Chapter Four: Arrival into Conflict
I looked around. It was like passing through a tunnel of light, exactly like the first time I visited Kizuna’s world.
“Oh my?”
I heard a voice I was expecting.
“Oh my!”
Then I heard another that I certainly wasn’t. I turned around amid general exclamations of surprise from the rest of the party. The one who had spoken was looking around with the same surprised expression on her face too.
“I thought we agreed you were staying in the village. What are you doing here?” I asked. As far as I recalled, she had been standing next to Ruft and waving goodbye with everyone else. “Don’t tell me, as we departed you did a ‘don’t leave me behind!’ and dashed into the light?” I asked her. Whatever the reason, Shildina was among our little group as we proceeded through the tunnel of light.
“Little Naofumi, I was watching myself. Little Shildina didn’t do anything like that. In fact, when we set out and the light around us started to appear around her too, she looked just as surprised as Ruft,” Sadeena explained, coming to Shildina’s defense.
“That’s true. I saw that too,” Itsuki confirmed. I was impressed they had seen so much. I’d hardly seen anything with all the light swirling around me.
“So she was just caught up in the spatial transfer?” I asked. That seemed hard to believe. There weren’t many people who could make that happen.
I looked over at Ethnobalt, but he vigorously shook his head.
“It wasn’t me. I clearly stipulated those who the accessory should transport,” he reported.
“Some mistake with your settings?” I suggested.
“I suppose we can’t rule that out,” he conceded.
“Can we just go back?” I asked. Ethnobalt just quietly shook his head. “Then we don’t seem to have much choice,” I said with a sigh. I looked at Shildina again and cautioned her while scratching my head. “I really did want you training everyone in the village, but if this was an accident, then no one is to blame. I don’t want to hear any complaints, though, no matter what happens.” I was worried about her terrible sense of direction. Even if this accident didn’t happen, there had been plenty of potential for trouble anyway.
“Okay, sweet Naofumi! I’ll prove myself more useful than Sadeena, at least!” she replied.
“Good, good for you,” I managed in reply.
We proceeded through the tunnel of light.
We completed our passage through the tunnel of light and emerged on the same grassy plains that I had seen before. These were the plains where L’Arc’s country was, close to the port town in which Kizuna made her home. Not a bad spot to have arrived in.
“Everyone, check your level and your gear. We don’t know what’s going to happen next,” I warned them. With that, I also checked my own situation. My level was the same as when I last departed from Kizuna’s world. The Barbarian Armor didn’t have any scrambled text issues, but the status had fallen a little. I should just be thankful it was even functioning. Basically, it was all thanks to the efforts of the weapon shop old guy. The gear he had supplied to Itsuki and Rishia was in a similar condition.
In terms of shields, I had a nice surprise upon discovering that the Spirit Tortoise Carapace Shield could still be used. However, my level was a little too low to be able to change to it. I’d need to make do with a stopgap shield for a while.
“I’m fine,” Filo exclaimed. I’d expected as much. Filo had checked her stats in her human state. Considering how things had worked out last time, Filo’s abilities were suited to rear support.
“S’yne is fine too,” S’yne’s familiar reported for her.
“Level 58,” she added.
“So this is a world you’ve visited before,” I said. I was a little uneasy about that number, but it sounded about right for having moved with each wave.
“Raph?” Raph-chan sounded surprised.
“Oh my!”
“Oh dear!”
I looked at the killer whale sisters and found myself having to look down—look down quite a lot more than I expected.
Sadeena was fine. At a glance, she didn’t seem to have changed at all— there was no way to tell visually if she had any text-corrupted gear she couldn’t use.
The problem was Shildina. Back in our world, she had been almost the same size as Sadeena, but now . . . she had shrunk. She was currently in her demi-human form, so there was no doubting it. She was now just a little taller than Raphtalia had once been, and her clothing was all loose too. She even looked younger, like a little kid, with just a tinge of pink to her skin. Her voice was higher pitched too. She really did just look like a normal kid—or at least not like someone who had been a mature woman just a few moments ago.
“Fehhh . . .” Rishia was looking over with surprise on her face. Seriously, I wished she would grow out of making that annoying sound. It was hard to say whether she’d made any progress at all, really. Now Itsuki was the one keeping her calm.
“L’Arc did mention that Raphtalia got smaller when she came to this world,” I said.
“I have heard about what happened with you. It made quite an impression, so I recall it well,” Ethnobalt said.
“So I guess, just like how Filo and Ethnobalt changed to reflect each world, demi-humans get younger,” I concluded.
“Oh my? What about me?” Sadeena asked.
“When Filo came to this world before, she was a humming fairy chick, correct? But when I went to your world, I became something close to an usapil, didn’t I?” Ethnobalt said.
“Maybe age is reflected in there too. You grew pretty big too, didn’t you, Ethnobalt,” I reminded him. Raphtalia was in fact only around ten years old. Maybe that was why she had looked so young upon first arriving in this world. The same went for Filo. The reality of that matter was that Filo wasn’t even one year old yet. In the case of Ethnobalt, it might be because he was a race that developed slowly . . . but that still left questions.
“Little Naofumi, did you want to see me when I was a child?” Sadeena asked.
“Not particularly,” I responded. I recalled Sadeena saying she was 23 years old. She had spent time with Raphtalia’s parents before Raphtalia had even been born, so it made sense she was older. She had that whole history as the water dragon’s miko priestess and executioner in Q’ten Lo too.
“Oh dear,” Shildina said.
“You’re so cute, little Shildina!” Sadeena said, lifting her sister up from behind.
“Stop it. Put me down!” she protested, looking very unhappy at now being of carrying size. That made her look even more like a child. Appearances could be so confusing.
“I might prefer you like this. You look so cute, Shildina,” Sadeena continued.
“I don’t care what you think, Sadeena,” she retorted. Shildina turned into her therianthrope form and started to whack Sadeena with her tail. I took a breath in admiration. A mini killer whale! She was like some cute aquarium mascot. As cute as Keel, almost—and a lot like the Sadeena doll that S’yne had made. Sadeena proceeded to hold the transformed Shildina out at me.
“Look, little Naofumi. Isn’t little Shildina so cute?” she asked me. I gave a “hmmm,” taking Shildina from Sadeena and lifting her up. She felt so light with the difference in strength due to our levels. Shildina just wagged—if that was the word—her tail without showing any signs of displeasure. Was this what Shildina had been like when she was a child? She was small, that was for sure. I’d been treating her like an adult, but I was going to have to keep a closer eye on her now.
“Up you go! Up you go!” I said, lifting her up in the air.
“Little Naofumi?” Sadeena looked at me in bemusement. Wasn’t that what you did with a child? I’d done the same thing with Raphtalia when she’d been smaller too. I’d had my own issues back then, but Shildina would probably prefer being treated closer to her own age. I also patted her head.
“Oh dear!” Shildina didn’t seem to know how to respond. She was a child who had never been spoiled, clearly. Eventually, perhaps having run out of magic, or perhaps out of consideration for me, she turned back into her demi-human form.
“Why are you mothering Shildina, Naofumi?” Ethnobalt questioned, clearly puzzled. But there was no real reason why. I was just going with the flow. “There were quite a few childish people in your village too . . . I see.” Ethnobalt seemed to have realized something—or thought he had. Hey! There’s nothing to read into any of that!
“So this is what you’ll be like once you have children, little Naofumi,” Sadeena said.
“I should have expected that,” I commented. A stranger walking by would probably read this scene as me holding the child of Sadeena and me. At that, though, Shildina turned her fists on Sadeena.
“I’m not Sadeena’s child!” she protested.
“Oh my!” Sadeena gave a laugh, her eyes full of warmth.
“I’m going to get back to myself before you know it!” Shildina exclaimed. I was happy to see her motivated, but I hoped they didn’t fight too much.
“Raph,” said Raph-chan to attract my attention and then pointed toward a castle. There was a town around it, but it looked to be in pretty bad shape. There had definitely been a fire. The whole place looked much more rundown than before.
“Fehhh . . .” Rishia said.
“Stay alert. We need to work out the situation first,” I said.
“Oh my. I hope little Raphtalia is okay,” Sadeena commented.
“We just have to pray that’s the case. Raph-chan, can you sense where she is?” I asked. Raph-chan had started out as a shikigami used to locate Raphtalia. I wasn’t sure if that function was still working, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.
“Raph,” Raph-chan replied, seemingly understanding exactly what I had asked, and pointed at the town—at the castle. It seemed that was the direction Raphtalia was in.
“Right. Enough playing around. Let’s get moving. However . . . be sure to take care. If you’ve got a low level, be extra careful,” I cautioned them. I proceeded to cast support magic on everyone, and then we headed for the town around the castle.
In front of the town—in front of the castle gates—there was a battle that could only be said to be “raging.” Troops in armor I didn’t recognize were fighting those wearing armor worn by L’Arc’s forces, each side hacking at the other, weapons in hand. It looked like we’d walked into an invasion of L’Arc’s country.
As I fought through the ranks, I protected Filo and Ethnobalt and made my way to the front line. If I kept Shooting Star Shield up, there was no worry of someone catching a stray arrow.
A grunt attracted my attention, and I turned to see Glass and Raphtalia with their weapons locked in combat against someone holding the scythe that should have belonged to L’Arc. Raphtalia was there! And she looked to be losing ground. From L’Arc I sensed a real tension, a kind of panic.
“Now! Defeat the arrogant King L’Arc Berg, former holder of a vassal weapon!” yelled a voice. This came from a woman standing at the rear of the enemy forces. She had an atmosphere around here that, at worst, could have been said to be like Witch. Meanwhile, Therese was fighting behind Raphtalia and Glass.
“You scum! Stealing my weapon and doing all of this! I keep telling you, this is not the intended purpose of these weapons!” L’Arc growled.
Someone else was there—a man retorted, “Hah! Why would we listen to someone whose weapon dumped him? This sweet little scythe doesn’t want a goody-goody justice lover like you! It came to me because I’m the kind of owner it always wanted!” The man holding the actual scythe snorted at L’Arc’s anger. He had the same atmosphere about him as Kyo and Takt.
“You lie! The scythe vassal weapon would never think such a thing!” Therese denied those claims, and Raphtalia and Glass glared the speaker down. The enemy with the scythe dropped back, launching a follow-up of countless magic and ofuda directly at Raphtalia and Glass. The two women fought them all off.
“Seriously? You can’t do a thing unless you all bunch together! Pathetic. You can’t hope to save this world, at this level,” the enemy cackled. Things certainly didn’t look good. For one thing, L’Arc had bandages wrapped around his head and arm. He didn’t have his scythe vassal weapon either. It sounded like it had been stolen, much like Takt stole our weapons. Therese also had bandages wrapped around her arm and leg. From the way she was walking, she had suffered serious injuries. Glass didn’t seem to have any particular injuries on her, but her clothing had definitely seen better days. They were clearly all worn down from a string of successive battles.
“Even I no longer have the patience to abide by Kizuna’s wishes,” Glass stated. “This is the time to truly bring an end to you and this foolish battle you have started!” She raised her fan and struck a fighting pose. “Raphtalia, if anything happens to me, I leave Kizuna and L’Arc in your hands.”
“Calm down, please, Glass!” Raphtalia responded. Glass was attempting to gather all of her evil energy into herself. I had used the Shield of Rage myself, so I understood the feeling crackling in the air.
“If we lose this battle, Kizuna is not going to come back. I’ll do whatever it takes—” That was when I leapt in front of Glass, cutting her off and calming things down.
“Calm down. We might be able to win this without any noble sacrifices,” I told her.
“That voice!” It worked. Glass stopped what she had been doing. She’d been attempting to use a cursed weapon. That was why I stopped her.
There had been a reason why I didn’t talk to Raphtalia and the others immediately after arriving at the battlefield.
“I, hero, command the heavens and earth! Transect the way of the universe and rejoin it again to expel the pus from within! Power of the Dragon Vein! Obey now orders from the hero, the source of your power, combining my magic with the power of the hero. Read again the way of all things and lend strength to them all!” I chanted. “All Liberation Aura X!” The highest level of support magic was cast across everyone within range whom I considered an ally.
“This is . . . incredible! I feel so light!” said Glass.
“My stats have been incredibly boosted! What a rush of power!” said L’Arc.
“Huh?” The one with L’Arc’s scythe turned his gaze on me, clearly not happy with this unexpected new arrival. “Just who might you be?”
“Mr. Naofumi!” Raphtalia saw me, her eyes opening wide and her expression brightening. There were even tears in her eyes. But of course, the last time I’d seen her I’d been close to death myself. She hadn’t even known if I was alive or dead, so this wasn’t an overreaction. Honestly speaking, I wanted to enjoy the reunion myself, but first we needed to do something about these enemies.
“You started out as Kizuna’s allies, right?” Ethnobalt had told me that it was a bunch of former allies who had launched a surprise attack and stolen L’Arc’s scythe. “Didn’t he tell you about me? One of the four holy heroes from another world?” If they had been allies, I was sure to have come up in conversation.
“So you’re reinforcements, called in because we’ve got your little friends here bleeding out. Turn around and go back to wherever you came from, and I promise not to cut you down as you go,” the man growled.
“You’re not possessed by Kyo, are you?” I asked. He was acting just like that dick. Ethnobalt had made it sound like this guy and Kizuna had been pretty close. The sheer wall of overconfidence he presented totally rubbed me the wrong way. It told me one thing: he was my enemy.
He’d done so many bad things already, too, there didn’t seem much hope for a peaceful resolution, as I had managed with Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu.
“You’d lump me in with that trash? Just look at me! I’m far stronger than he ever was,” the man snarled back.
“Of course you are. And if you’re strong, anything you do will be forgiven, right? I’m sick of hearing that shit,” I replied. Chalk up another similarity with Kyo—thinking strength allowed him to do anything. Did it mean he was also a vanguard of the waves? “Who’s pulling your strings, puppet?” I asked him.
“What’s in it for you, asking that?” he fired back.
“Just tell me,” I spat.
“You really think I’m going to talk?” he replied.
“No, you’re right.” Of course he wasn’t. All of his ruffian friends were already making to attack me with magic, arrows, and an assortment of weapons.
“Mr. Naofumi!” Raphtalia cried out. If I tried any longer, Raphtalia was going to get mad. But seeing as I’d been unable to get Takt to talk, I thought this might be a good opportunity.
“If you push your luck . . . this will be worse than death for you,” I cautioned. There had been Takt and what happened with him in our world, not so long ago. Regardless of the one who initiated it, once they let things get this far, once they were defeated, it was always tragic. I wasn’t about to sugarcoat things. Taunts, insults, whatever they wanted to throw, I could take it. I was carrying too much on my back. For the sake of Atla and Ost and everyone else who had fallen along the way, there was no turning back for me—however filthy the path I had to tread.
“Don’t egg him on,” Glass advised, finally understanding the situation. “This whole battle just completely changed in our favor.”
“Perhaps my interference wasn’t welcome?” I asked her, one eyebrow raised.
“Not at all. This is not an enemy worthy of an honorable battle,” she replied.
With a shout of rage, L’Arc closed in with one of the enemies at high speed and cut them down. The others just stood there, stunned, heads moving from left to right.
“You think these petty tricks are enough to win? I’m almost at a loss for words, honestly. Let me show you what I can really do!” the scythe guy raged.
“If you’ve got something to show me, go ahead. Defeat me, if you can,” I calmly replied. Then I activated Attack Support and launched spikes at the enemy holding L’Arc’s scythe.
“Glass, finish him off!” I shouted.
“Got it!” she replied. The Attack Support landed on target and—even faster than Raphtalia—Glass swiped her fan powerfully to the side, waist low and deep. The entire movement would likely be little less than a flicker to anyone not under the effects of my support magic.
“Circle Dance Slice Formation! Flicker!” Glass had sliced into the enemy from behind with her fan five times, then dropped away and was now standing with her back to him.
“As your former ally . . . I give you this final mercy. You will die without pain,” she said.
“Huh? You seriously think you’ve defeated—” In the moment he turned to confront Glass about her declaration of victory, the guy with the scythe split into chunks, then simply turned into a red mist and was blown away.
Impressive. She hadn’t left any trace of him at all.
Enemy women were looking around with shocked expressions on their faces. All the women who had been fighting alongside him started screaming. Among the noise, it sounded like some of them were shouting his name, but it was too distorted to hear.
I wondered for a moment if this was some kind of curse, some kind of ritual, that I had to go through. It had been much like this with Takt.
“Raph!” From her position riding on my shoulder, Raph-chan leapt down and whacked at the spot the enemy had been standing with her tail, sending something else flying.
“Isn’t it a little merciless to also destroy his soul?” Glass asked.
“We don’t want him coming back like Kyo,” I reminded her.
“Good point. I apologize for my naivety,” she responded. A moment later, a faint light appeared from the spot the enemy had been standing in and then flew toward L’Arc. Once the light vanished, the scythe vassal weapon appeared back in L’Arc’s hand.
Then I noticed something. In the moment the scythe returned to L’Arc’s hand, an accessory attached to it flew off. What was that all about? There had been a similar accessory when we were dealing with Takt.
“Your boss is dead! This scythe being back in my hand is proof! Will you surrender or continue to resist? Choose!” L’Arc shouted. Seeing L’Arc proclaim victory, most of the enemy started to retreat.
“You’ll pay for killing—” The name was again lost amid more cries as a number of women rushed in, screaming for revenge. Our forces quickly took them down. I noticed that Witch-like woman trying to make a break for it too, so I grabbed her by the collar to keep her close.
“Let me go! Do you even know who you are daring to fight against?” she spat.
“No idea. But if you’re important, then we really can’t let you go,” I told her.
“Well done, Naofumi!” Glass proceeded to smack the woman in the stomach with the handle of her fan, making her pass out. “She’s an ally of the ones we are fighting, supporting them. We’ve no idea what she might have done if we didn’t catch her.”
“Fair enough. Still . . .” It felt a bit anticlimactic to have wiped them out so easily. There were still more of them out there, apparently, but this looked like it was going to all be over more quickly than I had imagined.
“We need to form up a pursuit party and capture these enemies of the state in order to make our victory certain in this war!” L’Arc shouted. His forces roared back their agreement, and then they started to chase down the fleeing enemy.
“Raph!” Raph-chan pointed toward Raphtalia. She was dashing right toward me.
“Mr. Naofumi!” she cried.
“Raphtalia!” I responded, instinctively rushing toward her myself. I caught her in my arms.
“Mr. Naofumi?” she asked, surprised. I heard her voice, a little uncertain of what was happening. She smelled nice. I was happy, really happy, that she hadn’t been caught up in anything as complicated as our last visit here.
“Are you all in one piece? I was worried about you,” I said.
“That’s my line. Not to mention that amazing, almost unnatural boost to our stats. What was that?” Then Raphtalia pushed me to arm’s length and looked me over from head to toe. “Those wounds you took—what about those?” Raphtalia had stayed behind to let us escape from our first encounter with Takt, during which I had been seriously injured. All sorts of things had happened after that, but she had no way of knowing any of them.
“All fine. What about you, Raphtalia? If you need any healing, just let me know right away,” I said.
“I’m fine too. No serious wounds. My katana teleported me before things got too serious,” she explained. Raphtalia also looked relieved to see my shield. That was because, just before parting with Raphtalia, Takt had stolen my shield.
“My shield? You bet I got that back. In fact, it’s like it was never even taken from me,” I reflected.
“So was it stolen or not?” she asked.
“That’s a tough one. How best to explain . . .” While we talked, L’Arc, Therese, and Glass came over.
“You saved us. Without your aid, we would have suffered hard for such a victory,” Glass said.
“You did seem to be struggling. What if something had happened to Raphtalia?” I asked. I had to ask. I knew it wasn’t their fault, but I still had to say it anyway.
“Mr. Naofumi—” Raphtalia started.
“I know,” I cut her off. I knew her all too well. “Under these circumstances, you’d never run off and be safe all alone.” If she did run for her life, she’d no longer be Raphtalia at all.
“Naofumi, it sounded like you were in pretty bad shape yourself,” Glass said.
“My lady Glass, cool it. Look at what he just did—he clearly dealt with the problem,” L’Arc responded. I was glad he was quick on the uptake.
“Anyway. Sadeena and some of the others are here too, so let’s get them involved,” I suggested. We proceeded to move away from the battle in front of the gates, meeting up with Sadeena and the others. We started to chat in the courtyard of the castle.
“Little Raphtalia! I’m so happy to see you again,” Sadeena said.
As soon as Sadeena saw Raphtalia, she grabbed her and started hugging her.
“Sadeena, please. You’re suffocating me,” Raphtalia managed to say.
“Has that settled this problem? Is this the equivalent of defeating Takt?” I asked.
“Well, maybe. You have defeated one of the enemies. But, Mr. Naofumi, what happened with the Whip Hero? The queen was badly injured with you, wasn’t she?” Raphtalia asked. I looked away at her question, falling silent. Realizing what that meant, Raphtalia also looked down.
“I barely survived myself, mainly due to my own vitality and the power of the Shield Spirit,” I eventually said.
“I see,” Raphtalia responded, subdued.
“Regarding the Whip Hero, Takt . . . Trash took over after the queen died, you see, and awoke again as the so-called Wisest King of Wisdom. Takt decided he wanted to take over the world, but Trash put a stop to his plans and achieved victory for Melromarc,” I explained.
“Are we talking about the same king? I can hardly imagine it.” Raphtalia only knew the old Trash, after all. It wasn’t surprising she couldn’t conceive of the change in him.
“I’d only heard the rumors myself, but he really is something else,” Sadeena confirmed.
“I concur. He put up a fight more than worthy of the title of Wisest King of Wisdom,” Itsuki intoned. Of course, Itsuki and Rishia had fought alongside Trash’s forces. That meant they probably had an even better idea of what he was capable of. Itsuki went on. “I just fought, doing as I was instructed, but before I even realized it, the Faubrey forces had been wiped out.”
“I can vouch for that. It really was so fast,” Rishia added, backing up Itsuki’s words with a nod. They had just been following orders, so of course they hadn’t seen the whole picture. I’d personally been off bringing down Takt, so I hadn’t been part of the main battle either.
“I’m sure the departed queen would be most happy with the outcome,” Raphtalia said. “But the king hasn’t changed his name back yet?”
“He seems to have accepted the name ‘Trash’ now. He told me not to change it,” I replied.
“That’s a little sad, isn’t it?” she commented. Don’t look at me! I thought it was crazy too.
“It was so impressive, seriously. He’s so charismatic. ‘Trash’ doesn’t suit him at all. He led the coalition army, with inferior numbers and strength, and drove off Takt’s Faubrey army,” I said. I had called him Aultcray, and he’d given me a sharp look until I took it back and called him “Trash” again. I still wasn’t sure why it had upset him so much. “I also took part in Trash’s operation, and repaid Takt as viciously as I could.”
“Viciously? Repaid? That doesn’t sound especially pleasant,” Raphtalia commented, furrowing her brow. I proceeded to explain the course of events that led to Takt’s defeat. After borrowing the staff from Trash, I had used my stats boosted by the support magic All Liberation Aura X to completely overwhelm him. I had become so much stronger than him it had been hard to hold anything back, and so I’d ended up letting him also take the staff and then worked together with Fohl to kick the crap out of him. As a result, I not only got my shield back but also liberated all the seven star weapons. After stripping poor Takt of everything—his pride, his arrogance—I’d captured him.
“That pretty much settled it. For his plans to take over the world, he was executed along with most of his harem of women. There wasn’t much helping it, considering the circumstances. But I can’t say I really enjoyed the public execution,” I told her. It wasn’t an especially pleasant memory, but it was important to remember what had brought it about. Planning to take over the world, starting a selfish war, and then getting defeated were more than enough to earn such a conclusion.
“I have no sympathy for them. They were the ones who took Atla, and so many others, from us,” Raphtalia responded.
“That’s right,” I agreed. If Takt hadn’t seen fit to get involved in the fight with the Phoenix, that whole situation would have turned out quite differently. It had been an ugly, cruel execution, but I had no sympathy for those who were killed.
“In any case, they have been avenged, which is the best we could ask for,” Raphtalia concluded. We had saved many more lives by defeating him. That was the attitude to hold. “I’m sure Atla would be pleased too.”
“Actually, about that,” I said. “When I was on the verge of death, I met Atla inside something like . . . I guess you’d call it the world inside the shield. She was still very much herself, anyway.” I showed Raphtalia the shield, and the gemstone glowed. Was that Atla taunting Raphtalia from inside the shield? The light did look a bit mocking, if light could be said to do that. Raphtalia seemed to have noticed the same thing, and her brow furrowed.
“I am just glad to see you in good health, Mr. Naofumi,” Raphtalia finally said.
“Atla said much the same thing. Still, I think the whole experience has made me a little more accepting than before,” I replied. I wasn’t completely uninterested in love anymore. I still had to put my duty first, but I could at least respond to the feelings from others now. “Once the waves are finished, in the time after completing my duty but before I go home, I’m thinking a little of the ‘fun and games’ that Sadeena alludes to might be acceptable.”
“That was one of Atla’s final wishes, and I can understand it, but I’m still wondering exactly why things need to be like that,” Raphtalia questioned. She made a good point. It was like me standing here telling a woman who trusted me that after I’d saved the world, I was going to screw my way through as many women as I could.
“Come now, little Raphtalia. Little Naofumi has made so much progress! This is when you need to put your best foot forward. Like I’ve done already. Take a look at this! I present to you the bundle of love created by myself and Little Naofumi!” Sadeena, really laying it on thick, grabbed the little hands of the pint-sized Shildina who was riding on her shoulders.
“What? That much time has passed in the other world?!” Raphtalia gasped. Exasperated, I was about to step in and nip this in the bud when Shildina did it for me.
“Stop turning me into your kid!” she wailed, whapping Sadeena on the head. Raphtalia looked at Shildina with a confused expression for a moment.
“Is that Shildina up there?” she finally said, working it out.
“That’s right,” I confirmed. “We’d been planning to leave her behind, but she got dragged along anyway. After crossing between worlds, she ended up like this.”
“It’s the same as when Raphtalia came here,” L’Arc commented.
“Indeed,” I agreed. “It seems those with an external appearance that relies heavily on their level are turned into one more suited to their age once they cross worlds.”
“That did happen, didn’t it?” Raphtalia recalled.
“I would have liked to see it,” I commented casually.
“Why would you want to see me as a little girl?” Raphtalia questioned.
“Just to remember what it was like when you were smaller. See you and cherish you, that’s all,” I replied.
“You’re not pulling the wool over my eyes. Talking about ‘cherishing’ me is embarrassing too!” she responded. Especially in my more accepting state, I wasn’t about to denounce how cute she had been back then. Of course, I would never consider making a Raphtalia who looked like that into my girlfriend.
“Anyway, it sounds like you’ve had it pretty tough, Naofumi. Raphtalia and I were both very worried about you,” L’Arc said, somewhat evasively, after hearing my explanation of events. When I thought about it, Ethnobalt had come seeking our aid, but we had been in a pretty tricky spot ourselves. Only after resolving that had we been able to come here and offer our aid to this world.
“I’m sure it sounds very cruel to you guys, but they did more than enough to deserve such punishment,” I explained. The idea of leniency because someone was a woman was a mistake. My personal stance was to suspect everything women did, but then that was all thanks to Witch. I hated the idea that just because the alleged victim was a woman, absolutely everything she said had to be true.
“They ran around killing vassal weapon holders, attempted to kill the four holy heroes, and even killed members of the royal families from various nations. They surely got what they deserved,” Glass said with a nod. She seemed to have accepted it.
“Oh? You approve, Glass?” I asked.
“I don’t know what Kizuna would say, but there’s no way to escape from punishment for such a list of crimes. No matter how you attempted to defend them, it would have to be the death penalty. The same goes in this world. Just like those women over there.” Glass looked over at the captive women from the battle. “You have been wanton and selfish, you women. Even Kizuna would never find it in her heart to forgive you for all of this.”
“Glass, my lady, I know that’s true, but still . . .” L’Arc started.
“It is our duty to tackle the waves and protect the peace of this world. Yet they have killed the four holy heroes and disregarded their duties as vassal weapon holders. After all this undisputed damage they have done, you would still forgive them?” Glass rounded on him. “They stole your own vassal weapon!” Based on what Ethnobalt had told me, Glass and everyone here had been in serious trouble. That was probably what made her more sympathetic to understanding what we had been through in our own world.
“I mean, I can’t deny that. We’ve had a rough time too,” L’Arc admitted.
“So give me some details,” I said.
“This battle here today was just like with Kyo. And that guy like Kyo was the one leading them all. So having lost their lynchpin, his nation will have no choice but to surrender,” Glass said, breaking it down for me.
“All sorts of stuff happened. We’ve been training between each wave. And other than Kizuna, we’ve tried hard to contact the other holy heroes,” L’Arc continued.
“Kizuna is pretty laid back. I bet she’s off fishing somewhere, saying ‘whatever will be, will be.’ Or something like that,” I said. There didn’t come a reply. “Hey. You’re not going to deny it?” Seriously! I’d known it already, but Kizuna always had a pretty positive outlook. She’d fulfilled her duty as a hero without losing it too, meaning this world was probably a softer one to end up in.
All things considered though, her laid-back nature was one of her good points. She was also strong too, even with the handicap of not being able to attack directly.
“We’ve also had a few chances to talk to other holy heroes. They weren’t interested in what we had to say—not at all. But Kizuna said she understands what you went through,” L’Arc continued.
“Sounds like things shake out the same in every world,” Itsuki commented, still in monotone. I wasn’t sure he was really one to talk about such things. But at least I’d hammered the power-up method into the other heroes, added them to my forces, and unified us against the waves. Maybe things weren’t so bad, I conceded.
“I’ve been meaning to ask . . . You’re—” L’Arc started.
“Yes, one of the four holy heroes from the same world as Naofumi. I am Itsuki Kawasumi, the Bow Hero. It is nice to meet you.” Itsuki completed his self-introduction and displayed his bow.
“Right. We fought at the Cal Mira islands, no? I think I saw you in the Spirit Tortoise too, right?” L’Arc said.
“That’s right,” Itsuki said.
“Kiddo, is this guy right in the head? His voice sounds kinda flaky,” L’Arc said. All he needed was the slightest opening to start calling me “kiddo” again!
“That’s right. Itsuki had been through a lot. He sunk to the use of cursed weapons and ended up suffering from paralysis of his individuality and other emotions,” Ethnobalt explained.
“I see. So this is the hero that Rishia talked so passionately about,” L’Arc said. Itsuki remained silent. But did he look a bit embarrassed?
“Fehhhhh!” I just ignored Rishia, with her strange noises and bright red face.
“We had all sorts of issues, but I managed to secure the other three heroes, and we are all sharing information now. Didn’t Raphtalia tell you this?” I asked.
“Yeah, she told me. It sounds like it wasn’t easy,” L’Arc responded.
“I wish Kizuna had learned more from your example, Naofumi,” Glass commented.
“But she hasn’t been slacking off too much, right?” I checked.
“I mean . . . Kizuna did try her best when negotiating with them,” L’Arc conceded. I took Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki into consideration, it seemed to take a certain breed of weirdo to get selected as one of the four holy heroes.
“I heard when Kizuna was talking with them, just like with you, Naofumi, they had some kind of advance knowledge,” L’Arc explained.
“So the same thing here. It was called an ‘update’ or something. I guess that’s what it was,” I extrapolated. I’d thought Kizuna holding the negotiations might have helped things go differently, but it looked like things had turned out the same here as in my world. Capturing or holding heroes against their will could create international problems. The only way was to take it slowly, a little at a time . . . just like I had done.
There was also the issue that the four benevolent animals had indeed appeared in this world and started to cause chaos, but Glass and her allies had defeated them pretty quickly. That meant the four holy heroes in this world hadn’t experienced many setbacks. I almost felt sorry for them.
“Then one day we received a report that the other three heroes, everyone apart from Kizuna, weren’t responding anymore. We conducted an investigation. The vassal weapon holders revealed that they hadn’t considered any of them suitable to be the four holy heroes and defeated them,” Glass said. I had heard an outline from Ethnobalt, but L’Arc and the others were doing a better job of filling in the details. Appalled at the killing of members of the holy heroes, Kizuna had led a gathering of her allies and representatives from each nation. The main issue on the table had been the purging of the vassal weapon holders who had perpetrated the killings. It was a known fact that the four holy heroes were the pillars of the world to which they were summoned. Losing even one of them increased the threat posed by the waves. As the discussions turned to how those responsible had to be punished, someone who Kizuna had considered an ally—but also someone with a few personality issues—attacked L’Arc right there in the conference venue. Personality issues or not, he had also been a pretty good fighter.
After a tussle in close combat, L’Arc had dropped back and tried to unleash some skills just to incapacitate the attacker. Then his scythe had vanished from his hands and transferred over to the traitor. The enemies had then proceeded to show off the holy weapons that they had captured. There had been far more than one traitor too, and faced with overwhelming odds— and with key leaders from each nation taken hostage—the party had been forced to retreat. It was during that retreat that Kizuna had stepped forward in an attempt to buy the time for Glass and the other leaders to escape.
Although she didn’t have the ability to attack people herself, Kizuna did have access to a forbidden weapon, and she had been forced to use that to protect everyone. She had combined her strength with Glass’s. And though the cost would have been high, they had attempted to get through the crisis together.
However, the traitors had read even that move. They proceeded to capture Kizuna and use a mysterious teleportation technique to whisk her away. It sounded like L’Arc’s scythe and Kizuna had been their only targets the entire time.
Glass and the others had planned an operation to rescue Kizuna. It had looked like all-out war would erupt with the traitor-controlled nation . . . but then a new problem had occurred.
The explanation was cut short there for a moment in order to get all these new facts in order. Packing in too much information at once could only make a situation even harder to understand.
“So the actual events are a little different, but it seems like a similar issue to what we faced in our world,” I said.
“Yes, it does,” Glass agreed. At that point, Therese, who had been silent the entire time, started to cry.
“Master Craftsman . . .” she sobbed.
“Please don’t call me that,” I told her.
“The item that you provided me with . . .” She trailed off and then showed me the broken pieces of her Orichal Starfire Bracelet.
“Right. When we were in danger, it was this accessory you created that saved us, Naofumi. Without it, I reckon we very well might have been killed,” L’Arc said with a slightly pained expression.
“We managed to survive only because it chose to sacrifice itself by unleashing all of its power,” Therese explained. During the battle, after the scythe was taken, it was apparently the power of the accessory I had made for her that allowed them to survive. Wasn’t that a good thing if it meant the lives of L’Arc and the others had been saved?
“I am so sorry. Sacrificing such a work of art as this . . .” Therese continued.
“Hey, Therese, no need to apologize to me quite so profusely. Besides, I don’t like the look in L’Arc’s eyes,” I told her.
“He looks a lot like you do sometimes, Mr. Naofumi,” Raphtalia muttered, looking between our faces and comparing them. When did I ever look like that? I wasn’t sure what the feeling in the air was, but it was almost like—even though I wanted no part of it—I was stealing Therese away from L’Arc.
“Indeed. He does look a lot like Naofumi,” Itsuki commented.
“Fehhh! Itsuki, please be quiet!” Rishia hissed. I seconded her statement, internally, and with considerably more vigor.
“The gemstone is cracked, but I can polish it up again, change the shape and remake it as something else. I hope that will be enough for you,” I told her. I wasn’t sure why it was falling to me to console her. My suggestion did make her raise her head, however. It was the best from a bad situation, then.
“Really? You can do that?” she asked.
“Sure I can, if I can find a moment. It’s basically your weapon, isn’t it, Therese? So it’s definitely worth it to make you something,” I told her. Making accessories for Therese allowed me to experience the feeling the old guy must have all the time. Like the reforging of a broken sword, I would give some thought to how to bring new life to this shattered accessory. It probably wouldn’t be easy, but it felt like it had some magic left in it.
“Thank you so much! I couldn’t ask for more!” Therese bowed her head as she thanked me and then saw the accessory Imiya had made for me and froze completely. “W-w-w-w-w-w-what is that?!” she eventually stammered.
“This? This was made by someone who could be considered . . . well, both my apprentice and a fellow student,” I said and showed Therese the Two Spirit Charm that Imiya had given me prior to my departure.
“Ah! It looks divine! So lovely!” Therese marveled. As though it were too bright for her to look at, Therese covered her face with her hands and looked away from the Two Spirit Charm. “It’s quite incredible,” she said, breathing heavily. “I never imagined such a fine piece could ever exist.”
Being able to draw out the power of accessories meant that this would be quite effective if given to Therese. That said, Imiya had been thinking more of me when she created it and handed it over. That said, if holding this made Therese stronger, then maybe that was the greatest value it had to offer.
“Therese, I’m sorry, but I can’t give this to you . . . but I could lend it to you, just until I go back,” I said. Imiya had given this to me, wishing for the safe return of not just me but everyone in the away party. Making the best use of it seemed the best way to realize that wish.
“Are you sure?” she exclaimed.
“Yes. But it’s just a loan. When I go back, I’ll want to take it with me . . . I know. How about we say you can use it until I fix the broken one?” I compromised.
“Whatever you say!” Therese started to practically grovel on the ground in thanks.
“—and then—” Filo was doing her best to translate for Sadeena and the others, facilitated with notes from Rishia. Based on the “oh mys” coming from Sadeena, they were getting the gist of it.
How had it come to this though? Therese was practically worshipping me. L’Arc had that look in his eye again too—the same look I supposedly made.
I proceeded to give the Two Spirit Charm to Therese. The change was immediate. Her body started to give off a light glow, and the bandages on her arm and leg scattered into pieces and blew away. The curse marks beneath them then just vanished too.
“Interesting. I have seen this in anime and games before. It is when a unit is replaced or promoted. A new unit comes in to replace the broken one that was used up,” Itsuki said. From where I was standing, he was barely making sense. I understood the nuance he was going for, but he really needed to work on his delivery.
“This is incredible,” Therese said, thrilled. “I feel so powerful I think I might burst!” She had actually started to float off the ground. Wings of fire grew out from her back and it looked like she could fly now too! “I’ll do my best to meet your expectations, Master Craftsman!”
“He healed Therese’s wounds . . . Incredible . . . I can’t compete with that . . .” L’Arc bemoaned to himself. Hold on! You don’t have to compete with me!
So I told her, “Look after L’Arc too, okay? By which I mean don’t cast him aside, understand? And definitely don’t say stuff like, ‘Whatever you wish, Master Craftsman!’ Okay?” I pressed the point home pretty hard. Please, for God’s sake, don’t let me end up on the route where I take a woman from L’Arc! I had no interest in doing such a thing anyway.
“Whatever you say!” she replied, a little too close to my command for comfort. Still, it was nice to see her full of energy again. Maybe she’d be strong enough now to take down our enemies with one punch.
Imiya’s accessory was something else, that was for sure. If Imiya could find the time, I’d get her to make something especially for Therese.
“Little Naofumi, little Raphtalia,” Sadeena said, approaching us as we watched Therese power up. “At first I thought little Naofumi had brought us to a different country with one of his teleportation skills, but this really isn’t the world I know,” Sadeena said.
“Finally got that, did you?” I asked.
“It certainly is not. Why? Have you noticed something?” Raphtalia asked. What was she onto?
“Is there something here that’s different from our world?” I asked.
“Well . . .” Sadeena muttered, looking from the courtyard out toward the town. “First, I don’t have a clue what people are saying. Not a word. This isn’t like a dialect or just a different language. You really are heroes, aren’t you? Raphtalia included.”
“I understand. I couldn’t understand what people were saying until I obtained this katana,” Raphtalia replied. The hero weapons all had a universal translation function. But for someone without any such special powers— someone like Sadeena—it made sense she wouldn’t have a clue what people were saying. The translation attribute was just another thing we had the hero weapons to be grateful for.
“In Zeltoble, that melting pot of peoples, I encountered some languages I hadn’t ever heard before . . . but they weren’t like this. This is totally different,” Sadeena said.
“Rishia picked it up in a few weeks,” I responded.
“Little Rishia is very smart. I won’t be pulling that off, I can tell you,” Sadeena replied. Maybe not. It had taken me a long time to learn the alphabet in Melromarc, and the magic alphabet too. It was unfair to use Rishia as an example.
“It would have worked out better if the analysis of that translation accessory S’yne enemies carried had made some progress,” I said. I’d left that task to the accessory dealer, but the accessory in question was made from some kind of unknown material and couldn’t be replicated. S’yne’s familiar currently carried it. Without it, communication with S’yne would have been almost impossible. She seemed to understand what I was saying, but hardly anything other than strange noises emanated from her own mouth. It had been getting even worse recently, preventing us from conversing even on basic topics. If her vassal weapon broke down completely, she might not be able to talk at all . . . but I didn’t think it would come to that.
“Hmmm,” Sadeena pondered.
“Filo understands it too, right?” I said. She always seemed like a bit of an airhead, but Filo was also kinda multilingual. She could learn new languages in a really short space of time.
I was starting to wonder exactly what “being smart” meant.
“Hey! You’re thinking something rude about me, Master! I’m not a dummy!” Filo said.
“I wasn’t thinking anything of the sort,” I countered. “I was just pondering some of the mysteries of the universe.”
“Mysteries of the universe?” she asked.
“Raph?” Raph-chan chirped too.
I was thinking about how mysterious it is that Filo seems to just understand some things. The language barrier seemed low but was actually quite high, and yet there were plenty of geniuses around here who just seemed to jump right over it.
“Hey, Naofumi. If there is going to be more fighting, then we had better get our levels and weapons in order quickly,” Itsuki suggested. The situation was pretty dire over here, so I could understand his concerns.
“Do you have any earth crystals?” I asked. “People coming from our world can turn them into experience.”
“Ah, of course. I heard about you using them last time you were here,” Glass said. That was right. The special ore “earth crystals” were only found here on Kizuna’s world. They could be turned into experience if people from our world used them. It depended on size and purity, but using them at a low level could be expected to provide a considerable boost. They wouldn’t provide enough to reach really high levels, but it would be better than nothing. Then we could consider the situation and go hunting to increase our levels in short order after that.
“That’s the situation, Itsuki. I know you’ll feel uneasy until you can hold your own, but just have some patience,” I told him.
“Very well,” he replied. His monotone intonation didn’t inspire confidence, but Rishia should have his back. She had done little but make her silly exclamations since our arrival, but she had actually been recently selected as one of the seven star heroes and could also initiate her awakened state on command. She had a strength that transcended just levels, and she was also a very trustworthy individual.
“We’re getting off topic here. L’Arc, about those bandages—you’ve been cursed too?” I asked, checking on his condition. Seeing as he was still wearing the bandages even after having healing magic applied, I guessed the injuries had been caused by a curse or something similar and so the healing was delayed.
“That’s right. The injuries the ones who stole my vassal weapon gave me aren’t healing especially well,” he replied.
“Liberation Heal X.” I extended my arm toward L’Arc and incanted some magic. He made a soft exclamation in surprise as healing magic was applied. I focused on the spots wrapped in bandages. The X-class magic could even heal curses. The only issue was that it took a little time.
“Of course, Naofumi has the ability to lift curses with his healing magic. He healed me too,” Ethnobalt chimed in. This was how I had healed him.
“Where did the ‘X’ come from?” Raphtalia asked.
“The staff power-up method allows you to spend points to boost the effects of skills and abilities. I put some into magic and gained access to the
X. It’s the spell I mentioned when I told you about how we defeated Takt,” I explained. “I see. That’s quite incredible. I can see the curse fading even as I watch,” Raphtalia replied.
“Even so, it seems to be rooted pretty deep. It’s going to need multiple treatments to fully heal up,” I said. After we worked out it had curse-healing properties, I had tried it on Motoyasu too, but it had done nothing at all to him. I wondered what was going on there.
Itsuki, meanwhile, was probably easier to handle in his current state, so I hadn’t even tried it on him. I didn’t need him to start frothing at the mouth about justice and have us end up on opposite sides again. Maybe I’d be able to get through to him this time, but he wasn’t causing any trouble at the moment. He was fine for now. If he got badly injured, of course I’d use it.
“Wow, I feel so much better! I think I’m seeing the light at the end of this tunnel, thanks to you, Naofumi!” L’Arc enthused. He swung his arms around, proving how improved his condition was, a grin on his face. “Not sure how to thank you!”
“Don’t worry about it. There are other people who need treatment too, right? I’ll heal them later. Finish your explanation of what’s going on here first,” I told him. From what we’d been told so far, I still didn’t know how Raphtalia had gotten involved or how Ethnobalt’s ship had been stolen.
“Right, okay. Back on track. It was while we were forming up a party to go save Kizuna—although my injuries made it hard for me to do anything. Glass can probably explain this a bit better,” L’Arc said, looking over at her.
“We had the rescue party ready and set out to save Kizuna while L’Arc and the others were healing up,” Glass said, picking up the story. “On the way, however, we were attacked by a group who looked to be adventurers. I’d never seen anything like them before, from the magic they incanted to the attack styles they used.” The first phrase that came to mind was “when it rains, it pours.”
“Ethnobalt, you gave me the lowdown on that, right?” I confirmed with him.
“That’s right. These new enemies also have the power to steal vassal weapons, and they were targeting Glass’s weapon and my own,” Ethnobalt replied.
“We faced unknown attacks and with inferior fighting strength. As a trump card, I used some soul-healing water and unleashed an attack, but they were highly skilled themselves. Finding ourselves in dire straits, Ethnobalt’s vassal weapon was stolen. I barely escaped with my fan.” That all matched up with what Ethnobalt had already told me. “Losing Ethnobalt meant our means of quick travel was gone, which comprised a major setback to our plans to rescue Kizuna,” Glass continued. “We also had to fight to quell another one of the waves. And then, while we were fighting off an attack from the traitors—”
“That’s when I was summoned into the middle of the crisis,” Raphtalia said. Boy, it sounded like she’d really been called into a shit storm— although, from another perspective, it might have been perfect timing. “I fought while using magical illusions, but the enemy proved most powerful. As the fighting wore on, we were losing more and more ground,” Raphtalia continued. The timelines didn’t line up exactly, but crossing worlds likely caused this kind of discrepancy. “Mr. Naofumi . . . concerning the mysterious forces that Glass was just talking about . . .” Raphtalia looked over at S’yne, who of course had also come along. I instinctively knew what she was trying to say. S’yne seemed to have worked it out too, because she had a stiff and stern look on her face. “From the descriptions of their magic and the gear they were carrying, I believe them to be the same enemies as those S’yne had faced.”
“I see,” I replied. This just made the entire situation even more complicated. “Sounds like you’ve been beset on all sides.” They had really taken a beating, that was for sure. I was quite worried about what might have happened if we hadn’t shown up when we did. We’d done so much to help them during our last visit, and this was the result? I was almost ready to accuse someone of negligence. That said, being attacked by someone like Takt without any prior information could easily lead to this kind of situation. I’d give them that one.
“Luckily, thanks to you, Naofumi, we made it through another crisis. You have my deepest gratitude,” Glass said.
If we were looking at people trying to pull the same thing that Takt had been doing, we should be able to defeat them if we all worked together. I’d been hitting the Liberation Aura X hard recently. No need to stop now. A bit of aggressive muscle should get the job done!
“I’d better tell you something I found out,” I said.
“What’s that?” Glass asked.
“It was when I was badly injured myself,” I continued. “The Shield Spirit told me that Takt was one of the vanguards of the waves. We still don’t know exactly what kind of enemy is behind the waves, but please keep this point in mind. From Takt’s attitude and how similar he was to Kyo, I should think Kyo was too.”
“Are you sure?” Glass responded.
“Most likely. If they have the power to steal vassal weapons, then I’m sure those guys are connected,” I stated. Such a major commonality as stealing weapons meant they had to be related.
“The waves have also been invading us like that. Does that mean they’re more than just a phenomenon caused by the fusing of the worlds?” Glass was having trouble, understandably, grasping the size of the enemy standing against us.
“That, I can’t tell you. Do the waves have intent of their own? Or is there another reason for all this?” I pondered aloud. Now I was just throwing out questions. The very fact that monsters appeared along with a wave was an unexplained mystery. The information we currently had wasn’t enough to reach an answer, anyway.
“Let’s get back on topic,” I said, not for the first time. “There are ways through this situation . . . but is Kizuna okay? Is she alive?” I asked.
“I think . . . she probably is,” Glass responded. “Kizuna can’t attack people directly herself, and she’s been considerably weakened by the curse. If they kill her, we could summon a new group of four holy heroes, so they are likely keeping her alive.” If Kizuna died, it would be possible to summon a new group of four holy heroes. There had been issues with summoning heroes when it came to me, but it worked well for everyone else. The spirits of the holy weapons wouldn’t respond to a summons from people who didn’t have the best interests of the world at heart. That meant Glass and her allies, fighting for the sake of the world in order to stop the waves, had a clear advantage.
If a situation like this had been explained to us upon our own arrival, we might well have listened. If a group that was happy to use their game knowledge to fight some battles in another world were summoned, we would probably be able to convince them to join the cause too. The enemy wasn’t going to risk increasing the forces arrayed against them so drastically. Rather, if they just kept the weakened Kizuna alive but imprisoned, they could push Glass and her allies further into the corner.
“So she’s alive, but we don’t know what’s being done to her. One wrong move and Raphtalia could have ended up in the same position,” I said.
“Tell me about it,” Raphtalia agreed. I just hoped Kizuna was okay.
“Anyway, we’ve dealt with the traitors now. We need to send out a unit and secure Kizuna’s safety as quickly as possible,” L’Arc said.
“Agreed. As quickly as possible,” I responded. Something stirred in the back of my mind. My otaku background made me think of those nasty games that involved rape. I thought we should also consider how terrible people could be. We should probably prepare some memory-wiping medicine to take care of serious mental issues Kizuna might face after the rescue. We weren’t in some made-up story, and those who had been captured would definitely be tortured. “Still, I do wonder . . . why are these vanguards of the waves all so selfish? How can they put themselves ahead of the needs of the world like this?” I pondered aloud. They were little different from the video game-playing otaku summoned as heroes—no sense of peril attached to their actions.
How to turn this all around, then?
“I split an ofuda with Kizuna that summons Chris, but for some reason Chris isn’t able to locate her. I want to leave as quickly as possible,” Glass said.
“Calm it, Glass. I know it’s hard. I’ll make sure we can leave today. Don’t worry,” L’Arc assured her. Glass gripped her fan tightly. Then she took out an ofuda and summoned her penguin familiar Chris.
“Pen!” Chris said.
“Raph!” Raph-chan greeted her. It was almost like a reunion between two old friends.
“Pen! Pen-pen!” Chris continued.
“Raph . . .” Raph-chan sympathized.
“Glass tried to attempt a rescue many times, even with everyone stopping her,” Raphtalia murmured quietly to me. “It wasn’t easy to stop her either.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t,” I replied. Kizuna was to Glass what Raphtalia was to me. Having someone around who understood her had helped Glass stay calm.
“In order to be reunited with you, Mr. Naofumi, I took on a number of waves, hoping to be able to return to the world I came from,” Raphtalia told me.
“They didn’t match up though, did they?” I said. The only wave in our world had been the recent one in Melromarc. That one hadn’t matched with Kizuna’s world, meaning Raphtalia had been without any way to get back.
“We just need to go and get Kizuna back, right?” L’Arc said. His voice was loud and high; he was hoping to ride this wave all the way to victory. “Great to have you helping out—you and your party, Naofumi—but what’s the plan once we save Kizuna?”
“Well . . . as for these vassal weapon holders with the power to steal weapons, if I’m reunited with Kizuna, together we can instantly weaken them,” I said.
“What?!” L’Arc exclaimed.
“I told you about Takt, the guy we faced in my world, right?” I confirmed.
“Yes, I heard you. But is it that simple?” L’Arc asked. I mean, I wasn’t sure it would be that easy, but in light of the situation, it was clear what we needed to prioritize.
“The seven star weapons in our world are the same as the vassal weapons here in yours. Which means the holders of the holy weapons outrank them. They should be able to easily strip anyone who isn’t fulfilling their duty as a vassal weapon holder of their right to hold the weapon,” I explained. The removal of authority I had levied on Takt would only work on a seven star weapon. I couldn’t, for example, use it on S’yne. I’d also tried it on Rishia, Trash, and Fohl, but it had no effect on those who were recognized to be using their weapon correctly. It looked like authority could only be stripped from those who had obtained the weapons in an unjust way or who had abandoned their duty.
But even if we could take them all back, we didn’t know the location of some of the seven star weapons.
“It sounds like you haven’t made much progress with sharing power-up methods here in this world. That’s why we’ve probably gotten a bit stronger than you. Anyway, once preparations are ready, should we perhaps hunt down the vassal weapon holders first?” I suggested. One priority was definitely to get back Ethnobalt’s vassal weapon. If the enemy started using that to get around, we would be in even more trouble.
That said, the movement skills found in the weapons here were fundamentally different from the skills we had—like Scroll of Return or Dragon Vein. If we were careful of teleportation interference, we could probably escape or come back without too much trouble.
“If you’re willing to help, that sounds great to me,” L’Arc said.
“Then that settles it. First things first . . .” I looked over at Sadeena, Shildina, and Itsuki. “Can you share some earth crystals with us? I want to boost the baseline levels of my allies, to be better ready for whatever comes next. We don’t know when the enemy might strike, so it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”
“Sure! We’re starting to recover now! I just hope Kizuna will come back to us safe and sound!” L’Arc exclaimed. We proceeded to begin the preparations for her rescue.
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