Chapter 6: Makoto Takatsuki Visits a Forward Outpost
The farthest forward outpost against the demon lords’ armies—Blackbarrel—was a sturdy fort built into a relatively short mountain. Looking around, there was a deep moat around it, as well as multiple barricades. These probably wouldn’t do much against flying monsters, but they’d likely work at least decently against land-bound monsters.
The rough barricades spread out as far as you could see across the plains. Peppered among them were things that looked like monster bones.
We were standing in front of a hefty iron gate situated a little ways from the fortress. It was firmly shut. I was looking around for how we’d get inside when someone spoke.
“Who are you people?”
The voice seemed to come from nowhere. I couldn’t see anyone, but they probably had a watch posted and hidden.
“I’m Makoto Takatsuki, and the others—”
“We’re the Crimson Fangs,” Lucy said, filling in the blank for me.
Man, that name’s still so cool. Maybe I should ask to join...
“We have been waiting for you. Please, this way.”
Part of the gate setup must have included a hidden room for a guard. A soldier quickly appeared in front of us and guided us to the main fort.
“Take care. If you stray too far from the path I am taking, the monster traps will activate,” the soldier warned nonchalantly as we walked along.
“R-Right.”
Well, that was scary... I couldn’t just meander around willy-nilly. I started caring a lot more about where I was putting my feet.
“Sir Makoto Takatsuki,” our guide said. “It is an honor to meet you again upon your return.”
Huh. I didn’t remember meeting the soldier before, though.
“Where...exactly did we meet?” I asked.
“We were both part of the first Northern Front Plan’s expedition to Laphroaig. I was part of the first division at the time.”
“The first division... That was Commander Ortho’s division, wasn’t it?”
“It was. Seeing your spell freeze the monsters and the ocean solid was incredible!”
“That takes me back,” I mused.
Back then, I couldn’t summon any Undyne—I’d managed by using Synchro with Furiae.
“A lot of us within the fort admire you, Sir. They’ll be glad to see you. We were all devastated when we heard you were injured against Zagan.”
“Well...sorry for concerning you all.”
“I have to say, we all heard you’d been cursed and would potentially never even walk again because of your injuries, but your body looks unhurt.”
“Ah, well, I’m fine now.”
I hadn’t actually been hurt, so I needed to dodge the question a bit. While we were talking, we reached the interior of the fort.
“This is as far as I can guide you,” the soldier said, bowing before leaving us with a woman wearing glasses.
“We have been waiting for you all, Sir Makoto Takatsuki, Ladies Lucy and Aya of the Crimson Fangs. First, please follow me to the general of the fortress.”
Her uniform was tailored perfectly, and she seemed like an excellent secretary. We followed after her. The interior of the fortress was bigger than I expected, and we passed a lot of soldiers on our way.
“Lucy! You’re here!”
“Lady Aya! It has been a while!”
With their statuses as a saint-rank mage and orichalcum adventurer, Lucy and Sasa were famous here as well.
“We’ll be under your care for a while,” Lucy replied easily. “Good to see you.”
“It’s been a while. You’re not hurt, are you?” Sasa asked.
I was just thinking about how nice it must be to be popular when someone else spoke up.
“Hey...who’s that guy with the Crimson Fangs?”
“He’s not a soldier, right? Dude’s puny.”
“He’s not Lucy’s or Aya’s man, is he?”
“What?! I won’t allow it!”
“Hey, hey, we knew they had someone they’d given their hearts to.”
“Yeah, getting with them would be a huge challenge.”
“How many people’s hearts have they broken?”
“So, who is he?”
“Well, the only one who could walk in front of them would be the Hero of Roses...”
“Wait...look at his black hair, and that dagger with the weird mana... Could it be...?”
“N-No way...”
“Sir Makoto Takatsuki, the Hero of Roses has returned...?”
“Wha?! Whoa there... Didn’t they say he couldn’t even lift a finger now?”
“Yeah, but I’ve seen him from a distance before... I’m sure! It’s him!”
“W-Wow... We need to let everyone know.”
I was getting a lot of attention all of a sudden. Things were getting noisy, and people were beginning to swarm.
“We are heading to the general!” the woman guiding us called out. “Make way!”
The wall of people parted. The woman might’ve been beautiful, but she was scary too.
Eventually, we came to a grand door on an upper floor of the fort.
“Excuse me, General!”
“Enter.”
“Sir! Go ahead, Sir Makoto.”
“R-Right.”
I slowly opened the door and stepped inside. I’d recognized the voice that had told me to enter. A man was sitting at a desk in gleaming golden armor, his feet up on the desktop.
“General Gerald, I have brought Sir Takatsuki to you.”
“Good work. You can leave.”
“Sir!”
The woman left the room.
This was Gerald Ballantine, the chosen hero of Althena. He was also the holder of the same skill as Anna—Hero of Lightning.
Gerald was the leader of the North Cardinal Knights, and the heir to his family—one of the five Sacred Noble families in Highland. Apparently, he was also the person in charge of this fortress now. He’d done well for himself.
His eyes bored into me, and his gaze was just as sharp as it had ever been. His perpetually grumpy expression was just the same as well.
Well...this is gonna be a pain, I thought to myself with a mental sigh.
Despite that, his greeting was far calmer than I’d expected.
“It’s been a while, Makoto Takatsuki.”
“Indeed so...General Gerald.”
“Gerald is fine.”
“It’s been a bit, Gerry.”
“Yes, it has,” he responded after a while.
Man, no comeback. How sad.
“You will be staying with us for a while. I look forward to it.”
“Same here, General Gerald!” exclaimed Lucy.
“Sames!” Sasa said with a grin. “Where’s Olga by the way?”
The girls were much more laid-back with him. Well, they had been here a few times already.
Suddenly, the room shuddered with a great thud—Gerald launched himself from his seated position to land in front of me.
How’d he even do that?
“I heard you are challenging Astaroth.”
He must have gotten taller than before because his figure felt even more imposing as he looked at me with a gleam in his eyes.
“I promised to fight him again,” I replied.
“And here I was, thinking you had enough fame and glory to spend the rest of your life playing around. Apparently not. You aren’t satisfied with that, are you?” He smirked.
Uh, that’s not what this is about at all...
“I believe you already know, but I am in charge here,” he continued. “If you head out, leave word. I won’t micromanage you, so do as you like. Oh, but don’t break the fortress though, okay?”
That was far more generous than I would’ve expected, given how Gerald usually threw his weight around. Of course, I’d already looked over the plan the Soleil Knights had spent all night creating.
“I’ll follow the strategy properly,” I told him.
Gerald got a bored look on his face. “You’re going to follow that plan?”
“I am—using too much elemental magic will just cause a lot of inconvenience for people...”
I trailed off, and he let out a heaving sigh.
“It’s...just something the nobles and clergy from our country came up with to stop a foreign hero from getting even more kudos. You can ignore it.”
“It is?”
I hadn’t realized that.
“I already received an order to the same effect. The cowards are scared of you getting more influence. Haven’t you noticed?”
“I hadn’t,” I admitted, internally flabbergasted.
“They treated you like dirt back in the capital,” Lucy commented.
Sasa nodded. “Yup, they could have at least been polite.”
Apparently, the big shots in Highland were trying to shun me.
“They’re all just peace-addled fools playing at warfare. Iblis is back, and they’re still not acting. It’ll just continue forever at this rate.”
“Didn’t Forneus attack, though?” I asked. I’d heard about Sakurai dealing with that.
“The Hero of Light took him out in a single blow, so they’ve completely let down their guards.”
“Oh, I see.” The people in Symphonia definitely seemed to trust the peace they were currently experiencing.
“Plus...the queen’s policies are flaccid at best. She doesn’t condemn even the people speaking against her. Hence all the conflict in Highland... Well, that has nothing to do with you.”
“Queen Noelle...has her work cut out for her,” I remarked.
“Definitely,” he replied. “She should just purge the dissenters.”
Well, that was extreme.
“Whatever,” he continued. “There isn’t much here, but take it easy. If you need anything, ask the woman who showed you here. Of course, the two behind you have been here time and time again, so they should know the lay of the land.”
“Right. Can we use our usual room?” Lucy asked.
“C’mon, where’s Olga?”
“Makoto Takatsuki will be provided a separate room. We cannot place a legendary hero in the same room as adventurers. You can find Olga yourself. She went out hunting for dragons, so she should be back sometime this evening.”
“Hmph, got it,” Lucy answered.
“Sure, I’ll go looking.”
Lucy and Sasa didn’t change how they acted, even around a general. Gerry didn’t seem to mind.
“Excuse us, then.” I moved to leave.
Gerry called out to me before I could exit the room. “Makoto Takatsuki, you have saved many of the soldiers in the fortress. Make sure you show yourself to them later.”
“Got it.” I remembered that the guard on watch had said the same thing.
With that, I left the office.
“Sir Takatsuki, this is the room we have prepared for you. Please use it as you wish. Here is the key.”
“Thank you,” I replied, peering into the room. It was average—not massive, but also not small. It would probably be around the level of a mid-class room in Macallan.
“Wow! It’s huge!”
“Wha? This is a one-person room—why are there two beds?”
“This is a big room?” I asked.
“It is!” the two chorused.
Apparently, since Fort Blackbarrel was right on the front lines, living space was at a premium. Most sleeping areas were laid out like capsule hotels, with not much more than a bed. Thinking of it like that made me feel kinda bad for getting special treatment.
“I will take my leave, then!” our guide said with a salute. “If you need me, I will be in the duty room on the first floor.”
She’d offered to guide me around the whole fortress, but since the other two knew the place, I turned her down. She’d looked kind of put out by that. Maybe she wanted to show me around?
She departed, and we were left to our own devices. We put our things in the room and then turned to one another.
“Where shall we go?” I asked them.
“Somewhere where a lot of people gather, maybe? What do you think, Aya? The training grounds?”
“Lu, don’t you think the canteen would be better?”
“Right, we’ll be using it either way.”
“The food isn’t good though, so don’t get your hopes up,” Sasa warned me.
“It isn’t?” I asked.
We carried on with our chatter as they showed me the way. The two of them were walking around like they owned the place. They’d probably been sent here a lot of times as representatives of Roses’s adventurers. In terms of dragons defeated, Sasa and the Hero of Incandescence, Olga, were at the top.
“What about Lucy?” I asked.
“Me? Well...”
It turned out that Lucy’s spells just blew everyone and everything away, so counting defeats was impossible.
“Lu’s probably got the most,” Sasa mused.
“I appreciate you saying that, but there’s no proof. Well, Makoto’s going to be on top in no time!”
“Right! Takatsuki’s spells will freeze them all.”
“I don’t know if it’ll go that smoothly,” I said.
They’d been frontline adventurers and had made a name for themselves, but hearing their encouragement didn’t bring me much confidence. Maybe it was because I’d been so careful back in the past.
Actually, Makoto, Ira told me you went pretty crazy in the past, I heard Noah say.
Ira’s exaggerating.
Speaking of Ira, I hadn’t heard from her in a while. I wondered what was going on.
“We’re here, Makoto,” Lucy said, bringing me back to earth.
We were in a stupidly huge underground space. Long tables and stools lined the room. Apparently, the meal time was nearly over, so there was barely anyone here eating.
“Are you hungry, Takatsuki?” Sasa asked. “It looks like there’s still some left.”
I looked to where she was pointing and saw someone serving soup and dark bread. We joined the line and got our food, then picked out some seats.
“The bread here’s so dry...” Lucy complained. “You can have as much as you like, though.”
“The soup’s bland too. They must not have done much prep work.”
“Tasty...” I muttered.
The two of them looked at me and simultaneously let out shocked noises.
It really was good, though. Maybe my sense of taste was kinda off.
“Makoto...what were you eating in the past?” Lucy asked.
“Takatsuki...I feel sorry for you...”
Both of them showed me a lot of sympathy. Well, pretty much the only seasoning a thousand years ago was salt.
Ah! I’d evolved to find anything tasty!
No... Noah retorted.
Yeah, no.
At that moment someone noticed me and stopped in their tracks.
“Is that...the Hero of Roses?”
“No way... He was paralyzed in a fight against a demon lord.”
“But his face...”
The soldiers gradually started to gather.
“The two next to him are Lucy and Aya, right?”
“They brought a man with them?”
“The two of the all-female Crimson Fangs brought a man with them?!”
“There’s no doubt about it! That’s the Hero of Roses!”
The onlookers were slowly getting more and more excited. Unlike in the corridor earlier, there was no one to settle them down.
Should I...get up and introduce myself?
“Aya! Who is the man next to you?!” one of the soldiers asked, finally plucking up the nerve.
“My husband, Makoto Takatsuki!” Sasa grinned, wrapping my am in hers.
“Sasa?!”
“Hey! You mean our husband!”
Lucy’s comment and my own retort about whether that was an appropriate introduction were drowned under the soldiers’ voices.
“It is him!”
“It’s the Hero of Roses!”
“You’re back, Sir Takatsuki!”
“You saved me in Laphroaig!”
“You saved my life during the first Northern Front Plan!”
“I’ll never forget you stopping the stampede in Symphonia!”
“Has the demon lord’s curse healed?!”
“We can finally fight together!”
“To think, I’ll be able to see your elemental magic once again...”
Before I knew it, we were surrounded.
“Uh... Well...”
I was floundering. Lucy and Sasa quickly clapped me on the back.
“C’mon, stand proud, Makoto.”
“They’ve all come to see you.”
“Got it...”
I straightened up. These soldiers had been concerned for me, so I should show them that I was healthy.
After that, I was bombarded with questions. Of course, the soldiers were military through and through, so they’d picked up on the fact that I’d been on a highly classified assignment—they knew not to ask me specific details about where I’d been. Instead, they interrogated me about elemental magic. A lot of the people here had seen my magic go up against Zagan in Laphroaig.
They all wanted to hear about that battle, and they asked if I was still just as strong.
On top of that...
“Hey! Call everyone that’s not on duty! The Legendary Hero of Roses is here!”
“Right, we can ask him personally about what happened when the Hero of Light was trapped in Zagan’s barrier!”
“Do we have booze?! We’re not going to get a better chance for it!”
“There should be some in the store! Bring it all!”
“Won’t the general be angry...?”
“We’ll be fine if we keep it in moderation. He’s been soft recently.”
“That’s true!”
It turned into a party.
There was technically a barrier that prevented noise from leaving the fortress. Still, I didn’t think that was the problem here...
Should we be doing something like this on the front lines?
As the noise reached its peak, I heard an angry voice yell out, “What are you doing?!” It was the scary woman who had guided us earlier. Lucy and Sasa managed to win her over, though. Soon, she wanted to join in. Apparently, she’d been there for the first Northern Front plan as well, and she wanted to hear about it.
She could have just asked.
In the end...we partied until late in the night. Still, being soldiers, no one actually drank themselves under the table. Once the celebrations were over, they all headed back to their bunks to get sleep and prepare for tomorrow.
It was only us that were drunk. Lucy and Sasa were snoozing peacefully on the other bed in the room. The two of them were popular with the soldiers, so they’d had plenty of drinks poured for them.
That was fun...
I’d managed to talk with a lot of them. It wasn’t a bad feeling to know that what I’d done on the battlefield had stuck with them. The soldiers here all feared Astaroth, so having an elementalist like me was buoying their hopes.
I can’t lose now, I thought to myself as I fell asleep.
◇
Where...?
The moment I thought I’d fallen asleep, I found myself standing in a fantastical place.
It was Noah’s domain, but...different.
Noah was wearing a white dress that was set against her shining silver hair. Eir was there too, with her golden locks and a gorgeous blue dress.
One more goddess was present—she was tall and dignified, and she spoke happily with the other two.
It was Althena. She was the head goddess of the Sacred Deities and the ruler of the entire cosmos.
The first time we’d met, she’d stared me down with a cool gaze.
The second time, she’d given me an almost pained expression.
And now, this time...
“You’re here, Makoto Takatsuki!” she exclaimed, her face blooming with a smile as bright as sunshine.
“Althena? I-It has been some time.”
“You needn’t be so formal, Makoto Takatsuki. Well done!”
“Thank...you...”
I felt a little nervous being in front of her after so long.
“She wanted to thank you no matter what,” Noah said, folding her arms cheerily. “She doesn’t have much to dooo.”
“Yoo-hoo, Mako!☆ Good work.” Eir was as bubbly as ever—she stroked my hair. Yeah, her presence was definitely soothing.
Huh... Where’s Ira?
I was almost certain she’d be here, but the diminutive goddess was nowhere to be seen.
“Irrie’s up to her ears in work,” Eir told me as she read my mind.
Oh, right... Ira was busy?
“That girl... She should really learn how to delegate.” Althena sighed.
“Agreed,” said Eir. “She tries to do it all by herself and ends up overwhelmed.”
So Ira hadn’t changed much.
“Makoto, you seem awfully taken with her.” Noah pouted. “Are you thinking of leaving me for her?” In a blink, she moved behind me and flung her arms over my shoulders.
“I’d never do that... Um. Your nails are digging in and it hurts. Ow...”
“You seem to be doing nothing but think of her, though.”
“Well, she was a lot of help in the past...and I haven’t heard from her recently.”
“Hmph, and that made you feel lonely?”
“No, that’s not— You’re the only goddess for me.”
What the?! Noah was scary today.
“Hmm. Noah, it is rare for you to be so attached to a believer,” Althena remarked.
“Of course I am! It’s Makoto! He’s my prized apostle, and I put so much effort into raising him! He’s completely different from the others!”
“You raised me?” It felt more like she’d just left me to my own devices. Well, that had let me grow.
“Heh... Your prized apostle. He certainly is impressive.”
“Hey, Althena, can’t we bring him to the celestial realm already?” Eir wheedled.
“Hmm, if Iblis is defeated, that would be acceptable.”
“Hey! Don’t just come out with that!” Noah protested. “You people rule the celestial realm, so he’d effectively become one of your retainers!”
The phrase “bring him to the celestial realm” wasn’t one I’d heard before, and it had me curious. Eir must have heard that thought because her eyes gleamed.
“Interested in that, Mako? It’s where we live, so it’s like a wonderland where there’s no illness, wounds, or even death. It’s the final goal for ev—”
“No death?!” I exclaimed. Eternal life practically meant heaven.
“Oh right, they did call it ‘heaven’ on Earth, didn’t they? Hey, Mako, want to go to heaven?” Eir whispered into my ear. I shuddered.
“Don’t you dare. Don’t be swayed, Mako.”
“What’s the problem, Noah?” Althena asked. “You can join us as well.”
“No! Althena, we’re rivals!”
“You don’t need to be stubborn—let’s be as friendly as we used to be.”
“Hmph! I’m not being all friendly with you!” Noah pouted, turning away as Althena laughed.
They were actually being friendly—right in front of me. Althena seemed to want to get Noah on her side, and she’d wanted it badly enough to recognize Noah as the eighth goddess of the Sacred Deities.
While Noah was protesting verbally, she didn’t truly seem against it—at least, not as much as she’d have us believe.
Was this...the end of the long-standing conflict between the Sacred Deities and the Titanea?
Althena and Eir kept up their attempts at convincing her. They started off trying to get her to pick a hero and priestess, so apparently they wanted her to follow their customs.
I just listened.
“Well, I’ll think about it,” Noah said eventually.
Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted by the chime of a bell.
“Hm... A summoning because of a harbinger of the apocalypse... Again?” Althena asked, her expression tired.
“Is it universe seventeen, again? Those apocryphals don’t know when to quit.”
“No, it’s the fiends’ territory—the fifty-third this time. They seem to be trying to resurrect the Wicked Deities.”
“Ah, that’s a pain.”
“We defeated them, so they can just stay buried in the underworld.”
The goddesses were rapidly slinging around words and phrases I’d never heard before.
The fifty-third universe? Apocryphals?
“Althena administers many worlds,” Noah explained. “She’s not just looking at this world. You don’t need to worry about it—just know that this isn’t the only ‘other world.’”
“Many...worlds...”
Althena’s responsibilities were even wider than I’d thought. It was more than just “the universe.”
“I don’t deal with every little thing,” she clarified ruefully. “The worlds will generally keep spinning. Even without my interference. I just get called for the odd emergency, since I am in charge.”
“You could just leave them to it,” Noah suggested. “The strong will survive. That’s how nature works.”
“I could not. The role of the gods is to guide the weak. If we don’t show them the path, the weak will just wander.”
Their opinions were clashing.
I stood off to the side, listening to their argument. I remembered what I’d learned in the Water Temple. Each of their arguments followed the tenets of their respective doctrines: the Sacred Deities and the Titanea.
The Sacred Deities focused on order and devotion. “Ye feeble, follow the teachings and combine your strengths. Improve yourselves and grow.” This was the foundation of their teachings.
The Titanea prioritized freedom and harmony. “Mortals have short lives, so live as you wish, however you should all get along.”
Those two are pretty different. Though, if Noah becomes a Sacred Deity, maybe those tenets will end up changing.
“The way you live is ‘devotion’ itself, so there’s no problem there, is there?” Eir quipped from my side.
“I live freely like Noah teaches,” I answered.
“You live too freely.” Eir laughed.
Suddenly, Althena was surrounded by multiple prismatic magic circles.
“You’re going?” Noah asked.
Althena nodded. “I am. At this rate, their world will fall. They need guidance.”
“Well, work hard.”
“Bye, Noah. I’ll be back. If you want to become one of us, let me know anytime you like.”
“I’ll...think about it.”
“Eir, you’re in charge here. Makoto Takatsuki, I am sorry we could not talk more.”
With that, the Goddess of the Sun left. She was a busy goddess too—just not in the same way as Ira.
Afterward, I spent some time talking to Noah and Eir about what I’d gone through a thousand years ago, and then we discussed how things were in the present.
Noah insisted I get my relationship with Lucy and Sasa moving. Eir was urging the same, but with Princess Sophia.
Yup, this is what the present is like. I’m definitely back...
My vision started to blur.
Guess I’ll be waking up soon.
“Goodbye, then,” I said.
“Take care, Makoto.”
“Byeeee, Mako.☆”
The two goddesses waved as they vanished in a blinding light.
◇
“Huh?”
I’d awoken in my room in Fort Blackbarrel...or not. The entire area was covered in a plush, expensive-looking carpet, with doors and bookshelves scattered around. Books were strewn all over the place. There were also a whole bunch of cute “plushies”—except they seemed to be alive and were rushing about.
Oh... I’d seen so much of this place it was almost tiring.
“Ira...right?”
It was her domain.
“Mh... Makoto Takatsuki...welcome...”
I heard her weak voice. She had dark circles under her eyes, and she lay collapsed over a huge desk.
“You seem exhausted. Are you okay?” I asked.
“Ah, yeah. I’ll have a nap when I’m done with these documents... Huh? Where are they?”
“You hallucinated them,” I said, grabbing Ira’s arm as she felt around for something in the empty space.
I pulled her over to the bed.
“Nuh... Can’t sleep yet. Still...work left...”
I put her to bed as she grumbled. She looked like a junior high student, but the words coming out of her mouth sounded like someone working at a super exploitative company, which was really disconcerting. She wouldn’t sleep until she was done with work, which was really bad. It was even worse than how I used to pull three all-nighters in a row.
“Sleep, please,” I said to her.
“Muh... Can’t...”
I left her in the bed, and before long, I heard her peaceful breathing. Ira’s face relaxed.
Oh, actually... I’m here because she summoned me, right? What do I do now? Guess I’ll just wait for her to wake up.
I did my usual and used the area to train my Water and Fate Magic.
A while later, Ira shot up in bed and frantically looked around. “Ah! What time is it?!”
Surely it’s whatever time you want it to be...? You control it, after all.
“Good morning, Ira. You’re working too hard.”
She paused. “Sorry... I didn’t mean to worry you.” She pulled her disheveled hair into order as she got out of bed. Maybe she was still half asleep—her expression looked dazed.
“By the way, you haven’t spoken to me lately. Is it because you’ve been so busy?” I asked.
Her eyes snapped wide open. “That’s the problem! I couldn’t talk to you! Come here.”
I sighed, then moved over to her side and sat down.
So she wasn’t giving me the silent treatment because she was busy, but because she couldn’t connect.
Ira touched the necklace I was wearing. “Hmm...it still has my anima in it. It must be because of Noah’s influence.”
“Noah’s influence?”
“Now that you’re back in the present, you’re Noah’s apostle again, aren’t you? I think that’s what cut me off.”
“Noah didn’t say anything about that, though.” I would’ve thought she’d mention it.
“I told you before—Noah is on the same level as Althena. A young goddess like me is far below them. Noah probably didn’t do it intentionally, but the connection with me was overwhelmed by her anima.”
“Huh. Noah’s amazing.”
“She managed this even while she was sealed. It’s terrifying.”
“So...does that mean I won’t be able to talk to you now?” I asked. She’d been so much help while I was in the past. Losing my connection to her would be disappointing.
“It’ll be fine. Why do you think I summoned you here? Come on, get closer.”
“Uhm... Ah, Ira?”
We were already sitting next to each other, but she was tugging me closer. She pressed her soft frame right against me.
“There!”
Both of her arms wrapped around me in a hug.
Whaaaa?!
“Uhmmm... Ira? What are—” I started to ask, heart racing.
“I’m concentrating, be quiet! I’m reconnecting the manalink between us.” Her voice was serious, so I kept quiet like she’d asked.
Her grip on me was gradually tightening. Despite how small she was, she was really strong.
“Her anima’s still in the way... It won’t work. Makoto Takatsuki, hug me back.”
“U-Uh...”
“Now!”
“R-Right... Excuse me.” I did as she said and placed my arms around her small shoulders. How tightly should I hold on? It’d probably be rude to squeeze too much.
“Enough already! Hold me tighter!”
“Riiight.”
Well, apparently I needn’t have worried, so I did as she said. Suddenly, I felt a pulse of something run through my whole body. Then, it felt like I was flushed with heat.
“Whew... The connection’s in place again. We should be able to talk as we have until now.”
“Thank you,” I muttered, moving away from her. I thought I’d had Calm Mind active, but...my heart was noisy in my ears. I steadied my breathing and calmed down.
“Is that why you summoned me here?” I asked.
“It is. Problem?”
“No, I’m grateful, of course. But Althena and Eir were at Noah’s place, so you could have come too.”
I froze immediately after the words were out of my mouth, suddenly realizing the stupidity of what I’d said.
Ira looked at me in exasperation. “You...wanted to do that in front of Noah?”
“Well...”
It might have been for the manalink, but I’d spent over five minutes hugging Ira. And doing that in front of Noah?
“I’d be scared of what happened next,” I replied.
“Don’t say such things.”
I shuddered. I hadn’t done anything bad, but...
“You’re going to fight Astaroth, right?” Ira asked. “If you need advice, talk to me.”
“Thank you, Ira,” I said.
The amount of support she gave me—despite me being an apostle from another pantheon—was impressive. Should she be going so far?
Ira must have read my mind because she quickly answered. “It’s the other way around. You’re a devout apostle of the Wick—no, the Titanea Goddess Noah. Without these precautions, I can’t see any future events that you’ve had a hand in. The demons aren’t exactly devoted, so they are relatively easy to see... But that’s not the case with Noah’s apostles. Not a thousand years ago, and not in the present.”
“Well, Cain maxed out his devotion too.” He’d been more than happy to talk about Noah while we’d tried to get into the Seafloor Temple.
“I can see a way to win this war, but if you do something outside of my Future Sight, it could disrupt everything. That’s why I need to actively make a connection to you.”
“Oh, I see.” It was less like support and more like putting a tracker on a wild animal. Suddenly, my mind caught on something else she’d said. “You can see a way to win... So Iblis can be defeated?” The last time I’d asked, the final outcome had been fifty-fifty...or a little worse.
“I can. The modern Hero of Light, your childhood friend Ryousuke Sakurai, can...probably...defeat the resurrected form of Iblis.”
“I see... That’s a relief...” The tension left my shoulders.
“How is he going to do it?” I asked, curious.
“If I tell you, that wouldn’t stop it from happening, but don’t you dare stick your nose in. You will, though, so I won’t say.”
“I just want to watch.”
“I can’t trust that.”
“Ouch.” That was blunt.
“I can give you a hint... In the modern era, Iblis has only just been resurrected, right? While his individual power is great, even after his resurrection, the armies are far weaker. The armies of the western continent are far stronger, and there are few demon lords left—the numbers of strong demons are decreasing too. Therefore, there is a strong possibility that Iblis will personally try and launch a surprise attack on the Hero of Light.”
“Personally?!” That was...rather decisive. It wasn’t something I’d expect from the overall ruler of the demons.
“He has no other method. The demons are in a weaker position than he’d assumed after so long.”
“Nevia said he’d be stronger in this time period, though.”
“Even if he is personally stronger, he can’t win against the weight of numbers. Laphroaig is gradually becoming more powerful...though they’re also getting carried away.”
“That’s right, they have awful relations with Highland. Is there anything you can do?” I recalled the tension in the meeting the other day.
“And how much work do you think that’s been causing me? All of the countries are so selfish...”
“Oh, that’s what’s happening?” So the international disputes were indeed bothering her.
“My biggest fear right now is that all the political relations on the continent might fall apart during the war. The nations all need to work together.”
“Yeah...” I murmured.
“Hey! You act like it has nothing to do with you, but Roses is part of the problem.”
“It is?”
Why? Princess Sophia barely spoke in the meetings. We were a weak country, so we kept quiet.
“And that’s the problem! Roses has a new legendary hero, and both Laphroaig and Springrogue owe them a large debt, so they’re in a key position in the alliance. I’d actually prefer them to take over from Highland, considering the state they’re in, but Roses won’t act proactively at all!”
“Well, it’s Princess Sophia...”
The leader of Roses was the king, but most of the diplomacy was left to the princess. I...couldn’t imagine her accepting the responsibility of herding the movers and shakers of Laphroaig and Highland.
“I think that’d be difficult,” I said eventually.
Ira sighed. “I know. I’m asking for the impossible,” she said, slumping.
Unfortunately, I had no way of easing her worries. She must have heard that thought because she looked up.
“Well, no matter. My biggest concern—having no contact with Noah’s apostle—is solved now.”
I paused for a moment. “I guess that’s all we can ask for.”
So I was the cause of her sleepless nights.
“Right... Time to get back to work,” Ira said with a stretch.
I figured I should leave before I got in the way, but I’d talk to her if I needed any advice.
“Hey,” Ira said casually.
“What is it?”
“You...won’t betray us, will you?”
What was she talking about? I suppressed a rueful smile as I chose my words carefully. “I’ve got no plans to do that, but why would you ask?”
“Even if...Noah ordered you to?”
I had to think about that. I couldn’t imagine her telling me to defect to Iblis. Besides...
“It’s not like I do everything she says.”
The first time we’d met and I’d become her believer hadn’t been pleasant. Even after that, I’d kept sticking my nose in when she’d told me to avoid trouble.
Ira snorted slightly at my answer. “I just wanted to check. Considering your skill in elemental magic, and your status as Noah’s apostle, your defection could turn the war on its head.”
“Don’t worry—I just spoke to Noah, and she’s on good terms with Althena and Eir.”
“So it seems. They want her to properly become a Sacred Deity.”
I remembered their earlier conversation and Althena’s attempts to get exactly that. I also remembered Noah not being entirely against it.
“Either way, I’m not betraying my side. You can rest assured of that,” I said firmly.
“Right... That’s good.” Ira let out a soft yawn and then downed a nearby can of coffee.
She...could have picked something nicer.
My vision started to blur. I was really waking up this time.
“Don’t work too hard,” I told her. “Make sure you sleep properly.”
“You should be worrying more about yourself. Don’t go overboard.”
“I won’t.”
“Really?” she asked doubtfully.
My vision of her expression soon faded.
◇
I woke up, greeted by the ceiling of my room in Fort Blackbarrel. Once I was up and dressed, I had Lucy and Sasa give me a tour of the place. We had a great breakfast in the canteen, and then...
“These are the training grounds,” Lucy said.
Sasa wrinkled her nose. “It reeks of sweat, so I don’t really like it.”
This was an underground space where the soldiers trained. The Soleil Knights had a space outside in Highland, but this place was gloomy and relatively small. Still, the soldiers were putting effort into their training.
Sasa was right—there was a slight humidity in the air. We took a lap around the area.
People were focusing on their training, so no one really spoke to us. That was probably because I’d greeted most of them at the party last night. I wanted to join in with the training, but there weren’t many water elementals underground. Training here would be inefficient.
“Lucy, Sasa, let’s head—”
“Aya! Lucy! I finally found you!” someone yelled as they appeared in front of us.
She was a woman with dark skin and glossy black hair. Her armor left a lot uncovered, but the burning aura around her was very familiar.
“Olga! Yoo-hoo!” Sasa cheered.
“You weren’t here last night,” Lucy said.
“I wasn’t! I went hunting on the demon continent yesterday! Then I found out you were coming. Argh! If they’d told me earlier, I would’ve rushed back!”
The woman was acting really friendly with Lucy and Sasa. From what I remembered, she was more menacing. She used to remind me of a hungry grizzly bear or something like that, but now, she was quite cheerful.
“It’s been a while, Mr. Legendary Hero.”
She turned and smiled at me. Her hair was slightly longer, and she looked more grown-up.
This was the Hero of Incandescence—Olga Talisker.
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