Chapter One: Level 8 Lessons in Leadership
Droplets of sweat fell between the plethora of spikes. Her fingers trembled as they gripped one of the protrusions. Mana material enhanced people per their desires, but the road to strength was still a long one.
Tino Shade had a small and nimble body, a must-have for Thieves, but standing upside down while supporting her body with just her index fingers and thumbs was no easy task. If she faltered for even a moment, she would lose her balance and fall onto a floor of spikes. The thought of becoming full of holes was enough to make anyone nervous.
The spike floor was a training implement thought up by her master. But while it was his idea, Siddy had been the one to bring it to life. The metal spikes had already wounded many and reeked with an unremovable scent of blood. As Tino moved from one spike to another, all while remaining upside down, she heard some grumbling voices nearby.
“You seriously don’t have a clue? We know some of their members, so can’t we just go from there?”
“Fox is a very unique organization. Until a few years ago, nobody even knew that was what they called themselves.”
Lizzy sat down and grumbled to herself. “How the hell does a group like that get so big? Fucking hell, this would be so much easier if Krai Baby hadn’t disposed of Telm!”
“Well, what’s done is done! If it weren’t for Krai, we never would’ve learned that Telm was a Fox in the first place,” Siddy chided. Tino, however, still noticed her rueful tone.
They were in a gloomy training ground built underground beneath the clan house. In the center of the floor was a tube large enough for a person to easily fit inside. The top half was made of dense glass sealed at the top. The bottom was some sort of machine with a spiral-shaped blade. Near the base were shiny metal handles. She didn’t know what it was used for, but apparently, Anssy had brought it back from Night Palace.
Grieving Souls would do anything if it made them stronger. Lizzy, of course, underwent rigorous training, but the other members had also done things like making their own special tools or inventing spells from scratch. She had seen a plethora of things that all seemed like they would undoubtedly make someone stronger.
And it was probably in the name of avoiding these insane methods that nobody else was in the training room at the moment. Different approaches worked for different people, and anyone with a nose for danger had a natural aversion to the regimens of Grieving Souls.
And what purpose could traversing a floor of spikes serve? The same doubts had once crossed Tino’s mind, but she quickly banished those thoughts from her mind. She had to, or else she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on not falling onto the spikes.
“Maybe we should ask him, just to be sure?” Lizzy went on. “I don’t like that they swung at us and still live to tell about it. We need to strike at their heart.”
“Remember, Krai doesn’t concern himself with small matters. Even a massive secret organization is still a grade lower than a treasure vault that’s home to gods. Though, I must say I find the organization the more interesting of the two.”
Tino’s master and his party had all returned to the imperial capital a few days ago. She hadn’t been part of the escort job so she didn’t know exactly what had happened, but it sounded like they had fought another big bad guy. Listening to them, Tino had heard about the emperor, bad things about the knights that protected him, and various bits of information she probably wasn’t supposed to know.
The only quests Tino’s master took were ones that a Level 4 like her could never even attempt. As far as she knew, those quests almost never went as planned, which implied her master never took simple jobs. Thoughts like these made Tino wonder if the day she joined Grieving Souls would ever come. She wanted to put it out of her mind and dedicate herself to her training, but that wasn’t easy when a Thief was supposed to be constantly aware of their surroundings.
No matter how much time passed, Tino never got used to Lizzy’s training, and reprieves only made it harder to come back.
“Mmm, agreed,” Lizzy said, just as Tino was wondering when she’d be allowed to quit. “It sounds like he’s snagged another fun quest. You think he’ll let us handle it? T, catch.”
A hastily made treasure box came her way. Still upside down, Tino reached out and caught it. The sudden movement caused her to wobble, but by clamping down with her fingers and moving her legs, she managed to keep her balance.
I-I caught it!
If she hadn’t, severe punishments surely would’ve awaited her.
“T, open that. While in that position,” Lizzy said, unconcerned by her apprentice’s teary eyes and heavy breathing. “Now that you’ve gotten used to the spike floor, we’ll call it there if you succeed.”
“Like this?! How?!”
Tino looked at the small treasure box in her hand. It weighed a bit and was most likely locked. Lockpicking was a necessary skill for a Thief, and this would normally be easy after all Tino had undergone. But what was she supposed to do with both her hands occupied? She desperately tried to come up with something.
“What do you mean ‘how’?! You’ve got your legs, don’t you? What do you think they’re there for?”
Not for opening treasure boxes! Lizzy’s frigid glare stopped any protests Tino wanted to make. She fought back her tears, got her breath under control, and, making sure to keep her balance, removed her shoes and stockings. Her lockpicks were at her waist, so she couldn’t reach them without using her hands. Instead, she contorted her body and used her toes to retrieve the needle she kept hidden in her hair.
Now she just had to somehow put the needle in her mouth and get it in the keyhole. She tried to keep herself as light as possible, but her fingers were beginning to hurt. She made efforts to stay flexible, but her body ached as she tried to shift it around. She ignored the pain and carefully attempted to change her center of gravity.
“T sure has become durable,” Siddy remarked.
“What did you expect? Krai Baby and I have been training her. She’s not like those assholes who only rely on mana material.”
Tino didn’t see any problem with relying on mana material a bit more. Developing skills was important, but mana material was the most important thing in the world of treasure hunting. Regularly absorbing mana material within treasure vaults was what made hunters so powerful. It could make all the difference for someone’s basic attributes. Though, technically, mana material couldn’t get you anything you couldn’t get through rigorous training.
“Have you ever had to open a treasure box above a floor of spikes?”
“Uh, well, no harm in learning, right? Besides, the spike floor was Krai Baby’s idea.”
Master is god. Master is god, Tino told herself as she somehow got the needle from her toes to her mouth. She heard a clunking noise. The weird glass thing was moving, and Siddy was crouched down next to it. She walked over to Tino and just as she was about to get the needle into the keyhole, Siddy held out a vial containing a dark brown liquid.
“Here, T, would you give this a try? It’s an experimental experience potion.”
“Mmm? Mmmmmmm?” Tino replied, thrown off by the unfamiliar phrase.
“Siddy, T isn’t your test subject!” Lizzy barked. “If you want to test your stuff, then go find some criminals or something! What if you break T?!”
“Don’t be like that. It should work. In theory. I believe. T, to put it simply, this is liquid mana material extracted from the corpses of phantoms from Night Palace. As a vapor, you lose some mana material to evaporation, but with this, you can directly absorb high concentrations. Efficient, don’t you think?”
Tino was horrified. It was very possible Siddy was committing experiments regarding the manipulation of mana material—one of Zebrudia’s ten capital crimes. Noctus Cochlear, the fallen sage who had conducted experiments in White Wolf’s Den, had supposedly been exiled for his thesis regarding this field. If just writing a paper could get you chased out, then making liquid mana surely warranted the death penalty. Of course, Lizzy’s ideas always ran afoul of the law, but this was a different magnitude.
“If you absorb more mana material, your sense of balance and dexterity will improve. You’ll easily gain the power you need,” Siddy said. “How about it? Though I’ll warn you, the concentration might be too high. That could prove deadly.”
Tino rapidly shook her head. She could never tell when Siddy was being serious and when she was joking, which always troubled her.
“Is that a no?” Siddy sighed, a despondent look in her eyes. “Well, Krai’s taken quite a liking to you. With any luck, I’ll be able to find more test subjects elsewhere.”
The door swung open. Whether this was good timing or not was debatable.
“Huh? Just you three? Damn Ark. That fop is never around when I need him most. Tino, what are you doing?”
Tino’s concentration was destroyed. She quickly turned her head in the direction of the voice, throwing off her center of gravity. The needle fell from her mouth, she dropped the treasure box and tried to press her hand against the floor—and her screams rang throughout the room.
***
“Nice! You really threw T off there!”
“You never know what might happen in a battle, so adaptability is indispensable!”
As the Smart sisters beamed at me, Tino rolled around in pain after having fallen onto a floor of spikes. Her wounds immediately healed thanks to a potion Sitri had sprinkled onto her. All I could do was stand there and smile.
“Uh, yeah. Uh-huh.”
It wasn’t my place since I didn’t have talents like theirs, but I had been starting to find Tino’s training a little dubious. Seeing her upside down over a floor of spikes might have given me a heart attack if it had happened at night.
“What’s training like this even supposed to accomplish?” I asked.
After being pierced and now soaked with a healing potion, Tino looked at me spitefully.
“Right, do any of you know where Ark is?” I said, desperate to change the subject. “I’ve been asked to train the imperial princess, and once again I can’t find him.”
This was just like when I’d been asked to escort the emperor, and also like the investigation into White Wolf’s Den. Ark’s unwanted absence rate was skyrocketing.
“Huh?! The imperial princess? Like, of Zebrudia?” Liz said.
“Krai, you’re going to be mentoring the imperial princess?!” Sitri said.
It occurred to me that while I had already talked to Lucia about it, this was news to these three.
“That’s how it ended up,” I said. “Not that it really matters. I don’t plan to do any teaching.”
Vexingly, I couldn’t find Ark or Sven, or any notable parties. I might’ve been able to contact Starlight, but entrusting the imperial princess to Noble Spirits was way too risky. Not to mention Zebrudia was a nation that respected the sword more than the spell.
“And I got this as thanks, so I couldn’t exactly say no.” I pulled out the ticket and Sitri looked astounded.
“That’s...”
I’d never seen a ticket until this one was in my hands, but I guess things were different for people in the know.
“Is that a ticket to the Supreme Warrior Festival?!” Liz cried, her excitement at maximum. “Are you gonna be part of it? No fair! I wanna give it a go!”
“N-No, I won’t be participating. I’ll just be watching.”
Sitri looked at me questioningly. “You won’t? But this is a participation ticket.”
“What?”
“Oh, I get it! Indeed, watching from inside the ring would be better than from the audience!”
Hold on. That’s some novel reasoning there.
I looked at my ticket again. The glimmering platinum wasn’t engraved with any information. It didn’t even say anywhere that this was for the Supreme Warrior Festival. The only thing readily apparent was that it was something special.
I closed my eyes and thought back to my conversation with the emperor. “And what to do for payment?” he had said in his dignified voice. “Not only are you training Murina, but I think your performance protecting me warrants more than just a Carpet. I can’t let you go without paying you sufficiently. Tell me what it is you desire.”
“No need, sire,” I said, putting on a hard-boiled display. “There’s very little I can do in regards to training the imperial princess. And I believe I’ve already been paid appropriately for protecting you.”
With payment comes responsibility. Getting paid better would increase the expectations placed on me. Not to mention Kris had done all the heavy lifting during the trip to Toweyezant.
“Hmm. You’re as humble as Lord Gladis said you are. But I must give you something.”
The emperor looked perplexed, but Franz had an idea.
“I’ll put aside my doubts about his claims of being able to do little for Her Imperial Highness. Your Imperial Majesty, why not give this man one of the tickets?”
“Ah, for the Supreme Warrior Festival? Indeed, we have some left, but it doesn’t feel like enough.”
“However, that ticket provides a chance for great honors. And as Princess Murina’s tutor, providing the Thousand Tricks with one of these tickets will also indirectly benefit her.”
Franz gave me a meaningful look. I just smiled and nodded without thinking. I didn’t know exactly what he was talking about, but it sounded fine enough. My friends all wanted to go to the Supreme Warrior Festival. But more importantly, a lighter payment gave me room to make excuses if anything went wrong.
“That would be wonderful,” I said, attempting to convince the emperor. “I’ve always wanted to go to the Supreme Warrior Festival. I couldn’t ask for anything more than this.”
“Very well,” the emperor said, though he clearly wasn’t convinced. “I don’t feel this is truly enough, but I’ll respect your wishes. Now that you’ve made your choice, I assume feats of valor will be on display?”
Hmm. Feats of valor. Feats. Of valor? No way.
I shook my head. Our time on the road should have made it clear to the emperor how much I preferred to avoid combat. Besides, granting someone the right to participate in a vicious combat tournament featuring world-class fighters was a bizarre way to show gratitude. Sure, I should have taken the time to make sure I knew exactly what it was I was getting but he hadn’t said anything about—
Wait. Is this what Franz meant when he mentioned this being to the princess’s benefit?
“I better hurry up and get my hands on my ticket!” Liz said. “Later, Krai Baby!”
“L-Lizzy! Get one for me too!” Sitri cried. “Ahh, she’s already gone.”
I told myself to calm down, deciding to assume that this wasn’t a participation ticket. Even if I hadn’t been thinking straight, there’s no way I would do something like accidentally suggest I wanted to take part in the Supreme Warrior Festival. And giving a participation ticket to someone who avoided combat isn’t a reward—it’s harassment.
“As I recall, there are seats for the friends and relatives of participants,” Sitri continued. “However, those are separate from normal tickets. The Supreme Warrior Festival is known for prioritizing the wishes of its fighters.”
Unfortunately, there was no way the omnipotent Sitri would mistake a participation ticket for a spectator’s. So then what was the meaning of this? We had an empire where strength was lauded, an imperial princess worried over luck that wasn’t even that bad, and I had been tasked with training her. Then we had the words of Franz and the emperor. It seemed there was only one reasonable conclusion.
So, if I’m right, they want me to get the imperial princess to fight in the tournament?
“That emperor of ours comes up with some insane ideas,” I said after a lengthy silence.
“What do you mean?” Sitri asked.
I knew the empire was a place that valued results above all else, but now the emperor was asking me to prepare his daughter for the Supreme Warrior Festival? Well, this was the same guy who had been unfazed after being attacked by a brood of frigid dragons. It seemed the rumors of his strength and mettle were true.
Many nobles of the time excelled in martial arts because their bloodlines were made up of people with natural talents for absorbing mana material. But in an event as large as the Supreme Warrior Festival, it took more than just raw talent to win, so most nobles stayed out of it. But there were still some who gave it a shot.
Could I have been wrong? Is this going to be a lot more trouble than I imagined?
“When’s the tournament?” I asked.
“Umm, it’s not for another month,” Sitri said.
Having recovered, Tino pulled herself up and said, “Master? Is something wrong?”
Now wasn’t the time for worrying.
“That might be enough. Just barely,” I muttered to myself.
“What might?! Master?!”
Training the imperial princess would have been simple; all I had to do was hand her off to a hunter I could rely on. But getting her to a level where she could compete in the Supreme Warrior Festival would be much more challenging. That is to say, I was fairly certain it would be impossible.
This was a tournament that decided who was the strongest in the world. Sure, the imperial princess came from a long line of warriors, but she was still, well, the imperial princess. Meanwhile, her opponents would be killing machines who lived to fight because that was the one thing they found meaning in.
Some training might make her better equipped to handle her bad luck, but facing down a killing machine was out of the question. Fighting just wasn’t the role of the imperial princess. This was about five magnitudes greater than the sort of training I had originally imagined. This seemed like too much even for Ark. Did the emperor have nothing but muscles in his skull?
Still, I figured the emperor didn’t expect his daughter to actually win the tournament. He was a smart man. If he wanted Princess Murina to place first, then using his influence to manipulate the tournament was a better method than trying to make her win fairly.
Whatever the case, I was now in a battle against time. I didn’t know if I could live up to the emperor’s expectations, but I had to do my best. It was a real shame that Ark wasn’t anywhere to be found, but the strongest warriors aren’t always the best trainers.
“Mentoring the imperial princess? To what level?” Sitri calmly asked. She was used to my inordinate requests.
“A high enough level that she can win the Supreme Warrior Festival, I suppose,” I said.
“Is there a deadline?”
“Mmm, probably about a month.”
“That quickly?!” Tino said. “That sounds impossible for you, and you’re called a preterhuman artificer.”
I agreed with her. Even if I were capable of preterhuman artifice, this would be a difficult job.
“Even after training under Lizzy for multiple years, the Supreme Warrior Festival might be, um, too much for me. Though that could change if I used that mask.”
“That’s it! We can have the imperial princess wear Evolve Greed! Brilliant idea, Tino!”
“Huh?! M-Master is god. Master is god.”
But this raised new issues. That mask had no effect on me and the same might be true for the imperial princess. There was also the distant possibility that she might run rampant like Éclair had.
Sitri took a glance at the potion in her hand, then at Tino muttering on the floor, then at me. “Very well. Might you leave this to me? I have an idea,” she said.
“Are you certain it’ll work?” I asked.
“No, but there’s something I’d like to try.” She gave her usual grin and a clap of her hands. “And I’d like to help, as I wasn’t able to do much during the Fox incident.”
Something you’d like to try? Well, I don’t see what choice I have!
I didn’t have any brilliant ideas and relying on Sitri was one hundred times better than just finding some hunter.
“Um, Master. It might not be my place, but Siddy’s—” Sitri gave Tino a cold glare. “Eep! N-Never mind!”
I was sure it would all work out. Sitri would let me know if something wasn’t feasible for her, and I was sure the emperor understood the unreasonable nature of his request. And since my party members were the reason I had become a Level 8, it was only natural that I rely on Grieving Souls. If that did lead to reputational damage for me, that was a good thing as far as I was concerned.
Justifications: established!
I was, once again, on fire.
“Then I’ll leave it to you. Oh, not that you need me to remind you, but just make sure she doesn’t die.”
“Everything will be fine. Working with T has made me an expert in that regard! Oh, the chance to study the blood of the imperial family. How wonderful!”
Will everything really be fine? I’m trusting you, Sitri.
“W-Well then, I’m a bit busy, so I’ll be going,” I said. “Start getting ready. I’ll call you once the imperial princess arrives.”
“Certainly! Leave everything to me, your dear Sitri! Oh, T, why don’t you join us? You two can compete and encourage each other. It’ll be two birds with one stone. And while we’re at it, we can drag Lucy along as well.”
“M-Master?!”
Everything will be fine. Just fine. I believe in Sitri, the Prodigy.
While Sitri muttered to herself as though in a trance and Tino looked at me like a puppy left out in the rain, I left the training room.
I was in my office, polishing my Relics, when the door swung open, and in came our resident sword maniac.
“Krai, is it true you’re gonna be in the Supreme Warrior Festival?”
“Huh? Where’d you hear that?”
“From Sitri. She asked me to help with some training or something. But how could you do this?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”
Luke liked Swordsmen more than anything else in the world. He liked them so much that if he saw one who looked strong, he would suddenly start swinging at them. But that didn’t mean his tastes were limited to Swordsmen. Luke Sykol was a man who appreciated anyone who could offer a good fight. As a Swordsman, he had a special affinity for other wielders of the blade, but he would try to cut any mighty person, whether they were a Thief, Magus, or something else.
In other words, he was a bloodthirsty maniac. Of course he was interested in the Supreme Warrior Festival.
It sounded like Sitri was serious about training the imperial princess if she had offered to let Luke help. He didn’t seem like the type to hold back even for the daughter of the highest authority in the land, increasing my anxiety all the more. And I thought I had said I wasn’t participating, so why did he think otherwise?
“No, I’m not gonna be fighting,” I said. “I’m just gonna watch. I got a ticket from the emperor. You wanted to see it, didn’t you? Are you free?”
I saw no harm in taking a break from fighting and just sitting on the sidelines once in a while.
Luke screwed up his face in contemplation, before eventually reaching his decision. “I appreciate the thought, Krai. But I’d rather join the fighting than spectate it!”
“Y-You would?”
“I’ve still got a long way to go.” Flames glowed deep within his crimson eyes. “I can’t even cut through dimensions. But I’m sure there’s something to be gained by fighting strong opponents to the death. I’m sure of it!”
Yeah, that sure sounds like something you’d say.
He and Liz were both driven by homicidal urges. Though I was pretty sure the tournament fights weren’t actually death matches.
“But I don’t know how you might get in,” I told him.
Tickets for spectators were for sale to the public, but the right to participate wasn’t on the market. Did this mean Liz wasn’t going to find her way in either? I wasn’t finding myself very motivated, but Luke apparently was.
“I know how,” he said. “Invitations are sent to famous warriors and those who place well at regional tournaments.”
“So there’s nothing you can do.”
The Supreme Warrior Festival wasn’t far off, so I was fairly certain about this.
Luke nodded to himself. “So basically, I just need to cut down someone who does have a ticket, then they’ll drop theirs.”
“Wha?!”
Does—does that work? No. No, I can’t see how that could possibly work.
I wasn’t quite sure if this “kill and take what you want” mindset was a part of Hunter Brain or not.
How had he ended up this insane when we had both been raised in the same place? I wanted to complain to Luke’s master, but that guy had far more right to complain to me than I did to him. He could tell me that I needed to do something about my childhood friend and he would be completely right.
I was wondering how to calm Luke down, when he shouted, “I gotta get moving. I’ve got an idea of where I can start cutting!”
By the time I said “Ah” he was already gone. Being a bad listener was one of Luke’s faults. He was even more powerful than Liz in that regard, since she was good at using her head, even if she couldn’t use it in any sensible way.
I told myself it would be fine. Luke’s sword was wooden, and he was well-known among the right people. I just had to believe that whoever he attacked would be able to defend themself.
It then occurred to me that with the way things were going, I might be the only person not to join the tournament. Lucia could be surprisingly competitive, and if everyone else was going then Ansem would follow.
“Hmm. It looks like this is already out of my control.”
No, don’t think negatively. Look at it the other way.
Did I really need to take control? Their behavior left room for improvement, but their strength was genuine. While I wasn’t fit for my level, their levels weren’t fit for them. I didn’t necessarily think any of them could win first place in something like the Supreme Warrior Festival, but I believed they could do well.
I had planned to watch the tournament with them, but cheering them on sounded just fine. If they actually won something, that would be great for their future and nothing could make me happier as their friend. It wasn’t what I had expected, but I was still too giddy to stay seated.
“I’ll bring the whole clan to cheer them on!” I said, clenching my fist.
“Pardon me, Krai. The mounted crimson dragon is complete.” Eva looked at me. “Is something the matter?”
“N-No, it’s nothing,” I said. I quickly returned to my seat, embarrassed that Eva had seen me like that.
***
Just as Princess Murina had heard, the First Steps clan house was a very modern building that didn’t exhibit any of the vulgarity associated with hunters. Rumor had it that their clan master the Thousand Tricks had it built to withstand any possible calamity. And sure enough, this clan house had been attacked by bandits multiple times but showed no signs of collapsing.
Having already overcome numerous attacks and being regularly occupied by upcoming young hunters like the Argent Thunderstorm Ark Rodin meant this was probably among the safest places in the imperial capital. And on the top floor was the Thousand Tricks, a man who had gotten the better of agents of Nine-Tailed Shadow Fox. It was possible this building was safer than the Imperial Castle.
Dressed inconspicuously, Princess Murina looked up at the building from beneath her hood.
“Your Imperial Highness, it’s not too late to withdraw,” said Karen, one of the two guards accompanying the imperial princess. “I’m sure His Imperial Majesty will respect your wishes.”
“We’ll do everything we can to protect you, but we’re still dealing with barbaric hunters,” said Cindy, the other of the two. “Anything could happen.”
Murina thought it over. Her lessons from the Thousand Tricks were top secret. She couldn’t bring many guards, and Franz couldn’t be there to protect her like he usually did. The guards with her were capable, but there were still only two of them.
The clan had been named “First Steps” in the hope that it would be the start of something great for its members. Even after becoming a first-rate clan, the allure offered by that name continued to draw in lines of new hunters hoping to join.
Surely, this plan was the first step towards something better for Princess Murina. The Thousand Trials were said to be conducted with the subjects’ improvement in mind, and made so they were still possible, albeit just barely. Perhaps overcoming one of these trials would give her the power to conquer her bad luck.
Karen carefully opened the door—and Princess Murina came face-to-face with something that caused her to yell in spite of herself. Her guards moved to shield her. As though it was perfectly natural for it to be there, a dragon head with bulging eyes decorated the entrance.
Murina stood frozen in place for a few seconds before she realized there was no body attached to the head. “It’s...taxidermied?” she said.
“They decorated a place like this with a dragon head. That’s, um, ostentatious,” Karen remarked.
“You never see things like this for sale. Something as rare as a dragon is usually taken apart for materials,” Cindy said.
The mounted head looked like it might start moving at any moment. Definitely not a fake. Not even the Imperial Castle was furnished with a taxidermied dragon (nor had anyone considered it, in all likelihood). Perhaps this was proof that these people really were among the strongest treasure hunters in the imperial capital.
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