“Argh…” “Uh…Lunaaa… You’re starting to seem more and more like Arthur every day…” Rintarou lifted both his arms as though he had given up, and Sir Kay breathed a sigh as tears mixed into her eyes. That was how they found their base in one day, defying all expectations. With a nauseating grin, Luna christened the mansion as Logres Manor. Which was incredibly embarrassing and cringey. It would be Luna’s domain during the war. Incidentally, the everyday expenses were made up later by Sir Kay, who began working at a place with some nonsensical name: P-Please Just Kill Me! The Lady Knight Café. Luna was blissfully unaware of the tears that Sir Kay spilled in secret. “But whew! I guess this place is impressive…” Rintarou had thrown himself down on a sofa in the living room of Logres Manor, grumbling to himself. In that living room was a somewhat dated television that had been set up when they got there. Rintarou held the remote as he absentmindedly watched the news. “Next up on the news, we cover a recent burglary incident at the Monstre headquarters. The company is owned by the large, multinational corporation. “According to the newest report from the city police, the burglar destroyed the building with what appeared to be a pair of swords, one red and one white. Then, the man managed to steal a precious antique sword in the safekeeping of the company. “For unknown reasons, the burglar was not caught on surveillance cameras. In an abrupt scuffle with the culprit, members of the company’s staff and private security were injured, but luckily, there were no casualties. “Mr. Spencer Warwick of Monstre Corp. has been quoted with the following bizarre testimony. “‘That boy was a monster. He made copies of himself, unleashing fire and beams from his hands. Our company troops were useless against him.’ “The city police are fast-tracking their investigation, searching for clues about the culprit and Mr. Warwick’s mental state. Furthermore, in the past, Monstre Corp. has been involved in illegal operations and illicit smuggling, suspected of underhanded business deals, and—” Click. “Aaaaah…” Rintarou flipped the television off after watching the news for a while. He must have gotten fed up, tossing aside the remote as he looked up at the chandelier on the ceiling and yawned. The Logres Manor that Luna had acquired was a two-story establishment. The first floor had an entrance hall, a living room, a salon, a drawing room, a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a laundry room. It had both the communal living spaces and functional spaces. The second floor had recreational areas—including a lounge and a playroom—and living spaces for the inhabitants… They had a number of individual rooms and a somewhat out-of-place room that appeared to be a fully equipped office. “On top of that, there’s even a wine cellar in the basement. It leaves nothing to be desired, huh.” Bored, Rintarou left the living room and investigated the mansion. Naturally, it had lights, gas, and water. But it also had several furniture fixtures and electrical appliances that had been left behind in addition to the television in the living room. They had a fridge in the kitchen, along with a microwave, and the washing machine for the laundry room. Though the appliances were older models, they were all there. There were even two computers set up in the second-floor office. Even though they were two or three generations past their prime, it was obvious the computers were functional, and on top of that, they had already been connected to the Internet. And even the underground cellar was stocked—not just with wine, but with alcohol preserved from all time periods and all reaches of the world. There was even sake from famous brands that would have made collectors water at the mouth if they set them up for auction. “This place is in a convenient location with a big lot of land. And it’s really high class… On top of that, it has the option to be completely furnished…which is a little over-the-top. This place is obviously worth more than fifty million yen. I mean, there has to be another decimal missing in the price tag. I bet it could go for five hundred million.” Based on this guesstimate, he could piece together that this mansion had previously been the aristocratic estate of some real billionaire. “How did…Luna drop fifty million to get this place?” On top of that, it was perfect for them to use as a military base in the succession battle. When he saw the favorable conditions of this mansion, he just couldn’t bring himself to be angry at Luna—even if he wanted her to incur his wrath. “What is this? It feels like someone had been living here until recently… But wasn’t this an empty house?” There was one thing that still troubled him. “Something about this place…makes me think that the original resident…went up and missing one day…” Rintarou spoke his doubts as he investigated the mansion and walked along the carpeted second-floor hallway… On a whim, he opened the door of the room next to him when he saw it. Creak… The oak door groaned as it opened up to a library. All four walls were crammed with bookshelves and lined with expensive-looking foreign tomes. In the back of the room, there was a mahogany desk on standby that looked like it had belonged to the previous owner of the mansion. And…in the center of the library’s floor were the traces of a faint chalk line. “……” Rintarou went silent. He had frozen in place. The white line seemed to be tracing around something—something that had once been contained inside it—and it appeared to be in the shape of a human body. “But, Miss Luna… Are you sure that you’re fine with this house? We have explained this to you several times, but the previous owner of the house had it in their family for generations…” All of a sudden, Rintarou recalled…when the real estate agent had brought them over to the mansion in a car, scowling strangely with those disquieting words. “…Aaaaand I’m gonna pretend I didn’t see that.” Clunk… Rintarou gently closed the library door. “A-anyway! Th-this isn’t bad for a base of operations! Right?!” Rintarou tried to convince himself, quickly putting the library behind him. “Trying to maintain this whole place will be hard, but… Well, I guess we could summon a broonie later.” A broonie was a residential fairy of Scottish lore that could sneakily clean up a house while everyone was fast asleep. They were an incredibly useful and admirable fey to have around. “Oh, and order an exorcism—stat! Sounds like a plan!” There were the two others who were utterly unaware of Rintarou’s worries… “Here, Sir Kay! Make sure you keep a firm hold on that end! And that’s a royal order!” “Eep?! Wait! I can’t! That’s impossible—AAAH?!” He could hear Luna and Sir Kay making a commotion far off in the mansion. Luna had taken up base in the biggest and best room. She was in the middle of a giant remodeling job. Only one more day remained until the weekend, so they would have a break from school. They had tons of time to settle in. I wonder which room I should take…? Well, definitely the one farthest from the library… Rintarou was deep in thought. Ding-dong. The sound of the doorbell echoed throughout the mansion. “…A visitor? Who the hell could that be…?” Rintarou headed to the entrance hall, feeling a bit peeved. He had just put up a defense barrier around the plot of land, and it hadn’t reacted to any hostility, so it didn’t seem they had enemies nearby… Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-don— “Ugh! Stop! That’s so annoying! Stop ringing it! Okay! Okay! I’m coming to open it now! Dammit!” He clucked his tongue at the dismal visitor and roughly opened the door. “Oh-ho-ho-ho! Hope we’re not intruding!” “Heh. We meet again, Rintarou Magami!” He recognized the two faces. They were lugging around unsophisticated bundles wrapped in cloth. The visitors were a girl about Luna’s age with silver hair in pigtails and a muscular blond man: Felicia Ferald and Sir Gawain, a knight of the Round Table. Like Luna, they were a King and her Jack aiming for the seat of King Arthur in the succession battle. “Ha-ho! This house isn’t too shabby! For the Artur family. I mean, you lack the prestige of the Ferald family, but I’ll praise it as a worthy abode!” “Hmph. Just thinking of my liege staying in this seedy place… Well, it doesn’t matter. Rintarou Magami, prepare the most luxurious guest room in this estate! Got that?!” Click. Rintarou quietly closed the door and locked it…firmly. “Hey! Wait?! Pleeeease open the door!” “Wh-why would you close the door on us?! Let us in, Rintarou Magamiiiiii!” BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM! DING-DONG-DING-DONG-DING-DONG-DING-DONG! “You’re such a pain in the ass!” When Rintarou slammed open the front door again, he thrust his left hand out and shot a magical Fireball at them. Fiery spitballs rained down at Felicia’s and Sir Gawain’s feet and enveloped them in raging flames. “AH! GAAAH?!” The impact rocketed both of them into the air. “You two have a lot of nerve walking up here in the first place! Even with a truce and alliance, we’re still enemies!” Rintarou threatened, drawing his swords. “Oh, I see. You wanna break the alliance and settle this early?! Fine by me! Try me! I can more than handle you nobodies all by myself—” “Wait! Please! Please wait a second! And please put away your sword!” “Rintarou Magami?! Didn’t you hear from Luna?!” Covered head to toe in soot, Felicia and Sir Gawain turned blue and backed away, voices cracking. “What? Luna? What was she supposed to tell me? What’s going on?” Speak of the devil… “Oh, Felicia, you’re here! That was quick!” Luna and Sir Kay appeared at the front entrance. “Geez,” Luna continued, “the two of you had it rough until now, but never fear! You can stay as guests in my castle as long as you want! Heh-heh! Accepting guests of honor is just another duty of—,” Luna babbled, sticking out her chest. Rintarou grabbed the hair at the back of her head. “Hey, Luna? Earth to Luna. What the hell’s going on here?” Yank! Yank-yank-yank! Rintarou pulled on her hair as though she were a puppet. “Yow! Ouchie! That hurt! Seriously, dude? You’re supposed to be my vassal! What do you think you’re doing?! Do you have a death wish? I’ll kill you with my bare hands for disrespecting me!” “Answer the question! Why are these two staying at our base of operations?!” Rintarou questioned, radiating a demonic aura as Luna held her head with tears in her eyes and objected. Felicia proudly butted in. “Why, that’s because our mansion-slash-base was just attacked when we broke our alliance with Lord Gloria, and it’s been destroyed to smithereens!” “Actually! Felicia’s parents—the Feralds—are destitute and suffering from financial strife despite their lineage and high status! Which is why Felicia is having trouble finding a place to live—and even getting a bite to eat! Don’t you feel pity for my liege?! Don’t you feel bad for her?!” “Yo… It seems like you spilled some low-key heartbreaking secrets… You sure that’s okay? You’ve just made your precious master cry.” Rintarou glanced at Felicia, who was smiling brightly as tears flowed in wide rivers down her face behind Sir Gawain. Rintarou sighed. “See? That’s the situation. Felicia called me on her phone a moment ago, crying that she couldn’t stand living in a cardboard box in front of the station anymore… Hence, why I invited her over,” Luna added. “…This is way too sad,” Rintarou lamented into her ear. “Hey, you’re okay with this, right? Is it okay if we let Felicia stay at our place?” “But, Luna, they’re enemies. We have a truce right now, but the fight is gonna keep getting more intense, and we’ll need to settle things eventually…” “Please…” Luna looked intently at Rintarou, who showed his displeasure and disapproval. He’d seen that look before—not in his current life, but in his past one. He was remembering the former great king of Britain, who had unilaterally defeated his enemies. He was thinking about Arthur. Even if the enemy bared their teeth at him, Arthur rarely let go of them, and they had joined his following after their defeat. In the war to unite Britain, the eleven kings had joined together to stand against King Arthur (except King Lot, who had died in battle), and then they mostly became Arthur’s followers after the war—and Arthur had unfortunately accepted them. In the past, Merlin had told Arthur to quickly behead the enemy, but… “Please, Merlin…” When she implored him, he could see a strong resemblance to the expression Arthur had turned to Merlin. From that somewhat scummy, constantly congenial, people-pleaser boy king… “Tch… Fine.” He couldn’t say no. Rintarou scratched his head as he turned away. “Hey, you two. If either of you try anything funny anywhere around this place, I’ll kill you instantly!” “Yay! Thank you, Rintarou!” Luna said, giddy. And when she was as happy as the boy in his memories, Rintarou just couldn’t find it in himself to be angry. “Oh-ho-ho-ho! Well, I offer you my deepest gratitude!” It all got to Felicia’s head. “Lead me to my room right away! Well, I am a real aristocrat and know my manners! I will allow you to give me the second largest room in this mansion! Now, Mr. Magami! Please take my things!” Rintarou looked at her with unimpressed eyes as he pointed to the corner of the front garden. “Well…your room’s over there.” …He was pointing at a small and shabby storeroom. “…Say what?” “It’s over there,” Rintarou emphasized with a straight face and turned his back right on Felicia and her knight as they stared at him with boggled eyes. “Wait! Y-y-you’ve got to be kidding, right?! Mr. Magami! Y-you’re forcing a fragile maiden of the aristocracy to live in a miserable shack?!” “P-please wait! I don’t mind if you put me in a doghouse, but at least put her—,” stuttered Sir Gawain. “Shut it. You’re so annoying.” Rintarou ignored them, and turning away, he went back into the house. Felicia and her knight clung to him with tears in their eyes. The commotion at the front door had devolved into earsplitting chaos. “Um… It’s nice to see so much energy, but…are you almost done?” An outsider’s humble voice addressed all of them. “…Tch. Guess we couldn’t hide this place completely.” Rintarou sharply glanced at the girl standing beside Felicia and Sir Gawain. She was a young woman with a strange atmosphere around her—an extraordinary beauty wearing a light–blue dress that wrapped around her like a robe. Her fascinating face was beyond human, and she couldn’t be described as anything but devilish or bewitching. “R-right! I forgot all about it!” Felicia said, though she was already late. “We came for the living arrangements, but there was something even more important to talk about! We brought her here to…” The woman stopped Felicia with her hand and stepped forward. “No, I’ll speak for myself.” She gracefully bowed to Rintarou, Luna, and Sir Kay. “It’s been some time, Luna… We might not have met since I transferred your Excalibur to you when you were young… Because I was your supervisor.” “…What?! You—” Luna blinked as though she had remembered something. “Hmph.” Rintarou snorted crudely and cast a sharp glare at the woman. But his insolent attitude didn’t seem to affect her. “Then I will once again introduce myself as a manager of the Dame du Lac, Vivian. That’s right…I’m on the management side of the King Arthur Succession Battle.” When the woman—Vivian—introduced herself, Rintarou eyed her with even more hostility, glaring bitterly at her. Soon after they had led Vivian, Felicia, and Sir Gawain into the drawing room… “Wow! You gave the former King Arthur his second Excalibur?!” “Yes. That child was a real rascal. He didn’t think twice about breaking his precious sword… He was a handful.” “If I may interject with a word, Lady Vivian… That only occurred because of King Pellinore’s brute strength. Though Arthur was at fault for trying to hit King Pellinore from behind in a surprise attack,” Sir Kay added. They surrounded a table to have tea with Vivian at the center of their conversation. “But I couldn’t have guessed that I would have my head suddenly cut off by that barbarian as I went to get our gift for giving him the second Excalibur.” “Ah, Sir Balin… He was the source of trouble for us during that time.” “Y-your head?! Are you okay?!” Felicia yelped. “Yes, I’m fine, Felicia. We, the Dame du Lac, are part fey… As the organization’s head, I lean more on the fairy side. I wouldn’t die from a beheading,” Vivian replied with a chuckle. As all of them were enjoying their idle chat… “…” …Rintarou was the only one who had become silent as he hatefully glared at Vivian with his feet on the table. “What’s gotten into you, Rintarou? Why are you in such a bad mood?” Luna asked. “Leave me alone. I just hate the Dame du Lac.” When Luna gave him a dubious look, Rintarou snorted and turned away. As soon as he did, their happy banter stopped. Without a word, Vivian peered deep into Rintarou. “And? The manager of the Dame du Lac, gracing us with her presence, huh,” Rintarou commented. “I’m sure you wouldn’t come out of your way just for…some conversation and tea, right?” When Rintarou coldly looked at her, Vivian answered with a settled expression. “Yes, I get it. Let’s get to the subject at hand immediately.” Vivian falteringly started her explanation. “There is someone interfering with this sacred battle for succession at the moment,” she admitted with an earnest expression. Everyone spoke at once. “Oh, you mean Rintarou.” “It’s gotta be Rintarou.” “You’re talking about Mr. Magami.” “Who could it be other than Rintarou Magami?” The eyes of Luna, Sir Kay, Felicia, and Sir Gawain all collectively went distant. They spoke with extreme certainty. “Hey! Hey?!” Rintarou howled at the four, who had finally agreed on something for the first time in their lives. “Rintarou, I’m sorry! It’s been a short time, but I won’t forget you as my subject—for at least a minute!” “Drop dead!” barked Rintarou. Vivian smiled wryly as she calmed Rintarou and Luna down. “No. It’s certainly true that Rintarou Magami…that the reincarnation of Merlin has participated in the succession battle. That is a situation that no one at the Dame du Lac could have anticipated…even though we are the ones who serve the three goddesses of fate…” “…Hmm? You didn’t anticipate me getting involved?” Rintarou raised his eyebrows. “…Is there something wrong, Rintarou Magami?” “……” The Dame du Lac managed the succession battle. They should have known everything that happened in the battle between the Kings on New Avalon Island. Of course they would have known that he was Merlin. But what did she mean that they hadn’t been able to anticipate him? What about the girl in black claiming to be from the Dame de Lac and telling him about the existence of the succession battle? Who had she been? At the time, he had been wandering the world after skipping out on school in mainland Japan. “…Uh-huh, it’s nothing. And? Keep going.” “Yes. It is certainly true that you are irregular and one we call a Joker, but that itself is not an issue. It doesn’t change the fact that each King must use their social status, influence, and help from the real world in order to fight. The point is, if they aim to become King Arthur and win over everyone, it’s fine with us.” “Hmm? In other words, the outsider isn’t entering this King Arthur Succession Battle on a whim or for show. Are they actually causing a disturbance?” “It’s nice that you’ve been quick to grasp the situation quickly. That’s basically the gist of it.” Vivian nodded and continued. “We’ve found Rifts all over New Avalon Island with each passing day.” “…Rifts?” “There’s the illusory world on the other side, where fairies and apparitions and all types of gods live. And then, there’s the real world, where humans reside. These two are firmly divided by the Curtain of Consciousness, which acts as a boundary between worlds. I’m sure you know about that.” When Luna tilted her head, Vivian provided an additional explanation. “Because we have this Curtain of Consciousness, humans are able to live in this real world—free of the control of the gods and fear from fairies. They can live peacefully inside the realms of ‘common sense.’ A Rift is a hole in that Curtain of Consciousness.” “Wait, does that mean…?!” Luna gaped. “Yes, if this is true, this could become a serious issue. If we don’t do anything, the apparitions of the illusory world could come through the hole, traveling to this side as they please.” Felicia nodded. Vivian confirmed that everyone was on the same page before continuing. “Let’s start with apparitions… At their source, they are born from the natural disasters outside of humanity’s control—plagues, droughts, famines, storms, lightning, earthquakes, and wildfires. Or they come from negative emotions—betrayal, envy, lust, jealousy, and recklessness… They are beings that became tied to a culture or faith, given shape by the many things that humanity spurned and feared. They are born because humans wished for them to be.” “Because they were originally born from concepts humans had no control over, they can’t be handled by people, right?” “That’s it. The Rifts that we have seen so far are still small. Meaning apparitions that could cause great harm won’t be able to come through them. However, it seems as though the holes have gotten increasingly larger as more have appeared. If we let things continue, one strong enough to threaten humans may invade this side.” “I suppose that if there are strong apparitions wandering around the streets, we wouldn’t be worried about the succession battle.” “Yes. And these openings did not come about themselves. They are artificially being opened by some kind of magic. They began appearing around the streets in various areas around the same time as when we started the King Arthur Succession Battle… It is now clear that there is an outsider attempting to interfere with the battle. So we have a request for all the Kings who are part of the battle.” Vivian turned to face Rintarou and the others and lowered her head. “Would you take on our request…to defeat the person responsible for these Rifts?” “—?!” Rintarou narrowed his eyes sharply. “The Dame du Lac are giving official notification for this request to all the Kings who have gathered on this island right now. This is an official mission request from the Dame du Lac as managers of the King Arthur Succession Battle. You may answer the request—or not… What will you do?” “Heh, don’t mess with me, idiot.” As expected, the edge of Rintarou’s mouth went up to reject her. “That’s awful presumptuous of you to think we won’t be concerned about the succession battle with this in the background. I mean, as the managers of this whole thing, shouldn’t you be cleaning this up? That’s absurd of you to think you could just borrow our help,” Rintarou spat. “…You’re right. I have nothing I can say in return.” Vivian could only apologetically lower her eyes. “Anyway, we’re turning down that task! Try somebody else! Who cares if some strong apparition appears or some commoners might end up victims to it? Hmph. As if I’d care about a couple damn humans dying. Actually, in order to make sure the battle doesn’t end up being delayed because of that stuff, you should—” Rintarou had gone off on a tirade, saying anything and getting everything off his chest. “Rintarou.” Luna stood up with a sincere expression…and stopped him with her hand. “Hey, Luna…you couldn’t…?” With dubious eyes, Rintarou stared up at her. As if she knew not to let him down, she nodded and looked straight at Vivian. “…How much’ll you give us for it?” “I knew it!” Rintarou thumped his forehead on the table. “Well, that’s way better than getting involved in a fight out of a sense of righteousness, I guess!” “Wh-what are you talking about?! I’m taking on this request because my passionate soul burns bright with justice! Obviously, that’s why!” Luna chided Rintarou. “You got that? I’m the one who’s going to eventually succeed King Arthur and become the ruler of the world! In other words, all of the people in the world are my subjects! In that case, I’ll work myself to the bone for the sake of every single person in this world since I have the duty to protect them! That’s a King’s duty!” “Hey…” “Well, to accomplish that duty…I need all kinds of provisions beforehand, right?” In front of Rintarou, Luna put on an obscene smile as she stealthily sidled over to Vivian…and put her arm around the woman’s shoulder, brought her face to her, and whispered in her ear. “It’s not like I’m fighting just for money, okay? If you dress it up a little with a small reward, I’ll feel a little more motivated or whatever, right? You get that, right? Miss Vivian?” “Hey, I could hear all of that, King Airhead. At least put some effort into hiding it,” Rintarou sneered. “Heh-heh. Thank you, Luna.” Vivian grinned and pulled a check from her pocket. “This is a formal request from the Dame du Lac. Of course we will pay recompense… Yes, this is the advance…and if you’re successful…” In order to show it to Luna only, Vivian smoothly wrote something on the check. From next to her, Luna opened her eyes wide for a moment. She turned an unusually earnest expression to Rintarou and looked straight at him. “We’re doing it, Rintarou. I’m protecting these streets.” “Hey, her check is hanging out of your pocket. At least try to hide it, dude.” He was tired. He was genuinely exhausted. When he thought about it, he felt he remembered Arthur being a moneygrubbing guy, too. The stories passed down in the world that he was a knight king motivated by the ideals of honesty and purity were all lies. In one way or another, Luna was similar to the former King Arthur. Had the former Merlin felt this way, too? Well, it’s fine. We might get info about the other Kings trying to bring down the culprit… It’s not like it’ll be entirely useless. It might even help me regain my powers from my previous life, too. After he had been instructed to participate, Rintarou forced himself to agree. “O-of course, we will also accept your request!” shouted Felicia. “Yes, this is great, my liege! We won’t have to worry about our livelihood for a while!” Of course, Felicia and Sir Gawain answered that they would be accepting the offer, too. And just like that, Rintarou and the others had signed up to find the culprit responsible for summoning the apparitions.
Chapter 19
23 min read