After speaking with Sylphy, I stopped by to check in on Elen and Amalie, then swung over to the new harpy home to play with the kids. Well, “play” might be generous. It was more like being trampled by a feathered stampede. Battered but happy, I finally made my way back to R&D. This was what I got for prioritizing family time over work!
“Kousuke, you’re a mess. Are you okay?”
“Shouldn’t you be resting?”
“No worries. I’m a-okay!”
Ira and Ifriita were waiting for me, both looking concerned—though in Ifriita’s case, it was mixed with clear exasperation. Still, I was tougher than I looked, so I flashed them a thumbs-up. My kids had just gotten a teeny bit too rough with me. It was no big deal.
“How’s the cathedral analysis going?”
“Decently,” Ira said, rubbing her temple. “But we don’t have a grasp of the full picture yet.”
“It wouldn’t be an overstatement to call that whole place a giant magic installation,” Ifriita added. “And it doesn’t function unless every single part’s in place. I honestly doubt its original builders even understood what they were making.”
“It’s especially annoying,” Ira chimed in, “because analyzing any one piece of the puzzle is basically meaningless. We’ll need time to really understand and wrap our heads around the whole thing, then we can figure out how to modify it and hopefully turn it into something smaller.”
“Gotcha…”
The Holy Kingdom’s cathedral really was a mystery. Where had their craftsmen even learned the engineering techniques required to build such a giant and intricate facility? The more we studied it, the less we seemed to understand about the people over there.
“Oh, right,” I said, shifting gears. “I’m planning to stop by the Merchant Union and Adventurers’ Guild tomorrow.”
“Oh? I’ll go with you,” Ifriita declared naturally.
“Mrm… Me too.”
Ira also announced her intent to tag along, as if to push back against the princess.
Ifriita came along last time, so I was grateful that she was willing to join me again, but Ira…? Well, all right. It was fine.
“What can you even do by coming with us…? Whatever,” Ifriita muttered, clearly thinking the same thing I was.
Ira ignored her and fixed her eye squarely on me. That gaze of hers could be downright oppressive at times.
“He needs protection,” she said flatly. “Kousuke has a history of being fooled and kidnapped.”
“Hey, I already apologized for all the trouble with the Cuvi incident.”
Quite frankly, I didn’t have much of a leg to stand on there. The whole Cuvi fiasco had been completely my fault, and even I couldn’t defend myself on that front. So Ira bringing that up left me no other choice but to surrender.
“Oh, right, I heard about that,” Ifriita said, chuckling. “In that case, I suppose you do need protection, then. You don’t look particularly strong, after all.”
“Right? I’m a defenseless commoner,” I replied dryly.
“Doubt that,” Ira shot back immediately.
I sighed. Technically she wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t helpless, but I really didn’t have much in the way of combat skills. The real warriors of this world could easily block or dodge bullets, and moved faster than my eyes could follow. If any of them closed in on me before I could react, I’d be toast.
Honestly, I couldn’t beat Melty, Madame Zamil, Sir Leonard, the ogre girls, or Sylphy, for that matter. If I had distance maybe I could figure something out…but yeah, that was a big maybe.
“So you’re going to be my bodyguard, huh…? Ah, don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining or anything,” I said quickly when Ira narrowed her single eye, her expression turning faintly wounded.
“If you didn’t know better, it’d be easy to underestimate her. Cyclopes might look small and frail, but a cyclops mage is every bit as powerful as an elven archer or a spirit mage. Ogre warriors and beastmen too. Actually, cyclopes are sometimes much more terrifying.”
“For real? Well, Ira’s magic is pretty incredible.”
I’d only seen Ira in combat a handful of times, but the few glimpses were enough. She’d obliterated whole clusters of gizma and undead with bursts of powerful lightning. Thinking back on it now, the fact that she could cast lightning attacks capable of killing enemies instantly was pretty wild.
“Genius mages are always prepared,” she said coolly. “Any thugs, worthless adventurers, or assassins who come for your life are no more threatening to me than a goblin.”
“Since when are assassins coming to get me…? Wait. Actually, yeah, that could happen.”
I’d been operating out in the open these days, so it was safe to assume the Holy Kingdom already had plenty of intel on me. If they had anyone over there with half a brain, they might well consider trying to kidnap or assassinate me. That said, with a peace treaty in place, I hoped they’d think twice about that.
“How violent,” Ifriita muttered. “You’d better keep your guard up.”
“I could say the same to both of you.”
“I usually never leave the castle,” she replied with a shrug. “And as long as I’m there, Lime and the others keep me safe.”
“Mm. Safe,” Ira agreed with a nod.
“Leave it to uuuus!”
A blob of blue jelly oozed into view, seemingly from out of nowhere, and started bouncing up and down. I guess today Lime was taking the form of a kudzu dumpling, large enough to be carried in your arms.
“Seriously, though,” I said, “Should I be worried? Are there still assassins or spies lurking around?”
“Mm, noooot recently?”
“There were a lot in the first six months,” Poiso said, materializing beside Lime.
“Out from the shadows, then right back into the shadows forever,” Bes added quickly.
I blinked. “Oh man, that’s scary.”
Lime had been joined by Bes and Poiso, who began to reveal the darkness lurking in the shadows of the castle. Apparently, any intruder unlucky enough to slip into the castle was swiftly captured and never seen again. The slime girls didn’t exactly leave survivors.
“I’m honestly impressed that the Holy Kingdom managed to occupy the castle at all, considering the slime girls were protecting it.”
“…There’s nothing impressive about it,” Ifriita said sharply.
“They were cowardly and despicable. That’s all,” Ira added, her voice flat and cold “There’s nothing impressive about any of that.”
“All right, all right, got it. Let’s not talk about this anymore,” I said quickly.
I’d put two and two together; the flash of hatred burning in Ifriita’s eyes and the darkness filling Ira’s said everything. The slime girls had been bound by contract and couldn’t leave the castle. It wasn’t hard to imagine that the Holy Kingdom’s soldiers had committed their worst atrocities outside their reach. I’d even heard rumors that they were using civilians as shields…
“In any event, that’s what’s going on tomorrow,” I said, trying to move on. “I brought back plenty of resources from my trip, so I’ll share those with R&D.”
“Mm. Much appreciated,” Ira said.
“It’s honestly quite the luxury that we have such an abundance of magic metals and gems to do research with,” Ifriita added with a sigh.
“Kooousuke, any souvenirs?” Lime asked, bouncing eagerly.
“Ah, right. Souvenirs. Of course.”
I reached into my inventory and pulled out mithril, raw gems, monster parts, cores, and carcasses, handing them over to Ira and the others.
They all acted calm, but the air around us told a different story. Beneath the surface, that old hatred for the Holy Kingdom still burned strong. They were an irreconcilable enemy, I suppose. Some wounds simply didn’t heal—not in twenty years. Not even in a hundred years in this world, where for plenty of long-lived species, vengeance had a way of lingering.
In that sense, I really was an outsider. I was unable to share in Ira and Ifriita’s fury, even if I understood it—for better and for worse.
“What can I even do…?” I muttered without realizing it.
“Kousuke?”
“Hrm? Ah, sorry. Just talking to myself.”
Ira tilted her head, confused.
But this wasn’t something I could explain to either of them, unfortunately.
I suppose all I can really do is stay by their side.
I didn’t feel like telling them revenge was pointless or anything like that.
But where would this hatred lead them?