Unlike the outdoor regions of the first and second worlds, the third went through the interior of an ancient castle. Regardless, guardian giants were all over. We didn’t have time to waste, so I’d given orders to bulldoze our way through. Our encounter rate with them was pretty low, however, as there didn’t seem to be many guardians in this world.
Kubota took on the role of our vanguard, so we got through the occasional battles without any problems. His ability was the Multiplex. He could create five of himself at most. Simply having that many fighters at the level of a warrior was a huge boon. Whatever he couldn’t handle on his own, Lily and Shiran more than made up for.
I focused on grasping the layout of the world using the Misty Lodge. As a result, I discovered that this place was something like a castle in the sky. There was nothing around it. It was possible this enormous castle was floating in the middle of a great void with nothing beneath it. It looked like a flat disc on the outside, but that was merely an illusion of scale. The castle’s spires and ramparts reached toward the skies with ample ambition. If I had to guess, in terms of surface area, it was around the size of the imperial capital. Despite covering so much land, the castle itself was around thirty stories high. We were on the sixteenth floor and our destination was near the center of the whole castle. The Evil Dragon and Nakajima were having a fierce battle as they steadily made their way there.
“What’s wrong, Takahiro?” Lobivia asked, clinging to Berta’s back much like I was.
“Nothing serious... I’m just wondering if Nakajima is all right.”
“Mm. That Jinguuji guy was no joke.”
Her voice remained dark, but Lobivia evaluated her enemy clearly and with no presumption. I had the same opinion. That was why there was something I had to say.
“Sorry, Kubota,” I told the instance of him he was keeping close to me to protect me. “For letting Nakajima run off on his own, I mean.”
“Hm?” He turned to me wide-eyed. “Aaah. That been bothering you? Ha ha. Don’t worry about it.”
“But Jinguuji has thrown away all caution. Knowing that he’s facing Nakajima, I believe he’s squeezed out more than his full power.”
I didn’t want to make him uneasy, but it was best to share what information we had. That was what I thought, but Kubota’s reaction remained carefree.
“Even so, ain’t no way our leader’s losing.”
“But Kubota, you didn’t see the Evil Dragon, right?”
“Nope. But what about it?” he said with a daring smile. “I can say it without a doubt. Our leader ain’t losing.”
“But I’m telling you...”
“He ain’t losing. It’s impossible. You’re the one who knows nothing about Nakajima Kojirou.”
His tone bore an unexpected steel. Seeing me at a loss for words, Kubota gave me a cheeky smile.
“Well, I get how you feel,” he added. “Still, it’s pointless to worry about that guy.”
There was clear conviction in his voice. I did of course know that he had unfathomable trust in Nakajima. I’d had the chance to speak with him in these fabricated worlds, after all.
“Our leader’s on a totally different level. He’s just, like, different from us.
“It’s like he lives in an entirely different world.
“No matter what happens, I’m gonna follow that guy. I’ve already decided.”
That was what he’d said. The situation hadn’t been this bad, though. Now, Nakajima was all alone in this dangerous world fighting against the Dragon Jinguuji Tomoya—a man who’d thrown away everything he was to turn into the Evil Dragon.
“You said he was amazing even back in our world, right?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Kubota answered proudly. “He was amazing. There was nothing he couldn’t do. Some guys were even saying that it’s ’cause of him that the rest of us got mixed up in being teleported to this world. They were half joking, of course.”
“We got mixed up in it?”
“Yeah. Oh right, guess you never really talked about that stuff. Anyway, you’ve at least seen it in some movies, manga, or anime, yeah? The kind where a legendary hero appears in another world and saves it. In stories like that, sometimes the protag has special qualities. It’s pretty common, yeah?”
“Right...”
Now that he mentioned it, I might’ve seen something of the like. Maybe it was common. Mikihiko would be more familiar with recent trends and might have a different opinion, though. I felt like he’d mentioned something like that when we’d once talked about cheaters, but I didn’t really remember. Either way, we were faced with reality right now. Kubota had to understand that much. Did that mean there were those who saw Nakajima as so special that they could make jokes like that? Looking back at what I’d witnessed with my own eyes, it did make sense.
“You really trust him. I guess you have since our school days?” I asked.
“Not as much as I do now. He did feel pretty distant and all... He had that kinda personality, so I just felt that way. After coming here, I joined the exploration team’s upper brass, so he suddenly seemed a lot closer.”
Kubota seemed like the unreserved type, so this was a little unexpected. Or maybe I had it the wrong way around. It was more appropriate to say that Nakajima was so far beyond the norm that even Kubota felt a sense of distance between them. The exploration team’s leader was transcendental among a transcendental group. Faced with the potential end of the world, having him on our side was the greatest blessing. We couldn’t rely entirely on him, though. We had to prepare ourselves to handle any situation.
“It’s the critical moment...”
The operation was almost over. And just like that, we finally reached our target.