Akane took after the Demon Lord and caused commotion wherever she went, much to the chagrin of Big Mama.
“Thanks for making this even more complicated than it has to be. What’s that weird magical item, anyway?” she asked.
“Weird? Every idol nowadays needs an instant camera.” Akane snapped a selfie, winking at the camera as she did. In an instant, an incredibly detailed portrait came out of it.
Big Mama stared at the item with an intense curiosity that lacked the mercenaries’ giddy enthusiasm. She shuddered to imagine its military applications—all it took was one person on the inside of a fortress to capture and leak its weaknesses with immaculate precision. “Is that a trend among the nobles of Holylight?”
“Nope, this camera’s a limited edition of one. And I make trends—not follow them,” Akane said.
“I don’t even know what to say to that...” Big Mama quietly sighed in relief that the item was one-of-a-kind. Military intelligence, at large, would still continue as she knew it.
“Climb out of the stone age, Mama. You know they call people like me influencers?”
“There’s some truth to that. You are like influenza.”
“Influen-cer. I may go viral, but I’m not a viral disease!” Akane whined as they walked down the street, passersby giving them a wide berth. “Hey, hey, Mama? Everyone’s staring at me. Don’t you think they’re stunned by my beauty?”
“It’s because you’re weird. How is it that you manage to draw attention with and without the suit of armor?” Big Mama sighed, refusing to give Akane the validation, even if the crowds seemed to take keen interest in Akane’s looks on top of the regular reverence they gave Big Mama. “I shouldn’t have to tell you to never wander this city alone. You’ll get snatched before you can even say ‘influencer.’”
“I’m failing from success... I’m an idol, after all—the ultimate rizzler.”
“What are you even saying...?” Big Mama grumbled. “Is this what you call your ‘lingo’?”
The two soon returned to Big Mama’s house. If she thought Akane would heed her advice and show any form of self-restraint, she was sorely mistaken.
In the dead of night, Akane slipped out into the city like she’d been doing it for years; her skill set in espionage made it difficult for her to even be seen. Combined with her speed—superior to that of most other Advisors—she often left her targets a pile of corpses before they ever laid eyes on her.
Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Akane systematically memorized Icarus’s layout as a force of habit. Several areas in Icarus, the City of Evil, were dubbed things like “the Dark Quarter” or “Forbidden Zone.” Of course, those were not so much of a deterrent for Akane. No matter the security or lock, there was no place Akane could not infiltrate.
Having scanned the city once over, Akane sent a Communication, paying no mind that it was nearly midnight. “Ren? Wakey, wakey! It’s your favorite idol Akane calling!”
“Akane. Explain why you’ve been ignoring my Communications.”
“Come on, didn’t you miss me? All work and no play is gonna make Ren a dull girly!” Silence followed. “My B!”
“It’s always this way with you. You are too self-centered to even explain yourself—”
“Okay, okay. You can chew me out later. I gotta drop a bunch of updates on you first,” Akane said.
Ren seemed to table her scorn at this. As Kunai’s secretary, it wasn’t in her nature to ignore new intel, no matter how insignificant it seemed. Akane had taken advantage of Ren’s nature on more than one occasion to dodge a scolding from her.
“Where are you, anyway? Have you obtained Master’s permission to be there?” Ren asked.
“I’m in the city of... Ick-R-Us?”
“Icarus, you mean. Exercise precision when you’re making a report,” Ren reminded.
“Yeah, that. A city full of big bads. Hey, hey. Are you worried? I bet you’re worried.”
“If I let myself worry about you, I would get nothing done in my life.”
“Come on, at least play along...” Akane whined. “What would you do if I got kidnapped by some bad guys?!”
“Pity them.”
These two were—almost comically—the opposite of each other. While Akane derailed their conversation at every turn, Ren made sure to reel it back in.
“Icarus, Heaven’s Ward, King...” Ren recounted, taking mental notes.
Akane laughed villainously. “I’m gonna wreak havoc without Hakuto even knowing about it! Don’t go snitching on me, Ren!”
“Master already predicted what you would do.”
“No way! Even Hakuto can’t be that smart.”
“You spoke of this ‘King’ who appeared in Euritheis. That was Master.”
“I-I’m shook... He made me his dancing monkey again.”
“It would appear so. This could have been avoided if you had kept up regular correspondence,” Ren said. “In the future, you need to stop ignoring my—”
“Oh, there’s a knock at my door! I’ll call you back in three years!” Akane ended the Communication to dodge Ren’s nagging once again and leaped onto the roof of the city’s cathedral—an eye-catching landmark in the city center. From there, Akane could see how brightly Icarus shined, despite the late hour—a truly sleepless city.
“Hakuto does it again,” she grumbled. “How am I ever going to outsmart him?” She shifted her gaze downward. Considering that the Demon Lord had no idea who King was, this was a tragic waste of her time and brainpower. “A city full of bad guys... If this is the church, what’s the man upstairs doing about all this?”
A voice came from the darkness to answer. “There is no god in this city. Can’t you tell? Even in this supposed house of worship, there isn’t a drop of holiness.” The tip of a long lance shone in midair.
“I remember that lance,” Akane said. “I didn’t know it was a talking one.”
The weapon had once belonged to a grand devil that dealt with the undead—Count Impaler. The One-of-a-Kind weapon drained the life force of anyone who touched it. Anyone impaled with it would be mummified on the spot.
“Although my body is no more, my affliction still lingers in this lance,” the weapon explained.
“You did tell me you’d never die... I thought you were joking,” Akane said.