Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 25 - Chapter 6

The Blue Knight

Monday, December 20th

A couple of days after the press conference with Ceilēshu and Koutarou, Elexis was back in his office at DKI headquarters in a great mood. The results of the latest public opinion poll had just been delivered. It covered all sorts of topics and issues, but one in particular was of special interest to Elexis.

“This is even better than I expected! Over 50 percent of Forthorthe is in support of Ceilēshu’s appointment as regent empress! Our plan to win over the undecided citizens was a critical success!”

When asked what power the citizens supported, the numbers indicated the highest support for Elfaria. Ceilēshu was second to her, and Vandarion came in last. However, the majority of the population still supported Ceilēshu acting as regent. Looking at the two polls, it was safe to assume now that a fair trial could be held for Elfaria under Ceilēshu’s regency, and that the accusations against her would ultimately be dismissed. To Elexis, that was a near ideal outcome.

“I’m sure this is largely thanks to that boy being the real Blue Knight.”

In contrast to the excited Elexis, Maya’s reaction was rather plain. That was largely because of their difference in personalities, but if someone like Maki, who knew her well, could have seen her in that moment, they would have been shocked. Maya was rejoicing in her own way. Her expression was surprisingly defenseless, and she was drinking more liquor than usual too. Because Maya fundamentally didn’t trust others, it was exceptionally rare for her to behave like this. Drinking in front of other people, much less getting drunk, was out of the question. However, not even Maya herself knew if she was comfortable drinking now because she was so happy or if it was because she was only in front of Elexis.

“Yes. If Koutarou-kun had just been a descendent or successor, things wouldn’t have gone this well.”

It was true that Ceilēshu alone wouldn’t have been enough to accomplish Elexis’s plan. This late in the game, it would have been difficult to bring around the citizens already supporting Elfaria or Vandarion. And without the support of the citizenry behind her, the regent empress wouldn’t have any real power. The Holy Forthorthe Galactic Empire was under imperial rule, but it wasn’t the kind of backwards government that ignored the will of its people.

But in order for the people to back Ceilēshu, they would need something to convince them. That was where Koutarou came in. Elexis had hoped that with Forthorthe starting to see Koutarou as the second coming of the Blue Knight, his advocating for Ceilēshu would move them. With the grand reveal of Koutarou’s true identity, however, the results were beyond expectation. It was more accurate to say that Elexis had won the jackpot rather than a simple wager. In fact, even in the public opinion poll, support for the Blue Knight was abnormally high.

“The rest will be simple from here,” Elexis said with a self-assured smile.

“We’ll selectively destroy evidence and make sure Elfaria loses the trial,” Maya replied.

“That’s right, although... With things as they are now, we might not need to make her lose. As long as some doubt remains, that should be enough. Besides, I made a promise with Koutarou-kun.”

Now that Ceilēshu was gaining support as regent empress, as long as Elfaria was forced to abdicate, their original objective would be accomplished. At first, Elexis believed he’d need to get a guilty verdict for Elfaria in order to ensure that. However, after seeing the overwhelming support that Ceilēshu was getting, he no longer thought they’d need to go that far.

“How kind. Whenever it comes to that boy, you’re rather indulgent.”

“It’s not like it’s just for Koutarou-kun’s sake. In order to stabilize the country and bring the topic of Folsaria to light, I’d rather avoid conflict with Elfaria’s faction.”

If Elfaria was found guilty, those who supported her would vehemently protest, which would plunge the country into chaos once more. To avoid that, Elexis wanted to settle the trial by having the charges against Elfaria dismissed due to insufficient evidence. While Elfaria wouldn’t be found guilty, her innocence wouldn’t be proved either. She wouldn’t be imprisoned, but she wouldn’t be able to reclaim the throne with that kind of lingering doubt about her character. That way, Elexis would technically be keeping his promise to protect Elfaria and Theia while simultaneously getting what he wanted. And if it was the court’s decision, those supporting Elfaria would eventually have to come to accept it. Elexis knew he’d need the support of the people for the return of Folsaria and the abolishment of the imperial government, but with the turnout for Ceilēshu so far, he now thought he could manage that without a guilty verdict for Elfaria.

“So you’re concerned about us too?”

“I don’t want to get on your bad side after all.”

“You talking about this like it’s a business deal doesn’t please me in the slightest.”

“Oh, come now. Must you act like everything I say and do is strictly business?”

“Maybe you should try talking about something other than work for once then.”

“My, my... Working with women sure is difficult.”

The back and forth between Elexis and Maya was gradually drifting off topic. Things were going so well for them at the moment that they could afford that luxury.

“There’s nothing simple in this world.”

“I’m starting to get that sense, yes.”

“You’re talking about me, aren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t dare. I’m talking about the situation we’re in.”

“I wonder about that.”

As their casual chatter could be heard from outside Elexis’s office door, the DKI employee standing in the hall was wondering whether to knock or to come back later.

“Oh, looks like we have a guest,” Maya said, turning towards the door.

“Looks like our lovely little tête-à-tête is over for now,” Elexis said with a smirk and a sigh.

“I can’t tell if you actually know how to handle women or not...”

When the employee in the hall realized that they knew he was there, he opened the door after knocking lightly.

“Pardon my intrusion.”

“It’s fine. Do come in. Has something happened?”

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that... but we detected some suspicious activity. We believe someone from Elfaria’s faction was responsible, so I came to inform you of the situation.”

Politely approaching after Elexis welcomed him in, the employee used his portable terminal to project a hologram in the office. It was displaying some records and other data.

“This looks to be access logs from Empire Bank... Is there something wrong with them?”

Empire Bank, or more accurately the Holy Forthorthe Galactic Empire Bank, was the central bank of Forthorthe. It was the heart of all finance in the nation. Its roles included managing the money of the country, issuing currency, financing general banks, and more.

Of course, as a private enterprise, DKI was normally not privy to records like this from Empire Bank. But through the means of espionage, magic, networking, bribery, and hacking, DKI had access to all kinds of information that should be off limits to them. Nothing, not even law, was going to hold Elexis back from seizing the country.

“Please pay attention to this right here.”

The employee zoomed in on a portion of the massive amounts of numbers and letters being projected. Seeing what he indicated, Elexis crossed his arms and began thinking.

“...An access from the Wenranka territory from ten days ago, huh? An account inquiry using an authorized authentication code... and the account name is ‘Layous Fatra Veltlion’? What is this?”

Normally, the central bank didn’t deal with individuals, but nevertheless, here was an account under the name of Layous Fatra Veltlion. That caught Elexis’s attention.

“I also had doubts about the Blue Knight having a personal account at Empire Bank, so I looked up it... but it appears to be a dormant account with no balance. I tried going through the logs as far back as I could, but there are no records of the balance moving,” the employee explained.

It wouldn’t be for several hundred years after Alaia’s reign that computers were invented. The banking business was digitalized after that, including records of deposits and withdrawals. But the account in question had a balance of zero even before the banks went digital, so the data that was retrievable now indicated the balance had started at zero and hadn’t moved since.

“Which means that its an account that’s been left alone for well over a thousand years,” Elexis commented.

“I have some employees investigating old handwritten books for information before that,” the employee said.

“Well done... So were you able to learn who exactly accessed the account?”

“No, sir. Unfortunately, any trace of the access suddenly disappeared and I was unable to identify the source.”

“It was accessed with a regular code, wasn’t it?”

“It was, but there seems to have been some advanced hacking involved.”

Since the account had been accessed with an access code, nothing seemed unusual about it. But if a normal user had accessed their account that way, the access history and additional information on the login should have been available. However, since none of that could be found, signs pointed to advanced hacking made to look like regular access.

“So was the account data rewritten?” Elexis asked.

“No, that’s not possible. I’ve confirmed with the backups that nothing has been manipulated,” the employee responded.

“Which means that someone went to all this trouble just to peek at the Blue Knight’s account?”

“Yes. That’s why I came to report it to you just in case...”

“You did the right thing. Thank you for letting me know. Please continue investigating. I don’t care what it costs.”

“I understand. I’ll put together a project team right away.”

With instructions from Elexis, the employee quickly left the office to get to work. Elexis didn’t so much as look up as he left the room. He was still intently staring at the data projected before him. He was convinced there was something more to this. He had never heard of anyone hacking without a reason or something to gain from it. There had to be something behind it. Elexis’s keen business intuition warned him that if he left that question unanswered, he’d be paying dearly for it later

“What... Just what was the point of doing such a thing? Who was responsible? What was their goal?” Elexis muttered, still staring at the data.

“I think it was the boy and the others,” Maya replied flatly.

“What makes you say that?”

“It’s one part intuition and one part facts. Look at the date.”

“The date?”

“Haven’t you noticed? This date of the access was the day after the conference.”

“What?”

When Maya pointed it out, Elexis saw it for himself. She was right. The account had been accessed the day after he met privately with Koutarou.

“If that’s the case, then that would mean Koutarou-kun had to confirm the account for some reason after our meeting... No, that’s strange. Koutarou-kun had already agreed to work with us, so he would have been able to access it properly if he’d just waited a bit.”

After being recognized by the royal families as the real Blue Knight, Koutarou would certainly have access to his own account at the central bank. He shouldn’t need to sneak in through hacking for that. Maya had made a good point, but Elexis didn’t agree with her conclusion.

“Then how about this? Only after confirming his account’s balance did the boy truly decide he wanted to accept your proposal. In other words, the balance was an important factor in the decision.”

“But he accepted our proposal before confirming that the balance was zero.”

“Yes, but he must have realized that there was nothing he could do against you once he saw he had nothing to his name here, and he accepted your proposal as the next best thing. Or perhaps it’s because the balance was at zero that he thinks he can beat us later on.”

Operating under the assumption that Koutarou and the others were the ones who had accessed his account, that seemed the most reasonable conclusion to her. Maya was now a soldier who fought with a mechanical body, but in the past she had been a magician that used mind manipulation magic. Reading other people was still her forte.

“Beat us? How is that?”

But Elexis was predominantly interested in the last bit of what she’d said. Everything else made sense to him, but not that part. Elexis and all of his business savvy just couldn’t comprehend how being penniless would put Koutarou at an advantage.

“I can’t tell that much. It’s just that we can’t ignore the possibility. Of course, that only makes sense if it was actually the boy and his friends who accessed the account,” Maya said with a shrug.

Her thought process was simply based on knowing how the human mind tended to work. She had no way of knowing if it was actually what Koutarou was thinking. If his first plan was impossible, he’d probably just given up on it and picked the next best thing by working together with Elexis. That’s all she thought of it.

“But a chance of defeating us with a balance of zero...?

The motive for accessing the account would depend on whether or not it was Koutarou and his friends. And based on the date, it was very likely that it was them. Elexis still couldn’t imagine an empty account being a threat to him, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it after Maya had said it. Koutarou was the Blue Knight after all. He didn’t think he’d give up a fight that easily.

“For reference, how much money do you think would need to be in his account for the boy to defeat us?” Maya asked.

“Well, in order to defeat us, he’d need to at least match DKI’s financial strength, so...”

Humoring Maya, Elexis started on a rough calculation of the massive sum.

Wait, how much?!

As he ran the numbers, a certain thought flashed in Elexis’s mind like a warning sign.

“It couldn’t be!”

Elexis stopped his calculations and frantically began tapping away on his computer. He brought up a database of the constitution and laws of Forthorthe, then searched through them using “Blue Knight” as a keyword. He also contacted the employee that had stopped by before and asked him about the progress on the handwritten books.

“What is it? Did you figure something out?”

Sensing something was up from the look on Elexis’s face, Maya put down her glass and walked over to him. Based on how he was acting, this wasn’t anything trivial.

“I don’t know yet!”

Elexis thoroughly read the search results he’d gotten. Once he was done with that, he received another report from the employee he’d been in contact with. It was an email with an attached image.

“I see... So that’s how it is...”

After looking at the image and rereading the message, Elexis reached a certain conclusion. He was practically at a loss for words, and his face twisted into a bitter grimace.

“We’ve been had! Koutarou-kun and the others— No, perhaps the legendary Empress Alaia herself set up a trap, and we’ve jumped right into it!”

Wham!

Elexis slammed his clenched fist down onto his desk. What he’d just realized far outstripped any scenario he could have imagined. There was danger where he’d never even considered it.

“What do you mean?” Maya asked.

“We, or rather the royal families of Forthorthe, have now recognized Koutarou-kun as the Blue Knight!”

“What of it? Isn’t that a good thing? That’s why the support polls were higher than expected.”

Acknowledging Koutarou as a successor or descendant of the Blue Knight was necessary to garner public approval for Ceilēshu. But because he’d turned out to be the Blue Knight himself, the effect of his endorsement was even more profound than they’d hoped. Maya didn’t think there were any problems with that.

“That is exactly the problem! If he had been a successor or a descendant, this would never have happened!”

Elexis had believed at first that Koutarou was the successor or a descendant of the Blue Knight, perhaps both. That Koutarou was actually the Blue Knight was such an outrageous idea that Elexis had never planned for that possibility. Elexis was a practical man, first and foremost. And in this case, that had worked against him. The possibility he’d overlooked had come back to bite him.

“If Koutarou-kun is the Blue Knight, he’s due a salary!”

The Blue Knight had special rights as decreed by Alaia, and a salary was included in that. So once Koutarou was officially recognized as the Blue Knight, the Holy Forthorthe Galactic Empire would need to compensate him accordingly.

“Then why be cheap? Just pay him.”

“It’s two thousand years’ worth of backpay! Not to mention the compound interest on it! Think about it! Even if the annual interest was at 2 percent for five hundred years, that alone increases the amount by twenty thousand times! And in reality, that number is likely much higher!”

Alaia had decreed that the Blue Knight’s salary would be 1 percent of Forthorthe’s military budget, which was 10 percent of Forthorthe’s overall budget. In other words, the Blue Knight was to receive 0.1 percent of the national budget every year.

“And that’s just on the first year’s salary! There are still 1,999 years after that! And every time the national budget has increased, so has his salary! By now it’s far from payable!”

When Alaia had initially decreed it, Forthorthe was just one small country of many on the planet. Because of that, the salary was limited and didn’t exceed that of the most affluent bands of knights at the time. But that amount had increased as Forthorthe expanded. In modern day Forthorthe, 0.1 percent of the national budget was hefty sum.

“As the Blue Knight is granted special rights, he’s tax exempt and his salary won’t be seized due to a dormant account!”

Forthorthe’s ultimate hero, the Blue Knight, was protected by special rights granted to him by Alaia that had been written into law. According to her decree, Koutarou had no obligation to pay taxes and he would receive interest on unpaid salary. His salary also couldn’t be seized because his account was inactive. And the proof that he had never been paid was right there in the bank records. The balance was and always had been zero.

“But the salary has been saved up― Ah,” Maya stopped herself mid-sentence.

“That’s right! It hasn’t! The Blue Knight’s supposed salary was used a long time ago to deal with a disaster and the following famine!”

Three hundred years after the death of Alaia, a terrible disaster befell Forthorthe, the fallout of which had been a terrible famine. The government was short on funds to handle it, so the empress at the time had gone into the money that had been saved as the Blue Knight’s salary. Since he hadn’t returned for over three hundred years, he was believed to be dead. And as the national hero, the people believed that he would lend them the money in their time of need. Even in the extremely unlikely event he were to return through the use of the supposed powers of immortality granted by Signaltin, they could just repay him then. They had made the decision with everyone’s best interest in mind. If the country were to fall into ruin, that money would be meaningless anyway.

“And his salary has never been repaid since then, but he’s still entitled to it now that he’s returned!”

The following year, after the Blue Knight’s property and assets had been requisition to deal with the disaster and famine, it was decided that the savings would stop in favor of paying out all at once should he ever return. And so the Blue Knight’s salary was reincorporated into the budget and returned to the treasury. In times of disaster and famine, 0.1 percent of the national budget was a considerable sum and it went a long way in relief efforts. It was the right thing to do. As long as the nation agreed to take responsibility and pay the Blue Knight as promised if the time came, there was no need to dutifully save up money that may never be spent. But there was a miscalculation in that decision.

“It couldn’t...”

Realizing it, Maya’s face scrunched up.

“That’s right! There’s two thousand years of interest on that two thousand years of salary! I can’t even image what the actual balance due is! The entire national budget wouldn’t even be enough to cover the interest!”

Indeed, the real miscalculation was assuming the Blue Knight would never return. Elexis had made the same mistake Forthorthe had, and now after two thousand years, the Blue Knight was actually back.

“That’s why Koutarou decided to side with use after confirming that his account balance was at zero, meaning that Forthorthe had no means of paying him! He used us to call a royal family meeting and have him acknowledged as the real Blue Knight, all so the country would be indebted to him!”

Everything had gone just as Koutarou and the others had planned. With her royal authority stripped, Elfaria was unable to call a royal family meeting herself. It made a certain amount of sense considering she was the one at the center of all the commotion. That’s why Koutarou and the others had used Elexis and DKI in order to call a meeting instead. In order to have Ceilēshu become regent empress and stabilize the country, Koutarou’s identity as the Blue Knight had to be revealed and officially acknowledged. And to keep anyone from finding out what kind of power that would give him, he and the others had planned each step very carefully.

“Right now, Koutarou has become the biggest creditor in history! He could ruin Forthorthe in the blink of an eye!”

Because he hadn’t realized those ulterior motives, Elexis had called the royal family meeting and played right into their hands. That gave Koutarou terrific power in the form of astronomical financial strength that far surpassed what Forthorthe was able to repay.

“You could call that empty account a second Signaltin created by Alaia the Silver Princess!”

The Holy Forthorthe Galactic Empire had used up Koutarou’s assets without permission. They had an obligation to repay him. They couldn’t just write off a debt they owed the Blue Knight. And Elexis was right. Not even the entire national budget would be enough to repay the interest they owed Koutarou now. If he chose to cash in on it, it would throw the nation into financial ruin.

“That is the true sword gifted by the divine, the sword of kingship! Forthorthe would become Koutarou-kun’s!”

The only person with the power or the potential to rebuild Forthorthe at that point would be Koutarou, and that would allow him to rebuild the country however he saw fit. In other words, it essentially meant that Koutarou would become emperor. As such, he could reinstate Elfaria if he so desired.

“This was an error on our part! Using Koutarou aside, acknowledging him as the Blue Knight was a big mistake!”

If Koutarou wasn’t the Blue Knight himself, this wouldn’t have gotten so out of hand. The special rights Alaia allowed the Blue Knight made no concessions for his descendants or anyone that took up his title. The salary was limited to him, and once inherited, it would be subject to taxation again. With that in mind, even with the knowledge of his true identity, they never should have formally recognized Koutarou as the Blue Knight.

Of course, this wasn’t something that Alaia had intentionally done. What she’d really wanted to do was properly show her gratitude for Koutarou and amass funds in case of an emergency. That emergency had come much sooner than expected, but it certainly wasn’t Alaia’s fault Forthorthe had gone all this time without making proper compensation. Koutarou getting this much power, in the grand scheme of things, was merely a coincidence.

“I can’t imagine that boy going that far though,” Maya said and shrugged.

She didn’t think that Koutarou would bleed Forthorthe dry just to gain control and get what he wanted.

“Of course not. He loves Forthorthe. He’ll likely only turn to such measures as a last resort if we continue to put up a fight.”

“If we give Elfaria a fair trial and reveal that the evidence against her was fabricated, he probably won’t do anything at all.”

“Indeed. He wouldn’t do anything to harm Forthorthe and make the citizens suffer. History tells us that much.”

Elexis agreed with Maya’s assessment. Koutarou most likely wouldn’t use his financial strength to such an end. Just because he had a sword didn’t mean he had to use it. It was probably better to keep it sheathed until it was really needed.

“However, if a proper trial is held, the chances of Ceilēshu ascending the throne are incredibly low. We’ll need to come up with some countermeasures for that...”

In order to keep Koutarou from drawing that sword, Elexis would have to see to a fair trial for Elfaria and make sure the evidence against her was exposed as fake. In that scenario, she would have the charges dismissed against her, meaning her royal authority would be restored and she would automatically reclaim the throne as empress. In order for Ceilēshu to become empress now, she’d need to display incredible aptitude for the job and garner an overwhelming amount of support from the citizenry before Elfaria’s trial. Unfortunately, by conventional means, the chances of that happening were meager. That’s why Maya believed that some special measures needed to be taken. But Elexis shook his head.

“No. At this rate, the chances of Princess Ceilēshu becoming empress are next to zero.”

He had grounds to believe it was realistically impossible for Ceilēshu to become empress at this point.

“What makes you say that? This is just going to reverse the balance of power, isn’t it?”

“If that was all it was, it wouldn’t have been a problem. The real issue is the one move that Koutarou-kun is certain to make in the future.”

“What do you mean?”

“With a mere fragment his vast wealth, he’s going to buy up all of DKI’s shares. In other words, DKI will become his company.”

“Which means you’ll be dismissed and DKI will be pulled out of the fight. Then we lose by default, huh...”

In order for Ceilēshu to become empress, DKI would need to make a move. But if Koutarou bought out DKI, they’d be unable to do anything at all. In order to prevent a buyout, DKI stocks would have to be private, but that wasn’t the case. DKI was publicly traded, and it was one of the hottest stocks on the market. For the right price, Koutorou could eventually become the largest shareholder of the company and gain a majority stake in it. Forthorthe could also prepare enough money if it was just to buy up DKI. That would cement Elexis and his associates’ loss in this race.

“I underestimated the national hero. To think he’d attack with financial strength!”

Wham!

Elexis slammed his fist into his desk again. The young leader of a cutting-edge conglomerate had lost to the legendary hero from two thousand years ago in a game of trickery and economic power. It was an unbelievable development and a great blow to Elexis’s pride.

“...So our plan to use the hero and the royalty ended up with us being used by them.”

“In this case, there’s only one thing left to do! Eliminate Koutarou-kun before he can make his move!”

Elexis and his associates still had one chance to stage a comeback. They only needed to eliminate Koutarou before he could take over the company. Koutarou was waiting for the results of the public opinion poll to make his move. If the citizens weren’t supporting Ceilēshu’s appointment and the Blue Knight in turn, the buyout wouldn’t happen. That’s why he was biding his time until now.

The public opinion poll had come out after midnight, and both the stock market and Empire Bank had long since closed for the day. That meant that the soonest Koutarou would be able to make his move would be when Empire Bank opened the following morning. They could stop the buyout by eliminating Koutarou before them.

“Are we going to do that? We’d end up going against the ceasefire.”

“What else can we do? Koutarou-kun, the Blue Knight, has already given Princess Ceilēshu his support! We’ve gotten what we needed out of him!”

It had been decided that the ceasefire between Koutarou and Elexis would last until power was taken from Vandarion. However, Vandarion was just silently waiting in the wings. He already had his forces deployed, and if they waited for him to make the first move, it would be too late. That’s why Elexis had to take action now, even if it meant breaking the ceasefire agreement and disgracing himself. He’d been backed into a corner and had no other choice.

The one that noticed Elexis and the others making a move was Clan. Thanks to her experience from the past, she was an expert at enemy surveillance. That said, it was difficult to directly keep watch on DKI headquarters. DKI had technology so advanced that not even Clan could let her guard down when messing around with them.

Their headquarters was predictably well guarded. That was why Clan had her sights set on their communications instead, surveying the parties the company interacted with and the amount of outgoing traffic. DKI’s clients and business partners didn’t have defenses on the same level DKI did, so keeping tabs on them was much easier.

Clan was mainly watching over Empire Bank and the public records office. More specifically, she was keeping an eye on access to Koutarou’s account at Empire Bank and access to constitution and law databases at the public records office. Someone tapping into both would indicate DKI had caught on.

If that happened, their next move would inevitably be an attack on Koutarou, which meant that the traffic from DKI to the military sector would drastically increase. With DKI’s security, it would be difficult to tap directly into a communication line to figure out what was going on, but monitoring the amount of outgoing traffic and where it was going was easy.

Of course, acting on that alone would be rash, so the entrances and exits to DKI headquarters were also being watched with scrutiny. The most important one was the helipad on the roof, which would let them know if either the president’s personal aircraft was taken to the military sector or if a military craft landed at DKI. And once she saw the president’s personal craft take off and had confirmed the other details, Clan determined that Elexis and his associates were indeed on the move.

“Veltlion, it looks like they’re onto us!”

“Jeez, it would have been checkmate if it had just taken them a little longer to figure it out.”

“If only. This is the CEO of DKI we’re talking about.”

Koutarou didn’t seem surprised by Clan’s report. He had vaguely expected that this would happen, and preparations had been made in advance for that reason. Up until now, Koutarou and the others had tried to stay together as they moved. That’s why Maki and Kiriha were also in the room with them where they were staying. And it wasn’t just them. The room had everyone’s equipment in it too, all packed up and ready to go. Not thirty seconds after Clan’s initial warning, Koutarou and the girls were geared up and ready to escape.

“Clan-dono, how does it look on their end?” Kiriha asked.

Kiriha, who had finished preparations to depart the quickest, slightly pushed the curtain aside to peek outside. Wary of snipers, Kiriha had her haniwas protect her with a barrier, but fortunately she was worried over nothing. Nothing seemed unusual outside the window.

“The military aircrafts haven’t taken off, but they’re on standby. It doesn’t look like they’re planning a direct attack on the guesthouse. They’re likely waiting for us to move first.”

Still something of a sheltered princess, Clan was the last one ready to go, and she answered Kiriha as she was still slowly packing up her computer and the other equipment she’d been using. In the end, Koutarou couldn’t stand it and threw it all in her bag for her.

“Even if the situation’s bad, it seems like they want to avoid attacking the palace. Though I’m sure it took a lot to hold Crimson back,” Maki added.

She had finished her own preparations and was standing next to Koutarou before anyone knew it. With the life she’d lived, she was no stranger to this kind of situation. But even so, she knew that there wasn’t any immediate danger right now. With that peace of mind, there was even a smile on her face as she thought of her friend on the other side.

“But if we take too long, the other leaders of Darkness Rainbow will come in on their own. So let’s hurry up and get out of here. I definitely wouldn’t want to fight Crimson indoors.”

Koutarou and the girls were currently in the guesthouse at the royal palace. Elexis and the others should have been aware of that, but they weren’t attacking directly. There were lots of risks with attacking the imperial palace, but they might have the leaders of Darkness Rainbow infiltrate if things took too long. Attacking without leaving evidence behind could be considered their specialty. Having to deal with Darkness Rainbow with just the four of them wasn’t desirable, so they made their move to escape before that happened.

The hallway connected to the guesthouse was silent. As it was a place for important people to stay and rest, there wasn’t anyone walking around like there would be in a normal hotel. Since it was now past midnight, the only people passing by at this hour were patrolling guards on night duty.

“...Looks like it’s still safe,” Clan said as she peeked out.

“You’re too worried. They’re not going to come this fast. It’s only been a few minutes,” Koutarou chided her.

After that, Koutarou and the girls walked down the quiet, extravagant hallway. The silence was only disturbed by the occasional whisper and the footsteps of the four of them as they moved along. The mood was almost especially somber in such a grand setting.

“I got it, ho! Clan-chan is worried that assassins might have infiltrated beforehand, ho!”

“Th-That’s right! That kind of thing happens, doesn’t it?!”

“You’re just scared, aren’t you?”

“Just scared, ho?”

“I am not!”

As the guesthouse at the imperial palace of a massive galactic empire like Forthorthe, the place was huge. Koutarou and the others were headed for the exit, and had avoided the elevators just in case, but even then it took them several minutes to get down the hallway from the room they were using. Confirming they were approaching the door to the outside, Maki turned to Kiriha.

“Kiriha-san, don’t you think it’s about time we do that thing?”

“Yeah, now’s a good time.”

Their enemies were DKI and Darkness Rainbow. They would try and plan an ambush with divination magic, but Kiriha had come up with a clever way to thwart that. She had devised multiple plans and escape routes, and they would choose one at random when the time came so that it would be impossible to predict. To ensure the random element, they would use the trading cards that Kiriha was always carrying with her.

“Aren’t there more than usual today?” Maki asked.

“Since there are so few of us, it’s just in case,” Kiriha replied.

She pulled out about a dozen cards and began shuffling them. She looked like a stage magician with the cards beautifully dancing in her hands.

“Well then, Maki...”

However, when Kiriha spread the cards out and offered them to Maki to choose one, Koutarou stepped in.

“Stop. Leave that for later,” he said with tension both audible in his voice and visible on his face.

“What is it?” Kiriha asked.

“There’s someone in the entrance hall. There’s no hostility in them, but... Clan might actually be right.”

Koutarou could sense the aura of someone just ahead in the entrance hall. That was thanks to the ability given to him by Sanae, and while he wasn’t as good at it as she was, he could sense the emotions of others. In this case, he wasn’t reading any hostility or caution, but unlike the guards they’d encountered, this person wasn’t moving around. They were just silently standing in the hall. If it was an enemy, it was a highly trained expert, so Koutarou and the girls slowly approached with caution. They had considered using a different route, but if it really was an enemy, they didn’t want them getting behind them either.

“How do you do, Layous-sama?”

But it turned out that Koutarou’s fears were for naught. Standing in the hall ahead was only the recently appointed regent empress, Ceilēshu. She gave Koutarou a mild smile as he entered the hall.

“Princess Ceilēshu... What brings you here?”

“That man told me to delay you, Layous-sama.”

The man she spoke of was none other than Elexis. She was standing in the entrance hall because Elexis had told her to, and spread out on either side of her were dozens of unmanned weapons. But even in such a position, Ceilēshu’s smile was unchanging.

“So what are you going to do, Your Highness?”

Koutarou held his ground too and continued speaking as usual. He still didn’t sense any hostility from Ceilēshu.

“This, of course.”

In total there were 32 unmanned weapons in the hall. If all of them activated together, Koutarou and the other girls would be in trouble.

“Destroy one another,” Ceilēshu ordered.

“As you wish, my princess,” the machines responded in unison.

They were quick to follow the order they’d been given. After locking on to each other, the unmanned weapons attacked without mercy. Before long, they were each reduced to scrap. After seeing to that, Ceilēshu approached Koutarou and the others without saying a word. Just as Koutarou sensed, she never had any intentions of hurting them from the very beginning.

“I’ll pray for your fortune, Layous-sama.”

“Why would you side with us, Princess Ceilēshu? That can’t have been easy considering the situation.”

Koutarou was surprised. Since Elexis had been the one responsible for her appointment as regent empress, he wasn’t sure why she’d go against him. Koutarou had even suspected that Elexis had chosen a weak-willed puppet for the position to make it easier to achieve his goals. Odds were Ceilēshu was working together with Elexis either for personal gain or out of personal weakness. Yet she moved out of the way. It was a selfless act of defiance. That struck Koutarou as strange.

“That was the only question I didn’t want to be asked,” Ceilēshu sighed. She had constantly been smiling, but now she looked sad. “I debated the matter for a long time, whether I should save my father or protect the country...”

“That bastard...”

Koutarou clenched his fist and tried to hold back his anger. He’d known that Ceilēshu’s father was seriously ill. It was information that accompanied the report on her, and it turned out that was her weakness. “Do what I say and I will treat your father’s illness” was the condition that Elexis had given Ceilēshu. Even if it was a feat impossible for medical science, Elexis had spiritual energy technology and magic at his disposal.

“But in the end, I was unable to abandon my father... I decided to listen to that man.”

That’s why Ceilēshu had had no choice but to accept Elexis’s terms. Having lost his mother early in life, Koutarou was painfully aware of how she must have felt. In a sense, Elexis had dangled hope in front of Ceilēshu and used that as a way to manipulate her.

“I was going to obey that man and save my father. That’s what I truly wanted... until the day that I met you.”

But a couple of days before the press conference, when she first met Koutarou, the Blue Knight that saved the country alongside the legendary Princess Alaia, Ceilēshu was seized by a certain thought.

“I am about to sell this man and the country so many people died to protect to a despicable enemy.”

That thought pained Ceilēshu. She wanted to protect the country, but she couldn’t bear the thought of losing her father. Caught in between those two conflicting emotions, she was beside herself. That’s why, on the day of the press conference, she had asked Koutarou a desperate, earnest question: Was he still the Blue Knight? It was only when she heard his answer that she was finally able to find her own path.

“I am still a princess of Forthorthe.”

Ceilēshu couldn’t betray the long history, the culture, or the pride of her country. She couldn’t forget those who had staked their lives to fight for it. Her father was among them. Betraying the country would mean trampling on what her father’s life had stood for. And with that realization, she made her decision. Even if it was painful, Ceilēshu chose to be a princess of Forthorthe.

“No matter what I lose because of it...”

Tears fell down from Ceilēshu’s eyes. She knew that the path she was walking meant there was no way to save her father, and that very thought was too much for her. Watching her cry, Koutarou was reminded of Alaia the night of the harvest festival. In that moment, Koutarou was also quite certain of the path ahead of him. There was only one thing he could do.

“Your Highness, I will save your father without fail. I swear on my life and this sword. So please don’t lose heart. Wait just a little longer.”

This girl who had been given hope voluntarily scorned it for the sake of what was right. And even though she’d done what was right, it plunged her into the depths of despair once more. The pain was likely several times worse than when she’d first learned that her father was dying. And that was what steeled Koutarou’s resolve now. He was going to protect this noble princess. He was going to save her, this princess weeping over her own helplessness. No matter how much time passed, Koutarou was still the same.

“Layous-sama... those words alone are salvation to me.”

Ceilēshu wiped away her tears and tried her best to smile, but it was no use. Her tears continued to fall and her lips were quivering.

“Please stay safe. Not for my sake, but for the sake of the people of Forthorthe.”

“I am not worthy of such words, Your Highness.”

Koutarou bowed to Ceilēshu. He was truly angry. The only thing on his mind right now was defeating Elexis. That was how he would save Ceilēshu and her father.

“Well then, I must be going.”

Raising his head, Koutarou bid farewell to Ceilēshu. The truth was that he wanted to stay a little longer to talk to her, console her, and put her at ease. But the current situation didn’t allow for that. If he took too long now, everything would be for naught. Koutarou burned the image of teary-eyed Ceilēshu into his mind and ran past her. Knowing what he was thinking, Ceilēshu didn’t say anything as she saw him off.

“We’re going too.”

“Yes. Wait up, Satomi-kun!”

Kiriha and Maki chased after Koutarou. When they both took off, Clan—who was distracted by the crying Ceilēshu—realized that she was being left behind.

Oh no, I have to go too...

Clan started to run past Ceilēshu after the others, but she called out to her.

“Clariossa-san.”

“Wh-What is it?”

Surprised, Clan stopped. Since she’d only just recently started learning how to really relate to and talk to other people, crying wasn’t something Clan was very good at handling.

“How was it that Alaia-sama shook off her hesitation?”

Ceilēshu wiped away her tears once more, this time with more success. Once she’d stopped crying, Clan was somewhat able to recollect herself.

“I don’t know that either,” Clan said, slightly shaking her head with a gentle smile on her face. “But there’s one thing I do know for certain.”

“What’s that?”

“Alaia-san loved both Forthorthe and that man. That’s why she was able to do everything she could for them. That is all.”

“Clariossa-san... You’re right. I’ll do everything I can too.”

Next, Ceilēshu tried smiling again. Fortunately, she was able to succeed this time too.

“I believe that would be good for you. Now if you’ll excuse me...”

Relieved that Ceilēshu had regained her smile, Clan hurried to catch up to Koutarou and the others. Her steps were light and without hesitation.

“...I’m really not capable of being empress... How truly unfortunate...”

Clan was running while Ceilēshu was standing still. They were both princesses, but that distinct difference between them made her realize that she wasn’t suited to be empress. Her destiny would be returning the throne to Elfaria.

Koutarou and the others wanted to return to the Hazy Moon, but if they were to use a transfer gate, the gravitational waves created when activating it would be detectable by their enemies. Once that happened, the Hazy Moon’s location would be revealed and an enemy fleet would rush to the spot. It wouldn’t be a problem if they had an allied fleet protecting them, but the Hazy Moon was currently solo. That meant that they only had two choices: either make a break for the Hazy Moon using the Cradle, or head for the suburbs where gates were commonly used. The former relied on not using gates at all, while the latter relied on blending in so as not to raise suspicion. Regardless of what they chose, they wouldn’t be able to do either at the imperial palace, so their first real objective was to escape from there.

There were several routes that led to the outside from the guesthouse at the imperial palace. The card that Maki pulled from Kiriha’s shuffled and fanned out cards was the Kabutonga Atlas special attack card, which corresponded to getting out of the palace using the drainpipe from the palace pond.

“While this might be an emergency, I can’t say I’m happy about damaging the imperial palace as we escape...” Koutarou said, shaking his head.

“If you’re the one doing it, no one is going to complain. You practically made it after all,” Kiriha replied matter-of-factly.

“Even so...”

Koutarou and the others had infiltrated the pond’s drainpipe from the water treatment facility and were currently traveling through the maintenance tunnel. Naturally, there were grates and things along the way every so often to keep people from getting through. Koutarou, at the head of the group, was breaking them down as they came across them.

Slam! Smash!

“But still, why isn’t the alarm going off?”

Koutarou tilted his head curiously as he destroyed yet another grate. The grates were there to keep people from infiltrating the palace. When one was destroyed, it should set off an alarm to warn of a possible inbound intruder. But despite that, no matter how many grates Koutarou broke through, the alarms on the walls weren’t going off. The surveillance cameras set up were all on standby too. Thanks to that, Clan was out of a job.

“Thinking about it rationally, Darkness Rainbow must have cut it off.”

Maki’s thought process was simple. She believed that Darkness Rainbow had silenced the alarm and cut off the surveillance cameras in preparation for their own plans to infiltrate the palace.

“Which means that they’re coming from the other side of this drainpipe?”

“Not necessarily the drainpipe. Shutting down the entire system would have been more convenient.”

Disabling just the systems along their planned route would indeed be effective, but that kind of focused strategy would take more time and effort. Disabling the entire system was more effective, especially so in situations like this where a small group would be infiltrating in a race against time. That’s why Maki figured the chances of encountering Darkness Rainbow in the drainpipe specifically were low.

“...I think it’s Ceilēshu-san’s doing,” Clan said.

Her assessment of the situation was almost the opposite of Maki’s. She believed an ally was assisting them.

“Her Highness Ceilēshu?”

“Take a look behind you. Around the grates you destroyed.”

Clan stopped walking and pointed behind them. Koutarou turned his head to look.

“...There’s nothing there, really.”

Nothing looked any different from before, and he didn’t see any enemies either.

“Take a closer look. The surveillance cameras are working. You see?”

“Now that you mention it, the lights are on now.”

All of the warning systems were deactivated when Koutarou and the girls had passed by them. They’d been able to tell because all the lights on the cameras and alarms were off. But looking back at where they’d come from, the lights were all on now. That indicated the equipment was starting back up again.

“Ceilēshu is most likely at the imperial palace security station, and she’s selectively operating the systems just for us.”

Clan recalled Ceilēshu’s words when they parted. She’d said she’d do everything she could, and Clan was convinced this was Ceilēshu’s way of helping out.

“Princess Ceilēshu is an amazing princess, isn’t she, Clan?”

Ceilēshu was in a difficult situation. She had sided with Elexis in order to save her father, but now she had betrayed him. It put her in a rather dangerous position. But even then, she was trying to help Koutarou and the others. Koutarou thought rather highly of that.

“You look like you have something else you’d like to say,” Clan said with a frown. She was unhappy with his wording and his expression, which was very similar to the one he often had on his face while teasing her.

“Yeah. I’m a little relieved, honestly. Even if I die, there would still be hope.”

“...”

However, much to Clan’s surprise, the words that came out of his mouth were nothing of the sort. That wasn’t at all what she’d expected him to say. And since she’d only been prepared to complain or argue, she had no idea how to respond to him now.

“We can’t afford to die, Koutarou. We have plans for the future.”

“She’s right, Satomi-kun. There’s no way you can lose.”

After Kiriha and Maki answered in her stead, Clan had finally come up with something to say herself.

“There’s no need to worry, Veltlion.”

“That’s true. You guys are here after all.”

“Heh, you really are more gentlemanly when you’re incredibly angry.”

Clan knew that when Koutarou was genuinely angry, he became too focused to tease her. In that sense, he was more honest about what he was thinking and his intentions. It did make him seem more gentlemanly. Funnily enough, that’s what it took—being livid—for Koutarou to behave like a gentleman towards Clan.

“Clan...”

“And when you’re angry, you don’t lose to anyone. That’s historical fact.”

Clan had seen Koutarou angry several times before. The first time she saw it, that anger was even directed at her. That’s how she knew that when he was mad, he always came out on top. She also believed that the day would come when Koutarou could tease her freely again.

“...Yeah.”

“Do what you will. We’re here to help you make it happen.”

Koutarou actually felt roughly the same way about Clan. Normally she was selfish and her faults were rather pronounced, but when she was angry, she transformed into a splendid princess. Koutarou could see it happening even now, and he could sense something similar in Kiriha and Maki.

It’s not just Princess Ceilēshu. I’ll make you pay for making these girls feel this way, Elexis...

Of course, Koutarou didn’t want Clan to be a splendid princess. He wanted her to be her usual, somewhat unreliable self. He wanted Kiriha and Maki to be themselves too. And that wish only made him more angry at Elexis.

As it was now after midnight, the group couldn’t tell that they were closing in on the exit to the drainpipe. There only appeared to be darkness ahead. They didn’t even realize they’d made it until Koutarou broke down the last grate.

“Hey, this is the exit, isn’t it?” he asked in surprise.

“So it seems. Now we can finally say goodbye to this cramped place,” Clan replied in relief.

The drainpipe led out into a river with the city on the other side. As they approached the end of the pipe, their view broadened and they could finally see the skyline lit up by skyscrapers.

“So we’ve managed this far without running into Darkness Rainbow,” Koutarou said as he looked out of the pipe.

Between the guesthouse and the end of the drainpipe, they hadn’t encountered a single enemy. They’d been on high alert the entire time waiting for an attack, but they’d reached their first objective rather anticlimactically.

“They likely didn’t want to attack us at the palace anyway,” Kiriha responded. “They’re probably going to come after us once we’ve escaped. There are only but so many places we could go to after leaving here.”

There were more than ten escape routes from the imperial palace, so even if Maya and each of the six leaders of Darkness Rainbow spread out, there’d still be blind spots. If they let Koutarou and the others escape, however, they’d be able to attack as a group. Kiriha’s assumption was that they believed they’d have a much higher chance of success that way.

“Which means that we’re only just getting started...”

Just before stepping out of the pipe, Koutarou stopped. In front of him was a normal nigh-time city scene. But once he took another step, he’d be walking onto a battlefield.

“That would be the case. Karama, Korama, I’m counting on you.”

“Roger that, ho!”

“Leave it to us, ho!”

The two haniwas activated their stealth mode which effectively cloaked them, then headed to the exit. They peeked out of the pipe to get a look at the surroundings.

“We’re in luck, ho! There doesn’t seem to be anyone around, ho!”

The haniwas couldn’t sense any people nearby. With their spiritual energy sensors, they could detect auras just like Sanae did. On top of that, they also had sound, electromagnetic, movement, and infrared sensors, meaning that there was no getting past them other than with magic. They were quite certain there weren’t any people nearby.

“But it looks like we’re being watched from above, ho! It seems we’re very popular, ho!”

Though it wasn’t clear what it was, the haniwas detected something overhead. It was too far away for them to get a good read on it. Even with how advanced they were, the haniwas had their limits.

“I’ll take it from here.”

“Me too.”

If no one was around, it was Clan and Maki’s turn. Clan had far more advanced technology than the haniwas did, so she’d be able to identify what they had detected. Maki also scanned the surroundings with magic, just in case. Together, it would provide them with a much more complete picture of what they were about to get into.

“It looks like it’s small reconnaissance crafts,” Clan announced.

“Are you sure?” Koutarou asked.

“Yes. They’re much like the ones that Pardomshiha uses. They’re barely a meter or so big.”

The sensors in Clan’s bracelet scanned the objects flying overhead. They were small, unmanned reconnaissance crafts. The haniwas had had a hard time discerning them because they were intentionally made out of materials that were hard to detect.

“This is bad. I can sense mana moving around in the sky too. Those reconnaissance crafts probably have spells cast on them.”

Maki frowned as she looked up at the ceiling of the drainpipe. She could feel green magic, the magic of divination, moving around overhead. In other words, the reconnaissance crafts had been magically augmented to help them gather information.

“I see... So that’s why they didn’t infiltrate the imperial palace,” Kiriha mused.

“What do you mean?” Koutarou asked.

“They must be rather confident in those reconnaissance crafts. They think they’ll be able to catch us as long as they have those.”

“So this is bad...”

“Indeed. What to do...?”

Kiriha began strategizing based on the information the others had gathered. If they just jumped out of the drainpipe without a plan, they’d be found within seconds. And since they’d be vastly outnumbered, they wanted to avoid that as long as possible.

In total, there were around twenty unmanned reconnaissance crafts. Fifteen of them were placed along various escape paths out of the imperial palace, while the remaining five were stationed at the blind spots between the others. It was a well made surveillance net. And just as Maki had sensed, they all had spells cast on them meant to gather information. It was the doing of one of the leaders of Darkness Rainbow, Dark Green.

“Hurry up and show yourself, Navy... I’ll kill you for sure this time.”

Green held a personal grudge against Navy—against Maki. Mostly she was jealous of her relationship with Crimson, who was very precious to Green. After Koutarou and company agreed to temporarily cooperate with Elexis, it had given the two of them a lot more chances to see each other, which only fanned the flames of Green’s jealousy. When she learned that the ceasefire had been broken, she was so happy that she could have broken out into a dance.

“Where are you? You can’t hide from my magic!”

That’s why Green was looking for Maki now. The spells cast on the reconnaissance crafts were all to find her. She was using the magically augmented crafts like a radar to detect the mana of cast spells. And since she was magically connected to each of the crafts, it was like she was there in twenty places at once. Now she was just waiting for Maki to use a spell.

After a dozen minutes or so had passed, she finally picked up a reaction.

“I’ve found you! There you are, Navy!”

Out of the twenty reconnaissance crafts, four of them had detected mana. Since casting spells on so many crafts was a lot of work, she had only used a simple spell that let her know the distance to the detected mana. With multiple reactions, however, she could derive the location between them. Four samples was more than enough to do that.

“Maya, give control of the four units that detected the mana to me! Use the rest to chase after Navy!”

“Don’t get so worked up. It’s a waste of your cute face.”

“Just hurry!”

“Okay, okay.”

Following Green’s instructions, sixteen of the reconnaissance crafts then headed towards where the mana was detected. The remaining four maintained their positions so as not to lose track of the target. The mana they were detecting was moving at around ninety meters per minute. It was rather fast for a running speed, but it was no match for the reconnaissance crafts.

Several reconnaissance crafts passed by the drainpipe where Koutarou and the others were still hiding. Seeing how quickly they were moving, Kiriha realized that her gamble had paid off.

“Hmm... just as expected. The spell they’re using can only tell the distance to the mana, and the four slower moving crafts were the first to detect it. That means the other three were at the edge, so this should be the max detection radius.”

Kiriha organized her thoughts out loud as she drew a large circle on the holographic map that Clan was projecting. It indicated the estimated maximum range for the detection spells on the reconnaissance crafts. Now all they had to do was get outside of that circle. Doing that would buy them a considerable amount of time.

“Kii, please let me thoroughly examine your brain one of these days...”

Clan sighed, amazed by Kiriha. The mana that Green had detected was a decoy prepared by Kiriha.

“That would trouble me.”

“It’s not like I’m going to cut you open or anything. Think about it. Without your brain, we’d all be in a world of trouble. Like right now, for example.”

Following Kiriha’s instructions, Clan had prepared a small exploration drone. Maki then cast two spells on it. The first was to conceal mana, and the second was to create an illusion of Koutarou and the others. Once it got far enough away, Maki dismissed the stealth spell from the craft, allowing Green to detect it.

While it was primarily a decoy, it also served as a way to detect what the enemy crafts were really capable of. They weren’t sure that part would actually come to any fruition, but it looked like they’d lucked out after all.

“Even if you say that, this is just to buy time. From here on out, it’s a race against the clock.”

The first four crafts were still spread out, but the other sixteen were closing in on the decoy. If Koutarou and the girls could get outside the range of the remaining four crafts overhead before the others discovered the decoy, Maki would be able to use her magic freely. If they could manage that, it would greatly increase their chances of escaping.

“Let’s hurry, Koutarou,” Kiriha urged.

“Yeah. Let’s go. Clan, want me to give you a piggyback ride?”

“I’m fine! For now, anyway...”

“If you don’t think you can keep up, say so. We’re not messing around here.”

“I know that!”

Koutarou and the others dashed out into the dark of night. It was only a matter of time before Elexis and Darkness Rainbow realized they’d been fooled, and when that happened, all twenty reconnaissance crafts would come looking for them. Would they make it out of their range in time, or would they be hunted down? They needed both speed and luck on their side now.

Koutarou and the girls were barely able to make it out of the reconnaissance crafts’ effective range before being discovered. Thanks to that, Maki was able to cast a disguise spell and another stealth spell to conceal the mana used. With that insurance, the four of them headed for the suburbs. Originally they had planned on going into the forest, but the crafts coming after them had forced them towards the suburbs instead. Their new goal was either the station or the commercial zone where gates were most commonly used in order to get to the Hazy Moon.

“So where do we need to go specifically, Clan?” Koutarou asked as they moved along.

“There are two gates I set up beforehand that are close to here. One at Fornorn Central Station and one at Rushstock Cemetery.”

The transfer gate was originally a tool meant for instantaneous travel, but when human lives were involved, it took about an hour to make sure the gate was safely prepared. As a precaution, Clan had prepared twenty such gates around the perimeter of the imperial palace. Fortunately, two of them happened to be near where they’d ended up.

“The fewer people, the better.”

“At this hour, that would mean Rushstock Cemetery. It’s a famous place so there are probably people there even now, but nothing like the number of people that will be at the station.”

“All right, then it’s decided.”

If they were only concerned about escaping, the central station was the better option. Since it would be full of people, they would have an easier time blending in and an easier time using a gate without raising any suspicion. But as things were, they had no idea what Elexis and his associates would do when they got desperate. In order to avoid casualties, Rushstock Cemetery was they way to go. Rushstock Cemetery did indeed have a graveyard, but it largely served as a memorial park for Forthorthians who had died in war. It was a common sightseeing spot in Fornorn and it was still open and lit up at night, so there would be people there even at this hour. But compared to the unsleeping central station, it was still the safer bet.

“At Rushstock Cemetery, I’ve set up a gate at the plaza next to the station.”

“So it’s still at a station?”

“That’s usually where gates are, and we needed ours to blend in. The only other option would be a factory that would have a gate in a docking area.”

“Clan, you’re breathing pretty hard. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m still fine.”

“All right, then let’s hurry.”

Koutarou and the girls ran through the city while weaving through the crowds. As expected of the capital of Forthorthe, there were still plenty of people out on the street even after midnight. The traffic put a limit on how fast they could move, leaving them feeling a little anxious and rushed. But after running for a couple of minutes, they started to see stars overhead instead of skyscrapers. They’d reached Rushstock Cemetery.

“Rushstock Cemetery: the resting place for those who fought and died for the country and its citizens.”

The AI in Koutarou’s armor translated the Forthorthian words on the sign, letting him know they’d reached their destination. Rushstock Cemetery was a memorial for those who had fallen in battle.

“Looks like this is the place...”

I wonder if soldiers from back then are here too...

Koutarou was thinking of his comrades-in-arms from two thousand years ago. He had tried his best to keep sacrifices as low as possible, but there were still many men lost in battle. Thinking about that, Koutarou felt both nostalgia and sadness. And from those rose a strong desire to live and act in a way that would have made his allies proud. They’d given their lives and put their faith in him. With that knowledge, he understood that he had to live with his head held high as the Blue Knight until the bitter end. Standing in the cemetery reaffirmed that for him.

“Let’s come here again sometime. But right now...”

Right now, he didn’t have time to spend dwelling on his former allies. It was also for their sake that he needed to hurry. If he didn’t, the citizens of Forthorthe they had died to protect would be in danger, and the number of brave men resting here would only increase.

“Satomi-kun,” Maki called to him.

“I know,” he said with a nod.

Koutarou had only stopped for a few seconds, but now he was running with his current allies again. Their destination was the plaza by the station on the cemetery grounds. Their goal was right in front of them.

The cemetery was big, over a kilometer across. The majority of it was a neatly maintained forest with a lake in the center. In the middle of the lake was an island, and on that island was a cenotaph. Koutarou and the others glanced at it as they ran around the east side of the lake.

“It looks like things are going to work out just fine. This is all thanks to you, Aika-san.”

They were almost at the plaza now, and they’d managed to evade both DKI and Darkness Rainbow so far. Maki’s disguise spell was perfect, and despite the reconnaissance crafts circling overhead, they hadn’t noticed Koutarou and the others.

“That’s not true... Besides, we’re not even there yet.”

Maki blushed for a moment but soon snapped out of it. She understood better than anyone that they couldn’t let their guard down yet. The sudden sound of a familiar voice made that all too clear.

“There’s no need to be so modest, Maki.”

“That voice... Maya-sama?!”

The voice coming from the surrounding darkness belonged to Maki’s former master and the previous Dark Navy, Maya. If she was around, it meant they’d been discovered by Darkness Rainbow after all.

“Why are you here?!”

Maki’s face betrayed her surprise. The bustling capital city of Forthorthe was busy even at night, so picking Koutarou and the others out of a crowd should have been quite a chore. Especially with Maki’s magic disguising them. But even so, Darkness Rainbow had found them and caught up to them. Maki was downright shocked.

“You can thank Green and Purple for that,” Maya said with a casual smile.

“Thanks to my predictions, we were able to narrow down your location to a few places. But since we didn’t have anything decisive to go on, we had to split up,” Green said as she stepped from the shadows.

“But that’s when the spirits here started to stir, saying that the Blue Knight had returned... so we all rushed over,” Purple said as she followed close behind Green.

“I see! Purple is a master of necromancy!” Maki gasped, finally putting everything together.

Because Kiriha introduced a random element to her strategy, it made it difficult for Green’s divination to pinpoint her plans. Her readings were blurry, and she could see several futures blending together in them. They also wouldn’t be able to find Maki with divination magic until her disguise and concealment spells wore off.

That was where Purple came in. Her specialty was necromancy, which tapped into spirits and spiritual energy. She’d noticed right away when the spirits in the graveyard started to rouse. They could see right through disguise spells, and there was quite a stir over the return of the Blue Knight.

The commotion was in a location that had come up in one of Green’s predictions, and Darkness Rainbow was smart enough to put two and two together. Once they had that much information, they regrouped and descended on the cemetery.

“It was truly splendid, Maki. If you hadn’t come here, it would have been a total loss for us.”

“So not bringing Sanae-san with us backfired...”

It was perhaps their only mistake. Koutarou and the haniwas could sense spiritual energy, but they just weren’t as sensitive to it as Sanae was. Even though they’d been able to tell the levels were high in this area, they couldn’t tell why. Cemeteries and sacred places often had high concentrations of spiritual energy anyway, so it was hard to tell anything was strange just from that. Really, it would have been fine if their enemy hadn’t had someone as adept at reading souls as Sanae was on their side.

“Regardless of the reason, we managed to overcome our biggest crisis yet, Koutarou-kun.”

Elexis finally appeared behind the dark magical girls. And it wasn’t just Elexis. He was in his five meter tall robotic giant, so he stood out like a sore thumb even behind the girls. The front of the armor opened up, and Elexis looked down at Koutarou. Koutarou stared right back at him without flinching.

“As expected, things didn’t go as we’d hoped with you guys. If you’d just stayed in the dark for a few more hours, everything would have gone according to plan,” he said in a low voice.

Once morning came, Koutarou and the others would get enough money from Empire Bank to buy out DKI. It would have been an uncontested checkmate, and Koutarou would have been able to declare a decisive victory.

“I admit it was a close call. Who would expect a legendary hero to attack with financial strength instead of a sword?” Elexis responded.

A fight was a hair’s breadth from breaking out, but Elexis was still chatting away as if meeting with an old friend. It was hard to believe he was here as an enemy. There was no hostility in the way he shrugged his shoulders or the casual expression on his face.

“But would you mind if I ask you something, Koutarou-kun?”

“I’ll answer if it’s actually something I can tell you.”

Koutarou responded to Elexis in an equally calm fashion. Despite how he sounded, however, Clan could tell without even seeing his face that he was suppressing tremendous anger as he spoke.

“Did the legendary Empress Alaia know this would happen?”

“She never said anything about it to me, but she was smart. She must have known there would be trouble down the line after she learned that I got the armor and sword from Theia.”

The meaning of a princess appointing a personal knight and giving him her namesake treasured sword was weighty. With that kind of responsibility on his shoulders, his knightly duties would mean facing serious danger sooner or later. It was hard to imagine that Alaia, a princess herself and one well known for her intellect, wouldn’t have realized that.

“So that’s why she left the salary... In order to allow you to protect Forthorthe, I mean.”

“Though in the end, it didn’t remain.”

“Yet that has given you more power than expected. Forthorthe can no longer disobey you.”

“I have no intention of forcing anyone’s hand.”

“I bet not. Just the same as you didn’t two thousand years ago.”

As the nation’s hero, Koutarou could have married Alaia if he’d really wanted to. But since he’d chosen not to and left, Elexis knew that Koutarou had no intentions of getting involved in politics or government affairs.

“So how does it feel?” Elexis asked with a smirk.

“What are you talking about?” Koutarou responded with a glare.

“To hold Forthorthe in your hands. To make the country yours.”

“I haven’t done anything like that.”

“But you have. This country is indebted to you in more ways than one now. It can’t do anything against you, its hero and creditor. You’ve basically become its emperor... No, it’s god. That’s why I want to hear it from you. How it feels to be the first person in history to successfully invade Forthorthe!”

More than two thousand years had passed since Alaia’s reign, and in that time, Forthorthe had never been conquered. Koutarou was the first to ever do so, and that’s what had Elexis so curious. He wanted to know what it felt like to take over someone else’s empire.

“It was just a convenient way to protect this country.”

However, Koutarou was still the Blue Knight first and foremost. While he might temporarily keep the power he’d gained in order to assure his victory, he had no intention of freely exercising it. He wasn’t thinking of anything other than protecting Forthorthe. That was what he’d promised he’d do, and it was a promise he’d made to many of those laid to rest in this very cemetery. It was also what Alaia, Theia, and the others wanted.

“You really are an ideal knight, aren’t you? If you so wished, you could rule everything.”

Pssshhh...

Once he had Koutarou’s answer, Elexis closed the front of his armor. Following his lead, Maya and the six magical girls readied their weapons. This would be the end of their conversation and the start of the real battle.

“If you think being some all-powerful god is fun, then you’re mistaken. Ruling everything would mean that there’s nothing left to do. I’m after something much smaller.”

“Honestly, that’s great news to me. If you’re not a god, then I just might be able to defeat you.”

Elexis’s voice through the speaker of his armored mech seemed a little dulled compared to before, but it was actually a sign of him becoming focused rather than losing interest. Elexis was going to eliminate Koutarou and someday gain the very thing Koutarou was now scorning. This was the moment of truth for Elexis. He was giving his all to defeat Koutarou. He was dead set on it.

“No,” Koutarou replied boldly. “You can’t defeat me.”

Sching!

Despite being face to face with an enemy twice his size, Koutarou stepped forward and unsheathed Saguratin. Sword in hand, he glared at Elexis.

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because I’m really angry today.”

“So you’d chose to be an angry knight over an all-powerful god? That might unexpectedly be more dangerous...”

Elexis’s will was unmoving, but so was Koutarou’s. He was the Blue Knight—the hope of the country and those who lived there, and the supreme protector of the royal families. He had to survive this ordeal and protect all of them. Koutarou too was going to give his all in this fight.

The ones who launched the first attacks were Elexis and Crimson, and both of them were aiming for Koutarou. The plan was to have the two with the most attack power take down Koutarou while the remaining six of them suppressed Kiriha and the others. It was a strategy they’d devised assuming Koutarou would be using Signaltin.

“Explosion!”

Booooom!

A small cannonball about three centimeters in diameter flew out of the barrel mounted on Crimson’s staff. By casting the explosion spell in the right end of the barrel, the energy of it was all directed out through the muzzle. It pushed the cannonball out with it, launching it with all the force of the explosion spell. Because of that, its speed was shockingly fast. Even to Koutarou whose reflexes were enhanced by spiritual energy, it felt like the cannonball connected just as it was fired.

Clang!

“Guh!”

The additional equipment installed on Koutarou’s armor—Garb of Lord, or GoL—had an active barrier system that automatically deployed in response to enemy attacks. Koutarou, however, had disabled that function in favor of specifically having it constantly deployed on his left arm like a shield. Crimson’s cannonball was so fast and there was almost no sign of her firing beforehand, so the AI in Koutarou’s armor had a hard time reading her attack. He would have been out of luck without his spirit sight indicating where he needed to hold the shield to block it. But even though he’d blocked it, a speeding cannonball still had quite a kick to it. The shield deflected most of the blow, but the momentum from the hit was enough to momentarily stagger him.

“You’re having a hard time against this combination, aren’t you, Koutarou-kun?”

Elexis didn’t miss the opening Crimson had given him. He moved in to attack staggered Koutarou.

“Tch!”

Chink!

Saguratin clashed with the blade of a massive axe. The giant mobile weapon that Elexis was using, his Warlord, had a lot of strength. The axe it was using had also been enhanced with spiritual energy. Because of that, the blow had terrific power and it sent Koutarou flying backwards even with GoL’s assistance.

Pfwoosh!

But thanks to the boosters on his armor, he was able to stay on his feet. The laser cannon on Koutarou’s right shoulder fired repeatedly as he quickly moved away. The next moment, Crimson’s laser creating spell and the mech’s mini-missiles rained down where he’d just been. If he hadn’t moved back, Koutarou would have been killed on the spot.

“But why aren’t you using Signaltin, Koutarou-kun? I see it’s hanging at your waist.”

Elexis and Crimson weren’t attacking together just because they both had a lot of firepower. It was also because they could use attacks that wouldn’t be nullified by Signaltin. Since it had the power to dispel magic, normal attack spells and enchanted weapons didn’t work against it. However, Elexis’s mech had weapons without magical effects cast on them specifically as a countermeasure against Koutarou. Crimson was also using her spells in a way that transformed her mana into different forms of energy, such as firing cannonballs and launching lasers. Neither of those could be negated by Signaltin, but they were still strong enough power to break through standard magic defenses. Elexis and Crimson were both making clever use of their powers against Koutarou.

But strangely enough, Koutarou wasn’t using Signaltin in the first place. Even though he had it with him, he hadn’t even drawn it. It was enough to give Elexis pause. Something seemed eerily strange, making Elexis unconsciously hold back in his attacks.

“This sword is better for fighting you guys. Well, you’ll see.”

It was a bluff. The reason Koutarou wasn’t using Signaltin was of course because he was worried about the strain it would put on Harumi. He had to avoid doing anything that would make her collapse like that again. He knew it would be difficult to win even with Signaltin in this situation, but using it was out of the question. There was no way of telling what it would to do Harumi.

“Hey, Elexis, maybe it’s not that won’t use it... but that he can’t.”

As she listened to Elexis and Koutarou’s back and forth, Crimson paid close attention to Signaltin hanging at Koutarou’s waist. With her senses as a magician, she could feel the mana within the sword. And strangely enough, it seemed to be at a very low level. In the past, the sword had emitted great power even when it was in its sheath. In the condition it was in now, however, she figured its powers were probably unusable.

“Hmm, I see. That’s certainly a possibility. If that’s the case... not being able to use Signaltin might be one of the reasons why he agreed to cooperate with us.”

After what Crimson said, Elexis finally had an inkling of Koutarou’s situation. Without the power of Signaltin—if Koutarou continued fighting without it—he would eventually meet his end. And once he did, the Reborn Forthorthian Army would probably fall apart without his support. Since there was no reason not to use Signaltin in this fight, Elexis figured Crimson was probably onto something.

“So we can go all out, right?”

“As long as you don’t let your guard down.”

Crimson and Elexis decided to be more aggressive with their attacks. While they couldn’t be 100 percent sure, they decided to proceed on the assumption that Koutarou couldn’t use Signaltin. If they were too careful, things would just take longer and ultimately put them at more risk.

Not good... Can I beat these two with just Saguratin?

Koutarou momentarily put his hand on Signaltin in its sheath, but with the continuous fighting they’d been through up until now, he knew drawing it would mean shaving away at Harumi’s life. He shunned the thought and then gripped Saguratin tightly with both hands as he readied himself.

Maya and the rest of Darkness Rainbow were fighting against Maki, Clan, and Kiriha. Maki and Clan were focused on one objective, and that was keeping Kiriha alive.

“Kii, stay back no matter what!”

“She’s right! If you don’t survive this, we’ll lose a winning battle!”

Koutarou’s death would of course do the most damage, but Kiriha’s would be a close second. As the brains of the operation, losing her would leave Koutarou and the others like a zombie. No matter how strong they were, they wouldn’t be able to make full use of that strength. It would be like replacing the mind of a professional boxer with a complete amateur’s. All they would be able to do is blindly and wildly swing their fists.

“But just the two of you can’t take on all of them!” Kiriha objected.

Clan and Maki would be going up against Maya and five magical girls. Yellow had created four clay golems with her magic, and they stood on the front line alongside Maya. Purple was gathering the surrounding spirits and forming a guerilla force. Orange and Blue who were both good at long range combat and diversions were in charge of attacking with magic from the rear lines. And Green was in the very back using spells to gather all kinds of information and forwarding it to the others.

It was just the three girls against them all. Even counting the haniwas, they were still outnumbered. Moreover, their enemies were prepared to fight a force twice their size. Each and every one of them was powerful, but despite that, Clan and Maki were keeping Kiriha from actively taking part in the battle. At this rate, they wouldn’t last for long.

“That’s true even for the three of us!” Clan shouted to Kiriha while preparing to hold off the magical girls. “So rather than all of us getting wiped out, letting you escape is far more logical!”

“If Koutarou dies, we’ll eventually be wiped out either way! We need to win this!” Kiriha shouted back.

She ignored Clan and Maki’s pleading and stood shoulder to shoulder with them on the front line. Even if she managed to escape, she knew the outcome wouldn’t be much different. If Clan and Maki fell, Koutarou would be next. In order to prevent that, Kiriha chose not to run. Holding her weapon, a naginata that transformed her spiritual energy into attack power, with both hands, Kiriha took a fighting stance.

“Yes, you’ve made the right choice. As expected of a lady of the Kurano family, you truly understand the situation you’re in.”

Accompanied by two clay golems on either side, Maya calmly approached. She had the same amused expression on her face she always did, but her eyes made it clear that she wasn’t going to let down her guard for even a moment. Once Kiriha declared her intent to fight, Maya started her cold-hearted calculations.

“But just because you made the right choice doesn’t mean you’ll be getting the outcome you hoped for!”

Maya suddenly broke into a dash. The clay golems were unable to keep up with her, so she charged ahead of them with great speed. While she wasn’t going to let her guard down, Maya wasn’t a coward. Since Maki fought by using magic to enhance her entire body, she’d be a moment slower. Apart from her sharp mind, Kiriha was just a normal human. And while Clan had incredibly advanced technology at her disposal, she hadn’t called forth anything dangerous yet. Maya knew she still had the chance to launch a preemptive attack.

“Maya-sama really did charge in on her own...” Maki said with something like a sigh.

“‘They will try to get their strategist to escape when they’re cornered. She will realize that staying is the only way to win, but it will leave them without a solid plan for victory.’ That’s what an expert would think,” Kiriha said calmly.

“Kii, your brain really is something else,” Clan said shaking her head in amazement.

“Detonating number 142, ho!”

“Everyone evacuate, ho!”

“Impossible!” Maya gasped.

Boooooooom!

Something exploded right next to her. Though damage was minor since it wasn’t a direct hit and she had a sturdy mechanical body, Maya was still knocked back by the shockwave and temporarily blinded by the smoke and the dust it kicked up. By the time the cloud of dust cleared, there were five mobile weapons standing before Maya. It was clear that they belonged to Kiriha and the others.

“So you were only pretending like you didn’t have a plan...”

Tch...

Maya gritted her teeth in frustration. She realized that they were on an escape route Koutarou and the others had chosen themselves, and they’d been considering the possibility of coming this way since this morning. Of course they would have planned measures to intercept enemies along the way. The explosives and mobile weapons were prepared in advance and they’d had them at the ready this whole time. When Maya saw the girls arguing, she simply overlooked the possibility that this was all intentional. She’d been tricked and paid the price. While she hadn’t taken any critical damage, she could feel the motors for her limbs grinding some.

“Right now you must feel both anxious from the desperation of being backed into a corner, and the relief of having caught us. So let me congratulate you the same way... Chasing after us was the right choice. But just because you made the right choice doesn’t mean you’ll be getting the outcome you hoped for!” Kiriha declared with a fearless smile. She radiated strength and composure, and her eyes reflected absolute confidence.

Now we actually have a chance to win, but the hard part is just about to start...

The truth, however, was that Kiriha’s confidence was just another part of her gamble. She had an accurate grasp of the current situation. Even if they used all the traps and weapons they had prepared, their chances of victory weren’t all that high. At best, all instilling a seed of doubt in the hearts of her enemies really did was give them a fighting chance of not being defeated instantly. That’s why behind her confident facade, Kiriha was desperately racking her brain in an attempt to come up with a plan to outsmart Darkness Rainbow.

When comparing the two weapons on their own, Saguratin was in no way inferior to Signaltin. In fact, when dealing with Warlord, a piece of state-of-the-art technology from Forthorthe, Saguratin was a better option. It used spiritual energy attacks, which Forthorthian barrier technology wasn’t equipped to deal with.

Clank!

“Too shallow?!”

Koutarou’s attack hit the leg of Elexis’s Warlord. Sadly, it was only enough to scratch the surface of its plated armor. In the past it would have been enough to cut clean through, but it seemed its defenses had been dramatically increased. His attack barely had any effect at all.

“For the third version, the armor’s been greatly improved. Not only has it been enhanced with magic, but it also utilizes a hybrid mix of microvibration armor and liquid armor. The moment your sword hits, the impact is dispersed.”

The giant mech of a mobile weapon that Elexis was using was officially named Warlord III. The machine had been improved each time it got more data on Koutarou and the others, and now it had been upgraded to the point that it had strength—or defense as the case may be—to match Koutarou’s attacks. That’s why all he could do now was scratch it.

“Honestly though, I expect that this still isn’t enough to defeat you. And that’s why I’ve arranged for some assistance as you can see.”

“Oh, you mean to say you’re actually counting on me?”

Booooom!

Just after Koutarou’s sword was deflected, another of Crimson’s cannonballs assaulted him.

Crack!

The cannonball grazed Koutarou’s armor, leaving a long fissure in its wake. Crimson’s cannon was a major threat that couldn’t be fully avoided even though he knew it was coming.

“I’m always counting on you.”

“Now I understand why Maya calls you a fraud...”

If Koutarou went after Elexis, it gave Crimson a chance to take aim at him, and since he had to focus on being able to pull back, his attacks had less power behind them. Combined with Elexis’s improved armor, Koutarou just wasn’t able to deal the damage he needed to. Elexis and Crimson’s teamwork was a growing threat too.

“Don’t say that! I really am counting on you, Crimson.”

“Sure, sure. Just make sure to leave some fun for me.”

Crimson readied her staff again, but she took aim a little differently this time.

“Another scattershot?!”

Ba-bang!

The moment Koutarou dove to the side, Crimson fired her cannon. Just as Koutarou expected, it was a scattershot. It was a wide area attack to begin with, but with the power of Crimson’s cannon, the range she got in the attack was incredible. It was practically a scattershot wall.

“Urgh!”

“Critical alert: Left arm control circuit damaged. Bypass is unprocessable. Power cut. Currently attempting to detach the process.”

Crimson had Koutarou on the run. Evading a scattershot wall was difficult enough as it was, but a second and third followed. She was driving him into a corner so Elexis could finish him off. Really, she was pinning him in with suppressing fire so Elexis could attack with his axe, beams, and guided missiles. Avoiding all of those attacks at once was practically impossible, and Koutarou’s barrier had already given out on him. His armor was only functioning at half power too.

“I’m amazed you chose to come for me in this situation, Koutarou-kun!”

“It’s not like I can win by running!”

Chink!

Koutarou’s Saguratin and Elexis’s axe clashed. The fierce impact knocked the wind out of Koutarou, but he didn’t let it stop him. His left hand on the hilt of his sword began glowing.

“How about this?!”

Zzzzzt!

Koutarou was wearing the blue gauntlet he’d gotten from Kiriha on his left hand. It had the power to convert spiritual energy into electricity and fire. Koutarou had used it to generate an electric shock powerful enough to travel through his sword, through the axe, and into Elexis’s Warlord.

“A clever idea, but not clever enough! I’ve already taken precautions against that attack!”

Pow!

Warlord kicked Koutarou without even flinching from the shock. Warlord III was designed with Koutarou and the others’ abilities in mind, and that included the electricity and fire attacks Koutarou and the haniwas could use. It was perfectly insulated, meaning the electricity traveled through the exterior of the armor and into the ground.

“Agh...”

While Koutarou’s electric attack was ineffective, the kick from Elexis’s Warlord hit him straight on. It knocked him back and put a big dent in his armor. As he rolled along the ground, blood flew out of his mouth. The blow had damaged Koutarou’s internal organs.

“Isn’t it about time you stop being so stubborn and just use Signaltin already?”

Crimson was right. If he could use Signaltin, now would be the time. Illusions. Blinding attacks. Anything would be fine. If he could just break up Elexis and Crimson’s teamwork, he still might be able to turn the tables. Crimson was actually giving him a chance because that’s what she was waiting for. She wanted to fight the Blue Knight at his strongest, and until then, she was willing to acquiesce to playing support for Elexis.

“Urgh... N-No can do. I’m a knight after all.”

Clang!

Koutarou thrust his sword into the ground and used it as support to get back up on his feet. Once standing, he pulled the sword up with one hand and wiped the blood away from his mouth with the other.

“I don’t get it... but you’re really going to die soon.”

“You never know until you try! I’ve been through dangers like this several times before!”

Sching!

Koutarou readied Saguratin once more. There wasn’t even a shred of hesitation in his eyes. His determination to win using just Saguratin was unwavering.

“I don’t know what’s driving you to do this... but you seem devoted to this idea of being a knight. Splendid, Koutarou-kun! But I won’t hold back because of that. We have our own reasons for not stepping down.”

“Come and get it, Elexis. I’ll show you just what makes me the Blue Knight.”

“Just the way I want it! Here I come, Koutarou-kun!”

Koutarou and Elexis advanced towards each other at the same time. Koutarou had accumulated a lot of damage, but his appearance as he rushed forward was anything but weak. Despite his wounds, his charge was powerful. Even if a perfect stranger had seen him in that moment, they probably would have been convinced that Koutarou was the Blue Knight.

As Koutarou was fighting his hardest against Elexis, Kiriha and the others were also being gradually cornered. Despite mobile weapons and armaments being prepared beforehand, taking on Maya and five magical girls at the same time was a bit too much for them.

“It’s not like you guys are weak. You’re just outnumbered. Come on, it’s not like you’re Nana...”

Maya held Kiriha and the others in high regard. She was surprised that they were able to put up a fight despite being at such a disadvantage. While they weren’t on the same level as Nana who could fight all of Darkness Rainbow herself, this gave Nana a run for her money. The proof could be seen on Maya and the magical girls. Each and every one of them was wounded.

“But this is as far as you get. You’re almost at your limits, don’t you think? Both the mobile weapons and Maki’s illusions.”

Kiriha, Clan, and Maki were fighting alongside the five mobile weapons and under the cover of Maki’s illusions. That made two of each of them, and Kiriha had Maki recast the illusions as necessary. But that wasn’t all. They changed appearances, turned into each other, and appeared from nowhere. It was a clever way to make Green’s predictions as confusing as possible. With their appearances shifting at random, it became difficult to tell who’s future was who’s. It gave them just enough of an edge to fight back.

“This is nothing. We still have more plans,” Kiriha boldly declared.

Though she flashed a confident smile, she was disappointed.

If only we had been able to do a little more damage to them while we were able to throw off their readings...

All five mobile weapons were slowed from the damage they’d taken, and a couple were on the verge of shutting down. After continuously creating and refreshing illusions, Maki was starting to run out of mana. They wouldn’t be able to fight for much longer like this. If they’d been able to hit Darkness Rainbow a little harder earlier, they still might have had a chance, but sadly that wasn’t how things had panned out. Kiriha was still running all kinds of plans in her head, but she couldn’t think of anything that might realistically work in this situation.

“If you have something up your sleeve, you should hurry it up. It looks like they’re about to finish things up over there,” Maya said with a casual nod over her shoulder.

“Satomi-kun?!”

“It can’t be!”

Kiriha had already realized the trouble Koutarou was in, but Maki and Clan didn’t notice until Maya said something. Koutarou was battered and bruised. He was covered in blood, and his armor barely looked functional. He was still standing, but it was obvious even from a distance that he was in dire straits.

“That’s good, Crimson! Now just kill him!” Green shouted excitedly when she saw it too.

She normally came off as quiet and intelligent, but her blood boiled when it came to Maki. She knew that the loss of Koutarou would grieve Maki deeply, and it was the hope of being able to revel in that dark joy that drove her spitefully forward.

“I won’t let you!” Maki cried as she made a sudden move for Koutarou.

“Hey now, Maki. I’m your opponent, remember?”

“Maya-sama...”

Of course, Maya and the others weren’t naive enough to let her do that. They all moved to block her way and began to attack again with Maya in the lead. The combat blade sticking out of her hand glimmered in the light of the cemetery.

“We’re going to make it come true, Maki!”

Chink!

Maya’s blade met Maki’s sword, her transformed staff. The attack spells cast on both weapons cancelled each other out and dissipated in a bright flash.

“Make what come true?!”

Whump!

Maki kicked at Maya, but she easily caught the blow. While she might have given up the title of Navy, her skills hadn’t lessened any. If anything, her mechanical body made her even more dangerous.

“Die and return to your homeland! This will be your final resting place!”

Maya was referencing a commonly used phrase in Folsaria. It didn’t mean much more than drop dead, but it embodied certain feelings for Forthorthe. Especially here in Rushstock Cemetery, where soldiers who died fighting for Forthorthe were laid to rest. There was no better place than this for a Folsarian to die. Maya was planning on finishing things once and for all with her disciple here.

“Pull back for now, Maki!” Kiriha called to her.

“But Satomi-kun is...!”

“You couldn’t get to him even if you charged in! You were Maya’s disciple, so you should know that better than anyone!”

“Tch...”

The situation was bad enough as it was, but it looked like Koutarou was about to go down. Maya and the other girls were intentionally keeping Maki, Clan, and Kiriha from getting to him to help. The future they had all feared was rapidly drawing near. Knowing death was upon the boy they all loved, all they could do now was pray.

How many times had Koutarou fallen to the ground now? Elexis and Crimson had attacked him repeatedly with the intent to kill. They could feel their hits connect. They thought they’d killed him for sure. Yet he stood back up each time.

“What drives you to go so far, Koutarou-kun?”

His armor had long since stopped functioning, and it was now worth no more protection than the metal it was made out of. Even then, the holes and dents in it compromised its integrity. It was plain to see it was pretty worthless. There was no way he should be able to stand, but he somehow managed every time. Elexis couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“...Wh-Who knows? I just keep getting back up...”

Koutarou’s voice was weak and hard to hear. He barely had the strength left to speak.

“Just stay down. Then it’ll all be over.”

“...I can’t do that... I’m the Blue Knight after all...”

Drip, drop...

As Koutarou raised himself up again, more and more blood trickled through his armor onto the ground.

“...Hahaha... Yeah... That might be the reason. It’s because I-I’m the Blue Knight, Elexis...”

“Koutarou-kun...”

“I’m... the Blue Knight that led the men resting here to the battlefield. There’s no way I can stay down...”

The dead resting in Rushstock Cemetery were soldiers from long ago, and some of them were the very same men Koutarou had fought alongside. They had laid down their lives with absolute faith in Koutarou. Faith that he would save Forthorthe.

“If I fall here... what did they all die for? I would never be able to face them again...”

That was what drove Koutarou to get up every time. It wasn’t a question of whether he could or couldn’t do it; he simply had to. He wasn’t going to give up on this fight. Not until it killed him.

“I can’t afford to rest!”

Koutarou tried to ready the sword he was dragging, but his arms could barely move. After putting all of his strength into it, he was finally able to lift the sword. His arms were badly wounded like the rest of his body, so that act alone caused him acute pain. But that changed nothing. He held Saguratin with an adamantine will.

“I suppose I can see why the people of the past followed you. You really are splendid, Koutarou-kun, so I’ll stay with you until the end too.”

Sching!

Elexis had Warlord ready its axe. He no longer needed Crimson’s support. He was going to settle this one on one.

“Here I come, Koutarou-kun.”

“Come and get it, Elexis.”

Whoosh!

Warlord kicked off the ground with its powerful legs, sending its hulking body flying forward. Accelerating so smoothly it was hard to believe that it was a five meter tall giant, Warlord rapidly approached Koutarou.

I’m sorry, everyone... It looks like this is as far as I go...

In stark contrast, Koutarou wasn’t moving at all. It was all he could do to hold his sword over his head, but Warlord’s massive axe closed in on him in the blink of an eye.

But I am the Blue Knight! And I will never give up!

Koutarou put the last of his strength into bringing his sword down. By now, however, his consciousness was already starting to fade, so he wasn’t even sure if his arms were actually moving or not. But he chose to believe, and poured everything he had into that swing. His vision went white and everything went numb, but he was intent on that final swing even as his consciousness dissolved into nothingness.

When he came to, Koutarou was standing alone on a small hill in a meadow that spread as far as the eye could see. The meadow grasses swaying in the breeze shone gold as the gentle evening sun poured light down on them. It looked almost like a golden sea.

“...This is...”

The scene was familiar to Koutarou. This was where he’d said his final farewell to Alaia and Charl.

“So I died... and came here.”

Koutarou could remember what happened. His last memories before ending up on this hill were of the rapidly approaching Warlord and its giant axe. He was quite sure that was what had sent him here.

“I guess I’m surprisingly romantic.”

He had no room to poke fun at Theia anymore. He couldn’t help laughing bitterly to himself at this unexpected outcome. And as if responding to his voice, what sounded like the laughter of several people rang out around him. Surprised, Koutarou hurriedly turned around and was met with the sight of people where there had been none before. Before he knew it, there were countless people standing there on the hill with him.

“You’re mistaken, Your Excellency. This is still the same place. It’s just that it looks how it did two thousand years ago... The same as us.”

Koutarou recognized some of the faces in the growing crowd. Some of them were people he knew well.

“I see, so this is where Rushstock Cemetery was built... That must mean you guys came to pick me up?”

They were all people that Koutarou had met two thousand years in the past. They were the knights and soldiers that had died in battle—the very people that should be resting in Rushstock Cemetery. Thinking that he was going to join them, Koutarou didn’t think that his fate was such a bad thing after all. He believed he could take pride in what he’d accomplished, knowing he’d given it his all and done absolutely everything in his humanly power.

“You’re half right, half wrong, Your Excellency.”

A different soldier spoke up in answer to his question. It was a man who’d died in a defensive battle shortly after the Reborn Forthorthian Army rose up. He was one of the soldiers directly under Koutarou’s command.

“Before we pick up our comrade-in-arms, there’s something we’d like to ask you, Layous-sama.”

This time it was a knight who’d fallen during a surprise attack on their march towards Fornorn that spoke up. Koutarou could recall the deaths of each of his comrades. There were many of them, but he had engraved the memory of each one into his heart so that he would never forget. Their deaths fell on his shoulders. He was the one who’d led them all to the battlefield.

“Ask me anything. I have nothing to hide from you,” Koutarou replied without hesitation.

“Then... Layous-sama, why didn’t you use Signaltin even in the very end? Couldn’t you at the very least have used its powers of protection? Just rejecting it like that... I feel sorry for Her Majesty Alaia.”

“Hey now, did you all come here to voice your discontent?”

“That’s not it, but... We just don’t understand the reason.”

“Well... I think Her Majesty Alaia has fought more than enough. She gave everything for this country.”

“So you rejected everything?”

“That’s right. After two thousand years, Her Majesty’s wish was finally granted and she was able to live a peaceful life as a normal girl. That’s why I don’t want her to fight anymore. I can’t let her sacrifice everything again, now can I?”

It wasn’t hard to imagine why Alaia wanted to live an ordinary life. She was a gentle girl that didn’t like fighting after all. And now, finally after all this time, Alaia reincarnated as Harumi was living out that dream. Koutarou just couldn’t accept dragging her into another battle that would mean sacrificing her life for the sake of Forthorthe. That was why, even in the bitter end, he hadn’t drawn Signaltin. He had even rejected its powers of protection and regeneration all to fulfill his own wish. To allow her to remain an ordinary girl.

“You’re as stubborn as ever, Your Excellency.”

“But that’s just like Layous-sama.”

“I told you, didn’t I? We should have just done what I said from the start.”

“What are you talking about?” Koutarou asked as the others talked amongst themselves.

The crowd gathered around him laughed merrily, but that only confused Koutarou further. He looked around, completely at a loss for how to interpret their reaction.

“We’ve decided that we’re not going to pick you up. We’re going to send you away instead.”

“Send me away? But I’m already dead.”

Koutarou had been cut down by Elexis’s axe. There was nowhere else for him to be sent if he was already dead. He couldn’t understand what they were talking about.

“No, you’re not dead yet, Your Excellency.”

“What?!” Koutarou exclaimed.

“We just wanted to ask you why you weren’t using Signaltin before that happened.”

“But you’re the same as you always were, Your Excellency, so we can send you away without reservations.”

“There is still a lot that you have to do, Layous-sama.”

Koutarou couldn’t get his head around what his former comrades were saying.

“Wait a minute, I don’t know what―”

He’d genuinely believed he was dead, but now they were telling him that wasn’t true. Not only that, but they were going to send him away somewhere. And he wasn’t given time to process what was happening. The surrounding area began to fill with a white light, much the same way it had before he ended up on the hill.

“You said that you would protect Her Majesty Alaia. That’s all that matters.”

“Protecting this country and the safety of the people that live here is the reason we’ve remained in this place for two thousand years. And if Her Majesty Alaia is now among those people, we only have one choice.”

“Layous-sama, we will fight too. There’s a limit to what we can do, but it should make all the difference.”

“Please lead us. Just like you did two thousand years ago.”

In the bright white light, they all smiled. One after another, they raised their weapons high. And it wasn’t just the people who’d fought alongside Koutarou in the past either. The gesture was mirrored by all the men and women there, every last soldier resting at Rushstock Cemetery. The proud guardians that had given their lives fighting for Forthorthe and its citizens would take one last stand.

Saguratin began emitting light as Koutarou was in the middle of swinging it down. Though it was white at first, the light turned gold as it grew stronger. When he saw it, it reminded Koutarou of the meadow in the evening sun and the color of Theia’s hair.

“Hyaaaaaaaah!”

“Hyaaaaaaaah!”

Both Koutarou and Elexis roared as Saguratin’s glowing golden blade clashed with Warlord’s thick, sharp axe. Just a few moments ago, this would have resulted in the blows largely canceling each other out and Koutarou getting pushed back.

Sching!

“Wh-What?!”

But not now. When Saguratin’s glowing blade met Warlord’s axe, it didn’t slow down at all. It kept going and cleaved the axe clean in two.

“What just happened?! And what is that light?!”

Elexis couldn’t hide how shocked he was. This unexpected turn of events was rather unsettling. Up until now, the axe’s durability and the various technologies installed in it had allowed it to completely block all of Saguratin’s attacks without trouble. And yet all of a sudden, it was like that meant nothing. His axe hadn’t just been repelled or blocked either. It had been cut in half. What was left of it revealed that the cut was completely smooth, making it quite clear that it hadn’t broken due to metal fatigue. There was no explanation other than Saguratin’s cutting edge suddenly getting much, much sharper.

“Koutarou-kun, what is that?! What did you do?!”

“I don’t really know either. I didn’t do anything, personally.”

Koutarou moments ago had been so badly injured that he was limping and weak, yet now he was walking like normal. He readied his sword once more as if nothing had happened. The golden light from his sword was still getting stronger, and it now enveloped Koutarou’s body too.

“All I know is that you guys were wrong about something,” Koutarou said as he looked up at Elexis.

“Wrong, you say?”

“You said that you guys would have lost if we hadn’t come here, and that you’ve now overcome your greatest crisis.”

“That’s right. That’s why we were able to catch up to you, after all.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. You’ve lost because we did come here.”

With the spirits of the soldiers in the cemetery on his side now, Koutarou was convinced that it would be impossible to defeat him. He didn’t know the exact reason why, but he had every confidence victory would smile on him.

What is this...? What happened with Koutarou-kun?!

Elexis was outright baffled. Koutarou, who was at death’s door moments ago, had all of a sudden cut his axe in half and was now boldly approaching him. And it was hard to blame Elexis for being so confused. This bizarre reversal had sprung up just as he was about to deliver the finishing blow.

The answer to everything came in the form of a message from his companions.

“You can’t fight the Blue Knight straight up, Elexis!”

“Purple! What’s happening here?!”

“Over 99 percent of the spiritual energy in this area is being controlled by the Blue Knight now! He’s even taken control of the spirits I had under my spell! His control is too strong for me to take them back!”

“Impossible! That can’t be true!”

“But it is, Elexis! If you fight him head on like that, you’re going to lose!”

Purple’s assessment wasn’t quite right. Koutarou wasn’t controlling the spirits. They were moving on their own to support and protect him. A clear sense of purpose had given them the power to resist Purple’s necromancy. As a result, it looked like Koutarou was controlling them, and realistically, it had the same effect.

“So the knights and soldiers resting in the cemetery are lending him their strength? Damn it!”

Elexis now understood the full weight of what Koutarou had said. Regardless of how it worked, Koutarou was being protected by almost all of the spirits at Rushstock Cemetery. Their combined spiritual energy was on a completely different level than Koutarou’s on his own. Challenging him to close combat now would just be asking for defeat.

“Crimson, we’re going in at the same time!”

“Ahahaha, things are finally getting exciting!”

Unlike Elexis, Crimson was ecstatic as this abrupt turn of events. A fight against a strong opponent was exactly what she wanted. She was bored by the idea of fighting Koutarou when he wasn’t using Signaltin, but this made things interesting again. Facing a new, powerful force separate from Signaltin, Crimson’s very soul trembled with joy.

“How about this?!” Elexis shouted.

Warlord threw a metallic globe that had been attached to its waist. It was an anti-Blue Knight grenade, designed to unleash a powerful shockwave that covered several meters when activated. Since the computer would determine exactly when to activate it, it still functioned as a land mine in the case that it missed its target initially.

“This is nothing!”

Clang!

Koutarou made a wide swing with Saguratin. When he did, the golden light from the sword knocked the globe away without activating it. But as he swung his sword, he left himself open for a brief moment. That opportunity was exactly what Crimson was waiting for.

“Greater Explosion!”

Booooom!

Crimson launched a cannonball using a larger explosion than normal. Doing that put more strain on the cannon and could potentially damage the barrel, so it wasn’t an attack that could be used repeatedly. However, her battle instincts told her that she’d need it against Koutarou.

“I don’t think you can dodge this, Koutarou!”

The cannonball moved with blinding speed. It was completely invisible to the naked eye. If it weren’t for the sound it made, there would have been no way to tell it had even been fired. And even though he knew it was coming, Koutarou was still in the follow-through of his sword swing and incapable of moving out of the way in time.

“Yeah. And that’s why I won’t.”

“What?!”

However, the cannonball only grazed Koutarou’s cheek and continued flying. While it had drawn blood, he hadn’t taken any real damage.

“What was that?!” Crimson shouted.

She was sure of her aim, and she had certainly aimed for Koutarou. There was no way she should have missed at this distance. Koutarou hadn’t moved either, yet her attack still didn’t connect. Crimson looked like she had fallen for a scam.

“The area around Koutarou is sacred ground! Bullets won’t fly straight!” Elexis warned her.

If Sanae had been there, she would have seen a knight protecting Koutarou with his shield. Warlord’s spiritual energy sensor, however, interpreted what happened as an indication that the grounds were sacred.

“Sacred ground, huh? Heh heh, that’s more like it!”

Eager to fight a powerful opponent, Crimson held her staff with both hands and charged at Koutarou. She looked excited, if not outright happy.

“Don’t act rashly, Crimson!” Elexis called after her.

Warlord was beginning to detect more and more sacred ground. And it wasn’t just around Koutarou. It was now appearing around Crimson and Elexis too. Elexis realized it in time and had Warlord fall back, but Crimson charged right into it.

“Kyaah!”

Thud!

In the middle of her charge, Crimson suddenly lost strength in her legs and fell forward. She had no idea what had happened, but she knew it wasn’t the end of it. She quickly twisted her body in a roll across the ground to dodge what came next.

Slash!

Golden light from Saguratin burrowed into the ground where Crimson had just been, shearing a few strands of her long hair as she rolled away.

“J-Just what is...”

“Fall back, Crimson! It’s not just Koutarou-kun’s sword that’s gotten stronger! He’s probably being protected by an army of spirits!”

Elexis was essentially guessing, but he was right. Spearmen had attacked Crimson. Their spears coming into contact with her legs drained her spiritual energy, which had temporarily immobilized her.

“So that’s your game, is it? Astral Sight!”

Retreating with the help of covering fire from Elexis, Crimson cast a spell that let her see spirits. While she couldn’t clearly see their forms, she could easily tell that they were trying to surround her and Elexis.

“This is absurd! What do we do, Elexis?”

“There are ways to fight it now that we know what’s going on! And it looks like our reinforcements made it just in time!”

Nyoom!

Two transport planes came in for a landing behind Warlord and Crimson. One of them was carrying the task force DKI used to carry out its more illicit tasks. If they rushed in with spiritual energy weapons, they should be able to deal with the army of spirits.

“What a coincidence. We just got reinforcements too.”

A golden flag passed by above Koutarou and the others. Following behind it were five girls riding a giant dragon.

“Koutarou, we’ve come to save you!”

The one in the lead with the flag was Theia. The dragon was Shizuka transformed, and on her back were Ruth, Sanae, Yurika, Nana, and Harumi—the girls Koutarou had left behind.

“Curses! It’s the princess and the others!”

Elexis gritted his teeth in frustration. With both sides receiving reinforcements, the outcome was uncertain, and having their surefire shot at victory slip out of their grasp was a painful blow.

“I’m fine here! You guys help the others!” Koutarou called to the girls.

“Yeah! I’m enough to help Koutarou! Everyone here is really pumped up!” Sanae shouted.

As the dragon passed by overhead, Sanae jumped off and started falling towards the ground in a tailspin. It looked like a deadly stunt, but her falling speed rapidly slowed as she descended and she landed softly like a feather.

“Alaia-sama herself has come!”

“Even Princess Charl is here...”

“Put your all into this! With Clan-sama, we have three princesses gathered before us!”

“If we lose now, we’ll be shamed for all eternity!”

The arrival of Theia and the others excited the spirits protecting Koutarou. Their already high morale skyrocketed to new heights.

“Get ready for battle, men. We’re going to destroy the enemy’s main forces. Take a crane wing formation. Recruits, move alongside the veterans.”

The spirits clamored in excitement until Koutarou gave his orders. Under his command, they spread out and fell into line. The wing-shaped formation was composed of soldiers from battles spanning over two thousand years, but they all shared the same objective now. Protect the country, its citizens, and the royal families alongside the Blue Knight. Their hearts were united.

“Crimson, group up with Maya and the others!” Elexis shouted to her.

“Are you sure?!”

“I’ve got my own reinforcements! I’ll be fine! But now that the princess and the others have come, the others won’t be able to hold them off!”

“Okay!”

Facing against them were Elexis and DKI’s combat squad. Crimson moving over to assist Maya and the others made it easier for Koutarou, but Elexis wouldn’t let him win that easily. While Koutarou, Sanae, and the spirits had a numerical advantage, the combat squad equipped with spiritual energy weapons was a force to be reckoned with.

“We’re finally at the endgame now, Koutarou-kun.”

“And whoever wins this battle will accomplish their true goal. Let’s settle this, Elexis!”

Would Koutarou and the girls be able to protect the Forthorthe they’d come to know and love? Or would Elexis and his associates destroy it to create a new one? The curtain rose on the final battle between two sides who had both long been awaiting this day.

Even though both of them had given up their titles as magical girls, Maya and Nana were still fated rivals. Being the last two of their generation, there was a special significance to their battle.

“You’re going all out from the start? Your commitment is fantastic as always, Nana!”

“Nothing good will come from taking it slow today!”

Nana was keeping the swiftly moving Maya on the run with her sharpshooting. While Maya’s mechanical body had better performance, Nana had comparable power when taking her armaments into account. More importantly, their battle wouldn’t simply be settled by strength alone.

“Haaaaa!”

“Maki?!”

Maki was lying in wait in the spot where Nana had pinned Maya with suppressive fire. She swung her staff—transformed into a greatsword—horizontally as Maya approached. But just like Nana had Maki, Maya had her own ally.

“Looks like you can still fight, Maki!”

“Crimson!”

Shink!

Crimson blocked Maki’s attack with one of her own. She brought down her staff, which had been transformed into a two-handed battleaxe. And since she’d enchanted it with an attack spell, the impact from her swing was much heavier than Maki’s. Unable to handle the blow, Maki fell backwards. Not missing her chance, Crimson tried to finish Maki off with a thunder spell that had a short incantation.

“Thunder B―”

“Crimson, no! Continue running to the right!”

“Poison Mist!”

Poof!

At Green’s warning, Crimson cut her incantation short and ran to the right, Maki’s left. The very next moment, a green fog appeared where she’d just been standing. If she’d waited a second longer to finish her incantation, she’d likely have been enveloped in that toxic cloud. Worse yet, since the fog was highly conductive, Crimson would have been the victim of her own spell.

“Thanks, Green.”

“Be careful. Rainbow is waiting for openings like that to attack. Apart from poison, I’m having visions of her using acid and rot in the future as well.”

The one that had called forth the poison mist was none other than Yurika, who was currently behind Maki. It was only thanks to Green’s divination that Crimson had been able to escape it.

“Wouldn’t she be better off on our side?” asked Maya a bit warily.

Maya, who had also barely escaped danger, felt threatened by the way Yurika was using her magic. She was truly living up to the title of Nana’s successor.

“Are you okay, Maki-chan?!” Yurika exclaimed.

“Yes, thank you.”

Yurika held her hand out to Maki, who had landed on her rear when she fell backward. Maki took it without hesitation and quickly stood up. Nana stood guard next to the two of them, and after confirming that they were ready to fight again, she broke into a run.

“I see you don’t plan on letting me rest, Nana!”

“I see you still love jokes, Maya. You’re really the one who was waiting for us to let our guard down.”

As little time as possible should be spent standing still. Nana knew better than anyone that defeat would come in an instant if an opening revealed itself.

As the fated confrontation between the others using magic began, Theia, Shizuka, Clan, and Ruth entered the fray on their own terms. They were up against the remaining four from Darkness Rainbow: Purple, Orange, Yellow, and Blue.

Rat tat tat tat!

“Your Highness, you’re shooting too much! You’ll run out of ammunition if you keep that up!”

“Our opponents are a group of magicians! If we lose the initiative, we’ll be defeated immediately!”

Theia’s plan was simple: launch a surprise attack from the air, then continue attacking to keep the pressure on them and keep them from using much magic. Fortunately, it was going well. All the dark magical girls could do was cast defensive spells and fall back. Theia’s firepower was too much for them.

“What are we going to do, Purple?! At this rate, they’re just going to wear us down!”

Orange was usually the one in Darkness Rainbow to play around, but even she understood how bad the situation was now and turned to Purple for advice. After fighting against Kiriha, Clan, and Maki before Theia and the others arrived, they had already burned through about half of their mana. If they continued letting Theia shoot at them, they might end up using all of their remaining mana on defensive spells.

“Calm down, Orange,” Purple urged her.

She could understand why Orange was getting worried. While their defensive spells were stopping the bullets, having them constantly whizzing past was enough to put anyone on edge. However, they had to remain calm.

“But...!”

“No matter how advanced the technology, there’s no weapon that can fire without end. There’s a limit to the bullets she has, and the barrel is already overheated and red. The shooting should stop soon.”

Purple made a very valid point. Because of Theia’s continuous shooting, the rapidly firing machine gun in her hands had less than 10 percent of its ammo remaining and the barrel was starting to distort from the heat. She knew the precious few remaining bullets couldn’t be wasted with careless aim.

“Purple is right, Orange. The more important problem is that girl closing in while we can’t move,” Blue added.

Not even the normally quiet Blue could stay silent in their current predicament. While Theia was spraying them with constant fire, Shizuka was turning around overhead and coming right for them. It was clear what she was trying to do. If left be, she’d fly right into them once the shooting stopped.

“I’ll handle the one coming in. If it’s just one hit, I should be able to hold it off. Orange, you’re the only one who can deal any damage to her, so use that opportunity to hit her!” suggested Yellow.

“O-Okay, I’ll give it a try!” Orange agreed.

Shizuka’s combat potential was exceptional. While she wasn’t good at long distance attacks, her ferocity in close combat and her staggering defenses bolstered by magic were in a league of their own. However, Orange specialized in alteration and could manipulate the properties of objects. It might just be what Darkness Rainbow needed to defeat Shizuka. In order to give Orange an opening to attack with her magic, Yellow, their specialist in defense and enhancement, would serve as the decoy. It was the most practical combination of the powers the four girls had against Shizuka.

Pssshwn...

Theia’s machine gun finally powered down and the firing ceased. The girls didn’t have any more time to think. As Shizuka approached, Yellow put up a defensive barrier. Orange stood behind her, ready to attack. Purple and Blue were casting spells to keep Theia and the others at bay.

“Hraaaaaaaah!”

Shizuka’s right fist crashed into Yellow’s defensive spell as she dove in from above. Now in her half-dragon form, she had tremendous strength. It was more than enough to destroy Yellow’s barrier. But even then, it gave Orange the opening she needed.

“Decrease Iron!”

The moment Yellow’s barrier collapsed, Orange’s spell assaulted Shizuka. She’d chosen one intended to dramatically reduce the iron in a given area, so strictly speaking, it wasn’t an attack spell. However, as all living creatures had iron in their bodies to help carry oxygen through the blood, suddenly losing that meant faintness or loss of consciousness. Even though Shizuka had the power of a dragon, the same still held true for her.

“Wah!”

“Are you okay, Shizuka?!”

“I-I’m okay, somehow...”

Shizuka was just barely able to keep her wits about her thanks to her high magic resistance and exceptional constitution. Though she staggered with a pained look on her face, she didn’t collapse.

“We can do this!” Orange shouted as she decided to launch another attack.

Based on her appearance, she determined that Shizuka would likely collapse if hit by the same spell again. Orange’s uneasiness from earlier was now replaced with courage as she saw a clear glimmer of hope for victory.

“I won’t let that happen!” Theia shouted.

Since she’d taken Orange’s attack before, Theia realized the situation Shizuka was in before anyone else did. She fired four guided missiles from her combat dress and attacked Orange, who was in the middle of her incantation.

“Jeez, you’re never any fun, princess!”

“As if I’d just keep letting you have your way!”

Orange had to stop casting her spell and start running to try and avoid the incoming missiles. She only managed to escape two of them. The other two caught up to her.

“Mirror Image!”

“Instant Invisibility!”

But just before they actually hit, Purple and Blue both cast spells to protect Orange. Purple’s spell created a fake Orange, and Blue’s spell hid the real one. The missiles chasing after the illusory Orange then crashed into the ground and exploded.

“Thank you, everyone!”

Boom!

“Kyaaah!”

Just as Orange was letting out a sigh of relief, Yellow screamed. The missiles that Orange thought she’d escaped had actually taken a sudden turn and hit Yellow from a blind spot.

“These schemes of yours are like works of art, Clan...” Theia commented, somewhat amazed.

“Would you lay off it?!” Clan snapped.

The sneak attack was Clan’s doing. She had intercepted control of the missiles mid-flight and targeted Yellow while she was defenseless and distracted. Not even Darkness Rainbow could do anything about that.

“Shizuka-sama, now’s your chance!” Ruth called out.

“Thanks! I let my guard down a little there.”

While the dark magical girls were all focused on Yellow, Ruth’s swarm of unmanned aircrafts retreated with Shizuka. With that, the battle had essentially started over.

“Still, that’s Darkness Rainbow for you. They certainly aren’t going to give us an easy win. We’ll need to keep it together,” said Theia once the other girls reformed the line on their side.

Now that she had spent all the ammunition for it, Theia casually tossed her machine gun aside and took out the rapid fire beam rifle she always used.

“Now then, what to do...?”

While the missiles had done considerable damage to Yellow, Shizuka had taken about as much. Neither side had a decided advantage at this point, and the outcome of the battle rested on a razor’s edge. Really, their fight had only just begun.

The remaining two girls of room 106, Kiriha and Harumi, were distancing themselves from the battle at hand. Still weak, Harumi wasn’t allowed to join in. As Koutarou had ordered Signaltin not to use its powers, it wouldn’t respond to Harumi’s control over it either. That’s why all she could was look on from afar.

“Everyone is fighting, and all I can do is watch...”

Harumi frowned impatiently and intensively stared at the battle unfolding. It was very painful for her to be the only one unable to participate.

“The same is true for me. There’s no need to be ashamed.”

“But that’s your job, Kiriha-san. In comparison, I...”

Kiriha was watching from the rear for the benefit of the whole group. With a decent vantage point, she could monitor how things were going and offer strategy, advice, and backup accordingly. Even now, she was making calculated shots with her rifle and issuing orders to her haniwas. She was in control of the entire battlefield.

“You are without a doubt the biggest contributor to this battle. Because you continued to give Koutarou a salary, we were able to find a way to neutralize DKI and remove Vandarion from power with a minimal amount of sacrifices. No one, not even while you’re here on the rear line, would dare call you powerless.”

Kiriha wasn’t making a distinction between Harumi and Alaia anymore. After what they knew now, Kiriha felt such a thing was no longer necessary when Harumi’s hair shone silver.

“Kiriha-san...”

Harumi felt similarly. Alaia’s actions were ultimately hers in the end, and that’s how she’d come to thing of things.

“Besides, the heroes protecting Koutarou over there are only present because you protected Forthorthe. Your legacy is still protecting Koutarou.”

“...Yes, I think so too.”

Thanks to Kiriha, Harumi was finally able to smile a little. Fighting directly wasn’t everything. Even as she was now, she was of use to Koutarou. Hearing someone tell her that in this moment was a most welcome reassurance.

“But speaking of... There is something else for you to do here.”

“What’s that?”

“Pray for the victory for the people fighting over there. That will become their strength, allowing them to protect Koutarou and the country.”

“That might be true. It’s certainly much better than worrying...”

And so Harumi began praying. She prayed for the people fighting in front of her not to end up as sacrifices, and she made no distinction between friend and foe in that. Harumi, the same as Alaia, had love for all the citizens of Forthorthe.

There were countless heroes resting in Rushstock Cemetery, but it required a great deal of spiritual energy in order for them to have any power in the mortal realm. That’s why only a hundred or so heroes could fight alongside Koutarou at the same time. Those who couldn’t instead lent their strength to Saguratin and their allies, indirectly participating in the battle.

On the opposite side, DKI had forty men in its combat squad. While they were outnumbered by the spirits, they had superior gear. Each one of them was armed with spiritual energy weapons and equipped with spiritual energy armor effective against the spirits. Taking their numbers and equipment into account, the overall power balance was even between the two sides.

“A crane wing formation, how antique! Granted, it was the appropriate strategy to use with superior numbers!” shouted Elexis.

“And the rest is up to us!” Koutarou shouted right back.

In an even fight, strategy would make all the difference. The crane wing formation that Koutarou had chosen arranged his forces in something of a U-shaped configuration, with the objective ultimately being to approach and surround the enemy force. With both sides well matched in strength, using their numerical advantage to surround the enemy was a smart move.

On the other hand, the formation had a weakness. If the connecting point of the U formation was broken, it would divide the troops from each other, inevitably leading to them getting surrounded and defeated rather than the enemy. And it was for that reason that while the formation was often used in the past, it also had a long list of defeats to its name. Of course, Elexis was well aware of that. Accordingly, he now arranged his troops in a vertical triangle with the intent to hard target the center of the U formation where Koutarou, Sanae, and the veteran spirits were gathered.

Elexis himself would lead the charge so that the fight would be decided in a clash between Koutarou and Elexis directly. If Koutarou fell, that would spell defeat for his side. But if Elexis fell, Koutarou’s strategy would work and he would be able to seize victory. A fight between generals—a rarity in modern Forthorthe—would determine the outcome of the entire battle.

“Regardless of the end result, this will likely be our last battle! The thought honestly saddens me a little, Koutarou-kun!”

While repeatedly firing the beam shotgun on his mech’s left arm, Elexis closed in on Koutarou. With the help of the spirits, normal shots would never hit Koutarou now. And with the beam set to scatter at its maximum range, the most it would do was scorch his armor. The real point of the barrage was to limit Koutarou’s movements.

“Not me, Elexis! I’d rather never have to fight!”

Koutarou’s GoL and armor had both practically stopped functioning, but thanks to the power of the spirits covering his body, he could move even faster than normal. Of course, Saguratin’s power had also greatly increased. He dodged the constant shotgun fire with ease and closed in on Elexis’s Warlord.

“It sounds so meaningful when you say it!”

Clank!

Saguratin was caught by the knife in Warlord’s right hand. Since it had a great deal of spiritual energy concentrated in such a small blade, it was enough to stand up to Saguratin. And with Warlord’s automatic combat reflexes, it was successfully able to block the incoming attack. It was perhaps the only thing that could counter Koutarou now that he was moving far faster than any human had the reaction time to handle.

“Anyone else would say the same thing!”

“I guess that’s just where we see things differently!”

Once their blades met, it was simply a matter of who could overpower the other. And unfortunately in a contest of pure strength, the five meter tall robotic giant certainly had the advantage. Koutarou kept on his feet, but slid along the ground as Warlord pushed him back. Then he moved some of the spiritual energy focused in Saguratin to his left hand.

“Huh?!”

Crackle!

Koutarou’s left gauntlet created a powerful electric shock. With the spiritual assistance he was being granted in the cemetery, it was on a completely different level from anything he could have created on his own. But just before he discharged the shock, Warlord backed off. As a result, the electricity mostly diffused in the air. What did manage to hit Warlord wasn’t powerful enough to overcome its insulation.

“That was close, Koutarou-kun. But thanks for reminding me you had that trick up your sleeve.”

“Damn, I was so close...”

“Koutarou, Koutarou! Be careful!”

Koutarou suddenly heard Sanae’s voice in his head. She was fighting the DKI combat squad alongside the spirits, so she was communicating with him from a distance using her psychic powers.

“He probably knows how you’re going to attack.”

“Really?”

“Your psychic powers are so powerful that the... spiritual energy sensor? He has something that can tell exactly what you’re doing.”

If spiritual energy pooled in Saguratin or the gauntlet on his left hand, it was clear that they were going to be used to attack. But now a vast amount of spiritual energy was surging through Koutarou’s entire body, and by monitoring that flow, it was easy to tell when he was going to go on the offensive.

“Ah, so that’s how it is, Elexis.”

“Oh? What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about how you and that machine are reading my movements.”

“My, it looks like I’ve been found out.”

It was true. Warlord was able to automatically stop Saguratin with its knife both by using the cameras it had equipped to monitor Koutarou’s physical moments and the sensors it had installed to monitor the flow of his spiritual energy. That was how, despite the strength of Koutarou’s attacks, Warlord was able to effectively block them.

“And Koutarou, everyone else is in a tight spot right now. They’re going to be in trouble soon. They haven’t lost yet, but at this rate they’re going to get seriously hurt, or even...”

The worst news of all was that the other girls were nearing their limits. In terms of winning or losing, there still wasn’t a decided advantage on either side. But things were getting dangerous. Both friend and foe were accumulating damage, and the next hit could be fatal for any one of them. If victory over DKI came at the cost of casualties among the girls, it was a victory no one would celebrate.

“Looks like time’s up, Elexis. We’re going to have to finish this.”

Koutarou’s spiritual energy was being read by his enemy and his friends were in danger. There was a single solution to both problems. That was to flare up all of the spiritual energy within his body and keep it at maximum levels so that there would be no discernable increase or decrease regardless of what he did. But considering how much spiritual energy it would consume to do something like that, he knew he’d only get one shot at it.

“I thought you’d say something like that. Normally I wouldn’t play along... but I’m in no position to take things too leisurely either. So we’ll see this through to the end together, Koutarou-kun.”

Warlord’s sensors started to detect that Koutarou’s spiritual energy levels were rapidly increasing. Normally running around and getting him to waste that spiritual energy would be the best option, but Elexis was eager to settle their match for his own reasons. Warlord was the very definition of cutting-edge technology, but the frame of the machine itself was reaching its operational limit.

Besides, Maya and the others are probably tapping themselves out too... though she would be offended if I suggested that.

Elexis was concerned about his allies too. For their safety and his own, he was ready and willing to bring his fight with Koutarou to a swift end.

“I don’t care if the generator core burns out. We’re going all out, Warlord!”

Koutarou’s spiritual energy blazed, and Warlord’s generator roared. This would be it for both of them. Koutarou and Elexis were going to put everything they had into a single attack and go toe to toe with each other for once and for all.

“Hyaaaaaaaah!”

“Hyaaaaaaaah!”

They came at each other, and since they were both moving at superhuman speeds, the distance between them closed in an instant.

I’ll knock Koutarou-kun’s sword away with the knife and finish him with the energy knuckles!

Apart from what was being used to move, Elexis put all of Warlord’s energy into its arms. His intuition told him that Koutarou was going to use Saguratin. In response, he’d repel it with the knife in his right hand and settle the match with a high energy punch from his left hand. Elexis was convinced that Warlord, strengthened time and time again for this very fight, would be able to defeat Koutarou that way.

“Hyaaaaah!”

And just as Elexis had predicted, Koutarou struck out with Saguratin. Following his movements, Warlord calculated the trajectory of the sword swing and where it would need to hold the knife to block it accordingly.

“You lose, Koutarou-kun! You were too obsessed with being a knight!”

Warlord reacted on its own and stuck out the knife to catch Saguratin. Then it was just a matter of deflecting it to the side and landing a solid blow to end their showdown. The last of its energy should be enough to crush Koutarou.

“No! You were the one who was too obsessed, Elexis!”

Crack!

The instant the knife touched it, Saguratin’s blade broke in half. In that exact moment, Koutarou wasn’t putting any spiritual energy into it. But once the sword was broken and had gotten past the knife, Koutarou poured as much spiritual energy as he could into the sword again. When he did, a golden glow appeared in place of the blade where it had broken off. It was so powerful that Saguratin now looked like a beam sword.

“Impossible! You’d sacrifice your―”

“It’s over!”

The golden blade born from the prayers and hopes of many slammed into the totally defenseless Warlord. Its fist never even had a chance to strike.

After being hit by Saguratin’s full power, small explosions went off left and right in Warlord’s frame as it fell backwards. The next moment, the safety device activated and the front of the armor was blown off. Now defeated and lying on his back, Elexis looked up into the starry sky gradually fading into the light of the rising sun.

“...So I lost in the end, huh...”

Elexis had no regrets. He truly had given it his all. If that wasn’t enough, there was nothing he could do. Especially not against the Blue Knight.

“Elexis.”

Suddenly part of his view was obscured, hiding a number of the stars overhead. Someone was looking down at Elexis.

“Is that you, Koutarou-kun?”

The person looking down at him was indeed Koutarou. He was covered in wounds and didn’t look too much better off than the injured and collapsed Elexis, but neither the light of his sword nor the light in his eyes had weakened any. That was the sole difference between them now.

“You lose. Give up.”

“Yeah, I give up. I lost.”

“Good.”

Chink...

With Elexis finally surrendering, Koutarou sheathed Saguratin. The long battle between them was over at last.

“However... I didn’t lose to you. I only lost to the great will of the people trying to protect this country.”

“I think you’re right.”

Both Alaia and the spirits of the cemetery played a major role in this battle. They were all desperate to protect their country, and that meant defeating Elexis. If it had just been Koutarou and the other girls against DKI, the win likely would have gone to Elexis. Even Koutarou knew that.

“Elexis, can I ask you one last thing?”

There was something that had been on Koutarou’s mind ever since Elexis and his associates chased them down at the cemetery. Before leaving, he wanted to ask Elexis about it.

“I don’t mind. What is it?”

“Why didn’t you use any huge weapons or major explosives? You might have won if you’d used those when you first caught up with us.”

At that point, Elexis’s side definitely had them outnumbered. If Elexis had used something like the Type One Revised or a large enough bomb, Koutarou and the others wouldn’t have stood a chance. Koutarou wanted to know why Elexis hadn’t gone that far.

“In the middle of the suburbs? Don’t be ridiculous. The casualties would be too high.”

Evil had its way of blooming. That’s what Elexis believed. Since he was trying to end the imperial government, Elexis was willing to use any means necessary against the current royalty. The way he manipulated Ceilēshu in exchange for treating her father was a good example of that. But since it was all for the sake of creating a better society, needless sacrifice had to be avoided. Elexis was never interested in wanton destruction.

“...It might not have been so bad to lose to you after all.”

Elexis was an unforgivable enemy. As long as he considered it necessary, he was willing to force sacrifice onto others. But that being said, there was a method to his madness and he was not cruel without reason. Once the bloody upheaval and all the fighting was over, there was a chance that he could actually create a good government. That’s why Koutarou thought it was a shame that he and Elexis would never see eye to eye. They were simply walking different paths.

“Vandarion won’t be the same way.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Past Elexis was Vandarion. And unlike Elexis, Vandarion was both mad and evil, through and through. He was the worst kind of enemy imaginable, and he wouldn’t hesitate to leave a path of destruction in his wake whether or not he got what he wanted. If Koutarou treated him like Elexis, he’d easily be defeated. Koutarou knew that, and he heeded Elexis’s warning.

“See you, Elexis.”

Koutarou turned his back to Elexis. There was no longer anything to say. It was time to return to the people who waiting for him. But after taking a few steps, Elexis called out to him again.

“Koutarou-kun, are you sure you shouldn’t kill me?”

“Who do you think I am?”

Koutarou stopped moving as he answered. Since he’d once had a similar conversation with someone, Koutarou felt a sense of nostalgia stir within him.

“Yes... of course. Heh, hahahaha!”

Koutarou began walking once more, and the light of the rising sun illuminated his silhouette. He could still hear Elexis behind him, but he wasn’t planning on stopping again. On his way to the girls, Maya and Darkness Rainbow passed by him, but neither side did anything. Their business with each other had been settled.

Shortly thereafter, what sounded like cheers of victory could be heard coming from afar. Koutarou couldn’t tell if the voices were real or not, but thinking that it would be nice if they were, he raised his fist into the air in a gesture of inexpressible gratitude and camaraderie.

After the battle, Koutarou passed out from his injuries and exhaustion. It caused quite a commotion among the invader girls, but it was nothing compared to the commotion when he came to.

“Owowow, that hurts! I told you I’m injured!”

“I don’t care! You made me worry so much!” Theia shouted.

“I told you that I’d put you in a scorpion lock if you left me behind again!” Sanae shouted too.

“Gyaaaaaaaah!”

What awaited Koutarou when he awoke was a flurry of jeering and unjust violence. To make matters worse, Nana was the only one willing to defend him.

“Everyone, Satomi-san had his reasons, so maybe we shouldn’t be so unreasonable...”

“That just means that Satomi-san doesn’t trust us at all!” Yurika cried.

“I was even prepared to die for Master’s sake,” Ruth declared.

“It’s his fault that I gained weight! Take responsibility, Satomi-kun!” Shizuka fussed.

Out of the six girls who’d been left behind, Theia and Sanae were the only ones using force. Yurika, Ruth, and Shizuka just gave him dirty looks from across the room as they complained. Meanwhile, the three girls he’d actually taken with him showed no signs of taking Koutarou’s side.

“While it’s true that the most tight-lipped members were needed so that DKI wouldn’t realize anything, you still deeply wounded all of their maiden hearts,” Kiriha said admonishingly.

“It would have been an honor to die by your side. I’m glad that I went with you, but the other girls didn’t even have the chance. I think that’s unfair,” Maki said calmly.

“I’m in favor of giving Veltlion a hard time regardless!” Clan sneered.

“Y-You guys!”

Koutarou had only taken Kiriha, Maki, and Clan with him in order to keep their mission top secret. If Elexis and his associates had found out that Koutarou’s goal was to collect on his salary before he was even acknowledged as the Blue Knight, their entire plan would have been ruined. Koutarou had specifically chosen the three girls he’d taken with him because he knew there was no chance of them accidentally tipping off Elexis and his network. They were each skilled in the ways of strategy.

Theia was Elfaria’s daughter, so taking her with him was out of the question. Harumi was recovering, so she too was out of the question. Out of the remaining four—Sanae, Yurika, Shizuka, and Ruth—only the prudent Ruth could be trusted to go with them. However, Koutarou knew that since he was taking Clan and Kiriha, he needed to leave Ruth with the other girls. He also knew that if anything went wrong and they had to escape, the fewer people they had with them, the better.

“If you’d at least given everyone a kiss goodbye, nobody would have complained!” Sanae continued to rail against him.

“She’s right! You should have kissed us all goodbye!” Theia backed her up.

“Don’t be so unreasonable!” Koutarou did his best to defend himself.

“Anyways, Layous-sama, don’t you think you should at least properly apologize to Harumi-san and thank her?” Elfaria piped up.

“Ugh...”

Elfaria hit Koutarou right in his weak spot. It was only thanks to Harumi—thanks to Alaia—that their grand plan had even been possible in the first place. And even though he knew that, Koutarou hadn’t told her anything. He’d also taken Signaltin with him to prove his identity. He was aware that he’d basically used her condition as an excuse to keep her in the dark while he took advantage of what she’d done for him. So the short of it was that Elfaria was right. The least he could do for her now was explain himself.

“Sakuraba-senpai.”

“Y-Yes?”

The memories of Alaia’s that Harumi had inherited were the ones stored in Signaltin, meaning they only went up until she parted ways with Koutarou. The rest was lost when she was reincarnated, which is why she didn’t know anything about what Alaia had done after that day. She herself didn’t know about the salary until someone explained it to her. As such, even though it was evident she’d done something great to help Koutarou, it still didn’t feel real to her. Between that and knowing that Koutarou had chosen to leave her behind, a sense of unease and powerlessness smoldered within her.

“Um, Senpai, I’m sorry for leaving without telling you anything. I was sure that if I explained the salary to you, you’d feel responsible...”

“Am I necessary? Am I a necessary girl to you, Satomi-kun?”

“Well, of course. Even without Signaltin, I want you to be healthy. That’s why, um... I’m really sorry for leaving without saying anything.”

“Then you should have just said that you were leaving me behind because I’m precious to you. If you’d said that, I would have just waited like normal. Jeez...”

Tears began to fall from Harumi’s eyes, but they were happy ones. Finally hearing that she was necessary, that she was important and needed, lifted a dark weight off of her soul. The joy and relief she felt at that escaped her eyes in the form of tears.

“You helped me out a lot, Sakuraba-senpai.”

“Nincompoop. Satomi-kun, you nincompoop...”

Still crying, Harumi frowned and voiced her discontent like a child. It was a rare sight for her, and it made it painfully clear to Koutarou just how badly he’d made her feel.

“Don’t get angry. Please forgive me, Senpai.”

“Nincompoop, nincompoop!”

“Well, are you on our side now, Harumi?” Theia asked.

“Yes, I think so... Satomi-kun, you nincompoop!”

“Gyaaaaaaaah!”

After Harumi joined in and put Koutarou in an arm lock, things turned chaotic. Koutarou was assaulted from all sides with insults and wrestling moves for a good hour or so before anyone was ready to forgive him.

Still acting as regent empress, Ceilēshu put what she had said at the press conference into action. First she formally ordered the Reborn Forthorthian Army and the Imperial Army to cease all hostile actions and stand down. Next she put utmost care into choosing unbiased personnel for Elfaria’s trial so it could be carried out fairly. She also requested that the Imperial Army submit the evidence they were using to denounce Elfaria. The outcome of this war would now be decided in the courtroom rather than on the battlefield. It was an extremely just approach, and most of the citizens were happy with Ceilēshu’s decision.

“Curse you, Blue Knight! To think he’d make a move like this...”

Clatter!

Almost everything atop Vandarion’s desk was knocked to the floor with a violent swing of his arm. Books, pens, bottles, and the like rolled across the carpet, some of which had cracked in the fall.

Vandarion believed that the current situation was Koutarou’s doing. He was sure he’d arranged the royal family meeting from the shadows and set it up to his own advantage. He didn’t suspect DKI’s involvement, and since Koutarou had now taken over DKI, he would never figure it out.

“So what will you do, Vandarion-sama?”

Vandarion was refusing to submit the evidence Ceilēshu asked for. The documents they had were meticulous, but they were still somewhat inconsistent with reality. A thorough investigation would reveal that they were fabricated. Any judge under Vandarion’s thumb, however, still would have found Elfaria guilty. But now with the court reshuffling, submitting the fabricated evidence would be the first step towards his downfall. Once it was exposed, he would be the one arrested and put on trial.

And so Vandarion was left with two choices: accept defeat and submit the evidence, or start a real coup d’etat. That was the ultimatum he was faced with now.

“We’ll fight, Granado! As if I’d give up now! I’ll do whatever it takes to kill the Blue Knight and crush Elfaria! I will stand at the top of Forthorthe! I don’t care what disgrace I may suffer along the way!”

Vandarion was resolute. He was determined to become the ruler of Forthorthe, and he would strive for that until the bitter end. He’d rather become the worst dictator in the history of Forthorthe than submit to the loathsome Blue Knight and Elfaria. He had every intention of clawing his way onto the throne, regardless of the price of doing so.