Chapter 22: Sidian

Part 1

Herrace was now eighteen. House Bendham was a military house with a long history, and it traditionally allowed men of age to leave for training whenever they so wished. The viscount contemplated over the idea when Herrace had asked if he could go on a training trip with his friends. He had seen Herrace struggle with his unusual illness ever since the boy had been younger, and the viscount could not help but worry over his son.

And his first destination was Sidian, a lawless place of horrible public safety that was infamously called a heaven for criminals.

But Herrace seemed to want to go rather badly. The viscount wanted to give Herrace his permission when he saw his normally timid son who had trouble expressing himself suddenly voice his opinions loud and clear. Besides, the viscount had always had high expectations of Herrace, and he could not help but swell in pride as he watched his son still try his best.

He had agonized over the decision for a while and had only made up his mind after consulting with his father-in-law.

“It’ll be all right if Little Ianna and Little Taro will be accompanying him. Those two are exceptionally skilled.”

And so, Viscount Bendham permitted Herrace to leave for his very first training trip with Taro and Ianna. Herrace, who had never left Theodore, never mind Roanne, was bubbling with excitement as soon as he walked out of his house’s gates with his bag slung across his back.

But only at first, of course.

“Ahhhhhh!”

Herrace screamed. His sudden scream had been brought about by the outlaws attacking him before his very eyes. He felt faint as the bandits ran toward him with the intent to kill.

This had already happened several times over.

He had known about Sidian’s notoriety, but this was still too much. They would finish off one group of bandits, only to be ambushed yet again after walking for just a little while longer. He felt like they had somehow become the most wanted criminals in Sidian.

“Kehehehe!”

The twenty or so bandits, equipped with a variety of weapons, snickered. A few of them even dug their heels into their agitated camels’ sides and charged directly at them.

“Hand over everything you’ve got, Roanne pigs!”

one bandit shouted greedily as he rushed at Taro. Taro’s lips twisted behind his mantle, which covered most of his face and left only his eyes and nose visible.

“Are ya fuckin’ blind? Do I look like a pig to ya?”

Taro made a fist and sent it flying at the bandit. But the bandit’s dagger dug into his arm before his fist could reach the bandit’s face.

Ting!

The blade flung away as if it had run into steel. The astonished bandit opened his eyes wide. Taro barred his teeth before the bandit’s face and laughed.

“Why don’t’cha just get rid of yer eyes if they’re that useless?”

Pooow!

A refreshing noise sounded as the bandit was sent flying.

Thud.

The bandit, whose face had been caved in around the eyes, sprawled out against the ground and spasmed. He stopped moving altogether a moment later.

‘A-a corpse!’

Herrace, who had been blocking another bandit’s attacks from nearby, shrieked and was pushed backward.

Pow! Pow!

He looked to where the corpse had come flying from only to find Taro beating up a bunch of bandits. Taro, who was normally laughing with a simple look on his face, seemed so unfamiliar to Herrace as he condemned their attackers with a chilling light in his eyes. Taro looked like this every time they were attacked, and Herrace still could not get used to it.

Squish.

Herrace stepped on something as he backed away and was promptly stupefied when he looked down. Three severed fingers were tumbling across the ground.

Sprawled out in front of him were things that had once been humanoid in shape, and Ianna was wiping off the blood from her blade in the middle of the carnage. She was composed, as if the gruesome scene had nothing to do with her.

The blood drained from Herrace’s face. Both Ianna and Taro had changed so much. Where had his close friends from the Institution gone that such bloodthirsty veterans were standing in their place?

Ianna’s eyes met his when she looked up. There was no hostility in her crimson eyes as she looked to him, but Herrace was still frightened to death nevertheless.

“Behind you.”

He thought her lips had moved ever so slightly behind the veil she was wearing. Herrace spun around and brandished his sword as soon as he understood what her simple words had meant. A bandit had tried to ambush him, and his chain sickle tangled into Herrace’s sword.

“Die!”

The bandit had realized that he could not escape the brutal youths’ clutches as he watched Taro and Ianna eliminate his colleagues one after another. They were simply being killed without once being offered the chance to be spared on the condition that they immediately backed away.

They were your stereotypical group of bandits who would immediately fall to the ground to plead for their lives if their opponents were strong —in other words, they acted strong before the weak and weak before the strong. The bandit had survived countless brushes with death that way.

Indeed. Most people had allowed them at least one chance at mercy.

But these inhumane brats would not even allow them to beg for their lives. The bandit returned to his senses and realized that he, who was attacking a weaker opponent, was the only one left standing.

Then, he promptly gave up on his survival. And he was filled with the malice to take at least the weakest bastard with him as he died.

“Die, you little bitch!”

“Ack!”

Herrace screamed. He had grown up in the capital of Roanne, where the public safety was great, and in the Bendham manor, which was protected by powerful knights —there was no reason that he would have ever experienced bloodlust before.

Travis hated him, but he had only ever pointed his sharp hatred at Herrace —never his bloodlust. Herrace had sparred against countless students in the Swordsmanship Department too, but he had simply seen it as another form of training because his life had never been on the line.

This trip, the first time in his life that he had ever been made to so graphically experience what bloodlust was, had placed Herrace squarely in the middle of life and death before he even had the time to be afraid and forced him to swing his sword.

“Damn, yer real strong, Lil’ Ianna, ain’t ya? No wonder Pops took such a likin’ to ya. And I like ya too, of course!”

Taro, who had finished off the rest of the bandits at some point, brushed off the blood on his clothes and walked up to Ianna. He was holding the reins of a camel that had lost its master. Taro laughed as Ianna threw a glance at the nervous camel. He continued,

“Camel’s pretty good —wanna have some for dinner? It’s best when salted and grilled!”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.”

Ianna looked behind Taro. All the bandits had some part of their body caved in. Then, she looked to Taro’s back. They had been attacked multiple times since their trip had started, but Taro’s greatsword was still resting quietly on his back. Ianna continued,

“This has been on my mind for a while, but you don’t use your sword very often.”

Taro scratched at his head.

“Mm, my main weapon’s my body, to be honest. I chose the sword ‘cause Pops told us to specialize in at least one thing other than martial arts. So……fightin’ barehanded comes as naturally to me as breathin’, and the sword’s only something I took up for fun, and I just end up usin’ my body without realizin’ when I’m excited. Oh, but don’t tell the others in the Swordsmanship Department. And don’t be cross with me either.”

“Why would I be cross with you? It’s nice to see you work so hard at both. Does everyone in your family learn martial arts?”

Taro shook his head.

“Not exactly —our bodies are just naturally weapons ‘cause we’re all carnivores. We instinctively know how to use our bodies.”

“Carnivores……?”

“Huh? Opps.”

Taro gasped and covered his mouth with his hands.

Ianna stared back at him in open curiosity, and Taro contemplated for a moment before he resolutely brought his hands back down. He cleared his throat loudly before he continued,

“Maybe our ancestors blessed us or something, but everyone in our clan’s been good at fightin’ since birth. If people can be divided up into herbivores and carnivores, we’re an example of the latter and we specialize in huntin’.”

“Ack!”

Their conversation was cut short by a single scream. They saw Herrace drop his sword.

Herrace bit down hard at his lip.

‘I messed up!’

The bandit’s chain had wrapped around his blade, and Herrace had readily let go of his sword when the bandit pulled.

Herrace was a remarkable swordsman, but he could not display his skills properly because he did not have much actual battle experience and could not defeat a seasoned veteran. It was true that this was his first time facing an opponent with a chain sickle too, but the bigger problem was his inexperience.

“Um, uhh…….”

Taro bent his knees and prepared to jump in as soon as he sensed that Herrace was in danger, but a flash of light poured out from Ianna’s scabbard first. It had been created as Ianna whipped out her sword and re-sheathed it so quickly that even Taro, with his excellent dynamic vision, could not see it.

Slam!

The burst of light reached the bandit instantaneously. Ianna’s fortification tore off the bandit’s head and wrist and sent them both flying off into the distance. Herrace saw the shocking sight of a person’s head separating from his body directly in front of his eyes. The resulting explosion of blood spattered on Herrace’s face.

Pow! Pow!

The bandit’s head and hand, which was still holding his chain sickle, fell and buried into a pile of sand off in the distance.

“I told you to never let go of your sword even if your palms get torn. And we practiced so much at the Institution too…….”

Plop.

Ianna had walked up to Herrace and was admonishing him, but his body suddenly lurched and crumbled to the ground.

“Huh, did he just pass out?”

Taro slapped Herrace gently on the cheeks and poured water from his water bottle on him, but the ashen-faced Herrace did not stir. Taro placed his fingers on Herrace’s throat to check his pulse, afraid that he might have died from fright. It was weak, but his pulse was still there. Taro clicked his tongue.

“Our Herrace……really is a young master, ain’t he? I was wonderin’ why he was gettin’ so quiet, but he must’ve just been stressed out.”

He threw Herrace across his shoulder and continued,

“I think Herrace might benefit the most from our trip, yeah? There’s a lot he’ll learn from this. I can see why ya insisted on bringin’ him along, Lil’ Ianna. Ya said not to go easy on the bandits that attacked us before we crossed the border ‘cause ya wanted Herrace to get some actual experience, right? He’s way too gentle. I didn’t think much of it then ‘cause it’s just normal to me to have to fight whenever I go through Sidian, but now I see what ya were gettin’ at.”

“We should help him while we still can. We spend a lot of time with him in the Institution for now, but we won’t be able to help as much once we’ve graduated.”

Taro rolled his eyes as he replied,

“That’s true, but —why’re ya talkin’ like yer goin’ somewhere far away, Lil’ Ianna? Ya sound like we might not be able to see each other later.”

Taro had very sharp instincts. Ianna believed……that she would not be able to be with them like this a year and a half down the road.

Ianna planned to complete her studies in the Institution by next year and head up north to the Kingdom of Woodruff to conquer the Bahamut Empire. She planned on erasing all of her personal information and vanishing until they had succeeded.

Arhad was currently twenty-three. He would be twenty-four next year. He had been crowned emperor at twenty-nine in the past. Which meant that she probably would not be able to see her friends for at least five years or so.

She wanted to spend more time with them like this and deepen their bonds. She did not want their ties to disappear in the five years she couldn’t see them.

“All we’ll have left is our personal dreams of the future once we stop attending the Institution together. It’s only natural that we’ll scatter like the winds in order to walk our own paths.”

Which was why she wanted to solve Herrace’s problem before that time came. That was what Ianna thought as she brought her hand away from Herrace’s head. She then began walking away from the area, which reeked of blood, and Taro followed behind her.

“I guess that’s true…….”

Taro fell into a gloomy silence for a while. Then, he said,

“I’m plannin’ on travelin’ around Toraca once I graduate.”

“What about Princess Lalatua?”

It was only natural for Ianna to think about them together. Taro had been head over heels for Lalatua ever since they had first met during their entrance exams. Her question was only natural, since she could not imagine a Taro who did not chase after Lalatua.

“Hmmm…….”

Ianna imagined he’d say something self-confident like, “I’ll take her with me as my bride!” and grew disconcerted when he sighed and hemmed and hawed instead.

“I know I’m always chargin’ at her like a bull on the outside, but I’ve actually been thinkin’ for a while on the inside, yeah? Be honest —I’m little more than Lady Lalatua’s servant, right?”

“…….”

She had thought that Taro had lost his right mind due to his crush on Lalatua, but he apparently had a clear grasp on his situation.

“I really like Lady Lalatua, and there’s a part of me that wants to stay here with her. But I’ve been thinkin’ as I chased after her for this past year and a half, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to beat magic. And Lady Lalatua’s other half is magic.”

Ianna nodded before she could stop herself. She barely remembered much about her past life anymore because it had grown so hazy, but she remembered that Lalatua had been so crazy about magic and her experiments that she had been called the Mad Magician. Taro continued,

“Mm, ya see, the thing is… I have to go back to my clan when I turn twenty-five no matter and carry out a clan ritual. And that ritual takes about a year. Which means that Lady Lalatua’ll be absorbed in nothing but her magic for an entire year. She might even like the fact that I won’t be around to annoy her. She’ll prob’ly forget about me completely. And thinkin’ about that makes me sad. It’s not that I really expected to get anything out of this, but I can’t help but wonder if I’ll have nothing to show after tryin’ to woo her for years. I almost feel like there’s no point. So I think I’m gonna give up if I can’t win Lady Lalatua’s heart by the time I’m twenty-five. Maybe even earlier if things get too hard for me.”

“Really……?”

Despite what Taro was saying, he had been chasing after Lalatua many years into the future. And Ianna was sure that Lalatua must have cared about Taro in her own way, considering that she had dragged him along while calling him her pet tiger.

After all, now that Ianna thought about it……Taro had been the only person at Lalatua’s side back then.

She didn’t know exactly what kinds of feelings they had shared, but she was certain that Taro had successfully breached the walls that the selfish and self-centered Lalatua had put up around her heart. Ianna might not have known, but it was entirely possible that they had even been in love.

“Personally, I think that Princess Lalatua cares about you in her own way. So I think it’s still too early for you to give up just yet. Why don’t you keep trying to win her over with everything you have until you finally decide to give up for real?”

“Hmm?”

Taro opened his eyes wide and grinned upon hearing what Ianna had said. He continued,

“What’s this now? Didn’t ya say not to woo her with everything I’ve got just last year, Lil’ Ianna?”

Now that she thought about it, Ianna recalled having a similar yet different conversation with Taro last year during the underclassmen’s swordsmanship competition.

“Did ya change yer mind?”

She had. Taro had said that he thought he could offer Lalatua his everything if it meant that she would love him back, and Ianna had advised him against it.

“The future is uncertain. It’s foolish to try so hard when you can’t be sure if she’ll like you back.”

She was fairly certain she had said something along those lines.

Ianna fell into thought upon realizing that she had changed. She had once thought that it was futile to put a lot of effort into personal relationships, but not anymore. She had a better example in Arhad now.

“That the power of love?”

Ianna, who had started thinking about Arhad without even realizing it, quickened her pace when Taro’s teasing remark hit the nail on the head. Taro chuckled upon watching Ianna be so clumsy —a rare sight.

“I’m suddenly feeling confident again now that yer cheerin’ me on, ya know that, Lil’ Ianna? I thought you’d be single forever, but you ended up fallin’ for Sir Arhad too, yeah? Which means there’s still hope for me!”

Ianna had nothing to say. She simply started uncharacteristically touching at the hair that had fallen free from her ponytail.

……And so, she had been made to think about Arhad, whom she had only just managed to forget about, once again because of today’s attack.

Deserts filled with reddish-brown sand began cropping up here and there ever since they had reached the western-most edges of Roanne. The mainland of the continent had once been teeming with life in the past, as if it had meant to draw a distinct boundary between it and the four corners.

And so, these deserts had once been overflowing with the green of life. Part of the reason why the lands had become as difficult-to-inhabit desert was because of the dry climate and little rainfall, but the bigger reason stemmed from human greed.

Man had allowed his livestock to eat the grasses unchecked so they could be fattened and had cut down the trees, which had once grown as far as the eye could see, to build houses, use as firewood, and make paper and the like without realizing how precious the resources were.

The flora were the basis and the foundation of the world. All the ponds and lakes in the area had dried up because humans had haphazardly eliminated the flora and reduced the amount of water they carried in their roots.

Plants could not grow if there was no water, so the vicious circle had continued spiraling until all the flora had disappeared and the earth was exposed to the scorching sunlight. The earth drew hotter because there were no more leaves to shield it from the scorching sunlight, and all the animals that had once lived there had fled, unable to endure the heat. The earth had turned to sand once all life had vanished from it, and the once beautiful and marvelous land had become as a land of death.

In essence, the deserts had by and largely been brought about by human greed.

The number and size of the deserts near the heart of the continent were a measure of human greed. And Sidian, located to the west of Roanne, was half-covered by deserts. They had started cropping up one at a time until they grew larger and began swallowing the country whole.

Ianna took in the scenery around her as she passed through. The deserts had been created due to terrible factors, but the scenery itself was quite breathtaking. It was only in the deserts that one could see the long shadows that camels cast along the sands from a distance.

Ianna stopped in her tracks as she was looking around. She saw a cluster of cacti and a signpost that had been weathered by sandstorms.

“It’s a town. Shall we stop here for today, Taro?”

“Sure! I’m gettin’ hungry too, so let’s go. I’d feel bad eatin’ the camel without Herrace, so let’s sell it off in town and buy something else to eat.”

They decided to grab an inn for the night since Herrace, who was still passed out, did not seemed like he would wake anytime soon and the day was coming to an end. It was difficult to camp out in the wild in the desert because the temperature fluctuated so drastically between day and night.

Taro and Ianna would be fine, of course, but Herrace had grown up in a wealthy environment and had never gone camping before, so it was plainly obvious that he would get sick if his first experience sleeping outside was in the cold.

“Welcome.”

Sidian was the hotbed of crime, but there were still inns that operated inside the country. They still had their fair share of problems, of course, since not only were the innkeepers massive rip-offs but guests could also get mugged in the middle of the night because most of the guests were criminals.

Which was why a lot of people preferred to camp outside in the desert. Those who did choose to rest at inns did so because they tired of constantly eating dried rations and sleeping on the hard ground.

“It’s five gold a night.”

The innkeeper brought them to a room that looked like a warehouse and charged an unreasonable fee.

It was then that Taro decided to pick a fight. The innkeeper quarreled with Taro for a while before calling forward a large-bodied man and told them to bury their three guests. Taro beat the both of them black and blue before they offered a better room for a better price.

Ianna was stupefied by Taro’s thuggish behavior and asked him what the hell he thought he was doing, but Taro simply shrugged and told her that finding a room without a fight in Sidian was a pointless waste of money. Innkeepers initially charged ridiculous prices and brought them down only by a little when a customer complained, and they beat customers to the ground if they continued complaining. They would only offer a reasonable price in return for keeping their lives if they judged that the customer was stronger than them.

This was the kind of country that Sidian was. It was a lawless place where anyone was free to commit even blatant highway robbery and get away with it as long as they were strong enough. Drug dealing, human trafficking……such things happened freely in the open, and even murder posed no problem here. People simply ignored it outright even when outsiders suddenly broke off contact and vanished off the face of the earth —and those who disappeared were quickly forgotten.

This land was the epitome of immorality where the law of the jungle prevailed above all else.

Criminals from all over the world gathered in Sidian, and the number of people who were naturalized as citizens only grew and never decreased.

The royal family of Sidian cared little about the public safety and only mobilized its soldiers to punish stateless squatters who had never been formally naturalized for evading taxes. One had no choice but to be naturalized and pay taxes to the crown if they wanted to live in Sidian. The royal family’s soldiers were incredibly strong, and the people had to pay large fortunes just to live on the land while the kingdom did nothing for them in return.

It had been one day since they had left the fertile and livable lands of Roanne and four days since their trip had begun.

Ianna lied in bed for a while before she began rummaging through her things. She pulled out a small notebook and recorded everything that had happened today in it for a bit before she paused and searched through her bag again to pull out a small object.

‘This is a communication artefact…….’

“Contact me at once if anything happens. And I’d be happy if you contacted me even if nothing happened too.”

It was something Arhad had tossed her way alongside the water-generating artefact before she had left. Ianna lied flat on her bed as she studied the artefact with a puzzled look on her face.

‘A puppy-shaped plush toy with communication magic inscribed on it……I think?’

It was an adorable plush puppy that had been stuffed to the brim with cotton. She could carry it around in her pocket because it was only the size of her pinkie. Ianna wondered why on earth Arhad had turned a plush toy into an artefact. It didn’t take her long to think up of a precedent.

‘He’s taken me to a seafood restaurant every time we ate out just because I said that I liked seafood once.’

Did that mean that he had created this plush puppy artefact because he had determined that she liked things like this?

‘Have I ever acted like I liked this stuff before?’

Ianna thought back on anything in her past that had to do with puppy-shaped dolls. Arhad had once gone out of his way to win a stuffed puppy during the Founding Day festival just because her eyes had lingered on it for a while.

‘Just because of that?’

She wracked her brains for a little while longer before she remembered that she had thoughtlessly told Arhad that she treasured the stuffed animal and kept it by her bedside a few days later. He had immediately offered to fill her entire room with stuffed animals, but she had refused and told him that she was already satisfied with the one she already had.

Ianna could almost see why he would think that she had a thing for puppy-shaped dolls.

‘Does this really work……?’

She was about to inject mana into the artefact without much thought, but then she realized that it would contact Arhad as soon as she supplied it with mana. Ianna grew alarmed and dropped the plush toy.

Plop.

The plush made a cute noise when it fell on her face.

“…….”

Ianna kept still without moving the plush off her face. It covered her eyes, but it did not cover the slight flush of embarrassment on her cheeks. The plush tumbled down the curves of her face shortly thereafter and settled down next to her head.

Ianna sat up and clutched at her aching forehead. She thought it was fortunate that she had planned out her trip well ahead in advance. It had become extremely awkward to look Arhad in the eyes after she had made her shocking realization.

She had been able to pretend that everything was fine only because she had an escape in her trip. Acting like she was fine would have been out of the question had it not been for her trip. Her complicated thoughts would have been plainly visible on her face because she was not the type to lie easily, and Arhad, being as sharp as he was, would have noticed she was acting strange.

“…….”

Ianna had doubted her realization multiple times ever since that day.

‘Sure, I’m mistaken.’

‘I’m definitely deluding myself. How unsightly of me.’

Ianna had not been able to erase her doubts, and she doubted and denied her realization yet again today.

‘I could be wrong. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions.’

And, as she always did after doubting, Ianna once again carefully went over each and every example of how Arhad always treated her.

Arhad liked her terribly. Ianna had tried to remove herself and think things through objectively, but this much was as true as fact. He also always seemed to enjoy doing things with her, was always excited to do things for her, and always wanted to be the most important person in her life.

He hated it when she didn’t rely on him, and he raged like a madman and clutched onto her at even her smallest rejections. And even then, he lamented as if he had suffered deep wounds.

And yet, his anger immediately lifted at even the tiniest goodwill in her words to him and he could not contain his joy.

“……Sigh.”

Ianna bowed her head low after thinking through all that.

She tried to doubt it, but retracing his words and actions always cemented her realization as true in her heart. The newly simplified definition of love in her heart was justified by Arhad’s dreadfully deep goodwill for her. His every action until now fit so surprisingly well within the scope of this simple word called love.

‘You defined this thing called love for me, but it’s no different from the feelings you’ve been demonstrating for me. I always reach this conclusion no matter how hard I think about it.’

Ianna had countless threads of thought that all led to the realization that Arhad was in love with her. In order to disprove this, she had to prove a separate hypothesis that stated that he was not in love with her. And yet, she could not prove this.

Ianna stared blankly into empty space for a moment before grabbing the sword she had left standing next to her bed. Her sword had drawn a lot of blood today, and she wanted to discipline her mind by cleaning it.

Normally, she would have used the time she had taken while pondering over everything to simply use the communication artefact and ask Arhad if he loved her. Or rather, she would have asked him as soon as the thought had entered her mind.

But Ianna had not voiced her question to him. She would never be able to go back if he confirmed her suspicions. She needed time to organize her thoughts before she actually asked him.

In truth, she was already certain. She always denied and doubted it……but that was only because she wanted to find even the slightest possibility that she was wrong.

Ianna looked to her newly cleaned sword. She had worked hard to clean it, and it no longer bore even a single smudge. The clean sight of the sword glistening with a chilling light was like her own conclusions, which she had cleaned and polished while doubting and doubting them.

Ianna returned her sword to its sheath and walked up to the window. She sat on the windowsill and looked outside with her arms crossed.

Perhaps it was because they looked similar, or perhaps it was because they created a similar mood in the air, but the night automatically reminded her of Arhad now. The yellow moon, as golden as Arhad’s eyes, had risen in the deep darkness of the sky, and it alone made itself plainly visible as it shined within the darkness.

Ianna finally understood, and she decided to acknowledge what she had realized. And she could finally formulate everything into one proper sentence.

Arhad was in love with her.

She had not been able to identify the emotions he poured out to her because she had not known what love was until recently.

But she had realized that Arhad loved her as soon as she learned how to define it.

There was no longer any more room for doubt. She did not know exactly when it had started, but it was clear to Ianna that Arhad had loved her for a long time —perhaps even since they had first met.

And so, it was a waste of time to keep doubting it like this.

‘Arhad loves me…….’

Her conclusion was an important turning point in Ianna’s life, which she would have to spend by Arhad’s side. She had to carefully consider what it was that he wanted and decide how she would act around him moving forward. Calmly, Ianna thought.

“In one sense, love and goodwill are two totally separate things.”

‘Why did he go out of his way to correct me?’

“But don’t you want to know? It’s a destructive yet ardent feeling. I do. I want to know just how mad love can drive a person.”

‘You asked me if I wanted to know. If I was curious. Did you ask this because you wanted me to figure out that you love me? Do you want to alter our relationship? But then, what exactly is it that you want to do with me if I accept your love? Are you trying to sleep with me?’

It was possible. But the love that Arhad held for her was far too deep and wide to be reduced to something so simple and vulgar. There was also something warm covering her heart.

He had actually even tried to hide his feelings.

“……That’s just what I think.”

And he had looked like he was trying to suppress something, as was usual.

“…….”

Ianna rested her cheek against her raised knee and stared blankly at the moon.

‘Now that I think about it, I’ve already asked him if he loved me before.’

Toward the end of last year, she had tried to prove that people had been wrong to assume that they were in love with each other. Arhad had spat out his tea and dropped his book when she asked —something otherwise uncharacteristic of him.

Ianna had thought that Arhad had simply found the question absurd, but she now realized that his reaction had been far too extreme for that. Now that she thought about it again, she realized that she had been mistaken.

‘He wasn’t dumbfounded, he was flustered.’

And, how had Arhad responded again?

“I see you as a remarkable swordswoman……whom I want to watch over and keep by my side.”

‘He never denied it.’

Arhad had deftly avoided denying that he was in love, but he had never affirmed it either. He had always hidden away his feelings so carefully, and he had never once let them show.

He had repetitively said things like, “I like the relationship we share now,” and, “I don’t ever want you to change,” and he, like Ianna, had never seemed to want their relationship to alter.

……But why would he want that if he was in love with her?

Wouldn’t people normally confess to the other party and want to be their lover? Just like the countless other men who had sent her love letters filled with compliments and flowery language.

Every last love letter had been written because someone had wanted to establish a romantic relationship with her. But Arhad had never once seemed to want the same in the long time they had spent together.

Ianna was bewildered as she carefully combed through her memories until she recalled something that Priscilla had once said —something that she had initially ignored because she had thought it wasn’t worth considering.

“You’re like a piece of hard bread, Little Ianna, so you probably looked really displeased when you asked him. You probably looked like you were so displeased that you’d rather die than be in love, like how you were with me.”

“Do you really think Little Arhad would be able to be honest with you if you were acting like that?”

Ianna suddenly realized that, just as Priscilla had said, it was highly possible that Arhad had acted like that because Ianna had been so obviously displeased by the idea right from the very beginning.

Ianna had not wanted their stable relationship to change in any way, and she had never hidden her negative impressions about this thing called love that people kept talking about from Arhad. Because she had thought that there was no reason for him to love her……because she wished for him not to.

Perhaps that was why Arhad had cut off his feelings and had settled for the good relationship they shared currently.

In other words, he had hidden away his love in response to her attitude. But he had seized the chance when she had self-destructively declared that they were lovers in public. And he had kept a fierce grip on the chance to openly display his affections for her, even if under the guise of a pretense, and refused to let go of it even when Ianna had asked him to. He had justified himself by telling her that it was fine since it was all fake anyway. He could openly express his feelings while pretending it was all just an act.

This was also why Ianna had felt like something was different even though he was just as fond of her as he had before. Before their pretend relationship had started, Arhad had forcibly suppressed his love for her and masqueraded it around as goodwill.

But now he could express his feelings for what they were without restricting himself.

Love was the culmination of goodwill. They were not very far removed from one another, but they become two completely separate emotions once someone crossed the boundary between them. Love was a form of goodwill that was a cut higher, a cut more serious. It was no wonder why they seemed so different.

……Had he wanted to express it so badly, even if it meant pretending it was just an act? Had he been hiding it and pretending it wasn’t there when in actually he had wanted to let her know so badly it was driving him insane? Was that why he seemed like he was suppressing something inside himself so often?

Ianna pursed her lips.

‘Foolish man…….’

She always thought this, but just what was she to him that he desired her so? Even she agreed that she was extremely self-centered, clumsy, and difficult from multiple senses of each word, so why did he like her so much……?

And?

What am I supposed to do now?

I told him not to fall in love with me, but he already has —so do I have to reject his affections and turn him down?

Ianna found herself ridiculous for pondering over this. She already knew that she couldn’t.

So, what was she supposed to do? He had already long since crossed the line. And if Arhad’s every word and action until now had stemmed from his secret love for her, then Ianna could never reject his feelings.

“It’s good, since it’ll only get worse from now.”

That was what Arhad had said on the night that Margarita had cursed the palace —the night that their fake relationship had begun— after Ianna had confessed that she rather liked it when Arhad looked after her.

Ianna’s heart stirred.

‘He was already overdoing it to begin with……. What am I going to do about how awkward this is?’

She felt like she was looking into a mirror while wearing clothes that were much too large for her. The clothes were too big for her to tell if they looked good on her or not, but neither did she want to simply take it off and cram it in the trashcan.

She was awkward about the entire notion of love, but that did not mean that she was wholly unwilling to accept Arhad’s. The fact that someone she was fond of cherished her and longed for her ardently made her cheeks flush in embarrassment, but it also made her happy.

And more importantly, there was a very suspicious sense of thrill hiding in one corner of her heart. Ianna did not turn away from the fact that she had heated up and that a sense of anticipation had settled inside her heart the very moment she had realized that Arhad loved her.

……She found herself ridiculous for feeling this way after having rejected love for so long. It was ridiculous that the only reason she didn’t feel repulsed because it was Arhad who loved her, and it was comical that knowing this didn’t make her feel bad.

‘I’m sure I’ll feel better soon.’

She had been awkward about receiving goodwill at first too, but she had grown accustomed to it as time had passed.

The night was growing deeper. She would be exhausted tomorrow if she didn’t get some sleep soon. Ianna got up from the windowsill and closed the window to shut out the cold wind. She then collapsed onto the foreign bed that smelled like sand —an unfamiliar scent.

“…….”

Ianna cracked her eyes opened and looked at the cute plush puppy’s beady black eyes. She reached out and poked its tiny head with her finger.

She started laughing before she could stop herself when she thought about how that large man must have held up this tiny, fist-sized plush.

She felt like she became the most precious person in the whole world when she watched Arhad’s antics. He was so excessive that she almost felt like all the hatred she had received in the past had been the price she paid for his love and his acceptance of everything she was.

But beyond whether it was excessive or lacking, Ianna was honestly happy. Did everyone who received love feel this way?

Even what small amount of reluctance that had remained in Ianna’s heart vanished in the presence of her joy.

‘……All right. So be it. It’s not like I dislike it, so I’ll feign ignorance and do as he wants for now.’

It had never been her preference to agonize over something to begin with. Ianna decided to let the situation play out naturally, like how water flows from high to low altitude.

She had no idea what was what, so she simply decided to keep still. Arhad wanted her, so he would surely do something first. There was no need for her to step up —all she had to do was respond to what he did and act and answer as her heart dictated.

And, who could say? At this rate, she might just fall in love with him too. She thought of love as clothes that didn’t quite fit for now, but she might end up treasuring it above all else one day.

Perhaps she might even forget her fear of change and end up wanting to love him too.

It was selfish of her to think this way, but she was glad that he had fallen in love with her first.

Ianna squeezed the plush puppy tight. If she didn’t contact him first, would he contact her out of worry? What should she say if he contacted her?

Ianna discovered that she was quietly curious and anticipant about what Arhad would say to her and how he would act around her now.

And she was made to be vividly aware of the fact that she had been reborn and was living life anew, and that there now existed a completely new path before them that she had never even imagined.

The path before her was dark and she could not predict where it would lead her, but the fact that the darkness, so like Arhad himself, would always guide her down the right path set her heart aflutter.

Ianna finally finished organizing her thoughts and chose a course of action. She would acknowledge and accept everything. And she did not forget that there was one thing that she must always keep in mind. She might fall in love and change ever so slightly because of it, but she would never forget her dignity. Ianna had faith that this was possible for her as she closed her eyes.

Part 2

Ianna and her friends ran through Sidian the next day and the day after that. Most bandits began covering their tracks as news that a trio wearing black chadors were slaughtering or maiming those who attacked them began to spread. And the larger bandit groups, to which some of the bandits they had wiped out had belonged, began observing them spitefully.

“This is my first time just runnin’ through this place so recklessly. Is this gonna be okay?”

“Didn’t you suggest that we do this? You wanted to wipe them out and move on. And here I thought you were rather confident about it.”

“Anything goes in Sidian, so it don’t really matter what ya do here. It just pricks at my conscience a bit ‘cause this is my first time making such a fuss. But then again, there ain’t no reason why it wouldn’t be okay, right? Besides, everyone needs to challenge something new from time to time! Haha, I’ll have something to brag to my brothers about, I tell ya!”

Ianna and Taro were at peace, uncaring about the unknown. Herrace, however, had dark circles under his eyes and he looked around himself anxiously.

Ianna shrugged.

“You say it’s okay, but we’re still technically in danger. The fact that fewer bandits are attacking us probably means that they’ve taken notice of us. Some of the bastards might even be digging up information about us. Though it’ll all be in vain, of course…….”

Ianna was right on her money. A few bandit groups had, in fact, tried to investigate them, but they had not uncovered any information of value. They were a trio composed of one visibly large man, a swordswoman, and a swordsman. They had managed to keep their identities so thoroughly hidden because they were still students.

The sun’s rays grew hotter the farther west they traveled. There were countless people covered from head to toe in black chadors. And there were countless people who covered up more completely than they had in order to aid their secret designs.

This was why cultural norms in Sidian dictated that one could only prove their identity not by appearance but by showing an ID card or a seal and why people only communicated with those they trusted.

Ianna, Taro, and Herrace were concealing their identities with their black chadors as they stirred up a fuss in the country.

Not only did they look culturally appropriate, but their enemies could not identify them by their eyes alone. It didn’t matter how many enemies they made with how they looked at the moment.

Moreover, Ianna and her friends were careful, and they rarely came into contact with any normal people who could sell information about them. They had only rested and eaten at inns for the first stretch of their trip. They had started hunting animals for food and camping outside once Herrace had started acclimating to the desert climate. And so, no one could get any information about them.

The trio’s enemies had tried to tail them in secret and learn more about them that way, but that proved impossible because Ianna and Taro were thorough and massacred their shadows too.

“But, just as we heard back at the inn, the people of Sidian seem to bear a grudge against anyone who comes from Roanne…… We never bothered to hide our tracks, so they might figure out that we came from Roanne to the east. There’s hardly a one-in-a-million chance that they’ll catch on to us, but we should still pass by quickly just in case.”

The true rulers of Sidian, the Black Fox, was currently extremely hostile to Roanne.

The people in Sidian had no idea that their king was the Black Fox’s boss, but they were fond of the Black Fox and supported the organization. They acknowledged that the Black Fox was the very roots of their economy.

This was why travelers from Roanne and even those who had been naturalized into Sidian but had originally come from Roanne kept their heads low. The people of Sidian were openly hostile to them.

Arhad, too, had cautioned Ianna to pass through Sidian as quietly as possible.

They were already half-way through Sidian. They were moving quickly now that fewer bandits were attacking them, and they should be able to cross the Jinzai border in four or five days at this rate.

Herrace, who had grown nervous after hearing what Ianna had said, gingerly asked,

“Um, Little Ianna, Sir Taro? If we want to pass through Sidian as quickly as possible, can’t we just ignore the bandits who attack us?”

His anxiety was one thing, but Herrace was also sick of the stench of blood. Ianna stopped in her tracks and stared at him.

She sighed as she recognized the revulsion that he had tried to pass off as anxiety with his haggard appearance.

“Herrace, the reason why we’re dealing with everyone who picks a fight with us in the first place is so that you can gain more actual experience.”

There was hardly any reason for him to find himself in danger in Theodore, so it was difficult for him to experience a true battle filled with bloodlust. This was why the upperclassmen curriculum at the Swordsmanship Department including going out to the frontier for practical training.

Sidian was a lawless land and the kingdom of bandits, making it second only to the battlefields in terms of gaining practical experience. This was why Ianna had brought Herrace along with her. She continued,

“It doesn’t matter to Taro and me whether we ignore them or not.”

She did not know much about Taro’s past, but he clearly had plenty of battle experience and Ianna did not need to worry about him. There was no reason for her or Taro to go out of their way to stir up a fuss as they passed through Sidian.

“We’re doing this for your sake, but you…….”

Comically enough, Herrace had not been able to kill anyone yet despite the countless battles they had fought. He had only left shallow wounds on his enemies, and he hadn’t even cut off a limb or any other body part yet.

Herrace looked like he was about to cry.

“I……I just can’t…”

Herrace’s mind was seized by the thought that his opponent could end up dead or disabled every time his blade touched his opponent’s flesh. And his enemies tried to take his life every time he stayed his blade because he felt like his humanity was about to be obliterated. He was practically offering his enemies his head on a silver platter.

Even Herrace knew that he should be ashamed of himself, but he could not help the fact that he was reluctant to bring his sword against another person’s body. Ending someone’s life was much scarier than he had originally thought. And his conscience paralyzed him.

“Please, Little Ianna…….”

Herrace quivered as he spoke, but Ianna shook her head.

“No. I’ve told you before. A sword is fundamentally a tool meant for murder. And you’re not wielding your sword just for sport like some nobles do or because you want to be a swordsmanship instructor in some village somewhere.”

“That’s true, but still…….”

Ianna decided that she needed to get a clearer picture of Herrace’s state of mind as he dawdled and evaded the question, so she crossed her arms and glared at him.

“Stop being so wishy-washy. I was turning a blind eye to your sorry behavior, but now I see you’ve only grown more relaxed about acting this way. Very well then, shall I lay it out for you straight? I am truly in awe of your never-ending mercy, Young Master Herrace.”

Herrace stiffened up when he heard the sarcasm in Ianna’s words. She continued,

“It wasn’t just once or twice that you weren’t committed to the strokes of your sword even when your enemies were after your life. Just how many times have Taro and I saved you now? You’ve already died dozens of times.”

“…….”

“If you’re ever attacked while you’re on your own, don’t waste your precious life by fighting like a fool —just crawl between your enemy’s legs and beg for your life. Offer them your money, or your family, or anything else you have while you’re at it.”

“Whoa, hey, Lil’ Ianna. That’s a bit harsh,”

Taro said and grabbed Ianna by the shoulder as she seemed to be picking a fight with Herrace. Herrace clenched his hands into tight fists and spat out everything that had been piling up inside.

“But they’re still people. I don’t want to hurt them. They’re not monsters, and we can just subdue them and send them off with a strong warning…….”

“Are you saying you’re strong enough to do that? You’ve already let them cut you with their blades multiple times over.”

Herrace found himself at a loss for words and closed his mouth as Ianna’s frigid words fell on him like a cane to his calves. She continued,

“The choice to kill or spare their enemies is a choice afforded only to the strong. Besides, it was Taro and me who killed those bastards. It wasn’t you. You’re still weak, and you still need to fight your enemies like you mean to really kill them. You don’t want to hurt people? It’s far more difficult to subdue someone than it is to kill them. Do you think this is just practice and that everything is over once someone ‘wins’ or ‘loses’?”

“…….”

“Do you think monsters are your only enemies? Then what about the bandits? People can be your enemies and try to kill you too. Are you so relaxed because Taro and I will clean up after you even if you don’t kill anyone? How does it feel playing all good and innocent while we do your dirty work?”

Ianna’s sharp words brought tears to Herrace’s eyes as they openly stabbed at his heart. There was nothing he could say for himself, since everything she was saying was true.

The trip had been arduous. He had been working himself to death in the Swordsmanship Department for so long that his body had grown accustomed to the toil and he could endure being on a tight schedule all day long for a few days. But his heart was suffering. He didn’t want to ruin Ianna’s mood, and he wanted so badly to just give up on his brutal trip and return home.

Ianna, who seemed to have read his thoughts, cornered him further.

“Do you want to go back? I won’t stop you. But you’ll have to go alone. And I won’t ever train with you again.”

The blood drained from Herrace’s face. Ianna continued,

“I have absolutely no intention of helping someone who doesn’t give it his all. It’s only possible for someone to exceed their limits if they’re already trying their best to go further —it’s not possible for someone who’s already settled within their limits.”

“…….”

“You say that you want to learn how to control the mana that rushes at you like a pack of starving demons trying to eat away your life, and yet you’re too weak-willed to deal with even a single one of the bandits who were trying to kill you. This is your last chance, Herrace. I’m not asking you to kill them. Just render your enemy unable to move a part of their body —I don’t care if you have to stab them through the stomach or if you cut off an arm. If you can’t even do that, then I will write you off as hopeless and give up on you.”

Herrace’s role model had chopped his pride and self-esteem to pieces and had told him that this would be his very last chance.

The horrible thought that Ianna, who had always done her best to help him, might give up on him made Herrace tremble.

Ianna’s help was his final chance. If Ianna gave up on him, then it would spell his death as a swordsman.

Ianna’s help or a bandit’s life.

If he absolutely had to choose, then he would obviously choose to throw away the latter. Herrace was weak-hearted, but a thread of spite skewered him from head to toe and took root within him when he was cornered with no place to run. Herrace straightened himself out.

“All right. I’ll cut them down next time.”

Yet another battle broke out while they were still in the heart of Sidian and not too long after Ianna had called Herrace out, and Herrace worked hard. He stopped hesitating and, while he had not been able to take a life, he had cut off a bandit’s hand. Herrace’s eyes glazed over like a dead fish’s after he had fully separated one part of a person’s body from the rest for the first time in his life.

The bandit whom Herrace had maimed ran away, but Ianna simply let him go. Herrace kneeled over as soon as the fight was over and vomited. Ianna pat him on the shoulder as he emptied out the contents of his stomach.

“You did well.”

“Little Ianna…….”

Ianna had praised him, but Herrace was not happy to hear it. He had cut off the bandit’s hand because he felt like he was being cornered to the very edge of a cliff, but still could not help but wonder just why he had to do this in his heart.

He understood that it was in a sword’s nature to cut things.

Ianna had told him that he needed an ambition powerful enough to allow him to readily do these cruel things if he wanted to be a true swordsman.

Ashen-faced, Herrace thought,

‘I enjoy wielding my sword. The only thing I’ve ever had in my life this far was my sword, and I always want it to be this way. And I wanted people to acknowledge me for my swordplay.’

But was he able to take someone’s life for this goal? Herrace could not answer.

That night, Ianna and Taro bought entire barrels of beer and had Herrace, who looked like his head might explode from his complicated thoughts, drink.

Herrace did not really enjoy drinking, but he drank a lot that night. His mind was paralyzed with each gulp he took, and he felt like his distress was fading at least a little.

His fading distress was one thing, however, and his drunkenness was another thing entirely.

“I’m scared……. I’m so scared. I never wanted to hurt anyone……. So why do I have to, Little Ianna? Hmm?”

Herrace clung onto Ianna had sobbed. Taro, who had been trying to console Herrace at first, had drunk an entire barrel of beer himself and had long since knocked himself out, and only Ianna, whose anger had frightened Herrace earlier during the day, was left to hear him out.

Herrace clung to her and sobbed as if he had never been too gloomy to talk to her in the first place.

Ianna looked bitter. Herrace looked so unseemly right now that it was difficult to look him in the eyes.

She had rebuked him harshly earlier, but she understood that Herrace was kind at heart and that it was difficult for him to bring himself to hurt someone. Putting his talent aside, his disposition was not suited for being a swordsman.

“If you don’t want to hurt your opponent, then you can focus on blocking or subduing them most of the time so long as you can make sure that you won’t be foolish and are able to cut them down if you absolutely have to.”

Depending on their preference, most swordsmen had either an offensive or defensive style of fighting. Herrace leaned heavily toward a defensive style, especially considering his personality. What Ianna had mentioned was a way for him to focus on using his sword defensively.

But she could not decide everything for him if she truly wanted to do what was best for his future. Herrace had to anguish and agonize and find his own path. All she could do was offer him her counsel from his side.

“But you have to be significantly stronger than your opponent to do that. And if you want to grow stronger, then you have to have a lot of actual experience.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Herrace understood Ianna’s blade-like words with his emptied head and nodded. Tears were falling from his swollen eyes.

“Learning how to hurt someone is something absolutely essential for an immature swordsman. You’re immature, and you’ll have to keep cutting people down for a long while yet.”

“Sob. I know, but I don’t want to hurt people. Waah. There’s a ghost missing a hand over there!”

Ianna sighed. He wouldn’t be able to comprehend anything she said to him in his current state. For now, it was enough that she had gotten him drunk, stopped his shame in its tracks, and prevented him from burrowing himself deeper into his rut.

Ianna planned to push Herrace even harder so that he would have to cut people down without having the time to really think about it and eventually grow accustomed to it as she pried him off.

Pow.

She hit the noisy Herrace on the back of his neck and made him pass out before laying him down next to Taro, and she covered her friends with blankets before she sat down in front of the fire. Her friends were deeply asleep, so she would have to keep watch.

Ianna rested her chin in her hands as she stared at her soundly sleeping friends. She was forging a bond with her friends that was different from the bonds they had forged at the Institution as they shared the scorching heat of the sun and the brilliant radiance of the moon above the swelling reddish-brown sands of the desert.

Once again, she felt that she had changed. She would have never travelled with others in the past. She would have never even dreamed of trusting her back to another, wanting to aid and protect another, or sleeping soundly and unguarded while trusting another to keep watch.

She had been wearing an armor of thorns that prevent people from approaching her so that she wouldn’t get hurt, and yet, here she was —without her armor and her heart bare before her friends. She had faith in the fact that they would never betray her.

She was certain that her friends would understand and even encourage her if she went to Bahamut.

And the only reason that she was able to change was because he was there —someone standing behind her who would catch her should she ever be betrayed by those she trusted and collapsed.

……Her thoughts always seemed to end with him these days.

Ianna found this absurd and shook her head and stared at the campfire for a moment before she pulled over her bag, which had been strewn about nearby, and rummaged through it. She pulled out the plush puppy.

‘He hasn’t contacted me yet.’

Was he waiting for her to contact him first? She was sure that he would want to contact her.

Truly, Ianna always thought she was being terribly arrogant for always imagining things like this as if it was completely natural, and yet, comically enough, her imaginations were correct almost all the time.

Tap. Taap.

Ianna threw the plush into the air and caught it a few times as she contemplated.

Her contemplation didn’t take very long. To be honest, she was waiting for him to contact her too. Putting aside the matter of their relationship and his feelings, she wanted to know how he was doing, and she wanted to tell him how she was doing.

And it suited her nature more to act first than to simply stay quiet and wait. And so, Ianna poured some mana into the plush.

[Ianna?]

Was it because it was in her nature to strike while the iron was hot before any stray thoughts could squeeze in, or was it because the tipsiness had finally gotten to her head? Ianna only realized how late it was when she heard his slightly hoarse voice.

It was good and all that her call went through, but Ianna forgot to speak for a moment because she was embarrassed about her discourtesy when she then heard him speak in a slightly clearer tone.

[I was waiting for you,]

Arhad said cheerfully as if she hadn’t been rude at all.

[I’m glad I always kept the artefact with me, since I didn’t know when you would contact me.]

“…….”

Her face, which had already been warm from the alcohol, grew even hotter. The thought that he would be waiting for her to contact him and the fact that it was true made Ianna’s heart grow strangely warm and ticklish.

[Ianna? Hey.]

Ianna slowly brought up her knees and rested her cheek against them. Arhad continued calling her name as she kept her eyes lowered and toyed with the plush that was tightly in her grasp.

[Ianna!]

Hearing his voice without having the person in front of her was a very new experience.

Ianna realized that she had never paid any special attention to his voice before and simply listened without replying as he continued to repeat her name.

The quiet spread of his voice was memorable. It was somewhat coarse, perhaps because it was late at night, but his voice had a very nice timber to it. Ianna felt like she could understand a little as to why some people blushed red just from hearing his voice.

And……hearing his voice from nearby almost made her feel as if there was no need for her to keep watch, as if she could simply fall asleep. It also had the queer effect of putting her mind at ease and making her body relax.

You’re strange.

You’re truly so strange…….

Ianna started feeling sleepy for some reason.

[Why aren’t you answering?]

Arhad stopped calling her name and voiced a question when she had failed to respond over ten times.

[……Did the artefact break? But that shouldn’t be the case…]

Then, he began mumbling to himself.

[Did she leave a mana stone near it? Or maybe she injected it mana subconsciously while she was asleep? And here I was getting all excited. This is too much.]

“Pft.”

Ianna, who had been listening to Arhad’s mumblings with bated breath, brought her hands up to her mouth as a laugh burst out from her.

[……Ianna?]

Arhad called her name again, perhaps because he had heard. But his voice sounded serious this time.

[Ianna. Give me your coordinates right now. Wait, no. I don’t need coordinates —tell me where you are generally and whether you see any landmarks around you. Are you unable to talk?]

She heard the sound of wooden furniture creaking as he spoke. It sounded like he had suddenly jumped out of bed. She had tried to keep herself from laughing, but it looked like he had misheard and thought that she was trying to force herself to keep quiet instead.

Ianna stole at glance at Taro and Herrace, who were still sound asleep, and spoke quietly because she was afraid they might wake.

“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”

[That’s fine —what’s your status right now?]

She could viscerally feel how tense he was. It was funny to her how someone as capable as Arhad had misunderstood the situation just because he couldn’t see her in person. Nonchalantly, Ianna replied,

“We’re camping outside, and Taro and Herrace are asleep.”

She held back her laughter and feigned ignorance even though she was fully aware that he had misunderstood. She wanted to tease him a bit. She felt like a mischievous child.

[……What the hell?]

Arhad’s reply came a bit late. Her ridiculous response had dispirited him, and his voice was slowed and dubious.

[Why didn’t you respond at first?]

There was a bit of indignation in his voice this time. Ianna didn’t feel the need to make excuses for herself, and so she replied with candor.

“It was nice to listen to your voice.”

[…….]

Arhad fell into a moment of silence before he gingerly replied,

[……Are you drunk?]

“I did drink, but I am not drunk.”

[No. You’re definitely drunk.]

“I am not so intoxicated yet that I would senselessly lie about what I’m thinking.”

[Is that so? But to hear you say that it was nice to listen to my voice……. Hmm……well, that’s fine. In that case, listen to it more often going forward. I’ll forgive you for making me anxious by not responding since you said something so commendable.]

There was joy coloring his voice, as if he had never been angry to begin with. Ianna felt the abrupt change and buried her head a little into her knees.

How powerful was this weapon called love that this amazing man was fretting like a hostage with a blade at his throat? Would she be able to experience the same feelings that Arhad was too? Would she be able to remain herself even as she experienced them?

She could already see Arhad being swayed by her each and every word.

And it was funny. She felt like she wouldn’t mind being swayed by Arhad, just a little. After all, if she was having fun and being happy about how Arhad was being swayed by her, then surely Arhad would be happy too.

[But why did you call? There wasn’t an accident, was there?]

Did he think that she would only contact him if something happened?

Just like how he had used to think that she would only visit the tower where he lived if she had business with him.

“Nothing happened —I was simply curious as to how you were doing. And I thought you might be curious as to how I was doing too. Was I wrong?”

[How surprising. Did you read my mind?]

“No, it was merely a guess.”

[Well, you’re right. I’ve been dying to know how you were doing. But to be honest, I didn’t think you’d contact me unless something happened. You’ve been finding it difficult to be around me as of late. I was a bit pessimistic and thought you wouldn’t contact me even once and simply show up when classes began.]

“There’s no need for that, now is there? I’ll be contacting you from time to time, and you can contact me whenever you wish as well.”

[Truly?]

He sounded dubious, but he suddenly exclaimed, “Ah,” to himself before chuckling quietly.

[I’m happy to hear you say that.]

Ianna thought she could see him laughing in front of her.

[But I think you’ll find it rather troubling if I call you whenever I’m curious about what you’re up to. I’m always interested in everything you do. You’ll need to supply your artefact with mana continuously all month long if you want to satisfy me.]

Ianna tried to ascertain whether his gravely straightforward words were in jest or if he was being serious, and she promptly realized that there was no point. This was Arhad, so he was always being serious when he said something like that.

[But if you really meant it when you said I could contact you…….]

Arhad fell silent again after saying that.

If he contacted her, then he contacted her —what else did he need? Ianna was curious as to what he had been about to say and urged him to continue.

“And if I meant it?”

[Then maybe I will from time to time, when I really can’t endure it.]

“Endure what?”

[Your absence.]

Ianna quietly leaned her ear in toward the sound of his voice.

[My mood keeps alternating between extremes because I haven’t been able to see you. I can’t even work properly……oh.]

Arhad, who had been speaking gloomily, suddenly stopped and groaned, apparently having interpreted Ianna’s silence in some manner.

[I don’t mean to burden you by saying this. I’ve told you before. This trip is the last vacation I’ll ever give you, Ianna. You’ll have to guard me by my side for the rest of your life once you get back, so don’t worry about me enjoy your freedom while you still can. Have enough fun on this trip so you don’t regret it later.]

I wonder……. Ianna’s features crinkled as she smiled.

He said this, but he still seemed to regard her as some sort of wild animal who was trying to leave him.

“It’s all right. You’re free to contact me without having to worry about that.”

[I’m not kidding. I’m giving you your last bit of freedom before I ensnare you completely, you know?]

“May I be frank?”

[About what? Go ahead.]

“I’ve been waiting for you to contact me all this time. I’ve always kept the plush puppy next to me while I slept.”

Ianna found it easier to speak because she couldn’t see Arhad’s face. Or perhaps she found it easier because she had finished organizing her thoughts. She continued,

“We’ve only been apart for a few days, but I’ve been curious to hear from you. I’ve been feeling empty because I haven’t been able to talk with you.”

It was true. It had already become natural for her to have him by her side, and she had already been accustomed to spending time with him. She had been delighted to accept his collar, given to her under the guise of their liege-and-knight relationship……and to be freed from it felt not like liberation, but plunder.

Ianna had been alarmed to find herself feeling this way during her trip, but she accepted her feelings because the other party was Arhad. She wished for the ties that bound her to him to be as strong as steel chains, and she was rather tolerant of his obsession.

[……You can be very unreasonable from time to time.]

“What did I do?”

She had thought that he would like it, but he apparently found her unreasonable. Ianna tilted her head to the side.

[And the fact that you’re asking that is also unreasonable.]

“I was only expressing my fondness of you. Just as you always do to me. So why does that make me unreasonable?”

[That wasn’t the problem. It was that you said this only a few days into your trip. You make me want to overturn my resolve and take you back. And it drives me crazy that I can’t.]

“Haha!”

Ianna laughed. She normally only chuckled quietly or curled her lips into a smile, so the fact that she had laughed out loud meant that she was truly delighted.

Ianna laughed for a while before she steadied her breathing and brushed back the hair that had fallen in front of her face.

What a funny man. Not because he was comical, but because he could make her laugh.

[Stop laughing,]

Arhad said petulantly.

“I can’t even laugh when I want to?”

[You sounded so delighted just now, but I hate that I can only hear your voice. I limited the artefact to only audio communication on purpose, but I should have included visual capabilities too.]

Why did he go out of his way to limit the artefact to audio communication? Ianna felt like she could guess the answer without having to ask. He had probably meant to be considerate of her, since she had been awkward about talking to him face-to-face, or perhaps he might have wanted to lessen his own loneliness.

Still, whatever Arhad’s intentions might have been, Ianna liked the artefact very much. The fact that it allowed her to concentrate on his voice gave it a different kind of charm.

[In any event, I’m curious about what’s happened on your trip so far. Won’t you tell me?]

Ianna told Arhad about what she had been up to, what the situation was like, and how far she had traveled in meticulous detail, and Arhad was satisfied.

[Sidian is a country where you can do things like that. And I commend you for getting the weak-willed Herrace Bendham to actually hurt someone. But it’ll probably be better that you moderate yourself a bit, even if it’s for his training. You know that there are a lot of members of the Black Fox in Sidian, right? The Black Fox will step up if you provoke them too much. You might be covering yourselves up, but you should still take care not to be identified since there are no absolutes when it comes to people.]

Ianna agreed and looked up at the sky. She hadn’t thought that they had spoken for very long, but the moon and stars had already shifted considerably.

“I’m sorry. I called you so thoughtlessly even though it was already late……I must have woken you, haven’t I?”

[No. I was reading because I couldn’t sleep. And I close my book as soon as you called. You don’t need to concern yourself with the time when you contact me.]

Arhad emphasized the point yet again. Ianna flashed a grin. He continued,

[I hate to say this, but let’s stop here. I shouldn’t hinder your trip. And get some shut-eye —I’m sure you must be tired too.]

“I will. Good night.”

That was all Ianna said before she cut off the flow of mana pouring into the artefact. She placed the plush toy next to her, and she found it curious how it made her feel like Arhad was right there with her —perhaps because it was a means by which she could contact him anytime. She found herself relying on him again.

……Reliance. It made her feel like she was growing weaker for some reason.

In the past, no, even until just a short while ago, the thought of being reliant on another had revolted her, but now she seemed to overuse the term when it came to Arhad.

Arhad had changed her. Ianna did not dislike the change, but she was still afraid because she did not know how much she would keep changing.

‘I should be more careful.’

Ianna reflected on herself as she sat her sword in her arms, and she closed her eyes without ever letting her guard down.

~~*~~

“Cut off everything from wrist down this time, and not just the hand.”

Ianna continued to push Herrace toward a psychological cliff without giving him any time to rest the next day while he was still hungover. And the next, and the next.

Herrace threw up several times. Ianna could not help but wonder if Herrace would end up being known as ‘Vomit Boy’ all over again in the desert, just like what had happened in the Institution, but he hurled less frequently as the days passed.

He looked seriously depressed for a few days before he ultimately started looking like he didn’t register his hands as his own and wielded his sword like his enemies were not as human as he was. He looked like he was possessed.

Taro saw him and grew worried.

“Uh, hey, ain’t this kinda dangerous? He looks like he’s lost his soul or like he doesn’t know what he’s cutting away at anymore. Shouldn’t we let him rest a bit……?”

“No, he needs to keep at it until he gets used to it. We can’t give him the leeway to think about something else until he finally gets used to actually cutting down a life.”

“But what are we gonna do if we traumatize him by forcin’ him to do something he doesn’t wanna?”

“Forcing? What kind of bastard willingly cuts another person down right from the very beginning? People kill because the situation was forced upon them —half because of their own intentions and half because of another’s. Anyone who kills willingly right from the beginning is a crazy bastard who’s lacking a part of their humanity. Everyone gets psychologically scarred after taking a life for the first time. They just grow used to it as they keep doing it.”

“That’s true, but……ya really are ruthless, Lil’ Ianna.”

If Ianna was ruthless, then Herrace was a sugar cookie who crumbled easily.

Throughout the entire second half of her past life, Ianna had beat aside sniveling soldiers on the battlefields overflowing with blood and madness as she raced headfirst to her death.

It was either kill or be killed on the battlefield. Having the leisure to get lost in your thoughts in a desperately dangerous situation where survival was everyone’s upmost priority was a luxury. No one had the time to waste over guilt like Herrace did.

Ianna had upturned entire battlefields and smacked allied soldiers across the backs of their heads or even personally slit their throats to set an example if she saw them hesitating nearby. But this wasn’t a battlefield, and she could not treat Herrace that way.

“It’s important to rest and repent, of course. You have to decide for yourself how much a life is worth to you.”

Murder was an experience that anyone who wished to live with a weapon had to overcome.

The process of asking yourself if you could murder, if you could set aside your morality, your respect for others’ lives, and your altruism for the sake of your personal ambitions and repenting over your sins was necessary if you didn’t wish to become a simple butcher.

“But like I said before, our first priority should be to get him used to it. Having the time to think about something before doing it is something only a pampered young master can do, and it isn’t effective. It’s far more efficient to have him do something he can’t take back first and let him contemplate over it afterward. Besides, we’ll reach the Sidian-Jinzai border soon, and we won’t be able to do battle as freely once we get to Jinzai. We need to push him as far as possible before then.”

“There’s nothing I can say to that ‘cause I know yer right. But, would ya have really stopped trainin’ with Herrace……if he couldn’t do it?”

“But of course. I don’t make empty promises. If he couldn’t act even after being pushed that far, then it would have only meant that he had no hope to begin with.”

And so, Ianna and her friends continued with their forced march through Sidian even after Herrace’s incomplete awakening. It was a mercilessly endless repetition of battle and rest.

It was due to this that Herrace surprisingly, to the point that his initial fluster was put to shame, grew accustomed to the violence and had become able to cut off limbs without much thought. He was still as hesitant to actually kill as ever, but he had made remarkable progress. Though his decaying state of mind was another story, of course.

“Ack!”

The repeating cycle shattered when Herrace screamed upon sighting a bizarrely arranged corpse.

“W-w-what is that?”

Ianna and Taro furrowed their brows when they looked to where Herrace was pointing to with a trembling finger. There was a human corpse that had been thrown on top of a large rock next to the road they had been traveling on like trash.

Sidian was a frightening country that could make even the most ordinary people inhumane. Murder was a frequent occurrence in the heaven of criminals, and one could see corpses half-buried in the sand along any ordinary road.

And everyone simply ignored them and walked by because paying heed to the abandoned corpses was both a waste of time and a waste of mental resources.

Ianna and her friends would have normally acted if they were witness to crime, but they simply ignored whatever they saw in Sidian and simply walked past with no hesitation whatsoever.

And even still, one corpse tumbling over the sands had stopped them dead in their tracks. There was something off about it. There was no such thing as a pretty corpse unless the person had passed away quietly in their sleep, but this was new to even Ianna —which was nothing to say of Herrace, who had only just gotten accustomed to many corpses he saw in these lands rife with the sight of blood and bones.

“……That…used to be human, right?”

“Yes.”

It had definitely been human once, judging by the vivid remains of bone and muscle.

But it was just so bizarre.

Ianna walked up to the corpse and studied it.

The corpse’s skin was like tree bark. There was obviously no water, but there wasn’t even a single drop of blood in sight.

A corpse that was completely dried up and had not a single drop of moisture in it would be reduced to dust and merge into the sand if you hit it hard enough. The blood dried on the corpse’s flesh was the only proof left that it, too, had once had warm blood flowing through its veins.

A lot of the corpses they had seen in the desert had looked like mummies because the dryness of the climate had evaporated what moisture they carried. But even then, this corpse almost looked like it had been molded from uneven mud.

Moreover, it was difficult to understand why the corpse’s blood vessels, even its most minute capillaries, were swollen to the point that they were bulging above the corpse’s skin. They looked like they were on the brink of bursting open, and they looked grotesque.

And there was one last peculiarity about the corpse. There was a gaping hole in the left side of the corpse’s chest where its heart was supposed to be.

‘Was the primary cause of death the destruction of the heart? But what’s with the blood vessels?’

Ianna carefully reached out and poked one of the protruding vessels, and it crumbled as something —was it dirt or dead skin?— broke off from it. Ianna drew her hand back with a puzzled look on her face.

‘……I’m feeling a sense of déjà vu.’

Dust, blood vessels, and the heart.

It bothered her, almost like there was a foreign substance invading her mind, that these three things had come together.

“Ack!”

Herrace, who had been carefully walking backwards to get away from the corpse, screamed and fell on his bottom when he saw what was behind the rock. Ianna tore her eyes off the corpse and turned back.

“What is it?”

“L-l-little Ianna… There are more corpses just like that one. Look over there. Blech.”

Herrace covered his mouth with his hands and ran off to somewhere. Ianna walked around the rock, slightly nervous as she heard him empty the contents of his stomach, and immediately stiffened up. There were dozens of corpses just like the first sprawled out along the ground. A desolate and sandy wind blew across the gruesome scene, and she could not feel any signs of life from it.

“Hmm……. They might’ve closed the border at this rate.”

Taro, who was looking at the same scene from behind Ianna, groaned and said something puzzling.

“Why?”

“Ya don’t know what this is?”

“I don’t. But you seem to —can you tell me? And why would they close the border?”

“It’s one of the most infamous ghost stories out here in the western deserts……then again, I guess ya might not know if ya don’t care too much about the West. They call this phenomenon the ‘Ghosts’ Banquet.’”

Taro pointed to the corpses and continued,

“All their blood vessels are poppin’ out, they’re missin’ their hearts, and they look like dirt that’s about to crumble, yeah? Corpses like these ain’t that unusual out here in the desert. They tend to crop up from time to time. The ‘Ghost’ part comes from the fact that whoever did this leaves no traces behind like this was actually done by ghosts or something. And when there’s a bunch of corpses laid out like this, we call it the ‘Ghosts’ Banquet.’”

Taro crossed his arms and scowled heavily. He continued,

“A long time ago, they used to think this was done by a horde of monsters that liked human blood. But nowadays a lotta people seriously think that it’s the work of real ghosts.”

“Do people really think that ghosts are involved? It obviously looks like someone kidnapped a bunch of people for some specific reason, drained them of their blood, processed them, and threw the corpses away like this.”

There used to exist old legends about a certain countess who had bathed in the blood of countless virgin maidens to preserve her youth.

Did there truly exist a deed that could not been done by human hands when such bizarre people lived in the world?

“They say that the Ghosts’ Banquet’s been happening for nearly two-hundred years now. Someone would’ve spotted them during those two-hundred years if it was monsters doin’ this. People have been investigatin’ this for decades, and they turned up with nothing. And it’s been goin’ on for too long to have been the work of one person. Be they human or a member of the mythical races, who can live for centuries.”

“So you’re saying that it was literally the work of a ghost, the work of some bastard who was so thorough about their work that they might as well be a ghost, or a group of them.”

Ianna searched though the corpses one after another before she found yet another peculiarity. They were all wearing looks of agony. Terror, hatred, pain, despair —the dreadful emotions they had been put through was readily apparent on their faces even in death.

Ianna had seen expressions like these before. They were common to places that maximized human pain, like torture chambers or battlefields.

“It’s practically just a ghost story by now, so ya don’t need to worry about it too much. Besides, it’s prob’ly better that we leave soon. You’ll have bad dreams after seein’ stuff like this. And we need to hurry, since Jinzai might close the border if they hear there was a Ghosts’ Banquet.”

Taro pulled Ianna away as he shuddered. Ianna, who had been awkwardly staring at the mountain of corpses, turned her gaze away from them. And then, she noticed something strange about what Taro had said.

“What does this have anything to do with Jinzai?”

“There’re a lotta religious zealots for God Laos in Jinzai. They firmly believe that the Ghosts’ Banquet’s the work of the Demon. The close up the border whenever there’s a Banquet ‘cause they think it’s bad luck.”

“That’s a bit troubling.”

Roanne was at the center of the continent, and trying to make a round trip to the outer rims of the continent put them on a tight schedule no matter how quickly they traveled. They were already so close to the border, so having to switch routes and head to the Lotso Mountains would mean a lot of wasted time.

Ianna went off to find Herrace, who had wandered away so his friends wouldn’t see him throwing up.

But there was someone suspicious patting him on the back.

Ianna immediately vanished as soon as she saw. She had instantly closed the distance and had her sword pointed at the suspicious person’s throat.

She pressed her blade against their neck.

“Step back.”

“Ack!”

The figure took fright, only having noticed her sword when its cold blade was pressed against their neck, and took their hands off Herrace. Ianna raised her sword a little higher.

“Needless kindness in Sidian is no different from a forewarning of crime. State your business in one sentence. You have five seconds. Five…….”

“We were simply helping this young man clean up because he was throwing up so violently. Please relax!”

“We?”

“Lady Saki!”

“Get away from her, you bastard!”

Ianna looked up. There was a group of people holding weapons running closer while shouting from a distance. She turned to Herrace, whose face was bright red as he wiped at his mouth.

“Did she do anything to you?”

“That’s…she was patting me on the back when I finally came back to my senses…”

Herrace was so embarrassed that he looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole.

Ianna scrutinized Saki. Like Ianna and her friends, the woman called Saki was also covering up her appearance.

But there was something kind about her exposed eyes and voice that made strangers want to lower their guard around her. Ianna quietly looked into her gentle features before she sheathed her sword.

“My apologies.”

Ianna helped Herrace, who was at a loss for what to do, back up. Meanwhile, the rest of Saki’s group surrounded them stormily, as though they would stab their weapons at Ianna at a moment’s notice.

One man was emitting a particularly strong bloodlust as he took a step forward.

“How dare you!”

“Enough, Giel! It was my fault for doing something like this in Sidian.”

“But…….”

Giel’s breath was ragged as he bared his hostility toward Ianna.

“You are no match for them. Stand back.”

“Let’s go.”

Ianna tried to take Herrace and leave —she couldn’t have cared any less about the strangers. Herrace was ashamed of the mess he had left behind, but then he tilted his head to the side in confusion because he felt so strangely refreshed.

“Huh……?”

He had been exhausted and nauseated as of late, and his feet had dragged beneath him. He had only just been managing to keep up with Taro and Ianna, and yet his footsteps felt so light now.

Then, Saki said to him,

“I took a few measures while patting your back, young man. You must have been rather uncomfortable, but I think you’ll feel better now.”

“You should realize how lucky you are! Do you even know who she…….”

“Didn’t I say that was enough? I’ve repeated myself thrice now, Giel. You know what’ll happen if I have to repeat myself again, yes?”

Giel shut his mouth. Then, Saki turned to Ianna, who was staring back at her, and continued,

“Lady Swordswoman. Your friend here was extremely weakened. I don’t know how long you’ve been travelling, but his body has been overtaxed for quite some time now. He will collapse and grow ill if you push him any further than this. This isn’t my advice —it’s my warning to you.”

“Are you a doctor? I will keep that in mind.”

Herrace’s face was growing scarlet. They hadn’t even gotten halfway through their trip yet.

“N-no, it’s fine, it’s just because I’m weak…….”

“Don’t fault yourself, my friend. When a problem arises within a group, it means that its leader has made a mistake,”

Saki responded firmly. Herrace felt so guilty he wanted to die. Taro and Ianna were completely fine. It was his fault that he was weak in body and mind, and yet Saki was blaming Ianna. Saki continued,

“Allow me to add one more thing, Lady Swordswoman. When you are walking alongside others, you must match your pace with not the strongest, but the weakest of your group.”

“……Wise words. I shall endeavor to remember them.”

Ianna reflected a little. This was training, and not just an ordinary trip, but there was no reason to justify herself to Saki. It was true that she had pushed Herrace harshly because they were short on time, even after considering the purpose of their trip.

Ianna determined that Saki was not an enemy and took on a politer tone.

“Thank you for treating my friend. Let’s go.”

“I bid you a pleasant journey. May God Laos’ blessing be with you.”

Ianna bowed in farewell and left with Herrace in tow. Saki blessed their journey as she waved at them.

Saki lowered her hand as Ianna and Herrace grew distant. Her weighty gaze followed Ianna’s retreating figure.

~~*~~

Part 3

Herrace drooped his shoulders and kept sneaking glances at Ianna as he trudged along.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that…….”

“Hmm?”

Ianna, who had been walking forward without much thought, turned her head in bafflement. Herrace grew shy when Ianna’s gaze fell upon him and he wriggled his fingers nervously.

“It was my fault, but she misunderstood and scolded you, Little Ianna. When it was my fault for being foolish…… I’ll work harder. And next time, I’ll k-kill an enemy for sure.”

Herrace had already repeated this over ten times. But he had never once been able to carry through with the act as of yet. His face flushed scarlet as he grew ashamed of the words he had stammered. He continued,

“I’m not a liar, but it’s really not easy. But I’m really trying, so please don’t think I’m pathetic, Little Ianna…….”

“Herrace.”

Ianna turned around. Herrace startled and stopped in his tracks, prompting Ianna to walk up to him and grab him by the arm. She continued,

“I know I keep pushing you, but I don’t think someone’s pathetic for not being able to do something if they’re still trying.”

Herrace’s desire to be acknowledged by others was incredibly strong, perhaps because he had grown up being pitied by others and being cursed at by Travis ever since he was a child.

To the point that he had said he wielded his sword because he wanted to be acknowledged when Ianna had asked.

And Ianna was aware of the fact that Herrace was relying on her. He hadn’t been able to kill yet, but Herrace had never harmed even an animal until now and had only been able to hurt people only because Ianna had pressed him so hard that he could barely breathe, much less think.

“Really? Thank goodness. I’m going to work really hard, I promise.”

Ianna saw how emaciated Herrace looked as he sighed in relief.

His once-fair skin was terribly haggard, he had visibly lost weight, and his eyes were sunken and reminded her of a dead fish —as if to prove that Saki hadn’t been saying empty words when she had said that he would collapse and take ill if he kept overworking himself.

Ianna had thoughtlessly ignored Herrace’s condition because she had thought it was only natural that he would be tired, but it was strange now that she considered it more carefully.

‘He should have acclimated enough to kill by now.’

Humans were adaptable creatures. Even people who grew out of breath just by walking over a small hill could one day climb up to the peak of the Lotso Mountains if they consistently hiked and trained their bodies and adapted.

And Herrace was no different.

He was not only learning how to end a life as he battled all day long, but he was also watching Ianna and Taro kill, and he should have gained a measure of mental fortitude by now because he had seen corpses sprawled across the ground multiple times. And yet he still couldn’t bring himself to kill.

He wasn’t simply being gutless —he was stubbornly insisting that he wouldn’t kill. This pointless insistence —whether it stemmed from his obstinacy or his morality— refused to bend, like a centuries-old tree, and continued to torment him. Ianna had known he was extremely stubborn and persistent about this, a contrast to his usual mild demeanor, but now she was almost awed.

At this point, she couldn’t help but wonder if there was something wrong with her education policy —which she had once thought was an absolute truth.

Perhaps it didn’t quite work so well when it came to Herrace.

But it was far too late to figure out the issues with her policy now. She still had no doubt that the experiences Herrace was gaining now would be beneficial to him in his life as a swordsman.

‘I’ll just watch over him for now.’

Ianna said,

“To be honest, I feel like I’ve accomplished my goal in bringing you along on this trip just on account of the fact that you were able to hurt someone. I don’t want to ignore what that woman said because she seemed to be a doctor, so why don’t we start taking it a little easier?”

“Oh, okay!”

Herrace immediately brightened up. Was he truly that happy? Ianna thought him a funny fellow as she turned back forward.

Taro was chewing on some jerky as he leaned against the rock. He hadn’t thought that things would be a big deal, so he had thought that Ianna was more than enough to take care of everything. Which was why he hadn’t joined them despite the small uproar and had simply waited for his friends to return.

“Something happen?”

Taro brushed off his hands and stepped away from the rock when Ianna and Herrace approached.

“Nothing much…….”

Ianna shot a glance behind herself as she was explaining what had happened to Taro. The group, who had gathered when she attacked, had vanished and were now investigating the Ghosts’ Banquet before she had even noticed. And it was only now that she noticed that they had set up tents in the distance. Ianna made a face.

‘I never sensed their presence.’

Her attention might have been drawn to the corpses, but there was something strange about the fact that she had failed to notice such a large group of people. Ianna narrowed her eyes as she observed them.

‘What strange people.’

They were like the air itself in that they both seemed to and did not seem to be there —they gave off a strange feeling at made it only seem natural that they existed. She felt like she was looking at a bunch of trees and grasses in the middle of a thicket.

Taro voiced his admiration.

“Gutsy bastards.”

“How so? Because they’re touching the corpses?”

“Nah, for a different reason. They’re probably one of the groups investigatin’ the Ghosts and whatnot. The Ghosts’ Banquet is such a weird phenomenon that it’s hard to believe that it was done by people, so a lotta people like psychic researchers, monster scholars, priests……or even doctors who think this might be some kinda mysterious disease come to study them, and a whole lotta them tend to go missin’. A high-rankin’ clergy from Jinzai’s Great Temple came to purify the land once, ‘cause they thought it was the Demon’s work, and I hear that the whole group disappeared without a trace.”

Ianna looked back at the corpses as she listened to what Taro was saying. She was starting to feel uncomfortable again. He continued,

“There’s been a lotta problems at the national level ‘cause the Ghosts’ Banquets have so many casualties……and the royals of Sidian’s even recommended against investigatin’ them, maybe ‘cause it’s been such a thorn in their sides. They won’t stop ya if ya insist, but it’s apparently been decades since they warned that they wouldn’t take any responsibility if something happens to ya.”

Ianna thought hard about where her discomfort was stemming from, and she ultimately pursed her lips as she recalled a certain someone.

“Anyways, I’m startin’ to get nervous about the Jinzai border if there’s even a Ghost investigation team here……let’s hurry. I’m startin’ to feel horrible.”

Taro dragged Ianna and Herrace along by the wrists. A wind blew from where the Ghosts’ Banquet was as Ianna passed by its victims and made her nose sting.

There was a pile of corpses in her immediate vicinity, and yet the wind smelled only of the sun’s hot rays. There was something about the way that the desert wind didn’t adhere to reason that made her feel terrible.

‘How frightening.’

Dead beings gave off foul odors as they rotted and returned to the earth, whether they be people, animals, or monsters……it was the reason that all life adhered to.

But she could not smell the stench of rot here. It was almost as if it was stripping away from the truth that those corpses had once been living beings.

Ianna skimmed over the corpses as bits and pieces of them were crumbling away in the desert winds.

Arhad.

All of her thoughts seemed to lead her to Arhad these days. But there was a reason why she thought of him after thinking about the cause behind this phenomenon.

‘The heart.’

The heart was no longer just another organ to Ianna.

The heart was someone’s core, which possessed both their divine power and their soul.

Which was why she recalled how Arhad had pierced through the orc’s chest and burst open its heart to steal its divine power.

And she also recalled how Keigus’s blood vessels had swelled up and how he had been instantly turned to black smoke-like dust and scattered in the wind when Arhad had stolen his soul.

But the Ghosts’ Banquet had been happening for over two-hundred years, so the phenomenon could not be Arhad’s work. And yet, it could still be connected to why he had done what he had.

Perhaps……there were others out there who stole divine power or souls like Arhad did.

Ianna had only learned of such acts through Arhad, but the mysteries behind his methods may have been passed down in secret.

But if that was the case, then were they doing it to survive, like Arhad did, or did they have some other reason?

‘I might also just be deluding myself. And I dislike conspiracy theories.’

Ianna tried to relate their reasons more deeply with divine power’s trait of life, but she stopped soon enough because it made her feel unpleasant.

She also wondered if she should contact Arhad and ask, but she gave up on the notion because he always looked reluctant and stiffened up whenever the topic was brought up in conversation —even though she had told him that she understood.

Taro had been right to worry.

They had reached Lampinion, the border city at the edge of Sidian, only to find that the tall ramparts and cast-iron gates that surrounded the Jinzai border, which had been open for the past several months, were completely closed.

Armed soldiers were walking on top of the ramparts, creating for a forbidding atmosphere. They made it very clear that they would not allow even an ant to cross over into Jinzai.

Jinzai had always opened and closed her borders at a moment’s notice, much to the anxiety of any illegal aliens, but her borders had been open for at least a full year because the Sidian royal family had not been provoking them as of late.

So, had something happened? Those who had been passing through Sidian because they had trusted that they would be able to get into Jinzai were dumbstruck by these unexpected events.

“Oh dear. I still have to make the delivery date…….”

“This is so annoying —why the hell did they close the border?”

Everyone who had just arrived today was standing before the tightly-shut gates, which had closed four days ago, while complaining loudly.

“I hear there was a Ghosts’ Banquet nearby. And it was apparently unprecedentedly large.”

“Oh, I saw that too. I hurried over because it was so horrible.”

“So it’s because of the Ghosts this time. Sigh. I should’ve gone through the Lotso Mountains.”

Ianna and her friends sighed as they stared vacantly at the border from afar.

“Four days ago……how regrettable. All we can do now is go up to the Lotso Mountains.”

Taro scratched at his head in irritation.

“Ugh, but I hear that the other route’s gonna have a ton of people on it if one route’s closed. We’re gonna be arriving a lot later than planned. It’s one thing that we’ll have to make our way back, but we ain’t gonna be able to move quickly since the Lotso Mountains’ll be crowded as hell.”

Ianna shrugged and replied,

“We can also take paths that people don’t normally take. The Lotso Mountains are vast, after all.”

“Any roads in the Lotso Mountains are narrow and were made ‘cause a lot of people walked on them over time. Going off the beaten path means that we’ll see a lotta venomous insects, and it won’t be easy to walk ‘cause all the trees and grasses and stuff’ll be overgrown. And, do ya remember why people choose to go through Sidian instead of the Lotso Mountain to begin with, even though it means dealin’ with the bandits? It’s ‘cause of the monsters.”

Straying even slightly from the narrow roads meant stepping into monster territory. There were still some monsters that invaded the roads and attacked, of course, but most respected human territory and simply watched as people passed by. They were waiting for people to leave their territory and become as willing prey.

“It’s one thing that we’ll have to go slow ‘cause the roads are narrow……but the bigger problem are the monsters that appear in the central regions of the mountains. They’re calamities, I tell ya. Weaker monsters can be taken care of, even if it might mean a few casualties, but those bastards are like walkin’ natural disasters. Ughhh.”

Just as Taro had pointed out, the high-leveled monsters that inhabited the central regions of the Lotso Monsters could pose a problem.

They were so extraordinary that it was almost difficult to classify them simply as monsters. They had been sighted continuously for centuries —no one knew how old they were—, and a few high-leveled monsters had even been named by people from ages past.

And they knew that they were apex predators. They were calamities that ignored not only human territory but also that of other monsters as they hunted wherever they pleased.

But Ianna had hunted several of them before. She had not personally gone into the Lotso Mountains to hunt them, but had rather been forced into the task because Arhad had sent monster armies into Roanne, but the fact still remained that she had returned several of them to the earth. And they had truly been some of her best battle opponents.

Ianna started to grow competitive and wanted to try fighting strong enemies who were not Arhad. But she could not simply go recklessly on her way because she was not alone at the moment and there were a lot of other variables she had to consider, and so she decided to abandon the competitiveness that was tickling at her.

“All right. We’ll be set back by quite a bit, so let’s prioritize getting to Toraca over training going forward. We’ll reach Lotso before everyone else so we can move a bit quicker using the roads.”

“I can agree to that.”

Ianna looked up at the sky. The sun had sunk beneath the horizon long ago. They had been planning to stay in the city for the night to begin with, since the border on the opposite side of the city closed at six every evening. Ianna jerked her head toward the streets.

“We’ll call it a night here —let’s go find some food first before figuring out where we’ll sleep.”

But this proved to be no easy feat.

More and more people who had been unable to foresee the border closing began pouring into Lampinion. Every traveler who had arrived in the last four days was staying at the inns while trying to salvage their ruined plans.

And so, though there were a lot of inns in Lampinion, hardly any of them had any rooms left. Counters were jampacked with people who were trying to bribe innkeepers for rooms. It was even starting to cost more than the price of gold to stay in a shed for a night, but, comically enough, people paid for it and even sheds were quickly running out of space.

After their meal, Ianna and her friends keenly realized that they would have no choice but to camp outside within the city.

But the situation was so dire that they hardly had anywhere to set up camp even on the streets, which was nothing to say of nicer spots like under the bridges. They could not find a good spot no matter how long they roamed around. Herrace pat at his aching thighs as he, in a somewhat fed-up manner, said,

“It looks like there were a lot of people heading toward Jinzai. Is it because it’s vacation season?”

“There’s that too, but water’s in high demand in the desert durin’ the summer, so we always get a whole bunch of merchants. Water’s worth its weight in gold, after all.”

Just as Taro had pointed out, there were a lot of merchant-owned wagons parked along the streets, and there were a lot of sharp-eyed and nervous merchants keeping watch over them.

“At this rate, I would think that they would at least open the city gates so people could set up camp outside the city.”

Taro tilted his head to the side.

“Ya think? Actually, yer right —normally, Lampinion does keep the gates open for a few days after they close the border. So why aren’t they open now? Should we try askin’?”

They asked a stranger passing by, and it was apparently because they had spotted an unexpected sandstorm outside the city that they had closed the city gates today even though they had been open yesterday and the day before.

They stayed in the alleyways between buildings for a little while, but it was so dirty that they didn’t want to stay for too long.

Putting aside the filth that was strewn about the dirt and the building walls, there were also naked people tangled into each other while moaning and people who were drooling with blank looks in their eyes, likely because they were high……perhaps it was because they made it difficult for other people to be around them, as if they meant to declare that the alleyways were their territory, but no one went to the alleyways no matter how crowded the streets became.

“Oh, over there!”

Ianna and her friends, who had been roaming all over the city, finally found a spot to settle down. It was cramped enough that they would have to sleep while sitting, and there was a foul odor in the air —perhaps the people around them hadn’t bathed recently—, but they were still grateful to have found it nonetheless. Ianna threw her bag against the wall.

“We might not be able to sleep tonight.”

“Why not? I think it should be better than usual, at least,”

Herrace replied as he spread out their blankets with practiced ease. It had been nearly two weeks since their trip had begun, and even Young Master Herrace, who had grown up in an affluent environment, had gotten used to camping by now. Aside from the issue of killing, he was actually extraordinarily good at adapting.

“Ack!”

Ianna pinched Herrace, who had been enjoying the prospect of getting to rest, by the ear and dragged him back up.

“Don’t space out when you’re out travelling. Especially if you’re somewhere as chaotic as Sidian —you’ll find a knife in your back if you get sloppy.”

“Did something happen?”

Ianna put Herrace, who had let fall a single tear from the pain and was finally starting to be wary of his surroundings, behind her and called out to Taro, who was stretching.

“Did you know? I felt it as soon as we entered the city……we’ve had eyes on us this whole time.”

“I know, right? But I can’t figure out why.”

This trip had taught Ianna that Taro was truly extraordinarily skilled for his age. He had only started being able to control mana just recently, but his senses were certainly on the sharper side.

He was actually sharper than most wild animals.

‘Is it because he’s the Mercenary King’s son?’

Taro groaned in contemplation, but he simply wrapped more clothes around his body and plopped down.

“It ain’t like they’re comin’ at us or anything. And I don’t know how I feel about catchin’ them either ‘cause there’re so many eyes around. Let’s just ignore the bastards until they start something first. But we should cover our faces better just in case.”

“Let stop addressing each other by our real names too.”

Ianna agreed before pulling out her own blankets from her bag and sitting down next to Taro.

“You mean people are watching us? And you and Lit……the Boss can feel that, Sir?”

Herrace simply called Ianna ‘Boss’ because he hadn’t been able to think up of a better name, but it didn’t feel awkward at all. And he stared at the both of them as if they weren’t human. Taro grinned and said,

“It’s instinct. I’m told this’s a type of talent too, so ya can sharpen up yer senses pretty nice if ya train hard enough.”

Herrace tried to feel around for a ‘gaze,’ but failed. He might be able to sense someone approaching, but a gaze? It was difficult for him to even imagine.

He clenched his hands into fists and resolved himself to work harder as he looked to the two people much further up the path than him in turns.

“Shall we discuss our plans going forward?”

Herrace pulled out a map from his bag when Ianna brought up the topic. Taro pointed to where they currently were, and he dragged his finger up a straight line to the entrance to the Lotso Mountains, which was marked with an ‘X’ because they had thought they wouldn’t be heading that way.

“For starters, we should leave as soon as the city gates open up tomorrow and make our way here ASAP. We’re still takin’ the roads in Lotso, yeah?”

“How about we decide after seeing how many people there are? I can handle most monsters, so we should leave the roads if they’re too crowded.”

“What if a high-class monster shows up?”

“I’ll make sure the two of you survive even if I have to act as bait, so don’t worry.”

“Wow……. Don’t say things like that.”

“Welp. Should be fine, since high-class monsters ain’t the kind of bastards that show up too often! Alright! Let’s go monster huntin’!”

“M-m-nonsters…….”

Taro was excited, and Herrace was trembling a little at the thought of having to face monsters, which he had never encountered before in his life. He promptly pulled out a book from his bag and began reading through it vigorously, like a student cramming the night before an exam.

The title, ‘A Field Guide for Monsters’ was scrawled along the book in rustic penmanship. Ianna stared at Herrace’s book and the illustrations and descriptions of monsters inside it, and she suddenly spoke aloud a thought that had flashed through her mind.

“Now that I think about it, I have yet to see a monster around. And I don’t think there was anything cautioning against monsters when I was reading up about Sidian either. Are there no monster habitats here? I’m sure there were plenty of monsters who lived in the desert.”

“Sidian’s pretty famous for not havin’ monsters. Strange, ain’t it? I’ve never seen a single monster here either. It’s like they were all wiped out or something.”

“Do they subjugate monsters periodically here like we do in Roanne?”

“Haven’t really heard nothing about subjugations.”

Time passed quickly as they chatted, and the night gradually grew darker. The boisterous city was shrouded in silence, and people’s movements slowly dulled as they fell asleep.

Herrace and Taro fell asleep as soon as they settled in, and Ianna, too, dozed off lightly.

There were, however, people on edge who were moving slowly but with an air about them that stood out in the night.

“…….”

Ianna, who had been closing her eyes with her sword in her arms, immediately moved her hand to the hilt of her blade. She slowly opened her eyes to find that people were slowly surrounding them. The campfires around them cast frightening shadows over their faces.

“Move it, you filthy pigs!”

“Not a squeak from any of you, got that? You’ll croak if you so much as make a sound.”

They were the epitome of rude, and they kicked at and stepped on people who had been asleep as they made their way to Ianna’s group. They were obviously bad people, even at a first glance.

“Hey.”

“Mm…….”

Ianna shook her friends awake, and they both woke up quickly because they were only sleeping lightly due to the discomfort. And they immediately returned to their full senses as soon as they saw the group of rough-looking men approaching them nearby.

A dozen or so men had fully surrounded their camp. One man with a large scar on his cheek, as if he had been cut by a blade, stepped forward.

He pulled out a cigar from his pocket and put it in his mouth. Another man who had been standing close to him ran out like an arrow lit the cigar in a servile manner.

“Phew.”

The man breathed out smoke and looked to Herrace, Ianna, and Taro in order. The light in his eyes were particularly treacherous when they passed over Ianna. Then, he held out his cigar between his thumb and middle finger, as if he was striking a pose, and spat out phlegm by Taro’s feet.

“Hey, you three are the trio who’ve been pretty famous as of late, right? It’s a yes or no question.”

“And who the hell are you, huh? We aren’t. Did ya get the wrong people? Why’re ya bein’ so violent outa nowhere……?”

Taro replied nonchalantly as he rubbed his eyes.

“You son of a bitch! It was a yes or no question! We should rip open this arrogant punk’s stomach, Sir Malkun. Just leave it to me!”

The man who had lit the cigar pulled out a dagger and gripped it so hard it looked like he would stab Taro as soon as he got the order.

“That’s enough.”

The first man, Malkun, tapped the other man on the head before glaring down haughtily at Taro, who was wearing a sly look on his face. He continued,

“We got the wrong people? Hmm, sure, maybe we did.”

Malkun bared his yellowed teeth and started to snicker.

“But in any case, we still have some business with you, you know? Why don’t you follow along quietly, unless you want to get beat up out here in the open?”

Malkun looked like he had picked a fight with them because he was certain that they were the trio who had been carrying out mass slaughters of the bandits outside of Lampinion. It looked like the group was here for revenge, judging by the fact that each and every one of them was carrying sharpened tools.

‘Were these bastards also watching us?’

Ianna exchanged looks with Taro and Herrace. They blinked to show that they were willing to go along with whatever Ianna decided.

Ianna scanned her surroundings. People were looking at them because the ruffians had picked a fight with them out of nowhere. There were even royal soldiers, who had been patrolling the area in tedium, watching and snickering while expecting an entertaining show.

She didn’t want to cause a ruckus when there were so many people around. And so, she simply waved her hand as if she found everything annoying.

“I’ll let you off this once, so stop pestering us and leave.”

“Oho, do you make the decisions here, bitch?”

Malkun’s words grew vulgar when he started talking to Ianna instead. He was obvious making light of her.

Malkun studied Ianna’s eyes and her covered features first before moving to the rest of her figure, peering out from beneath her chador, like a snake before he licked his lips.

“Looks like you’re either a noble or the young miss of a well-do-to household, huh? Snicker……you’re not so bad on the eyes either —looks like I’ll be able to have a taste of some nice-smelling flesh for once.”

Malkum wasn’t shy about his lechery. Taro and Herrace’s mood immediately soured and they glared back, only to be cursed out for their glaring. Malkun gestured to Ianna, who still hadn’t budged from her seated position, and continued,

“Let me spell things out for you —you don’t get to decide on anything. We’re the kings of Lampinion. So why don’t you get up already?”

“And who the hell are you?”

“……You’re supposed to come with us quietly when we tell you to, bitch —how dare you ask questions like a cheeky little brat?!”

Malkun sauntered over and raised his hand to hit Ianna across the cheek. The scabbard in Ianna’s hand moved at the speed of light as soon as he entered her range.

Pooow!

“Kgh!”

The scabbard struck Malkun squarely in the pit of the stomach, and he doubled over in incredible pain as he suddenly found it difficult to breathe. Ianna brought her scabbard away from his stomach and hit him across the shins next.

“Urk!”

Malkum lost his commanding pose and collapsed before her in an unseemly manner. The other men grew alarmed and scuttered over because he had been done in with such ridiculous ease.

“Sir!”

“How dare you, you wench!”

The others rushed toward her with their blades raised, but Ianna, who had drawn her own sword at some point, pressed her blade against Malkum’s, who was obviously their leader, throat. The others saw and stopped in the tracks, steadied themselves from pitching forward, and hesitantly began stepping back.

“Answer my questions and spare me the nonsense. This bastard’s head will roll if I hear an answer I don’t like. Now, let me ask you again. Who the hell are you?”

The sycophant who had lit Malkum’s cigar earlier startled when Ianna started pressing her sword closer to Malkum and shrieked,

“W-we’re the Golden Gale! And that man is our leader’s younger brother! Let him go already, you crazy bitch!”

The bastard was certain that the cowardly girl would release Malkun at once after she had learned who they were. But the crazy girl simply continued to ask questions without so much as flinching.

“And why did you pick a fight with us today?”

“We started losing a lot of money because the three of you killed off too many of our members. We already know everything, so it doesn’t matter even if the big guy tries to lie!”

Apparently, many of the bandits they had killed had belonged to an organization called the Golden Gale. Ianna determined that there was no need to make a fool of herself by lying to people who were already certain that they were the culprits.

“So what? How did you know we were here?”

“We tracked down the route you bastards took as you brutalized our members, and we knew that it would lead you here. That’s why we’ve been on the lookout for people in groups of three at the gates since a couple days back! Do you know how stressed out we were because we were afraid you might have turned back because Jinzai closed the border?!”

“Why would I care about that? And my last question —we surely aren’t the only group of three in this crowd, so how did you know it was us?”

“The biggest clue was that you were all wearing chadors. A big guy with a greatsword on his back, a weak little rookie, and a girl with a sword at her waist! That’s you guys! Alright? Now let him go before you regret it!”

Ianna pondered for a moment after the man had finished his piece. The bandits’ organization must have been rather large for them to be so open about flexing their power.

But these points were not worthy of Ianna’s consideration, of course. Whether she would regret something or not was utter bullshit —they had already confronted each other, so she had planned to take care of them after having them answer her questions. If Lampinion was truly their territory, as they suggested, then it would be a bother regardless of whether she took care of them or not because she and her friends had to spend the night here anyway, and so Ianna decided that she would simply take care of the ruffians.

“Lil’……Hey.”

Taro, who had almost accidently let slip Ianna’s name, immediately shut his mouth and before starting again somewhat awkwardly. Ianna shot a glance at him, only to find that he was shaking his head while looking like he was developing a headache. He continued,

“Things might get a bit troublesome if ya kill off people from the Golden Gale.”

There was apparently a good reason why Taro thought that.

Ianna looked down at Malkum, who was grumbling in rage as Ianna held him hostage, for a moment before slowly lowering her sword.

“We only killed your members because they attacked us first. We were going to stop killing bandits anyway since we’re about to get busy, so don’t provoke us.”

Malkum quickly scurried back over to his side as soon as he was released and loudly yelled,

“That was a dirty sneak attack! And do you really think you can just get away with letting me go after learning about who we are —is this some kind of bluff?!”

Malkum felt a prickling sting at his throat. His face twisted into something ugly when he placed his hand at his throat only to find that he was bleeding when he drew it back.

“There’s no use in begging now, you arrogant little bitch. I’ll break all four of your limbs and enjoy the show as you beg for your life before I leave you hanging on the ramparts!”

“Please leave it to me, Sir. I’ll make the bitch lick your feet!”

“No, please let me do it!”

Ianna began whispering to something to Taro and Herrace while the ruffians were stirring up a fuss. The dirt and gravel around her started vibrating and rolling around everywhere.

Boooom!

The ruffians felt like a giant had stepped on them when Ianna unleashed her bloodlust. All the mana in the wide space around them had gathered and pressed down upon them.

“Kgh!”

Nearly all of the bastards sank down at once when they were suddenly faced with the unfamiliar pressure. Ianna had limited the effects to the ruffians, but the onlookers in their immediate vicinity paled as they also felt the impact.

“What the hell……?!”

Perhaps because he truly had just been caught off guard earlier and actually did have some skill, since he was technically the leader of the group, Malkum alone remained standing upright on his quivering legs. Ianna stared frigidly at the bewilderment written on his face.

“This is your final chance, insects. Get lost. It’s a yes or no question.”

The ruffians could hardly budge. Or rather, they could move if they wanted to, but they felt like sharp threads had been wrapped around their bodies and they would be torn to pieces if they moved so much as a muscle and therefore could not even flinch.

Mulkum, who had failed to understand that this was simply the effect of Ianna’s bloodlust, screamed,

“Y-you were a mage?!”

“Is that your answer?”

He took fright when Ianna sauntered up to him.

“We’re the Golden Gale! My brother’s our leader, and I’m the acting leader!”

The girl ignored him and walked up to him.

Why was it? She had initially seemed like any other girl, but now she looked like the grim reaper carrying a large scythe to lop his head off with.

Malkum fell down to his knees.

“Okay —we’ll scram, so let us go!”

The reports had said that the girl in the trio was remarkably skilled, but he had thought little of it —just how skilled could a wench possibly be?

This was also why he had picked a fight mostly with the biggest guy in the trio.

Even when he had learned that the girl was the decisionmaker of the group, he had simply figured that she was some noble who had hired the other two. And he had simply thought that she had been lucky to score a hit on him just earlier.

He could not acknowledge the fact that he had let a mere wench beat him so easily, not when he had lived his whole life by the sword. But he was forced to realize that she was no ordinary girl now that something intangible was pressing down hard against him.

Also, the way she still refused to bend after hearing that they were the Golden Gale made him wonder if she either had some powerful backing or if she was someone of skill whom another organization of bandits had sent to screw them over.

‘First, I’ll need to head back to our base and revise our plans. They’re not the kind of people who’ll simply follow us just because we told them to. The bastards are already caught up in our net, so we just need to plan ahead.’

He would lose face because he had bragged to their leader about how he would capture the trio and bring them back at once, but survival came first. Malkum, who had been spinning the gears in his head, startled when he realized that Ianna had walked up to him and was glaring down at him from up close.

“Go.”

The pressure let up as soon as the word left her mouth. The group of men who had come looking for Ianna’s group in such an imposing manner earlier were now fleeing for their lives.

“We should leave too.”

Taro and Herrace, who had already finished packing, slung their bags across their shoulders as soon as the ruffians vanished from view. Taro bent his knees and tensed up his thighs and calves before he extended them and leapt up high in the air.

Thwack!

Taro had jumped up to a window on the second story of the building by using his muscular strength alone.

Just how on earth had his body been built?

Ianna was quietly impressed as she watched him and reinforced her own legs with mana.

Taro had broken into a scarily fast sprint as soon as he had climbed up to the roof, and Ianna, too, scaled the wall and ran after him. People were staring at them, but now wasn’t the time to care about that.

Ianan caught up to Taro quickly enough and fell in-line with him.

“This was rather simple.”

Taro and Herrace had been packing their things while Ianna intimidated the ruffians and kept them busy. They had decided to figure out what to do next after they had escaped, regardless of whether or not the ruffians had folded to Ianna’s threat.

It had been an extraordinarily simple plan. Moreover, they even saved face because the ruffians had backed away first, which made things infinitely easier.

“……This whole trip’s been one surprise after another. I think I’ve figured out why Pops keeps singin’ yer praises, Lil’……uh, Boss.”

Apparently, Ianna’s designated nickname was officially ‘Boss.’ Taro continued,

“I was on pins and needles too, ya know? And out lil’ sidekick here was straight-up quiverin’……might’ve even crapped his pants, yeah?”

“Who? Me? No way! I was just surprised —I didn’t do anything that rude!”

Herrace protested as Taro carried him like a piece of luggage.

“Enough. More importantly, why would taking care of those bastards have been a bad idea?”

Ianna asked after stopping Taro from teasing Herrace any further.

“The Golden Gale. Them’s one of the ten bandit groups in Sidian…… It’s fine to deal with them outside the city, but it’ll cause some problems if we deal with them inside the city.”

Every major bandit group in Sidian had a foothold in one of her cities, and the royal family’s army was also stationed within the cities.

And the royal army had a lot of power and authority. The reason why Sidian had survived all this time despite being hated by her neighbors was because each soldier in the royal army was a match for a hundred men.

But their power and authority did not stem only from the simple fact that they were strong.

“And where else does their power come from? It’s ‘cause they have orders to kill.”

The royal family kept its silence regardless of the crimes committed within the kingdom’s borders except when the crimes pertained to taxes, warfare, or treason.

And the king had long since declared that anyone who raises a hand against the royal army would be considered a traitor and that the royal army would be allowed kill any such people on sight.

If a royal soldier requested for someone to be killed, then the liege lord of the affiliated city would automatically be required to chase down and kill the target even if it meant chasing them to the very depths of hell.

Liege lords normally did not have any authority over the royal army, but they were allowed to command royal soldiers in this one instance, and they could also ask royal soldiers stationed in other cities or even the capital for assistance.

Who could survive when they were caught up in such nefarious schemes? And yet, all of Sidian crawled on their knees before the royal army.

The problem lied in the fact that the royal army was often being bribed and entertained by large bandit groups, who were also the city’s most influential voters.

The royal soldiers were faithful retainers to the king, and therefore could not offer up false reports. But they could dress up as civilians, pick a fight, and take a hit. Their target would have technically raised a hand against the royal army and would therefore be qualified for treason.

Taro said that there were several such instances of that happening.

And the liege lord of Lampinion was the leader of the Golden Gale.

“……I understand. So that’s why you stopped me.”

“Ugh, things just had to go to shit right near the end of our trip! Those damned Ghosts sure made us unlucky!”

Taro yelled. Ianna tilted her head to the side.

“I heard that the bandits in Sidian didn’t care too much about getting their blood spilt, since it happens every day……but I suppose we must have caused these Golden Gale bastards a lot of casualties.”

“……Yeah, now that I think about it. We came all the way here from Roanne in practically a straight line, yeah?”

“Indeed. It was the shortest distance.”

“So many people travel on the route we took that the bandits call it the Silk Road, and there’s a lotta fightin’ between the groups to make it a part of their territory, yeah? So the owner of the Silk Road changes up an awful lot……and I think the Golden Gale won it over pretty recently. They’re one of the stronger bandit groups, if ya leave out the Black Fox, which holes itself up in the capital, so it’d make sense.”

“They must have taken a tremendous loss because of us if you’re right.”

“Ugh, what a pain in the ass! Nothing would’ve happened if we’d just been able to get to Jinzai today! And it’s not like we can just up and leave the city either, since there’s apparently a sandstorm comin’ up on the horizon!”

“Let’s hide ourselves near the gates for now and leave as soon as the sandstorm blows over.”

“Yeah. Anyways, let’s get there real quick and hole up somewhere.”

“Um… Do you think that the sandstorm is real?”

Herrace, who had been quiet until then, gingerly spoke up. He continued,

“Malkun’s subordinate said that they’ve been on the lookout for us on the ramparts for the past few days. If the liege lord of Lampinion is the leader of the Golden Gale, then isn’t it possible that they used a sandstorm as an excuse to close the gates and trap us inside the city? There wasn’t even a trace of a sandstorm until we passed the city gates.”

Ianna and Taro stopped in their tracks and exchanged looks.

“……It sounds plausible?”

“Hey, just when did ya get so smart all of a sudden? Did something change ‘cause yer head’s upside down right now?”

“Ack!”

Taro started spanking Herrace across the bottom in praise. Herrace struggled and told him to stop before simply hanging limp.

“I might be wrong, though…….”

“No, it’s plausible. We should check.”

“I’m sure it’s all just bullshit that their leader made up. Let’s go!”

Part 4

“Damn it.”

They had run to the gates as quickly as they could, but checking the weather outside had proved difficult.

They didn’t know if it was because the Golden Gale had predicted that they would try to escape or if it was because Jinzai had closed her borders, but security was incredibly tight. A great number of soldiers —Ianna and her friends didn’t know if they belonged to the royal army or the liege lord’s army— were crowded together, and taking down one would only bring the rest on their tail.

Quietly, Herrace asked,

“No one in Sidian knows what we look like. Can’t we just take a few guards out and pass through the sandstorm as quickly as we can? Staying in the city scares me more than the sandstorm does.”

With all sincerity, Taro whispered back,

“I propose brute force if we’re gonna break through.”

“…….”

Ianna and her friends had no choice but to wait until the gates opened again. And, once again, it was so crowded that they could not even find a place to sit down. It was already difficult enough to navigate the streets, but they couldn’t even ask people to step aside because everyone was sleeping.

They naturally found themselves in the back alleys, where there were fewer people. Darkness fell unto the alleys both night and day, and the people there, too, acted no different than they had during the day.

They walked in a line with Taro in front, Ianna, a woman, in the middle, and Herrace at the back.

“Ugh, ughhh.”

Herrace was terrified as he looked to where the strange noises were coming from with great caution. He had thought this earlier during the day as well, but this was truly a terrible place. It was difficult for Herrace, who had only seen nice things as he lived in Roanne, to accept this place, where the depravity of mankind was displayed out in the open.

“Mister…….”

“Eek!”

Herrace jumped in alarm and nearly fainted when a fumbling hand crawled up over him. Taro and Ianna turned around. A skinny girl with unfocused eyes was groping Herrace.

“Wow, you’re really good-looking, Mister……. Won’t you buy me for a night? I’ll make it cheap. Okay?”

“N-no thank you!”

“Then at least give me some money. Please.”

The girl clung tight to Herrace and began rummaging through his pockets. Her touch was so desperate that Herrace could not help but stand still and stiffen up.

The girl was very young, but she looked like was heavily addicted to drugs.

Herrace suddenly grew dizzy, as if all the stress he had built up until now had tumbled out all at once.

‘Sidian……I hate this place…….’

He hated the fact that people murdered each other like it was only natural, and he hated the fact that such a young girl was a drug addict.

Herrace loathed Sidian. He pushed the girl away, having thought of her as Sidian itself in the heat of the moment, and she fell haplessly to the ground.

“Oh…….”

Herrace returned to his senses and was at a loss to do because he felt so guilty over what he had done, but the girl groaned and crawled along the ground with a demonic look on her face.

“How dare you, a fucking pale-faced little nerd, push me? How dare you look down at me like I’m dirty when you probably have a fucking tiny dick? Just you wait, I’m gonna tell on you to my big brother!”

Herrace was shocked stiff yet again for a different reason when bloodlust suddenly pierced through the girl as she screamed at him. She fainted, while frothing at the mouth, without finishing what she was about to say.

Taro pat Herrace across the shoulder.

“It’s alright, ya were a pretty normal size when I saw…”

“We don’t have time to be joking around. The little wench brought more attention to us.”

Just as Ianna had pointed out, disgruntled eyes were peering down at them from every window along the building walls. There were thick shadows over the people’s faces as they observed Ianna and her friends in their gloom.

“Let’s get out of here as soon as possible.”

Taro and Ianna were walking away, but Herrace rummaged through his bag with a quivering hand.

“I’m sorry…….”

He placed a few gold coins in the girl’s pockets. He hoped that the money could be used to pay for what he had done to her. And then, he quickly ran after Ianna and Taro as if he was running away from the girl.

“Some of those bastards from before might have recognized us. What should we do?”

“Should we raid one of their houses? We’ll beat the crap outa the homeowner and knock them out, and then we can wait there ‘till the sun comes up!”

“Good idea.”

Herrace’s friends had been in the middle of plotting a crime by the time he had finally caught up to them while huffing and puffing.

He followed behind them dejectedly, hating and being disappointed in himself for not wanting to, and for not being able to, join in on their conversation as if he alone was clean and innocent.

“Over there!”

“Move —move, you pieces of trash. No, wait. Hey you, where did the trio wearing chadors go?”

Suddenly, their surroundings grew noisy with the sounds of shouting and footsteps as people began searching for them.

“Just when did those bastards manage to make it all the way to the gates?”

“We only just managed to drag them inside Lampinion —don’t you dare let them slip away. If you do, our boss is going to keel over from his high blood pressure.”

A dizzying assortment of footsteps mixing into each other, as if they had scattered and were running amok, resounded from all around Ianna and her friends like a spider’s web.

The back alleys were like a maze, and they did not know where there should go to avoid the bastards.

“Let’s go to the rooftops.”

But just as Taro was about to sling Harrace over his shoulder again before jumping up to the roof.

“Hey, just what did you guys even do?”

A man suddenly appeared before them and called out to them.

“Whoa!”

Taro startled and sent his fist flying before he could stop himself. The man dodged by swiftly turning his head to the side. Taro continued,

“The hell are you?!”

“How ignorant. Do you always talk with your fists first? In any event, you must’ve hurt them quite a bit, seeing how the Yellow Farts are running around looking for you guys like headless chickens —good job.”

“The Yellow Farts?”

“I’m referring to the Golden Gale.”

“Pft.”

Taro covered his mouth to hold back his burst of laughter. Taro’s fighting spirit had evaporated, so Ianna brushed him aside and glared at the stranger in his stead.

“And who are……oh. Are you perchance……?”

Ianna’s words trailed away as she recognized the familiar voice and the light in the man’s eyes. The man shrugged.

“Lady Saki wished to see you, so I’m here to escort you to her.”

He was the man called Giel, whom Ianna and Herrace had met at the scene of the Ghosts’ Banquet. He continued,

“Stick close, and come quietly.”

Giel brought his thumb to his lips and began walking away at a brisk pace. Ianna and her friends decided to follow him, since they had determined that Saki was not an enemy a few days ago.

‘How strange.’

Ianna narrowed her eyes when she felt something strange coming from Giel.

But no —to be precise, it was incorrect to say that she felt something strange coming from him.

Alarmingly, she could not feel his presence at all.

She had noted it when they had first met too, but he barely had any presence even though it didn’t appear as if he was trying to hide it in particular. Ianna felt as if she was simply looking at a part of the air itself with her eyes.

They hadn’t been walking for long when Giel stopped in front of a certain building. He scaled the wall like a shadow melting into the darkness and entered through a window on the second story. Ianna and her friends exchanged looks and climbed in after him.

“Welcome.”

They were greeted by a woman, whom they presumed was Saki, as soon as they made it inside. She was not wearing any stifling outer garments to cover up her appearance. She was sitting in front of the table with her face exposed comfortably out in the open.

Saki had a very peculiar appearance.

She had pure white hair and pumpkin-colored eyes, and her skin was so untanned despite the fact that she had been travelling around the desert that she almost gave off the illusion that she was glowing faintly in the darkness. It was like looking at the light of a small candle.

The other strange part about her was that she appeared rather young. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties, but anyone would have believed it if she said she was in her early twenties instead.

“Were you being chased? Please rest yourselves here to your heart’s content. The Golden Gale will not be able to find you here.”

Saki greeted Ianna and her friends warmly. Ianna had been staring blankly at her queer appearance, and she immediately snapped back to her senses.

“……I’m grateful for your kindness, but why are you offering it?”

Ianna shook Taro and Herrace, who were both still dazed, back to their senses before taking a step forward. All of the men around Saki drew their weapons and stood on guard against Ianna. Ianna continued,

“We were told that you wished to see us. I would like to know why you helped us at the risk of earning the ire of the Golden Gale, who rule this city. And also…”

Ianna asked Saki, who was observing her attentively, the question that she had begun wondering ever since she had seen Giel again.

“We walked the shortest path here without rest after parting ways with you, and we only just made it inside the city before the gates closed. So, how is it that you’re here?”

Giel blocked Ianna’s path and snarled,

“You wench, you’re still so rude even after we saved you.”

“My gratitude is one thing, but I am asking only the obvious questions.”

Ianna glared at Giel. Giel was not one to stand down and glared back at her.

“The Lady Swordsman’s doubts are reasonable,”

Saki had Giel stand back with a gentle smile on her face. Saki looked once at Ianna and once at Taro and Herrace before gesturing to the empty seats at the table before her. She continued,

“I would have offered to let you rest first, but it looks like you won’t be able to rest comfortably until your doubts are assuaged. Our discussions might take a while, so please take a seat.”

Ianna was about to take up on Saki’s offer and sit down, but she promptly startled upon noticing that someone had been sitting quietly next to Saki. The tall robed man had been sitting there ever since Ianna had first entered the room, and yet she hadn’t noticed his presence at all.

She could raise her caution higher and it still wouldn’t be enough. And yet, it still wasn’t easy. Ianna’s visage stiffened something fierce.

‘They’re throwing my senses off. Who on earth are they?’

Ianna was being wary of the man sitting next to Saki as she, Taro, and Herrace sat down, and Saki bowed her head to them in greeting.

“I apologize for the delay in introducing myself. My name is Saki Celtz Shizenmore. I am a doctor.”

Saki Celtz. Ianna didn’t recognize her full name, but it still sounded familiar to her. And it wasn’t only Ianna who felt this way —Taro and Herrace shared the sentiment.

Was she so famous a doctor that they had heard of her in passing?

That was what Ianna had been thinking when Herrace suddenly realized something and spoke aloud his doubts.

“Saki Celtz……isn’t that the archmage who specializes in healing magic?”

“Yes, that is also one of the hats I wear,”

Saki acknowledged with great nonchalance.

Heinrich, Maimayè, Ensheila, Dorcianni, Wiffheimer……like the others, she, too, was one of the ten greatest mages in the world.

She was a specialist in healing magic, a branch of bio magic that only a select few could manifest.

There was hardly anything known about Saki otherwise.

Countless sick people had tried to meet with her, but meeting with her was said to be as difficult as finding a grain of gold among sandy shores. She was famous for wandering the world while hiding her identity and helping any patients she happened to chance across.

“…….”

The fact that the mysterious and famous Saki Celtz was sitting right before their eyes rendered Ianna and her friends speechless.

Ianna muttered,

“Saki Celtz……then what does Shizenmore, your last name, refer to?”

“Shizenmore is my baptismal name. I am a cardinal of the Great Temple in the Kingdom of Jinzai. And these good people are holy knights of the temple.”

Cardinal was a very high station. It was similar to that of a duke’s. Which was nothing to say of the fact that Saki was a cardinal in a kingdom of religious zealots —she must surely be one of the God Laos’ most ardent believers. Saki continued,

“I have other identities too. However, I am a doctor at heart. I simply happened to collect many other identities as I helped those who were sick and in need.”

Herrace, who had been staring blankly into Saki’s face, suddenly spurted out,

“……Um, but I heard that Lady Saki Celtz was acknowledged as an archmage several decades ago?”

Saki chuckled gently with her youthful mien.

“I might look like this, but I am an old granny in my eighties.”

Surprised, Taro asked,

“A mythical race?”

“I am merely human. I simply retained my youth, perhaps because of God Laos’ grace.”

She was old enough that she should have been covered in wrinkles, but her appearance had frozen in her twenties.

It was only natural that what Saki had said had naturally reminded Ianna and her friends about the legends of Queen Roanne de Roanne, who was said to have won Laos’ favor and had retained her youth until the god had disappeared.

‘Is there a connection? Is it divine power? It’s possible to retain one’s youth if divine power is at play.’

Ianna stared openly at Saki and thought intently before the light of doubt colored her eyes yet again.

“Can you prove that you’re Saki Celtz?”

“How dare you doubt Lady Saki’s words?!”

Giel was apparently a zealous follower of Saki’s, and he seemed like he would draw his sword against Ianna as soon as she said anything even slightly insolent toward the archmage. He had been like any ordinary person who liked to joke around when he had come alone to pick Ianna and her friends up, but he was like a dog with his fangs bared when he was near Saki.

It was only natural that Ianna was put off at how he quipped back at everything she said.

“Stop picking a fight with me when I’m only asking for the obvious. It would be foolish to believe it when a youthful-looking woman whom we met only by chance claims to be Saki Celtz. And, mind your tongue. You keeping running your mouth about how we dare do this and that, but we are not beneath you.”

Ianna quietly began pointing her bloodlust at Giel. Giel paused for a moment when he felt it, but he quickly sharpened his glare. Ianna continued,

“We had absolutely no interest in you people. But it was your master who wished to see us. Am I wrong? If there was a reason why you brought us here after meeting us only once before, then it is only proper that you assuage our doubts before you address that reason.”

“You……!”

Ianna ignored Giel and turned to Saki.

“Saki Celtz —if you cannot answer my question to my satisfaction, then I will temporarily consider you an enemy with underlying motives.”

“You’re quite thorough. How would you like me to prove myself?”

Ianna pulled out a dagger from her pocket when Saki asked with intrigue. The knights around them grew alarmed and tried to rush in, but Saki stayed them with a wave of her hand.

Pshh!

Ianna pulled up her sleeve and scratched her blade against her own arm. Blood began to pour from the wound, neither too deep nor too shallow, she had drawn in her once-smooth flesh. Taro, who had been sitting next to her, was appalled and promptly took the dagger away from her. Ianna stared back at him, wondering why he had done that, and she waved her hand to calm him before pushing her arm toward Saki.

“Please heal me with healing magic, your forte.”

“I see! This truly is the most efficient way for me to prove myself.”

“Lady Saki! There is no need for you to be so humble…….”

Giel was astonished when Saki chuckled in consent and tried to dissuade her.

“Shut your mouth and stand back, Giel. You have overstepped your bounds.”

Giel stepped back with his head hanging low like a whining dog when the smile was wiped off of Saki’s face and she rebuked him coolly. There was most certainly a rigid hierarchy between them.

Saki took hold of Ianna’s arm.

“I will begin now.”

Ianna was looking between Saki and her wound in turns. The woman probably was Saki Celtz, judging by how her companions were acting. Which mean that the healing magic she was about to manifest was also probably the real deal.

Ianna had heard that healing magic was being researched at the temple, but she had never seen it with her own eyes. She focused on the movement of the mana around Saki.

But the mana simply recoiled, and it did not move itself into any particular arrangement. She felt the change happening from within Saki, and not from the outside.

Power rushed into Saki and Ianna’s hand, which Saki was holding.

Fwoosh!

A sanctified white light began pouring out from Saki’s hands. It was almost like the white light of the sun, which warmed up all of creation. Ianna thought she might go blind as she scrutinized the feeling.

‘This is…….’

Divine power. And a very pure one, at that…….

The holy aura poured into Ianna’s wound. And the once-deep wound began to close up. Her newly formed flesh stitched itself seamlessly into the preexisting skin around it.

Shaaaa…….

The white light disappeared, and Saki opened her eyes. Everyone else was blankly ruminating over her miracle when Saki asked,

“How was it?”

Ianna touched at her wound. There was no pain, and neither was there a scar.

“It was marvelous. However…”

“However?”

“I could not call it magic. This was a sacrifice.”

Saki opened her eyes wide before she smiled meaningfully.

“So you did know? Magic that assists in the healing process is one thing, but true healing magic is realistically impossible. After all, it belongs to ‘God’s territory.’ We call the power you witnessed just now ‘holy power.’”

“Holy power…….”

“Those who do not understand how the miracle works mistakes this power for magic and idolize me. Sometimes, I am embarrassed to be called an archmage.”

Ianna drew her hand out of Saki’s.

“Not everyone can receive the honor of being called an archmage. I have heard that Saki Celtz is not only an authority on healing magic but an authority on bio magic as well. There is no need for you to be so modest.”

“Hoho. Does this mean you believe me now?”

“But of course.”

Regardless of whether she was truly Saki Celtz or not, Ianna concluded that there was no way that someone who could use such a sacred aura could be evil. She looked to Saki, who was sitting calmly with a gentle smile on her face.

Saki had called it holy power, but it had undoubtedly been divine power. And Saki Celtz knew how to control it.

But then, Ianna had another question.

How had Saki healed the wound so instantaneously with only her divine power and without any help from the spirits?

Ianna had once tried testing to see what would happen if she focused divine power on a wound, on the basis that divine power carried the trait of life.

But she could not heal the wound immediately no matter how much divine power she poured into it. It had simply healed a little faster than normal, perhaps because the divine power had elevated her natural recovery rate.

She theorized that the fact that Saki had generated different results lay in the color of her divine power.

People who could control divine power were few and far between, and they were not trusting enough of each other to discuss such a secretive topic yet. Which is why Ianna wanted to have a conversation with Saki, who was not only favorable toward her but also appeared to have uncommon knowledge.

But that was simply Ianna’s personal curiosity —it had nothing to do with the matter at hand—, and so she decided to shelve her thoughts for now.

“Please answer the rest of my questions.”

“I picked out a few knights and left the Ghosts’ Banquet immediately on the day we met you. We followed behind you, and we made it to the city before the gates were closed.”

“……You followed us? You seem to have taken quite an interest in us, even though we only met very briefly.”

Saki chuckled gently as she looked to Ianna and her friends.

“Before I begin my story, would you please allow this gentleman here and myself to touch your hands?”

“……?”

It was a bizarre request. Ianna and her friends exchanged looks before extending their hands because they had no reason to refuse. Ianna observed not Saki, whom she had a general idea of by now, but the yet-to-be identified man.

Were believers from the Temple of Jinzai like this?

The man’s only defining characteristic was his height, and he had so little presence as he sat guard next to Saki that he felt like an old tree in the middle of the woods.

Who was he? He probably wasn’t anyone ordinary.

Saki and the man touched Ianna’s, Taro’s, and Herrace’s hand in turns as they carefully assessed them for something.

Just then, the man grabbed Ianna’s hand tight.

“Saki, it’s her.”

“Right?”

His voice was very clear. It was like magic, and his voice alone seemed to turn the dim room into a lush forest, to flow like a clean wind through the musty air. His whisper was like a bird warbling a spell.

Ianna had heard this mysterious echo before.

She was certain of his identity —or rather, his race— even despite her doubts, and Ianna flinched and tried to pull her hand back, but his dry hand was stronger than it looked and would not let her go. Saki continued,

“Is it possible?”

“I believe it should be.”

“If you believe it’s possible, Vita, then I’m sure it must be.”

Saki and the man, who shared a brief and incomprehensible conversation while the man was still holding Ianna’s hand, both turned to look at Ianna. Quietly, Saki asked,

“May we ask you for your name and station, Lady Swordswoman?”

“……I must politely decline. I understand that I must come off as rude because you have told us your name, but unlike you, it is much too risky for us to disclose ourselves. You are the elusive archmage Saki Celtz, but we are not.”

“I understand. But please do tell us who you are whenever you are ready, Lady Swordswoman. We will be waiting eagerly.”

Saki’s words suggested that she wanted her newfound bond with Ianna to last for a long time.

Ianna was perplexed as Saki, who had been kind to begin with, became even more amiable, and she looked down at her hand, which the man was still holding.

‘Did he do something?’

She had not found anything particularly unpleasant. He was simply holding her hand. She asked him to let go, since it was somewhat awkward to stay like that, and the man squeezed her hand once before slowly drawing away.

Ianna rubbed her hand as she asked,

“Why did you touch our hands?”

“To feel. I wished to confirm what I had felt. I chased after you because of what I had felt, Lady Swordswoman. I will explain more about it as we discuss.”

Saki straightened herself out and bowed her head. She continued,

“I would like to ask you for your assistance.”

“……For our assistance?”

Ianna wondered what help Saki could possibly need from them —they had slaughtered everyone who attacked them as they made their way through Sidian, had made an enemy out of the Golden Gale, and were currently being pursued—, but she decided to hear Saki out for now.

“I first met you and your friends at the Ghosts’ Banquet. I have been investigating the Ghosts for many years now. I had always been curious about the phenomenon, but I only started investigating in earnest after receiving a certain drug as a reward from a king I had once healed.”

Saki gestured to one of the knights, and he rummaged through the drawers behind him and brought her a box. Saki took the box from him and set it down on the table. She continued,

“This drug has been circulating in secret meetings between high-ranking figures, and its effects have been proven to grant youth and longevity.”

Saki opened the box. Ianna’s visage stiffened when she saw what was inside.

“This, is ‘Life.’”

It was a very unpleasant shade of black.

Its color was one thing, but the drug also somehow felt viler than the muck down the sewage drain. It was foolish to feel that way about a simple liquid, but even the mere thought of having to drink it made Ianna nauseous.

But Ianna’s stomach wasn’t so weak that her face would stiffen up so much just because she found something nauseating.

‘That glass bottle…….’

She was familiar with its shape.

She had pulled out the medicine bottle that the robed man —whom she was certain had been Arhad— had given her during the minotaur incident and toyed with it whenever it crossed her mind, and as a result she was so familiar with its shape that she could draw it with her eyes closed. She was alarmed when the bottle that Saki had taken out of the box was so similar in shape —it was almost as if Saki had taken it directly out from her memories.

Ianna could feel divine power from the drug now that she could control it. It probably worked similarly to Arhad’s medicine, which had been made from divine power and a variety of herbs.

‘But it’s not Arhad’s medicine.’

The liquid before her now was something else.

Her reasoning was too subjective for her to be certain of this, but that was how she felt. Arhad’s medicine was not nearly as revolting as this drug.

‘But why do the bottles look exactly the same?’

Saki picked up the bottle while Ianna was pondering over the riddle she couldn’t solve. The drug dangled in the air between Saki’s fingertips as if she was handling filth.

“The king who gifted this to me had assumed, from my appearance, that I had taken a dose of Life. Many people consume this drug, but it’s difficult to buy with even millions of gold because it is so limited in supply. The king gave this to me in an attempt to buy my favor. How does this drug make you feel?”

“Um, it’s a bit unpleasant…….”

“Think I’d throw up if I drank it.”

“It repulses me.”

Saki nodded as the three of them replied in turns.

“Indeed. Everyone is repulsed by Life at first. I was violently disgusted by this drug when I first laid eyes upon it. I determined that this drug was abnormal in more ways than one, so I obtained a few more samples and began researching it. To state my conclusions simply, Life is a drug that was created from hallucinogens, narcotics, and substances that help maintain the physical appearance —all of which only someone with an extremely high-leveled knowledge of drug synthesis would know how to use—, mixed with a high concentration of corrupted holy power and trapped inside a bottle that had been specially treated with magic.”

“Um, what exactly is holy power?”

Saki answered gently when Herrace asked gingerly.

“It is the basis for all life. Every living creature is born with the God Laos’ holy power in their hearts. The power is pure white at first but takes on its own color as time passes, and it is consumed as the lifeforce that every living creature requires to live by. It exists in your heart as well, my friend.”

“Are you referring to divine power?”

“Goodness! You know about divine power?”

Saki asked Herrace in surprise, only for him to tell her that the other two knew about it as well.

“According to what you’ve said, holy power and divine power are fundamentally the same thing, but holy power is the basis of divine power. After all, the color of someone’s divine power depends on the person.”

“That’s correct. I had guessed that the Lady Swordswoman might know about divine power, but to think that the two of you knew as well……. You must all be much more incredible than I had originally thought. This will make things much easier to explain. In any event, Life is similar to mana stones. Just like how mana stones carry mana despite being rocks, Life is an herb-based liquid drug that carries divine power. The bottle protects the divine power and keeps mana from coming into contact with it by completely separating its insides from the world outside.”

Saki let out a deep breath.

“There are many ways for divine power to be used throughout the course of your life. Maintaining your physical body, your lifespan……the rate at which your divine power is consumed is your constitution, which is determined when you are born, though it can be altered ever so slightly through acquired means. Consuming Life, however, temporarily decreases the rate at which you consume divine power to maintain your body drastically. The high concentration of divine power in the drug is more than enough to satisfy what little you’ll need to maintain your body, and the rest can be used to directly prolong your lifespan. It’s an elixir of life in every sense of the term.”

“You make it sound like a good thing. But what did you mean by corrupted divine power?”

“And that’s the problem: how the drug is manufactured, and the ingredients used in the process. Where do you think the divine power needed to create Life comes from?”

“No way…….”

“In terms of human lives, you would need at least five victims to create one dose of this drug.”

The blood drained from Herrace’s face. Taro and Ianna looked similarly uncomfortable. Saki continued,

“Divine power can sometimes carry human emotions. And there are some truly terrible emotions seeped into this drug. I do not know how to drain divine power from a living being, but I think I can guess how cruel the process is. The looks on the faces of the Ghosts’ victims make it readily obvious. Do you see why you feel so repulsed by this drug now?”

“That’s……. So you’re suggesting the Ghosts’ Banquet is a man-made phenomenon that is used to manufacture Life? But I heard that the Ghosts’ Banquet is a legend that has been passed down for over two hundred years. Is there any special reason why you think that the Ghosts’ Banquet, of all the strange phenomena in the world, is a byproduct of the process to manufacture Life?”

“My analysis of Life showed that it was mixed from a variety of high-grade drugs that you can only find in Sidian. And the Ghosts’ Banquet phenomenon stood out to me. The legends were probably created by the criminals to hide the truth from the public. The rumors were likely influenced by a combination of Sidian’s special characteristics, the geographical constraints, and the fact that Jinzai is a heavily religious state.”

Sidian was a lawless kingdom, so no one really cared about the corpses that were found there. People would simply shrug and carry on with their day even if an evil mage experimented on large populations of people and left their corpses out to rot.

Moreover, corpses crumbled into dust within two weeks if they were robbed of divine power, making the desert the ideal place to dispose of them —and Sidian had a lot of desert.

No one lived in the vast deserts, and the corpses that people actually found on the road were only the tip of the iceberg. The culprits could have hidden countless corpses all across the desert, but the people had only found just enough to create an urban legend —they hadn’t found enough for it to become a social problem.

“There are surely so many corpses that we haven’t found yet that we likely couldn’t count them even if we tried. They crumble to dust and become as one with the desert.”

Anyone who investigated the Ghosts tended to go missing, and Sidian had chosen to ignore the matter. And Jinzai was practically frothing at the mouth while calling it the Demon’s work.

There was a reason why normal people shunned the topic and assumed it was merely a legend.

“Why didn’t you make this knowledge public and apprehend the Ghosts? Saki Celtz’s name would have more than enough authority to do that.”

“To begin with, I don’t have any proof that the Ghosts’ Banquet is behind the manufacturing of Life……and the users of Life are loath to answer any questions about their suppliers. The suppliers are extremely unwilling to risk exposing their personal information, and their identities are often hidden under three, or even four, layers. And they’ve also threatened Life users by saying that they would stop supplying the drug if their identities were ever leaked. Besides, the people who use Life are generally so powerful that even I would conversely find myself in trouble if I ever unmasked their suppliers…….”

Ultimately, this meant that the Ghosts were people in positions of power who coveted eternal youth. By the time Saki had finished talking about the Ghosts’ Banquet, Ianna asked,

“So, what is it that you wanted us to help you with?”

“We’ve discovered one of the Ghosts’ ‘factories’ a few months ago after many years of investigation and many sacrifices made along the way.”

The realization hit Ianna and her friends hard, as they had learned that the legends that had been passed down for centuries had simply been yet another form of human greed in the matter of minutes.

The light in Saki’s eyes darkened in a solemn manner. She continued,

“It is not very far from here —from Lampinion. I would like to ask you for your assistance in infiltrating the factory. You were never hesitant about dealing with the bandits, so I know for a fact that you three are highly skilled. I am asking you to lend your aid to our cause.”

Saki bowed to the three of them before she then turned the entirely of her attention to Ianna.

“And especially you, Lady Swordswoman —we will most certainly need your assistance. I believe that our meeting was fate guided by God Laos’ hand. I even believe that you might be an apostle sent to us by God Laos himself. It will not take long, so I beg that you give us some of your time.”

Ianna could not hide the bitter look on her face.

“Why are you going so far to ask this of me?”

“Because you are the only person who is capable of breaking through the defensive magic that has been cast over the place. Vita, please bring that out.”

Vita, the man sitting next to Saki, pulled a pouch out from his pocket and set it on the table. Saki undid the string and upended the entire thing, only to reveal a lump of ordinary-looking sand.

“What is this?”

“This is the sand that was made when the corpse you touched at the Ghosts’ Banquet crumbled, Lady Swordswoman.”

Ianna recalled how she had touched the corpse ever so slightly as she checked it out. But why had that led to her forging a relationship with Saki? Saki lowered her eyes when Ianna tilted her head to the side, prompting the archmage to continue.

“Normally, the victims turn into dead soil at this stage. It rejects the energy of life that the sun pours out, and it becomes as a wasteland in which not even a single blade of grass can grow. Nothing can grow on land where victims of the Ghosts’ Banquet have decomposed. Have you ever come across a monster in Sidian’s deserts? You haven’t, right?”

……Did that strange characteristic have something to do with the Ghosts’ Banquet too?

Ianna paled as Saki continued,

“There is a folklore that states that you must not touch the corpses of a Ghosts’ Banquet and simply leave them to the elements because you will be cursed if you do. It is considered a superstition, but it is by no means incorrect.”

“…….”

“There exists a concept called Idea. It refers to a very poignant thought, will, or emotion……and powerful Ideas linger behind in a corpse even after the person who manifested it has passed away. Generally, these Ideas don’t disappear unless they have been completely resolved or a long time has passed and they fade away. If you destroy a corpse with a lingering Idea, then that Idea will transfer over to you like a curse.”

Saki stared deeply into Ianna, who was listening intently.

“Perhaps it’s because the Ghosts’ victims were made to suffer through terribly negative emotions before they died and their emotions became a curse, but their corpses, and the dirt that their corpses crumble into, are filled with cruel Ideas. And yet……the corpse that you touched, Lady Swordswoman, crumbled completely into sand not long after you left.”

Ianna recoiled.

“I did not handle it callously enough for it to crumble. Did the curse transfer to me?”

“It is preposterous to call it a curse. You saved that person, Lady Swordswoman.”

Saki touched the soil.

“There is no Idea in this soil. It is ordinary soil, and it is able to receive energy from the sun. The corpse that you touched was able to return to nature, as if it had found repose.”

Saki swept the soil back inside the pouch as she continued,

“Countless threads of fate are tangled and tangled into this world. The threads of fate are simple things that tie together even if they only brush past each other. The victim’s Idea vanished, as if they no longer had any regrets in this world, simply because their thread of fate just so happened to have brushed against yours, Lady Swordswoman. That was only possible because the victim found you powerful enough and trustworthy enough to absolve them of their grudges.”

Saki offered up a prayer as she brought her hands together.

“And when many threads of fate gather, God Laos leads them toward their destiny. And God Laos sent you to us while we were searching for a way to infiltrate the Ghosts’ factory. You have already been touched by countless threads of fate, my Lady Swordswoman.”

Quietly, Saki smiled.

“And perhaps that is why? I had this peculiar feeling that I must not let go of you the very moment I first laid my eyes on you. And I still feel the same way about you even now.”

Saki’s words were fatalistic, perhaps because a priest was still a priest even if she was also an intellectual doctor.

“You are very strong, Lady Swordswoman. And you are able to dispel magic. Am I wrong?”

Saki smiled when Ianna did not refute her claims.

“The factory is located underground in this neighborhood, and we are planning to infiltrate it in a few days’ time. But the building’s security is far too tight. But that’s not the problem —the true problem is that the exterior of the building is covered in a plethora of spells. They must have been cast by an extraordinarily skilled mage, as even I, someone who knows a thing or two about magic, could not break through them. Nor can I break through the single-layer barrier surrounding the factory. We were strolling around the Banquet, unable to figure out how to break through, when we met you, Lady Swordswoman.”

Saki looked Ianna, who was still somewhat bewildered, in the eyes before bowing her head down low.

“I would like to ask you to break through the defensive spells cast around the factory just once. I, Saki Celtz Shizenmore, will never forget the kindness you have shown me.”

Ianna was slightly disconcerted by the unconditional trust that Saki showed for her.

The truth was that it shouldn’t be too difficult.

The spells might have been cast by a skilled mage, but Ianna was certain that she would probably be able to dispel them.

Mana loved her, after all. Margarita, a Demon’s fragment beneficiary, had been able to break through the powerful barrier surrounding the Roanne royal palace, but Ianna had dispelled even Margarita’s magic before.

Which was why she could not pointlessly say that it was impossible.

But Saki Celtz Shizenmore, an important figure, was lowering her head and making this request of her even without knowing any of this. Saki had full confidence in the abstract notion of fate.

‘……Does your intuition change if you’re a cardinal?’

Ianna pondered for a moment before turning to Taro and Herrace.

“What do you guys think?”

Part 5

“Do whatever yer heart tells ya. I’ll follow along and help as much as I can,”

Taro grinned as he crossed his fingers behind his head.

“Man~, I’ve been havin’ so much fun these days. I haven’t had the time to be bored ever since I started travelin’ with ya, Boss. Never thought in my wildest dreams that them Ghosts would be a problem.”

Taro seemed rather interested in the issue. The Ghosts’ Banquet had been considered a legend for centuries, and he himself had believed in the legends, and yet it was apparently the work of some shameless bastard —he could not help but think that they must be some incredible bastards indeed to have deceived so many people even as the world was going to the dogs.

He had the twisted desire to confirm the deceit with his own eyes, but the power to decide lay with Ianna.

Taro cast a sideways glance at her.

He had thought that she was simply a skilled swordswoman and a reliable peer, but he had learned better while watching her from up close during their trip.

There was something about Ianna that made her different from normal humans, even apart from her skills, personality, and experience —all of which were unbefitting of her young age.

‘Hmmm……. No wonder Pops was so interested in her…….’

Taro was nodding away as Herrace answered meekly even though he had paled upon recalling the victims at the Ghosts’ Banquet.

“I’m here because I planned to follow you to begin with, Boss. These people need you, so please do as you wish. I only hope that I won’t be a burden to you……no, I’ll do my best not to be.”

Ultimately, they would defer to Ianna’s judgment.

Besides, they knew that Ianna had excellent leadership skills and they had let Ianna decide almost everything about this trip ever since they had first set out, so they didn’t really care either way.

Ianna looked to Herrace and wondered if he would truly be all right for a moment before determining that this could be an invaluable experience and that he shouldn’t be in too much danger if she and Taro were with him.

“How long will this take? We were in a hurry.”

“It will take at least four days to get there if we gather my subordinates, who are scattered throughout the region, along the way. But one night will be enough to get the actual work done. If you are reluctant to join the infiltration, then I do not mind if you only dispel the magic.”

“Now that you mention it, what is your purpose for infiltrating the factory? Destroying just one will not change much if there are many.”

“We hope to acquire more samples of Life, learn how it is made, and find evidence of the culprit. And, if possible, we hope to rescue anyone who is being held captive inside the factory as well. As you suggest, it will not be possible to resolve the Ghosts’ Banquet using short-term measures. But my life’s mission is to eliminate the Ghosts and purify the earth. Successfully completing this plan means that I will be able to set up the groundwork for accomplishing my mission.”

“Very well. We will accompany you until you’ve accomplished your goals and have successfully escaped.”

“Ah! Thank you.”

Ultimately, Ianna assented. She was rather intrigued by the Ghosts.

Then, she brought up their issues with the Golden Gale, and Saki took full responsibility over the matter and guaranteed that they would be able to leave Lampinion.

Saki led Ianna and her friends out the room.

“Please allow me to thank you again, for I know that the decision must not have been easy to make. This building was purchased by Jinzai, and Sidian will not be able to touch it. We are planning to leave Lampinion when the gates open, so please rest here until then.”

Saki escorted Taro and Herrace to one room before leading Ianna to her own clean room.

Just as Ianna bowed in thanks and was about to close the door, Saki interjected and said,

“Could we discuss a little bit more an hour from now? Vita, whom you met earlier, will be joining us. He is vital to this plan. And I will personally vouch for his identity.”

Ianna welcomed the proposition.

Ianna had been wanting to speak with Saki and Vita, since they were both such interesting figures, and Ianna had something that she wanted to ask Saki separately, so she was glad that Saki had asked first.

“Very well.”

Saki smiled in good cheer.

“Thank you. I will be back in a bit. Please rest until then.”

Thud.

Ianna took off the stuffy chador after closing the door and making sure that there were no eyes on her.

She felt sweaty and gross and strongly wished to wash herself clean, but Sidian was backwards and did not have many public facilities like inns, so people had to find secluded rivers or lakes if they wanted to bathe. Ianna realized once again how nice life at the Institution was.

And public facilities weren’t even the biggest problem —she couldn’t even wander around outside.

She could call the spirit king of water and ask him to tell her more about the Holy Age while also asking him to provide water to wash herself with, but she didn’t because there were too many people keeping tabs on her. She also had the watering pot artefact that Arhad had given her, but that was for emergency use only.

‘I’ll just bear with it.’

Ianna plopped down on the bed only to sit up immediately afterward. She pulled out her plush puppy from her bag, which she had thrown against the bed, and sat it in front of her before she crossed her arms.

‘Should I tell him about this, or should I not?’

To be honest, she wanted to tell Arhad and take the opportunity to learn more about his heart condition and the medicine he took.

The Ghosts’ Banquet, for whatever the reason, held many similarities to how Arhad had killed the orc previously. She was sure that she would uncover something if she dug around the factory under the pretense of helping Saki.

But the problem lied in Arhad.

Though he would answer like he usually did, Arhad always seemed reluctant and equivocated like he was trying to hide something whenever Ianna asked him about his heart condition. He was keeping something from her.

And so, Ianna had the premonition that he would nag her relentlessly if she learned something through this incident.

He might even try to stop her. They might even fight and harbor ill feelings over it.

And if they started bickering and arguing over this, then even the fact that Ianna had met the robed Arhad before she had been admitted into the Institution might also come out of the woodworks. That would also be a pain.

It was something that they would have to resolve one day, and she could contact him and ask him about it immediately if she so wished……but, for whatever the reason, she was disinclined.

Ianna, who had been keeping still while stewing in her complicated thoughts, shook her head clear. She thought back on why she had decided to go on this trip to begin with.

She wanted to learn more about the Holy Age. She wanted to resolve any potential seeds of discord that existed between herself and Arhad, like the matter between the Demon and Roberstein, and stand next to him as his perfect partner.

And she had hidden her intentions from him.

Going along with Saki’s plan played a part in Ianna’s personal goals.

‘I’ll just take action for now.’

Ianna finished contemplating and lied down and closed her eyes to rest, and she heard someone knock on her door before long.

Ianna got up from bed and put her chador back on before opening the door. Saki and Vita were standing on the other side.

“Is now a good time for you?”

“Yes, please come on in.”

Saki and Vita walked slowly inside the room when Ianna let them in. There were only two chairs accompanying the table in the room, so Ianna let the two of them take them and sat on the bed. Saki tied up her tangled hair as she sighed.

“Whew. Those rascals —I’m grateful that they’re guarding me, but sometimes I feel like I’m suffocating when I’m with them.”

Saki looked much more comfortable than she had been earlier. The newly relaxed and unreserved air about her helped put Ianna at ease as well.

“So, what did you wish to discuss with me?”

Ianna was more curious as to what Saki and Vita had to say than she was eager to have them assuage her doubts about them.

Saki called out to Vita, who was sitting beside her and had been staring at Ianna ever since he had entered the room.

“Vita.”

“Yes.”

Vita pulled back the hood that had been hiding his entire face with his slender hands. Ianna could not take her eyes off his beautiful face.

He had golden hair, so golden that they could have been formed of the sun’s rays, and snow-white skin. His eyes seemed to be as blue as the sky itself. The lines of his face were gentle and slender, as if they were tearing down the boundary between him and the world around him.

It was like looking at a part of nature itself.

Ianna looked to Vita’s ears.

‘I knew it…….’

They were long.

Vita quietly introduced himself.

“My name is Vistomanta. I am an elf from the eastern forests. Please call me Vita. I’m sure you must be bewildered, but there is no need for you to feel burdened by me —please just treat me as you have been treating Saki.”

Elves looked no different from humans apart from their slender frames and mysterious features. Ianna, who had been a little anxious even though she had tried not to show it, relaxed.

‘Dwarves, beastmen, elves —they aren’t any different from humans. They might be mythical races, but that’s all there is to it.’

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Vita.”

Saki and Vita opened their eyes wide in surprise when Ianna controlled her facial expressions and greeted him normally.

“You don’t seem very surprised.”

“I had already assumed you might be an elf.”

“Goodness, have you met an elf before?”

“This is my first time meeting a real one, but I have met one before indirectly.”

Finn may be a halfling, but he was still technically half elf. But, while it might have been a different story if she was certain that there was no risk at all, Ianna did not want to mention him when she was already hiding her own identity.

‘Neither do I know what a pure elf would think about a half-elf when they’re said to detest humans…….’

Ianna felt Vita’s quiet but persistent gaze on her as she pushed against the edge of the bed to straighten herself out. Ianna, too, stared openly back at him in turn as she thought.

‘This elf has been staring at me like this since the very beginning. I wonder why?’

The only part of her that he could see beneath her chador was her eyes, and yet his gaze seemed to pierce through her skin.

“You speak in riddles. But I feel as though your identity might be more surprising than even Vita’s, Lady Swordswoman.”

“Then I must continue hiding it, if only out of embarrassment. My station is truly a humble one.”

“One’s station is merely a shell. The identity to which I am referring would be your true nature……. I eagerly await the day that we can converse with each other freely, my Lady Swordswoman.”

Saki giggled like a child and openly expressed her fondness for Ianna. She then gestured to Vita, who had been sitting without so much as budging, as if he was a lone tree. She continued,

“Vita will tell you more about the magic surrounding the factory. Actually, I called him here to ask him to dispel it for us, but it proved impossible. I was so surprised. After all, Vita is an incredibly skilled diviner.”

Ianna posed a question, as she had never heard the term before.

“A diviner……?”

“Oh, you don’t know? Diviners are people who use divine arts, an ability distinct from magic that uses divine power. All abilities pertaining to life, like the healing powers I demonstrated earlier, are generally considered divine arts. Using divine power to dispel magic is also considered a divine art. A very few priests, myself included, know how to use them.”

“Hmm…”

Ianna keenly realized how truly ignorant she had been in her past life as she listed to Saki.

Archmages, high-ranking priests, the mythical races, knights of Bahamut…….

There were so many people who knew about divine power, and yet she, who had once been extolled as the second strongest person in the world, had not known.

She did not regret it, but she acknowledged that she had been so trapped in her own little world and so heavily focused on only her sword that she had never made any room for other useful information.

Ianna was a little embarrassed.

“I understand. So, what kind of spells were used around the factory?”

“Illusion, Barrier, and Alarm, as far as defensive spells go. Illusion hides the factory, Barrier stops intruders from entering, and Alarm announces the presence of anyone who had infiltrated inside. There are also various traps and offensive spells cast over it.”

Saki sighed as she finished her piece, and Vita took over.

“I don’t know who the caster was, but they are surely extraordinary. The high levels of the spells they cast are one thing……but the way they arranged the mana, the foundation of their magic, is another story entirely. Magic is like a mirage, and it vanishes as soon as there is even the slightest disruption in the arrangement of mana. Normally, I can dispel magic ten times out of ten. But the magic around the factory feels as solid as a rock. It was so extraordinary that I suffered internal injuries from the rebound when I tried to dispel it.”

“For reference, Vita is capable of dispelling my own spells.”

Spells that even Vita, someone who could dispel an archmage’s magic, could not dispel……. Hearing this made Ianna begin to doubt whether she could truly do this or not.

She had forgotten to ask Arhad about the details, but she recalled that he had once used something he had called an elven purification scroll. It was merely a piece of paper, and yet it had been able to dispel Margarita’s, a shareholder of a Demon’s fragment, magic.

Which meant that elves must surely be that powerful.

But if Vita, an elf whom Saki had personally praised as a skilled diviner, had not been able to dispel the magic……then there was a chance that it was connected to a Demon’s fragment. The caster could possibly be an owner, and not just a shareholder.

‘If a Demon’s fragment is involved…….’

Several things didn’t sit too well with Ianna as she opened her mouth.

“At the very least, I know how to dispel magic and I have done it before. I don’t know if I would call it fate, but I accepted your request because I was interested in the phenomenon and because I thought I would fit your conditions……but hearing what you have to say makes me question if this is truly something I am capable of doing.”

“No, it is possible.”

“It is possible. But we could also confirm it if you still remain doubtful, Lady Swordsman. If it’s not too rude to ask, could you please show us your divine power?”

“Goodness, Vita. Don’t make excuses. You simply want to see it for yourself.”

“I cannot deny that. But Saki, is it not the same for you?”

“Of course it is. I’m glad that you asked first, because I didn’t know how to.”

Ianna felt strange yet again as Saki and Vita seemed to assume that she would definitely be able to dispel the magic, but she felt like they would use something unrealistic, like fate or a feeling or what have you, again as their justification, and so she simply drew her divine power to her finger without another word.

Buzz.

Her divine power set off like a flame.

The mana rushed toward her voraciously in a craze, but it paused, like it had during the incident with Margarita, and slowly began circling around her divine power obediently when she quietly asked it to settle down.

“Please feel free to speak up if anything concerns you,”

Ianna added, worried, but Saki and Vita simply stared at her burning crimson divine power without a word, as if they were in a trance.

“Oh……my word,”

Saki finally mumbled a while later just as Ianna was starting to grow disconcerted. She continued,

“Are you related to God Laos by any chance, Lady Swordswoman?”

“Pardon? No. Not at all. God Laos has hidden himself from the world for so long that people have even started wondering if he ever truly existed to begin with……but why are you asking me this?”

“Is that so? No, I’m sure you’re right. But I wonder why it feels this way? Yes, indeed. Actually, I couldn’t tell you earlier because there were too many people, but…….”

The intelligent light in Saki’s eyes blurred. She continued,

“I feel very strange when I look at you, Lady Swordswoman. And that feeling only grew stronger when I saw your divine power with my own eyes.”

Saki’s and Vita’s main reason for visiting Ianna was to confirm what they had felt.

Saki clasped her hands together and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath.

“It is a very sturdy and warm feeling, like someone is holding me close and telling me everything will be all right when I’m exhausted, like I could trust it completely without any worries. I almost feel like I’ve become a child again, even though I’ve lived so many years that it wouldn’t be strange for me to have departed to God Laos’ side by now. Do you feel the same way, Vita?”

Vita nodded weightily and crinkled his nose.

“Indeed……I wanted to cry when I first laid my eyes upon you. I felt like I’d finally met someone I’ve missed terribly.”

Ianna had heard something similar before.

She had heard it before from Finn, a half-elf, Chendelf, a dwarf, and she was hearing it again now from Saki, a cardinal of the Church of Laos, and Vita, a pure-blooded elf.

And they all shared something in common.

They had either been born with a lot of Laos’ divine power as a member of the mythical races or was a priest who served him —in other words, they all had some kind of relation to Laos.

Anyone who didn’t find this strange would be a fool.

Ianna had only been focusing on the relationship between Roberstein and the Demon, but now she realized that there might have been a deep relationship between Roberstein and Laos, the creator of the world, too.

‘But I feel like I’ve heard it from somewhere else too……when was it again?’

Saki pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away her tears as Ianna lost herself in thought.

“Goodness, please excuse me. It’s very curious that I feel this way even though you have no relation to God Laos. I felt this way when I saw the holy relic stored in the temple as well……as if I was standing before God Laos himself.”

Ianna’s thoughts screeched to a halt.

“Holy relic?”

“Yes. The Temple of Laos at Jinzai has a sacred tree branch that is used as a symbolic gesture when a new high priest or king ascends to their station. Otherwise, it is kept secure. It is filled with sacred divine power.”

“Oh…….”

Saki’s words reminded Ianna of where she had heard of it previously. The way Saki had described seeing her was similar to how Priest Pianca,¹ an Institution professor, had described seeing the gravestone that was kept in the Great Temple at Roanne.

She had forgotten about it because the holy relic was only accessible to the highest-ranking of priests who dedicated their whole hearts and bodies to the Faith and because, unlike the sword fragment from the South, Ianna had thought that the gravestone had nothing to do with her.

But now, Ianna felt like she had been hit on the back of her head.

‘The holy relics feel similar to me……. I’d thought that the holy relics were simply relics from the Holy Age that were imbued with Laos’ divine power, but it looks like they might actually have a connection to Roberstein.’

Saki grinned, having failed to notice Ianna’s bewilderment.

“I think it will be simple for you to break through the spells around the factory even just by seeing how the mana is moving. Thank you, God Laos. I look forward to working with you, Lady Swordswoman.”

“And I as well. Also, there was something else that I wanted to ask you.”

“What is it? Please ask away.”

It was possible that the holy relic of Jinzai functioned similarly to the gravestone in the Great Temple at Roanne. And, unlike before, when Ianna had no connections to the Faith of Laos, Saki Celtz Shizenmore, a cardinal of the Great Temple at Jinzai, was currently showing extremely goodwill toward her.

“Is there a chance I might be able to see the holy relic?”

“Hmm……?”

Saki blinked in surprise.

“It’s within my power to let you do so, as, while the holy relic is precious, even normal citizens can see it at least once during their lifetimes during a coronation —but may I ask why you wish to?”

Ianna was happy for Saki’s positive response, but she kept her mouth closed because she didn’t know how to explain herself, and Saki saw how troubled she was and simply shook her head. Saki continued,

“You needn’t say anything if it is difficult for you to answer. If you give me a date, I can prepare an opportunity for you to see the relic once this is over.”

“Thank you.”

Ianna bowed her head low. She pondered for a moment with her head still bowed before she pulled down at her chador.

It was rude to keep hiding her identity when the other party was already willing to do so much for her. She figured it should be all right if Saki and Vita were the only ones to know what she looked like.

A vivid crimson filled the room as her eyes, once covered by the chador, shone and her hair spilled out like billowing waves.

“My name is Ianna. I am currently a citizen of Roanne.”

“Oh…….”

Saki and Vita fell into yet another trance.

Vita’s eyelashes quivered and he lowered his eyes as if he was blinded —a complete contrast to how persistently and piercingly he had been staring at her before— and said,

“……You’re like the sun itself. Were you a member of the mythical races?”

He asked Ianna the same question that she and her friends had asked Saki when they first met the archmage.

Ianna smirked, finding it funny that it was an elf asking her this, as she replied,

“I am merely human. And I am only seventeen.”

“What? Seventeen? I thought you altered your voice or that you simply had a very youthful-sounding one. My word. What was I doing at your age again?”

Saki made a fuss for a bit, unable to hide her utter astonishment, before she smiled brightly upon seeing Ianna’s face without anything to hinder it.

“Since you’ve taken off your chador, Lady Ianna, I take it that this means you trust us? It overjoys me to have grown closer to you. Oh, but we shouldn’t call you by your real name outside.”

“Please just call me Ann……a while we’re here.”

She had inadvertently used her Camastros codename, but she bit her tongue and added on an extra syllable at the end.

She had disclosed her name and appearance, but she must not allow herself to be connected to Camastros.

“All right. Once again, I look forward to working with you, Lady Anna.”

“And I as well. But anyway, Saki, now that I’ve disclosed myself to you, there were a few more questions that I had wanted to ask…….”

“Ask away.”

“I’ve heard that God Laos’ divine power is pure white. You called it holy power earlier.”

Pure white had been designated as Laos’ unique color since times immemorial. The color white was praised as the ultimate color of purity and the basis of all creation. Ianna continued,

“And the divine power you used was also pure white. That……were you using some special method to use God Laos’ power, or was that the color of your own divine power?”

“How could a mere human dare presume to use God Laos’ divine power? It is the latter, of course. A faithful believer’s soul takes on God Laos’ color. In a sense, it is only natural that we become similar to him, as we obey his thoughts and his will and even model ourselves after his conduct.”

“I see. And also, normally, pouring divine power on a wound only quickens the rate of recovery —but it doesn’t heal it instantly like what you did. Could you tell me how you did that?”

“It is not something I discuss in public, but I have no reason to hide it from you, Lady Swordswoman. One’s healing powers grow stronger the closer their divine power is in color to white. All of creation was born from God Laos’ holy power, and even our flesh was created by the spirits by using that same holy power. This is why it isn’t incorrect to say that all things were created by God Laos, and those whose divine power is closer in color to white are much more suited for life-related abilities. This is also likely why my appearance has remained so youthful.”

Ianna thought of Chendelf when she heard what Saki had said.

Chendelf’s hands had been made with Ianna’s divine power, and he had been able to touch Roberstein’s metal, which no one else had been able to touch. Perhaps this was similar.

‘But in that case, it also means that Chendelf’s hands will heal faster using my divine power.’

Saki watched quietly as Ianna nodded in understanding, and her face flushed ever so slightly pink as she smiled.

“Still, I would ask that you didn’t repeat what I just said before the priests of Jinzai. It’s safe to say this to the people around me, since they are my followers and have tight lips, but most priests believe that divine power is the gods’ territory. And my healing arts are generally regarded as magic. Only a very few people are able to control divine power, and only they know that I can use it.”

Saki was very intellectual and logical despite being a cardinal, perhaps because she was also an archmage and a doctor.

She had undoubtedly researched divine power for a very long time.

“Why do you not spread around your knowledge? More people would believe in God Laos if you did.”

“Divine power is the power of life, and one must not use it carelessly. These are things that people must learn for themselves once they become able to control it. Besides, it might make many priests feel deprived, and it might also be used by the Ghosts for nefarious purposes.”

Ianna agreed.

“And Saki……there’s also something I’d like to request of you.”

“Please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Ianna contemplated for a moment before she said,

“If we happen to find many samples of Life in the factory, may I have a bottle?”

Saki pursed her lips and stared into Ianna.

“It is an evil drug that was concocted by sacrificing many victims. I don’t believe that you will use it, but may I ask why you want one?”

“I have a personal interest in it. There is nothing more I can tell you on this matter.”

“……Life is a very dangerous substance for multiple reasons. There is something I didn’t tell you earlier because I was worried you might take offense.”

Saki took a deep breath and continued,

“Unless they have a very strong sense of identity, those who take this drug for a long time tend to have their dispositions change for the worse, and, in the worst cases, they go insane. No one can remain sane after taking a drug that’s been polluted with so many emotions. And it can affect you just by being nearby. Do you still wish to take one?”

“I’m sure that the soil you showed me earlier proves that I will be all right.”

“Indeed. In that case, please do as you wish, Lady Ianna. However, I would ask that you hand over the samples to me and seek me out if you need them for anything if there are fewer than five. I need a lot of samples, as I am trying to find a way to treat those who have taken it.”

Ianna looked back at her in disbelief.

“But why……? They are simply reaping what they themselves have sown. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they all might as well be Ghosts themselves. They are criminals, and there is no merit to them. Why would you try to help them?”

“Because I am a doctor. As the head of Shalino, the international doctors’ association, I cannot see an ‘illness’ and simply ignore it.”

An archmage, a cardinal, and even the head of a doctors’ organization……. Saki was truly an amazing person. Saki continued,

“Besides, most users of Life are people in leadership positions, and things will be harder for those beneath them if they are not in their right mind. I must restore my patients even if only for their sakes.”

Ianna nodded back in understanding.

“Lady Ianna.”

Vita, who had been listening in on their conversation, suddenly called out to Ianna. Ianna replied, “Yes?” and turned to look at him as he resolutely said,

“If you have the time someday, would you please visit our village?”

“Vita?”

Saki called out to him in shock.

Generally speaking, it was impossible for a human to visit a village inhabited by the mythical races. Moreover, unlike the dwarves who occasionally traded weapons and daily necessities with humans, elves were self-sufficient and extremely exclusionary, and it was next to impossible to even see one outside their villages.

Ianna was stunned.

“Why would you ask me that?”

Vita’s ears twitched, perhaps because he was nervous.

“We are in need of your help. And there is also another thing that I would ask you to take a look at.”

“……My help?”

There was something that an elf whom she had only met today needed her help with? Ianna could barely make any sense of what he was saying.

Saki stared blankly at Vita in alarm. Ianna continued,

“And what would you need my help with?”

“I don’t have the authority to speak of the details……but I assure you that it is not something that will pose a detriment to you, Lady Ianna. So please, hear out my request.”

“Very well.”

Ianna marveled at this sudden stroke of luck as she consented.

Not only was it highly possible that there was another relic of the Holy Age in the elves’ villages but having ties to the elves might even let her be helpful to Finn, a half-elf, one day. She didn’t know what the elves needed help with, but helping them could only be a benefit to her —it would never be a loss.

“Oh, thank you.”

Vita smiled cheerfully with a slight blush on his cheeks. He jumped up and rummaged around his pockets before walking up to Ianna and presenting a wooden bird carving to her.

“This is a whistle. I will come to meet you at once whenever you go deep inside the Great Forest of Shaob and blow it.”

“My goodness, Vita. I’ve known you for decades. And you’re inviting her to your village? Lady Ianna must truly be someone special.”

“I like you, Saki, but the others will grow angry with you just for being human. But you would be able to come too if you were accompanied by Lady Ianna. They will not turn you away simply for being human if you’re with her, and I’m sure the others in the village will treat you warmly once they’ve had the chance to learn more about you.”

“Truly?”

Saki, who had been giving Vita the side-eye, opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“Lady Ianna…….”

Then, she turned to Ianna with a pitiable look in her eyes. Ianna was certain that Saki would never be a burden, so she promised to call for Saki should she ever visit the elven woods —though she did not know when that would be.

Saki was overjoyed and vowed that she would give Ianna an artefact by which Ianna could contact her directly before they parted ways.

“Phew…….”

She was thirsty because she had been talking for a while. Ianna decided to ask Saki for some water while she was still here.

“Is there any water here by any chance, Saki? I’d like quite a lot, because I want to wash up, but I’d be fine with just some to drink if there isn’t much. And I’ll pay for it, of course.”

“What are you talking about? —we have an elf here with us. We can just have him make the water. Vita.”

“Sharpie.”

Vita immediately summoned a water spirit before Ianna could say anything otherwise. Droplets of water bubbled and gathered together to form the shape of a starfish. Unlike the lump of water that Finn always summoned, the water spirit that Vita summoned was much more detailed.

Sharpie, the starfish spirit, spun circles in front of Vita. Vita smiled and turned to Ianna.

“How much water do you need, La…….”

Something completely unexpected happened just then.

Poow!

Sharpie shot out at an incredible speed and buried into Ianna’s chest like a dagger.

The sudden attack caused Vita and Saki to stiffen up in shock, and the spirit sucked divine power out from Ianna’s heart before she had the chance to regulate its flow.

Pop!

The spirit was no longer Sharpie by the time it came back out of Ianna’s heart.

Innis fluttered up and down like crazy as he shouted,

[IannaIannaIannaaaaaaa!]

Part 6

“…….”

“…….”

[Ahhhhh, I missed you so much! —why haven’t you called me? Huh? You’ve only been calling Slowpoke. I can do all sorts of things to make you happy, like this, and that!]

Innis acrobatically plopped here and there before Ianna snatched him up at the speed of light like she would if she was catching a fish. Innis obediently stayed in her grasp instead of escaping by turning into water. Ianna brought him up to her face so that their eyes were level.

“You make things difficult for me if you keep acting like this, Innis.”

[Are you angry? I just wanted to see you so badly. I wanted to jump over as soon as I saw you. But I won’t do that anymore. So don’t be mad, okay? And I’ll tell the others not to do whatever they want either!]

Innis waved around his tail in a cutesy manner.

Ianna let him go with a deep sigh, and Innis splashed his tail and started spinning circles around her.

[I love you, I love you! I love you so much!]

Ianna ignored Innis, who looked like he was so happy he might lose his mind, and turned to Saki and Vita.

“…….”

“…….”

“……Um, Lady Ianna, that spirit… Surely it isn’t…”

They had already realized, by the immense pressure pressing down on the entire room that belied his small and adorable form, that the spirit playing cutesy with Ianna was no ordinary one. They had dubiously guessed Innis’ identity upon hearing his name, but the truth ran so contradictory to their notion of common sense that they could not help but doubt it.

“This is Innis, the Spirit King of Water.”

Ianna was honest with them, since there was no point in trying to hide anything from them anymore.

They were staring blankly as they followed Innis with their eyes, and Innis, who had only just taken notice of them, swam up to them.

[Hmm, you’re Vita, the high elf who calls this body and plays with me from time to time! And you’re Saki, Laos’ follower, and you call me only when you need me!]

“Oh my goodness.”

Vita seemed to have been rendered mute in the presence of the spirit king, the heart and the true form of all water spirits, and simply opened and closed his mouth in silence, whereas Saki paled and sat back down in her chair.

Innis whipped around his small tail as if in intimidation.

[Be good to Ianna, you two! I’ll be watching, so you’ll be sorry if you mess with mm, mmm.]

Ianna grabbed Innis’ head with both hands and covered his mouth. The spirits’ voices resounded directly inside people’s heads instead of being captured by their hearing, but Innis expressed his will through his mouth, so he could not speak now that Ianna was covering it. But he still wriggled happily in her touch nevertheless.

Saki recovered her senses first, and, in a dazed voice, she said,

“I see……so someone as remarkable as Lady Ianna is even able to summon the spirit kings. But, how is this possible? The spirit kings require so much divine power……and Lady Ianna is human…….”

Saki’s voice, which was normally sagacious and articulate regardless of the situation, became threadbare.

It was because she was upturning all the knowledge she had stored in her brain. Then, she raised her hands in surrender.

“Hmm, I have no idea what is going on anymore. This is not something I can comprehend with the knowledge that I currently have. I knew it —you truly are more remarkable than the elves, Lady Ianna. I almost want to study you. Pull yourself together, Vita.”

“I am humbled by your presence, oh Spirit King of Water.”

[Look, Ianna. This is how awesome I am!]

Innis swaggered and slipped out from Ianna’s hands by turning into water, and then he started poking Vita, whose face had turned beet red, in the head. His actions were very intimate.

[Hmm, but you don’t need to be so formal, Vita. I’m still Sharpie. I’m just a little smarter than Sharpie! So you can talk to me like you normally do.]

Innis’ form collapsed and he turned into a lump of water, and then he promptly took on Sharpie’s form again.

[Vita called me, right? I’m grateful that you gave me the chance to see Ianna, but why did you summon me?]

“Lady Ianna said she needed some water…….”

Vita seemed to stumble over his words, unable to make heads or tails about how he should react.

[Ianna needs water?!]

Innis started spinning incredibly fast in obvious cheer, as if he was so happy that he couldn’t contain himself.

[Okay, then I’ll fill this whoooole room to the brim with water!]

“No!”

Ianna snatched Innis up again before he could do anything and communicated to him precisely how much water she actually needed.

“I only need enough water for me to drink and wash up in.”

[Huh? Really? Okay. I can put the water for you to drink in that kettle over there, but where should I put the water for you to wash up in? How about I just wash you instead?]

“……You can do that?”

[Of course I can. I’ll be done in a jiffy!]

Innis’ form collapsed again, and this time he started growing bigger. The mass of water poured itself over Ianna’s head without reserve once it had reached a certain size.

She had been about to ask him how he was planning to wash her, but he simply poured himself on her before she had the chance.

‘I feel like I’m standing under a waterfall.’

Then, Ianna felt so refreshed that she almost felt silly for wondering if he could really wash her properly. There was vitality mixed into the water, and she felt all her fatigue be washed away.

Her baptism of water was concluded in under a minute. Innis and his water parted cleanly away from her, and Ianna was left completely soft and dry.

[I washed everything clean away —including the bad things inside your body, and not just what was on the outside. And I washed your clothes too. I did good, right?]

“This is great. You’re amazing.”

Ianna praised him sincerely. She felt refreshed all the way down to her bones, as if her prior discomfort was now entire worlds away. This was much nicer than having to take the time to clean every nook and cranny herself.

[You praised me! I love you, I love you so much! Let me know anytime if there’s anything you need, Ianna!]

Ianna toyed with Innis as she thought,

‘……The spirits are so devoted to me. I almost feel the need to apologize to them. And yet, they’re the ones who get so happy…….’

She pitied them for devoting themselves to her and craving her love even as she found them dear.

Ianna figured that she might as well refill her water canteen while he was here and pulled it out from her bag. Innis created a generous amount of clean water for her.

Perhaps it was because he was having so much fun after having been summoned as his true form in the first time in a while, Innis washed Saki and Vita, watered the plants decorating the room, and spun circles around them before he stopped in front of Ianna’s bag.

[Huh? What’s this?! I can feel a container that has my power in it?]

Innis prodded at Ianna’s bag with great curiosity, and Ianna rummaged through it before pulling out the object which he had specified.

It was the water creation artefact, shaped like a water pot, that Arhad had given her.

“Lady Ianna, that’s…?”

Vita looked surprised upon recognizing what it was.

“An acquaintance gifted it to me. I’m told it’s a special artefact created by divine power and spiritual arts.”

“That’s correct. That water pot……it’s a very precious item, but this acquaintance of yours wouldn’t be an elf because you said that I was the first elf you met. Did a man named Mursi give this to you?”

Ianna, who had been watching over Innis as he studied the water pot, snapped her head up.

“I am acquainted with Mr. Mursi, but……how do you know him, Vita?”

“He is a very famous human among us elves. Though he didn’t stay with us for long, he is one of the very few humans we have ever traded with, and, though she was from another village, even my village made a fuss for a while about how amazing he was to have managed to woo one of our own. I don’t know if Paella, the elf who followed Mursi out of her village, is doing well. Perhaps they even have a child by now.”

Ianna tried sounding Vita out, since he was much calmer about the topic than she had expected him to be.

“A child born between an elf and a human would be a half-elf…… What do elves normally think of such children?”

“We are not very fond of them. Humans have enslaved many of our kind in the past, and countless half-elves were born as a result of rape. They are living embodiments of the shame we elves suffered in our history. But we also do not hate a child just for having been born. Especially if they were born out of genuine love. After all, that is what God Laos teaches…….”

It was a surprisingly mild outlook. If this was what the elves thought, then Ianna thought it might be all right to take Finn along when she visited them.

Finn was an outcast in human society, whether by his own will or because of the way others acted around him. The child was surely lonely, even if he pretended otherwise. Finn was so happy whenever Ianna visited that he could hardly contain himself, and he grew ever so gloomy whenever she left.

‘He has to be careful about his identity in human society, but maybe he won’t have to with the elves?’

In the meanwhile, Innis had finished studying the water pot and was wriggling his tail and fins.

[This only has a little of my power, so you’ll only be able to make a small amount of water with it, you know? I’ll pack this to the brim with my power! So use it whenever you’re feeling thirsty!]

Innis rushed inside the water pot. The water pot shook a bit, as if Innis was splashing around inside, before he quickly came back out.

[Charging complete!]

Innis spun around excitedly before plopping down on Ianna’s shoulder. She felt like there was jelly sitting on her.

Ianna stroked Innis. His squishy and elastic texture felt weirdly pleasant.

“I’ve learned how to control divine power and I can summon you guys whenever I want to, so I’ll call you again when I have the time. Can you go back to the spiritual plane for now?”

[Hmm? Okay!]

Ianna had been worried about what she would do if Innis was reluctant or sad to leave, but his reply was rather delighted and suggested that he had no lingering regrets.

[I was so happy to be able to help you for the first time in a while. I’ll be waiting for the day I can see you again!]

That was all Innis said before he de-summoned himself. Ianna let out a deep breath before she could stop herself.

‘It’s always so hectic whenever Innis is around.’

But her mood had most certainly lifted. Watching him act like a puppy who hadn’t seen his owner in a long time and be over the moon about it made her feel happy too.

“We should get going as well.”

“Today was one surprise after another.”

Saki and Vita bid Ianna goodbye once Innis had left.

They still looked somewhat stunned, but they no longer seemed confused —perhaps because they had convinced themselves that anything was possible when it came to Ianna. After all, she had been a mysterious individual even before she had summoned a spirit king.

Ianna asked them not to let any information about herself leave this room, and they nodded back resolutely as if it was only natural.

“Phew.”

Ianna lay down on the bed with her heart at ease after she had seen Saki and Vita out of the room.

A lot had happened today. She was tired, but she was pleased to have made good use of her time.

‘I feel so refreshed.’

With pleasant feelings, Ianna closed her eyes.

Two days passed.

Saki had heard news that the leader of the Golden Gale had been grilling his men during those two days. The city gates had opened too, as the people who had been suddenly trapped within its walls had been complaining lividly and the people who had been outside trying to come in were grumbling in droves as well.

“The people trying to come inside the city say that the skies are clear and there’s hardly any wind at all —there was no sandstorm, and their journey to Lampinion had been as smooth as ships sailing the open seas. Evidently, the sandstorm was a lie they were using to try and capture you,”

said Giel, who had just come back from gathering information in the streets. He was a normally friendly guy who even liked to joke around whenever Saki wasn’t involved. He continued,

“There’s no reason for me to be concerned about you as long as you aren’t rude to Lady Saki. I’m prepared to lay down my life for her if I have to.”

And so, on the fourth day. The Ghosts investigation team was preparing to leave the building early in the evening. Taro could not hide his worry.

“Well, I’m pretty big and all. I’m pretty sure I’ll stand out.”

“You likely will. But it’s all right. Please go and lie down in that cart over there.”

Taro obediently went to lie down in the cart like Saki had told him to, and other people stacked several pieces of luggage up around him and secured a large piece of cloth over it. Then, Vita stood in front of the cart and began mumbling incomprehensible words.

A gentle stream of divine power flowed out from him and, surprisingly enough, the entire cart lost its presence. Ianna, who had been curious about this ever since they had first met, asked Saki how it worked, to which the latter smiled and replied,

“A vague presence that feels as though it is only natural that it is there……. God Laos created everything in this world. In other words, the world is God Laos himself, and it is not an exaggeration to say that our lives are in God Laos’ hands and that we can feel him at all times. Perhaps that is why you feel this way about us, since we have taken after God Laos.”

The gates were crammed with bandits and royal soldiers who looked like they were affiliated with the Golden Gale.

It was obvious that they were trying to catch Ianna and her friends at the gates instead of running around the vast city and checking the faces of every single person within its walls.

Perhaps that was why they were conducting an unprecedentedly thorough inspection at the gates. Inspections were not common in Sidian, and, while they could technically protest it, the royal soldiers had sharp glints in their eyes and were arresting anyone who allegedly disturbed the peace, and so the passersby had little choice but to consent to the inspection even as they grumbled.

It was taking a while to leave the city because of the inspections. Just the line of people waiting to leave was already several dozen meters long.

It had apparently been even more crowded yesterday, when the gates had opened, and Ianna did not want to even imagine how bad it had been.

It was almost their turn. Ianna and Herrace were wearing Jinzai habits and were waiting patiently with their heads lowered —they looked the very picture of faithful believers who followed Saki.

“Halt! We will check your faces and your luggage!”

Giel stepped forward as the gate guards barked at them. He looked visibly displeased as he shouted back,

“Are you blocking the path of Jinzai priests right now?”

“Goodness, dear priests. Have you rested well?”

People grew flustered upon learning that they were priests. Sidian was a nation of bandits and was filled with a colorful assortment of folk beliefs, but there were a lot of people who were influenced by their neighboring countries and believed in God Laos, and such people revered the Faith’s priests. Lampinion had a lot to lose if Jinzai closed her border any longer because the priests had spoken ill of Sidian, so even the Golden Gale had to fawn over them.

Giel began stringing his words along like an onslaught of sharpened arrows.

“We are God Laos’ faithful servants and God Laos’ hands, and binding our feet is no different from going against God Laos’s will. God Laos has taken pity on those in foreign lands and our priests are trying to do his will and bring salvation to them, and yet not only have you delayed us by closing the gates for two days but now you even insist on checking our faces and luggage. Is this Sidian’s attempt to make light of Jinzai?”

It was widely known that the priests of Jinzai were secretive and were reluctant to expose their faces. Moreover, only high-ranking priests carried out God Laos’ will.

The situation grew tense as, while perhaps other cities in Sidian might not have known either of these things, there was no reason why anyone in Lampinion, which was directly next to the Jinzai border, would not.

“Enough, Brother. We must not force others to be considerate of us. These good people are only doing their jobs.”

Saki’s poised and pleasant voice spread through the area.

The softness of her voice calmed people down, and it also had the strange effect of causing people to reflect on their mistakes.

“Thank you for working so hard on this hot day, dear Brothers and Sisters. We are in a hurry to go and carry out God Laos’ will.”

Saki took out a badge from her pocket. Those who recognized what it was flinched.

A golden sun, which symbolized Jinzai, was inscribed on her badge, and it signified that its owner was of a very prestigious station in Jinzai. Jinzai’s fury would fall like madness upon anyone who harmed someone carrying that badge.

This was common sense to anyone living in Lampinion, a city that priests frequented because it was a border city.

In a relaxed manner, Saki continued,

“We are carrying something valuable in our cart that cannot be exposed to the air…… Oh merciful Brothers and Sisters, I implore you to show us your consideration and let us pass.”

“P-please be on your way.”

“Thank you. May Laos’ blessings be with you all. I pray that fortune will smile upon you all today.”

The bandits, whom could not be called good people even as empty words, seemed moved as Saki blessed them even still.

“…….”

Ianna snuck a quick glance at the city gates once they had slipped out.

“We are going to inspect your things. You there, hurry up and untie your luggage!”

Slipping out had been easier than picking up a spoon to enjoy a feast that had been prepared beforehand.

~~*~~

Saki led the group as they left Lampinion’s sphere of influence. People continued to join them in groups of three or four throughout the day, and a few hours later, there were about thirty people in the group by five or six in the evening.

Some of the newcomers had very faint presences, like Saki, perhaps because they were also members of the Church, but most of them felt normal.

Many of the newcomers were warriors who were armed from head to toe, and they felt too much like skilled veterans who had seen their fair share of battles to be believers of the Faith, who were supposed to be against fighting.

“Are they all members of the Faith?”

“No. The few from Jinzai are my followers who place their upmost trust in me, and the rest are affiliated with Shalino.”

Shalino, the doctors’ association.

Publicly, it was known as group of skilled doctors who had founded the organization to serve the people, but it was actually closer to a secret society that had many warriors in its ranks.

Saki had introduced the association as a group of people who went about solving deaths that went against the providence of God.

“The Church of Laos at Jinzai cannot investigate the Ghosts officially. And so, we have no choice but to act privately.”

“I heard that Jinzai closes its borders whenever there’s been a Ghosts’ Banquet because it’s supposedly bad luck —is the Church avoiding the Ghosts?”

“It is the opposite. There are many people who believe what you’ve just said, Lady Anna, but the truth is that we close our border because the royal family of Sidian protests our dispatching of investigation teams in a diplomatic manner. Jinzai has always been disgusted by the Ghosts’ Banquets, as people believe that they are the work of the Demon, who covets life, and Jinzai once tried to dispatch the strongest knights of our Church, the Anti-Demon Knights, as soon as it was first confirmed that a high-ranking priest had fallen victim to the Ghosts. We had vowed to find the truth behind the Ghosts, but Sidian refused us and declared that all religious actions on a national scale would be interpreted as a military invasion of the kingdom. Jinzai criticized them for not only failing to aid us but even getting in the way of our efforts to make the world a more peaceful place, but I suppose that from Sidian’s perspective it was burdensome to have a foreign country’s warriors pour into their lands for a military-minded purpose, even if it was to investigate the Ghosts.”

Saki shook her head. She continued,

“And so, it is impossible for us to act on a national scale under Jinzai’s banner. But we can still act in small numbers. There are many members of the Church who have secretly volunteered to help investigate the Ghosts’ Banquet. That is why I have brought those believers whom I trust here with me, and also why I asked members from Shalino to participate.”

“Will everyone here infiltrate the factory? We don’t know what we’ll find inside, so it might be better for only a few skilled people to infiltrate while the rest waits outside. We might suffer unnecessary casualties, and information might be spilled if someone is taken hostage.”

“I’ve already selected only the most skilled to infiltrate the factory. The others are preparing for the worst and are preparing us a route out of Sidian as we speak.”

Ianna chatted with Saki from time to time as they walked and walked. They had walked for quite a while, and the unending sea of sand burned into Ianna’s retinas as if it was only natural.

Sidian wasn’t only composed of deserts, but they had only been walking with sand beneath their feet, slowing their steps, ever since they had left Lampinion.

And yet, Ianna stopped in her tracks before she realized what she was doing just as the sun was sinking below the horizon and its last rays died the skies red.

She got the queer feeling that she was stepping over a bloody corpse.

The Ghosts’ victims crumbled into sand and turned the entire land around them into a land of death.

And she could not help but perceive the sandy path they were taking as the road heading to the Ghosts’ factory.

“Halt.”

Eventually, they arrived at their final meeting spot, marked by a white flag covered with a thick layer of sand. The area would have normally been empty and deserted, but at the moment it was filled with people who had arrived using other routes and had set up tents as they awaited Saki’s arrival.

“I see that everyone has gathered.”

There were about fifty people in total. After a short rest, Saki stood before the group and conducted a quick briefing of their plans.

They did not know how the factory looked like on the inside, so they could only make simple plans —to seize samples of Life and to escape with the Ghosts’ victims.

They would carry out their plans at two in the morning.

Everyone was given free time until then, and Ianna went to speak with Taro and Herrace right off the bat.

“You look after Herrace, Taro. If we happen to get split up, we’ll leave Sidian and meet up at the northern border of Toraca. And we’ll act independently if we haven’t met up again after two days have passed at the border.”

“Got it. Keep yer head on straight, Herrace.”

“I will! I promise I won’t be a burden!”

They decided on a set of guidelines to follow should the unexpected occur. After dinner, which Saki provided, was concluded, they all split off and spent the remainder of their free time however they wanted.

Ianna found a spot that was removed from everyone else and sat down with her back leaning against a rock.

A part of the reason why she had consented to Saki’s request was because she was curious to learn more about Arhad’s medicine……but actually……she had yet ‘another objective.’

There were more than a few problems that could derive from her secondary objective, and so she decided to prepare herself a safety net of sorts.

Ianna pulled her bag down from her shoulder and pulled out a single ring. It was her Camastros ring, which altered her vocal cords and changed the color of her appearance.² She had brought the ring with her just in case, since it was imperative that she kept her identity a secret, and she decided to use it.

Then, she pulled out her notebook and a pen to write out everything that could happen when she entered the underground factory and focused on finding solutions for each situation.

Saki had arranged to teleport everyone outside of Sidian in the event of an emergency, but Ianna thought more into that as well since she didn’t think it would be enough.

Ianna pondered after having written things down in her notebook for some time and placed her hand down against the earth. She only needed to talk for a moment, so she only poured a very miniscule amount of divine power into the earth as she whispered,

“Towe.”

She had grown somewhat accustomed to controlling her divine power, so it flowed into the ground very naturally as it called forth a certain being.

Pshhh.

A small clump of dirt beneath Ianna’s palm wriggled and began to take shape. It completed shaping itself into a very familiar form, and two small arms hugged at Ianna’s fingers.

[Ianna!]

“It’s been a while, Towe.”

[It has. It was only but a moment considering how long I’ve been alive, but it was still a long time to be apart from you. Thank you for calling me! ……Hmm?]

Towe flinched and suddenly began looking around at his surroundings.

[This place feels terrible. It’s filled with dirt that’s lost all its life……I almost feel like I’m looking at the Demon’s physical body. I want to wipe it all away, but I’m loath to touch it because there are very powerful grudges lingering on this land. Where is this place? It looks like we’re near the Girohai Desert, but…….]

It looked like Towe was feelings traces of the Ghosts.

Ianna provided him with a brief explanation on the Ghosts. Towe fell silent for a moment upon listening before he awkwardly said,

[I see there are bastards going around breaking the laws that Laos had set and are doing the same things that people did back during the Holy Age. No, they’re even worse if they’re processing the divine power into a drug and selling it. They’re no better than the actual Demon himself.]

Towe kicked against the ground in indignation before letting out a deep breath. Technically, he had spat out an outpour of tiny pebbles instead of taking a literal breath, but his actions expressed his displeasure well enough.

Towe looked up and looked directly at Ianna.

[You seem to have called Innis not too long ago —did you need my help on something related to the earth? If you wish for it, I can upturn this entire place and make new land to replace it. Or did you want to learn more about the Holy Age?]

Ianna asked Towe all sorts of questions as she recited things that she had written down in her notebook, and Towe affirmed all of them without the slightest hesitation.

[I am earth itself. Nothing is impossible for me if it concerns the earth. And it’s the same for the others too. But there’s a limit to how much of my powers I can manifest in this tiny body. I would need to return to my ‘true form’ if I want to use my powers properly.]

His true form. He was probably referring to the form that the dwarves had made a statue after in their village.

Ianna recalled what the statue had looked like for a moment and nodded.

“I’ll call you if I need you.”

She almost heard Arhad nagging at her for a moment.

But, no matter how hard she thought about it, she felt like she would be all right even if she called the spirits as frequently as she pleased.

She knew how much divine power she consumed every second now that she was training how Arhad had taught her to.

She had divided the total amount of divine power she had outside of the invisible wall around her heart by the amount she consumed every second to calculate her life span, only to find that, so long as there was nothing wrong with her heart, she had enough divine power to live impossibly long for a human, though her lifespan would not be as long as an elf’s.

And, while the divine power pooled outside her heart was one thing, she could not even begin to estimate how much divine power she had inside the walls around her heart.

She had been training consistently to bring out all of her divine power outside her heart, but her divine power seemed to have no end.

She had even tried handling a large amount at once and, as if her divine power was infinite, and a constant storm of divine power had flowed out from her heart like a tsunami.

Ianna already had so much divine power outside her heart, and yet its flow never seemed to end, and she almost wondered if she had something like a fragment of chaos inside her heart that was constantly generating divine power.

In any event, the conclusion she had reached after clashing with Arhad about the matter and agonizing over it all this time was that, although the spirits shaved away her life, it was a great power that, alongside her divine power, she absolutely must familiarize herself with so long as she could endure it. After all, it was one of the talents she had been blessed with, like swordplay and divine power.

‘And I’m sure that it’ll be helpful to Arhad one day.’

Arhad had successfully taken the imperial throne even without her.

If he didn’t need her help, then perhaps it was enough to simply stay by his side and make him happy in this life —something he stated so frequently he was practically brainwashing her with his words.

But that wasn’t the kind of life that Ianna wanted.

She wanted to grow stronger and stronger until she finally reached the peak.

She wanted to win her complete victory over Arhad.

And she wanted to become someone immensely useful to Arhad. Whether by her swordplay, her divine power, or by using the spiritual arts —she would be truly happy if she could make his path even just a little easier.

And, how was she to know? It was always possible that he could come across an enemy whom he found difficult to overcome with human strength alone.

If such a thing should ever come to pass, then Ianna wanted to be as his strength. The spirits were near-miraculous beings, and they had power over abilities that were generally branded as impossible —such as regenerating entire limbs that had been severed.

Which meant that she needed to experience summoning a spirit king’s true form at least once.

[Really? Oh, I know that I told you that it might be possible for you before, but I had always thought that it would be impossible to manifest our real forms in the physical plane after the Holy Age Ended…….]

Towe’s body exploded and crumbled, unable to hide his joy. Ianna stroked the resulting crumbs.

[Let me know anytime should you need my power. I will do my very best to help you. You probably won’t ever need my true form, but……ahh, just imagining it feels like a happy dream!]

Towe was overjoyed, and so Ianna decided try summoning his true from if something completely unexpected happened and if things took a turn for the worst tonight —there were many risky elements at play, after all—, but there was just one thing tugging at her heart, prompting her to ask,

“There’s something I’ve been wondering about, Towe…… You manifest your powers using the divine power that I give you. And you told me before that people’s divine power has a ‘taste’ that’s inherently unique to them, right?”

[Yes.]

“In that case, would it still feel like me when you use your powers?”

[Hmm. It would feel like you if I didn’t go out of my way to bring your divine power under my dominion. Just like how the living beings created from Laos’ divine powers feel like Laos, or like how Chendelf’s hands, made by your divine power, feel like you.]

“And if you bring my divine power under your complete control?”

[Then any earth produced would be wholly and completely earth. Though I don’t feel the need to go out of my way to do it, since it would consume a considerable amount of willpower.]

But this was necessary for Ianna, who absolutely could not have her identity revealed.

A Demon’s fragment shareholder’s spells could be dispelled with just an elven scroll. But Ianna also had to pay attention to the fact that a power dwelling within an object was far weaker than if the caster had cast it directly.

But what if there was someone who could cast a spell so powerful that even an elf could not dispel it directly?

‘They would probably be an owner of a Demon’s fragment.’

Ianna had immediately thought of the Demon’s fragments when she heard Saki’s story.

And she had also thought about the ties between Sidian and the Black Fox.

‘It might even be a mage affiliated with either the Black Fox or Bahamut, like Keigus Dimitri.’

The thick layers of rage within Ianna’s heart began to surface as she thought of Keigus Dimitri, who had once tormented her so.

‘Keigus Dimitri…….’

Not only had he caused her to lose her ability to reason for a moment, but Arhad had been the one to finish him off because Ianna had not been able to face him by using mana alone, and the experience lingered in her heart as resentment.

She had truly reflected a lot after that.

On how, in her indolence, she had not fought at her best against her enemies and had been slovenly about following through. On how feeble her willpower had been and how lacking her skill.

She would have never gotten the bastard’s blood on her hair if she had been doing her upmost in the first place. She would have noticed the blood on her hair and cut it off immediately if she had been thorough. She would have never been seized by the shame she felt at making a mistake and act so stupidly afterward if her willpower had been stronger. She would have been able to murder the bastard as soon as they had met, regardless of whether or not he possessed a Demon’s fragment, if she had been more skilled.

If her swordplay had reached the peak of swordsmanship, then she would have been able to take his head even without having to control mana.

‘This is a separate issue from the fact that I trusted Arhad and relied on him back then.’

She did not let it show because she was ashamed, but the experience had colored Ianna greatly.

Keigus Dimitri, the mage who owned a Demon’s fragment, was already dead, but he had died hundreds of more times in Ianna’s mind. And she continued to kill him again in more varied ways as she trained harder and made rapid progress with her swordplay, as she grew better at controlling both mana and divine power.

She had long since determined that she could kill him now with just her sword alone.

She always resolved herself anew.

That she would take their head and avenge herself if she ever came across a mage who owned a Demon’s fragment.

For that was the only way by which she could break free of the fetters called Keigus Dimitri and take another step forward.

‘But Arhad needs to collect the Demon’s fragments, so I shouldn’t go off on my own and recklessly murder prominent figures from Bahamut without consulting him first. And there’s a chance that the Ghosts might not have anything to do with the Demon’s fragments. There’s a chance I might not meet a beneficiary tonight.’

Her burning rage mixed into her cold rationality and simmered down to one conclusion.

If the mage who had cast the spells over the factory was an owner of a Demon’s fragment, if they were from the Black Fox, and if they showed up before her…….

She would absolutely cut off at least one part of their body with just her swordplay alone.

“I would strongly prefer that you use your powers only after dying my divine power in your own color from now on, Towe.”

Towe intoned when Ianna made her stern request.

[It would be another story were it anyone else asking, but that’s difficult to do with your divine power. The color dying your divine power is too strong and can’t be easily erased. It would still have traces of your hue even if I dyed it in my own color.]

“That makes me a bit uncomfortable. Is there really no other way?”

[There’s one —it’s simple, but also very difficult. You would need to relinquish control over your divine power.]

“What do you mean?”

[The concentration of one’s color matches the strength of one’s ego. And one’s ego is one’s will to exist. Erasing your own color essentially means giving up on life. That’s the kind of mentality you would require to erase your color.]

“…….”

[It will not be easy.]

Ianna understood and nodded with a solemn look on her face.

But then, she noticed that something was odd. If she willingly consumed divine power to call the spirits, then didn’t it also mean that she was willing to give up some of her life? If she considered this more carefully…….

“I think I might be able to do it.”

Ianna closed her eyes and concentrated on her heartbeat. Her divine power lingering around her heart drew outside her body in accordance to her will. The tiny amount of divine power she had drawn out was crimson in color.

Ianna strongly repeated to herself,

‘I want to give up on this much of my life.’

But its color only faded a little when all she did was think this. There was no way that her subconscious instinct as a living being would allow her color to vanish, so long as she wasn’t suicidal or willing to sacrifice herself.

But then, why was she still able to give her divine power to the spirits in the first place?

The answer was obvious. She needed to give her life away for her own sake, and not for any other’s. The divine power gathered at the tip of her finger began to change. It indecisively flickered between being more or less saturated, unable to decide on just one of the two.

‘I must give this up.’

‘Why?’ —the question resounded back in her soul.

‘Because I need Towe’s complete power. And so, I absolutely must give up on this much life and give it to Towe.’

The color vanished from her divine power like a flame going out as soon as she thought of a clear objective. Then, the now-translucent divine power obeyed the last will she had imprinted on it and flowered toward Towe. The divine power dyed an earthly brown as soon as it touched Towe and was completely absorbed into him.

[Oh……?]

Towe intoned as he tasted his own flavor so clearly for the first time in ages. He gently touched Ianna’s finger as she observed him with her eyes wide open.

[That was perfect. I see there was no point in me worrying about it.]

“Will I be able to completely hide my identity now?”

[When you’re using your power, yes. But there is nothing you can do about the feeling that you give off directly.]

Ianna spent a while practicing transferring her divine power to Towe without letting any excess leak out from her. She hadn’t had even an idea of how to start at first, but she could do it now that she had trained with Arhad and was familiar with controlling her divine power.

“Watch carefully, Towe.”

Ianna focused her mind of the feeling that naturally flowed out from her. Now that she thought about it, Finn, Chendelf, Saki, Vita, and Keigus had all said that they felt something from her. They were probably referring to the same feeling she was focusing on now.

“What about now?”

She asked after hiding her presence like she did when she was tailing someone, and Towe replied that her feeling had faded somewhat. Her goal had been to feel like an inanimate object, so perhaps she had succeeded in part.

This was a problem that she absolutely must resolve for the future, even if not for raiding the Ghosts’ factory tonight. She was planning to keep acting as a body double for Camastros’ leader in order to confuse their enemies, but the feeling she gave off might make it possible for their enemies to realize that ‘Ann’ and ‘Ianna’ were one and the same.

According to Arhad’s plans, she would need to keep acting as Camastros’ ‘Ann’ at least until she graduated from the Institution. In other words, she would need to be able to kill off whatever feeling it was that she gave off when she was not acting as Ann and had to demonstrate the entirety of her skills.

That in and of itself would not be a problem. But if she had to demonstrate her abilities outside of her capacity as Ann like now…….

‘Then I can only use my swordplay.’

Indeed. Swordplay was the only means by which she could erase her presence like a ghost and attack while keeping her identity a secret.

Ultimately, she had returned to her roots.

Mana and divine power were incredible abilities, but even they had their limits. Mana was the Demon’s power and therefore could not be completely hers, whereas divine power was her life itself and she could not use it recklessly —and she could not use either if she needed to hide her identity.

In other words, the only existence in which she could pour out her everything whenever and wherever she was, was her sword.

Ianna hugged her sword, which had been lying by her side, closer to her. Her sword felt precious to her anew.

‘I feel like I’ve been neglecting my sword a bit as I learned how to control my divine power.’

Ianna had learned the basics of controlling her divine power during the first semester of her second year at school, so she resolved herself to redouble her training in swordplay when she got back —and simultaneously, she was glad to have run into this incident with the Ghosts’ factory because she had gained a lot from it, both mentally and physically.

[In that case, I’ll let the others know about this too. I’ll be waiting for you to call me again.]

Towe was unsummoned as he consumed all of the divine power Ianna had given him.

And it was nearly two in the morning.

“We will commence our operation in twenty minutes!”

Ianna fished through her bag and held her puppy plush in both her hands.

Holding something that he, who always told her how awesome and amazing she was, had given her gave her confidence. The shadow of anxiety vanished from her and she gained a measure of composure.

Part 7

The place they reached after following the path the stars had drawn in the sky was an empty wilderness. Most people had hidden themselves behind the rocks that littered the path every now and again, and only a small group of highly skilled individuals, including Saki and Ianna, continued on while pretending to be mere passersby.

Saki, who had been observing the skies, brought her gaze back down to earth and pointed to a specific location. And illusion spell would activate as soon as they passed through the place she had marked.

There were three layers of magic.

In order from the outside in, they were Illusion, Alarm, and Barrier.

Illusion concealed away the factory while simultaneously paralyzing people’s sense of direction and naturally turning them away.

If people resisted the Illusion spell and continued toward the factory, they would soon reach the Alarm spell, which notified the Ghosts of intruders, and the bastards protecting the factory would attack them.

And finally, Barrier was a powerful defensive spell that prevented all intruders from breaking in.

The three spells were as sturdy as a wall of tightly packed bricks and could only be resisted by using divine arts. Countless high-ranking holy knights had laid down their lives to learn more about this place, and all the information they had won had made its way to Saki’s hands.

Ianna stepped forward and scrutinized the flow of mana. She did not feel any specific arrangement of mana, perhaps because a mage had used a spell to hide it. But she soon found a very sturdy arrangement of mana before her as she kept concentrating.

Ianna lost herself in thought as she felt the mana twining around her fingers.

‘Can I do this without using divine power?’

She almost felt like she could.

Ianna thought back on how Arhad had said that mana loved her and could not refuse her if she asked it sincerely.

‘Scatter.’

She felt the steadfast arrangement of mana recoil. But it did not succumb to her will quite yet.

‘Please scatter.’

The mana felt uneasy, perhaps because she wasn’t ordering it around, but it did not leave its arrangement.

If the mana was a person, then it probably would have been staring earnestly at Ianna by now. But it was an invisible energy, so Ianna could only grumble as she continued to send her thoughts toward it.

‘Won’t you listen to my request?’

Then, she put in a bit of affection in the will she conveyed.

‘I thought you loved me.’

Shaaaaaa!

The mana seemed to stiffen up for a moment before it suddenly undid the arrangement it was in.

The mana, which had been maintaining the illusion here for quite some time now, returned to nature like a powerful gust of wind blowing out from the inside of the spell.

Ianna felt satisfied by how the mana was acting for some reason as she looked forward. There was a shabby building standing tall at the center of the field, and it was large enough that entire carts and wagons could probably fit through its doors.

It was the entrance to the underground factory.

“Intruders!”

A group of a dozen or so warriors who had been guarding the entrance shouted as some of them rushed toward Ianna and her group with their weapons drawn while the others hurried inside.

Those inside an illusion spell could see the people outside, and the guards normally spent their time cracking jokes and making fun of those who were under the effects of the spell for wandering in and out of its confines like dunces.

And so, they had realized that something extraordinary was happening when the illusion spell, which had held steady for over two hundred years, vanished completely.

Ianna turned to Saki and said,

“We should take the shortest route possible now.”

“It didn’t take you very long to undo the spell. We will take care of them, so please focus on dispelling the rest, Lady Anna.”

Saki signaled to her men hidden behind them as she nodded to Ianna.

Slam!

Ianna kicked hard against the ground and broke out into a run, and Saki’s people came out of hiding and ran after her.

The guards’ eyes grew bloodshot as they ran directly toward the group while shouting,

“How dare you step foot into this place?!”

“Die!”

Their attacked focused on Ianna, who was at the forefront of her group, just as the two sides were about to clash.

Ianna’s image grew hazy as she evaded their attacks, and she was behind the attackers when she next appeared. The bastards hesitated when their target seemed to vanish before their very eyes, and Ianna took the chance to run far ahead.

Then, they collided directly into Saki and her men, who had been following behind Ianna.

Buzzz.

Ianna put the shouting, screaming, and clashing of steel behind her as she gathered divine power in her palms.

She had successfully dispelled the magic without using divine power, and she would have preferred to keep doing it that way, but it took quite a while to coax the mana into listening to her. The arrangement for the alarm spell was studier than the arrangement for the illusion spell and seemed like it would take a long time to unravel.

There was no need for her to cram her divine power in between the arrangement of mana. Magic was powerful, but it was also an incomplete power that would fall apart as soon as even the smallest hole was pricked in it. Her divine power was simply a medium to help convey her will.

Ianna spread her hands as soon as she arrived near the border of the alarm spell.

‘Scatter!’

Clap!

Shaaaa!

The divine power she had gathered in her hands sent out a shockwave that conveyed her will when she clapped her hands together, and the alarm spell burst apart just like the illusion spell had.

“Move faster!”

“Shit, who the fuck are they?!”

Only the barrier spell was left to dispel now, but people were pouring out from the factory entrance.

Perhaps it was because they had never imagined that they would ever be attacked, much less in the middle of the night, but the bastards each had confusion and bewilderment written plainly on their faces. But one of them, who looked to be their leader, spat calmly in his hands and readjusted his grip on his sword.

“These bastards must have come here looking for a place to die. Do you even know what kind of place this is?”

They were wearing civilian clothes, but they did not seem to be mere bandits. They were very well-trained.

Moreover, Ianna had fought numerous bandits until now, and she had even thought that some of them had been considerably skilled. But even the most skilled bandit she had fought wouldn’t have stood a chance against the weakest guard she was standing against now.

“We’ll take him on.”

Saki and Vita, who had been running alongside Ianna, stepped forward.

Buzzzz!

A glowing magic circle appeared in front of Saki. She did not even need to take the time to draw it.

Pew! Ping! Pow! Pow pow!

“It’s a mage!”

Small but undeniably powerful magic missiles shot out from the magic circle and beat down at the enemy. The bastards could no longer advance, as they were either too busy hitting back at the magic missiles or sent flying backwards by them.

Buzzz!

Another magic circle formed to their left and began shooting out more magic missiles. The magic missiles naturally pushed them to the right, and every newcomer pouring out from the factory entrance also ran to their right to avoid the onslaught.

Ianna used the opening to move away from the bastards and approach the building from the left, and yet another magic circle appeared next to Saki.

The magic circle glowed and slow began revolving, and a large black sphere appeared in the midst of the scattered enemy forces. The black sphere pulled their enemies closer with an enormous gravitational force, and the enemies were dragged closer until they were stuck to the sphere.

Swish!

Vita threw a rope. A wind spirit shaped like a winged fairy took hold of the rope, tied the bastards who had been pulled toward the black hole and their apparent leader together, and began dragging them away.

“Kgh!”

“Ahh! Save us!”

The wind spirit brought the bastards high in the sky before flying off somewhere at the speed of sound. It had taken them to a hideout that Vita had designated beforehand.

They only needed a few people to pry out information from —they had no use for the rest. Yet another magic circle spread out with the black sphere at its center. Saki was quadra-casting —there was no telling how sharp her mind was.

Rumble rumble…….

The spells that Saki had cast were high-leveled spatial magics called Black Hole and Gravity respectively, and they created an invisible pathway called a wormhole when they overlapped.

The black hole sucked in the gravitational forces given off by the gravity spell, and the people adhered to the sphere vanished as they were drawn in.

They would travel through the wormhole and exit through a white hole that had been created somewhere at random. They would survive if they were lucky, but their chances were slim. Normally, wormholes tended to connect underground, in outer space, or in the middle of the ocean.

Ianna had dispelled the barrier as Saki and Vita took care of the attackers. She had already dispelled it once, but the spell had quickly manifest itself again. In other words, the spell hadn’t been cast and maintained by a mage but was likely drawing power from mana stones to manifest.

Ianna traced the flow of mana and found a spot that seemed to be creating a current. She stretched out her hands. The mana that burst out from her hand beat precisely against that spot.

Thwack!

There was a large stone slate in the middle of the sand as it split away like an opening book. Six mana stones, each as large as a person, were arranged in a large circle, and a large and complex magic circle had been drawn in between them.

The magic circle was drawing mana from the giant mana stones to manifest the barrier. In other words, the circle would be rendered useless if the mana stones were shattered.

Mana stones were rocks with mana floating inside them. The mana made them very sturdy, but it also made them unstable like magic. When the current of mana inside them was unbalanced, the side with less mana became very brittle.

Ianna did not even need to use divine power.

Swish.

Ianna drew her sword. Then, she brandished it.

Her blade sliced through the powerful gust of wind the mana was whipping up and hit against the weakest portion of a mana stone.

Crack!

The mana stone applauded her performance by shattering.

The barrier grew weaker as Ianna destroyed the other mana stones one after another, reducing them to little more than trash, before it vanished completely.

Once the wind of mana had died down, Ianna brandished her sword against the stone slate and carved out countless scars on its surface, rendering it useless.

Ianna took one satisfactory look at the magic circle that she had thoroughly ruined before turning back to where Saki was.

Illusion, Alarm, and Barrier had all been dispelled, and she had created a path for them to infiltrate the factory with.

No fewer than six people felt the aftereffects when she undid the spells.

The fighting outside ended quickly once the magics had been dispelled.

A few people remained to keep watch and clean up, and everyone else walked into the now-empty building doors.

The entrance to the factory.

They found a ramp as soon as they stepped foot inside.

As they had expected, the passageway was wide and high enough to let carts and wagons through with room to spare, but rails had been installed in the middle of the passage to allow a large cart with levers on it to travel above and below them. There were cruel bloodstains splattered all over the cart, as it had likely been used to transport victims.

Whoooosh…….

A few people gulped as they gazed down into the passageway. It was impossible to see what was ahead, perhaps because there was no lighting along the walls. Everything was pitch-black.

The stench of blood and the foul odor of rotting corpses made people feel like they were staring into the gaping maw of a monster about to devour its prey.

Saki climbed into the cart with the mages and priests —the slowest of their group— and began fiddling with the lever. Metal grated against metal as the cart creaked, and Saki waved as it finally began to move.

“We’re breaking through. Vita!”

Vita, who had been standing next to Saki, readily shot out and dashed into the pitch-black darkness that no one could see into. Others gained courage upon seeing his long legs move as if he knew neither fear nor hesitation and ran after him.

The cart moved quickly along the rails. Ianna heard Saki call out to her as she ran alongside the cart.

“Thank you so much for helping us, Lady Anna. As planned, we will fight any enemies we might face moving forward. But please lend us a hand if things start growing perilous for us.”

Ianna nodded. She was only interested in any mages who might be benefitting from a Demon’s fragment. There was no need for her to waste her strength on small fry.

Crackle!

They had been running down the passageway after Vita, who was running as quietly as if he was running on soft grasses, but a sudden bolt of lightning illuminated the halls before them while sounding as if a thunderbolt had hit a tree.

Buzz—

Vita flourished his hands, covered in his indigo divine power.

Bang!

The powerful offensive spell dispersed in but an instant. Then, Vita scrunched his nose and summoned an eagle-shaped spirit while saying,

“There are toxins in the air, so please don’t breathe it in.”

A whirlwind stirred up by the wind spirit as it flapped its wings raged before them for a moment before swiftly flowing out toward the entrance.

Bang! Baang!

More spells and toxins poured out on them as they continued down, but Vita took care of everything with relative ease.

It was no wonder why Saki had trusted him enough to bring along.

Ianna, who had been watching him from behind, was impressed as she quietly set her fighting spirit ablaze.

‘Spells that even someone as skilled as Vita couldn’t dispel……I’m sure of it.’

They cleared the passageway quickly, as Vita had eliminated all the dangers himself, and arrived at a large set of doors blocking their path forward. Five out-of-breath mages were glowering at them in front of the doors.

“These bastards came prepared. Hold out until the reinforcements arrive!”

The mages began blabbering away with unfamiliar Northern words mixed into their speech. Vita whispered to Saki when the cart had stopped.

“The mage who cast the spells outside the factory isn’t here.”

“Then they aren’t our enemies.”

One of the ashen-faced mages cried out to them.

“I don’t know how you bastards found this place, but you’ve dug your own graves. Get lost before you truly regret it!”

The other mages began mumbling as they calculated their spells. Strange things began happening to the bodies of Saki’s allies a moment after the first mage had shouted at them.

“Ack!”

Some of Saki’s allies grew rigid and lost the ability to move, sank down as their arms or legs dropped out from their sockets, and others developed a red spot on their skin that itched so much they thought it might kill them —but Saki simply snorted as they suffered from the physical pain.

“Have these mages been researching bio magic? To think they would play petty tricks with bio magic in front of me.”

Saki focused and brought the tips of two of her fingers together. A magic circle with a pattern that looked like it had been tangled with bone and muscle appeared before her.

Saki’s pumpkin-colored eyes glistened as the mages’ eyes dribbled down from their sockets like melting ice.

“Ahhhh……!”

Saki’s magic circle altered ever so slightly as they clutched at their eyes.

Drip, driiip.

Their entire bodies poured to the floor like jelly this time. Their bones and organs scattered everywhere, and their arms and legs protruded out from wherever they fell, and the mages’ new, inhuman forms solidified as Saki undid her magic circle.

The mages gurgled pitifully, unable to die even after having been reduced to such grotesque forms.

Saki stared down at them quietly and clicked her tongue before bringing her hands together.

“I see that I have not been training in my asceticism enough, judging by how my past self still shows from time to time. Please forgive me for destroying your beautiful creations, Lord Laos.”

Vita, who had dispelled the magic cast on their allies and restored them to their original forms while Saki was taking care of the mages, stepped up to the firmly closed doors.

He tried to open them with brute force, but then he stepped back and contemplated for a moment when they didn’t budge and called upon the wind spirit again without any hesitation, as if he had been planning to call it to begin with.

Craaaaaash!

The doors were blown away with a deafening roar. People screamed as the doors hit them. And all sorts of stenches and sounds poured into the passageway from behind the doors.

The stench of sewage, rot, and blood.

The sounds of screaming, suffering, and weeping.

Saki grasped the situation as soon as she stepped inside and raised her hand.

“……Rescue squad!”

The large space, which was circular save for the passage they had come from, the six passages the led elsewhere, and the large set of doors on the other side that opened into yet another wide passageway —eight offshoots in total—, was a prison surrounded by rusty iron bars along the walls.

People in appalling conditions had been crammed inside smaller cells like objects. They looked toward Saki in alarm, but they soon turned back in resignation to the tightly shut doors at the end of the hall and the dozen or so warriors standing near them.

Those doors were their final stop. The prison was filled with traces that people had been dragged out from their cells toward the doors.

“Prepare a broad-scale Teleport, and infiltration squad —fight them and break through!”

Saki’s people began moving in perfect order upon hearing her orders, and one of the warriors standing guard by the doors glowered at her.

“I don’t know where you bugs crawled in from, but I can see that you’ve gone mad and want to die. But this is as far as you’ll go. Leave.”

Saki took a step forward after he had finished speaking.

“I don’t know how skilled you purport to be, but I can see that you’re no better than trash. Get out of our way.”

“I can’t do that.”

Claaang!

The warriors standing in front of the doors all drew their weapons. Saki’s people had already had their weapons drawn and were already pointing them at their enemies. The warriors grit their teeth audibly.

“You bastards are already as good as dead. But we cannot allow ourselves to die here with you.”

His words were filled with confidence and suggested that their future of death had already been determined. But their confidence had not stemmed from themselves. Was it Saki’s imagination that he seemed to refer to a non-present third party who would be responsible for their deaths? She felt like something was a little off.

Saki muttered,

“……Are they referring to the mage who cast the spells on the factory?”

Ianna, who was standing toward the back of their group, concurred.

“Die!”

Meanwhile, the warriors rushed at them. Saki’s group and the warriors clashed vehemently.

The warriors here were a cut more skilled than the bastards who had attacked them at the factory entrance. They were of a similar level to Saki’s men, whom she had hand-picked specifically for this mission.

Ianna placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, wondering if she should join, when someone grabbed the hem of her shirt.

“B-Boss…….”

Herrace, who had been assigned to the relatively safer rescue squad with Taro, had walked up to Ianna at some point. He pointed to somewhere as he continued with a tremble in his voice.

“Over there……from the back alleys…….”

He was pointing to a girl sitting in a blank gloom behind iron bars.

Ianna, who had a quick eye for things, understood immediately. It was the drug addict girl who had screamed at Herrace when they had been walking through the slum-like back alleys of Lampinion.

‘It’ll spell trouble if she gets involved.’

The people behind the Ghosts would chase after them like mad if they learned that the trio from Lampinion had infiltrated the factory. It was only a guess, but Ianna was fairly certain that the Ghosts were the Black Fox’s doing —and nothing would be worse than if they Black Fox decided to come after them.

“Listen up. We absolutely cannot let anyone know that we met that girl at Lampinion. Make sure you’re far away from her cell while you’re helping out with the rescue squad.”

“O-okay. I’ll stick to the other side of the room.”

Saki’s men had nearly finished clearing a path to the door while Ianna and Herrace were talking.

“You……insects!”

One of the Ghosts’ warriors saw this and raised his fighting spirit as his eyes dyed red.

“No, you idiot! You can’t control it yet!”

“Shut up! Who cares about how we die? If I have to die, then I’m at least going to take one of these fuckers down with me!”

One of his colleagues caught wind of what he was about to do and tried to stop him, but it was already too late. Mana began to swirl around him. An energy that wasn’t mana began to cover his sword.

It was divine power. It was divine power, but it was a revolting color, as if all sorts of things had been mixed into it. And Ianna remembered that she had seen a similar color before.

‘Formido.’

One of the twelve knight orders of the Bahamut imperial palace.

The commander of the Knights of Grundewalz, who was dead now.

His sword, covered in divine power, reached the chest of the person who had been fighting him. Vita jumped in before the sword could cut deep into the person’s chest and split it open and beat the blade back.

“You’re all dead meat……nothing’s going to stop me now.”

Vita glared not at the panting and cursing man, but at the divine power wrapped around his sword.

“……You’re using Life to fortify your sword, human.”

Vita flared with a powerful rage.

He knew that good humans existed. But he still found most humans despicable save for a select few.

They were like mayflies who lived but very short lives.

They were greedy and foolish…… They were evil beings no different from the Demon itself.

‘Why did God Laos create these humans and love them above all else?’

Vita’s rage drew out his bloodlust, which was rare to see from him.

Clang!

Vita drew the dagger that had been sheathed at his waist. Unlike the warrior’s, the divine power covering his blade was bright and clear. Vita, who had beaten back the warrior’s blackish blade, cut off his opponent’s hand without a moment’s hesitation.

“……!”

Then, he cut the warrior’s carotid artery as the latter screamed in pain. Vita stepped over the collapsed man and summoned the eagle-shaped wind spirit. The spirit raised razor-like blades of wind to cut down the remaining warriors and beat against the closed doors with a squall.

Craaaaaaash!

The doors broke and blasted away just like last time. The fierce wounds that Vita had laid on his enemies proved fatal, and the scales of the once-even battle tipped sharply to one side.

Ianna, who had been lost in thought as she watched Vita fight, kicked off hard against the floor as soon as the space opened up and dashed through the doors.

She had predicted it to some extent, because the reek of blood had burst toward them as soon as the doors had been blasted away, but what she saw inside was truly so gruesome that words could not do the scene justice.

“Ugh……ughh…….”

Corpses, like the ones she had seen at the Ghosts’ Banquet, were stacked up like luggage in carts off to one corner of the chamber, and people, who were on their way to becoming more corpses, were groaning as they sat on strangely-shaped chairs that were set up all throughout.

There were shackles with steel spikes on the arms and legs of the chairs, and those who had been fettered by them did not move at all. There was a peculiar machine next to each chair, and hoses dangled out from each of them and plugged into the seated victims’ hearts.

The hoses drew blood directly from the victims’ hearts. The blood passed through the machines that could recognize the flow of mana, and most of it was dumped into buckets like mere waste. And yet, a stage liquid was being created within the machines and dribbled down into familiarly-shaped bottles.

And next to the machines were boxes filled with small heaps of precious Life.

Ianna could not help but recall the theory she had assumed while listening to what Vita had told her previously as she saw the scene before her.

‘They might be sending these drugs to Bahamut. To raise up knights like Formido who know how to control divine power…….’

“Y-y-you bastards are all as good as dead now!”

“The masters won’t let you live!”

She had been so focused on the machines themselves that she had ignored the people standing behind every one of them, and she looked up subconsciously upon hearing the frightened voice only to have her eyes fixated on how peculiar they looked.

They looked similar to humans, but they were not fully human and had fox-like ears and tails.

They were beastmen.

“He, hehe……. Petty humans……. It’s too late to beg for your lives now.”

One of them giggled and picked up one of the hearts that had been piled up next to the buckets of blood. He opened his mouth and chowed down on the heart with his sharp teeth like it was a snack and smirked with his bloodied lips when he was done.

“They’ll kill the whole lot of you when they come……. And we’ll make sure to eat up your delicious hearts when you’re dead…….”

He didn’t seem to be in his right mind.

Ianna ignored them and walked ahead —she felt like she might make a negative judgment about the beastmen race as a whole if she paid them any head— and picked up one of the boxes of Life.

One of the beastmen who had been pacing around nearby ran up to her.

“Put that down, you cheeky human!”

Ianna’s fist went flying toward the bastard’s face when he opened his mouth as if he meant to bite her arm off.

Poow!

Tumble!

She had punched him so hard that his face might fracture, and he tumbled across the floor and into a machine on the other side of the chamber.

“Trash.”

Ianna looked wintry as she brushed off her wrist. She continued,

“How dare you try to put your dirty mouth on me?”

The bastard staggered up and his eyes were slightly unfocused as he mumbled,

“You’re just a human…….”

“Shut up before I break your mouth.”

Ianna forced the beastman into silence, opened the bag she had been carrying, and shoved the bottles of Life inside. There was still Life left in the box even after she had filled her bag until it was bursting at the seams. And there were still more boxes of Life scattered along the floor.

“This was beyond by expectations,”

said Saki, who had followed in after Ianna and had quickly estimated how many bottles of Life there were, as the blood drained from her face. She ordered her people to begin confiscating the Life, and she went around breaking down the machines and helped put the dying victims to rest.

It was difficult to even imagine how much terror and despair they must have felt as they could do nothing but watch as their lives was drained from them.

Their tear-stained faces were so ashen and they looked like they no longer had the spare strength to speak, and their shallow breathing heralded death —there was no hope for them.

Meanwhile, Ianna was observing the beastmen, who had stopped operating the machines and were huddling in one corner of the chamber.

Their fox-like ears and tails were black. She had only heard of beastmen before —she had not met one yet—, but they appeared to be black fox-types.

The chief of the black fox clan was Payne, the leader of the Black Fox. And so, she was now certain. The Black Fox was behind the Ghosts’ Banquets.

This was only her guess, but Life had only been sold to high-ranking figures to make easy money and to cover up the true purpose of Life —which was to ship off to Bahamut so they could nurture powerful soldiers.

That being said, there was so much Life here and it had been manufactured for so long, so where had it all gone to?

Saki finished sending off the people who had been fastened to the chairs in peace before ordering her subordinates to bring one of the machines that manufactured Life with them. Then, she walked up to the beastmen and asked,

“Is this the only factory?”

“Factory? Are you talking about places like this? Of course not.”

The beastmen answered her readily and honestly. But rather than being afraid of the infiltrators, they seemed to simply not feel the need to mind their words because they were certain that the infiltrators would be dead soon anyway.

“How many lives are required to create one bottle of Life?”

“About five, if they’re lower-grade?”

“These machines are pieces of trash, I see!”

“Hey, those things are expensive! Do you know how hard we worked to help the masters make those?!”

The beastmen began squawking in displeasure when one of the people on the infiltration squad kicked a machine, unable to hold back his fury.

“To think that beastmen were behind the Ghosts’ Banquets,”

Vita said frigidly as he covered his eyes. He continued,

“The beastmen whom I know would never do something this evil. For what reason are you hurting these humans down in these cellars?”

One of the beastmen tilted his head to the side, baffled.

“Reason? Evil? We don’t care about any of that. We are simply doing anything we can to help our masters.”

Another beastman bit into the heart he had been holding as he added,

“You’re calling us evil? I suppose. But does good and evil really exist in a world where you either eat or be eaten? Isn’t strength the only thing that matters?”

“Exactly. The masters are strong and merciful. We’re weak, and they protect us. They let us eat the delicious hearts and blood that pile up as we work. How could we possibly eat this many hearts if we live outside while pretending to be good? We’d never have enough —we’d be clutching our stomachs as we starve—, and we’d get crushed by someone stronger.”

“We’re sick and tired of that. Ah, we haven’t seen the masters in so long —I miss them.”

The masters.

Who were these masters whom they were so blindly loyal to?

Ianna had a bad feeling about all of this.

“We’re just about finished over there. And the Teleport spell is almost complete.”

One of the people who had been in charge of rescuing the victims in the other room walked in and reported to Saki just as the infiltration squad was almost done packing away the samples of Life. Saki turned to Ianna.

“We should leave this place soon. If these bastards are being honest, then the mage who cast the spells around the factory will be here soon, and I am beginning to have a bad premonition about staying any longer.”

Ianna concurred with Saki’s pessimistic outlook. Saki continued,

“Tie some of them up, Vita, and let’s get out of here.”

They decided to take a few of the beastmen back with them and leave the rest. Vita took out some rope and tied up a few beastmen without a word. They did not struggle against him at all. And their relaxed attitude made everything only feel more ominous.

The infiltration squad left the beastmen behind and were about to quickly leave the chamber, but the beastmen, who had simply huddled up in a corner and watched no matter what they did, suddenly began chasing after them.

“What’s this? Are you running away?”

“Now you’re afraid?”

“Don’t go. You need to get punished by the masters!”

The beastman whom Ianna had punched earlier tried to jump her as she reached the exit.

“I won’t let you go, human!”

“Hey, Bo…….”

Just then, Taro walked through the exit as if he had been waiting there. He caught sight of the beastman who had been able to swoop down on Ianna.

And the beastman instantly froze solid.

“…….”

“…….”

But that wasn’t all —every beastmen behind him froze up as well. Their ears and tails bristled up as they stared fixedly at Taro for some reason.

Taro muttered,

“Don’t tell me these bastards are…….”

Ianna, who could not comprehend what was going on, looked between Taro and the beastmen in turns. It was difficult to tell because his face was covered, but Ianna was fairly certain that he was glaring back at them.

“So they are. Hey.”

A blue flame flared up from his robes as Taro glowered. He continued,

“Where do ya traitorous bastards think yer goin’?”

Ianna’s gaze fixed on Taro as she heard the strange nuance in his words and felt the brutal feeling it was giving off.

The hostility and bloodlust he was emitting was no joke.

He felt like a completely different person from the Taro she had met at the Institution, who was carefree and swung around his fists and sword like he was having great fun. She had never seen him be so terribly hostile before. It was almost like he could kill with his glare alone.

“I’ve heard about you lot so many times since I was born that I think my ears are startin’ to go numb, yeah? I thought you were all supposed to be holin’ up somewhere in the North. But now yer all huddled up over here. So, what gives?”

The black foxes, who had not been scared of even Ianna, flinched and shrank back.

“I-i-it’s a predator…….”

“A predator…….”

‘This ‘predator’ that the beastmen are referring to…….’

Ianna’s observing gaze brushed past Taro. Taro seemed to chew over his words as he glared at the beastman, and he spat out,

“Why don’t ya all just shut the hell up before I decide to rip apart the whole lot of ya?”

“…….”

“…….”

The impertinent foxes immediately shut their mouths. Taro pat Ianna on the back.

“Now, now. Let’s go, Boss.”

“By any chance, are you……?”

Ianna’s voice trailed off, unable to finish her sentence, as they left the frozen foxes behind them, and Taro smiled awkwardly in response.

“Hmm… Yer just as quick on the uptake as ever, Boss…… Yer probably thinkin’ along the right track. But we can talk later, yeah?”

Ianna, who had been staring openly back at him, nodded.

People were busily preparing a teleportation spell outside the chamber. Everyone behind bars had been rescued and were escaping toward the factory entrance that Saki and the others had come from.

The people whom Saki had left outside the entrance were supposed to be preparing for their escape.

Things were going slow because there were so many people, but they could not take the other passages to escape. No one knew where they led.

The people who escaped in an orderly fashion under Saki’s subordinate’s orders did not appear happy. They still seemed to be filled not with hope, but with bottomless anxiety.

And the reason for that was readily apparent.

“According to the survivors, a lot of people who appear to be with the royal army come by here frequently. And the people who were guarding the room with the beastmen were apparently royal soldiers.”

The royal army. In Sidian, the army was like the king himself.

People whom no one must raise a hand against had been killed, and the survivors were seized with the fear that they would be executed even if they escaped from this place.

“So Sidian’s royal family had a hand in the Ghosts’ Banquets.”

“They are truly vile. They weren’t simply pretending to ignore the Ghosts, just like how they stay silent no matter what atrocities happen within their borders, but they were manipulating the public sentiment while feigning ignorance behind the scenes.”

“I expected as much from the king of Sidian. I had thought that he would stay quietly holed up in his capital and maintain his dignity, but he was committing the most wicked of atrocities all this time.”

Saki clicked her tongue and concurred as her men censured the king.

“Not only did we obtain proof, but now we’ll be able to win the support of those who oppose Sidian.”

Taro brought over Herrace, who had been hovering around the area, while Ianna was waiting for Saki’s conversation to conclude. Herrace had been unable to take his eyes off the drug addict girl, who was tottering at the end of the line of survivors.

“You didn’t come into contact with her, did you?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why do you keep staring at her?”

“……Because I’m worried. I can’t help but wonder if she was captured after we knocked her out.”

“It’s likely, given the timing.”

He didn’t let it show, but Herrace was feeling guilty over it.

“I really hope she survives.”

Ianna walked up to Saki with Taro and Herrace in tow.

“Is the teleportation spell not ready yet?”

The teleportation spell Saki had prepared connected to her personal residence near Toraca and the Lotso Mountains, and Ianna and her friends had agreed to use it as well. They had caused a huge mess in Sidian and wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

“It’s almost complete. Oh, yes. I should give these to you while we still have time.”

Saki rummaged through her pockets and pulled out two badges and handed them to Ianna. One of them was the badge with the sun that she had used at the gates as they exited Lampinion.

“This……isn’t this the badge that signifies that the owner is someone important in Jinzai?”

It even had the name Shizenmore etched onto it now that she had taken a closer look.

“Someone important to me is also important to Jinzai. The people of Jinzai will treat you well if you give them my name and show them this badge. I can get a new one whenever I please, so please take this one, Lady Anna. The other badge is the badge of Shalino.”

The Shalino badge had a star etched onto it that was composed of two triangles —one upright and one inverted. Saki continued,

“It’s a communication artefact that connects directly to me. Please contact me whenever you wish. And, most doctors of decent skill will know what Shalino’s emblem looks like. Shalino plays a huge influence in the medical world, so any doctor will treat you well if you show them this.”

They were both amazing items. Ianna accepted the badges gratefully and stood back as she waited for the teleportation spell to be completed.

It was unfortunate that she hadn’t been able to meet the Bahamut mage, but her ill premonition told her to put her personal grudges aside.

Though she would still do what she had initially resolved to do if she should meet the mage, of course.

Finally, the teleportation spell was ready. The magic circle was set up to erase itself without a trace once it had cast Teleport once.

Saki looked relaxed now that she thought that things were almost over.

“We should go now. Let us activate the spell.”

The mages working under Saki began injecting mana into the magic circle, and Saki, too, reached out a hand toward it.

Part 8

But just then.

Boooooooooom!

A deafening roar suddenly split the air in the chamber where the beastmen were, and a tremendous gust of mana rushed out from it. Simultaneously, the mana that had been flowing into the Teleport magic circle faltered.

Whooooosh…….

The mana began sucking into one direction immediately afterward. Saki and Vita promptly began supplying the magic circle with divine power instead when it was nearly erased because the density of the mana around it dropped drastically.

“…….”

“W-what in the……?”

They felt a colossal presence.

Everyone saw something strange happening when they looked back.

The beastmen in the dark chamber were all kneeling with their heads bowed down as if they were worshiping a god.

And at their center, they could see a woman with black hair as smooth and silk that was glistening like snake scales.

“……!”

Chills ran down Ianna’s back as soon as the woman’s figure entered her eyes.

Was that woman truly a Demon’s fragment owner like Keigus was?

It couldn’t possibly be the case. This woman was on a completely different level.

Ianna’s skin grew taught from anxiety.

She immediately hid her presence as soon as she had seen her. She knew that she absolutely must not let that woman feel her aura.

“We have to hurry, Saki,”

Ianna urged Saki as she glared at the woman, who still had her back to them as she listened to the beastmen’s report.

Saki and Vita were also frozen stiff with anxiety as they continued to pour divine power into the Teleport spell. They were impatient and understood that they needed to leave before the woman who had suddenly entered the scene disrupted their spell. A very ominous and wicked aura was flowing out from the chamber where the woman was.

Tap, tap.

But the woman slowly turned around and began walking out of the chamber before the teleportation spell was complete.

“Oh……?”

A few people could not help but voice their surprise, having completely forgotten what kind of situation they were in.

The woman was so beautiful as she slowly stepped out from the darkness that it would not have been an understatement to call her the most beautiful woman in the world.

Her skin was as white and as unblemished as virgin snow, and her scarlet lips blossomed like a single crimson flower. The lines of her face were lovely, and her eyes were captivating.

Hers was a capricious beauty akin to dangerous magics, unlike Angelina, the greatest beauty of Roanne who was likened to an innocent angel.

Her voluptuous breasts and the slender curves of her waist shook even the priests who had practiced celibacy all their lives.

But Ianna was paying attention to something else.

Her nails, which were dyed crimson like blood, the feeling that her entire being emitted, and her black hair and eyes……her eyes flickered with a whimsical light.

“How surprising.”

Everyone awoke from their stupor as the woman’s dainty lips began to move. Alarms sounded in their heads and cold sweat ran down their backs.

“Which one of you rats dared to undo our spells?”

Craaaaaash!

Pow!

Pooow!

A powerful force pressed down on them as a colossal stream of mana whirled around the woman. A few people were sent flying back, as if they had been hit by a gigantic hammer, and splattered as soon as they hit the wall behind them.

The woman smiled sullenly, like she was having great fun, as she crushed people like mud with the pressure she generated from mana alone.

“Step forward before I tear off all your limbs.”

An evil aura raged around her. People tried to protect themselves by controlling the mana around them.

“Futile.”

The mana that people had been wrapping themselves in suddenly grew as sharp as blades with a wave of her hand.

Shreeed! Slice!

“Ahh!”

Their fates were split into two in but an instant. Those who had sensed the danger and had liberated the mana they were controlling had survived, but those who had failed to do so had been shredded by the mana and died in an eruption of blood.

But even those who had narrowly avoided her ridiculous counterattack were not safe quite yet. The mana swirling around them was completely under the woman’s domination, and it was no different from a storm of shapeless blades as it attacked them.

“H-how is this……?”

People were shocked. Everyone who had infiltrated the factory had been confident in their skills. They had never before felt the difference in power between themselves and an enemy so starkly.

And yet, they felt so utterly powerless before this woman. They trembled in fear, feeling like naked sheep laid before a monster armed to the teeth with vicious weapons.

Everyone who lived in the Age of Magic was accustomed to mana. Moreover, it was difficult to steal the mana under another’s control even in a fight between highly skilled opponents. And yet, this beautiful woman was doing exactly just that.

It was as if she was simply taking back the power that had been lent to them. As if it was only natural because the mana belonged to her.

In the moment, everyone in the factory was made to realize that mana belonged not to the Creator, but to a certain special existence.

Mana belonged to some powerful existence, like the woman before them, and the people of the Age of Magic were simply borrowing it —it was a doubled-edged blade that could be turned against them at any moment.

But then, something curious happened. Just like how people sometimes showed their true potential when they were placed in great peril, the innate energy deep within a few people’s hearts instinctively flowed out and began protecting them the moment it felt the mana’s betrayal.

And only a few people noticed this change.

The woman brushed back her hair as she grinned.

“Hmmm. A few of you bastards seem like you might even be useful. Is the culprit among you?”

A dangerous smile graced the woman’s lips as she took a step forward with a hand over her chest. She continued,

“Ahh, I feel horrible and great at the same time. I feel both sticky and sweet. Who dares to make me feel this way……but this really is the best, you know? I feel like I’m about to have fun for the first time in a truly long while.”

A whip had appeared in the woman’s hand at some point.

“I’ve decided how I want to get rid of you. I’ll tear off your limbs so you can’t rebel and throw you in a cage. I’ll stuff you while you’re still alive so I can savor you for a long time. That way, my Lord Brother and Lady Mother can enjoy you too.”

The woman spat out her vicious words in a beautiful singsong voice.

“Stop hiding and come out now. Won’t you?”

Ianna clutched tight at her robes and glared at her.

Black hair and black eyes…….

It couldn’t be, it couldn’t be, but there was no mistaking her appearance. And the woman had a Northern accent as she blabbered away.

Ianna pointed her sword at the woman, but she kept her presence concealed without stepping forward.

If that woman was truly one of the people Ianna was thinking about, then she absolutely must not raise a hand against her here. She absolutely must not let that woman guess at her secrets and learn her identity. That would be the absolute worst-case scenario. Her only answer was to flee this place as quickly as possible.

“How much longer will it take, Saki?”

Saki broke out in a cold sweat and answered that it was almost ready when Ianna whispered to her. The gears in Ianna’s head churned before they pointed to Vita. Ianna was directly behind him, and she whispered,

“Vita, will you be able to stand in place and hide me behind you while distracting her?”

Vita nodded because he knew that Ianna was extremely reluctant to let her identity be exposed.

“That won’t be a problem. But why……?”

“I will deal with that woman and buy us some time. But I absolutely cannot let her catch wind of my power. Please pretend that it’s you fighting her no matter what happens.”

The woman glanced at them and leisurely shrugged her shoulders.

“You’ll regret it if you’re only stubbornly resisting because you’re trusting that teleportation spell powered by divine power to save you. I’ll mess with the coordinates and send you flying off to the middle of space.”

“Do you think we’d let you?!”

Vita shouted with Ianna still behind him.

He was able to successfully hide her behind himself because he was tall and wearing robes.

He had summoned wind and water spirts that were circling around him at some point. They were powerful spirits that Ianna had never seen before.

Howlll…….

The spirits inflated themselves and emitted so much power that they seemed to shake the very air around them as they guarded the magic circle and kept the woman in check. The woman narrowed her eyes as she watched the spirits grow hostile toward her even though Vita had not ordered them to do so.

“Goodness, some horrible bastards decided to show up. Are you an elf? Are you the one who undid the spells?”

With a tense voice, Vita replied,

“I am. Are you……the ‘Demon?’”

“Hmmm. So you even know about that?”

The woman surveyed her frozen surroundings as she continued,

“No wonder. I thought it was curious that I didn’t sense a fragment here, but the spells were apparently undone by a high-ranking high elf. Still…….”

Goodness, the woman said as she brought a hand to her lips.

“Do you truly think that a few trifling spirits can truly be a match for me?”

Craaaaaash!

The spirits’ power and mana clashed viciously no sooner than the words had left her mouth. The water spirit poured a colossal wave of water over her. But the woman created a fire to evaporate it all.

The wind spirit stirred up a powerful whirlwind that shook the entire building as it rushed toward the woman, but it dispersed helplessly after a few gestures of her hand.

“Kyaaah!”

Cracks formed along the ceiling and pebbles and sand fell down as the two powerful forces clashed. And people stopped moving forward, perhaps because something had happened near the entrance.

Or rather, they were actually coming back down.

“I-it’s the royal army!”

“Save us, ahh!”

It was easy to assume what was happening just by listening to their screaming. They didn’t know when they had arrived, but the royal army of Sidian had blocked the entrance and were pushing people back down into the basement.

They heard urgent footsteps and shouting not only from the entrance they had come from, but from the other passages as well.

It wasn’t long before people with the emblem of Sidian’s royal family on the left side of their chests began showing up from the entrance.

“Block them!”

“Destroy the magic circle!”

Some of them blocked the exit and killed anyone who tried to escape instead of joining in on the fight between Vita and the woman, while the rest rushed toward Saki and her men, who were guarding the magic circle, with their weapons drawn.

“Pant……pant…….”

The blood was draining from Vita’s face as the arduous battle prolonged, but the woman looked just as relaxed as she had always been.

“Are you sure you undid our spells? You’re a bit too weak.”

She sighed and scanned her surroundings.

The elf was certainly the strongest rat present, but he was not strong enough to have undid the spells.

Then, had someone used a special method to undo the spells remotely instead? Or perhaps the magic circles had worn away with time.

In any event, there had been no point in teleporting multiple times just to get here —especially when the spell put a strain on her body. The woman was beginning to look bored.

Saki had completed the teleportation spell while the woman was toying with Vita with her fearsome control over mana. As if the words were being squeezed out of her, Saki shouted,

“I’m activating the spell!”

Buzzzzzzz!

Everyone began gathering inside the magic circle as it began to glow.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The woman smirked as she watched as she tightened her grip on her whip. The mana wrapped around her was instantly dyed black.

“I’m bored now. I’m going to kill all of you.”

She brandished her whip viciously.

Pow! Bababam! Booom!

The whip drew an arc and hit sharply against the floor after it had dispelled the spirits. The resulting roar as it met the ground was unbelievably thunderous. The ground was unearthed by just one hit and sent dirt scattering everywhere. The woman brandished her whip yet again.

Just as her whip tore through the air, the walls, and any unlucky soul who hadn’t moved out of its way in time and was about to swallow Vita and the teleportation magic circle, Ianna, who had been hidden behind Vita all this time, clutched at the back of his robes and muttered something. It took less than a blink of an eye for divine power to seep out from her heart and be granted to a certain great being.

Pop.

Towe, who had been keeping an eye on the situation from the spiritual plane through the spirits that Vita had summoned, poured out his strength before Vita as soon as he was summoned.

Craaaash!

“Hmm?”

The woman’s relaxed visage stiffened for the first time as the giant wall of metal Towe created stopped her whip. Her gaze moved between Vita and Towe’s small frame in turns as she looked to them in disbelief. Towe glared back at her.

[I feel something dirty.]

Towe was a being from the spiritual plane, so he could read what Ianna’s soul was asking of him from the astral plane even if she didn’t verbalize her request.

[I will need my true form to hold it down. Will you permit this?]

Obviously, she would.

All Ianna did was nod ever so slightly as she stayed in Vita’s shadow, but Towe understood her thoughts even without having to look at her.

And Ianna nearly blacked out as soon as she had given him her consent.

Her body began to suffer from overload as a vast amount of divine power was exhausted from her and quickly began to refill itself. She felt faint as a bloody liquid surged up her throat.

Booooom!

Towe seemed to spread out into the ground and vanish as the earth began to tremble. And then, the ceiling suddenly opened up like a window.

Dawn had come at some point, and its dim light poured down into the basement. All the earth that had made up the underground facility crumbled down and began transforming into a certain shape before people could even register the sudden outpour of light.

The earth formed itself into two gigantic hands.

Craaash!

“Kgh!”

The hands grabbed the immobile woman and melted like mud before dragging her underground before she had the chance to resist. Then, rocks showered down from the earth and hit only Ianna’s enemies.

[This…….]

Crash! Craaash!

The woman, who hadn’t died even after she was buried alive, resisted and struggled against the earth. Most of the divine power that Towe had been supplied was consumed as he stopped her from struggling. She was so strong that he had to use his entire might just to keep her in his grasp.

The woman felt disgusting, just like how the Demon from the Holy Age had felt in the past. He was not only surprised to learn that humans who felt this dirty existed in this era but as also astonished by her power.

She was as strong as some of the stronger gods from the Holy Age. To think that there existed humans who were as powerful as the gods had been.

The earth shook in response to Towe’s bewilderment.

[Hurry and go, I won’t be able to hold her for long!]

Crash! Craaash!

The woman’s struggles were one thing, but Towe was also unable to manifest his full strength because he was being influenced by Ianna, who had nearly lost her grip on her consciousness after having summoned his true form for the first time.

“Pull yourself together, Lady Anna!”

Vita held Ianna up and tried to bring her to the teleportation spell. But Ianna could not teleport.

Poow!

A white hand had shot out from the mud and grabbed her by the ankle.

Crunch…….

The woman’s crimson nails cracked as they dug into Ianna’s ankle, as if she would never let Ianna go.

Ianna’s ankle throbbed as if she had been snared in a trap.

‘I need to pull myself together.’

Ianna straightened out her staggering body with superhuman concentration as soon as she felt the pain.

“Hurry!”

Her vision cleared up when she heard Saki scream and she took in the situation unfolding around her. First and foremost, she looked to the hand clutching at her ankle.

Bang! Bang!

Then, she saw Vita repeatedly stabbing his dagger at the woman’s wrist. Perhaps she had reinforced it with mana, as her wrist sounded like metal clashing against metal when his dagger fell upon it and did not sever.

“No!”

Ianna’s senses shook as the space around her distorted.

Saki shrieked like she was screaming her death throes, and Ianna instinctively understood that she would not be able to teleport if she did not enter the circle now.

She decided quickly.

“Don’t come!”

Ianna shouted back at Taro, Herrace, Saki, and a few others who had been about to leave the magic circle to help her and reached out to grab Vita by the collar.

“……!”

Her Herculean strength lifted Vita off his feet and threw him over the people who had been about to make their way to her.

Buzzzzz!

The glow from the magic circle swallowed everyone who had been standing on top of it just as Ianna threw Vita inside.

And nothing was left once the light had disappeared.

Ianna gathered her breath as she surveyed her surroundings. No civilians had survived after the woman had brandished her whip horizontally. Only the most skilled among the royal army were still left standing as they stood atop the bisected corpses.

In other words, she was surrounded by enemies who were keeping her in check.

“…….”

Ianna lowered her gaze. The woman’s hand was still clutching her ankle so hard she might crush it.

She was certain that the woman was a big shot whom she hadn’t dreamed of ever encountering at this point in time.

But, even if the woman was someone incredible, did that mean that Ianna could do nothing again as yet another Demon’s fragment owner dragged her down by the ankle?

No!

Ianna’s eyes glistened sharply.

Baaang!

Ianna drew her sword and stabbed furiously at the hand holding her ankle. But her blade only collided bluntly against the woman’s reinforced wrist.

Get off!

But, unbelievably, the mana protecting the woman’s hand slowly began dispersing as Ianna’s hostility and bloodlust showered upon it. Ianna brandished her sword fiercely yet again.

Pow!

There was nothing fortifying her sword, but it still skewered the woman’s wrist like a harpoon stabbing into a fish.

Blood spurted up like a fountain as Ianna drew back her sword.

Poow!

She felt the woman’s hand spasm and loosen its grip when she stabbed it again.

Poooow!

The woman’s hand fell away from her ankle, but Ianna stabbed it again and cut it cleanly off the rest of the woman’s body.

Thud!

Ianna ignored her heart, which felt like it was about to burst, and kicked hard against the earth to jump up as soon as the severed hand tumbled to the ground. She kicked off against the walls to leap up and up toward the open ceiling.

The wind wrapped around her body. Ianna let her divine power flow out as she felt the breeze blow past her arms and legs. She felt like she would die if she did not. Not because she had used too much of her divine power, but because she had so much of it inside her that she thought she might explode.

But it was too much of a waste to simply lose it. And so, Ianna used the last drop of her rationality to call forth a certain being.

‘Shweia.’

Her body grew lighter not too long after she had released some of her divine power. She almost felt like the wind was supporting her heavy body from below. And it was neither the rancor of blood nor the acrid smell of earth that tickled her nose, but clean, refreshing air.

She heard a coy voice sound from directly next to her.

[Hmph. Now you finally call me?]

Ianna turned her bleary eyes to the side. A small and cute bird was flying beside her.

[I’ve been waiting for so long. I was planning on being mean to you while I sulked, but I see that now isn’t the time or place for that.]

Ianna had already cleared the ceiling and was falling back down to the earth by the time that Shweia appeared.

Thud!

“Ugh…….”

Ianna coughed and she tumbled outside the building.

Rumble rumble…….

The earth immediately began shaking like there was an earthquake. Then, Shweia spread out his wings, wrapped them around Ianna, and flew up into the sky with her in tow. Ianna’s body floated in the air like she was being carried by the wind.

Ianna let her body hang as she stared blankly down at the earth below. A yellow wave of sand was rippling through the area.

Craaash!

The tidal wave of sand poured into the underground factory through its open ceiling.

The hole that led into the Ghosts’ factory was covered by the earth, not unlike the way the earth covered the dead, and turned it into a colossal grave. The racket that had been disturbing the dawn quieted in but an instant.

Fweeee…….

The silence that accompanied the wind paid tribute as the dawn’s light kissed the earth.

[I’ll hold onto her, so hurry up and go!]

Towe sounded uncharacteristically urgent as he transmitted his will. He was still working desperately to keep hold of the woman.

Shweia asked,

[Where do you want to go?]

Ianna never said anything in reply, but Shweia read the answer that was communicated by her soul and began flapping his wings next to Ianna’s shoulder.

Ianna’s body floated up like a ship in water for a moment before shooting off like an arrow shortly thereafter and heading off to somewhere in a straight line.

“Urk!”

The wind carrying Ianna only stopped when she had reached her limits and began vomiting blood. Shweia looked for somewhere secluded before slowing down until they came to a complete stop. They were surrounded by a dense cluster of small and large rocky mountains, and even Sidian had declared the area as a wasteland.

[Let’s take a short rest here.]

Thud!

Ianna clutched at her heart and collapsed as soon as her feet touched the ground. She clawed blindly at her clothes. Her heart hurt as it thumped furiously. She thought it might explode if she so much as breathed the wrong way.

“Ugh, ughh…….”

Shweia, the spirit king of wind, landed gently on Ianna’s shoulder as she suffered and gingerly flapped his wings to help her breathe.

[Was it too much for you to summon our true forms? Slowpoke thought you would be okay, but perhaps the jerk was wrong.]

Ianna took in deep breaths with Shweia’s help.

Divine power had exploded out from her heart as soon as she had felt a vast quantity of divine power be consumed when she summoned the spirit king’s true form. It was the worst overload to her body she had ever experienced ever since she had started training to control divine power.

Divine power was traveling through her blood vessels and carrying vitality to every nook and cranny of her body, but her limbs refused to move properly because she had exceeded her limit.

[Hmmm, Slowpoke seems awfully guilty right now. He said he had to use an outrageous amount of divine power because that woman was stronger than he had ever imagined she could be.]

That woman.

Ianna snapped back to her senses as soon as she thought about the woman who was still alive, as if it was only natural, even after she had been buried alive and her wrist had been severed with a spray of blood. Now wasn’t the time to be leisurely taking a break.

Ianna staggered as she got back up.

“I…have to hurry and get out of Sidian…….”

[No. You wanted to go to the Lotso Mountains, right? You would have to go alone because we can’t use our powers in the Lotso Mountains, but you’ll be eaten by monsters if you go there in this state.]

“…….”

[So get your body back in shape first. Towe is about to be unsummoned, but I can stay here in the physical plane until I’ve used up all the divine power you gave me, so I’ll protect you while you’re resting. I promise.]

Shweia’s voice soothed Ianna’s tense consciousness as it whispered gently into her ear. She lost her ability to reason, which she had been forcing herself to keep, as the need for rest assaulted her.

Ianna passed out, and Shweia covered her with a gentle breeze. And, not too long afterward, Towe, who had been keeping hold of the woman, was unsummoned.

~~*~~

The Third Factory had not only crumbled apart but was completely blocked off. No one had survived. Everyone inside the factory had been buried alive.

“Hmmm…….”

But the woman was still safe and sound. She had been completely swallowed by the earth, but she had never really needed to breathe to begin with. She was simply being held captive by the great power of nature and needed only to stay there and wait until the power restraining her disappeared.

‘I was completely had.’

She did not appear enraged even as she clutched her severed wrist. She had stopped resisting and was simply thinking about the person who had cut off her hand with a hair-raising flush on her face.

Who was that elf?

‘A spirit king? But how? And how did he cut off my hand?’

Tingle…….

Her heart was thumping unpleasantly. A biting pain, the likes of which she had never experienced before in her life, had taken hold of her heart as soon as the bastard had shown the true extent of his abilities.

Just about then, the woman felt the giant power of nature fettering her vanish.

Poooow!

The once-quiet earth exploded. The woman jumped airily up to the open ceiling.

Pshhhh…….

She walked out as the dust settled down around her. Her black eyes glistened eerily from within the pale cloud of dust.

Her disrupted senses had felt a profound and mysterious presence that she could not describe accurately with words during that instantaneous moment when the spirit king had been summoned. She had felt extremely excited when she traced that feeling and reached out to dig her fingernail into the bastard’s ankle and when the bastard unmasked his presence to attack her.

Her heart had raced. She hated that she couldn’t explain the change that had happened to her, but the sensation had also been so sweet and thrilling that it washed her displeasure away.

The woman licked her tongue over her crimson lips.

‘……I want you.’

What did you do to me? Cheeky bastard.

She activated the magic inscribed into the ring she was wearing on her pinky.

[I humbly greet the Fourth Master.]

A certain man’s servile voice resounded from the ring.

[To think that you would personally descend to this place, Master……I cannot bear to lift my head in my sorrow that my shortcomings were the cause. If you hand the bastards over to the royal soldiers I sent over, I will pry all the information you need out from them and report back to you.]

The woman’s lips twitched when the man asked her to transfer the infiltrators to him.

“Where are you right now, Payne?”

[I am in the chemical laboratory in the royal palace of Sidian.]

“Come here at once. I failed to capture the culprits. Send word all across the kingdom that those who escaped from the Third Factory are traitors —I don’t care if you do it by magic or by signal fire. Put the biggest rewards that you can give on their heads. And reward anyone who has any clues as to who those bastards are generously. Find them and capture them —I don’t care about how!”

[……I hear and obey.]

Payne’s reply had been slightly delayed. He had been so shocked to hear that one of his masters had failed at her tasked that he had temporarily forgotten how to speak. He had numerous questions, but Payne ultimately decided to obey her orders first.

Once she had gotten off the line with Payne, the woman used her ring to call someone else. This time, a husky voice sounded from the ring.

[Oh, Your Imperial Highness the Princess. Has everything been resolved nicely? What kind of person was it?]

“Come here right now, Wiffheimer.”

[……I beg your pardon? You wish me to go to you personally?]

“Yes!”

The woman’s eyes shone with a bleak yet strangely obsessive light. She continued,

“There’s a bastard who we have to capture right now.”

A power comparable to the Demon’s fragments her lineage had been collecting for centuries. And ‘something’ apart from their power that made her heart race.

What was it?

Just what on earth was it?

She didn’t care whether the bastard was a man or a woman.

Be they a monster, one of the mythical races, or human —it didn’t matter.

‘I want you so bad…….’

The woman looked raptured for a moment before she immediately began fretting again.

I have to catch you soon.

I have to hold you in my grasp before you can hide yourself away.

I have to make sure you can’t escape me.

I’ll break off your arms and legs, throw you in a black mire and dirty you,

and slap you, and wound you, and strangle you,

even if it means I have to climb on top of you as you struggle to survive and hold you down for the rest of my life……,

I have to keep you by my side no matter what. I have to make it so that you can never escape me…….

Just where on earth was this insane and uncontrollable possessive desire flowing from?

It stemmed from a source very, very deep within —so deep that even she could not possibly fathom…….

“Come here, right this instant!”

ordered Isabella, the one and only imperial princess of the Bahamut Empire.

~~*~~

It was already morning by the time she opened her eyes.

“Ugh…”

Ianna jumped up as soon as she returned to her senses. Her entire body ached and throbbed, but that wouldn’t pose a problem. She wiped away the sweat drenching her forehead with the back of her hand and surveyed her surroundings in a half-conscious state.

“This is…….”

The earth was dry, but there was a lake —something that she had barely seen as she had made her way through Sidian—, and a few trees shaded her from the sun’s hot rays as she lay near the water. She had passed out under the leaves’ shade and had only awoken just now.

‘How long have I been asleep……? And where am I?’

Ianna sat in a blank daze for a moment before she shook her head and decided to grasp her situation first. In order to do so, she would have to call Shweia, who had been with her when she had passed out.

Ianna steadied her breathing as she closed her eyes.

The air existed everywhere. It was the source of both the gentle mountain breezes and the fierce hurricanes that destroyed everything in its path. She called to the great king who could reach the very edges of the azure skies.

Fwooosh…….

The air began sucking into one point in front of her. She found it difficult to breathe for a moment as the air pressure suddenly lowered drastically, but she opened her eyes when she started feeling more refreshed than how she felt when she breathed in the crisp morning air.

[Good morning.]

Shweia, a small and translucent yellow-green bird, appeared while fluttering his wings. He flitted down to Ianna’s thigh and straightened out his wings as he coyly asked,

[How are you feeling?]

“I cannot say that I’m feeling well, but I at least feel better than I did before I fainted.]

It was only her second time summoning Shweia and her first time having a proper conversation with the spirit king, and Ianna spoke politely because she felt like, unlike the other spirit kings, Shweia was putting some distance between them. Then, Shweia dropped his coy act and began flapping his wings while pouting.

[Why are you being so formal?! Just speak to me normally like you do with the others! Okay? I was already sad because you summoned me so late, so isn’t it a bit too much to treat me differently too?]

She had misunderstood him. He was no different from the others.

“All right, I’m sorry.”

[Hmph. You don’t need to feel that bad about it……no wait, actually, call me more often if you’re really sorry. I’m really capable, you know?]

Shweia returned to his original uppity tone. He continued,

[Let me introduce myself properly. I’m Shweia, the spirit king of wind. I’ve been speaking with the others, so I know all about you.]

“All right, Shweia. I’m Ianna, and I’ll be in your care.”

[Mhmm.]

Shweia preened his feathered as he masked his joy.

“Would you happen to know how long I’ve been asleep?”

[I was carrying you for about two hours and it’s been about an hour since I was unsummoned……so about three hours?]

It hadn’t been very long since she had passed out. Ianna had been worried that an entire day might have passed while she was unconscious, since she had been in such a poor state when she passed out, and she was glad that it was not the case.

Ianna’s hands moved jerkily as she rummaged through the bag she was carrying. Her bag was packed to the brim with samples of Life that she had taken from the factory. Each sample was worth at least a thousand gold according to Saki, but what was most important to Ianna at the moment was the map she had tucked away in a corner.

Ianna pulled out the map and opened it.

“Do you know how to read a map, Shweia?”

[A map?]

Shweia studied the map and tilted his head to the side. He continued,

[Are you referring to a scaled-down drawing of the world?]

“Yes. I want to know where I am right now —would you be able to tell me?”

[Of course. I can fly freely through the skies, after all. Hold on a moment,]

Shweia said as he changed forms, floated up, and shot toward the skies like a gale.

Ianna, who had returned fully to her senses as she conversed with Shweia, grew parched. She had the water pot that Innis had charged up in her bag, but she decided to simply drink from the lake right next to her instead because she didn’t want to waste the spirit’s power. She had also taken the opportunity to wash her soiled hands and face when Shweia returned.

[We’re around here.]

Shweia pointed to a spot on the map with his beak.

Ianna didn’t know where exactly the Ghosts’ factory had been, but she was currently to the northeast of Lampinion, close to the Lotso Mountains.

She had sub-consciously thought of the Lotso Mountains when Shweia had asked her where she wanted to go before she had passed out. She had stopped herself from even thinking about Roanne, lest she was tracked and her secrets were leaked, and she had been reluctant to go towards Jinzai because she didn’t want to do anything that might hurt Saki and her people.

And so, she had ultimately decided to head toward the Lotso Mountains, which were not owned by any country.

[But more importantly, we have a problem.]

Ianna faltered.

“……What do you mean?”

[You have a tracker on you.]

Ianna had expected as much.

[You’re probably being tracked by the broken fingernail pieces that were embedded into your ankle.]

“……!”

[You started being tracked a few minutes before I was unsummoned —though I did pull out a few pieces that I could see from the outside and scattered them all over the place. But I was in charge of maintaining the harmony between the bodies of living beings and nature —I didn’t have much to do with actual bodies themselves— so I couldn’t pull out the pieces that were entrenched more deeply inside. Neither did I have the time to try. I tried waking you before I had to leave, but you wouldn’t wake up. I made a barrier of wind around you before left, but it’s grown weaker since time has passed. That’s probably how they tracked you.]

She had apparently been extremely exhausted. She certainly felt better than she had before she had fainted, but now she had another problem to deal with.

“So then…….”

[I saw an encirclement when I looked down from above.]

Ianna groaned and clutched at her head. To think that she could be tracked by broken fingernail pieces. She almost wanted to figure out how that even made sense, but magic had limitless potential, and it was certainly plausible considering the fact that countless spells existed in the world. Besides, she had been tracked previously by Keigus Dimitri’s blood too.

Moreover, she assumed that the woman was ‘Isabella Bahamut,’ the imperial princess of Bahamut, who stood superior to Keigus Dimitri. The only reason why the princess hadn’t demonstrated the full brunt of her abilities was because she had let her guard down, and, while Ianna wasn’t entirely certain whether the woman had been the princess herself or a mage under the princess’ command, there was no doubt that Bahamut had many people on their side who could use extraordinary skills.

Ianna placed her hand on her chin with a grave look on her mien.

“Since they haven’t caught me, does that mean they haven’t pinpointed my location yet?”

[I think so. I think they can only track what direction you went.]

That was a relief.

[But in any event, you’ll need Towe and Innis’ help to get rid of the nail pieces and heal you, since they’re able to manipulate bodies.]

First things first, Ianna would have to treat her wound.

[Ianna!]

[Whimper, you were okay!]

Towe and Innis rushed into Ianna’s arms as soon as they were summoned. She was pushing herself by calling three spirits kings at once, but it wouldn’t pose a problem. She felt like this incident had not only increased the total amount of divine power she had at her disposal but also vastly increased her body’s durability.

And so, she figured that she might as well call Kagomyne too.

[Aha, you called me too! I’m so happy!]

Kagomyne jumped into Ianna’s arms with his tail wagging as soon as he was summoned. The four spirits began bickering as they expressed their joy within Ianna’s embrace.

[How long has it been all four of us were in the physical plane together?]

[What do you mean how long? —we barely ever gathered together like this even during the Holy Age.]

Then, they all turned to Ianna at once. Ianna could not help but smile despite the danger she was in. Watching the guileless spirits always brightened her mood.

Towe and Innis placed their hands on Ianna’s ankle and melted into it. Her once-wounded ankle tickled as it healed. They threw the remaining pieces of the fingernail outside Ianna’s body, and Shweia took them in his beak and took to the sky.

[I’ll scatter them again.]

Innis poured clean water over Ianna’s head to wash away her fatigue and refresh her while Shweia was gone.

[I want to do something for you too since I’m here. Oh!]

Kagomyne’s eyes suddenly glistened as he fidgeted, and he jumped up and drove his nose against Ianna’s bag. The bag fell over sideways, and a heap of drug bottles poured out from it.

Ianna stared at him quietly, wondering what he was up to, when Kagomyne began wagging his tail.

[Do you want me to purify these, Ianna?]

“Purify?”

[I can burn away Ideas with a pure flame. The Ideas here are incredibly potent, but they can be purified since the they’re small and the Ideas are weaker than my ego! This is something only I can do!]

Ianna pondered for a moment before she asked Kagomyne to purify all the bottles save for one. Kagomyne piled the bottles up in the shape of an altar before standing his tail erect and flattening his body.

Then, the pile of drug bottles burst into flame. The pure flame heated up the liquids inside without melting the glass bottles.

Shaaaa…….

A black aura seeped out from the bottles. Then, it turned into a brilliant light, as if it had never been black to begin with, as soon as it mixed into the flames and scattered like sunlight. The sight of it was beautiful, though it also felt somewhat sorrowful.

Only a clear liquid was left behind in the bottles once Kagomyne’s flames had disappeared. Kagomyne was in a great cheer as he pushed the bottles back in her bag, believing that he had done her a great service. Shweia came back as he did.

[The group split up. Over half of them went to where I scattered the nail pieces, but there are still a lot of them coming this way. And that horrible-feeling woman is one of them. What should we do, Ianna?]

[Be wary of that woman. I was only able to grab her so easily last time because she was caught off guard.]

Ianna wondered what she should do. She thought of Arhad for a moment, but she quickly shook her head no. Arhad wouldn’t be able to do much in this situation either. Even if he could, he would not be able to come to her in person. The Demon’s fragments would resonate if he did, and Isabella would learn about his existence.

Arhad must not have anything to do with this incident.

“Shweia, can we escape if you take me and fly high up in the sky?”

[It’s worth trying. I don’t know how far that woman’s senses reach, but magic probably plays a key role in it. But there was an elderly man with the woman who feels similar to her, and you might get shot down.]

“It’s better than staying on the ground.”

[I’ll do everything I can, if that’s what you want to do.]

“All right. Then, please carry me to the entrance to the Lotso Mountains. I’ll figure things out on my own from there. You said that your powers didn’t work in the Lotso Mountains……right?”

[Mhmm. We don’t know why, but we can’t use our powers in the Lotso Mountains —it might be because of the Demon’s aura or it might be due to the Ideas there……the toxic feeling there is too strong, and we’re the Demon’s natural enemy, so it’s difficult for us to be there. I’m sorry we can’t help you until the end.]

The spirits looked to Ianna with worry in their eyes. Ianna felt her heart squeeze as she looked back at them.

“……I’m already more than grateful for all the help you’ve given me. I always feel this way, but I want you to know that I was only able to do a lot of things I could because you guys were here with me, and I’ve also received a lot from you guys too.”

And the most precious gift that she had received from the spirits was neither their miraculous power nor their mythological knowledge. It was their warm love for her.

Ianna truly adored them.

How could she not love them back when they had liked her as soon as they first met her and asked for nothing in return?

Ianna hugged the spirits tight.

“I truly……like you guys.”

And so, she decided to express her feelings honestly. Ianna generally didn’t express her like or dislike of others, but she took courage in the fact that the spirits had no reason to reject her.

[Mmmm.]

[Ianna said she likes us! Is this a dream or is this reality?]

[I love you more! I love you more, Ianna!]

[Hehe. Hmph. All right. I’ll work harder!]

The spirits buried themselves deeper in Ianna’s embrace as they each expressed their joy. Ianna smiled. Their reactions had not betrayed her expectations.

She had rested enough, and it was time to start moving now. Shweia said they should go and tried to sit on her shoulder, but Ianna asked him to wait a moment and began shaking out her bag.

She had decided something as she saw Kagomyne’s miracle.

Dribble.

Ianna immediately poured out the contents of the bottles without a moment’s hesitation.

The dead deserved to return to the earth to rest regardless of whether they had been good or evil in life. Such was the providence of the world. But those who had died in the Ghosts’ factory hadn’t been able to do that.

She could not put everyone to rest.

But, shouldn’t she still at least return the dead that she carried with her to providence?

Towe watched her and used the divine power she had poured into the earth to create fertile soil. Shweia vanished for a moment and came back to scatter flower seeds in it. Innis sprinkled them with clean water. And Kagomyne created a warm light to incubate the soil.

Things began changing before Ianna’s very eyes.

Young sprouts pushed out from the soil and covered the earth. Their fresh stems shot up, and their plentiful leaves settled in place. One bud formed at the end of a stem and blossomed into a flower. Then another, and another……until countless flowers bloomed and colored the once-barren earth beautifully.

Ianna and the spirits watched in silence as the scene played out before them.

Quietly, Shweia said,

[This land has been blessed.]

“It’s all thanks to you guys. I’m so glad I have you with me.”

Ianna turned her back on the land once she had returned the dead to providence. It was time to focus on her own situation now.

~~*~~

Part 9

“Ahh…….”

Isabella stretched as she stood atop a tall rock.

“Where on earth are you? I’d really like it if you could just fall into my grasp already.”

She extended her senses to their very limits as she scanned her surroundings.

It was an advanced technique that searched for signs of life using the five senses and reading the fluctuation of mana in the air. Living beings that needed to breathe normally could not escape this technique, but someone skilled could hide their presence from it.

But that was only the case when an ordinary person scanned with their senses.

Bahamut.

The Bahamut lineage had always been the strongest of the strong ever since their progenitor had started the bloodline in times immemorial and became the first person ever to begin gathering the Demon’s fragments. Only a very, very few had ever been able to escape the Bahamut lineage’s senses.

And yet, Isabella Bahamut could not locate the impertinent enemy who had cut off her hand with her senses. She did not know how incredibly skilled he was, but the level of his presence had been fainter that of even a bug’s and she could not get an accurate read on him.

It was impossible to track him normally, and she would have almost definitely lost him had she not desperately dug her nails in his ankle a few hours prior. And the mere thought of letting him escape made her dizzy.

Putting her strange arousal for the bastard aside, the fact that someone so skilled that he could vanish from her perception was walking the earth made Isabella shudder.

‘I absolutely must capture him without fail. It would have been one thing if he stayed holed up in the four corners like the dragons or the mythical races, but someone with a sense of justice strong enough to meddle with the manufacturing of Life will certainly get in the way of our plans.’

Isabella grew nervous and shot a sidelong glance at the elderly man standing behind her.

“Are you sure he’s here? How many times have we missed him already? Are you sure you’re doing your best?”

If it had been anyone other than this elderly man who was in charge of tracking down the bastard, she would have already ripped out their throat for the crime of causing her delay. The elderly man furrowed his brows.

“I informed you earlier that all the pieces of your nails that we found in the past two hours were false leads and that there is good reason to believe that the culprit is hiding under the spirits’ protection. And I also informed you that the spirits were likely unsummoned about an hour ago, and that we were able to track a large number of pieces of your nails at once.”

“You did.”

“I believe the spirits interfered yet again. The pieces were scattered about again, and their presence vanished from the place we thought we would find them. Either he used the spirits’ power to heal his ankle and eradicate the pieces, or he is using a piece to throw us off his trail……but we cannot predict what he has done, and it has become difficult to pinpoint his location. Now is not the time to track him with magic, but the time to begin searching for him in person.”

“Ugh, how annoying. Truly, I’ve hated the spirits from the very beginning, and I’ll hate them until the bitter end.”

“In any event…”

The elderly man expressed his displeasure. The fierce look on his face grew even more ferocious. He continued,

“Is tracking down this bastard truly worth our time? I am a very busy man…….”

He was being courteous with his words, but it was obvious that he was not fully deferential to Isabella. Isabella scoffed at his displeasure.

He was an archmage, one of the most monstrously intelligent people in the world, with countless disciples behind him, and even Isabella, who was so powerful she need not fear anything the world could ever possibly throw at her, pardoned his impudence and even respected him.

He was Wiffheimer Potestas, a renowned mage in his own right, who was the chief of the Bahamut imperial family’s court mages and one of the people who cooperated with the imperial family and shared their dream of world domination.

“And you think I’m not? That bastard felt strange, Wiffheimer. He felt very, very mysterious and eerie, but he also made me excited. I’ve never felt that way before in my life. You’ll thank me when you see him in person. Have more faith in your greatest disciple.”

He was also Isabella’s teacher in magic.

“Hmmm…….”

Wiffheimer stroked his short beard as he looked to the rapture on Isabella’s visage in disbelief.

“Unlike you, Your Highness, I don’t feel……. But…”

He slammed the end of the cane he was holding against the ground. He continued,

“I do find it intriguing that he was able to break the spells that the imperial family and I had been maintaining and that he was even able to cut off your hand, especially when he doesn’t even possess a fragment of the Demon. Let us capture him without fail since we’ve already come so far. Can you not track him down using the strange feeling you felt from him, Your Highness? Like the way you would trace the resonance emitted between fragments.”

Isabella shook her head in irritation.

“No.”

She had been organizing her thoughts as she tracked the bastard over the past few hours, and two of the things she had learned about him was that she could only feel the mysterious feeling she felt from him if he was nearby and that it grew very faint if he decided to hide his presence.

This was why she hadn’t perceived the feeling at first in the underground factory and had nearly killed him.

“I can locate a Demon’s fragment as long as it’s in the area. But he’s different from the fragments. And yet he still manages to drive me crazy.”

Isabella’s lips twisted into a frown. She continued,

“Goodness, his body must be anything but normal if he was able to summon a spirit king —he’s certainly quite tenacious. Just wait until I catch him. I’m going to drag him straight to my palace. Then, I’ll cut off his hands and feet so he can’t go anywhere and I’ll keep him locked up……wait.”

Isabella suddenly stopped talking and dashed in a certain direction.

Bam bam bam bam!

The dirt exploded and stirred up a storm every time her feet touched the ground. She was shooting forward at the speed of light. Wiffheimer, too, chased after her by casting Blink.

“There’s something shooting through the sky at a tremendous speed. The mages who had been searching from the skies are moving in pursuit.”

[I think it’s him, Teacher. There’s a robed figure using the wind spirit’s power to fly through the sky.]

And urgent voice responded as Wiffheimer’s ring flickered. Wiffheimer closed his eyes as he extended his senses in a straight line.

“His coordinates are -14978, -14132……and he seems to be heading for the entrance to the Lotso Mountains. He’s traveling in a straight line. Your Highness, please take his speed and the time it takes to cast Teleport into consideration and teleport to -7241, -321, 697 in three minutes.”

Wiffheimer quickly concluded his analysis and reported back to Isabella, and the princess activated the communication magic imbued in her ring.

“Payne, the bastard is planning to escape Sidian through the sky and is moving toward the Lotso Mountains. Move all your soldiers to the border with the Lotso Mountains and form a line of defense. Close off all of Sidian’s borders and keep watch over the skies so that we’ll know as soon as he tries to go anywhere. And report back to me as soon as you find him.”

[I’ve already closed the borders, but I will send along more soldiers just in case. And I will keep an eye on the sky as you have commanded.]

“Good. Wiffheimer, I’ll keep chasing him, so you go to the Lotso Mountais and prepare a trap to catch him.”

A teleportation magic circle appeared beneath Wiffheimer.

“I will do as you say. Though I’m sure my efforts will be in vain if you should catch him before then, Your Highness…….”

Wiffheimer looked to Isabella’s hand, which gave off the aura of extremely dense mana. He continued,

“How is your hand? Do you not regret it?”

“Not at all.”

“To think that you would create a synthetic one when you could have simply reattached your original hand…….”

“I like it more because it’s made from mana. I can transform it however I wish. And I can restore it instantly if it ever gets cut off again.”

Isabella’s fingernails grew longer and shorter. She made a tight fist as she looked at her new hand.

“This is enough talk. Focusing your efforts on capturing the bastard.”

“Understood. But first, please give me the authority to command Payne and the Sidian royal army.”

“Payne, follow Wiffheimer’s instructions from now on.”

[I hear and I obey.]

Wiffheimer and his magic circle vanished not too long afterward.

Buzzzz…….

Another colossal magic circle appeared in front of Isabella and began sucking in mana. Her joints cracked as she loosened out her body.

“I’ll catch you without fail this time.”

The teleportation magic circle flashed. And Isabella was drawn into its giant light.

~~*~~

Ianna was flying toward the Lotso Mountains in the gale’s embrace when Shweia suddenly called out to her in a heavy voice.

[That woman is chasing after us.]

“Will she catch up?”

[No. Unless she teleports, that is.]

“In that case, she’ll probably teleport. Can you go any faster?”

[I would need a lot of your divine power.]

“Please go as fast as you can —you can use as much divine power as you need. And change directions constantly since they’ll be teleporting.”

[Will you be alright? It might make you dizzy.]

“It’s better than getting caught.”

[All right.]

Shweia accepted more divine power and began carrying out Ianna’s request as soon as Ianna had permitted it. Shweia was protecting her with a barrier of wind, but Ianna still huddled into herself a little because it was cold and the wind and the cloth covering her nose and mouth made it difficult to breath.

Something began vibrating under her clothes just then. Ianna checked to see what it was to find out that it was the artefact that Saki had given her. The artefact that Ianna had pocketed without much thought had been activated.

Ianna injected it with mana, and Saki’s tearful voice cut through space to reach out to her.

[Lady Anna!]

“Saki.”

[You were safe. Thank goodness……. I kept calling you, but you didn’t answer…… What is happening to you right now?]

“I’m being chased,”

Ianna said calmly, promptly Saki to hurriedly reply,

[I will help you. Where are you?]

“I’m travelling toward the Lotso Mountains with the spirits’ powers. I don’t think I’ll be able to avoid a confrontation with my pursuers. But…….”

Ianna steadied her breathing and continued in simple terms.

“You are no match for them. It won’t make a difference no matter how many hundreds or even thousands of people you send. You would only be getting in my way. I will figure out an escape on my own. Goodbye.”

[Lady An……!]

Ianna cut off their communication.

Saki and her people had no chance of beating the Bahamut imperial family, whose incredible military might had been the talk of legends since times immemorial. They would not only be defeated —it was certain they would be annihilated. Ianna did not need their help, as it would only lead to more losses.

And, shortly thereafter.

She felt a giant movement in the flow of mana from afar. A magic circle expanded out like an umbrella being opened, and a familiar woman shot out from it.

With a flush on her face, Isabella screamed,

“I found you!”

Ianna looked back at Isabella. Isabella was chasing after her by using Blink from the place she had been teleported to.

Ianna returned her attention forward. She had almost reached the Lotso Mountains, but she was afraid that Isabella would catch her by using Blink.

“Avoid the flow of mana as you move, Shweia.”

[I will. But I’m already starting to grow weaker……. I won’t be able to block it if that woman attacks. And there’s a chance I might get unsummoned abruptly, though I’ll still take you as far as I can. We’re almost there, so I’ll start descending.]

Ianna looked down as she listened to Shweia’s warnings. Soldiers donned with the royal army’s uniform were crawling over the earth like a swarm of ants.

“You aren’t that high elf from before. Are you another elf?”

Ianna heard Isabella’s seductive and coquettish voice from close by. She felt the air tear apart as tough leather shot out toward her. Ianna immediately drew her sword to block it.

Her sword did not clash against the whip. Instead, the whip wrapped around her blade and restrained it.

Isabella smiled beautifully as she said,

“I caught you.”

Ianna calmly pulled back at her sword. Isabella’s eyes opened wide in surprise as she felt herself be pulled forward.

“Oh my?”

Are you going to let me catch you?

But Ianna spun around and created a powerful centrifugal force before Isabella could say the words. Then, she grabbed the whip with a gloved hand as soon as Isabella had lost her balance. She pulled the whip taut.

Swoosh!

Ianna turned back around and tensed her forearms as she threw the whip over her shoulder. Isabella, who was still holding onto the whip even though she had lost her balance, was thrown into the air in an arc.

Then, Ianna pulled down at the whip as hard as she could, and both Isabella and the whip came crashing down. Isabella tried to straighten herself out, but she was rendered helpless as the wind’s powerful strength doubled down on her.

Ianna cut the whip along its ‘Line’ before she too was pulled down with it. The whip had been made from the tough leather of a monster and was reinforced with mana, but cutting it there had rendered all of its enhancements futile.

Isabella fell down toward the soldiers below like a shooting star.

Craaaaash!

There was a thunderous noise and a cloud of dust rose up as if there had been an explosion. A crater was formed as Isabella crashed down to earth, and the soldiers were caught up in it.

Splat, splaaat…….

“What the?!”

“Ahhhh!”

Ianna jumped over the thick wall of soldiers and asked Shweia to put her down while the army was distracted by Isabella, who was screaming out in pain.

[I wish you luck.]

Shweia immediately put her down and placed a kiss of blessing on her forehead before he was unsummoned.

Ianna vanished into the Lotso Mountains’ overgrown sea of trees like a ghost.

“Why you……!”

Isabella, who was covered from head to toe in the blood and gore of the soldiers whom she had crushed as she landed, jumped up. Her eyes grew bloodshot as she watched Ianna run into the Lotso Mountains.

“W-what just happened?”

“That wench —find out who she is at once!”

Not only the royal army’s soldiers but also soldiers belonging to each respective city’s liege lords had been dragged out under the excuse of capturing a traitor at the border.

The city army soldiers grew wary of the gorgeous woman who had suddenly created a crater in their midst.

But the royal soldiers froze stiff as they stood at attention. The royal army consisted of Bahamut soldiers who had been trained and dispatched from the empire. They had seen the beautiful princess before from afar, and they recognized her.

Isabella looked surprisingly like a madwoman with her disheveled hair and glistening eyes, but no one dared to say to it out loud.

“Capture him, all of you! Whomever catches him alive will be rewarded ten million gold!”

Isabella shouted into her ring before taking after Ianna like lightning. The soldiers she had left behind stood with their mouths agape.

“T-t-ten million gold?”

“Gold, not silver?”

“Did we hear incorrectly……? Surely, she said a million, not ten, right? And even one million gold is a lot.”

“More importantly, who was that woman? Is she the king’s mistress or something?”

Meanwhile, commanding officers ranking centurion or higher received orders from their king from their own communication rings and began shouting at their soldiers and telling them to move.

“It’s true!”

“She’s really offering ten million gold!”

“Ten million gold just for capturing one guy!”

“Are you serious? Damn, that’s awesome. Let’s hurry!”

Ianna noticed that Isabella was quickly chasing after her and reinforced her legs with as much mana as she could while the armies blazed with their newly-ignited fighting spirit and spilled into the Lotso Mountains like a bag of rice that had been cut open and emptied out.

Ianna ran toward the Lotso Mountains’ roads.

The roads were jam-packed with people, likely because the border between Lampinion and Jinzai was closed. There were still a lot of people even though the entrance to the Lotso Mountains had been blocked off several hours prior as Sidian mobilized to capture Ianna.

Ianna shoved her hand inside her bag. She had brought an incredibly plain mask with her just in case. She secured it on her face as she kicked off against the earth.

Thud thud thud!

“Whoa!”

“Oof!”

Tree roots, wagons, horses, branches, people’s heads —she stepped over all sorts of things as she sped forward.

Craaaash!

There was a deafening roar followed immediately by people’s screams.

Ianna looked back to find that Isabella’s whip was whisking around like a giant black snake. People were bursting apart, getting limbs torn off, or sent flying into monsters’ territory as the whip struck them. The monsters that had been eyeing the roads ate the people that went flying toward them, wondering what stroke of luck had brought them their meals.

Isabella continued her massacre without a care as she screamed,

“Stop! I’ll kill everyone here if you don’t stop!”

Ianna clicked her tongue.

‘She’s blinded to everything else.’

Ianna had come here not only because she wanted to avoid high-leveled monsters but also because she had thought that Isabella would hold back if there was a lot of people around, but she had been wrong. Then again, what reason would the Bahamut imperial family have to mind the eyes of people when they already had immense wealth, power, and authority? Who would censure them no matter how many people they killed?

‘But the Ghosts’ factory must’ve been pretty important if the princess herself is chasing me so frantically. Then again, I suppose it was pretty important if they were using the drugs to produced powerful knights.’

Ianna, who hadn’t noticed Isabella’s strange fixation with her yet, dodged a bolt of lightning that had come flying at her and threw her body toward the woods.

Now wasn’t the time to entertain any stray thoughts. She needed to focus of getting out of this situation safely.

She decided to go through with a rather ‘extreme’ last-ditch plan if she could not successfully shake off her pursuers. This plan wasn’t to expose her ability to control divine power, but to turn away from her destination, Toraca, and head toward the very center of the world instead of one of the four corners.

She needed to go there at some point, in any case.

She would go to the very heart of the Lotso Mountains —the territory belonging to ‘Kandemayon,’ the Chaos Dragon.

Dragons were unfathomable creatures. This was true of everyone, even the imperial princess of Bahamut. Even Isabella probably could not act so viciously before Kandemayon, the ruler of the Lotso Mountains.

And as for why she had decided to do something as crazy as put her trust in the dragon who had killed every intruder so far with a its breath?

It wasn’t that there didn’t exist a chance that she might die a pathetic death at the dragon’s hands, but Ianna was fairly certain that the dragon would not kill her.

The dragons protected the mythical races and guarded the gods’ secrets. There was no reason why they would kill her, who had once been a god named Roberstein, before they shared at least one conversation with her.

Ultimately, Ianna left the roads and ran into monster territory. Overgrown leaves sliced her flesh as Ianna ran through the dense forestry.

“Graaaaaawr!”

Monsters came running toward her from every direction, having smelled the delicious scent of life.

The first monsters to rush at her with their teeth bared were krads, low-class bipedal monsters with dog-like heads. They had dog-like heads, but the teeth peering out from the lips were like the fangs of savage beasts. They even carried around disfigured, axe-like weapons, and they were so hated that they were often called the outlaws of the mountains outside of the Lotso Mountains.

Ianna spotted an opening in between the pack that was swarming her, lowered her body for a moment, and immediately shot through it like lightning. Then, she kicked off again from one of the krads’ backs.

Bang!

“Yelp!”

It had been but a simple movement, but the krad lurched forward belly-first due to the power in Ianna’s kick, and Ianna used the resulting recoil to shoot away even faster.

Smaaaack!

Isabella, who had followed Ianna into the woods and was close behind, used her whip to bisect the krad that had come flying at her.

Stomp.

“Whimper…….”

The krads, who had rushed toward their new foe, opened their mouths as soon as Isabella had caught their eyes. Then, they whimpered like kicked dogs and began trembling so fiercely they might have been having seizures. Simultaneously, their groins grew moist and began giving off an acidic stench.

Isabella ignored the krads that had planted themselves on the ground instead of running at her and continued to chase solely after Ianna.

Next were orcs, which had pig-like heads. They were high orcs, red orcs with sharp horns on their backs and shoulders and an evolved subspecies of high-leveled orcs that were much stronger than their lower-leveled and normal cousins. Some of them could even use magic.

“Croak……!”

And yet, they fared no better than the krads. They approached Ianna while licking their chops, but they paled so quickly that their skin stopped being red as soon as they saw Isabella behind her.

“Screech!”

The same phenomenon repeated over and over again. Monsters tried to attack Ianna, saw Isabella, and either froze stiff or ran away. Small monsters, mid-sized monsters……it didn’t matter how strong or weak they were.

Ianna recalled what had happened with Arhad in the South as the phenomenon continued repeating. And she arrived at a single conclusion. The monsters were afraid because of the ‘Demon’s fragment.’ It was said that monsters were born because they had been exposed to the Demon’s miasma, so perhaps they were being influenced by that.

Baaang!

Ianna beat back hard at the spell that had come flying at her.

The dozens of ice crystals, each enforced to their maximum limits, clanged as they struck the trees and froze them solid the moment they hit.

Intrigue colored Isabella’s eyes as she watched from behind.

‘That wasn’t any ordinary spell, so how was he able to beat it back so easily?’

She licked her lips.

The spells were one thing, but the mana refused to listen to her even though she had been trying to disperse the mana reinforcing the bastard’s legs for some time now. He wasn’t even exercising that tight a grip over it —it was almost as it the mana itself was willfully clinging to him and throwing a tantrum because it didn’t want to let go.

How is his affinity so high when he doesn’t even have a Demon’s fragment?

And there’s also the fact that he’s able to summon the spirit kings…….

What a mysterious and exciting bastard.

“I’ll keep chasing you until you pass out from exhaustion!”

Isabella forgot even the fury she had felt when she had first stepped into the Lotso Mountains and chased after Ianna with great fun. It wasn’t easy, but she felt like she had become a huntress chasing after an amazing prey who was truly worth the time she was spending, and it thrilled her.

It was rare for her to be able to feel like this. The entire world was in her grasp, and she was always left bored because of this —it was rare for her to be able to feel excited over something.

Which was why Isabella pushed aside her eagerness to catch Ianna quickly and simply enjoyed the hunt. It wouldn’t be long until they reached Wiffheimer’s trap anyway, and there was no reason for Isabella to fret because Ianna was smoothly making her way over to where Wiffheimer was waiting.

And they arrived soon enough. Ianna’s footsteps faltered for the first time today because the scene spreading out before her eyes were so utterly absurd.

Tingling bloodlust prickled her skin. Ianna tensed up as she surveyed her enemies.

‘This is…….’

“Grrrr.”

They were high-class monsters, judging by their size and the presence they were giving off.

They each resembled a deer, beetle, or snake, but they had evolved so much and looked so bizarre that they could no longer be called the creatures they had originally been based off of.

‘How are they all here in one place?’

It was said that high-class monsters fought each other viciously if they met. Which was why they determined their own territories and rarely ventured outside them, but there were over three of them gathered here in one place. And they weren’t fighting each other at all —they were all glaring at Ianna together as if in harmony. They were hostile only to her.

Ianna looked to the monsters’ feet. There was a sea of small- and mid-sized monsters all panting heavily as they observed her.

“Are you the remarkable bastard who called forth the spirit kings and cut off the dear lady’s hand?”

Ianna whipped her head around when she heard a husky voice.

There, she found a snake-like monster of the highest class, so infamous that it had been given its own name —Basilisk—, glowering at her with its head raised high. The Basilisk was so notorious that even Ianna knew of it.

“Sssss.”

Saliva drizzled down from the Basilisk’s mouth. The deadly venom it carried melted the grass and earth below into a dead sludge.

A scarlet light dwelt in the Basilisk’s eyes as it took in Ianna’s figure. Ianna had seen such eyes before long ago.

‘The monsters that spilled down from the Lotso Mountains.’

She had seen the very same eyes from the monsters that had poured out from the Lotso Mountains when war had broken out between Bahamut and Roanne. And she had witnessed it from afar. As the monsters had listened to Arhad’s commands.

“I see. He truly does feel quite peculiar.”

She heard the husky voice again. Ianna looked up to stare at the top of the Basilisk’s head, which seemed to kiss the sky itself. There was an elderly man standing there haughtily. His eyes narrowed as he looked down at Ianna. He continued,

“I almost want to run a few experiments on him.”

“No, you can’t. Hardly any of your test subjects have ever survived your experiments.”

Isabella organized her thoughts as she walked ever so leisurely after Ianna. The monsters paid her no heed. Neither did they seize up in terror at the mere sight of her, as the others had until now.

In the past, Ianna had thought that the monsters were simply obeying Arhad’s commands because the mages under his banner had been controlling their minds with magic, but another worry budded in her now that she knew so much more.

‘Perhaps they’re not only terrified by the Demon, but also willing to obey the Demon’s orders. Does that mean that even the Basilisk can’t defy the Demon’s power?’

The elderly man raised his hand as Ianna sought an answer. She immediately fled the scene as she was assaulted by a sense of danger.

Clatter clatter!

Chains made from mana struck against the ground. The elderly man mumbled,

“Dizziness, Slide, Shock, Bind.”

Sturdy arrangements of mana fell upon Ianna with every simplistic word that left his mouth. His casting had been so swift that most people would have been caught in his spells before they could even begin to resist, but Ianna was just barely able to dodge them by the skin of her teeth.

Ianna understood that she was in peril and that she would truly get caught if things continued this way. Which was why she decided to test something out. She glared at the mana as if she was asking, Are you really going to do this to me?

And the mana recoiled and dispersed like a tangled mass of string unraveling one strand at a time.

“……!”

The elderly man’s —Wiffheimer’s— eyes opened wide and took on a strange light.

The bastard must have done something when he had looked at the mana, because Wiffheimer’s chest had stung for a moment and the mana had promptly dispersed.

It was alarming to him that the spells he had personally cast had been erased so thoroughly. Wiffheimer had received his Demon’s fragment when he was very young and had never experienced anything like this before, and he was deeply intrigued by his prey.

“Hmmm…….”

His displeasure at the fact that Isabella had dragged him out here evaporated instantaneously. His burning passion for research, which bordered madness and had not only made him the strongest mage alive but had even called a fragment of the Demon to him, had dimmed quietly when he had grown so powerful that none could dare defy him and was now beginning to blaze again within the old man’s heart.

And when the flames and reached its zenith, Wiffheimer laughed.

He recognized that the passion for research that he was feeling now was one of the strongest desires he had ever felt in his life.

Had his bizarrely strong desire to do research come about simply because the bastard had dispelled his magic? Isabella, who was perpetually bored, was so excited and fixated, and Wiffheimer himself was being shaken by the bastard and burning in his desire to do research even though the elderly mage was generally level-headed……was that normal?

No, it wasn’t.

But then, why was this happening?

Who was that bastard?

Wiffheimer wanted to study the cause behind this strange phenomenon. He wanted to throw the bastard down on his lab bench, dissect him, and figure out who he was post-haste.

“Hey, relax yourself. I will not tolerate that look in your eyes.”

Isabella clicked her tongue as she witnessed the glint in the elderly man’s eyes. She continued,

“I found this curio first. I initially wanted to monopolize him for myself, but I had no choice but to call you only because the circumstances were what they were. I will not permit you to lay your hands on him as you please.”

“In which case, I will seek permission before I begin. Are you not curious, Your Highness? Why does he make us feel so strange? These feelings have nothing to do with our personal wills, in my humble opinion. They are feelings born from the fragments dwelling in the both of us.”

“Hmm?”

Isabella was inclined to agree as she tilted her head to the side. Ianna, who had been listening to what the mage had been saying, heard the title, “Your Highness,” and confirmed her suspicions as to the woman’s identity.

“Though he does not possess a fragment of the Demon, it is highly likely that he is still related to the Demon in some manner. I simply wish to know what that relation is. Besides, I have no intention of killing him either and will be holding back. So, pray don’t fret.”

“I’m rather curious myself. But Wiffheimer, I will only let you do as you please after my mother and brother have seen him first.”

“I thought you wished to monopolize him?”

“They’re different from you. We share the same fragments, after all.”

They ignored Ianna entirely, believing her to be a fish already caught in their net, and were already discussing how they would deal with her afterward. Ianna found it ridiculous as she listened to them speak so freely, not even bothering to conceal their identities before prey they thought they had already caught, and she was able to identify the mage as well. The elderly man was Wiffheimer Potestas, the strongest mage in all of Bahamut.

To think that she would run into not one but two of the final bosses. Just thinking about how she was to settle this incredulous matter made Ianna’s head hurt, but that was a problem she would have to agonize over later —for now, escaping came first.

She tried to hide her presence, but they had apparently perceived the same things from her that Keigus Dimitri had once felt. It was unfortunate, but there was nothing she could do about it at this point. There was little point in crying over spilt milk.

Her future actions would be restricted —be that as it may, but it also meant that she had no more reason to hide her strength. All she had to do was ensure that she didn’t dye the mana around her crimson or use her crimson divine power. Even just that little extra leniency made Ianna feel like a liberated wild beast.

Ianna, who had been purposefully slowing down as Isabella and Wiffheimer conversed, suddenly shot out like lightning toward an area where the monsters weren’t as densely packed together.

“You!”

Neither Isabella nor Wiffheimer missed her abrupt action. They immediately began showering Ianna with all sorts of restriction and curse spells with their alarming reflexes and casting speed.

Ianna, who had reached the monsters before the spells hit her, grabbed a goblin by the arm and hurled it behind her.

Boooom! Boom!

“Screech!”

The goblin, who was subject to a vast variety of spells, shuddered while drooling for a moment before it collapsed to the ground.

Then, Ianna began demonstrating her natural abilities.

Claaaaang—!

Her sword cried sharply as it scraped against her scabbard when she drew it. The space immediately in front of Ianna was rent as the chilling sound echoed around her. Even the monsters forgot how to breathe for a moment as the wound made in space seemed to suck in even time itself.

Swiiiiish!

And a sword’s fortification burrowed deeply into the opening that was created.

The fortification bisected the monsters horizontally as their minds were still paralyzed, and their crimson blood exploded everywhere.

Splaaash!

Ianna ran between them like the wind and was covered in their blood. She began slashing away at the obstacles hindering her path.

“Kwoooh!”

There was an ogre, brandishing its club as it ran toward her, that was at least three times larger than Ianna. The ogre brought its club down upon her vertically. The wind whistled. Ianna spotted an opening created by the wind, the ogre, and its club.

Ianna grabbed her sword with both hands and brandished her sword down vertically against the ogre’s club. Her sword split the club in two and even bisected the ogre’s arm.

“Graaah!”

The ogre screamed in pain. The resulting soundwave, and the ogre’s struggling as it clutched at its arm and stomped around, created yet another opening.

Swish!

Ianna’s flattened blade whisked through the ogre’s knee. Blood spurted out from the ogre’s severed leg like a fountain, and its colossal frame came crumbling down. Ianna was hacking away at yet another monster even before the ogre finished collapsing.

Her memories of dropping down right in the middle of enemy camps on the battlefield and rending and rending her enemies in a half-crazed state flooded her mind. It was kill or be killed —and the situation dragged her back to her best state.

Pow! Slash!

She tore through flesh and gouged through bone to advance onward.

“Haah…….”

Ianna straightened out her breathing.

She focused and focused yet again. Her sixth sense was awakened as her other five senses were heightened to the upmost extremes, and she could begin to feel the Lines again.

Her opponent’s movements, body temperature, breathing, blood flow, and external factors of the environment such as the wind, the sunlight, and the density of the mana in the air —seeing the Lines meant that Ianna could read all of these things at once and create a deadly ‘window.’

This window was extremely narrow and closed so quickly that it was difficult to react to in time even if she felt it, but she could pulverize any enemy so long as she did. Just like how she had cut apart Isabella’s whip before they had entered the woods.

Cutting the Line was both a battle sense and a battle technique, and in the past it had been what had allowed her to be the second strongest person in the world. She had never managed to cut Arhad down, but she had been able to cut down everything else in the world save for him.

Cutting the Line required incredible senses and exceptional physical prowess. The elements she had once explained to Rikijen when she had saved a young child from a racing carriage had merely been things that she needed to consider when preparing to cut a Line.

She had overtaxed her already extraordinary senses time and time again just to train up this battle sense. She trained in the Swordsmanship Department’s training grounds by striking at precisely one spot of a training dummy with her wooden sword, and she had ultimately done all of that just to polish this one technique.

She had only reached this level in her early thirties in her previous life. She had reached this level so early in this life not only because she had started training at a young age and had been consistent in her practice but also because she was even training how to control divine power.

Which was why she had been confident that she could deal with a fragment beneficiary with just her swordplay alone, but to think that she would meet the Bahamut princess and the head mage of Bahamut already…….

Slaaash!

A whip, significantly stronger than the attack of any monster, came flying at her from behind.

Craaaash!

Ianna evaded it by jumping forward. The whip smacked against the ground, and the earth upheaved like a bomb had gone off there.

Bang!

But the whip shot into the air like a flag being tossed around by a hurricane’s winds and attacked Ianna yet again. A shower of obstruction spells accompanied it.

Ianna never let her guard down as she beat back the whip and every single spell inside the cloud of dust surrounding her. The whip tried to wrap itself around both Ianna and her sword, but Ianna’s ironclad defense prevented it from succeeding. The whip and spells that Ianna beat back struck the monsters around her instead.

She finally found the whip’s Line again after it had attacked her least a few dozen times. Her blade, which had been lying in wait, immediately seized the opening and cut it.

Riiiip!

She split the whip like a snake’s tongue. But that had only been the beginning, and the tear travelled down all the way to the whip’s handle in but an instant.

“Ohoho!”

Isabella burst out in laughter just as the force behind Ianna’s counterattack was about to reach her hand and leave a scar.

She flung aside her now-useless whip. Her gloomy gaze astutely captured Ianna’s movements from within the cloud of dust.

“I’d thought that you were only carrying around a sword for self-defense, but it seems like you were a swordsman and not a spirt user? Goodness…….”

Isabella’s vision began to grow dim.

She grew limp, almost as if she was sleepwalking, and reached with a fist as if there was something in front of her. Her fist began to disappear just as her arm was halfway extended. Half of her arm had vanished, as if she had reached into a separate space, by the time her arm was fully extended.

Isabelle pulled out her arm shortly thereafter. In her hands were a pair of daggers with blades that looked plainly malefic even at a first glance.

“I was only using a whip because I didn’t want to get the blood of weaklings on my hands.”

My real weapon of choice is a sword, you know? And it looks like you favor a sword too, right?

Isabella’s surroundings began dying black as she giggled. The mana around her had fallen completely under her domination.

Isabella’s mana was cold. It was muddied by the widespread death and evil it had digested. The mana’s flow let out a melancholy wail as it sought new victims. And it reached out for Ianna, who was still twirling around inside the dust.

“……I want you even more now. I’ll never let you go.”

The monsters felt her change and lamented.

“I’m done playing, Wiffheimer. Hand me your control over the Basilisk, and use the other two to block off his escape routes. And prepare a teleportation spell that’ll take us directly to the imperial palace in the meanwhile.”

“I hear and obey.”

Wiffheimer consented obediently and jumped down from the Basilisk’s head. He floated lightly back down to earth and slammed down his cane.

Buzzzz…….

Mana swirled into his cane in the shape of a helix. Then, it began drawing out geometrical patters from where his cane met the ground like ivy twining into itself as it climbed up and over a wall.

Teleport was one of the most difficult spatial magics that existed, and it not only required complex arrangements of mana even to travel just a short distance but also placed a heavy burden on the caster’s body.

It was common practice to teleport multiple times in shorter distances to simplify the required mana arrangements and lessen the burden on the caster when teleporting great distances, like what Wiffheimer had done when he had first teleported from the imperial palace so far away.

On the other hand, taking out the stops in the middle and teleporting such a great distance in one go required the caster to simultaneously cast another spell to lessen the toil it would take on their body, so even a renowned mage like Wiffheimer required significant time to cast it.

Isabella leapt on top of the Basilisk’s body.

“Sssssss!”

The Basilisk, which had been on standby while it observed the situation, finally began to move. It moved as quickly as lightning despite its gigantic frame. Ianna jumped up on instinct as she grew dizzy upon feeling like a mountain was moving on the other side of the dust.

Slaaaam!

The Basilisk’s head instantly charged beneath Ianna’s feet. Its colossal frame dug a canal across the earth as it shot forward. None of the monsters crushed beneath its weight had survived intact.

Ianna was forced to parry Isabella’s attack as soon as she had landed on top of the Basilisk.

Claang! Ting!

Isabella had ambushed her twice. Ianna blocked the first attack with her sword and narrowly stopped the second dagger, charging toward her side, with her scabbard.

Swiish!

Isabella’s blades drew close like they meant to scratch Ianna’s throat. Her black eyes and the smile lingering on her lips were oozing with possessive desire and madness.

Ultimately, Ianna had no choice but to fight back here and now. Ianna’s eyes flashed with ferocious resolve as she glared back at Isabella.

Craaaash!

Two giant powers clashed atop the squirming Basilisk. Ianna blocked the whirling storm of Isabella’s attacks and aimed to strike back at the princess’ blind spots.

Ianna grit her teeth when Isabella caught her sword. Normally, people’s attacks grew weaker when they graced a dual-bladed style, because their strength and focus was divided between both weapons, but such was not the case for Isabella. Both of her daggers were overwhelmingly powerful —Ianna felt like she was fight two-on-one.

Moreover, though she had seen the Lines easily enough when fighting the monsters, she could hardly see any on Isabella at all. It wasn’t as if there were no Lines at all, but they moved around dizzyingly and were difficult to pinpoint with precision.

Most importantly, Isabella did not give her enough time to take advantage of the Lines. Ianna almost felt like she was fighting the Arhad of the past.

‘Is she at a similar level as Arhad? No. She might actually be……a little stronger.’

Arhad had always said that it wasn’t time yet. That he wasn’t yet ready to face the Bahamut imperial family.

Ianna could not properly use mana or her divine power at the moment, but she was wielding her swordplay to its fullest extent. And Isabella was a match for her even still. And that was before Ianna even added the fact that Isabella was holding back because she wanted to capture her alive into consideration…….

Clang!

Their blades tangled, and Ianna and Isabella ended up facing off so closely against each other that their breaths mingled. A giddy look crossed Isabella’s face.

“I like you even more now that you’re so close. Really, who are you?”

Ianna quietly glared back at Isabella. She realized that it probably wasn’t because of the factory that the princess had personally chased after her all this way.

Why was this woman being so obsessed over her?

Wiffheimer and Keigus too……but why?

Was it due to the Demon’s fragments, just as Wiffheimer had suggested earlier?

But if it was really true that the Demon’s fragments created feelings of obsession for her…

Then what about Arhad……?

‘I need to stop thinking about this.’

Ianna ceased her pointless thinking.

Pooow!

“Kgh!”

Then, she abruptly raised her leg and kicked Isabella’s knee aside with all her might as the latter focused on their crossing blades. Ianna vanished in the brief instant that Isabella had staggered from the unexpected attack and lost her balance.

She only appeared again between the two high-class monsters guarding the area. And she vanished yet again before the monsters could even acknowledge her presence.

Her speed was something to be feared.

“…….”

Isabella studied the route that Ianna was racing down with wavering eyes. Mana gathered around her and began arranging itself into the arrangement for Blink. Isabella vanished.

Crash!

Isabella reappeared directly in front of Ianna and grabbed the latter’s arm, causing both of them to come tumbling down. Then, she used Blink again to teleport back to where Wiffheimer was still preparing his spells.

“You’re coming with me. I’ll take you home and give you lots of my lo……hmm? Shit!”

Isabella, who had been panting with jubilee as she strung together her words suddenly exclaimed in anger. She was only holding a robe in her arms. Ianna had twisted her body out of Isabella’s clutches in just that short window of time.

“Pant, pant!”

Ianna picked up her bag, which she had reflexively tossed ahead just before Isabella had caught her, and ran toward not the Kingdom of Toraca but the heart of the Lotso Mountains. She quickly put on her spare set of robes before accelerating even faster.

The only option she had remaining was to run to Kandemayon’s territory.

“You little rat!”

She heard shrieking from afar. And then, Isabella began tailing her yet again. The princess seemed truly irritated, as she was several times faster than she had been before.

Ianna grit her teeth and ran as fast as she could. Isabella’s speed matched hers. But just as their game of tag was about to begin in earnest.

A black dot suddenly appeared from the heavens.

It flew leisurely through the azure skies before covering not only the area where Ianna was but the whole of the Lotso Mountains in a shadow as it flew in front of the sun.

Ianna, Isabella, Wiffheimer, the monsters, the soldiers of Sidian, the people traveling through Lotso Mountain roads……everyone in the Lotso Mountains naturally looked up when suddenly confronted with the strange and sudden onslaught of night. And they all saw a rather peculiar spot in the sun.

“What is that?”

Part 10

The black dot was gradually growing larger. It had initially looked like a spot of ink on white paper, but its details were slowly filling in like a picture being painted.

It wasn’t a dot but a certain single creature. And it was flying down with incredible speed.

Everyone froze stiff as they saw it.

“Oh…….”

They could only see it from afar, but it looked like something straight out of the legends.

Its colossal pair of wings, its scales that looked harder than mithril, its mountainous frame, so large that even the largest monsters looked like babes before it, and its teeth, so sharp that they could probably pulverize anything that it put in its mouth.

Someone cried out in a quivering voice,

“It’s a dragon!”

Ianna, Isabella, and the monsters chasing after them all stopped in their tracks and stared urgently at the ever-growing dot —the dragon.

Boom!

The earth roared as the dragon made its landing. Ianna didn’t know whether it had been by chance or by intent, but the place where the dragon landed and broke apart every tree and rock in its wake was, fortunately, directly in between herself and Isabella.

“…….”

Ianna gathered her breathing as she stared at the dragon’s gigantic tail and wings. It was sitting with its back and wings to her. In other words, it was facing Isabella.

Grrrrr…….

The dragon growled. The treacherous sound made everyone flinch.

The dragon’s presence incited a terror within them that they could not help but feel as living beings.

It was so large and so powerful that it was practically a natural disaster in and of itself that no human could hope to overpower. It’s haughty gaze, as though it was glancing down at microbes that it could slaughter with just a single step, fell upon Isabella, the monsters, and Wiffheimer, who was still preparing his Teleport spell not too far away.

The dragon drew in a large breath. Every living being in the area felt a sense of loss as they suddenly found it difficult to breathe. All the mana in the surrounding area was sucked inside the dragon’s mouth.

Roaaaaaaar!

An exorbitant amount of black mana poured out from the dragon’s maw. It was a simple whirlwind of mana.

Those that had been crushed to death by the mana of the highest density did not even leave traces behind as they simply ceased to be. Everything met the same fate —whether it be monsters, rocks, or trees. The legends called this attack a ‘dragon’s breath.’

Hwoooo…….

The breath died down.

“Squeak!”

“Screech! Screeeech!”

The monsters that had been lucky enough to dodge the breath attack lost their minds in terror and scattered while shrieking. Even the highest-class monsters had fared no better.

“Ssssss.”

The Basilisk’s slit eyes grew round with fear and its frame shivered like a snake caught in a storm. It immediately fled the scene without once looking back as soon as it returned to its senses. The deer-shaped monsters were bipedal, but they got down on all fours to whisk away, and the beetle-shaped monsters spread out their wings and took flight.

“Ughh.”

Isabella staggered.

She had taken a direct hit from the dragon’s breath. She had survived because she had instinctively used all the power at her disposal to protect herself, but her entire body ached and burned.

Isabella’s skin, once as pale as white jade, was colored by burn wounds, and the flesh on her arms, which she had used to protect her face, had been scorched away and were dribbling with blood. Her once silky hair now looked like black burnt straw.

Her clothes had been reduced to tatters and could barely cover her properly. She had dropped Ianna’s robe in her surprise, and the robe had vanished without even leaving behind a single speck of ash —though that was only the natural result.

“Fuck! What the hell?! Why is there a dragon here……?!”

She cursed as she snapped back to her senses before grabbing the remains of her clothes —could they even be called that anymore?— and sprinted back.

Why the hell is there a dragon here?

She could not understand at all. It was still a long way to the heart of the Lotso Mountains, where Kandemayon, the chaos dragon, made its territory. They hadn’t been close enough for the dragon to come down and deal with any intruders.

“Wiffheimer!”

Isabella called out to the ashen-faced mage when she spotted him from afar.

“Hurry! Hurry up and activate the teleportation spell! Hurry!”

Isabella bit down hard at her lip once she had urged him to hurry. Her heart had started thumping furiously as soon as she had seen the dragon. This was the first time she had ever seen a dragon, but she remembered the warning that previous emperors had left their descendants clearly.

‘Do not oppose a dragon until you have gathered every fragment of the Demon scattered throughout the world and have completed it. The dragons don’t possess a fragment of the Demon, but, like the Demon, they too can control mana as if it was their own.’

It was only now that she truly comprehended what her ancestors had meant. She felt a terror that was eating away at her so thoroughly that it threatened to devour her entire sense of self, and her head felt blank.

Isabella immediately defined what she had felt when she had seen the dragon. Unlike the imperial family, who collected the Demon’s fragments and borrowed the Demon’s power, the dragon had been the source of its power in and of itself.

Thump! Thump!

Her heart was resonating and palpitating in her chest just like it did whenever she found another fragment, but she was certain that this was only because she had met the legendary creature called a ‘dragon.’ Dragons were beings that stood equal to the Demon, and it made sense to her that there was some other algorithm at work as to why her heart was thumping so furiously.

Isabella was being wary of the dragon even as she huffed and puffed and sprinted as fast as she could. But then, in the ever-foggy spiritual plane, she suddenly recalled the one being who had been filling up her mind until the dragon had arrived.

Isabella faltered and looked back.

She wanted to run back and catch him at once. But the glistening light of the dragon’s eyes told her that it was an impossible task.

But why?! Why had the dragon landed there of all places, right between her and the bastard, and decided to block her path like a wall of steel?

Was it by chance, or was it by intent?

Isabella could not help but wonder if the latter was the case, since the dragon did not look like it intended to move any time soon. The dragon had stayed in place and guarded its territory for millennia like an ancient tree, so had it taken action because of that bastard —just like how her own bored heart had been instilled with obsession and greed?!

Just who on earth was he?!

Her curiosity and possessive desire were driving her insane, and they made her want to run past the dragon and drag the bastard back with her.

‘Shit……shit!’

But Isabella resumed running forward even as she cursed vehemently in her heart. She reached the Teleport spell, which Wiffheimer had been preparing in earnest, and activated the communication magic in her ring.

“A dragon has appeared, Payne.”

[I received a report about it earlier. But how……?]

“What are our coordinates, Wiffheimer?”

“-1123, -322, 217.”

“Remember these coordinates, and have your soldiers surround and search this whole area as soon as the dragon leaves. The bastard is wearing dark red robes, but kill any suspicious figure you find wandering away from the roads. I will uphold my promise to reward ten million gold to whomever finds him!”

[I hear and obey. Will you be returning to the imperial palace, Master?”

“…….”

Isabella glared at the dragon. It was still staring back at them. Sounding exhausted, Wiffheimer said,

“Please defend me, Your Highness. I’m almost done, but I am lacking in power because the dragon is disrupting the mana I need to use for the spell.”

Even Wiffheimer wasn’t in his normal state of mind.

Isabella stood in front of Wiffheimer and blocked the dragon’s gaze. Wiffheimer worked his brains as hard as he could as he regained a measure of relief and completed the arrangement of mana in but an instant.

Isabella gathered her ragged breathing and stared at the area beyond the dragon.

There weren’t many Demon’s fragments scattered throughout the world anymore —a result of the Bahamut imperial family collecting them for centuries. In other words, it wouldn’t be long now until the fragments were complete. The imperial family had predicted that the Demon would be completed in Taylon and Isabella’s generation.

‘You bastard, I will find you without fail as long as you continue to exist in this world, and I will put you behind bars in the cellars of my palace.’

Her obsession grew worse and piled up in her heart at the thought that she couldn’t have him right now. She was so angry that her head hurt. Still, Isabella just barely managed to hold back her emotions and turned to glare that the dragon in vengeance.

‘You damned lizard. My Lord Brother and I will come to kill you as soon as the Demon is complete.’

She stared openly at the dragon, as if she was etching its image directly in her brain.

Kandemayon, the dragon of the Lotso Mountains.

It had black wings, a black body, and eyes as black as tar…….

Wait, but its eyes aren’t black?

The dragon drew in another deep breath just as the doubt formed in Isabella’s mind. Isabella stopped thinking and urged Wiffheimer to hurry as she felt a rapid drop in the density of the mana around her, and Wiffheimer activated the teleportation spell.

Roaaaaaar!

The dragon’s breath covered the place where Isabella and Wiffheimer had been once more. The breath attack was incredibly wide in scope and stopped only after it had devastated the earth. Nothing alive moved in front of the dragon once the breath attack had subsided and it had closed its mouth.

“…….”

Ianna was pacing about behind the dragon.

The dragon was as large as a mountain, and she could not directly see what had happened beyond it, but she had felt the colossal movement of mana and could guess that the area on the other side had been absolutely ruined by the dragon’s breath.

More importantly, Ianna was stunned by the mere fact that the dragon was here. Her heart had started beating furiously as soon as she had seen its black figure, and it would not settle down. She clenched her sweaty palms into tight fists.

A dragon. She couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation, but there was truly a dragon before her.

What was she supposed to do? What was she supposed to ask? Would it kill her? What happened to Isabella?

“Grrr…….”

The dragon’s frame began quivering slightly as its growl shook the heavens and the earth. It’s wings, which it had folded when it had landed, spread open again.

“Um…”

Ianna snapped back to her senses and tried to speak with it, but the dragon took to the skies once more as its wings flapped up and down.

“Please wait!”

Ianna quickly tried to run closer to the dragon. She reached out, planning to grab hold of its tail or claw or whatever else she could, but she was caught off guard by the incredible wind pressure it generated and was tossed aside. She jumped back to her feet like a roly-poly as soon as she tumbled down.

Then, the dragon said to her,

[Go to where you meant to go.]

“Please wait, you’re Lord Kandemayon, yes? I wanted to speak a little with you……!”

[…….]

The dragon glanced back at her for a moment when it heard her desperate call.

“……!”

She had called out to the dragon so anxiously, but she froze stiff like a statue as soon as their eyes met.

The dragon only observed Ianna for a moment before it turned its head back around. Its wings jolted as it shot forward, and Ianna regained her senses and chased after it.

She could not catch hold of the dragon. The dragon seemed to fly at the speed of light, and it had become but a dot in the sky again in one moment before vanishing from view altogether in the next.

“Pant, pant.”

Ianna chased after it desperately for just a little longer before she gave up and stopped to catch her breath. Then, she immediately collapsed down to the earth. So much had happened in such a short period of time, and she needed the time to organize her thoughts as she took a short rest.

Her mind was still in chaos as she wiped away the sweat on her face.

The dragon had appeared out of nowhere to step in between herself and Isabella as she fled from the latter. The dragon had put its back to her as if it was protecting her and had cast its breath attack on Isabella’s side twice.

Isabella, Wiffheimer, and the swarm of monsters had all vanished as a result. Every enemy that had placed Ianna in danger had been removed from the picture in one go. But all the dragon had said was to go to where to she meant to go before simply up and leaving.

She could plainly deduce just one conclusion from the dragon’s actions.

‘The dragon came here to help me.’

And there was only one question in her mind as soon as the thought occurred to her.

‘But why?’

She automatically recalled the dragon’s eyes, which she had seen when their gazes had met just earlier, as she tried to figure out the reason behind the dragon’s actions.

Those eyes.

That light.

That familiar color…….

‘Does Kandemayon, the Chaos Dragon, have golden eyes?’

The books stated that the dragon had been black from head to toe —there was no part of it that wasn’t black— but Ianna was certain that the Kandemayon she had seen had eyes that shone a brilliant gold.

Which made her think of Arhad.

In was only natural that Ianna thought of him, since Arhad was the only person she knew with golden eyes. The dragon’s body had also been black, so she could not help but think of Arhad, who was the only being in her life that represented the harmony of gold and black to her.

Ianna shook her head.

‘That’s absurd. It’s ridiculous of me to think about Arhad like it’s only natural whenever I see those two colors together. But why did the dragon come all the way out of its territory just to help me? It is because Roberstein is my prior incarnation?’

Thinking this only made her more curious about the gods’ secrets that the dragon was supposedly protecting. She wanted to take the opportunity to head on straight to the heart of the Lotso Mountains and ask Kandemayon directly, but it was too early for her to attempt to conquer her way there just yet. It was a place teeming with mountains of monsters as strong as the Basilisk, after all.

Ianna had recklessly made her way toward the dragon because it had been her only means of throwing the princess off her trail, but she understood that the heart of the mountains was still too much for her as of yet now that she was thinking with a calmer mind. Besides, Ianna had friends who were still waiting for her safe return.

Rumble rumble.

Ianna stood up as the foot of the mountains began growing noisy. She listened close and heard people saying things like, “That way!” and, “Group 1 to the left, group 2 to the right!” They were almost certainly Sidian soldiers.

Ianna began moving her feet again. She was heading back toward the Kingdom of Toraca.

But a lingering feeling that she could not quite name patiently stuck to her back and legs. She felt the same way she had that day when she turned back to looked at the back alleys in which the robed man who had once embraced her from behind had disappeared to.

She was almost certain that the man from back then had been Arhad…….

Glimpse.

Ianna shot one last glance behind her as she walked ahead. And so, she moved farther away from the place where the dragon had disappeared to.

Thump! Thud-dump!

Ianna eluded the Sidian soldiers with ready ease.

She had been training her body for roughly twenty years in her past life and for roughly ten years in this one. She was currently at a level completely out of the soldiers’ leagues —it didn’t matter how well they ate or how much they trained. She had only had trouble with the Bahamut imperial family because they were absurdly strong, and there were only a very few beings in the entire world who could chase her down if she truly meant to escape in earnest.

Swish! Swiiish!

There were no monsters blocking her path because the dragon had chased them all away, and Ianna speed along through the treetops like a ghost. She shot forward like a phantom every time she landed on a tree brach on her toes and leapt forth again. The only trace of her presence she left behind was the rustling of the leaves, not unlike the sound that the breeze made when it blew past.

Ianna contacted Saki through her artefact. She had ignored Saki’s numerous calls after hanging up on her, but now she had judged that it would be safe for them to rendezvous.

‘She’s not answering.’

But Saki wasn’t answering. Had something happened?

‘In that case, I’ll go straight for the Toraca border.’

She had promised to meet her friends at the border between Toraca and the Lotso Mountains should they have to split up for unavoidable reasons. Ianna accelerated once she had determined her destination.

She ran for a few hours.

Ianna was growing tired, having run such a great distance. She had rejoiced at the green scenery at first, but she was growing tired of it now. She could not help but want to lie down somewhere —whether that be the floor or an actual bed— and get some deep sleep instead of sitting on a rock to take a short break from running.

She was beginning to drop in altitude little by little. The thought that she had probably passed Jinzai and was nearing Toraca now gave her strength.

Clang! Clang!

Aaaack!

Ahh, ughh…….

But then, she suddenly started smelling the stench of blood. Her hearing also captured the sound of hundreds of weapons clashing against each other, intimidating shouts, desperate cries, and pained groans. Considering the ruckus, it sounded like there was a large-scale battle unfolding nearby.

‘Who’s fighting?’

Thwack!

Having grown curious, Ianna changed direction and headed to where the noise was coming from. The battle began unfolding before her eyes a few minutes later.

“Fuck off, you cultists!”

“Ack!”

There were at least a few hundred people locked in battle. The fight was larger than Ianna had originally anticipated. The battle almost looked like a war, since most people were dressed in one of two uniforms.

“We’re only looking for a rebel! Go back to where you came from!”

“You dirty bastards —you said you wouldn’t invade, and yet you’re still pulling off this bullshit?!”

One side was dressed in the Sidian army’s uniform. And the other side was wearing a uniform so white that Ianna could not help but wonder how difficult it must be to keep clean.

“Servants of the Demon!”

“You bastards have no right to return to God Laos’ embrace. Bury your bones in the ground, where the Demon is said to sleep!”

‘They aren’t from Jinzai, are they?’

She was probably correct. Wearing obsessively white clothing was something that the believers of the Faith of Laos did, and Jinzai was the only nation in the region that would incorporate the practice into her military uniform.

Ianna pondered over why Jinzai and Sidian would be fighting each other in the Lotso Mountains out of the blue. She could think of two reasons. Jinzai had either retaliated because she had thought that Sidian was invading when the Sidian army poured into the Lotso Mountains to look for Ianna, or Saki, who was a high-ranking individual in Jinzai, had pulled a few strings to rescue her.

“Just shut up and die already if you like Laos so much! Go find him in the next world and suck on his toes or something!”

Ianna stoop atop a sturdy tree and scanned the entire area. She didn’t plan on joining the battle, but she could not discount the possibility that Saki or her friends might be within the fray. Ianna left quickly enough after confirming that Saki was not present.

But the battle wasn’t breaking out in just that one area. She had confirmed four battles already as she was running.

And this was the fifth.

The battle was taking place near Toraca, judging by Ianna’s current altitude. And this was the largest battle yet. There were not only Jinzai soldiers but also more than a few Toraca soldiers fighting in the fray, and even a few mercenaries wearing their own colors.

Ianna was bewildered.

‘Did they really mobilize this many Sidian soldiers just because of me? It looks like there are a few provincial armies there, and not just the royal army……. I guess the people of Sidian are more loyal to their crown than I’d thought.’

Ianna, who had no way of knowing that she was now the worst rebel that Sidian had ever known or that she had a ten million-gold bounty on her head, was astutely amazed. She scanned the area, just as she had been doing for the other four battles.

It wasn’t long until she saw something that concerned her greatly.

Smack! Pow!

Someone was violently rending through his enemies.

One of his enemies lost a body part that tumbled to the ground every time the blood-covered young man brandished his sword. His enemies’ bodies were riddled with holes, just like a sponge, every time he thrust out his blade.

The young man felled his enemies with just a few strokes of his sword, and his enemies looked at him like he was the grim reaper. He wielded his sword like a madman, as if he wasn’t satisfied to have rendered his immediate area into a sea of corpses and blood. His enemies were reluctant to approach him.

‘What in the……?’

Ianna, who had been watching with complicated feelings, jumped down from her tree. Then, she evaporated from view. She appeared again when she was directly behind him.

Snatch!

Ianna grabbed the young man’s arm from behind and forced him to look at her. The young man, who had failed to noticed her presence and had been decapitating his enemy, startled and swung around his sword.

Pow!

Ianna hit him lightly on the wrist and changed the trajectory of his blade. He went in for a head-butt once Ianna had blocked his attacked, and Ianna grabbed his face.

“Why are you here, Herrace?”

“……Oh.”

The young man’s —Herrace’s— eyes lost focus once he heard Ianna worried voice. Herrace stopped in his tracks as Ianna took off her mask. She looked plainly exhausted, but Herrace staggered, his legs on the verge of giving out, because she looked otherwise safe and sound.

“Little Ianna?”

“Yes?”

“Is it really you, Little I-Ianna?”

“Yes.”

Clatter!

Herrace dropped his sword. His hands trembled. Tears immediately flooded his eyes.

“Y-you were all right.”

Ianna lowered her eyes and surveyed the hellscape around him. The extreme change to Herrace’s normally gentle demeanor was disconcerting to her.

“You…….”

Ianna found it difficult to speak. Herrace had suddenly pulled her into a tight hug.

“Thank goodness. I’m so glad. Truly!”

Ianna’s shoulder was moistened with tears. She hesitated for a moment because of the sudden embrace, and she began patting Herrace’s back because he was acting so strangely.

“Did something happen? How were you able to do this?”

“You’re my idol and my hope, Little Ianna. You’re my dear friend and my teacher,”

Herrace rambled as he trembled. He continued,

“I couldn’t help myself when I thought about the fact that you were in danger. I hated the enemies who were putting you in danger so much when you stumbled even though you’re always so strong. I couldn’t forgive them. And I truly wanted to kill them. I was so afraid for you, because we teleported away while leaving you alone in the middle of so many enemies. I thought it’d drive me insane. I don’t care about the lives of my enemies if it means that I can save you, Little Ianna.”

Herrace was almost in a state of panic. He let go of Ianna. He looked back at Ianna, the real Ianna who was staring at him quietly, and he hugged her again as more tears spilled from his eyes.

“I, sniff, I’m so glad you’re all right. Sob.”

“Hey!”

Taro, who had been making a mess of his own opponents not too far from Herrace, saw Ianna and ran over.

“Thank god! We were so worried about ya!”

Taro pulled both Ianna and Herrace in his arms as soon as he reached them. He was obviously overjoyed.

“Pops! She’s here!”

Taro suddenly yelled. Then, someone came running over to them like lightning.

“Lass! I knew ya’d be fine since yer you!”

It was Absilot.

Like father like son, Absilot pulled all three of them, who were still tangled into each other, into a tight embrace as soon as he arrived. Ianna could not hide her surprise.

“Why are you here, Lord Absilot……?”

“I was plannin’ to meet ya by the border since I heard ya were comin’, but then I learned that they closed the Jinzai-Sidian border. So I decided to wait around at the border to the Lotso Mountains instead, but I only found that rascal Taro there! He said that ya were in a whole lotta danger, so I was gonna go and rescue ya! But, we’ve found ya now, so why don’t we finish this up real quick?”

He seemed like he was enjoying the situation quite a bit. He continued,

“It’s great that we’re in the mountains where it’s easy to jump around all over the place……. All ya bastards are mine now.”

That was all Absilot said before he began acting strangely. He bent down to place his hands on the ground and bent his knees ever so slightly.

“Grrrr.”

He growled like a beast and barred his pointed teeth.

His bright eyes were glowing, and his body was slowly being covered with fur. The bones of his once-human body twisted as he transformed into a fur-covered beast. His terrifying figure made Ianna’s hair stand on end.

Roaaaar!

The entire mountain trembled and wailed as the vibrant orange tiger barred his fangs. His sonorous roar put the weak-willed in a state of panic.

Ianna watched him and said,

“You’re a beastman too, aren’t you, Taro?”

“Yeah, but I can’t turn into a tiger cause I’m only half-blooded. But I was still born with a tiger’s strength and stamina, ya know?”

Tigers were one of the strongest carnivores. It was only then that Ianna understood why Taro had such monstrous strength that he could send people flying just by hitting them lightly.

Swiiipe! Swipe!

“Save me!”

“Aah!”

Absilot had jumped into the heart of the battle and was brandishing his claws as if he was in a trance. His claws were covered in his powerful orange divine power, and he shredded through weapons, armor, and even people. He was as large as any monster found near the area and looked just as savage as one, and it was almost like a high-class monster had entered the fray.

Absilot concluded the battle swiftly. No one wearing the Sidian army’s uniform had survived.

“Grrrr.”

The tiger spat out the chunk of flesh he had been holding in his mouth and a rain of blood showered the grass around him as he shook out his fur. Their surviving allies shrieked and shivered in fear even though it was the very same tiger who had achieved the most for them in this battle.

“Grr.”

The tiger turned to Ianna. Then, the tiger —Absilot— walked slowly up to her and crouched down.

[Get on, Lass!]

“What about me and Herrace, Pops?”

[I don’t let menfolk on my back. You carry Herrace yerself, damnit! I’m sure yer exhausted, Lass, so get on!]

Ianna hesitated for a moment but ultimately jumped on. Absilot howled like he was having great fun before he said,

[Hold on tight!]

That was all he said before shooting out like an arrow.

Ianna grabbed hold of the tiger’s fur and looked back as he raced like a gale. Taro, who was running along with Herrace on his back because his father betrayed no intention of going back for them, tilted his head to the side and asked,

“Did ya leave something behind?”

It was only after he had asked that Ianna returned to her senses and turned forward again.

“No. Nothing.”

Absilot, the vibrant tiger, ran like lightning for a few minutes before slowing down and eventually coming to a stop. Herrace climbed down from Taro’s back as Ianna jumped off.

Crunch. Cruuunch.

Absilot’s body was turning human once more. His tail grew shorter and his legs grew longer. His front legs turned into arms and his paws turned into long fingers as the tiger stood up on his hind legs. His fur latticed together like fiber as it turned into taut skin.

“Pops! Yer clothes!”

Taro quickly threw over his mantle, which Absilot grabbed with his still-beastly arm, spun around like a pinwheel, and wrapped around his body.

“Hehe.”

Absilot turned back toward Ianna a moment later. Standing before her was not a tiger but the human Absilot wearing a mantle with a brazen look on his face. Calmly, Ianna said,

“You weren’t human, but a beastman.”

“Yep.”

Absilot grinned with his teeth on full display. He continued,

“Let me introduce myself properly. We add our species’ name after our own. I’m Absilot Tiger, the clan leader of the tiger beastmen. I’m also the leader of the Tiger Mercenary Guild, and the Mercenary King…….”

Absilot grew a little bewildered and scratched his head as he realized that he had a lot of decorous monikers that described him.

“I’m also the de facto leader of all the beastmen. And I’m the Guardian of the Flame Dragon, Terranodin!”

‘Guardian?’

A dragon’s Guardian. Absilot pat the three youths, who had grown fish-eyed and at a loss for words as they suddenly learned about the term, which they had never heard of before and was surprising to them, on the back as he pushed them along.

“Now, now!”

The trees along the road gradually disappeared as they climbed down the slope at Absilot’s behest. The sunlight, which the leaves had been hiding until then, poured down on them. They all covered their eyes with their hands.

“Welcome to Toraca!”

~~*~~

Shaaa!

A colossal blaze erupted deep inside the Lotso Mountains —so deep that even the strongest of high-class monsters dared not venture.

Shaaaa. Shaa.

The dragon, who had stood before the imperial princess and the soldiers in dignity just a few hours prior, way lying down like it was dead and its body was burning. That which was burning its gigantic frame was not the crimson or azure flames that people normally thought of when they thought about fire, but a flame made from mana that had been condensed into the highest density.

A vast heat haze of mana rose to the heavens like steam. The mana around the dragon, which was so dense that it could crush any who entered the region with just its pressure alone, slowly, ever so slowly, began to disperse. It was like an ocean of mana.

“…….”

A lone man pushed his way through the mana as he walked out. He had a hand over his mouth, and he was pallid.

He pressed his hand against a tree that had been standing firm nearby and leaned against it like he was collapsing. Blood was seeping through the fingers covering his mouth.

‘Truly, she makes a mess of things as soon as I take my eyes off her. She’s always lovely to me no matter what she does, but this time was a bit much.’

The man’s body jolted for a moment. A heap of blood, which he had been unable to hold back, spurted out from between his fingers.

He sank down, his legs having lost the strength to hold him up. He was holding himself against the tree so he would not collapse, and he sank down to his knees and vomited blood for quite some time before he finally leaned his back against the tree trunk in exhaustion.

‘I can guess what happened, more or less. She was probably trying to reach Kandemayon’s territory to shake off her enemies. It was a rash call, but a wise one nonetheless. She probably wouldn’t have been caught by the princess even if I didn’t interfere, but…….’

He reflected on his actions. But he was still convinced that he had made the right choice.

‘I can’t let her meet Kandemayon. She’s sure to hear pointless things that she has no reason to hear should they meet.’

But just as the man was lost in contemplation.

[I know that you’re still connected to your heart in Pandemonium, but to think that you would create your true form and move it with the tiny heart of a human’s. You must have lost your mind.]

A single voice resounded in the area and cause the air to tremble.

[It would be troublesome for me if you died. For that is not what Laos wants. Why don’t you take better care of yourself?]

The man’s, who had been listening quietly to the voice, lips twisted as he roughly wiped away the blood on his face.

“Are you counseling me when you’re nothing but my replica? I don’t know what Laos was thinking when he created you and your kind, but don’t get cocky. I’ll leave once I’ve rested my body, so just ignore me.”

[A replica……who could say? In any event, for what reason did you come all the way here and descend using your original body? Did you wish to destroy everything and commit suicide?]

“I won’t die.”

The man let out a ragged breath and hung his head low.

“I’ve only just started being able to breathe again, so I absolutely cannot die.”

The voice fell silent for a moment before it asked,

[Did you fall in love again?]

“…….”

[Are you so deeply in love that it surpasses the millennia of hatred you’ve built up?]

“It’s technically not correct to say that I’ve fallen in love again,”

the man whispered quietly.

“That woman isn’t Roberstein. And I am not Roygen.”

And as if he was ruminating over things to himself, he continued,

“Our previous incarnations are simply a means that I can use at my disposal.”

That was all the man said before his strength failed him and he passed out. He did not know how much time had passed when he next woke. A cat’s meowing was sounding from his pockets.

“Mgh…….”

The man groaned as he rummaged his pockets. He pulled out a small kitty plush.

The kitty plush mewed and mewed and gushed with mana as it activated.

“…….”

The man stared quietly at the plush doll. Judging by the faint trace of mana left on it, it had been ringing for quite some time, and it had done so more than once.

Meow…….

It hadn’t been long since he had pulled it out, but it’s mews gradually grew quieter as if it was losing power.

The man returned to his senses and promptly imbued it with mana. The mews grew quieter for another moment before they grew louder again, as if the plush was demanding to know why he hadn’t been listening to it.

“……Phew.”

His heart began bubbling heatedly. He placed a gentle kiss on the doll’s nose, unable to hold back the endearment he felt. There was a flushed smile drawn on his face, as if he was looking at someone whom he loved dearly.

The man poured more mana into the doll and called out to the woman who had called him first but had not said anything yet.

“Ianna.”

And she, too, said his name.

[Arhad.]

—“Sidian” End

↑ For whatever the reason, the raws changed her name from ‘Pianca’ to ‘Bianca.’ For consistency’s sake, I will keep translating it as ‘Pianca.’

↑ When they were first introduced in Volume 3, there were two rings: a golden ring for the vocal cords and a silver ring to change the color of the hair and eyes. I don’t know why they’ve suddenly combined into one ring here, but this was what was in the original raws.