Norn brought the mercenaries along with her, and Ruijerd went back to the village. I left the construction sites and walked to the magic circles. I thought it was about time to head back to Sharia for a bit.
Then, with a start, I noticed another person coming the other way. It was Orsted wearing his black helmet as usual, and he wasn’t alone. A black-haired boy trailed after him like a retainer. It reminded me of Atofe and Moore, or Perugius and Sylvaril. Like he’d been in this role for a hundred years. As much as I wanted to point out that I’d been here first, if it came to blows I’d lose. I kept my mouth shut.
Still, whenever I saw him, my teeth were on edge.
“Is something the matter?”
“No,” I muttered.
“If I have done anything to offend you, please let me know. I’ll be sure not to repeat it.”
My wariness notwithstanding, Alec had grown submissive since that day. He was so earnest it made me wonder if it wasn’t a cover for something else. Orsted demanded absolute obedience from me as well, though, so I knew it was genuine.
“I understand why you are wary, but after the battle the other day, I know my place. I understand now how inexperienced and insignificant I am. I hope to devote myself to study under Sir Orsted and you, Sir Rudeus, during which time I will seek to understand what it means to be a hero, and what it means to be North God. I have had my sword hand sealed—as you can see here—as both proof of my intentions and as a warning to myself.” Alec raised his right arm to show me. It was severed cleanly at the wrist with a pattern carved into the stump. Orsted had cast that seal. Because of his immortal demon blood, Alec regenerated even when cut to pieces. He couldn’t do it as speedily as Badigadi or Atofe, but it would inevitably happen after enough time. That was why, after cutting his right hand off, he’d asked Orsted to put a seal on it to stop it from growing back. It was proof of his loyalty.
I supplied the mana to the sealing magic circle, by the way.
“I’m hardly a threat with only my left hand, am I?” Alec continued.
“I think you could kill me with both arms missing, actually. With a headbutt or something.”
“You needn’t worry…but then, such modesty is to be praised, I suppose. I look forward to your continued advice and guidance.”
“R-right… I really do think that, you know.”
Orsted apparently trusted Alec, for he didn’t say anything about letting him stay close. I, meanwhile, had the feeling Alec was going to knife me in the back one day. Put plainly, he scared me. Even knowing that he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the box, scary’s still scary.
“So, uh, if you ever find yourself thinking, ‘Gee, I really want to be in the Seven Great Powers again,’ let me know? I’ll give it back any time.”
“Oh! About that, once I believe I’ve gained sufficient experience, I will ask you again.”
“You will ask me, right? Sneak attacks from behind are against the rules.”
“It may be that I challenge the Sword God and not you, Master Rudeus. Though rest assured that if I do challenge you, I shall do it with honor!”
“And no sharp edges, okay? I don’t want to fight to the death.”
“Understood!”
At present, the Seven Great Powers stood as follows:
Number One: Technique God Laplace.
Number Two: Dragon God Orsted.
Number Three: Fighting God Badigadi.
Number Four: Demon God Laplace.
Number Five: Death God Randolph.
Number Six: Sword God Gino Britz.
Number Seven: Quagmire Rudeus Greyrat.
I was the only one who looked ridiculously out of place, and I didn’t like it. It also really got me down thinking that I’d have to put up with idiots coming and attacking me to try and win a spot in the lineup.
My mark was the mark of the Migurds, which I’d rarely shown off up until now. Even after Ruijerd had returned Roxy’s pendant to me, I didn’t plan to start waving it around for anyone to see. No one should know who the Great Power actually was. My name wasn’t especially well-known either, so that should keep the challengers at bay.
Yeah, I’d stick with “Number Seven: Identity Unknown” for a while.
In case you’re interested, the Fighting God’s rank didn’t change in the last battle. Orsted said that it wouldn’t change unless the Fighting God Armor was totally annihilated.
I turned my gaze away from the fired-up and antsy Alec toward Orsted.
“Sir Orsted, ah…how are you feeling these days?” I asked. He had been listening in silence to our conversation.
“Not bad. Using a little mana doesn’t worsen things especially, anyway.”
Orsted had used mana in the last fight, and a lot of it. He said it had taken about half of his total. The fight had looked like an easy victory from where I was standing, and given he’d finished with full HP and only used half his MP, you couldn’t say it hadn’t been. Things looked different when he couldn’t recover any of that MP, though. He had used the mana he’d been saving for Laplace and the Man-God. We’d won, but the Man-God had satisfied one of his own victory conditions. Would it still count as a victory for us?
“Our allies are more numerous and our enemies fewer. I will have still less reason for using magic from here on out.”
Orsted didn’t seem bothered by it. Maybe he was trying to be optimistic.
“I sure hope so,” I said.
“Even if it does not turn out so, this time was different to all that came before. Thus, we need only continue along a different path to before. I am already resolved to that.”
Orsted was counting on me. Even if he used up the mana he was keeping for Laplace and the Man-God, it didn’t matter to him because I was fighting alongside him.
It seemed that to him, this had been a perfect victory. If he thought it was a win, it was. To be sure, there had been hardly any deaths—the Ogre God, several Superd, and several of Atofe’s personal guard. That was the extent of the casualties. Orsted’s mana was the only area where I felt like we’d been defeated.
“Oh, yes. What did you need me for?”
“I will be returning to Sharia.”
“Understood. I was thinking about going back myself… Oh, but I didn’t think the office had been rebuilt yet?”
“No matter. There will be somewhere I can sleep.”
The basement with the teleportation circles had been dug out to a bare minimum with earth magic, but with the restoration work continuing, it would need to be expanded. I also had to come up with a countermeasure to stop something like the Ogre God’s destructive rampage from happening to it again. Admittedly, I was fresh out of good ideas on that score. It might be better to not have magic circles for any nations outside the principal ones. It was shocking that I’d never considered the possibility of an enemy using them to break in before.
“But first, I will go and see him one last time.”
Oh. Him.
“I’ll accompany you,” I said.