In a Different World with a Smartphone (LN) - Volume 26 - Chapter 1

  Chapter I: Fatherly Bonds

The Kingdom of Curelia was found on the eastern edge of the western continent, bordering the Allent Theocracy. The kingdom’s location on the easternmost part of the continent and the long mountain range that separated it from Allent and Langeais meant that it was fairly isolated and could only trade with Panaches through the occasional airship.

However, with the introduction of the eastern continent, Curelia soon found new trading partners in Refreese, Belfast, and Mismede. They’d suddenly found themselves with new points of avenue across the sea, not so far away. It was a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one indeed. They could export their magical engineering tools and Gollems, while importing magic artifacts and knowledge of spells. There was also, of course, an influx of new culture, art, and food that they’d never seen before.

Curelia had found itself plunged headfirst into a new era of booming commerce. And because so many exotic goods were now centered in Curelia, merchants from all over the western continent were willing to brave the mountains to find them. By doing nothing more than moving goods from east to west, Curelia built up gradual prosperity in the wake of the two united worlds. The many merchants of Curelia built great ships and set sail for the eastern shores, dreaming of success. The sea that separated the two continents was fraught with danger, and had no shortage of gigantic beasts...but even that risk did not deter the noble dreamers. Some of those ships met ill fates, ending up as wreckage beneath the waves...but they still set sail.

The coastal city of Alpris was one such bustling hub from which enterprising merchants set out. And yet, that port town was now caught in the throes of disorder and chaos.

The people who lived by the docks had found themselves under attack by hideous half-fish creatures that emerged from the briny deep. The threat came from more than just the creatures, though. They were accompanied by quadruple-armed, slender Gollems and Rock Giants that stood as high as four meters tall.

The Fishmen attacked any humans they saw, the four-armed Gollems set anything flammable ablaze, and the Rock Giants simply crushed and smashed any structures in their path.

A flourishing settlement had been reduced to a burning nightmare in the span of a night. The guard Gollems and knights posted to Alpris tried their best to fend off the attackers while getting the townspeople to safety...but the fire and wreckage meant that no matter what, the town itself would surely be lost. Amid the burning chaos, people could do nothing but let out screams of fear and despair.

A figure stood atop a nearby bell tower, looking down at the carnage.

“Nice, very nice. Hot flames, crumbling buildings, and echoing wails of death. It’s very nice indeed!”

The figure was a young man with ashen hair. The lower half of his face was covered by an iron mask, but his eyes were clearly lit up with amusement. It was obvious that the view of the ruined port town was bringing him nothing but joy.

The boy was dressed like your typical adventurer. He had a purple-blue cloak on his back, and a peculiar spear in his hand. The spear was an eerie metallic-purple, with the freaky design of a glaring eyeball resting on the butt end.

“Come, Wistaria. It’s time for your feast,” the boy said as he hefted his spear aloft. Then, a strange black mist rose from the town below...and got sucked up into the spear itself.

This black mist came from the bodies of the fleeing townsfolk, rising out of them and funneling up toward the spear. Nobody down there could see it, of course, but every person it came out of fell down on the spot, no longer able to move. They were still alive, but their eyes had lost all vigor.

The metallic-purple spear, Wistaria, shone with a brilliant luster as it absorbed the miasma from the people below...and as it moved one step further toward fulfilling its purpose as a wicked vessel.

“All righty, let’s see!”

As he spoke, the boy twirled his spear in the air. Seconds later, countless lightning bolts lurched from its tip, raining down on every ship anchored in the harbor below. They were blown to smithereens almost instantly.

“Ka ha ha ha ha! What a blast! I should do this some more. How about...?”

“Are you still playing around, Orchid? It’s time for us to leave.”

Before the boy could choose his next target, a man in a diving helmet appeared from behind him, a metallic-blue hatchet hanging at his waist.

“What’s the deal, Indigo? Why do we gotta leave?”

“Our objective isn’t destroying the town. It’s harvesting negative emotion.”

“Yeah, I know that! Take a good look, I sucked up plenty!” Orchid exclaimed as he waggled his spear around, showing off its new sheen.

The black mist the spear had sucked up contained the negative feelings of the people in the town. Or, to be more specific, it was their terror and fear.

Of all the negative emotions like anger, hatred, sadness, or emotional pain...it was fear that was the easiest to harvest from others. It was an emotion that came from man’s most basic self-preservation instincts, an emotion that could easily dominate one’s mind entirely if pushed into the right situation. And a person whose feelings were consumed by a wicked vessel became a living corpse. If you lost your feelings, you lost your soul, and you’d be nothing more than a husk of a person.

“I can’t say I’m fond of this method of collection, Orchid.”

“Well, it’s a whole lot faster than getting people hooked on drugs, isn’t it? Your way of doing things is such a hassle, Indigo.”

“My method increases the purity of the emotions I harvest, Orchid. This momentary fear you inspire in people isn’t nearly as profound. It’s better to slowly build up negativity, anxiety, and dependency in our victims over time. That way, their despair is far purer and far higher in quality.”

“Tsk... Yeah, yeah.”

Orchid clearly didn’t care to hear what Indigo was saying. He found the man’s explanations far too preachy, which might’ve been appropriate, since Indigo used to be a priest.

“If you’ve gotten what you need, then we need to leave at once. If the knights come in from the capital and we’re still here, things will become needlessly complicated.”

“Yeah, guess I agree that’d be a pain in the ass. But it could be fun, y’know?”

“No matter how strong you and I are, we’re not ready to take on a nation’s army. Not yet, at least.”

“Tsk. Man, you’re such a stick-in-the-mud.”

Foamy blue waves appeared beneath the two men, and then they sank into the magical waters at their feet, disappearing in a flash.

As if sensing the absence, the Fishmen, Rock Giants, and Gollems stopped their attack and turned back to the sea. It was later found that some of the wounded townspeople had vanished into the sea as well, after taking on appearances similar to the Fishmen.

The town of Alpris was wiped off the map that day. There were only a few adventurer’s guilds on the western continent, and even though Curelia had a good relationship with the eastern continent...they did not have a guild branch, nor did they have a representative on the world stage. Thus, it took some time for this information to reach the rest of the world.

◇ ◇ ◇

“A concert hall?”

“Yes, we can invite traveling minstrels, poets, and musicians to perform there. You could consider it a kind of entertainment facility for those passing through Brunhild.”

“Hm... Sounds interesting enough.”

Kousaka seemed to be on board with Sakura’s proposal. She had a point, since the only venues for music right now were taverns or the central park. Taverns were fun because they felt like a live music venue with food and drink, but inviting guests from other countries to them was a bit awkward.

Kousaka immediately went off to find Naito and plan out the construction road map. They were both working as hard as ever. I appreciated their support, but I didn’t think I’d seen either of them ever take a vacation... At the very least, I knew I’d have to force some time off on Kousaka at some point.

“But why this idea for a concert hall all of a sudden?”

“Yoshino said... She said one exists in the future...and that she and I perform there together.”

...Wait, that’s why you brought it up? I guess Yoshino leaked some more spoilers. Still, if we’re gonna have one eventually anyway, there’s no harm in building it now.

In a real speak-of-the-devil kind of moment, Yoshino suddenly appeared out of nowhere in my office. I’d told her not to brazenly use [Teleport] like that, but she still did it anyway.

“Father! Mother! Look at this! It’s from Doctor Babylon!” Yoshino exclaimed as she held out something in front of her. It was a guitar, but smaller. Kind of like a child-sized guitar, or something. What surprised me the most was that it appeared to be an electric guitar...or, more specifically, a Stratocaster.

Sakura had bought a bunch of books on music theory from Earth when we were on our honeymoon. She’d bought a handful of actual instruments too...so had Doc Babylon used those things as reference materials to create this, perhaps?

Yoshino started to play the guitar with a pick, and the sound rang out loud through the whole office even though there wasn’t a connected amplifier. In other words, this wasn’t just an ordinary electric guitar. It was a magical artifact created by Doc Babylon that’d presumably been enchanted with [Speaker].

Yoshino was happily strumming at the strings, and I couldn’t help but be amazed. I was by no means a learned guitarist, but even my ears could pick up that she was playing wonderfully.

Hm? This intro... Wait, this song of all songs? How does she know that one? Did she hear it from me or Sakura in the future?

It was one of the most famous songs performed by a band led by one of the greatest guitarists in rock history. He tragically died at the age of twenty-seven, but his legacy left behind a massive shadow that future musicians had to stand in. I wondered if Yoshino could pluck the guitar with her teeth like he could. A purple haze, much like the one in the song’s title, seemed to surround Yoshino’s body... I thought it might’ve been caused by her singing, but it was Sakura who had started to sing.

A mother-daughter music combo?! Wow, this is great!

Sakura’s voice began to shift as the song went on, her tone hitting different segments between husky and bluesy as she matched her daughter’s rhythm. She had a tremendous understanding of music, that was for sure.

I couldn’t help but tap my foot to the rhythm of Yoshino’s guitar strumming. I used to listen to this song a lot as a child, since it was one of my grandpa’s favorites, so it really got to me.

“Using performance magic to play music is good, but it’s always more fun to do the real thing!” Yoshino said, giggling after the song had come to an end.

Performance magic was a special ability that took musical sound waves and channeled them as magical power. It was similar to Sakura’s vocal magic. Yoshino much preferred playing instruments to singing.

If we built a concert hall, I’d have loved to hear them play there...but I wondered if we’d be able to finish it before they had to go home. If we used Babylon to rush construction, then we’d have it in time, but I didn’t want to take jobs away from all the hard workers of Brunhild. It was a fine line I had to strike a balance on.

“My liege. Are you well and able right now?”

“Hm? Kohaku?”

I suddenly received a message from Kohaku.

“There is something of an issue at the adventurer’s guild. Lord Kuon and Miss Allis are in a spot of trouble.”

“Huh?”

They’re in trouble at the guild? Why? What could’ve happened?

I raised a curious eyebrow, but wasted no time in opening up a [Gate] to go check it out.

◇ ◇ ◇

I passed through the [Gate] and ended up at the guild. The place was noisier than usual. Even the adventurers who you’d normally find in the tavern next door were all gathered around the entrance to the monster dismantling yard.

I began wading through the crowd of people to go and see what the fuss was about, only to bump into Misha, the catwoman receptionist.

“What’s going on here?”

“Er, well...I think it’d be quicker if you saw for yourself. Come this way,” Misha said as she took me behind the counter, then toward the dismantling yard.

Brunhild’s adventuring guild had a fairly sizable yard around the back. Typically, guild yards weren’t that big, since it wasn’t every day that adventurers brought in especially large kills, and even in the cases where they did, those kills were usually split up in advance and hauled in on wagons. However, Brunhild wasn’t a typical place, hence our atypically large yard. People like Ende and I were capable of using storage magic, and there were also people like Yae and the others who could use the storage function in their smartphones. Plus, with Nia of the Red Cats and Noir’s master Norn adventuring around these parts, big game was just more common around here.

I walked out into the yard and saw a giant monster taking up a ton of space. It looked like a giant wolf with obsidian fur...except it also had wings...and its tail looked to be some kind of snake. Its eyes had already rolled back to white, while its tongue was lolling out of its mouth. It was very, very dead.

Guildmaster Relisha was there, directing her workers, but her expression was one of perplexion and shock. Nearby, Kuon and Allis sat on a bench, Kohaku and Silver by their side.

“Oh, Your Majesty. You’ve finally arrived.”

“Sorry, did my uh...I mean, my relative’s kid and his friend do something?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s that they did something... Or wait, maybe they did something extreme...?” Relisha mumbled, a strained smile on her face. She wasn’t sure what to say.

“Sorry, fath—er, Your Majesty... Allis and I wanted to earn a little pocket money by hunting down some beasts, but this monster attacked us out of nowhere in the northern forest. It wasn’t too strong, so we defeated it and brought it back to the guild... I hadn’t expected to cause such a commotion,” Kuon said, calmly explaining the situation. It was about what I’d expected.

“I’ve never seen a monster like this before. Have there always been things like this around Brunhild? Did it come in from Regulus, maybe?”

“I would have to say no. This is no ordinary beast.”

As I was pondering the wolf-thing, Relisha walked over and flipped open a book in her hands. The book had a picture of a wolf monster that looked identical to the dead one, but the text on the page was incomprehensible to me. I wondered if it was some ancient language.

“This beast is known as Marchosias. It is an atrocious beast that spits fire and has steel fur. Its strength would be considered silver-rank in the modern day.”

“Interesting... Wait, in the modern day?”

Relisha’s phrasing confused me slightly, so I crooked a brow.

“Marchosias were supposed to have gone extinct three-thousand years ago. No, they might’ve even been extinct by that point. This is a legendary beast, hence the confusion and commotion today.”

Wait, huh?! It’s extinct?! Don’t tell me Kuon and Allis killed the last one?! If this was Earth, they’d totally get in trouble for killing an endangered creature, but thankfully, this is another world. There are plenty of nasty beasts out there that people wouldn’t have an issue with wiping off the map. Goblins and Orcs are first and foremost among them. I don’t think anyone would object to making those things extinct...

“So what’s the issue, exactly?”

“I can’t really put a price on the raw materials. I’m not sure where to even begin with something this ancient and legendary. And, well, we can’t exactly purchase it if we don’t know what to pay...”

That made sense to me. There was no precedent in guild history as far as dealing with one of these things went. But on the other hand, this was an adventurer’s guild, so they didn’t just want to let such promising materials go to waste. It was a conundrum indeed.

“How about we put the carcass up for auction?”

“That could certainly work, I imagine it would sell for a very high amount. However, it was brought in by children, and auctions can’t be set by underage people...” Relisha said as she glanced over at Kuon and Allis. It was never simple around here, that was for sure.

Kuon raised a hand, then said, “What if we were to sell it under your name, Your Majesty? We’d be happy to give you a cut of whatever it sells for.”

“Huh? You sure?”

“Of course. So long as I, and Allis, get our due, of course.”

“Sure, works for me. I wouldn’t have much use for the full sum anyway.”

I wasn’t going to pocket my kid’s hard-earned cash, but I was willing to hand it off to people who would be in charge of it so it wasn’t wasted. Yumina and Ende, in this case. In the meantime, I gave Allis and Kuon a gold coin each as an advance payment. It was equivalent to a hundred thousand yen or so, so it felt a little weird to hand it out as pocket money, but I had little choice...

“So this thing was in the north woods?”

“It was. We were looking for prey around the entrance, but couldn’t find anything. Then, after we ventured deeper, it jumped out and attacked. It was probably the reason we hadn’t had any luck finding other creatures. Might’ve scared them all off.”

If it was a silver-ranked monster, that would’ve put it at the level of a fully grown Dragon. The fact that a monster like this was in close enough proximity to Brunhild’s castle town made me feel a little anxious. Kougyoku usually kept a watchful eye on Brunhild’s borders...so had this thing just slipped past the radar? In any case, I was glad the kids had found and killed this one. If it had gotten too close to the town, it could’ve really hurt someone.

Since the worlds had been joined, new mana pools were cropping up all over the place. It had resulted in the creation of more Behemoths and other unusual species. Relisha had told me that the presence of Behemoths often led to monster stampedes too... And so, with that in mind, it might’ve ended up with a stampede in Brunhild had the situation not been brought under control. I felt somewhat lucky.

“Kohaku. Can you check with any animals in the area about unusual monster sightings?”

“Of course. I’ll have them sweep the local area as well.”

Good. I doubt there’ll be any more, but I don’t want to take any chances. This thing could still have cubs or a mate or something.

The very fact that it was alive against all odds made me want to be thorough. Plus, magical beasts and monsters worked differently from ordinary animals, so it could’ve been born from a different species altogether. Goblins were capable of that. This Marchosias might’ve just been born to an ordinary wolf, as a quirk of magic mutation.

“Hey, Your Majesty? Can we go now? I’d like to go eat with Kuon.”

Allis pulled me out of my pondering with an impatient little request.

“Oh, sure thing. I’ll handle the rest.”

“Yay! See ya, Your Majesty! Look after this thing, please! Let’s go, Kuon!”

“Huh? W-Wait, Allis!”

Allis suddenly tossed Silver (still sheathed) at me, grabbed Kuon by the sleeve, and the two of them were gone in the blink of an eye.

“Heeey! Ya little twerp! Don’t go treatin’ me like some kinda pest! Let me go, boss-man! You don’t want the kiddo fallin’ into her wicked web, do ya?! She’s a harlot!”

“Hey, don’t call her that. If you say that in front of her dad, he’ll probably snap you in half.”

I sighed quietly as Silver flailed around in my hands. I didn’t want to let him go, since I figured Allis didn’t want a third wheel on her date...if it was even a date. I didn’t know. I wondered if I should ask Yumina about that kind of thing.

“Hyaaah!”

“Oh.”

Silver suddenly slid out of his sheath and flew through the guild at Mach speed. The adventurers all started to panic and jump out of the way as the blade whizzed past them through the air.

Welp, he got away. Allis is probably gonna get mad at me...

“...What was with that sword?”

“Oh, uh, don’t worry about it. Anyway, about that auction?”

I didn’t want to cause any trouble by telling Relisha too much. Plus, it wasn’t like I actually knew that much about Silver.

Wait, wasn’t Quun supposed to be looking into that? Well, whatever.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Hm... This is troubling...”

“What’s troubling?”

Linze, who happened to be knitting nearby, heard me mutter. And so, I saw no point in hiding my issue.

“Just some stuff with Kuon.”

“What about Kuon? Is he okay?”

“Oh, he’s fine. It’s just...”

I wasn’t sure exactly how to put it, but compared to the other kids, Kuon didn’t seem as close to me. He was definitely close with Yumina, but it felt like he treated me more like an acquaintance than a dad.

“It could just be that boys aren’t as attached to their fathers, maybe...”

“Yeah, I guess. I was kind of the same.”

When I was a little boy, my parents were always busy with work. That was why I had such a strong relationship with my grandpa. I never thought my own son, who had the same name as that grandpa, would end up feeling so distant from me. Life certainly came at you fast.

“Why not go do something with him? I read in a book from Earth that fathers and sons often play catch with each other.”

“Playing catch, huh...?”

Playing catch sounded fun, but...where exactly would I go with that? I knew the kind of kid Kuon was. If I tried kicking up a conversation by asking how he was, he’d probably just say he was fine and we’d stay silent.

The real issue was that I didn’t really know much about Kuon. I didn’t know his interests or his favorite food, for example. Usually, I’d have learned those things as part of raising him, but he showed up with a several-year head start on me...

All right, that’s it. I’ve gotta learn more about my son. Time to ask his sisters for help.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Kuon’s favorite food? Hmm...I think cold tofu or chikuzenni? Oh, he likes matsutake mushroom soup as well.”

“That’s way too bland!”

I asked Arcia about Kuon’s preferred foods, and her replies weren’t the kind of things I’d expect a child to like. If anything, it was the kind of thing I’d expect an elderly person to enjoy...

Our household ate a mixture of western and eastern foods, but we mostly ate Japanese cuisine because I happened to enjoy rice. From that perspective, I could see how Kuon’s tastes might have developed...but wouldn’t a kid usually prefer curry or hamburg steak?

“What kind of food does he dislike, then?”

“I don’t think he dislikes anything in particular. He sits and quietly eats everything he’s served. Oh, though I think he said he found Xenoahs cuisine too rich once.”

...Xenoahs cuisine? I’ve had that before, I think. It was some kind of weird purple soup with an eye in it. It was a bitter taste, for sure. I think the best comparison for flavor would probably be battery acid. But hey, I’ve never actually eaten a battery, so I can’t say for sure.

In any case, I didn’t think it was fair to classify that as food he didn’t like. I mean, it was the kind of food I could barely imagine anyone liking, since it was near lethal!

I thanked Arcia and headed off to speak with Elna. She was closer to Kuon’s age, so I figured she might know some more.

I know Linne’s actually the closest to Kuon’s age, but... Well, I don’t really think I’d get much out of her...

Elna was sitting by a window in the castle, her nose stuck in a book. Elze was sitting next to her, fast asleep. Seeing my wife like that, with her slovenly sleeping face, was a bit funny. Elna didn’t seem to care, though. Presumably, the two of them had been reading together, but Elze dozed off.

“Things Kuon likes? Animals. He talks to cats a lot.”

“Huh? Kuon can talk to cats?”

Wait, he has that power? I don’t remember any of his mystic eyes doing that. I know there’s one that can control animals, but...

“He has Kokaku translate for him. But otherwise, he communicates with the cats using body language. A lot of cats live in Brunhild in the future, and all of them know Kuon.”

What the...? Is my son the Grand Duke of Cats or something? Oh, though I guess if Kohaku’s his companion, and Kohaku’s the master of animals like cats...that makes him the master of them in turn? So then, he’s more like an emperor, I guess? The Emperor of Cats... But wait, I’m Kohaku’s master, so what does that make me?

“He talks to birds too.”

“Oh, you mean with Kougyoku?”

Cats and birds were the eyes and ears of Brunhild. Everything they saw and heard was communicated to Kohaku and Kougyoku, who, in turn, relayed the information to Kousaka, Lain, and Tsubaki. Only crime-related matters were relayed, though. We weren’t snoopers. And in the event of a sudden emergency or criminal matter, cats or birds could lead our knights to the incident.

“So Kuon likes animals, huh...?”

“I’m not sure if it’s the animals he likes, really. I think maybe he likes talking to them more.”

“So he’s a talkative person? I never would’ve guessed...”

Though I guess if he’s only talkative with animals, that’s a bit different... Seems fine, though. He’s not hurting anyone...and I don’t think he’s a misanthrope.

“He says that if we want to make Brunhild a better place, we need to think about the animals. They see things that we don’t, so he thinks he can help you by factoring in their perspective.”

“What a good son!”

Damn, I might cry... He’s so thoughtful!

I looked up and pinched the bridge of my nose, sniffling slightly.

Thinking of his parents and the country at such a young age! That’s my boy! He’s truly Yumina’s son!

“Shut uuup... What’s the noise all about...”

Apparently, my excitement was a bit much for Elze, even if most of it was internal. She woke up, so I explained to her that I was asking Elna for information on Kuon, and Elze reached out to wrap her arms around her daughter.

“M-Mother?”

“Elna’s just as good a kid as Kuon, y’know? She’s studying so hard to help us.”

“Huh? Really?”

I looked at the book in Elna’s hand. It was a translation of a medical textbook that Leen had brought back from Earth after our honeymoon. Fam, from Babylon’s library, had converted a lot of material from Earth into tomes readable in this world. Though the cover said it was an introductory textbook, I could tell it wasn’t for children.

“I-I just wanted to help my family in whatever way I could, that’s all... I can use the [Recovery] Null spell, so I wanted to expand my medical knowledge and help in other areas...”

“What a good girl!”

“Isn’t she?!”

Elze cried out joyfully right after I did, squeezing Elna tighter in her arms. I leaned in and stroked my daughter’s hair. She was quiet, but she had a very kind heart. I wondered if Elna might be interested in taking over Brunhild’s national medical care in the future...only to be reminded that she’d probably leave Brunhild behind after getting married.

My heart... My poor heart...

I shook my head to dispel those awful thoughts, thanked Elna for her help, and bid the two of them farewell.

I think I’ve got a good grasp on his interests by now. Time to find him and see if he wants to spend some time with his old man.

◇ ◇ ◇

“So, how are you?”

“Oh, I’m fine.”

Dammit! He did exactly what I thought he’d do!

I’d thrown my pitch, and the kid had hit a home run. I didn’t have any retort.

We were watching a match near the shopping district. It was a weekday, and it wasn’t a national match with our knight teams, so there wasn’t much of a crowd. The bleachers we were sitting in were almost empty, actually.

Our baseball stadium was open to anyone to play in, for a small fee, so on weekdays like this, baseball fans would gather and play games together. Then, people with free time would come and watch them play, just like we were doing now.

I wanted to talk to him in a place where we weren’t likely to be interrupted, but I’d kind of fumbled my first question, so I wasn’t sure how to follow it up.

“So, uhhh...you got much going on? Any problems lately?”

“Not especially, no. I have no real issues. Oh, he hit the ball.”

Ugh... This is a hopeless fight, isn’t it? He’s just calmly watching the match... No, I can’t back down here! I need to get through to my son!

“Say, Kuon...you got any hobbies?”

“Hobbies? Well, I suppose I might? Though I’m not sure if I’d call it a hobby, exactly...”

...What’s that mean? I mean, I guess I don’t really have any particular hobbies either... Does listening to music or watching movies count? He’s my son, so maybe we have similar interests...? If I can just find some common ground...

“Does model-making count?”

“Huh?”

Model-making? Like plastic model robots or dioramas?

“Oh, here. Sometimes I make them to help me unwind. Like this one, here.”

Kuon took out his smartphone and showed me a photograph on it. It was a picture of ships lined up in a harbor, waiting to set sail... Something felt off about it, though.

W-Wait, wait...is this fake?! No way! It looks so real!

“Is that a diorama?!”

“Yes, it is. I made it about a year ago.”

He would’ve been five at that point. He was seriously that good at it even at such a young age? One of the ships leaving the port, the dash of the waves, the little people unloading cargo at the docks... I’d thought it was real at first. It was seriously professional-grade stuff. Not that I’d ever actually seen a professional diorama, of course. It was just kind of a gut impression.

“Some of the finer details were only possible thanks to some magical tools, however.”

I asked a little more and learned Quun had helped him with that. Still, I’d definitely heard of dioramas that used motorized parts and other stuff, so it was no less impressive. If anything, Kuon being able to work with specialized equipment like that was even cooler.

I told him that, only to be met with dismissal.

“It’s not that impressive. You can perform similar feats with [Modeling], no?”

“Well, yeah, but I still think there’s a difference... Mine’s just magic...”

Kuon’s response stunned me a little. We clearly weren’t looking at it the same way.

On Earth, there was no such thing as magic, so the skills one developed through hard work became a legitimate strength. I considered my magic to be cutting corners, or cheating, in a way, so it wasn’t nearly as impressive. However, the people who lived in this world viewed magic as a natural and normal force, so using it was fine. It wasn’t recognized as sneaky or underhanded. Instead, it was just another thing a person could use.

It was true that my [Modeling] spell could do similar things, but I definitely couldn’t compare to Kuon when it came to natural talent in actually creating by hand. I could use Babylon’s workshop to mass-produce dioramas, but even then, it wouldn’t be the same. It wouldn’t feel as authentic. Kuon’s skill was nothing to scoff at. If he entered a diorama contest back on Earth, he’d surely have won the top prize.

“Oh, actually...”

I got a sudden idea. I ran a web search for dioramas on my smartphone and projected a bunch of images into the air for Kuon.

“Wow! The details on these are incredible! Look at that one, it’s a whole submerged town!”

Kuon showed a childish sense of excitement as he marveled at the dioramas. It was the first time I’d ever seen him act his age. It reminded me of when I was little, making my own plastic models. I only ever assembled them, though. I didn’t paint them or make scenes or anything.

“Have you tried making any since you arrived in the past?”

“Oh... I’ve been really busy since I got here... Plus, you need materials and tools, which I don’t have.”

Apparently, he needed the resin from a particular kind of tree monster and some glue-like substance you could only get from specific Slimes. On top of that, he didn’t have his paintbrushes or palette knives. He’d left all of that in his room in the future, after all.

“All right, let’s go gather that stuff, then.”

“Huh? No, isn’t that a bother? Some of the materials I need are quite rare and we’d need to travel and...”

“Relax. It’s all good. I have [Gate] and [Search], so we’re golden.”

As far as the tools went, I was sure we’d find the right things for the job in the Babylon storehouse.

It was just a matter of collecting the materials, really. After that, my son could get to work. Oh, though, we’d need paint too. There were a lot of paintings of spirits in the Allent Theocracy, so I could only assume we’d find plenty of art supplies over there.

“Okay, time to go. Full speed ahead!”

“Oh, but I... Um...”

I grabbed Kuon by the hand and opened up a portal, jumping us through to the other side of the world, to the start of our search in Allent.

The art supply store we entered in the Allent Theocracy was fully stocked. There were numerous brushes and shades of paint throughout the store. I told Kuon he could buy anything he wanted, but he still seemed rather reserved about the whole affair. And so, I decided to make this diorama into an official commission. In other words, it was work, which meant if he wouldn’t want to do it half-baked, he’d have to make something special.

With that in mind, Kuon finally let go of his apprehension and asked, “What kind of diorama do you want me to make?”

“Huh? Oh, uh...right... What about our castle?”

“Brunhild Castle, then?”

I didn’t really have anything particular in mind, so I just said the first thing I thought of. Kuon didn’t seem to mind, though. He took it to heart and immediately began placing various art supplies in his basket. He methodically walked from row to row, grabbing specific items I didn’t recognize. The kid was probably already imagining how the diorama would turn out.

After we finished buying the goods, Kuon sent a list to my smartphone.

“Adhesive Slime fluid... Cushionturtle shell... Elder Treant husk?”

I had no idea how he’d be using this stuff, but I knew where to get it. And so, I sent Kuon to Babylon’s storehouse, where he could request any tools he needed from Parshe.

While he was busy doing that, I headed off to the adventurer’s guild in order to get the materials he’d asked for. Unfortunately, the Cushionturtle shell he needed wasn’t available, so I needed to hunt that myself.

Well, I could always sell the nonshell parts, so I figured that was a nice little bonus. The shell was surprisingly soft and sproingy. It was kind of like a sponge. The turtles were resistant to blunt damage due to that aspect, so I killed them with slashes instead.

I returned to the castle and found Kuon’s room already had a base for the diorama built in the middle of it. That was fast!

“Uhhh... I’ve got your materials...”

“Oh, please set them down here.”

Kuon was wearing a cloth mask on his face, along with a pair of goggles. He was shaving away at the diorama base with a magical tool that resembled a grinder. Presumably, he was trying to create a rough surface to represent the ground.

I put the materials down in the corner and watched Kuon at work. He was working so diligently that I couldn’t help but ask if there was anything I could do to help. He told me to start soaking the Cushionturtle shells in different shades of green paint, dry them out, then shred them into little pieces.

I headed out to the courtyard to do that, then came back. By the time I returned, Kuon had already sculpted most of the roads and moat trenches around the castle.

“Oh, Touya.”

Yumina was sitting on the couch in Kuon’s room, with Kohaku by her side.

“I came to call him down for dinner, but I didn’t expect to see him working on something like this. What an adorable hobby.”

“Yeah, I never knew about it before today. I think he’s a little too skilled to call it just a hobby, though.”

Kuon was probably excited about making a diorama for the first time in a while, so he didn’t stop even when dinner was ready. I had Arcia make some rice balls and sandwiches and brought them to his room so he could eat while working. I should’ve probably brought him down to eat properly, but he wasn’t a very picky eater, so it didn’t really matter at the end of the day.

“Once Kuon gets going, he just doesn’t stop. If you don’t take advantage of his little breaks to get him to call it a night, he’ll work until morning.”

I took Frei’s words to heart, since I didn’t want Kuon working all night. I made him stop when the clock turned ten. His incredible focus was probably how he’d gotten to this level of skill. I had Yumina take him to the adjoining bedroom and let him rest. He could continue after a full night of sleep.

The diorama was already taking on a rough shape. Normally, it would’ve taken more time than this, but the magic tools seemed to make everything more efficient. I was pretty amazed, though... I hadn’t expected that spongy shell I’d torn up to end up being used as decorative shrubs and trees.

I looked at the grass he’d put down on the ground and wondered if it was actually real... It kind of looked like moss up close, but I couldn’t be sure. I wanted to touch it, but I didn’t want to risk messing anything up and upsetting Kuon.

I smiled quietly as I left the room, wondering how the finished product would look.

◇ ◇ ◇

I pulled away the cloth, prompting everyone in the room to shout in excited surprise.

The completed diorama of Brunhild Castle was now on display behind a glass case in our lobby. I was in the middle of unveiling it for the first time. Kuon’s sophisticated representation of the local area was so high quality that I felt it’d be a waste to just keep it to myself. This way, everyone who visited us would be able to admire it.

Everyone in the room was immensely interested in the display.

“Wow! It’s so detailed!”

“Incredible... Even the grand duke and his family are there...”

There were miniature figures of us included in the little scene. Yae, Hilde, and Elze were fighting in the sparring grounds. Linze, Leen and Sakura were sitting on the balcony enjoying a spot of tea. Yumina, Sue, and I were sitting underneath the cherry blossom trees in the courtyard, enjoying a great number of lunch boxes that Lu had piled up. There were other little individuals dotted here and there too. Karen and Moroha, Prime Minister Kousaka, and other members of the castle staff too.

Everyone had their eyes glued to the glass case, trying to spot little details inside.

I turned to Kuon with a grin and said, “You sure put a lot of detail in, huh?”

“I’m very particular about the small stuff, yes. I want to get all the tiniest details down, but I still like to add my own flourish as well.”

You definitely have an eye for detail, that’s for sure. I can understand your feelings as a creator, but you might’ve overdone it with all the minute things!

Still, everyone was happy, so there wasn’t anything to worry about.

“Could you teach me how to make one next time?”

“Hm? But you can do something like this with [Modeling], can’t you?”

“Yeah, but I want to make it without magic...like you.”

“...I-If you really want to learn, then sure,” Kuon replied, then gave me a shy little nod.

I think our bond just deepened a little right now.

I wondered what I’d make with Kuon’s help. I’d probably want to start with wood... I felt it’d be cool to make a miniature magic train track or something. Or maybe we could add to the castle diorama and do the whole town? It was exciting to think about all the possibilities.

As I pondered the matter, I ruffled my son’s hair. I was a very proud dad.

◇ ◇ ◇

Kuon’s diorama proved incredibly popular...and not just by the people in the castle either. The other world leaders were very impressed when they saw it during the next meeting.

To the surprise of nobody, King Belfast was especially proud of his grandson’s work. He declared his own desire for a diorama, so Kuon made a display of Belfast Castle. And since Brunhild Castle’s design was based on Belfast Castle, it didn’t take him quite as long for that one. Only a few days or so of work went into it.

After that, the other world leaders asked for their own dioramas as well. I told Kuon he could refuse, since I didn’t want to strain him...but he said yes anyway. He was too diligent for his own good, frankly.

I didn’t want him to get so into it that he’d forget to eat, drink, or sleep, so we made him stick to a schedule that wouldn’t completely overtake his life. It wasn’t quite the same kind of limit as the old “you can only play video games for one hour a day” rule, but he was allowed a certain period of time per day for him to work on his dioramas.

Allis was very angry at me, as Kuon ended up spending less time with her as a result.

“There are dioramas in most every entry foyer around the world in the future, indeed, but I did not expect them to be made by Kuon’s hand from the past...” Yakumo muttered to herself as she looked over one of his most recent works.

Kuon himself had commented on the fact that the first diorama he’d ever seen was the one of Brunhild Castle. He’d never expected the one that had fascinated him in the first place to be his own creation. Had he never made this diorama in the first place, the future Kuon may never have been interested in making dioramas... I wasn’t sure what to make of this kind of influence on the future. Surely this had to count as a time paradox of some sort... But then again, the time spirits were supposedly working in the background to stop that kind of thing.

“Time spirits are hard workers. They’re probably tweaking cause and effect in all sorts of places to make sure the future stays the same,” Moroha said as we watched Yakumo and Kuon sparring on the training field.

“So you’re saying the future’s basically fixed? Like, whatever we do will lead to the same thing?”

“Not necessarily. The power of a god, or divine miracles granted to people, can alter the flow of time. Besides, time spirits can make mistakes too. That’s usually how coincidences or accidents come about.”

“Huh, they can make mistakes like that? I was kind of imagining time spirits as living clocks or something. Didn’t realize they could mess up.”

“Ha ha ha ha... Time spirits are still people, even if some of them might look like clocks.”

Makes sense. I guess if gods can make mistakes, then it’s only natural spirits can as well.

“Still, I’d say it’s fair to assume nothing that happens here is gonna impact the future very much, other than the wicked god thing, I guess. Oh, looks like it’s game over.”

I looked over and saw Yakumo’s banged-up wooden sword disarm Kuon, sending his weapon sailing into the air. They’d been clashing for quite a while.

“If Kuon doesn’t use his mystic eye, Yakumo’s got the upper hand in swordplay. He’s very tenacious, though. Good for him.”

Though he’d lost to Yakumo, Kuon was still a very strong fighter. If he used all his mystic eyes properly, he could probably be a match for Yae.

Yakumo and Frei were the only gold-ranked adventurers among my children; the rest were silver. If I had to guess...in terms of pure combat ability, excluding magic, Elna was probably the weakest among my children. But even then, Elna outclassed the average Brunhild knight in terms of raw physical output.

My children were gamebreaking presences, that was for sure. But given that they were literal demigods and had been trained by literal actual gods since they were young, it was to be expected...

“Hmm... Yakumo’s the big sister, so she should go easier on him...”

“If she went easy on him, it would not be training, it would not...”

Yumina grumbled a little, leaving Yae to comfort her as best as she could. Albus sat by her side, silent as ever. The white crown really wasn’t much of a talker.

“Raaargh! He shoulda used me! Hey, kiddo, ya shoulda used me! I’d have brought out way more of yer potential than that lame-o wooden sword!”

The silver crown, on the other hand, never shut up. It clearly wouldn’t have been fair to use a Gollem weapon during a training match, but that didn’t deter the thing.

Kuon came back from the training field, swapping out with Linne. She seemed to be bristling with energy.

“Good work out there, Kuon.”

“Phew... My eldest sister is exhausting at times... She could’ve gone a little easier on me...”

“Pfft!”

“Pfft!”

“What?”

Kuon had said the exact same thing as Yumina, prompting Yae and I to spit out our water. I noticed Yumina’s narrowed eyes, so I kept myself from laughing any further.

“You do not seem to enjoy fighting much, you do not,” Yae said, speaking up as she watched Linne happily square off against Yakumo.

“That’s right. I’m more interested in reading than fighting. Still, I know it’s necessary to have strength in this world, so I train. If something were to happen, I wouldn’t want to sit on the sidelines.”

“Ohhh! See, Yae? Isn’t my boy amazing?! What an admirable little man he is! Oh yes, I’m so proud!” Yumina exclaimed as she wrapped both her arms around Kuon and started doting on him. Kuon simply stared forward into the abyss, letting his mother do as she pleased.

“Yumina-dono’s growing a little more extreme lately, is she not?”

“Extreme... Yeah, that’s one way to put it...”

Out of all the mother-child combos, Yumina was definitely the one who’d shown no signs of calming down with Kuon. I wondered if the fact that he was a boy had anything to do with it. I definitely had a habit of doting on my daughters more, at least...

Still, Yumina wasn’t even close to being on the level of the Xenoahs overlord, so it was fine in my book.

I heard footsteps approaching, and turned to see Doc Babylon. Elluka, Fenrir, Quun, and the professor were with her. It was certainly rare to see them down on the surface world, and rarer still for them to be at the training grounds.

“Yo. I asked Cesca where you were, which is how we found you.”

“Is something wrong? You finished with the Over Gear yet?”

The Babylon Dev Team was currently working on an Over Gear for Albus, one that could dive deep into the ocean. They hadn’t been giving me many progress reports, so I wondered if it was already complete.

“The Over Gear isn’t finished yet, but we’ve finished the knight Gollems.”

“The knight Gollems?”

I’d heard that there were Gollems in Brunhild in the future, apparently involved with my knight order...but I hadn’t realized Babylon was the one who’d made them.

“Anyway, take a look. Quun?”

“On it.”

Doc Babylon snapped her fingers, prompting Quun to whip out a storage card. She shook it a few times, and two knightly looking Gollems fell out of it.

The knight-type soldat Gollems the professor went around with were in full plate armor, and they looked like any other fully armored person might. These Gollems, on the other hand, seemed to have been designed to be immediately recognized as inhuman.

One was about the same size as an adult male, with a sword at its waist and a shield on its back. The other was bigger, presumably modeled off Ogres or similar creatures. It was probably just shy of three meters tall. They both looked incredibly sturdy, so there was no doubt in my mind that they’d been built for power. Both of them were white matte on the base, with black accents along their frames. They kind of reminded me of police patrol cars.

“Let me introduce them. These knight Gollems models are Swordsman and Guardian, respectively,” Doc Babylon explained as she pointed at the two of them triumphantly.

So the smaller one is a Swordsman and the bigger one is a Guardian, huh?

“Why did you make two types, why did you?”

“Swordsman models are for antipersonnel incidents, while Guardian models are for accidents or emergency disaster relief. In short, the Swordsman series is built for fighting human opponents, while the Guardian series is more for clearing debris or fixing upturned carriages. It made more sense to me to have specialized departments.”

The Guardian model was also fitted with a fire extinguisher, apparently. The idea of a Gollem with that kind of focus was interesting to me.

The professor suddenly stepped forward, following up on Doc Babylon by saying, “By the way, the strength of the Swordsman model has yet to be properly configured. We thought we’d have the knight order help with determining that.”

“Yet to be properly configured? Why not just make it as strong as possible?” Yumina asked. She seemed confused as she challenged what the Professor said, only for him to respond with a faint smile.

“If we were to base it on the strength of Moroha here, for example, it would be too much strain on the machinery. Not that the Swordsman models could even begin to replicate her strength...but the point still stands. We need to determine optimal strength for the good of the machine.”

...Yeah. I don’t think you could ever build a machine that matches up to a goddess like her.

“The strength needs to be measured enough to not burden the machinery, yet flexible enough to adapt to almost any enemy on the fly. That would be the optimal solution, which is why I would like some of the knights here to fight it.”

“So it’s like a final systems check, then?”

It’d be no good if the Gollems we had were too weak to help the knights, and it’d be worse if they were so overpowered they broke down after a few deployments. If they weren’t capable of changing their strength on the fly, that could be trouble when apprehending criminals too.

The knight Gollems were going to be mass-produced, so we needed to balance all of that with a relatively cheap cost. If we didn’t have to consider expenses, we could just do whatever, but reality wasn’t so accommodating.

“That sounds pretty interesting. I’ll be happy to test this thing out,” Logan, patrol captain of the knight order, said as he stepped in from the sidelines to volunteer himself. We had no issue with that, but only on the condition that both parties used wooden swords. I didn’t want the Gollem getting broken so soon after completion.

“Ready... Go!”

Logan charged in with his sword. They exchanged blows twice, then three times...and the Swordsman Gollem fell to a blow on the side of its head.

“Huh? Isn’t that too weak?”

“It’s currently set to minimum strength. It needs to do some mock matches to learn moves, techniques, and pattern prediction.”

Huh, so it’s machine learning? Wait, then it’ll get stronger over time?

The Swordsman Gollem fought a few more knights, losing most of the encounters. But slowly, it began to improve its performance until it was winning most of its battles. Eventually, it had become capable enough to defeat Logan.

“I shall be its next foe.”

The next person to stand before the Swordsman Gollem was none other than Kokonoe Jutaro, Yae’s elder brother. He was an Eashenese samurai, but he was staying in Brunhild along with his fiancée, Ayane, and Moroha had been giving him special training for a while. I hadn’t realized he was on the training field today, but apparently he was.

Jutaro and the Swordsman began their clash. At the start, the Swordsman seemed to have the edge over the samurai, but Jutaro continued to press the advantage until he had the tip of his wooden sword pressed up against the machine’s neck.

“That’s enough. Any more and it’ll overheat,” Elluka said, putting an end to the Swordsman Gollem’s training. The Gollem bowed and then retreated from the training field.

“It’s almost as strong as Jutaro. That’s no small feat.”

Jutaro was among the finest fighters from Eashen...though it rarely seemed that way here in Brunhild, given how overpowered so many of the people here were.

“I’ll be making five of these things and deploying them to the castle’s knight garrison. Touya will have master authority, while subauthority can go to the knight commander and vice-commanders.”

That made sense to me. Gradually introducing them would get everyone used to their presence. Brunhild probably had the most Gollems out of all the countries on the eastern continent. Noir, Albus, Rouge, and Viola were all seen around town now and then. And Olba Strand’s trading company had recently begun opening up a dedicated Gollem trade sector.

Thinking on it, the people of Brunhild were probably used to Gollems well enough at this point, especially considering the fact that Frame Gears were a national staple.

After all that, we headed back to the castle. Kuon, Yakumo, and the other kids went to the bath straight away. I was about to head to my office to look over some documents, but then Tsubaki suddenly stepped out from behind a nearby pillar.

Agh! That shocked me. You don’t have to do that every time, you know?!

“I’ve two reports to make. The first is that a port town in the Kingdom of Curelia has been destroyed. The wicked devout are believed to be responsible.”

“Curelia?”

Uhhh...is that on the western continent? On the eastern edge? I remember the pumpkin pants prince mentioning something about them wanting to join our alliance... So the wicked devout did something there? Shit...

According to Tsubaki’s report, the town was attacked by Fishmen, four-armed Gollems, and giant stone men. Some of the survivors had lost their minds entirely, while others were taken over by the Fishman curse and headed into the sea. That certainly sounded like the wicked devout to me.

“Didn’t we tell Panaches to keep an eye out for any settlements by the sea, though? Surely they would’ve told their neighbors.”

“If they did, I don’t believe the warning was well heeded. There’s never been an attack this catastrophic before.”

It sounded awful. The occasional village got hit, but it was never as big as this before. Destroying an entire port town was like a declaration of war. We needed to be more vigilant. Everyone needed to be.

It was really annoying that we couldn’t predict where they’d emerge like we could with the Phrase, but I knew that was asking for too much... It wasn’t like the enemy would freely tell us “Hey! Here’s where we’re gonna hit next!” or anything.

I started typing up a smartphone message to every world leader I had direct contact with. I told them to be extra vigilant and to inform me of any suspicious sightings immediately. Any country with an adventurer’s guild would be much easier for rumors to travel through. If they got me information fast enough, I’d be able to use my magic to send their national knights to the attack sites instantly.

“And the second report?”

“An unidentified magical beast appeared on the fringes of the Regulus Empire’s territory. Their local guild chapter killed it, but at no small cost. The problem is that this beast is a complete mystery. It’s an entirely new species.”

“A new species?”

“Here is a photograph,” Tsubaki said as she sent a picture to my phone.

Whoa... It’s all bloodied, gross.

It was a full photo of a monster with the body of a lion and the head of a bird. It also had bird limbs, so it was clearly some kind of Chimera.

I briefly wondered if this creature could be a new monster made by the wicked devout.

“It’s unlikely, as they did not find any crystal structure in its body.”

The Gollems and Fishmen controlled by the wicked devout had red and blue crystalline octahedrons embedded in their bodies, but apparently, that wasn’t the case here.

So why has this thing appeared now? Who would know about this kind of...? Oh, wait. There might be someone.

I bade Tsubaki farewell after hearing her report, then headed up to Babylon.

“How... How rare.”

Fam, the keeper of Babylon’s library, crooked a brow as she looked up from her book and saw me.

...Bookwormy as ever, I see. Nah. You’ve ascended beyond a bookworm. You’re a full-blown book addict.

“How can I help you?”

“I’m wondering if you know anything about this thing,” I asked as I approached Fam’s counter and showed her the picture on my phone.

“Quite the unusual kink you have there, master. Is showing bloodied animals to young girls at random how you get your rocks off?”

“No. It isn’t. I’m asking about this monster. Is it a new species?”

Fam adjusted her glasses as she looked over the image. Eventually, she hopped down from her seat and walked over to a bookshelf, then pulled a book out and brought it back.

“It’s most likely... Oh, here.”

Fam opened the thick book and thudded it down on the desk in front of me. There was an illustration of a magical beast there that looked nearly identical to the one on my phone. However, the writing was in Ancient Spirit Script, and I wasn’t actively casting [Reading], so I couldn’t tell what it said.

“Ipos. A magical beast that was also known as Ipes or Ayporos depending on the region. It was a particularly aggressive species that inhabited the Ilpanema Woodlands, but its meat was considered so delicious that it was hunted to extinction by the local tribes some five thousand five hundred and seventy-four years ago.”

“Hunted to extinction? So the species is gone?”

“Correct.”

It’s not a new species, but one everyone thought was extinct? Wait, hold on! Isn’t that the same story with the thing Kuon and Allis killed? That Marchosias wolf thing? Wasn’t that supposed to be extinct too?

“What the hell does this mean?”

Magical beasts thought to be extinct were apparently making a comeback. Had they come from Palerius Island or something? That place had been left behind by time, but that didn’t really make sense...

“Did they...come through time?”

Had some unknown force pulled these monsters from their own eras and into my own? It wasn’t an impossible scenario. My children had traveled to the past from the future, so why couldn’t it work the other way around?

Was this the work of another timequake, perhaps?

“I’m gonna need to consult an expert.”

I hurriedly pulled out my phone and dialed Granny Tokie’s number.

◇ ◇ ◇

“This is most certainly the result of a timequake. Monsters from the past have come forth into our present,” Granny Tokie said, confirming that the monsters had slipped through time. It was just as I’d suspected from the start.

“You’re the goddess of Space-Time, right? Can’t you send them back to their own eras or something?”

“I certainly could in theory, but... I am sure you know, young Touya, that the divine such as I are forbidden from interfering in mortal affairs. Free use of my abilities in a direct capacity could have unknowable consequences. Well...there are some loopholes, I suppose, but I’d rather not go through them if I can feasibly avoid it.”

You can, but you won’t? Dang it... I guess you’re higher on the totem pole than I am. It’s fine for me to do some stuff, but she’s probably way stronger than me.

“I would also rather conserve my power so I can send your children back when the time is right. If I use it now, and then become unable to use it for your family, I imagine your present and future selves would be rather upset.”

Ugh... She’s got a point. That’d really suck.

“Timequakes are natural phenomena as well, so there is little need for me to interfere with them. I’m sure they’ve even happened on the Earth that you hail from, even.”

“Hmm, now that you mention it...”

I’ve definitely heard stories of people slipping through time back on Earth.

There was the Moberly-Jourdain incident, where two teachers visiting the Palace of Versailles claimed to have slipped through time and briefly experienced events from over a hundred years before their births. Then, there was also the story of a man who was walking around New York in a daze before being hit by a car and killed...and they found items on him that suggested he had actually traveled forward in time from the 1800s somehow. Plus, there were also plenty of people on the internet who claimed that they were time travelers from the future. I didn’t know how much of that was actually true, however. Earth didn’t have magic, after all. Though, if timequakes were natural phenomena that could happen anyway, perhaps some of those stories were actually rooted in reality...

At this point, I’m just confused as to why we’ve had two timequake incidents so close to each other.

“The timequake tremors should die down over time, so you needn’t worry. I doubt we’ll have any fixed points from this either.”

“Fixed points? What are those?”

“It’s a permanent connection between two points in time. You might call it a time tunnel, I suppose. It would allow free travel from either direction. Of course, that would jumble up past, present, and future... It would create something of a mess. The only way to fix that would be through my own power, but to use my power would mean breaking the rules and interfering with the mortal realm... Something of a conundrum, to be sure. Typically, the solution would be to deploy the god of destruction.”

Wait, so the world would just get wrecked? I’ve heard the trope about worlds getting destroyed or rewritten in time travel fiction, but who’d have thought it was true...

“You needn’t worry, though. It won’t come to that. I am the goddess of Space-Time for a reason, after all. That said, I’m not entirely comfortable with the circumstances as they are...”

“Are you talking about the wicked devout?”

“Indeed. Even dregs such as them have divine power, so I do hope they don’t do anything ridiculous... After all, Touya...you’ve been recognized as a god properly now... If they were to fully revive a wicked god upon the soil of this world, well...”

Wait... Right! I wouldn’t be able to interfere, would I?! That’d be against the rules! I guess I could fight it without my divinity, but I don’t know if I’d be able to kill it that way... Oh damn, that totally sucks. But wait, wicked gods sprout up all over the place, don’t they? If gods can’t ordinarily interfere to defeat them, then...

“The typical method of dealing with such foes is to grant divine artifacts or tools to an appointed human hero. If that fails, the god of destruction does his job.”

Okay, that’s not so bad, then. Yeah, it’ll be fine. I can just make a powerful enough weapon and give it to some hero in this world or something to fight in my stead. Easy.

“Can I choose Yumina or any beneficiaries of my divinity to be the heroes?”

“You cannot. Those who benefit from your divinity are as kin to the divine themselves. Like angels.”

Seriously? Well, I guess my wives are definitely angels... I knew that from the start.

But still, that meant I needed to choose some mortal or mortals to act as heroes in my stead... Moroha probably couldn’t be a hero, even if she was in a mortal body... Her status as a god probably excluded her from it.

But then, who exactly could defeat a wicked god? Oh, wait, I know! Ende! He’s got those divine twinblades, right? If I help him out, it’ll be fine.

“At any rate, there may be some minor aftereffects from the timequakes. I’ll ensure the time spirits work extra hard to prevent any potential damage.”

“Got it. Best of luck.”

There was nothing I could really do, so I just left it in Granny Tokie’s hands. I thanked her, then promptly ended the call.

Fam looked up from the book she was engrossed in and asked, “Done with your call?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Looks like it fell through time after all. Actually, are monsters all that different now compared to back when you were born?”

“Oh, yes. There are definitely more nowadays. When the ancient civilization thrived, warding technology was deployed fairly regularly within its territory. Thus, monsters and magical beasts were relegated to the frontier lands. And as a result, only the mightiest of beasts tended to survive. So while there are more monsters nowadays, they’re largely weaker.”

Huh... The Marchosias and the Ipos were definitely red-rank monsters, but I guess it wasn’t just random luck? Were all the monsters back then roughly that strong?

I’d already told the guild to tell me if any strong monsters showed up, but not every country had a guild branch. The Kingdom of Curelia wasn’t part of the alliance, for example, and their port town was lost as a result. We probably needed to expand our global information network to be safe.

“Indeed. You should work harder to interact more closely with all the nations of the world. That’s your main mission, master. Focus on it.”

“...Any reason you’re so keen to get me moving?”

“Hm? Why wouldn’t I be? More countries mean more books for my library! It’s the noblest pursuit of all!”

Oh... I guess it’s true that I haven’t brought a lot of books here lately. Fam’s pretty voracious when it comes to reading materials, so she’s probably been getting agitated.

Fam always talked about her role in the library as some official business, but I knew in her heart of hearts that she was just an obsessive bookworm. Her reasons might’ve been dressed up in noble talks of media preservation, but she was definitely driven by selfish motivation.

“All right, relax. I’ll get you some new books later.”

“Bring me literature from some of those newfound nations. I want to see how writing changes from country to country.”

Newfound ones, huh...? Hmm, I guess I’ve never seen any books from Lassei or Gandhilis. Alternatively, I could go buy some books from countries I’ve never really set foot in. Curelia aside, I still haven’t made contact with the Rephan Kingdom or the Kingdom of Langeais.

That was largely because I tended to wait until I was officially referred to them by other world leaders, though. My official relationship with the nations on the western continent was still somewhat shaky, since I didn’t have a lot of contacts there. Plus, there was that weird rumor going around that I was the one who’d destroyed Isengard.

I shrugged and sighed, certain that I’d eventually make more royal contacts.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Father! Father! Father! Faaaaaaaaaaaather!”

“Bwaugh!”

Once I returned to the castle from Babylon, I was immediately met with a side tackle from Frei. Seriously, I’d barely made it one step into the hallway before she’d catapulted herself into my side like I was a quarterback.

“Ghaaagh...”

“Father! Listen! Father! King Felsen is hosting an auction for armor that once belonged to the legendary champion Dahmuel! But money! We don’t have enough money!”

“Calm down... I don’t know what you’re saying...”

Frei started babbling about something or other, but I was far too dazed and confused from the tackle to even begin to process what she was going on about. And so, I applied some restoration magic to my aching back, slowly rose to my feet, and tried my best to calm Frei down.

After she’d settled, she explained to me that there was an auction to be held in Felsen. And among the items for sale, there was a set of armor once worn by some legendary hero named Dahmuel.

King Felsen, knowing of Frei’s interest in such things, sent her an email about it. Frankly, I’d have been a lot happier if he hadn’t said anything...

“So what, you want that armor?”

“I do, yes! In the future, Dahmuel’s armor is missing! I’ve never even seen it before! I’ve only heard stories!”

...It’s missing in the future? Does the person who wins the auction lose it, or something? I know if King Felsen won it, he’d probably just put it in his royal collection...and you couldn’t pull a heist on that vault easily, so does that mean King Felsen isn’t gonna bid on it?

“King Felsen said he won’t be bidding on it, no. Apparently, he doesn’t have very much pocket money this month.”

...Damn, he’s got a personal allowance? His wife must be reining him in.

I could understand his apprehension, though. It wouldn’t have been good if public money was used for the king’s personal collection. Hobby purchases like that were best made with money the king saved up personally.

“Dahmuel’s armor needs to be preserved! Preserved for the future, I say!” Frei exclaimed, her eyes ablaze with desire. Though she spoke nobly about armor preservation, I could tell her desires were driven by selfish needs.

“Sure, I don’t have a problem with you bidding on it...but with what money, exactly?”

“That’s precisely why I’m here, father! Take me out Dragon slaying! We can kill another Fiendrake and make money!”

“Huh, you wanna go out again?”

It certainly made sense, at least. If Frei wanted money, that was the best option. But honestly, I wasn’t sure about letting her use all that reward cash just for an auction... And unfortunately, I couldn’t just loan her the money, since Hilde would definitely have a problem with that.

“Come on, father! Just tell me where the nearest Fiendrake is! Or furthest! I can have Yoshino or Yakumo send me!”

“Hrm...”

I guess you could just go there with either of those two thanks to [Gate] or [Teleport], huh?

“If you get Hilde’s permission, then...”

“I’m on it!” Frei roared as she dashed off, a huge grin on her face. She certainly needed to learn a thing or two about calming down...

A few minutes later, she triumphantly returned. Apparently, Hilde had given her consent. Yakumo and Linne came with her.

“I would like to test my blade against the Fiendrakes of this era.”

“Yeah, and this time I wanna kill one without breaking it into pieces!”

“Hey, hold on! You two are just coming for support! I need most of the money, okay?!”

Apparently, Frei had already decided she was getting the lion’s share of the reward. She sure was greedy. Though honestly, I couldn’t blame her if she was on a tight deadline. The auction was approaching, after all.

I was a little exasperated, but she’d gotten permission...so I simply shrugged and started looking up the location of the nearest Fiendrake.

◇ ◇ ◇

Frei and the others ended up killing the Fiendrake and selling its body to the guild for quite the tidy sum. We quickly ran into another issue, however. The auction in Felsen was not open for minors to participate in. That wasn’t too surprising, but it was still a pain.

“Oh, my bad... I forgot about that,” King Felsen apologized over the phone. He was so single-minded when it came to his hobbies that he’d probably forgotten he was texting a literal child.

Still, it wasn’t the end of the world. We could just get an adult to bid at Frei’s proxy. And, as you might have guessed, that duty fell to me. As for the reason...

“Because I know you’ll win the bid, father! I believe in you!” Frei exclaimed excitedly, beaming over at me all the while, causing a rosy flush to rise to my cheeks.

Gosh... With expectations like those, I can’t afford to lose...

“Do not be deceived by her wiles, Touya. She’s likely thinking that if the bidding goes beyond her budget, you’ll step in and cover the difference. Isn’t that right, Frei?”

“N-N-N-Not at all!”

Hilde’s comment caused Frei to stiffen up and shift her eyes from side to side.

...Yeah. Guess that makes sense.

“Listen, Frei. This is money that you earned. I won’t tell you how to spend it, but I must ask that you don’t use it to cause trouble for people around you. Understood?”

“Okay...”

“It’s a promise, then. Break that promise and I’ll have Touya take away all your weapons.”

“O-Okay! It’s a promise!”

Frei, trying to hide the panic in her eyes, brought her hand up to salute her mother. Hilde sure had controlling Frei down to an art. I was impressed.

With that out of the way, I activated [Gate] and took Frei to Felsen’s capital city. The auction was to be held at the museum in the city, and it wouldn’t be long until things kicked off.

I checked the location on my smartphone, and the museum was only a short walk away. I walked over toward it with Frei, who seemed in high spirits. It wasn’t long before she was skipping and humming to herself.

“Hey, don’t get too excited, okay? It’s still an auction, so you might not win that armor.”

I didn’t want her building her hopes up too high, since it’d be sadder if they got dashed. I didn’t want to bring her mood down or anything either, but she needed to keep the possibility of losing at the back of her mind. Apparently, King Felsen had secured enough funding to bid personally too...so he’d be one to watch out for.

“It’s all right! I don’t think many people will care about Dahmuel’s armor. The only other person I know who really wants it is King Felsen, so if we have more money than him, we’ll win!”

“Huh? Not many people care about it? Why?”

“Dahmuel’s armor is cursed. If you wear it, you’ll be in for a world of pain, so it’s not a super popular treasure!”

“Why would you want that?!”

Cursed armor?! You didn’t think to mention that sooner?!

Frei noticed my panic and quickly moved to elaborate.

“It’s fine, really. It’s not a bad curse or anything! I think it’s Pain Heal or Life Conversion, so it’s just minor! Don’t worry!”

...Pain Heal? Isn’t that the curse that doubles the power of recovery magic, but causes massive pain when it’s cast on you? And Life Conversion’s a curse that amplifies your magic power in exchange for years of your life span, right? That’s kind of a crazy power... Wait, how can you call those things minor?! That’s pretty intense! What was this Dahmuel trying to do, exactly? Become a Dark Knight or something?

“What kinda guy was this Dahmuel, anyway?”

“They called him the self-sacrificing hero...”

...Self-sacrificing? Something tells me the guy was probably just a weird masochist. Less of a champion and more of a pervert.

“...Frei, you’re not gonna equip the armor, are you? I don’t wanna bid on it if you’re planning on that.”

“I don’t want to wear it. I just want to add it to my collection. Besides, Dahmuel was over two meters tall. King Felsen could wear his armor, but it wouldn’t fit me.”

That was reassuring... If that was the case, then it’d be fine to let her have it. Or would it? Would it really be fine? It was still a cursed item...

I quietly struggled with my personal hang-ups about the armor until we arrived at Felsen’s Capital Museum. It was an ornate white building with sublime architectural design. The museum was home to many powerful magical artifacts from Felsen’s distant past.

Though it was called a museum, it was somewhat different from the ones back on Earth. For starters, it wasn’t commonly open to the public. It was more of an exhibition hall for the nobility, so really it was closer to a state-funded artifact storage facility rather than an open place anyone could come to look through.

While the venue was owned by the state, the auction itself was sponsored by Felsen’s primary financial guild, the Magicraft Commissary. That was why King Felsen couldn’t just butt in and secure any of the goods for himself. It was an independent operation.

I handed over my invitation to the nearest security guard before proceeding inside the building. A great number of people had already gathered. I could tell from their extravagant, gaudy outfits that most of the people here were either wealthy nobles or rich merchants.

“You should’ve brought a crown or something fancy to wear, father.”

“...Yeah, like I’d be caught dead in something like that.”

I had no interest in wearing a crown in private, let alone in public. Hell, Brunhild didn’t even have an official crown to begin with. We were smaller than Belfast and Regulus, so it would have felt way out of place to wear something that formal.

I headed over to the desk and completed my auction registration. Then, I was given directions to the seat that had been reserved for us. It was a pretty good spot... King Felsen had been generous with us, clearly.

I was given an auction calling card, as well as a catalog that listed everything we’d be able to bid on. There were no photographs, of course, but every listing had an illustration accompanying it.

I flipped through the catalog until I found the armor Frei wanted.

...Of course. Of course it’s the armor covered in spikes with skulls on the shoulders and spooky eyeballs carved into the chest. Why wouldn’t it be that one?

“Wow! It looks even cooler than I thought!”

“Not the word I’d have used...”

Frei let out an excited giggle as she gazed at the illustration. I simply shook my head, completely unaware of where my daughter’s poor aesthetic sense had come from.

◇ ◇ ◇

The Felsen Museum had a large hall set aside for the auction. I was somewhat surprised to see that a great number of guests had already arrived and taken their seats.

...Is everyone here to bid on stuff? They all look pretty rich.

“Uhhh... Our seat’s over...where, exactly?”

Frei tugged at my sleeve after I said that.

Oh, is it over there?

“Father, King Felsen’s here.”

“Huh?”

I glanced over to where Frei was pointing, only to see King Felsen himself waving at us. Or at least, it was probably King Felsen. He was wearing a domino mask on his face, presumably to keep his identity concealed. I wanted to go and say hello, but he was a good distance away and I didn’t want to risk outing his identity. As such, I just gave him a small nod and decided I’d go and see him after the auction was over. I still needed to find my seat, after all. Didn’t want to still be standing when the auction began.

I looked around and saw that King Felsen wasn’t the only one wearing a mask; there were a bunch of nobles with various facial coverings. It was possible that they didn’t want to be recognized in the event they won...or perhaps they wanted to spend money without their spouses finding out...

After a small while spent fumbling around, we eventually found my seat. It was a pretty good spot, not too far from the front of the stage. Both Frei and I had a great view of the items from that spot. Before I sat down, I picked up my paddle. It had a number on it corresponding to my seat. I checked, and apparently, all you had to do was raise your paddle to indicate your bid. It was basically the same way auctions worked back on Earth.

I sat down, Frei sat next to me, and I started thumbing through the auction catalog. Apparently, this auction wasn’t just for weapons and armor, but also rare art and antiques.

I glanced over the items, but I didn’t really see anything I was interested in. The catalog had images and descriptions of the goods, but nothing indicated what the bids started at, or what they could go up to. From what I understood, the sellers usually set a minimum amount that had to be reached or the item wouldn’t sell.

“Do you really want this thing?”

I looked over the listing for Dahmuel’s armor again, a small frown on my face. It looked totally distasteful, to the point that simply staring at it immediately gave you the impression that it was cursed. Plus, it was actually cursed!

“I guess I can remove the curse, at least...”

“Absolutely not, father! If you break the curse, it won’t be nearly as valuable! I wouldn’t want you to change a thing about it!”

“Ugh...”

I didn’t understand my daughter at all. Why was she happier about it being cursed? I didn’t get it. However, at the same time, she was my daughter... I wanted to make her happy, so I just decided to suck it up.

I passed the catalog to Frei, and she lit up after looking through a couple of the pages.

“Whoa! Matlack’s dagger?! Hnnnh! I want that too... But money... My money... I... Nooo!”

Why’re you giving me that look? I mean, I know why...but gimme a break here.

“...If it’s not too expensive, we can get it, maybe.”

“I love you!”

Hilde’s gonna kick me into the sun. Dammit... Why am I such a pushover when it comes to my daughters? They’re playing me like a damn fiddle...

I groaned, but my attention was suddenly captured by the presence of the auctioneer as he walked onto the stage.

The first thing that came out was some kind of vase. Apparently, it was some three-thousand-year-old work of art. The auctioneer explained that it once belonged to the king of some dead nation and that a war was fought over it that led to said nation’s death. I thought it was kind of cool that the item had a story to go with it, but wondered who would want something so grim. My question was quickly answered by a flurry of excited hands that shot into the air. I was clearly out of my depth. I didn’t understand these people at all.

The bidding only intensified after that, with various interesting items coming up for sale. You could only use gold coins to raise your bid for this auction, so in Earth terms that was something akin to raising your bid by at least a hundred thousand yen each time. It made sense, though. If we were going with silver coins, the bids would probably drag on forever, and with everyone getting caught in the heat of the moment, it guaranteed a nice payout for the sellers.

Some of the items ended up selling for insane amounts, though...which led me to wonder if any of these people understood that they were spending real money... I could understand being invested in a hobby, but not if it drained your wallet to this degree. There was enthusiasm, and then there was obsession. These frenzied bidders barely seemed human to me.

“Father! Matlack’s dagger is next! You’ve gotta bid on it! Do it!”

...My daughter barely seems human right now too.

Anxiety began to set in as the next item was brought into the hall. It was basically just a dagger. There was a slit running through the middle that split the blade into a left and right side. It kind of looked more like a two-pronged fork than a dagger. The kind of thing you’d use to jab at a bowl of fruit, essentially.

Matlack’s dagger, huh...? Well, okay.

The auctioneer cleared his throat before speaking into his loudspeaker-like artifact to say, “Many of us know of the mercenary nation, Catan. It once flourished under the guidance of its mighty king...and the great General Matlack who served as that king’s intrepid right arm. The dagger we have today is believed to have been a gift from Matlack to his son. The pronged blade is composed of mithril, while the decorative parts are orichalcum. Even after a thousand years, you can see it still retains its beautiful luster. Shall we start the bidding?”

“A hundred coins!”

Bwah?! A hundred gold coins?! Ten million yen for a fruit fork?! Are you crazy?!

I was stunned into silence right out of the gate, and that was just the opening bid.

Seriously? For that thing? I could make one myself...

“A hundred and ten!”

“A hundred twenty!”

“A hundred twenty-five!”

Eep! It’s going up?! Is it that popular?!

“Father! The paddle! Hurry!”

“But it’s already higher than what I was gonna bid...”

“It’s Matlack’s dagger, father! A hundred coins is more than reasonable! If you don’t bid, we’ll lose it at a bargain price!”

...Really? I can’t say I know much about this kind of thing, but if Frei’s saying it, then maybe it’s true... I guess the money Frei got for killing the Fiendrake was more than this, so maybe this isn’t actually that much money at all.

“Uhm, okay... A hundred and thirt—”

“A hundred and thirty-five!”

Before I could even finish speaking, another bidder beat me from across the room. He was a chubby aristocrat with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Gah... Do I back down or...

“A hundred and forty!”

“A hundred and fifty!”

“A hundred and sixty!”

“A-A hundred and sixty-five!”

“A hundred and seventy!”

“A hundred and seventy...two!”

The tubby aristocrat was clearly running out of steam. He was probably close to his budget. The contest was just between me and him now, as everyone else had dropped out. That was why I decided to make a decisive call.

“Two hundred coins!”

“Ah...!”

The fat man didn’t raise his paddle again. He just sat in his chair, pouting.

I did it... I bought it. No, I didn’t just buy it... I won it!

“Sold! The item goes to the fine gentleman in seat sixty-five for the price of two hundred coins!”

The sound of the auctioneer’s hammer thwapping down reverberated through the hall.

“I did it! I won the item!”

...Oh crap. I got carried away, didn’t I? Dammit! I bought it for twice the opening bid!

Frei was ecstatic, but I knew Hilde would have words to say to me about this... Just picturing her scary, forced smile was enough to give me the shivers.

I sat back down, then started wondering why King Felsen hadn’t placed a bid on the dagger. Wasn’t he supposed to be a weapon maniac like Frei?

“King Felsen doesn’t care for weapons that haven’t seen actual combat. Matlack’s dagger wasn’t ever actually used by Matlack, so he doesn’t value it.”

Oh yeah, the auctioneer said something like that. Matlack gave it as a gift to his son or whatever. Well, I guess that’s lucky for us. I might’ve ended up spending more if the king was in the running.

Whatever the case, I had spent twenty million yen on a single dagger. That was no small sum. My daughter had me wrapped around her little finger, and there wasn’t anything I could say to deny that.

Still, she can earn more than that on her own if she puts in a little effort... It’s not like she’s wasting her allowance, so it’s not that bad... Hmm, maybe I just became a little less human. I can feel the fiscal responsibility flowing out of my body... I get it... I get it now.

The auctions continued, and I found myself thinking about how potentially lucrative these things could be... I almost felt dirty as I considered setting up one of my own.

Between my [Storage] and the Babylon storehouse, I had a ton of junk materials and magical tools I never used. I realized if I put them on the auction circuit, I could make some crazy cash. There had to be people out there who wanted those things, right? Wasn’t it a waste to just have them sitting around unused by me?

Hmm, maybe I can sell them to the other world leaders at our next summit meeting...

“Next item, folks. An artificial spellstone crafted in the ancient days of the magic kingdom. No stone of this size has ever been seen anywhere else in the world! I’m sad to say that its magical power has been almost completely drained, but it still holds considerable value as a collector’s piece and a rare gem!”

When the auctioneer finished speaking, the attendants brought in a massive red crystal the size of a balance ball.

That’s an artificial spellstone from some ancient kingdom or whatever? Spellstones can store and amplify magic, right? I guess they saw a lot of use as power sources in the past. But natural ones were hard to find back then, and they’re even harder still to come across nowadays. That’s why artificial ones ended up getting created. They’re not as good as natural ones, though. They can only contain the magic power they were created with, so there’s no refueling them. In other words, they’re disposable batteries.

That made this item pretty useless to me. Even if it was an ancient remnant, it didn’t mean much if it was drained. Plus, Doc Babylon had already made a breakthrough with spellstone production. She’d created several that could be recharged, and they were used in the Babylon tower, and as a general power source in the other Babylon facilities.

The doc’s improved artificial spellstones were something similar to a Gollem’s G-Cube. They took in magic from the surrounding atmosphere, amplified it internally, and used it to empower themselves. Phrasium was somewhat similar too. If I had to guess, the spellstone I was looking at now was probably used in some huge factory or facility. It was drained, so it had no application as a power source, but it sure was pretty.

“Let’s start the bidding!”

“One thousand seven hundred!”

Bwugh?! You’re going in at a hundred and seventy million yen to start?! It’s just a big stone! You can’t do anything with it! I’m sure it has historical value, but...

To my horror and surprise, a furious bidding war began over the spellstone. It was definitely valuable as a rare gem, and it was massive...but was it really worth this much? From my perspective, it was just a big, glass orb. But, well, I had to defer to the experts here. Clearly, they saw something more in this thing than I did. Perhaps its rarity made it worth such an absurd starting bid?

“One thousand eight hundred and fifty!”

“One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five!”

“Two thousand.”

Shock and awe rippled through the crowd. I turned to see a noble in a blue mask. He was quite a way back in the hallway, but his paddle was raised high into the air and his manner was surprisingly calm.

...Two thousand gold coins? That’s extreme. Way too extreme. That’s over two hundred million yen.

“Two thousand...one hundred!”

A gaudy merchant with a prominent overbite raised his own paddle, outbidding the blue-masked man. The crowd was kicked up into a frenzy by this sudden turn. The merchant, apparently enjoying the attention, soaked in the cheers. Or at least he did, until...

“Three thousand,” the masked noble said, putting in another absurd bid, his voice calm as ever. The bucktoothed merchant scowled and groaned before tossing his paddle to the floor in a rage.

“Sold! The item goes to the magnanimous gentleman in seat ninety-eight for the price of three thousand coins!” The wooden hammer came down once more, sealing the deal.

...Three thousand gold coins. Three hundred million yen... That’s the highest bid I’ve seen today.

I shuddered to think how high the bidding might’ve gone if the stone still had any juice left in it.

I guess I’ve heard about equally absurd prices for jewels back on Earth, so maybe that’s just how it is? People are always gonna spend money...

“I can’t believe he’d spend so much on something so ridiculous...”

“We should see if they’re selling any mirrors so you can look into it.”

Frei’s words could’ve been just as easily applied to herself.

I looked over and saw the blue-masked noble leaving the hall with his attendants. Apparently, he was only here for the stone. Then again, he’d probably wiped out his savings on that big purchase. Or at least, part of me hoped he had. The bucktoothed merchant left as well. He’d presumably come here only for that stone as well.

The auction continued after that, but there was nothing that prompted me to bid. There was a set of five necklaces that might’ve been nice for my wives, but the set was short about four of them. I couldn’t just buy five.

“And now, the final item! The legendary armor worn by the ancient champion, Dahmuel! It is a cursed cuirass that eats at your body while granting you great power!”

A terrifying bluish-black armor was carted into the hall. It was, presumably, Dahmuel’s armor. Honestly, it looked even creepier up close.

Why’s this the centerpiece, exactly? It’s pretty eye-catching, I guess... It also has literal eyes on it... I really don’t know if I wanna bid on this thing. Ugh!

“Father! We can’t lose to King Felsen!”

“If we lose, we lose. I’m using your funds, okay? I’m not going over.”

The money Frei got from her hunt wasn’t infinite. If the bidding went over that amount, there wasn’t anything I could do. There was a chance I would win it in one fell swoop if I just bid high right off the bat, but it was probably smarter to try going up in smaller increments.

“Let the bidding commence!”

“Five hundred!”

What?! Fifty million yen already? That’s a lot...

“Five hundred and ten!”

Oh, someone went up by ten already.

I glanced over to see who the second bidder was...and sure enough...King Felsen was there with a raised paddle.

So he’s going with the small increment plan too, huh? Not that this amount of money is small, exactly.

“Five hundred and twenty!”

“Five hundred and thirty!”

Oh? I thought it’d just be a bidding war between a few enthusiasts, but it looks like the crowd’s getting pretty excited about it. This might be a problem...

“Father! You have to join the running!”

“All right, I’ll go...five hundred and forty!”

I’ll raise my bid in increments of ten. Frei has eight royal coins, which is equivalent to around eight hundred gold coins. Hopefully, we won’t have to go that high, though...

“Six hundred!”

Another man in the hall suddenly raised the bid by a ton.

Dammit, don’t do that! You’ll start a chain reaction!

“Six hundred and thirty!”

“Six hundred and seventy!”

Dammit! Noooo!

The bidding was quickly turning insane, with all the bidders doing their best to flex how much they could bid.

“Seven hundred and fifty!”

Just as I began to hesitate, King Felsen stepped in with another outrageous bid.

Wait, won’t the prime minister tell you off for bidding that much?!

The sudden jump caused some stragglers to peter off, thinning the competition.

Wait...I need to bid too or I’ll be out.

“Seven hundred and sixty!”

Okay! Another ten added! If we stay under eight hundred, I can still win this! It might be okay!

“Seven hundred and seventy!”

Hngh! King Felsen added another ten? He’s probably getting close to his limit too... Let’s see if I can defeat him, then...

“Eight hundred!”

“Hngh... Gah...”

King Felsen looked at me with a shocked look that seemed to say, “Seriously?” And then, with a resolute swoosh of his arm, he raised his paddle once more.

“Eight hundred and fifty!”

Shit. He’s bested me...

King Felsen adopted a smug grin and shot it my way.

That bastard...

I glanced over at Frei and slowly shook my head. We were at our limit. I could’ve added more, but we’d bought the dagger...and I knew Hilde would definitely kill me if I pushed it any further than that.

With that, I set my paddle down in defeat.

“Sold! The item goes to the fine gentleman in seat twenty-five for the price of eight hundred and fifty coins!”

The wooden hammer came slamming down. King Felsen’s expression suddenly shifted to a stiff smile as his victory was confirmed.

Don’t tell me...

He suddenly started to nervously chat to his entourage, and part of me wondered if he didn’t have enough money. He was still a world leader, so he’d definitely be able to pay...but I had a feeling he’d gone over budget. That might’ve been my fault, but he was the one who decided to outbid me.

“Waaah... I shouldn’t have asked for Matlack’s dagger...” Frei exclaimed, letting out a pitiful groan.

She was right. If it wasn’t for that dagger, we probably could’ve beaten King Felsen for the armor. Judging by the guy’s pale expression, he’d hit his absolute limit with that final bid. Still, that was his problem now. And hey, at least we’d won one nice thing.

With the auction over, the guests filed out of the hall. It was time for the winners to exchange their money for the goods they’d won.

We stood up and went off to pick up the dagger.

◇ ◇ ◇

Three men walked out of the auction, carrying the item they’d won. Their prize was contained within a large box that was half the size of an average man. It was being hoisted and carried by the largest of the trio, a lumbering giant who stood roughly two meters tall.

“Did you really pay thirty royal coins for this thing? Why not just attack the hall and steal it? Are you nuts?” the youngest of the three, a gray-haired boy, asked, complaining to the slit-eyed man he was standing next to. His face had been concealed by a domino mask up until that exact moment, but suddenly, his appalled expression was on full display.

“What if we attacked this place and the item was damaged, hm? And this is Felsen, the magic kingdom! It would be poor form for us to attack without scouting out what possible magical security systems or artifacts they have in place. It made more sense to obtain this the legitimate way,” the brown-haired, narrow-eyed man replied, letting out a sigh in response to his companion’s short fuse. He didn’t have the patience for the youth’s hot-blooded nature.

“Besides, there was quite the threat here tonight.”

The grand duke of Brunhild, Mochizuki Touya himself, had been present. He was the inheritor of an ancient legacy, a mediator between nations, a great hero to the world...and a natural enemy of the wicked devout.

The narrow-eyed man, Indigo, was quietly relieved that things had gone off without a hitch. If his identity had been unveiled and he’d been forced to fight, he wouldn’t have been able to obtain the artificial spellstone he required. Why, he’d have probably had to retreat. And if that had happened, then Scarlet would’ve never let him hear the end of it and his plan would’ve been ruined.

“He didn’t look that strong to me. Right, Hazel? He looked like a weakling.”

“You... You want me...chop meat?”

“No. No chopping right now, Hazel. Just hold the box. Don’t drop it, okay?”

“Ohkaaay,” Hazel mumbled as he clutched the heavy crate tight.

The three of them were just heading into an alley so they could warp away when a group of men suddenly appeared to confront them. Indigo raised a brow, recognizing one of them. It was the bucktoothed merchant, flanked by some bulky men armed with weapons.

The merchant pursed his lips before sneering and pointing at Hazel.

“Hand over the box, ya big lug. We can do this the easy way...or the hard way.”

Before they could even respond, the trio realized that there were more men behind them. They were surrounded on either side of the alley.

“What’s the deal here?”

“I imagine they want to murder us and take the spellstone. It’s a fairly simplistic idea, but the kind you only expect from a lowlife. It won’t do any good to explain that this isn’t actually an artificial spellstone,” the narrow-eyed man said, casually explaining the situation to the gray-haired boy.

In response, the boy cheerily took the spear hanging at his waist and brandished it. Before the merchant or his men could even blink, the little spear had extended into a long metallic-purple weapon.

“That means we can kill them, right? Self-defense applies here, I’d say!”

“...Want me cut...meat?”

“You just keep a firm hold on the box. We need to keep that thing safe. Let Orchid take out this trash.”

The bucktoothed merchant scowled, apparently not amused by the indifference the three men were showing.

“Get them! Get the stone!”

The burly men closed in on the trio...but in only a few seconds, all their weapons went soaring through the air. The spear-wielding boy had disarmed them with a single slash of his weapon...and then that spear drove itself deep into one of the men’s chests. As he died, his mind was still processing the pain.

“What?!”

“Hwah?!”

“One down,” the boy cheerily mumbled to himself before leaping off the dead man toward his companions. The alley was soon illuminated by numerous flashes of purple light.

Several men were brutally butchered that night in the back alleys of Felsen’s capital.