been taking care of us for a long time, but you don’t really think that I don’t know where Kazuki the Black Tone got her guns from, do you? If it wasn’t for this latest information at hand, I wouldn’t have met you during a time like this in the first place.”

“……”

Hiroto recalled what Kazuki looked like when he’d first met her. An old visitor companion of his. When he offered her help back in the ravine, he spoke with completely honest intentions.

Someone who far surpassed any of Hiroto’s estimations killed her not far from where he sat. If things went as he originally planned, then Kazuki would’ve surely been here with him for these negotiations.

“Of course not. However, surely you know better than most that’s how things work in the arms business. If there’s a demand, I sell weapons. If there’s demand from both opposing sides, all the better for me.”

“Logical reasoning and personal feelings are a different story. My soldiers were killed by her guerilla attacks. Wasn’t just about the numbers, either. All of them were part of the Free City’s family.”

“Fair enough—”

Hiroto detected a slight shift in Morio’s expression and searched for an opening to cut in.

A dissatisfied, yet slightly mournful, grimace.

Soldiers were family. A military man who worked his way up to where he was now. The man who built this mercenary city from the ground up after being banished here from the Beyond. Morio appeared to esteem dignity and justice, but the truth was much different.

“I admit that, without our supply of logistics and guns, Miss Kazuki Mizumura might have indeed given up on her conquest of Okafu. The people who dispatched her would’ve likely gone with a different approach, instead.”

“Aureatia. I know that much. Those bastards’ve finally decided we’re getting in their way.”

“Now that you’ve crushed Miss Kazuki Mizumura, the Free City of Okafu has become their greatest threat. Next time, the Aureatian army is sure to get involved, I would say.”

“…Doesn’t sit right with me. Kazuki cut down our best soldiers. We go at it with our current military strength, Okafu will lose. I need reinforcements to prevent that. And those reinforcements are going to come from your army. No matter how things fall, it’ll probably all be according to your plans, won’t it?”

Bringing his hands together on top of the desk, Morio scowled at Hiroto. The conversation was flowing in a promising direction.

If he was completely refusing Hiroto, he wouldn’t feel like the idea “didn’t sit right with him” at all. The words signaled friction between his emotions and his logic. Morio was far from an emotionless man, but he was still clearheaded enough to weigh the two ideas against each other.

“I am always acting in service of my own profits, of course. I even used the Free City of Okafu itself for said profit. But the personal profits I’m speaking of also include profits for my allies. If you permit me to offer my assistance, I’ll ensure you don’t suffer any more losses.”

“And that means what, specifically?”

“It’s your turn to be the seller here. I will hire the entirety of the Free City of Okafu.”

“……You can’t be serious.”

Morio was at a loss for words. He had known that the Gray-Haired Child had amassed a tremendous amount of capital, but…

“You intend to buy an entire country? And what sort of benefit does Okafu gain from agreeing to this?”

“There isn’t a future for the private military-contracting business in this world going forward. With the New Principality of Lithia’s fall into the defeat of the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists, the demand for the mercenary trade itself disappeared. Essentially, I will be taking over that demand for the time being. If I had to give the specific merits for you, then…it’d be finishing your war with Aureatia without losing a single soldier. I’ll explain the concrete details at a later date, but I’ve already devised a way to advantageously proceed with the Aureatia postwar negotiations. If I may speak even further into the future… I can provide a battlefield that befits your soldiers.”

“…A battlefield?”

“Yes. Conflict is the lifeblood of the mercenaries of Okafu. You yourself built up such a city to provide a place where they can belong, am I wrong? I promise they will have their battlefield.”

The interest in providing a battlefield that Hiroto included at the end was a benefit for Morio the individual.

More than dignity and justice, he was a commander who treasured his family. There was some truth to that.

However, he truly wasn’t scared of them dying in combat. He sought to ensure his family lived out their lives as soldiers. Choosing the words guerilla attacks to criticize Kazuki’s fighting described his thoughts on the matter.

“Even I know what sort of situation this country’s currently being placed in. Hiroto the Paradox…… A fixer of your caliber must be able to get some large-scale strategy going, I suppose. Besides, if you publicize that information, we’re both going to be annihilated… That being said, I can’t easily trust you, either. You get that, right?”

“……Yes.”

“We’ve dealt with each for a long time, but ultimately, I haven’t seen your own power for myself. You were the first to develop guns in this world. You have some connections to technology that’s fifty years ahead of its time here, and you’ve established business relations with any and every power—that’s it. With that money, is there any army you could hire that’d outclass the one here in Okafu? What can you even do if you’re going to avoid losing a single soldier up against a huge army like Aureatia’s? I want proof. That you can be relied on. That you’re up to the task of having our backs.”

“…Fair enough. I suppose the day’s come to show what sort of power I hold—and what I’ve accomplished.”

Hiroto shifted his eyes to the citadel window. From the tiny window, installed only to allow for sniper fire from within, it was possible to look down over the mercenaries coming and going on the city streets below.

Around half the residents here were mercenaries. Such was the city Morio created.

“Mr. Morio Ariyama. To you, your true power doesn’t lie in the mercenaries gathered in town, does it? Your personal troops, though, were handpicked and taught in the latest military training that you’ve learned in the Beyond. You’ve never once showed off their strength to the world, so they must be your true trump card, yes?”

“…Obviously, I’m going to be the one training my own soldiers. What of it?”

“These mercenaries…including those personal soldiers of yours. I’ll gain control of all of them, by myself.”

“I wondered about this earlier, but… Are you mad?”

Visitors, having strayed beyond proper natural law and rules, weren’t guaranteed to have the same amount of fighting strength their outward appearance would suggest. For example, as it was with Kazuki the Black Tone, there were even some who lightly handled multiple rifles with slender arms, and others who moved faster than the eye could see.

This Hiroto the Paradox was unmistakably not one of these types of visitors. His movements and mannerisms made his skills apparent. Not only his obvious physical ability, but the way he showed his unguarded moments, and when he tried to conceal them, too, made it clear that all of it was inferior to the average person.

Supposing Morio did intend to kill him, he would’ve been able to snap off his neck at any moment during their conversation.

“I won’t bring any harm to your soldiers, of course. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to my would-be allies, after all. I won’t use blades or guns. How do those conditions sound?”

“…I don’t need to turn a mere game of tag into some big deal, thanks. I’m not trying to surround and kill you, for one, and I can’t let my soldiers’ lives get thrown out of order. If you’re truly serious, I’ll just tell my soldiers, should you get discovered, to simply capture you unharmed. Allow me to add that to your conditions.”

“I couldn’t ask for anything better. In that case, by the end of the day.”

Assuming Hiroto the Paradox had prepared some ruse to control all of Okafu’s forces, practically speaking, it would be impossible for him to make it a reality.

A number of bodyguards would be glued to him at all times, just as when he was brought to the control room the first time. To make sure he was immediately apprehended the first moment he looked ready to strike.

Nevertheless, Morio understood he wasn’t the type of man to wordlessly pummel a negotiating partner he had come to proposition. Supposing that did happen, though, Hiroto had no hopes of winning.

That’s why he hadn’t said “you” to the person in front of him, but used a distant “them,” instead. A roundabout phrasing to suggest that Morio and his troops, bodyguard detail included, were unconcerned parties in his gamble.

It was as if he was convincing them that it wouldn’t even get to the point where Hiroto would reveal himself openly and confront Morio’s soldiers…or try to challenge them with an ambush. With this, in order to match the conditions Hiroto first presented, Morio’s side would try to capture Hiroto unarmed instead.

Thus, he was able to make his preparations.

He exited into the hallway and opened his bag. Seeing one of the bodyguards slightly tense up, Hiroto smiled.

“It’s not a weapon. Would you like to give it another search?”

“……”

It wasn’t a weapon, of course. Judging solely from its appearance, it appeared to be a type of radzio.

However, he was also lying. For in Hiroto’s hands, it changed into a weapon more powerful than any other.

He inquired of the bodyguard directly behind him, as if making simple small talk.

“…Now, then. I can take that path over there to get to the observation tower, yes?”

“What are you planning on doing there?”

“Hee-hee. Do I look like I’m going to snipe anyone right now?”

“…No. Not at all.”

Hiroto moved through the citadel, making for the roof of the observation tower. The bodyguards followed after him, keeping their distance without losing him.

With his poor physical stamina, Hiroto had some trouble getting up all the way to the top of the stairs after completing the long walk to the observation tower.

“Phew, that was tough. You all go up and down these stairs every day?”

“…You’re the first person I’ve seen to run out of breath just from climbing some stairs, Master Hiroto.”

The guard smiled sarcastically. He was probably appalled at the sight.

“I’m quite ashamed.”

As his appearance suggested, he was a powerless man equipped only with his big talk. Anyone would look down and make little of Hiroto—

Until he stood up on top of the observation deck, looking down over the ground, and began.

“…Ahem. Aaaah. Ah-aaaah.”

Grabbing his throat, he tested his vocal cords. Then he readied the instrument he brought with him.

When Hiroto the Paradox was transported to this world, more than any gun or car, this tool was the item he wanted most of all.

The machine had a very simple construction. Over a base of a tanned wyvern wing membrane, a coil wrapped in gold wire linked together. Inside was a magnet, which produced electromotive force through vocal vibrations. That current passed to an amplifier circuit made from radzio crystal, the input being connected to an output with an exact reverse construction. This would vibrate the wing membrane and spit the sound back out through the funnel-shaped mouth.

The item was called a megaphone.

“People of the Free City of Okafu!”

His amplified voice boomed across the whole city.

Everyone was startled by the words coming down from the heavens, with some readying their weapons as they focused on the man standing on top of the observation tower.

“I am sure my face and name are well-known to you all! I am the visitor that Master Morio commanded you to capture, Hiroto the Paradox! Allow me to greet you all once again! Thank you for listening!”

By getting out ahead and revealing his identity to them all, he stalled the several soldiers who turned and promptly fixed their aim at the suspicious individual. Morio had ordered them all to capture Hiroto the Paradox without harming him.

On the other hand, this also made the guards watching over his every move unable to act, as well.

While the machine he used surprised the people below, Hiroto clearly wasn’t making any sort of offensive movement. Visitors couldn’t use Word Arts, either. It was almost physically impossible for him to attack any of the far-off mercenaries below.

“First, there is something I’d like to make clear. I imagine it was evident with your orders, but I’d like to be sure. I have promised Morio that I would win out against all of you. That was the condition on forming an alliance between myself and the Free City of Okafu! Now. I did make such a boasting claim, but…… Did any of you really think you’d lose to someone like me? An obvious weakling, bereft of any skill? Let me begin here. For starters… By ‘winning,’ I’m talking about achieving my goals. With that in mind, what does ‘losing’ then usually mean?

He was lying. Morio had simply asked to show him proof of his powers and hadn’t given any definitive promise based on such a display. Viewed from another perspective, it was a statement that could be distorted in many different ways depending on the interpretation. There was enough latitude to convince even Morio himself of such an interpretation.

Therefore, by brazenly asserting it as such in front of a large number of people, he was making them believe it was already an established fact. That if Hiroto won, their cooperative alliance was a done deal.

“For example, since I am sure most of you are soldiers, you probably think that the clear loss of all your liberty, as in, one’s death itself, is the most universal form a defeat can take. However, when it comes to the idea of a ‘struggle to survive,’ what should be a direct expression of a fight between life-and-death, an individual’s death isn’t synonymous with defeat. Interesting, isn’t it?”

He continued to speak while incorporating grandiose gesticulation. He was holding their attention.

In order to wear down the will to use violence among these people who made violence their trade, he needed to give them a story to focus on.

“There exists no living creatures that can best a dragon, however, the minian races have clearly claimed victory over dragons in the struggle for survival. A peerless individual is not guaranteed to be the final victor. I saw much the same in my past world of the Beyond.”

The audience still scorned Hiroto. He was a curious target, purposefully exposing himself in a location easily shot at by bows and arrows before suddenly launching into a strange speech. He was fine with that.

The most important factor of all was to ensure they couldn’t remain apathetic. Therein lay the meaning behind establishing himself as a target to all the inhabitants through Morio’s commands.

“Let me tell you about myself. I’ve sojourned in the Free City of Okafu for three days. During my time, both as one who knows the Beyond and as one who knows minian society, I admired the splendor here. In this town, there is no discrimination between races! In the Beyond, one is limited to feuding with your fellow minia, yet here both minia and monstrous races live together, fight together as brothers-in-arms, and use the same money to trade! Even with such bustling activity, this city is host to a natural system of discipline!”

Hiroto was fully aware. Okafu’s atmosphere was assuredly not born from any tepid ideals of equality. Theirs was simply the natural outcome of their liberalism and economic activities.

Ogres and lycans were generally warriors that far outstripped the physical and mental abilities of minia. If they were only employed as mercenaries in wartime, there wouldn’t be any of the dangers from training a standing army of minian-eating soldiers. This was a point where the Free City of Okafu differed from the New Principality of Lithia, who tried to utilize a wyvern army as their own domestic air force.

There was a high demand for the monstrous race mercenaries that Okafu commanded, and by traveling from battlefield to battlefield, they were easily able to supply themselves with their “food.” As a result, the monstrous races in Okafu weren’t driven out like in other minian cities. That was simply the extent of it.

However, Hiroto used that fact. If he lauded the group they all belonged to, people would be naturally uplifted and release the caution in their hearts. Anyone with a mind of their own was always starved for pride.

“Now then, I ask those who have seen Aureatia to think about them for a moment. How was it in Aureatia? Not only do they not accept the monstrous races themselves, could you say that the warriors wounded in the campaign against the Demon King were properly compensated in the end? Would you say their long-held minia supremacy—their aristocratic reverence—is a natural method of governance, worthy of a world where anyone can communicate their will to another via Word Arts? Neft the Nirvana, from the First Party, was a lycan. Yet after returning from his battle against the True Demon King with his sanity intact, a triumphant achievement to be sure, he was forced to live in exile in the Gokashae Sand Sea. When the people of Aureatia tell tales of the First Party, does the name of Lumelly the Poisoned Ground ever get mentioned? Though not a minia, she should still be remembered as a grand champion, one that none should be ashamed to recognize!”

He paused. He wasn’t unleashing a continuous rapid-fire stream of words, but guiding his audience’s subconscious along a particular track.

The soldiers themselves all understood their current situation, where worsening relations with Aureatia had put Okafu in a precarious state. He would use that enmity. While he himself remained their target, he would guide the focus of their hostility toward Aureatia.

“…Yes, it goes without saying, I am a minia myself. Am I even qualified to expound on a prosperous coexistence among all races? I am sure some among you harbor such questions. Let me tell you about myself… I said I would do just that mere moments ago. ‘Who is this child anyway?’ ‘What’s he going on about after popping up out of nowhere?’ ‘Did this buffoon mistake that roof for a church confessional, and hasn’t he realized it yet?’”

He confirmed there was sparse stifled laughter escaping from the audience. Now that he had turned their hostility toward a different target, he returned their attention back to himself.

“Allow me to introduce myself again. I imagine that there was some among you who have heard the name Hiroto the Paradox while bargaining for a musket. Do you know where those things you carry in your hands day in, day out, are made? Aureatia? The ruined Nagan Labyrinth City? Or the Hakeena Microregion perhaps?”

He gestured to one of the guards to come over and stood him in front of his audience. Originally meant to keep Hiroto in check, he was unable to resist Hiroto’s skill with words and the attention from the audience. Hiroto gave him a new role, separate from his close observation of Hiroto’s movements, right on the spot.

Directing the guard with a simple wave, he had him hold up the musket in his hands. It would be vital to show that it was not Hiroto himself, but someone the mercenaries considered one of their own, who held up the musket—and instill that idea in their state of mind.

“None of those places, in fact. The guns I make are not produced here on this continent. Then they’re from the Beyond, you ask? That, too, is not the answer. Yes, now then, here I shall introduce myself to you all! I am Hiroto the Paradox! Over sixty-nine long years, I have created another world, a third world! A world unbeknownst to you all!”

A wave of amazement and disbelief was rippling through the audience.

From the beginning, there had been preparations in place for this series of events Hiroto had incited. Allies who had already infiltrated Okafu stirred the audience with their own cheering and, with their regulated and trained attention, guided everyone’s focus on to Hiroto.

“At the edge of the world! Beyond the sea! I have created a country of goblins! Look for yourselves and see; they are my compatriots!”

His words the signal, a concealed group advanced forward. With their faces covered up by their cloaks, they resembled short leprechauns. A group of goblins he had slip into the city while he was bargaining with Morio. Hiroto’s preparations had begun before he had been invited that day, before venturing into the city for negotiations.

Signs of confusion and caution rose up among the crowd. An obvious reaction to see a group of goblins, thought to be already extinct, right before their eyes. Nevertheless, it had been necessary to burn some type of definitive proof into them. A degree of fluctuation between anxiety and excitement was what truly allowed for his words to impress themselves in the minds of his audience.

It was a risky method, to be sure. He needed to bring the situation under his control faster than their dormant feelings of hostility toward these goblins could make their return.

“People of Okafu! Can you believe me?! That it’s possible to continue across the oceans where krakens dwell, to the end of the world! That there is already someone who has discovered such a water route?! That goblins, reviled as lower and base, have a civilization capable of producing such high-quality firearms! That they are now in fact synonymous with the word guns itself! That they could create a nation, form a society……and are able to coexist with a minia like myself! Of course you can! You are bearing witness to such a society right before your very eyes!”

Clenching his fist, he looked fiercely down over the crowd.

Hiroto the Paradox was serious.

It would never be possible to make others believe his words if he didn’t firmly believe in them himself.

“I’m sure you all know! That it’s possible for the monstrous and the minian to coexist! That the monstrous races have power that is far more outstanding than the minian races believe! More than anything else, all of you, even those in Aureatia, have placed your lives in the hands of goblin-made weapons and have survived by doing so! You must’ve seen plenty of proof with your own eyes! Let me say once more! This Free City of Okafu, it is a wonderful city!”

Hiroto could hear the sound of someone climbing the tower steps…… Morio the Sentinel had come to put an end to his speech.

Even if Morio had an inkling of the purpose behind the speech, Hiroto had chosen this specific observation tower, far removed from the command room, to ensure Morio couldn’t quickly stop him. Despite this, the man’s intuition and speed were beyond Hiroto’s original prognosis. He likely had left the command room immediately after the speech began.

He even came personally instead of leaving things up to his men. This man won’t be the type to be won over with simple smooth talk.

He needed to make several revisions to the staging he had prepared around his speech. Hiroto continued to speak.

“Now, however, Aureatia threatens this land! This system of shared prosperity that Lord Morio built is on the verge of being lost! But because of that, now is when I wish to help you all! For my profit? That’s right! For my own self-protection! Indeed! I am no upright and pure man, and I do not intend to wax on about ideals and peace! Nevertheless, I can promise you results! I promise that, just as I saved the goblins previously driven from these lands, I will save each and every one of you! The Hiroto the Paradox you see before you, and this large goblin army, will be your allies from here on out! Just as I’ve promised Lord Morio, I will lend you all my strength!”

That was as far as he got. The wooden tower door opened, and Morio appeared.

Matching up perfectly with his calculations, timed at the exact moment Hiroto brought up his name.

“Drop the megaphone.”

Morio ordered, still just as calm and levelheaded. Smoke wafted up from his cigar.

Hiroto couldn’t surpass Morio with violence. If he thought to do so, Morio could’ve slit Hiroto’s throat with a knife on the spot. Hiroto took his mouth away from the megaphone and came up beside Morio.

“Yes, I understand. It’s a bit heavy, so could you take it for me?”

Morio didn’t let down his guard for a moment, but when he reached to take the loudspeaker—Hiroto forcefully grabbed his outstretched hand. Without a moment’s pause, he shouted into the loudspeaker.

“Here now, I pledge my fellowship to you, Free City of Okafu!”

It was a trap to draw out Morio’s handshake.

A cheer erupted from the audience. This time, it wasn’t from the goblins he had previously hid among the crowd, but a cheer rising as a natural result of his speech. The thunderous applause continued.

Morio loathsomely glared at Hiroto. Hiroto, too, stared hard into the eyes in front of him with a solemn look of his own.

“You little…!”

“It is exactly as I first said. I absolutely won’t let you suffer any losses.”

If Morio felt like it, he could have killed Hiroto at any moment. Now though, it was too late.

Even the self-proclaimed demon king Morio—in fact, precisely because he was a self-proclaimed demon king—was a statesman whose position stood entirely on his people’s trust in him, and he couldn’t ignore their disposition no matter what he may have wished to do.

Taking a deep breath, Hiroto once again called out to the audience.

“People of the Free City of Okafu! I have made a promise to Lord Morio! That with my victory, my army, my weapons, and I will be your strength! I pledge to you civilization and progress beyond what has ever come before it! What say you? Allow Hiroto the Paradox to bring you victory! I assure you that it absolutely does not signify your defeat!”

Lowering his loudspeaker at long last, he shouted with his unamplified voice. It was all his own staging.

At this point, his voice would travel clearly to the ears of the audience, their attention now completely focused on the man.

“So that I and, more importantly, you all can claim victory! So Lord Morio can claim victory! I, Hiroto the Paradox, ask you all! Please, let me win for you!”

The applause reverberated. It was more reserved than when Morio had made his appearance, but it clearly gave affirmation to Hiroto’s words.

Hiroto bowed deeply and turned to face Morio, unable to do anything but watch the situation unfold from behind him.

“…So this is what you were after, huh?”

“That’s right. And just like I said, I was able to overcome everyone here.”

“So whether I trust you or not, now I’m forced to join forces with you, then… Well, I don’t have any choice. I don’t particularly want to let myself get hung up with foolish pride, either.”

The self-proclaimed demon king Morio. Hiro’s judgments about what sort of man he was turning out to be right after all.

During the fight that lay waiting on the horizon, the man’s popularity was sure to become an indispensable boon.

“Well then, advantageous postwar negotiations, without any of my soldiers getting hurt. Must have some plan to turn things in your favor, then.”

“Of course. I’m going to make use of the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists in Toghie City, while they’re staring down Aureatia’s northern army.”

“You can’t be planning on allying with them, are you? With the Particle Storm crushed, those guys aren’t going last much longer.”

“No.”

Hiroto’s smiling face never faltered. He was always overflowing with confidence. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to subdue the populace.

“Zigita Zogi.”

Hiroto snapped his fingers. A small shadow jumped down from atop the rooftop’s entrance.

“A goblin? Having them slip into the city is one thing, but they’ve gotten into my citadel, too?”

“It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Master Morio.”

Even a veteran warrior of Morio’s caliber wasn’t able to sense this goblin’s presence nearby.

“Introductions are in order. This here is Zigita Zogi the Thousandth. He is my most reliable adviser… The arrangements have been made, then?”

“But of course. At this stage, we’re just waiting for them to make their move.”

Zigita Zogi flashed an audacious smile.

Hiroto the Paradox was a man without an ounce of brute strength to his name. However, he could still fight.

He faced Morio and gently brought his hands together.

“We can annihilate them whenever we’d like.”

The northern army confronting the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists. Their commanding officer was the Twenty-Fourth General of Aureatia, Dant the Heath Furrow.

I don’t like it.

The Imag North Flats had the perfect topography to set up camp. To the east, there was a large canal. In front of them, in the direction of Toghie City, was a thick forest. Behind them on their southern flank was Imag City, assuring that they wouldn’t have any trouble with their supplies. As long as they were able to handle this plateau, conveniently free from harmful insects and fauna, Imag City wouldn’t fall.

…However. All of this only served to make Dant feel like the ease of their position was being exploited.

On the other side of the forest, the Old Kingdoms’ army, from their base in Toghie City, was still recruiting participants from the frontier beyond Aureatia’s reach, and they were growing in numbers. Up until only a few days prior, the calamitous Particle Storm threatened Aureatian home soil, and the necessary division of their large forces here left them unable to expect any reinforcements for the time being.

Doesn’t seem right. My forces alone can’t keep them in check forever. So I’m supposed to throw my troops at them little by little and try to get them out by attrition? Royal games, Particle Storm… Every single one of them going on about heroes and champions, spouting absolute hogwash. Am I the only one who can see the real problem right in front of us?

The general commanding this northern army was Twenty-Fourth General, Dant. With him was the Ninth General, Yaniegiz. If they were solely holding out and keeping the enemy in check, they had enough military power to do so—that much was certain. There was a difference in both equipment and training between Aureatia and the Old Kingdoms’ army. However, given their strategy to use the Particle Storm to attack Aureatia without using any of their troops ended in failure, it was all but assured they would quickly attempt a show of force. The Old Kingdoms needed to bring the war with Aureatia to a close in as advantageous a position as possible. If there was a target they could set their sights on for such a task, it would be Dant’s troops, facing off against them as one of Aureatia’s main frontline forces.

Holding out against an attack isn’t enough. If we’re going to win, we need to completely stamp them out. Aimlessly drawing out the conflict is going to exhaust our own troops and drain the resources of the territory we’re trying to take back in Toghie City.

Troop strength had been divided to help with the evacuation of the Gumana Trading Post, where the Particle Storm was set to pass through, but conversely there were no reinforcements for this region, where a clash of arms was all but guaranteed. Dant believed this rigid troop placement was linked with the management of the Royal Games.

Sixth General Harghent and the like had cast aside any appearances of being a military officer and were off searching for candidates to become the True Hero. An appalling state of affairs.

No reinforcements are coming here. Yet Gilnes plans to make his move in a few days. Taking command of the front lines is that Caneeya the Fruit Trimming…… So it’ll all depend on her tactical approach, then?

He heard Caneeya the Fruit Trimming was a valiant woman of Herculean strength, no less than Gilnes himself, and born with an extremely large physique. If this current deadlock was something she intentionally set up herself, then he couldn’t afford to make light of her tactical ingenuity, either.

The Imag North Flats were suited for defense. The same was true for offense, however.

In addition to the narrow road utilized for merchant travel built to pass through the lowland forest, the marsh that circumvented the forest was a wurm habitat, making it impossible for even an army like Aureatia’s to avoid enormous losses.

A forest that restricted a large army’s freedom of movement—and a marshland that carried the danger of wurms. There was no means to skillfully deploy the massive force of arms defending Aureatia.

Nevertheless, if necessary, they could easily retreat back and hole up inside Imag City. If it came to this, they would likely be able to hold out for a considerable period of time.

Though, the burden placed on Imag City would be substantial. It could possibly cause a decline in Imag’s support for the Aureatia Council. Once there’s a negative effect on the people, they were quick to turn hostile.

At the moment, with the Royal Games close at hand, Dant wouldn’t be let off lightly if he prolonged Aureatia’s plans.

When his thoughts had reached this conclusion, a messenger made their return to camp headquarters to give their report.

“Commander, sir. Regarding the scouts sent to try breaking through the woods—three were killed in action, and another’s been heavily wounded. Traps and skilled guerilla soldiers lay waiting in ambush, making an advance through the forest difficult.”

“…I see. Safe to assume the forest’s been fully fortified. Send the scouts who made it back to headquarters. Once I’ve gathered all the info on the current state of affairs, I’ll share it with everyone.”

The soldiers, fed up with the deadlock, had recruited volunteers to attempt a reconnaissance mission, but things ended exactly as Dant expected they would. Would these four sacrifices be enough to check the soldiers’ impatience?

Charging through with brute force would lead to heavy losses. Though it wouldn’t be totally impossible, this should be enough to make them think twice about any aggression on our part.

Burning down the entire forest surrounding the main road was likely the quickest method.

However, surely their enemy was aware that wasn’t something they could do easily.

This forest was a valuable asset for Imag’s lumber industry, and if Aureatia burned down the forest, he’d have to bear in mind the several years of compensation they’d need to pay the city for their loss.

On the other hand, the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists did not have such shackles placed on them. Their foe could burn down this protective barrier and come attacking them as soon as they finished making the necessary preparations.

Advance forward and sacrifice the forest or fall back and place the burden on Imag City. If we’ll be criticized either way, it’d be better to act fast, but…

If they could hold out until Aureatia dispatched reinforcements, they could send a large, detached force around, avoiding the marshlands while they traveled, and besiege the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists while Dant kept things under control where they were. This was currently the role Dant’s assistant was asked to play.

If their reinforcements made it there faster than the enemy army could make their move, there’d be no need to take any risks. However, that truth also served to make them hesitant to act at all.

“…Commander, reporting, sir! An army believed to be with the Free City of Okafu is currently advancing this way!”

“Okafu?!”

“Two thousand strong! Currently, they’re marching down the Kameeke Highway!”

Dant quickly spread out a map. The arrangement was supposed have Twenty-Seventh General Hardy keeping Okafu’s movements in check. In fact, they had suffered significant losses from the attacks of Kazuki the Black Tone, who Hardy had dispatched to handle things, and Dant had assumed they’d be unable to make any moves.

That wasn’t it, though. First of all, why were they purposefully making their way to Dant’s encampment? Even if they did have plans to make an attack on Aureatia, there were a number of other important positions it would be better to attack first.

“Mercenary bastards… Are they trying to join up with the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists?! Muster all the unit captains together. We’re turning back to Imag City!”

“You’re saying to abandon the plan?!”

“That’s right! They’re charting a course to split the battle lines from the flank! If our retreat path is blocked off, and they restrict our link to Imag City, this plateau’ll turn into nothing but a weather-beaten tomb! We need to withdraw as soon as possible, or we’re all going to dry up!”

There was time to withdraw the entire army, judging from the Okafu army’s position. As long as they had the forest blocking their advance, the Old Kingdoms’ army wouldn’t be able to charge down Dant’s retreating forces.

Nevertheless, Dant had ultimately been driven into choosing to retreat.

Did this mean Okafu’s schemes had gotten the best of that old man Hardy? If the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists anticipated reinforcements from the Free City of Okafu, then just how much were they playing into their hands?

Dant gnashed his teeth.

I don’t like it.

“Really.”

Commander of the front lines, Caneeya the Fruit Trimming, smiled and nodded, just as she would’ve in peacetime.

The soldiers’ eyes weren’t able judge whether she was truly smiling, but even when standing on a blood-drenched battlefield, no one had ever seen this expression of hers waver.

“What exactly is Okafu’s goal here?”

“Maybe they intend on gift wrapping Aureatia’s destruction before surrendering to our forces. Whatever it is, right now they’re neither our enemy nor our ally…”

Caneeya’s thick arms twirled her sword, shaped like a thick cleaver.

She had a hunch a fight was coming. This hunch wasn’t of an intense battle where both sides straddled the line between life and death, either, but instead of a ravaging overrun bringing victory.

“But we can use them.”

“If now’s the time our enemy makes their move, then now’s the time we should make ours.”

“Indeed. We’ll pass through the forest.”

The Old Kingdoms’ army placed their elite troops in the forest, blocking reconnaissance attempts from the Aureatian side.

They were waiting for the moment Dant’s army withdrew. The Aureatia army, taking the high ground on the plateau, thought they could look out over the entire forest. However, as long as they were only looking at the forest from the Imag City side, they were bound to have blind spots. It was information even the Aureatian spy unit infiltrating Toghie City wouldn’t have picked up on from their position.

“Passing through the path we cleared, of course.”

The dense forest had been largely carved out on the Toghie City side.

The impenetrable wood that blocked any invaders was deforested except for the single defensive stretch—and carried by the canal to the east side of the forest. From the moment she had created a deadlock with Aureatia’s force, Caneeya had begun planning for this moment.

Without the dense forested terrain, their cavalry troops wouldn’t have their mobility limited. Quickly launching a large force was possible. Using this defensive opening, they would charge into Aureatia’s retreating forces with everything they had.

None of the Aureatia army would be safely arriving in Imag alive.

“Let’s go. Gilnes is sure to be happy, too.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Thus, Caneeya placed the cavalry unit under her command on the vanguard, and the large army made the ground quake.

Most of those who gathered in Toghie City were ragtag foot soldiers, but that wasn’t true of Caneeya’s troops. They were all battle-proven warriors, once part of the Central Kingdom’s regular army, and all regulated under one idea.

“Onward, cavalry troops! I’ll prove there’s no ambush waiting for us!”

With Caneeya’s battle cry came a loud response echoing over it.

The thunderous sound of hooves trampling over the earth. The entire army flowed into the empty stretch of forest under the enemy’s blind spot. As they charged forward, Caneeya’s smile widened even further.

The enemy general remained unaware that such a massive host was closing in right behind them. She envisioned her enemy awakening to their tactical defeat and dying amid complete bewilderment.

“All right, all right, all right! Twenty-Fourth General Dant. Your head’s mine!”

She charged up the hill at full speed. Naturally, there was no ambush after she exited the forest. In response to the Free City of Okafu’s movement from the flank, Dant must have acted to ensure the smallest number of casualties. Since he had always had a secure path of retreat, there was also no reason to risk his troops’ lives by placing some of them in the rear guard.

When she created the deadlock, that terrain became the winds that would drive her army and her army alone to victory, as if she had personally ordered it made that way herself—

…Suddenly.

A suspicion flashed in the back of Caneeya’s mind.

…As if I ordered it myself?

It was at that exact moment.

A terrifying rumbling, different from the kind made by soldiers and horses, sounded along with agonized cries at her back.

The soldiers charging alongside stopped their horses one after another, looking to their comrades behind them. Caneeya saw it last. Disaster had struck.

Turbid waters flowed out from the canal like a powerful dragon, fully swallowing up all the soldiers left behind in the lowlands.

As if she ordered it herself.

The trees that originally would have prevented any flooding, Caneeya had cut down herself.

“It can’t be… The levee!”

Right as the large force behind Caneeya passed through the lowlands, the levees on the eastern canal were destroyed. Why?

There shouldn’t have been any elements of the deforestation that had been leaked. At the very least, not to Aureatia.

…Who? It was someone. Not Aureatia’s army.

It couldn’t have possibly been Aureatia. She could see from atop the hill.

There were people lying in ambush on the higher ground, shooting down and killing the soldiers as they fled piecemeal from the floodwaters pouring in.

A small, nimble, and unseen—or at least, not seen in the past several decades—race of creatures.

Goblins appeared from within the forest and killed her soldiers. A trap. Battle strategy. Group tactics. Her elite guerilla troops, completely and unilaterally bested by base, inferior goblins.

“……Rescue those who lagged behind. Any objections?”

“…General Caneeya! Wh-what is that?!”

Instead of answering her, the staff officer pointed at the hill. Caneeya looked at the individual up in front of them.

A grotesque monster was waiting for them.

As if it had known somehow that Caneeya’s troops would show up at this spot.

“ANYONE. ANYONE HAS, IN THEIR BODY, THE GROUNDING OF A HERO.”

It looked like a massive wolf, but its gleaming silver-and-blue fur was nothing like a wolf’s natural fur.

The creature slowly moved its head and looked at the young new recruit.

“THE TENDONS OF THAT MAN’S FEET POSSESS WONDERFUL INSTANTANEOUS FORCE. JUST HIS LEG STRENGTH ALONE…HAVE TALENTS EVEN RIVALING DOMENT THE GREEN SASH.”

The soldier didn’t wait for any orders before aiming his bow at the wolf. A dangerous creature, beyond any doubt.

The wolf didn’t move. It seemed to be sizing up the people in front of it.

“…………YOU, OVER THERE…… YOU POSSESS A BODY ILL-SUITED FOR ARCHERY. THE CONDITION OF YOUR BRACHIAL MUSCLES SUGGESTS AN UP-AND-DOWN MOTION. TECHNIQUES THAT INVOLVE SWINGING DOWNWARD—SWORDPLAY, FOR EXAMPLE.”

There was the twang of an arrow being loosed, and the monster violently shook its body.

However, that was the extent of it. The beast tossed the arrow it had stopped with its teeth to the ground before continuing to speak.

“…OTHERWISE, THIS IS ALL YOU CAN MUSTER.”

“I’m going to bring this thing down,” Caneeya muttered as she twirled her massive sword.

With eyes betraying none of its emotions, the monster replied,

“IT IS REGRETTABLE TO BE MET WITH HOSTILE BEHAVIOR… THOUGH, I AM AS MUCH TO BLAME. LET ME TELL YOU MY NAME.”

With a loud smacking sound—its colossal back spread open.

It was an indescribable transformation, an inconceivable shift from its elegant wolf form.

Sprouting up in droves from within its body’s cavity were an innumerable number of arms.

“I AM OZONEZMA.”

Patched together with tendons and gold wire, each one carrying sharp medical instruments…the white arms of minian corpses.

“I AM A CHIMERA.”

Shortly after wiping out the Old Kingdoms’ army, an Okafu army messenger contacted Dant the Heath Furrow. The contact came promptly, as if they had foreseen Aureatia’s path of retreat.

“……What’s going on?!”

He thought it was a trap, attacking from their flank to cut off their retreat, but given that the Old Kingdoms’ army was annihilated in an instant, it was clear to Dant that they weren’t a military force he had originally taken them for.

“Okafu made their move! The Old Kingdoms’ army is destroyed! None of this makes sense!”

“……A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Milord Dant.”

The messenger coolly began to speak. A lone goblin followed at his side.

His name was Hiroto the Paradox. The musket distributor, the Gray-Haired Child. An enigmatic visitor.

“Hiroto the Paradox…! What…? Just what are you plotting?! Working for Okafu, are you?!”

“Not at all. This is not under Okafu’s orders, but rather, my own idea. I came calling because I felt it best to assist you, Milord Dant.”

“…You think I’ll believe those words? Trying to make feel me indebted by stepping into a battle out of the blue and saving us? Your pretext for conquering Aureatia, is it, then?!”

“Milord Dant. Please think over it carefully.”

Hiroto casually leaned over while lacing his fingers together.

“How does the Aureatia homeland view this situation? I imagine they don’t want you making any unnecessary moves during this deadlock with Toghie City and are planning to suppress them with reinforcements from the homeland as soon as the aftermath of the Particle Storm is dealt with. Wouldn’t these current events be viewed as you making negotiations without permission from General Hardy, tasked with suppressing Okafu, and utilizing their mercenaries as your reinforcements?”

“And from that situation, I’m saying that this all must be some trickery of yours! Do you think I won’t arrest you right here and make you tell me the truth?!”

“I’m not speaking about the truth here. I’m talking about whether there’s any room for interpretation. Why, Milord Dant, are you delaying reinforcements during this most difficult turning point in the war? The other general commanding the northern army… Ninth General Yaniegiz is behind in Imag City, yes? He isn’t standing on the front lines himself, as the one in charge?”

“……”

“Milord Dant, you’re part of the Queen’s faction that doesn’t wish to see a Hero-led reformation, yes? From the outset, I think it’s very likely that your stationing here was something directed by the reformation faction organizing the Royal Games…to drive you into being routed back to Imag City and diminish your position and political influence. You must have realized this yourself, though.”

The circumstances around the response to the Particle Storm had been different compared to a response to a onetime disaster. A military operation that incorporated multiple end goals.

There was an acceptable reason behind the delay in reinforcements from the Aureatia homeland—they were dealing with an unprecedented calamity, the Particle Storm. However, because it was such an understandable reason, it also prevented any criticism about the excessive division of troop strength between the homeland defense forces and the Particle Storm operation.

If they were just keeping the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists subdued, Dant’s army alone was enough for the job. However, maybe, if Caneeya the Fruit Trimming’s stratagem to utilize the terrain had actually been realized in this battle…

“It will be all too easy for the reformation faction to trap you by claiming you hired Okafu to snag an expedited victory for yourself. With that in mind…we would like to aid not Aureatia, but the Queen and you yourself, Milord Dant.”

“……”

In front of Dant, unable to give his answer, Hiroto used his open, outstretched palm to indicate the goblin standing beside his chair.

“Let me introduce you. His name is Zigita Zogi. During my dealing with Toghie City, I manipulated the market craftsman contractors for cheap, while conversely buying lumber at high prices. Everything was based on his ideas. The shape of that deadlock, with the forest in the middle, was simply Caneeya the Fruit Trimming turning the image she conceptualized into a reality.”

“It was natural to think, from the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists’ perspective, they’d want to use the delay in reinforcements caused by the Particle Storm to their advantage to settle things quickly. In truth, the forest was blocking their march and getting in their way, as well. I made them consider what the quickest way for them would be to clear out that obstacle. Kwah-ha-ha-ha.”

Zigita Zogi let out a chuckle, his mouth twisting hideously.

“Really, with military strategy……the more you think you’ve hit on some brilliant idea on your own, the easier it is to fall right into the trap laid out for you.”

“……”

“What do you think? Your army is unscathed. Furthermore, our goblin army is filled entirely with his personally trained soldiers. Behind them still is the army of the Free City of Okafu. I can lend it all to you.”

“A-are you trying to instigate…a revolt? Or is that intimidation?”

His outward appearance was of a boy in his early teens. His grizzled hair was the only thing that aged him.

This man was weak; that was much was certain. Weaker than both Caneeya the Fruit Trimming and Dant the Heath Furrow.

Despite it all… This man…

“Well, then. Who’s to say, really. You’re the ones who can decide the answer for yourselves.”

“What the hell do you take me for? I… I am not a shameless man who would sell out Aureatia like this. Nor do I plan on pulling the trigger on starting a civil war, either.”

“In that case, I can arrange a path forward for you that involves neither option. A path where the Free City of Okafu’s army is dissolved, and they are placed completely under Aureatia’s jurisdiction. I will present you the achievement of brokering such negotiations.”

Even in Dant’s present circumstances, appearing to have moved forward with Okafu negotiations entirely of his own accord, there was only one path that would let the man escape being a target of criticism. It was having the threat that the Free City of Okafu posed vanish entirely.

“It doesn’t make sense. What benefit do you all get out of that?”

“You seem to be gathering heroes yes? Aureatia’s Twenty-Nine Officials are searching for them, I’ve heard.”

Heroes, yet again. It was the only thing anyone was concerning themselves with.

Dant didn’t like it. From the very start, nothing about this battle had sat right with him. What rubbed Dant the wrong way more than anything, though, was that he himself was getting caught up in the tide, too.

“Now…what would happen if, say, there was, in fact, more than one hero? No one has yet to confirm for themselves how exactly the True Demon King died. What if, for example, there was an allegation that someone with a huge army at their command defeated that same True Demon King with that said troop strength?”

“That’d be totally impossible…! Have you ever seen the True Demon King’s power to drive anyone mad with fear?! The power to bring death, the weaker you are, the more numbers you amass, the more you face off against, the more you’re driven into insanely killing each other! It’d be absolutely impossible there’d be more than one Hero! Even a child can understand that!”

“That’s not something anybody is able to prove. I’m talking about whether there is enough left up in the air for that interpretation. If that hero had a nation behind them, for Aureatia, or perhaps for a majority of this world’s population, could the residents of said nation be considered enemies?”

“…The Royal Games. So you lot are after the Royal Games, too?”

“I’d like to dispatch him as a possible Hero. Zigita Zogi the Thousandth. He’s received the support of a goblin army and Okafu’s army—and defeated a Demon King. They are champions of a shared fate.”

Sweat slowly began to bead on Dant’s forehead.

The meaning here was not only limited to the right to appear in the Royal Games.

As long as there was a chance they had some relation to the Hero, Aureatia would no longer be able to make any moves against Okafu. At the very least, their public position would be forced to abide by that. Hiroto the Paradox. From the very start, this man was aiming for a participation slot in the Royal Games. If he had been the one to guide every part of the situation to this end, then……

“I’ll take two of the slots.”

“…Two…?!”

“Yes. I’d like you to give a recommendation to a member of the Twenty-Nine Officials you find easy to manipulate and who you have some rapport with. I’m sure a general of your renown has at least one person who can fit. I’d like you and this other official to back two of our choices.”

He agitated the Old Kingdoms’ loyalists using both material and immaterial information, driving them to their doom.

He ended the battle without spilling a single drop of Okafu soldier blood.

He entered into an advantageous peace between Aureatia and the Free City of Okafu.

And finally…he prepared the newest battlefield.

Hiroto the Paradox had carried out all his promises to the Okafu public.

“HIROTO.”

A giant silhouette landed from inside the encampment walls without a sound. It looked a bit like a wolf, but the beast’s appearance was unlike anything Dant had ever seen before. There had been no voices from outside that forewarned the threatening infiltration. No one had even noticed.

“YOU ARE STILL GOING? I HAVE ALREADY FINISHED MY DUTY.”

“I see. Thank you for your help as always, Ozonezma.”

“…I AM NOT HELPING YOU OUT. OUR RELATIONSHIP IS NOTHING MORE THAN EQUAL COLLABORATORS.”

…He didn’t know when things had shifted.

Dant was no longer able to kill the frail boy where he stood.

While keeping his attention rapt with their negotiations, the boy summoned two types of brute force to his side. What was there Dant could do now? Okafu’s army would be dissolved, the achievement would be credited to him, clearing him of any doubt, and in exchange, he would back the two in front of him as hero candidates. Could Dant think up any other solution right here on the spot that would surpass Hiroto’s demands?

“Two slots. These two here, are my hero candidates.”

Tactician. Goblin. Zigita Zogi the Thousandth.

Medic. Chimera. Ozonezma the Capricious.

And finally.

“You… Damn you… Hiroto the Paradox! Just what in the world are you?!”

Standing before Dant as he smacked his desk and jumped to his feet, Hiroto spread out his hands.

Now, shouldering the control over all of this military force, he gave a flawless smile.

“You’re the ones who can decide the answer for yourselves.”

He possessed world-transcending speech and negotiating gifts that sealed away any deviating choices in his audience.

He was able to understand one’s mind with a simple glance, fully learning all of his enemy’s wants and fears.

He birthed an unknown nation, achieving a degree of development that outstripped minian civilization.

A cultural invader who twisted all the olden logic according to his otherworldly logic.

Statesman. Minia.

Hiroto the Paradox.