Chapter 5 — So This Is Something like a Draft, Then?
Yogiri’s group turned back. The fog quickly lifted, revealing the gentle ocean once more. It took no time at all for them to reach the floating city.
“In the middle of the city is a central tower. There is a place there for you to land on the roof.”
The “island” was shaped like a circle, and in its center was a conspicuously large tower. They landed on top of it.
“I presume you wish to visit the Belm mainland?”
“Yeah. Do we need to do something special for that?” Yogiri wondered if they would need some sort of visa to get in, though of course they had nothing of the sort.
“Please do not worry. As long as you agree to certain terms, you will be permitted entry. First, I would like to discuss those terms with you.”
“Okay. What should we do?”
“Please go directly ahead.”
Following the guidance of the voice, they headed into the tower and found a descending staircase.
“Is this safe?” Tomochika asked. “It feels really off to me.”
“We can’t turn around after coming this far,” Yogiri told her. While he could understand her caution, if they stopped here, they wouldn’t be able to make it to the mainland, and that would cut off their last lead for Philosopher’s Stones. They had no choice but to hear the voice out first.
As they started to descend the stairs, Yogiri turned around. “This makes it look like I’m the leader. Do you guys mind if I go first?”
“Why not? Whether you look the part or not, you are the leader, aren’t you? You’re the guy who’s been telling us what our objectives are this whole time. We’re the ones who chose to go with you,” Hiruko answered.
“Okay, we’ll leave it at that, then.”
With Yogiri at the head, they descended the stairs. After one floor, they made it to a dimly lit room. The weak lights in the ceiling made it difficult to gauge how large the chamber actually was.
“In front of you should be some chairs. Please have a seat.”
There were two long tables. Each had three chairs in front of them. Yogiri, Tomochika, and Enju sat at one table, while the other three took the second. As they sat, a dull purple light flickered on in front of them, forming the image of a stylized eye.
“Hello. My name is Potenti, representative of the Belm Continental Conference.”
The voice now seemed to be coming from the eye, making it a little easier to converse. Speaking with a voice with no obvious source was a bit unsettling.
“First of all, I want to ask if there are any Sages on the mainland,” Yogiri said. That was the main thing he wanted to know. If there were no Sages, there was no point in going there in the first place.
“There is one. Belm is under the jurisdiction of Sage Van.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“No clue. He is rarely seen, so it is difficult to pin him down. I am sure he is somewhere on the mainland, though.”
“What is this floating city?”
“This is a bridge, so to speak, to reach the Belm mainland. Anyone who wishes to enter Belm must pass through here. This is also where trade with other nations occurs.”
“So, what are the terms we have to agree to?”
“Before I go over the terms, please allow me to give you a brief explanation of the situation on the continent. The Belm mainland is shaped much like a long rectangle, each of its four corners ruled by a different nation.”
“There are only four countries on the entire continent?” Tomochika asked. If there had been many more, searching through them may have ended up being a pain, so Yogiri was glad.
“These four nations are members of the Belm Continental Conference. To be blunt, the others don’t matter.”
“So much for the formalities.” Tomochika sighed. Though they had gone through the trouble of setting up such a formal atmosphere, it seemed Potenti wasn’t that concerned about putting on airs.
“Returning to the matter at hand, the continent is always in a state of war. I believe it is important for you to know that foreigners are generally killed on sight.”
“And now I’m starting to change my mind about wanting to go there!”
“So it’s survival of the fittest again, right?” Yogiri asked. “That’s basically the same as the rest of this world.” Being attacked out of the blue was nothing new for them.
“The top left of Belm is the nation of Momurus. The top right is Himeln. The bottom left is the Suudoria Academy. The bottom right is the Slow Life League.”
“Some of those don’t sound like countries...”
“In order to gain access to the mainland, you will need to associate yourself with one of these four factions.”
“If we do, we won’t be blocked from leaving again, will we?” Yogiri asked just in case. He didn’t mind joining one of the factions if he could freely leave once they had finished their business.
“That would be up to the factions in question. You will be required to abide by the laws and customs of whichever nation you join.”
“Then we’d like to join whoever has the most relaxed laws, I guess.”
“Unfortunately, which nation you join is not up to you. If you wish to enter the mainland, we will decide your faction ourselves.”
“Why?!”
“In order to keep the fighting strength of each individual nation balanced.”
“I see. So this is something like a draft, then?” Hanakawa said.
“Correct. Please think of it as such. Once you have entered, you will have to do as I instruct, so this is your last chance to change your mind. What will it be?” the floating eye finished, waiting silently for their response.
Hiruko spoke first. “This sounds kinda fishy, no? Like a contract you can’t read ’til you’ve already signed it.”
“But Tomochika and I will be doing it. We don’t have any other way in,” Yogiri declared. Judging from the discussion so far, the whole thing was going to be a pain. If Hanakawa, Hiruko, and Luu weren’t interested, they’d have to go their separate ways.
“While it seems absurdly suspicious, I have already made up my mind to follow you,” Hanakawa announced. “Although, are you sure you can make that decision without asking Tomochika’s opinion?”
“We’re kind of stuck together at this point,” Tomochika answered. “There’s no need to discuss it.”
“I’ll be sticking with Ma,” Hiruko told them.
“I’m going with daddy!” cried Luu.
“Then I guess we’re all going in.”
As Yogiri answered for the group, four eyes appeared in the darkness, two above and two below the first.
“If you would like to enter, may I please have your names?”
As they each gave their names, the four new eyes flickered.
“Slow Life League, Hiruko.”
“Suudoria Academy, Daimon Hanakawa.”
“Himeln, Luu.”
“Momurus, Enju.”
Each echoed a name back in turn. Apparently, they had already made their decision.
“Hold on a sec! We’re being split up?! I’m not leaving Ma!”
“In order to keep the teams balanced, you cannot be allowed to all join the same nation.”
“What are you, stupid?! If that’s how it is—” As Hiruko started to get riled up, she suddenly vanished. In short order, Hanakawa, Luu, and Enju followed suit.
“Huh?” Tomochika stared at the now empty space, bewildered. They must have been teleported to their new countries.
Yogiri calmly came to the same conclusion, but it was odd that he and Tomochika’s names hadn’t been called.
“Hey, what about us? You said we have to join one of the nations to enter the mainland, right?”
“Due to your lack of combat ability, you will not be recruited by any nation. However, since your entry will not influence the balance of power, you are permitted to enter as you wish.”
“Oh, that’s fine, then.” Getting separated from Tomochika would have been the worst-case scenario, but it seemed they had managed to avoid it. He had no complaints about the situation.
“Hold on a second! We just got separated from our friends! Could you be a bit more flustered?!”
“What’s the problem? Hiruko and Luu are gods, so they should be able to manage.”
“What about Hanakawa?”
“Uhh...he’s level ninety-nine, isn’t he?”
“Being level ninety-nine as a human doesn’t mean much in this world!”
“I get the feeling he’ll be just fine.”
“Then what about Mokobot? She may be a robot, but she’s not that strong, is she?” Designed after Enju, the robot had abilities far surpassing that of a human. But compared to the monsters of this world, it wasn’t particularly strong at all.
Ah, well. I am still here.
“Oh! I forgot, Mokomoko is actually just an evil spirit!”
A guardian spirit!
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in that form,” Yogiri said. Mokomoko was floating beside Tomochika in her true ghostly form. “So they just sent the Enju robot off on its own?”
Indeed. After all, I cannot exist independently of Tomochika. Forcibly teleporting me away would not work.
“You can control Enju from a distance, right? Do you know where she went?”
She is beyond my range. If we made it closer, I could perhaps get a response from her, but as it stands, there is nothing I can do.
“What should we do now?” Yogiri asked. The four eyes had vanished. They must have been satisfied after spiriting away their new recruits.
“Please walk to Belm.”
“That’s ridiculous!” cried Tomochika.
“As people without noticeable fighting power, we cannot waste precious resources teleporting you.”
“We don’t have to swim, right?” Yogiri asked.
“Correct. There is a path leading from the city to the mainland.”
“Where is it, exactly?”
“Please return to the rooftop. We will prepare the path for you there.”
The last eye vanished, and the lights in the room turned on. Now that they could see properly, it looked like an ordinary, empty room. There was nothing in it but the chairs and desks they had been using and the staircase leading back up.
“This ended up going in a way I didn’t expect...” Tomochika sighed. “Are we going to be okay like this? We’re wanted by the Malnarilna sect. Getting information on our own might be kind of tricky.”
“I’m sure we’ll figure it out once we get to the mainland. Hiruko is going to look for Luu, and Luu said she wanted to stick with me, so I’m sure they’ll come find us after that.”
“What about Hanakawa?”
“I think he can take care of himself.”
“Hanakawa... Survive, Hanakawa!” Tomochika said, staring into empty space, but it didn’t seem to Yogiri like she was actually very worried.
The two of them made their way back up the stairs. On the roof was a large device that looked like a floodlight, shining a pale lens towards the east.
“Is this the path you were talking about?”
“Yes. Please walk through the light.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“I remember seeing a secret tool like this in a cartoon once,” Yogiri said as he stepped forward. Once he was inside, it was like a tunnel, forming solid ground beneath his feet.
“Oh, it looks like it’ll be okay.” Tomochika hesitantly followed him in, looking around.
“Okay, let’s go.”
They began walking. It was a bit unnerving once they stepped out into open air, but they managed the journey without falling. They continued on in this way for a while: from above the floating city to over the open ocean, and from the open ocean into the fog. Just as they began to worry about how long it would take them to get there, they passed through to the other side.
“I was worried we’d be stuck in that fog forever...” Tomochika muttered.
“Looks like we found land.”
A huge expanse of land greeted them. The light tunnel continued forward into one of the cliffs on its edge. That seemed to be their destination.
The stony cliffs immediately gave way to gently sloping grasslands. A stone road cut its way through the open fields.
“Looks...pretty normal?” Tomochika said.
“Yeah, no jungle or wasteland or anything.” Yogiri had prepared himself for the worst, so the somewhat peaceful scenery was a relief.
Once they reached the top of the cliffs, the tunnel of light vanished. There didn’t seem to be a way for them to go back.
“I guess if we follow the road, we’ll eventually end up in a city?”
“Then let’s start by following the—gyah!”
I do not know what you are crying about, but could you try to sound a little more feminine when you scream?
“The grass! Look at it! It’s moving!”
“That’s because of the wind. Huh...” Yogiri looked to where Tomochika was pointing. The stony surface of the cliff quickly gave way to grass. It was swaying back and forth, rising to about knee height. It took him a moment to realize what was wrong, but there was certainly something unnatural about it. There wasn’t any wind at all, but the grass was still moving. And even if the wind had been blowing, it wouldn’t have explained the irregular way it moved.
“What is that? Is it alive or something?”
“Ha! We came to check since we saw the path, but looks like we got a nice clean catch! Lucky us!”
Before they knew what was happening, armor-clad figures appeared and surrounded them. They hadn’t seen anyone, but the strangers might have been hiding behind the nearby rocks.
There were five of them. Helmets completely obscured their faces, but judging by their voices, they were middle-aged men. Although it was just a first impression, Yogiri didn’t get the feeling they were good people.
“Can I ask you some questions?” he said. They had heard a little about the situation here, but there were many things they didn’t know. Hearing more from one of the locals seemed like the fastest way to get up to speed.
“Nope! You’ll have to die right away! Hey, make sure they don’t touch the grass! It would be a waste if they got infected!”
“Yeah! Gotta keep that meat fresh!”
Though their faces were hidden, they were clearly ecstatic. They must have seen the two of them as witless prey that had walked right into their hands.
Looks like we will not even have the opportunity to reach a city, Mokomoko said with a sigh.
“We haven’t been here two minutes, and they’re already trying to kill us!” Tomochika cried, cursing their fate.
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