by Ryota Hori
This was of course only a token apology, but Kouichirou didn’t intend to rile up the situation any further.
“So, was that all you wanted to ask?” Kouichirou asked.
“There’s one last thing I want to ask...” Tachibana remarked. “Can we go back to Japan?”
That was the single most important question. They were obviously anxious to return to Japan. Kouichirou, however, shook his head slowly.
“Hmm... It will be difficult.”
“Do you mean it’ll take time to do that?”
Kouichirou shook his head again.
“That’s part of it, of course, but even if you resolve all the problems perfectly, and sacrifice much to do so, whether you’ll be able to go home is still dependent on luck.”
His answer was very much a death sentence, and what Tachibana hoped he wouldn’t have to hear. But on the other hand, they did contain a sliver of hope.
“Grandpa, there’s something else I need to ask.” Asuka, who held her tongue so far, whispered. “How... How do you know so much about this?”
“Asuka...”
And this was the one question Kouichirou wanted to hear the least.
“Tell me, Grandpa... Why?”
Asuka was torn between desire to believe her family on one hand and overwhelming doubts on the other. Crushed between those two conflicting emotions, large tears gathered in her eyes.
Asuka and Kouichirou looked at each other, their gazes locked. He didn’t want to tell her, but he knew she had a right to know.
I have no choice...
Kouichirou steeled his resolve, but in the end he never did bring himself to speak. He was cut off by the sudden sound of the room’s door being battered violently.
“Blast, they’re on to us!”
It seemed Beldzevia’s people had finally realized something was wrong. Kouichirou clicked his tongue, taking out a small leather rucksack and pushing it into Asuka’s arms.
“You have Ouka, right? Good. Keep it for self-defense. The money in this sack should help you stay fed for a time. And remember! This isn’t Japan, or our world. Don’t trust others too easily, and never beg your enemies for mercy!”
“Huh? Wait, what do you mean?!”
Asuka couldn’t keep up with the changing situation, but Kouichirou spurred her forward.
“I’d love to explain, but we’re out of time. The people out there know something’s wrong, and they’ll be breaking through the door soon... I’ll keep them occupied, so you run off with Mr. Tachibana and Mr. Kusuda.”
Kouichirou drew Kikka from its scabbard. His expression looked resolved to defend them to the death. Even with his skill, fighting in the middle of enemy territory while protecting Asuka was a tall order. The plan with the highest chance of all of them leaving alive would be for the other three to run to safety while he kept their pursuers occupied.
I thought I might be better off getting rid of them at first, but I suppose I’ll end up leaving Asuka in their care... That young one, Kusuda, doesn’t seem to understand the situation quite yet, but Tachibana’s coming around... It’s better than sending Asuka out into this world alone...
He’d considered cutting the detectives down, but upon seeing Asuka interact with them, he changed his mind.
Asuka was shocked to see him kill people in cold blood, even if it was to keep her safe, and hearing his explanation only made her suspicious as to how he knew so much about this place. Perhaps he would eventually be able to explain everything and clear her suspicions, but now wasn’t the time.
Had he slain Tachibana and Kusuda in that situation, deeming them to be obstacles, Asuka would have forever lost her trust in him. She would oppose his instructions and at worst run off on her own. And that would defeat the whole purpose of him returning to this world to protect her.
“But... But!” Asuka said, her words clinging to him.
“Enough, just be quiet and do as I say!” Kouichirou cut her off.
True enough, time was against them.
“Mr. Tachibana, Mr. Kusuda! Keep Asuka safe!”
Confirming the two nodded in agreement, Kouichirou held his sword up, facing the stone wall opposite the door.
“Forgive me, Kikka, but I must borrow your power.”
The moment that whisper left Kouichirou’s lips, Kikka’s blade lit up with an odd, purplish glow. Feeling his prana surge up, Kouichirou opened all seven of his body’s chakras.
The next moment, a shout rose up from the bottom of his stomach, echoing through the room.
“Hurry, over here!”
Having spoken, Kouichirou rammed himself against the wall.
“Huh? No way... How is this...?”
The wall caved in against his body. Where once was rock, there now remained a square hole, large enough for a person to fit into. Kouichirou’s slash, delivered from the stance of eight directions, tore through the stone wall as if it were made of paper. The cross-section was as smooth as a mirror’s surface, making it clear that his slash was delivered with perfect precision.
Asuka was rendered speechless by the sight before her eyes. Indeed, merely describing what had just happened as the work of a master swordsman wouldn’t be enough to explain this. True, some ancient sword masters were said to be capable of cutting not just through armor and splitting helmets, but even to slash through thick Go boards made of wood from the nutmeg tree. But what Kouichirou just did exceeded even those legends.
Perhaps the truly frightening thing here wasn’t just his own skill, but rather the sharpness of Kikka’s blade. It slashed through a stone wall that was several centimeters thick without so much as chipping in the process.
“Miss Kiryuu! We have to hurry!” Kusuda swiftly stooped by the hole in the wall, a sword in hand.
He looked outside, and then motioned with his hand for them to come.
“It’s all right. The coast is clear!”
“Mr. Tachibana, go ahead.” Asuka said.
“Miss Kiryuu... I’m sorry.” Tachibana apologized.
In this situation, it would make sense to let Asuka go first, but right now, Tachibana was injured. They couldn’t let him go at the back of the line. He likely sensed her consideration and went into the hole without any further argument.
“Grandpa...”
Asuka looked at Kouichirou’s face. There was so much she wanted to say, and plenty she needed to ask. And she wanted to apologize for suspecting him...
“Do not let it torment you. It is my fault for not telling you anything.”
“But...”
“It is fine. Ouka and Kikka are drawn to one another. So long as you hold onto that sword, we will meet again. I will catch up to you... Aah, do not look so concerned, child. No knight that shuts themselves in the castle with their king, never knowing the field of battle, shall match me.”
Kouichirou cracked a smile and placed a hand over Asuka’s head, patting it gently.
“Listen to me. Once you leave this country, head north. Head for the company of a country called Helnesgoula. That place should be relatively safer than the other countries.”
“All right. I will...” Asuka nodded weakly.
“Good... In that case... Go!” Kouichirou gently pushed her back. “It will be alright. I will find you later on. We will regroup.”
So much was still left unsaid. But right now there was no time to exchange words with Kouichirou anymore.
“Now... This is for the best.”
Kouichirou stood still silently, watching Asuka disappear into the hole. But soon enough, the door flew open with a heavy sound and a group of fully armed knights rushed into the room.
“What is this?! Is Lady Fontaine all right?!”
“No good, they’re all dead!”
Screams echoed through the room.
“You! Did you do this?!”
Before long, the knights surrounded Kouichirou, who stood in place composedly, and one of the men stepped forward. His voice implied he was in his mid thirti
es. He must have been a fairly high-ranking knight, since his armor and appearance were a bit more extravagant than the others’.
He stepped forward with a flourish of his white cloak and pointed at Kouichirou as he raised his voice.
“I ask you, in the name of Beldzevia! Did you commit this atrocity?!”
Most people would shrink at his shout. But Kouichirou didn’t see much value in his words. In his eyes, cutting Misha down was as trivial and carried as much meaning as cutting a radish. All the lives in this Earth were equally meaningless to his eyes.
The only thing that mattered was which of them could be exploited and used, and which of them were simply to be removed.
“Indeed. What of it?” he said composedly, as calm as a breeze.
“I see... Then you’re the one who slew my wife!” The knight exclaimed and drew his sword, holding it in a middle-level stance. “You won’t get away with this, otherworlder. You shall feel just how heavy of a sin it is to trifle with House Fontaine. You shall feel it upon your flesh!”
This was the justified anger of a man who lost his wife. A bereaved family sentencing an assailant. But upon hearing those words, Kouichirou could only sneer.
“I see... So you’re that woman’s family... Well, isn’t that nice. She did die a bit too easily.”
His voice was that of an infernal demon.
The killing intent emanating from Kouichirou’s body filled the room.
“This is the price for dragging poor Asuka into this world... And you’ll pay it with your life.”
Kikka’s blade shined, as if to support his words. And at that moment, everyone in the room swallowed nervously. They could tell the meaning behind the way the blade shined...
“Impossible... that’s the shine of a Thaumaturgical Sword! And that energy... Is it some kind of cursed blade?!”
The knights around Kouichirou stirred nervously, faced with something that shouldn’t have been there.
“Just who are you?! An otherworlder who only just arrived in this world can’t have something like this!” Words of stunned shock escaped Count Fontaine’s lips.
But the answer to that question would never reach his ears.
“You don’t need to know... Die.”
As he said those words, Kouichirou’s right hand mercilessly swept sideways.
On that day, a great incident took place in the Kingdom of Beldzevia, located in the south of the continent. Misha Fontaine, court thaumaturgist, was found slain at the hands of an otherworlder she summoned. In addition, a host of knights, led by Misha’s husband and a knight of the kingdom, Count Fontaine, was also slain.
And to make things worse, the otherworlder who committed those atrocities managed to flee into the kingdom and break out of the castle, with its heavy security of several hundreds of knights unable to contain him.
The King of Beldzevia viewed the situation gravely, and immediately issued a royal decree, gathering his most skilled knights to strike down the otherworlder. But it all ended in failure, with only more losses. And worse yet, the affair was discovered by spies of their neighboring countries, and soon spread to the other Southern Countries, namely the ones that held powerful armies. It tarnished Beldzevia’s name, gradually weakening its national power.
Chapter 2: Heading North
“Where is he now, I wonder?”
A calm wind blew through the clear, blue sky of the capital, Pireas. It was hard to imagine this kingdom was in a state of civil war just a short while ago. The view spreading out before Helena’s eyes was awash in vigor and tranquility. Overlooking that landscape through her office window, Helena whispered those words.
“You mean Sir Ryoma Mikoshiba... correct?” her aide, Chris Morgan, replied as he stopped leafing through a bundle of documents. “It’s been only ten days since he left the capital. Assuming nothing happened along the way, they should be approaching the fortress city of Epirus, near the peninsula’s isthmus.”
“Yes...” Helena whispered back. “That should be about right.”
Her gaze turned north.
“Do you have regrets?” Chris asked her.
Helena didn’t answer. She had no answer to give.
“Honestly, I feel a bit of guilt toward Sir Mikoshiba, too. I crossed blades with the man once before he left, and he was quite skilled. He hadn’t learned thaumaturgy yet, but his skill and talent as a warrior is beyond unusual. If nothing else, I see now it was more than luck that allowed him to beat Kael Iruna with his own two hands...”
“Even you think so? The one praised as the Divine Lance?” Helena finally cracked a smile at his words, and asked him back curiously.
“In terms of sheer competence, that man is far below me. However...”
“It would be different in a fight to the death.”
“Yes...” Chris nodded somberly. “I would beat him in nine matches out of ten, but in real combat...”
And indeed, Ryoma Mikoshiba claimed the life of Kael Iruna in a duel during the closing stages of the civil war. Kael Iruna, the man who was said to be unmatched when it came to his skill with the sword and mastered the use of martial thaumaturgy. But many people claimed Ryoma’s victory there was but a stroke of luck. Many of Chris’s colleagues held that view regarding Ryoma.
Perhaps it’s just... envy.
Ryoma’s achievements in the civil war were extraordinary. He came to Princess Lupis’s aid when she was in a position of overwhelming disadvantage, and swiftly united the nobles that maintained neutral status until then under her banner. He even performed the truly impressive feat of returning the national hero, Helena Steiner, from retirement back to active duty. He then went on to weaken the influence of general Hodram Albrecht, then head of the knights’ faction.
His skill as a tactician was truly masterful. He established a successful bridgehead at the River Thebes, and during the battle for Heraklion, he swiftly stopped General Albrecht in his attempt to flee the country.
But the only thing all those achievements had earned him was a backwater region that served as a breeding ground for powerful monsters and pirates. An undeveloped land that had served as a penal colony for many years.
Effectively, it had no population. It was officially called a penal colony, but it was more of an execution ground. Any person exiled to that no-man’s land was bound to become prey for monsters.
Queen Lupis lied, claiming this was a promotion meant to honor his achievements, but the only ones who believed that were the citizens of the capital. Anyone who knew the circumstances felt the way Ryoma was treated was unfair.
“But there was no other way it could have played out... Her Majesty ordered it, and objecting to the ruler’s judgment would be...”
Chris picked up on Helena’s state of mind, but he himself endorsed Queen Lupis’s decision. Or rather, he had to endorse it. This wasn’t a feeling that was exclusive to Chris, either — all of the knights and nobles who pledged allegiance to Queen Lupis and Rhoadseria felt the same way.
Lady Helena... I know you owe that man a debt. But still...
The nail that sticks out is beaten down first. Chris thought that was simply natural. In fact, that was how his promotion was withheld for years under General Albrecht’s tyranny. He could understand the bitterness of being denied a fair evaluation all too well, but on the other hand, he had to wonder why such a bright person could mistake his own position. But for the sake of Rhoadseria’s future, they couldn’t afford for Helena to suffer the same fate Ryoma did.
“Between you and me, Her Majesty wishes to give the rank of general to Sir Mikhail. So if anyone were to catch wind of your displeasure, the country’s position may well waver again... Do be careful.”
Helena could only nod at Chris’s advice.
Word of Mikhail’s failures in the civil war had spread out and was common news across the country. Perhaps the fact he was considered one of the greatest swordsmen in the country influenced things. But the rumors circulating among the queen’s assoc
iates held that it was some kind of conspiracy by someone who hated the way Mikhail threw his authority around as one of Lupis’s aides.
But while the rumors were a bit exaggerated, there was some truth to them. He did charge in unauthorized over a personal grudge, and the fact he fell captive led directly to Queen Lupis agreeing to pardon Duke Gelhart.
Indeed, Mikhail had to pay for his failures by being subject to house arrest at his estate in the capital until just recently. Normally, anyone who failed this much would never keep an important post for that long.
However, the problem was that Mikhail Vanash was one of the people Queen Lupis trusted the most, and considering her past, it was only natural. During the time General Albrecht held control over all military affairs, Mikhail remained fiercely loyal to Lupis.
He’d been with her through thick and thin, even longer than Meltina Lecter, who stood as the queen’s closest aide. They were so close that a few failures wouldn’t be enough to shake the queen’s trust.
Right now, Queen Lupis needed trusted retainers. The Kingdom of Rhoadseria was about to establish a new regime under its new queen, and it was natural for her to want to bequeath power over the upper echelons of the military to those she trusted.
That wasn’t to say Queen Lupis didn’t trust Helena, of course. At least in terms of her loyalty to the country... But the queen couldn’t help but question Helena’s loyalty to her as a person. It had been over ten years since Helena was forced to retire due to General Albrecht’s plot.
Queen Lupis, who was now in her twenties, was only in her early teens at the time. Perhaps things would have been different if she were an adult when it happened, but she only knew Helena to the extent of a royal child greeting a general in the palace’s corridors or at her parents’ dinner parties. Their relationship was too weak for Helena to honestly swear allegiance to Queen Lupis. Likewise, Lupis wouldn’t easily trust a person she knew so little about.
It was a well-known fact among everyone in the castle that Queen Lupis only went against her own preference and gave Helena the position of general because everyone — knights and nobles alike — admonished her to do so. If Queen Lupis were to sense that Helena’s loyalty toward her was wavering even in the slightest, she would gladly dismiss Helena and make Mikhail Vanash the new general.