After parting with Shuna and Bel, I called Machina and received her updated report. Lana and Éa had returned to camp, gotten into a heated argument, then gone to sleep in separate tents. Next, I got in touch with Lanceil back at camp and arranged to meet up in town late that night on the second floor of the Zavah Night Owl Trade Group’s headquarters. While waiting for the hours to pass, I helped out around the shop.
I scanned through volumes upon volumes of account books, but no matter how many times I compared their figures with Machina’s own tallies, I still found discrepancies between the data Remlia reported to Ellusion regarding the amount of food consumed in the kingdom and the reality of the situation. Still, all was in order according to the marquis stationed here, and as long as both countries were satisfied, the merchants tacitly understood it behooved them to stay out of it. Not even a divine cat would have enough lives to survive sticking their neck into a sensitive political issue like this.
It didn’t stop with food production, though. A quick peek into Remlia’s defenses and trade was all I needed to predict what the country’s future held. Although an alliance existed between Ellusion, the largest heim-run country on the Central Continent, and Remlia, a small kingdom on the Right Continent, the two nations did not have equal standing in the accord. Cloaked behind the guise of military assistance and food production, Ellusion was fully extorting this country. Items stolen as part of that shakedown included precious technologies, weapons, and resources drawn from the dungeon. According to the dark rumors that milled about, it also included valuable human talent, people who were basically kidnapped and shipped off to the Central Continent.
We couldn’t discount the possibility that Ellusion had somehow instigated the malady that had recently afflicted King Remlia, either. Unchecked, that illness could have led to his untimely demise and his moronic son inheriting the throne. Once that dolt of a prince took power, no one would be surprised to see a revolution break out—a rebellion that would be an allied nation’s responsibility to quell. Then when that kindly nation stationed its troops in the heart of Remlia, the kingdom’s days would be numbered.
“Adventurers are nothing if not free” was the mantra behind every Remlian flag, but what form that freedom would take if war broke out was anyone’s guess. One thing I could say for certain: Unless the country raised a new flag, whether it stood for justice or revenge, the citizens would never unite. Absolutely no one would rise to the moment.
Nevertheless, this murky state of affairs was still considered peaceful for the Other Dimension. No blood was currently being shed. Remlia still had plenty of time on its side and had already started taking precautions. Meanwhile, across the ocean in Ellusion, the sun rose and fell over a country so far down the road to hell that its paranoid leaders sold out their own family members at the slightest suspicion, hung their citizens, and pitted themselves against one another for the scraps of authority left unclaimed by the vacant papal throne. Resentment seethed in every corner, fueled by all this chaos and coupled with the plague of tainted bloodlines and beasts.
The Left Continent was even further away from anything resembling peace. My research revealed that among the various monarchies there, one had put the Black Elves in charge of its armed forces, while the other firmly backed Ellusion. Their divide split the continent perfectly in half and let war ravage the land.
The one thing I learned from this whole mess: It would be pointless for me to lose any sleep over the troubles of this world. I was nothing but a regular Japanese guy, an Otherworlder, a lone adventurer. It just so happened I also had the ability to take on those repugnant beasts, but other than that, I was a normal human. That one power didn’t necessarily guarantee I had what it took to defeat any other enemy. If possible, I’d never use Wild Hunt again, except perhaps if another knight of St. Lillideas stood in my way. I could only pray that would never happen again.
I’d fought fiercely back then, wanting so badly to defend my friend’s honor, and in the end, I came out with a new ability—one incapable of protecting anyone. Sparked and fueled by a fatal curse, that ability allowed me to slay heroes. But it would also bring about certain death to anyone around me. This power could save no one. Only after those I should have protected were gone, after I alone remained on the battlefield, could I ever wield this most impotent power. Truly, the works of the gods were steeped in irony.
I heard a knock on the door. “Come in,” I replied, and a silver-haired beastmaid poked her head in the room. The woman, a knight by profession, was a cold beauty—as long as she kept quiet. Dignified and commanding, she always kept her features in check for shame of displaying any emotions.
The day she moved in with us, she had made one promise.
“I vow to never join your party as an adventurer. That position belongs to your wife, and I would never deign to challenge or diminish that honor. Of this, there can be no mistake. My place is here, protecting your household. In essence, I shall be your guard dog, a duty to which I will devote myself entirely. I shall also help with your cleaning, laundry, cooking, and c……carnal needs and will not rest until I have mastered each task. Please put me to whatever use that would most assist you.”
And to that promise, she’d stayed true, supporting us so earnestly I felt guilty letting her do it all. She had gotten off to a pretty rough start but had since worked her way up to passing grades in each category, the quick learner’s hardworking spirit paying off almost immediately.
“Ready to head out, Lanceil?”
“Yes, sire.”
Gathering up my belongings, I left the merchant’s shop. Lanceil took half the load off my hands. The two of us walked through the night city, a faint glow illuminating the streets as the town descended into chaos with the setting of the sun. Adventurers became drunk on wine and women, their heads and bodies burning in the heat of the moment. The scents of sex and death permeated the vivacious nighttime air. At first, I’d walked these streets disgusted at the debauchery; now that I understood the devils that drove people to this revelry, I had a harder time dismissing their choices.
Work as an adventurer meant constantly risking your life. When you made it through alive, you wanted nothing more than to share that joy with your comrades, raving about your good fortune, raising toasts in honor of your fallen friends, ridiculing the cowardice of those adventurers who turned tail, and rhapsodizing over boundless dreams. You’d find no one as gloomy and grim as me in their midst.
A brawl in the streets forced us to stop. A beastmaid and a muscular male heim were in an all-out fistfight. Judging by gender alone did not make for accurate predictions in this world. As if to prove my point, the beastmaid slugged the guy with such force it sent him spinning through the air. Onlookers erupted into cheers, and the victor gave her admirers a generous show. Coins went flying. Just a normal, everyday scene here.
“Lanceil, are you into this kind of thing?”
“Hmm?” The silver-haired beastmaid turned to me, startled.
“I mean, it’s written all over your face.” Her cheeks had flushed with excitement as she watched the duel.
“No, I—” She touched her cheek. “I do apologize, it must have stirred something in me. Clearly, I have yet to completely master my emotions. I shall have to redouble my efforts.”
The crowd broke up, clearing the way, and the two of us resumed our walk.
“Have you always lived in Remlia?” I asked.
“Yes, it’s the only nation I have known since birth.”
“Ever thought about visiting another continent?”
“Another continent……?” I wanted to hear her thoughts ahead of time, just in case the shit ever hit the fan. I already knew what she would say, but it was only fair to ask. “I cannot swim. The ocean and ships terrify me. To my core.”
“Pfft!”
“Souya! This is no laughing matter!”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that adorable answer. “All right, then I’ll teach you how. If Ghett doesn’t mind, we can practice in the river by camp.”
“Wha—? Souya, you know how to swim?!” She was downright flabbergasted.
“I mean, yeah. Nothing special, though.”
“Were you a fisherman back in your home country? Or is your ability by grace of an aquatic god?”
“No, I’ve never worked such jobs. I learned how at school when I was little.” In swimming class, mostly.
“What a wonderful education you must have had.”
“Who can say?” Not me. Maybe all the time I’d spent in this dimension had gotten to me, but I was starting to lose my sense of judgment when it came to the modern world.
“Well, I would absolutely love to learn how to swim. Please, please do teach me!”
“You got it.”
She drew close—very, very close. Her chest pushed up against my arm.
“But yes. I would be lying if I told you I’d never dreamed of seeing what lies beyond Remlia’s borders. When I was a child, my mother used to tell me stories about brave, dauntless royals, and I once dreamed I galloped across a snow-covered field after a dragon. Nevertheless, I cannot very well leave my country. Not now.”
“Yeah, I get that.” Guess it’s hard for this daddy’s girl to leave his side.