And yet, they were evenly matched…
Once again, Takuto was reminded to remain wary of the potential danger of this friendly, charming Hero.
“You can do it, Master!”
Beside Takuto, the greatest original character Yu could think of cheered him on.
Now that I think about it, I keep referring to her as the slave girl, but I wonder what her actual name is? As Takuto was idly thinking of such things, the battle came to an end.
Stuck in the ground a short distance from the pair was Yu’s katana. However, judging from the fact that Atou had her tentacles out, her win was a direct result of her using her tentacles in a moment of panic when she thought he was going to land a hit. Seeing as the heated tension between them had dissipated, it seemed they had a tacit understanding that their battle would only be fought with swords.
It was complicated to say who had won, but if Takuto had to call it, he would say Atou lost for breaking the rules.
Relieved the battle had ended without bloodshed, Takuto decided to speak to them. Naturally, he knew better than to touch on anything related to the outcome or their difference in strength, so he stuck to a safe topic.
“You both did amazing. I think you more than demonstrated your strengths. At the very least, noob Players and NPCs won’t be a match for either of you. Thanks for fighting, Atou.”
“No need for thanks… I suppose you are right. Thank you very much for the match, Mr. Kamimiyadera. And please allow me to apologize for earlier. It was my fault for carelessly provoking you.”
“Hm? Nah, it’s no skin off my back. I know what my personality’s like. I’ve got a penchant for pissing people off, so I’d be grateful if we could let bygones be bygones.”
It seemed the bad blood between them had been resolved. Takuto was relieved to see it.
“Oh yeah, I can use all sorts of spells too,” Yu said. “You’re familiar with Brave Questers, right? Then you should be good if I just explain the useful ones to you later, yeah?”
Takuto wanted to know as much as they were willing to disclose. Knowing what someone is capable of is sometimes a necessity, but never is it unnecessary.
Unfortunately, that was all they could do for today. The sky was turning red. The sun was close to setting.
I wanted to confirm the scale and power threshold of his magic, but I’ll leave that for another day. Takuto decided to wrap up for the day and asked one last question about something he wanted confirmed now.
“Yeah, I’ll ask any questions I might have about magic and anything else as it comes up. By the way, about your Original Character…this girl here—”
“Yes! I am my Master’s slave! His number one slave!” The girl raised her hand enthusiastically. An impressive reaction.
“Ah, yeah,” Takuto fumbled. “About your number one slave…what’s her name? Is there a reason why you have never called her by name until now, Yu?”
Takuto felt like they had to clear this up sooner rather than later. He wasn’t sure how to react if Yu had named her after his crush or something, but he vowed not to laugh at him…
“Er, I chose an embarrassing name, so can you let me keep it my little secret? I guess we could go with a nickname… How about…Ai?”
“Ouch, did you happen to go with a weird name at the time?” Takuto asked.
“AGH! God! WHY DIDN’T I GO WITH A MORE NORMAL NAME AT THE TIME?!” Yu lamented. “If only I had known! If only I had known it would come back to haunt me like thiiiiiis!”
Apparently, Yu had given his precious slave girl an unconventional and inconvenient name. He likely had his fetishes, seeing how adamant he was about keeping her fully decked out in a slave getup. The only problem was that he never foresaw a future where his Original Character would be exposed for all the world to see.
“Whatever is the matter, Maaaster? Is there something wrong with my name? I adore the name you gave me. After all, it’s— Mmph! Mm, mm!”
Yu covered her mouth. “Don’t say another word, Miss Ai! I’m always telling you that’s the greatest sin of my middle-school years! Every time I hear it, I die a little on the inside! I’m serious. Please bear with the pet name! Okay?!”
I feel your pain, Takuto thought, sympathizing with him. He might have found himself in a similar situation if Eternal Nations had allowed the Hero units to be renamed. I don’t know what our relationship will be in the future, but I’ll be nice to him for now.
“Huh. I wonder what in the world the name could be. You seem to have some idea though, King Takuto…”
“Give the man a break, Atou. Pretending not to know is a form of kindness.”
“I-I suppose…”
“I mean it. Pretending not to know is the number one way for no one to get hurt.”
Yu had a polar opposite personality from Takuto, and was more the type he usually didn’t get along with, but Takuto felt a sense of camaraderie with him when it came to these things.
“Ph-Phew. I feel like I just let you in on something incredibly humiliating, but I’m grateful you didn’t comment, King Takuto… Alliances are awesome!” Yu exclaimed.
“Well, even if we weren’t allies, I think it’s only right not to comment on such things. All right, how about we get back on topic? Ultimately, the reason you proposed an alliance despite how powerful you are is because you were concerned about being overwhelmed by sheer numbers, right? You think it will be too tough for just the two of you against the world?”
“That’s pretty much the gist of it. I don’t need to absolutely annihilate my enemies to achieve my goal, but the same doesn’t go for them. So, I was hoping to ally with whoever’s goals don’t interfere with mine.”
I see. I think I understand the situation now. Takuto considered this revelation. If what Yu says is true, then we need to be even more cautious of the Succubus Army. They’re insisting this is an All-Faction Conference for peaceful negotiations, when it’s really most likely just a ruse to ensnare us… Though the same could apply to Yu, too. Either way, it’ll all become clear at the conference. I’m glad my doubts won’t have to linger much past that.
“I heard the Succubus Army has absorbed the El-Nah Alliance of Elementals and is building up a massive army,” Takuto commented. “I can see why you’d be wary of them if they’ve ensnared the Saints and the Elves.”
“Yeah, I hear the Succubus Army’s Player has already teamed up with another Player,” Yu said. “The Elf Saints are teamed up with two Players. Going up against them is nightmare mode for a Solo Player with no army.”
“Hold on, I’ve heard nothing about that,” Takuto said, his tone and expression growing serious.
What the heck is this guy springing on me out of nowhere?! Takuto wanted to scream. Yu screwed up his face as if to say, “What? Did I do something wrong?” Did he really mean no harm by not sharing this sooner? That’s critical information, dude! You should’ve told me the moment you came asking to team up! Or at least after we’ve officially teamed up!
Takuto kept his angry accusations to himself out of consideration for their still-fragile alliance. He also felt like it was his fault for failing to ask sooner. Truth was, they should have attempted to learn more about each other’s situation earlier. But he’d avoided having any overly detailed discussions with Yu out of an abundance of caution. Now he was paying the price.
What was even more problematic was that Yu had no real sense of danger, and he seemed prepared to take responsibility for this monumental blunder with a casual apology.
“Huh. Did I forget to mention it? We’re up against three Elf Saints and two Players, plus some naughty Succubus ladies. Crazy dangerous, huh?”
It’s more than crazy dangerous. I nearly attended a conference hosted by a major tag-team of enemies without being prepared for it.
All of Takuto’s preconceptions had been turned on their head. At first, he thought this alliance with Yu was a trap or scheme set by the RPG faction, but it turned out they were up against a rock and a hard place themselves.
Takuto heaved the biggest sigh. Not many people could cause him this much mental anguish. He had come to foolishly believe having allies was a wonderful thing after he allied with Phon’kaven, but it was looking more and more like Pepe was just a lucky first.
“Let me guess, you’re the type to act on impulse?” Takuto couldn’t help saying.
Maybe Yu had picked up on the sarcasm in his voice, or maybe he just realized the information he’d forgotten to share was actually crucial to their survival. Whatever the case, he began to panic, waving his hands in front of him and trying to cover for himself.
“Th-That’s not true! Right, Ai?!”
“That’s right! Master always acts with deep thought and great insight! Master is amazing! Um, I can’t really pinpoint what about him is so amazing, but all I can say for sure is that he’s amazing!”
“Thanks, Ai! Those words alone are enough to make me stronger than anyone!”
If words are enough to power you up, put some points toward your Intelligence please. Takuto strongly wished that could happen, but it seemed Ai’s encouragement didn’t have that effect.
Between Vittorio and Yu Kamimiyadera, there was a sudden uptick in people who gave Takuto a headache these days.
Isla…it seriously hurts to have lost you. In more ways than one.
The crazier ones would have been put in their place with Isla there to balance them out. And even if she couldn’t completely rein them in, she would have struggled alongside Takuto. How he missed the sole Mynoghra Hero with a conscience.
“All right, let’s head back to the meeting room and deep dive into this new information. I’ll introduce you to the people from Phon’kaven too, so play nice with them,” Takuto said.
Then again, if Isla was present, there was only one thing she would say to Takuto: “If you are truly my king, this should be a piece of cake for you.”
Put another way, she’d want him to do his best as the great and mighty King of Ruin.
“Oooh! International introductions! Sounds awesome!”
“It is awesome, isn’t it, Master?!”
“Mwahaha. Have you finally realized how great and awesome my king is? A king always thinks about his kingdom and sees two to three steps ahead!” Atou boasted.
It is what it is. I’ll just have to put my best foot forward with the thought that Isla is watching over me. Takuto sighed as he watched the excited trio chatter away noisily. It would have been great if he could have joined in on the fun, but this was another one of those situations where reality hadn’t quite caught up to his determination yet.