She had a point. Elliot had been unjustly restrained, leading Reiji to infiltrate Duke Hadorious’s manor with Suimei’s group. There, they’d discovered that the duke was connected to the Universal Apostles. They had to report this to the king and ask him about the duke as well. There were no means of long-distance communication here, so they needed to make their way back to Astel’s capital to do so.
“I apologize for asking you to go all the way back, but I humbly ask that you do so,” Titania said.
“Sure, I don’t mind,” Reiji said. “If anything, we should get back as soon as possible.”
“Lucas de Hadorious...” Graziella mumbled, an air of annoyance in her voice. “What a troublesome foe.”
From the way she firmly tapped her finger, it was easy to see how irritated she was. The duke had outwitted her too, so she wasn’t completely uninvolved.
“A lord with territory adjacent to the Empire who possesses a powerful army at his beck and call, all the while commanding considerable personal strength,” she added. “How truly troublesome. It’s no simple matter to make an enemy of him.”
“Ummm, Tia... He’s one of the Seven Swords, like you are, right?” Reiji asked.
“Yes,” Titania confirmed. “He is the gentlest of the Seven Swords, wielding a dancing blade in battle. He is known as the Lord of Swords.”
“We only managed to beat him thanks to Suimei...” Reiji said.
“He can be quite the bother as an enemy,” Graziella added. “His strength plays a major role in keeping the Empire from making any significant moves.”
Kurant City was Astel’s main defensive point, located along the border with Nelferia. His custody over the territory made it simple to imagine how talented the duke was. Graziella had a fairly high assessment of him too.
“Tia. You once said he would never betray the king. Is that really true?” Reiji asked.
“Yes. I guarantee it,” Titania said. “That man will never betray my father.”
“You have an awful lot of trust in a man who turned his blade on one hero to bind the movements of another,” Graziella commented.
“No. Rather than trust, I would say it’s my conviction as a swordswoman.”
“Hmm?”
“Tia, what do you mean by that?” Reiji asked.
“If there is any hesitation in his heart, it will be reflected in his sword,” Titania explained. “Especially so for a man who serves two masters. However, to date, that man’s sword has never been clouded. I doubt he’s been connected to the Universal Apostles for less than three years. He must’ve made contact with them far before then. I’ve crossed swords with him multiple times these last three years.”
“Meaning the duke didn’t show any signs of hesitation during those bouts?” Reiji asked.
This was something only fellow masters of the sword could understand. Being new to the battlefield, Reiji had no way of knowing how it worked.
And Titania possessed a strong sense of rivalry toward Hadorious; her dominant hand was clenched tightly as she spoke of him.
“So, Reiji,” Elliot joined in, “when are you heading to Metel?”
“Let’s see... I’d like to head out as soon as possible.”
“Then I suppose we’ll follow in your wake after we’re done reporting in.”
“Huh? You’re going to Astel too?”
“We planned to go there to greet the king to begin with.”
Now that he mentioned it, Elliot had been on the way to Metel before getting captured by Hadorious. That was why, upon being rescued, he’d canceled his trip and withdrawn to the west, into the Empire’s borders.
“Regardless of my treatment at the hands of Duke Hadorious, I have questions I must ask Astel’s king,” Elliot added. “I need to know what kind of man the duke is and what his ideologies are, after all.”
“True...” Reiji murmured.
He had a lot on his mind too. They couldn’t grasp the duke’s character without more information, let alone figure out what his objective was.
“And things have just calmed down for you...” Reiji commented.
“The same goes for all of you,” Elliot said. “You came from Astel and now you’re going right back.”
“Ah!” Mizuki exclaimed, clapping her hands as if suddenly remembering something. “But if we go, nobody will be left to look after the cats! What do we do...?”
“Oh yeah, Liliana-chan asked us to do that...” Reiji said.
Liliana Zandyke had asked the group to look after the cats who’d taken up residence around the house. They were all strays, so they didn’t really need looking after, but Reiji wanted to do what he could to meet Liliana’s expectations. Both he and Mizuki sank into thought for a while before Graziella presented a suggestion.
“Then I’ll make arrangements,” she offered.
“You sure?” Mizuki asked.
“There are only a few who live around here, yes? It’s a trivial matter.”
“That’s Graziella-san for you! You’re so reliable!” Mizuki exclaimed cheerfully.
“Naturally.”
Now that things were settled, Elliot turned a serious look to Reiji.
“Reiji, this might just be me being meddlesome,” he started.
“What is it?”
“The demons haven’t been moving lately. But just in case, you should be careful.”
“You mean they might be making a move behind the scenes precisely because they’re being quiet?”
“Something is amiss if they aren’t making moves when they clearly could.”
“I guess so.”
“There are times when all the minions take a while to mobilize,” Elliot admitted, “but with something like the Evil God behind them, we can’t be careless. There’s nothing better than being overly prepared, but even so, these are the kinds of enemies who come up with outlandish ideas.”
“Outlandish how?” Reiji asked.
“Like dragging things out to be painfully slow, or taking time to gather enough power to crush us in one fell swoop,” Elliot explained.
“Meaning they’re definitely plotting something,” Reiji remarked.
“Exactly,” Elliot confirmed. “As for precisely what they’re scheming...”
Hm? Didn’t I...?
That was when Reiji suddenly remembered something. Elliot’s statement had triggered his memory. He’d heard a conversation about this before, and he already knew the answer. He then tried to dig deep into his memories—and suddenly lost consciousness.
“Reiji-kun?!”
“Reiji-sama?!”
“Hey! Reiji!”
Darkness overcame him. His eyelids became curtains, shielding his eyes. He felt as if he were sinking into the depths of a deep lake. He could almost hear some kind of screaming. From afar, voices seemed to be calling his name, over and over.
Before long, he realized he was in Graziella’s arms. The screams he’d heard were coming from the girls. It appeared he’d lost his balance and fallen from his chair.
“Be more careful,” Graziella said. “What’s wrong?”
“Huh? Oh, sorry.”
“I don’t mind. Are you truly alright?”
“I’m fine. I just got a little dizzy.”
Reiji stood back up with Graziella’s help.
“Reiji-sama, it might be better for you to get some rest,” Titania suggested anxiously.
“No, I’m fine. It’s really nothing.”
“Really, Reiji-kun?” Mizuki asked. “That didn’t look like someone falling over from anemia. It was more like you ran out of batteries, or like your switch was suddenly flipped off...”
“I’m telling you I’m fine,” Reiji insisted. “Look, there’s nothing wrong with me.”
Reiji spread his arms wide and smiled to put the girls at ease, then noticed there was something in his hand.
What the...?
There was something hard there, and at once, an indescribable anxiety assaulted him. He slowly turned to look. He moved, stiff as a rusted puppet. As he slowly opened his palm, his eyes focused, revealing white metal and a glowing blue gem.
“Reiji-kun, is that the Ishar Cluster?” Mizuki asked.
“Mm-hmm...”
“When did you take it out?”
“Well...”
He hadn’t been holding it before falling over. It should’ve been inside his jacket pocket this whole time. And yet, here it was, in his palm. He lowered his eyes to the azure glow.
Suimei talked about it...
He heard a voice whisper in his head. He tried to remember the conversation. Suddenly, it seemed to be of the utmost importance to remember what Suimei had said.
“Elliot,” Reiji said.
“What is it?”
“The reason the demons aren’t making a move is because they’re making new demons,” Reiji said. “They’re culling the weaker demons to make stronger ones, so that more power from the Evil God can be granted to each individual.”
“Are you certain?” Elliot asked.
“Mm-hmm. They’re still in the preparatory phase, so it won’t be long before they invade again. That’s what the demon responsible for this plan told Suimei.”
Reiji had overheard it during the demon invasion of the Empire. Suimei had made this prediction, and the demon named Lishbaum had confirmed it.
“Elliot-sama,” Christa said, her eyes filled with anxiety. “What does that mean?”
“Demons are born of the Evil God’s power,” Elliot answered. “The Evil God determines their strength and numbers through its capacity. This is limited, so they’re throwing away the existing unsuitable vessels to create better ones. They’re probably at the stage where they’re prioritizing quality over quantity.”
“Meaning even more powerful demons will appear next time?!”
“That’s right.”
Lishbaum had explained it as if it were a tactic in a strategy game: high-quality units required more funds and upkeep. Also, if a map had a limit, space had to be made for them. In a way, it made perfect sense.
“But, but, why fuss over quality?” Mizuki asked, raising both her hands high. “In a battle on such a huge scale, don’t numbers provide more of an advantage?”
“Considering three countries have already fallen, they’ve likely decided there’s no need to depend solely on sheer numbers,” Elliot answered. “Small fries take up time, but any good soldier can handle them with sound tactics.”
Elliot paused there, then suddenly sensed how dangerous the situation was getting.
“This is bad,” he continued. “If it’s true, we’ve played right into their hands.”
“Even so, it’s not like we were in a position to not kill them,” Graziella commented. “It was a poor move to do as they wanted, but if we did nothing, we would’ve suffered even more casualties.”
“You’re right,” Elliot agreed. “Things are only going to get harder from now on.”
“However, it isn’t all bad news,” Graziella said. “If they’re focusing on quality over quantity, our forces will have fewer places they have to cover. I believe things will work, so long as we can crush them wherever they show up.”
Yet that idea required significant strength. Did Reiji possess enough power to overwhelm these stronger demons?
“But if there’s too many of these improved demons, that won’t work anymore,” Reiji said.
“They aren’t there yet, though,” Elliot said. “In other words, this is the decisive hour.”
“We need to gather our forces and prepare,” Reiji agreed.
“I’d like to strike quickly, but we don’t even know where the demons’ base is,” Elliot added.
They would have to look into that. It would be best to sever the problem at its root. Not that Reiji had the faintest idea of how to accomplish that.
“It seems the fighting will only get harder from now on...” Reiji said.
“Yes, for both of us,” Elliot agreed.
The two heroes shook hands, and each began making their own preparations.