“Man, I’m psyched that we’ve made it this far without a hitch!”
“Yes, it’s certainly exciting!”
“Don’t get too comfortable.”
It was a mere two hours after the story showdown from the previous chapter! Wataru and company left the orc’s house behind with the orb and headed to their next destination!! “The next destination,” obviously, being the location of the third orb!
“It was quite nice that Jacob knew where the next orb was, despite all the trouble we had to go through to find out!”
“For sure!!”
According to the information they had wrung out of Jacob Yamada after he’d woken up, north of the prairie lay a wasteland with a big house smack-dab in the middle of it! The owner of that house also held the third orb!
It might interest our Dear Readers to know that questioning Jacob about the location of the third orb had been extraordinarily easy! Résistance had thrust her sword tip against his neck and threatened him! “If you know where the other orbs are, speak up. You try lying to us and we’ll start flame wars on the review sites for every one of your novels.” He immediately told her everything he knew!
Interrogating a man in that way did not sit well with Wataru, but it was all to save people from the dragon’s wrath! He had to silence his conscience and do whatever it took!
And so the three of them walked across the prairie! North and north they went, the blades of grass growing sparser and sparser, until the landscape was dominated by dry, cracked earth! It was proof they were drawing closer to the wasteland!!
“Don’t you all find it a bit odd that the next orb is also in a mansion?” Résistance asked.
“Well, there can’t be too many people rich enough to own expensive jewels like these orbs, right? Obviously, we’re in for a tour of mansions in the Sky Kingdom,” replied Aria.
They continued walking for a few more minutes, and they finally arrived at the edge of the wasteland!
“Oh my, that wouldn’t be our destination, now would it?”
Seemingly the moment they set foot into the wasteland, Aria pointed and shouted in excitement at something ahead of them! There was indeed a brilliantly magnificent structure standing in the middle of the dreary desert!
Jacob’s mansion had been rather impressive, but this palace blew it right out of the water! The white brick outer walls made it look a little like a castle, and from what they could see it was about four stories tall!
“What’s a mansion this awesome doing out in the middle of a lame wasteland like this?!?!?!” Wataru could not help but be astonished by the strange sight! Next to him, Résistance narrowed her eyes in suspicion!
“I can’t fathom why... For now, I suppose we should try checking it out.”
“Right!”
The three of them cautiously approached the mansion! The building’s beauty was even more overwhelming up close! With tiny, decorative flowers carved into the wooden doors at the entrance, it was quite clear that nothing about this house matched the surroundings!
The very instant they stopped in front of the entrance, the doors to the mansion began to open as if the owner had been expecting visitors!!
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?” Wataru was instantly prepared to go on the offensive! However, after a moment, a solitary old man came out from behind the door to greet them!
“We have been expecting you......”
The man was wearing a formal black suit; he was clearly an old butler! His white-and-grey hair was carefully sculpted into place using hair gel, and he practically exuded class and sophistication with every gesture!
“You three are the Wataru Party, correct?” They hadn’t introduced themselves yet, but for some reason the old man knew their names! Wataru, who had faced many treacherous foes, knew at that moment that the man before them was not to be trifled with!!
It’d be pointless to lie about our identities...!
He thrust out his chest and said, “Yeah, that’s us!!”
The old man gave him a dry smile in return!
“A pleasure to meet you. I am the steward of this mansion, Sebas Tiansteward. So good to make your acquaintance.”
Wha—???
Wataru was confused! Utterly confused!!
“‘Sebastian Steward’......?”
“Almost, sir. ‘Sebas’ is my given name, while ‘Tiansteward’ is my surname.” That’s the name of a man who was born to be a steward! It’s very easy to remember!!
“Now then, if you will kindly make your way inside. I know what it is you seek. Let us speak of it in the house.” Sebas turned his back on them and headed deeper into the mansion!
“What do we do, Wataru...? That guy’s clearly pretty shady, but...”
“I agree with Aria. Might be a trap or something hidden in there.”
On either side of Wataru, both Aria and Résistance expressed their reluctance to journey inside! But Wataru was not fazed in the slightest, and he walked right through the doorway!! “I can handle anything he tries to do to me!!”
Just what we’d expect from a manly, hot-blooded Japanese boy like Wataru Ito! Diving into enemy territory unarmed, despite the threat of treachery!
Is Wataru perhaps a thoughtless fool!?
No! Absolutely not!
When one has a body like his, with muscles that have been trained to the extreme limits of human condition, why, walking into danger empty-handed like this is an everyday affair! A situation like this sparks no fear in Wataru! In fact, mentally he’s as relaxed as he would be at home drinking a warm chocolate protein shake while doing squats for good measure!!
“All right, you two, we’re heading in!”
“Good grief, guess we have no choice but to follow him...”
“It certainly does seem that way...”
And so the three of them followed Sebas into the mansion!!
For all the good little boys and girls reading this out there: you should never follow a stranger anywhere!!