The next day, we sighted an airship making its way toward the castle, along with some other flying aircraft. “Are those ships from Faubrey and Shieldfreeden with the seven star hero on board?” Father asked. “That’s what they informed us,” Werwer replied. “So there are airships in this world? Wow!” Monitored by a soldier riding a dragon, the airship landed in an open plain near the castle. Droves of people exited the airship and the castle gradually grew crowded and lively. Father and I went to wait in the throne room for the seven star hero. “The seven star hero from Faubrey—what kind of person is he?” Father was asking Werwer. “You said he was the Whip Hero, right?” “He’s considered to be a genius. He started studying magic at a young age and they even said that he invented new technology for papermaking.” One little drop at a time, memories of the Whip Hero came back to me. But I could only remember general information about his accomplishments. “In addition, he has put great effort into reviving this long-lost mode of transportation,” Werwer said, gesturing to the airship. “He seems like a pretty amazing person,” Father said. “I suppose if people from other worlds are summoned here regularly, it’s not surprising that someone brought the ability to create airships and airplanes over once.” “It’s not hard to fly if you have a dragon,” Werwer grumbled. “Well, that’s true,” Father agreed. “If you think about it from a cost standpoint, it’s probably best to just use dragons.” So the Whip Hero built that airship, huh? Father continued talking about the Whip Hero’s potential motives. “Does he aspire to help a lot of people move or something like that? Airships could be used to help people that way.” “That’s right, Shield Hero,” Werwer said. “To that end, we’ll begin research on constructing air transport in our country at once!” “No, I didn’t mean that . . . Why doesn’t anyone understand the simplest things I say?” Father muttered to himself dejectedly. “The Whip Hero has built friendly relations with Faubrey as well,” Werwer continued. “He’s quite the impressive character.” A soldier called out, “The Whip Hero has arrived!” Soldiers opened the door to the throne room and in came the seven star hero. I held my breath, but this time Beast Spy didn’t exhibit a response. A man walked briskly toward us. He had a nice face and Filo-tan’s blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing denim jeans and a jacket—excellent fashion sense, I must say. It was just my intuition, but I had a feeling that this kind of fashion was all the rage in Faubrey. “I am the Whip Hero, Takt Alsaholn Faubrey. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” He got down on one knee and bent his head toward the ground in a gracious bow while a number of pigs behind him greeted us. “Oink oink!” In the back, a pig with fierce horns like a dragon chattered on about something. “Thank you for coming to Siltvelt,” Werwer said. “We’ll welcome your party as warmly as we can.” “Thank you kindly for your hospitality,” Takt said. “Now . . . it seems sudden, but I was hoping to have an audience with the heroes here.” The Whip Hero looked over toward Father and me. Father read the gesture perfectly and took a step forward. “I’m the Shield Hero, Naofumi Iwatani. It’s nice to meet you.” I was supposed to be next, wasn’t I? I took a step forward exactly as Father did and bowed. “It is I, the Love Hunter, Motoyasu Kitamura!” “Motoyasu, you really struggle with introductions. Uh, he’s the Spear Hero. He’s a little weird but he’s strong and reliable.” Takt stared at me for a moment and nodded. “Understood. It’s a pleasure.” I caught a whiff of something suspicious in that gaze, I say. “Is that the airship you restored yourself? That’s amazing, to have an airship in another world,” Father said. “Oh, that wasn’t too hard. It’s a pain to make fuel though.” After the introductions finished, the Whip Hero started talking incredibly casually to Father! How dare he! I was sure that Father would respond with fierce admonishment for speaking so rudely. But Father’s attitude wasn’t quite what I expected. “So before the wave of destruction comes,” Takt continued, “we’d like to take a look at the remains of the fox beast, if that’s all right.” “Ah, yes, this way . . .” Werwer said. Werwer also looked greatly displeased at the Whip Hero’s arrogant behavior. But since the Whip Hero held such a high position in another land, I supposed he couldn’t say anything about it. Werwer reluctantly ordered his subordinates out. “Should we go along with you?” Father said. The Whip Hero gave Father a sidelong glance. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not worth your trouble, Hero.” Father nodded. I noticed that the Whip Hero’s pig companions were carrying guns. Something about those armed pigs made me uncertain. Was it a memory that refused to come back? I had an ugly feeling that I couldn’t shake. Was I left with no choice but to launch a preemptive strike? Father would probably scold me later, and there was absolutely no reason to attack in the first place, so I reluctantly decided to hold myself back. “Oh, and by the way, who was it that defeated that imposter hero?” Takt asked. “It was I!” I proclaimed. “I, Motoyasu Kitamura, erased that masquerading monster from this universe!” Even though it was technically my spear and Beast Spy that attacked on their own initiative, it didn’t hurt to take credit, I say. The fox beast had been pathetically weak, anyhow. Takt nodded slowly, watching me even as he left the room. What was up with him? “Well, he seems like a hard person to please. It was like he wanted to kill that foul beast himself for impersonating a hero,” Father mused. “We’d better keep an eye on him,” I said. “Motoyasu, do you know something about him?” “I have absolutely no memory of him, but I have a feeling this is not good in the slightest.” “‘Not good?’” Father sighed. “Well, we can’t really be too careful about it if you don’t even remember anything.” Afterward, Takt went to investigate the corpse of the transformed fox beast. Then he went back to his airship to rest. There were whispers around Siltvelt that they could hear strange noises and the sound of weeping coming from his airship. “Takt didn’t say very much, did he?” Father commented. I kept my eyes on the airship. “He didn’t say much at all,” I agreed. “Hmm. Well, this is just my intuition, but I don’t think we can trust him,” Father said. “He went straight to take a look at the fox beast—it’s almost like he was looking for something specific.” “If he’s up to no good,” I declared, “I’ll punish him with all the fury of hell! While leaving him alive, of course.” I suddenly had a vague recollection that the seven star heroes were supposed to be the subordinates of the four holy heroes. It would only be right for us to teach him his place. “I think it’d be best to just let him do what he wants and keep a close eye on him. There’s the welcome reception tonight and all,” Father said.
A welcome party, he says? I couldn’t wait to see what the Whip Hero would try. Father and I hurried over to the reception. “The Whip Hero has traveled a long way to be with us tonight,” a Siltvelt representative was saying. “Please give him a warm and gracious welcome.” I noticed that the Whip Hero had a dark expression on his face, but when the food arrived at the table, he noticeably brightened up. “Even though the wave of destruction is almost here, I really appreciate you all going to so much trouble to welcome me,” Takt said. Father and the Siltvelt leaders were engaging in nonsensical prattle with the Whip Hero. And I couldn’t help but notice that the Whip Hero’s subordinates kept looking at me. The gazes of his pigs revolted me to my core. If Father hadn’t been on guard as well, I would’ve decided to destroy all of them. “There’s no poison, so please enjoy the food,” Father was telling the Whip Hero. “I can sense poison, but thanks. No need to worry about me.” “Oh, no kidding?” It seemed that Father was letting his guard down. At this rate, things could get sticky. Even more suspicious was the fact that Takt wouldn’t make eye contact with Father. Any person born into this world must affix their eyes to glorious Father’s at least once, I say. But the Whip Hero failed that test. “Ugh . . .” Sakura moaned as if sick and snuggled up to Father. I looked over at Yuki and Kou and they were also groaning unpleasantly. “What’s wrong?” I asked them at once. “The Whip Hero brought dragons and griffins . . . and they keep staring at us,” Yuki said. “Dragons and griffins, you say?” I stood up at once. Those mortal enemies of filolials were no friends of mine. However, Father did have a dragon once. So although Yuki and the filolials were in bad moods because of them, I shouldn’t rush to destroy dragons that weren’t necessarily our enemies. However! The very fact that the Whip Hero was not raising filolials but griffins and dragons was a dangerous sign. When I got the chance, I’d give the Whip Hero a lengthy sermon on the error of his ways! “So before the wave of destruction comes tomorrow,” Takt said, “I’d like to have a strategy meeting in my airship. Shield Hero and Spear Hero, you don’t think you’d be able to come, do you?” “Sure, we can come,” Father said. “I don’t know much about the waves of destruction, but Motoyasu seems like he does, so he can tell you more then. So should we head over there now?” “Uh, I meant tomorrow . . . I’m kinda drunk now, actually.” “Oh, okay.” The unpleasant reception continued. What was this ugly feeling that I had? It had plagued me ever since the Whip Hero arrived. A sense of duty held me captive, insisting that I had to remember something at all costs. Even more vexing was my inability to remember! I spent the whole banquet engulfed in such annoyances, I say. The next day, Father paced nervously back and forth. “The wave of destruction is almost here,” he said. But before that, we had the strategy meeting with the Whip Hero. In my opinion, the strength of Yuki and the filolials alone would be enough to take care of the wave of destruction. But I figured cooperation and teamwork and all that were important. Supposedly, the Whip Hero had some tough soldiers in his group, with the Faubrey troops under his command being especially capable. The Siltvelt leaders called us in and we found a bunch of pigs waiting for us. I had absolutely no idea what they were oinking about. Fortunately, Father interpreted for me. “They’re saying, ‘Shield Hero and Spear Hero, Lord Takt is waiting for you. You’ll discuss the wave of destruction in the airship.’ They’re inviting us in,” Father said. There wasn’t much time left until the wave of destruction came, I noticed. Leaving a strategy meeting to the last possible moment was the very height of insolence against Father. Should I take their lives as punishment? “Motoyasu, I can tell you’re thinking about killing someone right now,” Father told me. “Please stop.” “Anything for you, Father!” I declared. Father, Yuki, Sakura, Kou, a bunch of Siltvelt leaders, and I headed to the strategy meeting. The airship had been stationed near the castle and stairs led up to the aircraft door. When we boarded, the Siltvelt leaders goggled at the airship’s interior. It was the cultural difference, I supposed. The interior was certainly large and built for comfort. They led us through a long hallway to an observation deck. Takt took a seat in the center of the room. It was like he was the king of the world, his legs stretched out and comfortably lying on his back. Armed pigs stood stationed around the corners of the room. How arrogant. “You finally came,” Takt said with a smirk. “So . . . what about the strategy meeting for the wave of destruction?” Father asked. “Is that going to start now?” “Huh? Strategy meeting? You’re still talking about that?” Takt spat. It was an unsettling response. Father raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?” Father asked. “I’ll show you what I mean!” The pigs raised their guns and, surrounding us, fired. “Die!” Takt shouted. “Enemy of Tulina! We’ll kill every last one of you!” Gunshots rang out and the bullets started flying. But in this country of demi-humans, we also had plenty of elite warriors at our disposal. Of course, they weren’t on my level, but they immediately activated beast transformation. Father’s skills had also evolved considerably, and he responded with his shield as well. “Air Strike Phaser Shield V!” Father chanted the skill just as he had in the last go-around and a shield of feathers surrounded us. The filolials! No, not the filolials—I could tell by the smell. Apparently Father’s skill summoned filolial feathers. As I wondered about the glory of Father’s majesty and the like, I, Motoyasu Kitamura, knew I had to act as well. “Windmill!” I called, spinning my spear and striking nearly all the bullets out of the air. Takt seemed pretty surprised by it. He raised his voice and shouted angrily. “Impossible! Deflecting bullets shot by soldiers all level 250 or higher? It’s not possible!” I noticed a suspicious light glittering from Takt’s hand. He was about to unleash a skill. “Wahnsinn Claw!” he roared. The trajectory of his attack . . . Something about that skill gave me a very bad feeling. All of a sudden, I fell into a memory. One of the four benevolent animals spinning through clear skies, a bird . . . the powerful glimmer of light that toppled one of the Phoenixes. Afterward, the remaining Phoenix had launched a self-destruct attack. Even Father hadn’t been able to withstand an attack that powerful. I lost priceless filolials in that explosion. Renji, Grape, Hailo . . . So many had lost their lives that day. Father had taken the man responsible and showed him hell, calming my anger. That man was none other than Takt. At the time, my spear filled with fury. I went so far as to activate the Spear of Wrath, but Filo-tan managed to hold me back. When I witnessed the sight of my precious Filo-tan filled with sadness for her fallen friends, when I saw the sight of Father mourning the loss of his comrades, I, Motoyasu Kitamura, became enveloped by a fire of rage that consumed every inch of my flesh. I remembered how Father had risked his life to save us. But it had been a pig that put her life on the line to protect Father. In the end, she was the one that saved me, Filo-tan, and the rest of the filolials, so I had the utmost reverence for her. I had to become strong like they had been on that fateful day. At last, I remembered everything.
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