The next day, Homura and the other girls were called to the Sanctuary of the Oracle to face Falmeyr.
The sanctuary was quiet. Deafeningly so. Considering how Psycho had gotten carried away, Homura was expecting the worst.
Falmeyr must have picked up on Homura’s nervous energy, because she spoke softly.
“I’m sure you’re expecting bad news. Don’t worry; you girls can relax. Well, actually… No, no, you can definitely relax.”
“It’s not very reassuring if you can’t make up your mind…”
Homura had been expecting some sort of punishment for what Psycho had done, but apparently that wasn’t why they were there.
“To put it simply, while there were issues with the way you girls handled things, considering the state that Galdorssia was in, no one is going to be sending you to the dungeons this time.”
“Obviously, we’re not going to put the very heroes who protected Galdorssia behind bars. Besides, you were a big hit with the children. They’re all playing ‘Human Centipede’ now,” added Seigrat, who was standing next to Falmeyr.
Despite his chuckles, Seigrat didn’t seem quite back to his usual self yet. His complexion looked sickly.
“It sounds like you’re a bad influence.”
Psycho had moved on to corrupting the minds of Galdorssia’s youth.
“Keep it up, and you might get drafted as Holy Protectorates of the Shield, just as I was. Thank you, sincerely, for protecting Galdorssia.”
Ieskha was in the same shape as Seigrat.
“We are truly grateful. All five of you did well. But we have you in particular to thank for protecting the future of Galdorssia, Tsutsumi.”
“Me…?”
Tsutsumi cocked her head to the side in confusion.
“Yes. If we hadn’t been able to counter the curse cast on me, it would have meant more than just losing me. Seigrat and Ieskha wouldn’t be standing here as they are now, either. And that would have spelled the end of Galdorssia. You girls may be very strong, but you aren’t ready to protect Galdorssia on your own yet. Tsutsumi, you saved us, and you saved the future of Galdorssia as well.”
Falmeyr smiled warmly.
“But I will have to have a talk with the source of your newfound knowledge in black magic.”
“Wait, who told you?! Poor Carlila!” Homura felt bad for Carlila. It sounded like she was going to get a major scolding.
“And I will have to have a talk with you, too, Psycho.”
“I thought I wasn’t getting lectured this time!” Psycho complained.
“What did you expect, after everything you did? Though, personally, I would rather praise you as the city’s hero than reprimand you…”
“Just be glad you’re getting off with just a lecture,” Homura said, nudging Psycho in the ribs.
“You were fairly close to needing a lecture yourself, Homura. Please promise you will keep training with Carlila so as not to lose control again.”
“Yes, ma’am…” Psycho grinned at Homura.
“The one person I can praise without any reservations this time is Tsutsumi. Tsutsumi, you deserve a reward. What would you like?” Falmeyr asked, smiling cheerfully. Tsutsumi’s face lit up.
“I want to…eat…until I’m full…”
“Of course. You can eat all the food you like.”
“Hooray!”
The other four girls decided not to mention that Tsutsumi’s stomach was essentially bottomless.
“Now then, back to the subject at hand. There has been discussion of bestowing you girls with your silver badges.”
They’d thought they were here to be punished, but instead they were getting awards.
“Silver badges? Us?” Homura wasn’t the only one who seemed surprised.
“There are…many unusual soldiers in the Phalanx of Blades, after all. There will be badges for Tsutsumi and Proto as well, of course.”
“Yes! Now I can finally mock you humans out in the open!”
“I want to go…on a shopping spree…”
Before they could celebrate too much, Falmeyr went on. “You have achieved great accomplishments. Enough that I can finally give you my open seal of approval…”
“Thank goodness… I was starting to think we were going to have to skulk around in the shadows forever.”
But the other shoe had yet to drop. Falmeyr continued, her tone suddenly reluctant.
“However…there is a condition. A condition that will allow us to assess how dangerous you girls might be. I would prefer to just give you your badges without further politics, but the city’s leaders are making a fuss.”
“A condition…?” Homura asked tentatively.
Falmeyr’s voice grew stern. “That you bring down the neighboring country of Zhorguan, which has just waged open war against us.”
“Yikes. Welcome to New Game+++…”
Falmeyr had just asked them to take down an entire country.
“Well, I’m glad that worked out,” said Psycho.
“Oh yeah, it worked out great… The five of us just have to bring down an entire country now!” said Homura.
“They only want to test our loyalty. It probably doesn’t matter if we fail, so long as we manage to accomplish something.”
“I don’t know…”
The battle was over, but there was still work to be done in reconstructing the town. The girls were watching the efforts from atop the wall.
Many ant creatures had remained, but they had all stopped moving the moment the colossus fell. Their unnatural behavior seemed to suggest that someone had been controlling them.
The giant centipede warrior that Psycho had created had disintegrated after the battle. From what Homura had been told, the remnants of the souls used to create the chimera had apparently been absorbed by Tsutsumi afterward.
“It really is great news that you didn’t get thrown into the dungeon, though.”
“Tell me about it.” Psycho seemed genuinely relieved. “I was on pins and needles there for a while… I thought I might never get to see you again…”
However, Psycho wasn’t the only one who had been worried.
“I was…scared, too… I thought I was going to get…disposed of…again…”
Tsutsumi had been Psycho’s coconspirator in blasphemy. To make matters worse, Tsutsumi wasn’t even human. Because of that, there had been a high possibility that she would receive an even worse punishment than Psycho. Until now, Falmeyr’s efforts behind the scenes had always kept them safe, but this time they had really stuck their necks out.
Fortunately, everything they had accomplished had been worth it.
“Don’t worry, Tsutsumi, I’ll protect you! Even if it means it’s us two against the world!” Homura cried.
“Hey, what about me?! You better protect my ass, too. I really thought I was a goner back there!”
“I don’t know about that, Psycho. Your misdeeds really saved our butt this time. Ours and Galdorssia’s.”
“Tsk. The least they could do is make it a gold badge instead. We’re supposed to be the city’s saviors, aren’t we?”
“Why don’t you take a look in the mirror and try asking the person who stitched together a bunch of corpses in order to make a monster? You may have saved the city, but you sure didn’t make a very great impression in the process.”
“Like you’re one to talk. You’re just lucky you didn’t actually cause any damage this time. It took you about two seconds before you went on a rampage! What would you have done if that old cougar hadn’t been there to keep you in check, huh? Answer me that!”