ICHIBAN USHIRO NO DAIMAOU - Volume 11, 1 — Gather, Emperors!

Volume 11, Chapter 1: Gather, Emperors!

 

The many wrinkles on an old knight’s face grew even deeper in exhaustion.

His name was Yuuki Jouji. He was the Imperial Knights’ oldest veteran and one of the oldest people in an age of long lifespans.

But even he had never before seen someone like the person he faced now.

And that person was the empress.

“We all have imperial blood, so how about we just get along? If we eat rice together, we’ll get along just fine. Yes, we can just line up and eat. We’ll move the chopsticks at the same pace. One, two, one, two. If we mindlessly bring the rice to our mouths, all unpleasant thoughts will leave is.”

The current empress was named Soga Keena and what she was saying was too much to even be called na?ve.

“Your Majesty.”

Jouji refrained from raising his voice and quietly admonished her.

“What is it?”

“Are you suggesting holding a banquet?”

“No, we’ll just eat white rice. A banquet normally has a full course meal, right? That won’t let us get along.”

Keena’s eyes sparkled as she explained her delusion.

Jouji cleared his throat.

“You will have the imperial candidates eat white rice? Nothing but white rice?”

“Yeah. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it!?”

“This may be presumptuous of me…”

He looked like he was undergoing torture.

“But I doubt eating nothing but white rice will allow you to get along. It might even do the exact opposite.”

“Really?” Keena sounded disappointed, but she quickly clapped her hands together in realization. “I know! If we all take a nap together…”

“Your Majesty.”

“What is it?”

“This may be extremely presumptuous of me, but are you sure you understand what I am saying?”

“I do. Don’t worry. Because the Jewel Branch of Hourai’s seal has been broken, those with imperial blood are gathering. And the Jewel Branch of Hourai is the key to breaking the seal on an even greater power, so I need to be careful.”

Her explanation was simple, but it did not exactly cover the most important points. However, Jouji himself was not all that knowledgeable about the Jewel Branch of Hourai.

“According to legend, the Jewel Branch of Hourai will choose the true emperor. And the true emperor will revive the Formless Power and guide the people”

This legend had been passed down within the empire.

Legends tended to be created in less advanced societies, but the empire was an exception. Before it had developed a magical society, it had been a scientific society for over a thousand years. In other words, legends were not superstition; they were based in information hidden for some reason and the rumors had developed into legends.

“What’s the Formless Power?”

“A power with no known shape. I believe it merely means it is not known what the power is used for,” explained Jouji.

“Does it matter if we don’t know? I thought the current problem was the people with imperial blood gathering,” asked Keena.

Jouji nodded and displayed a map on a mana screen. The island nation at the center of the empire and a large stretch of territory on the continent were colored red. He pointed at the southern end of that territory and began his explanation in a serious tone.

“While you are an exception, those who have imperial blood have lost some sort of struggle for power in the past. That means most of them will be arriving with revenge in their hearts. For example, we believe there is someone with imperial blood in this region, but that region was sealed off for a good reason.”

A young Imperial Knight suddenly ran into the room.

“Something is happening at Constant Magic Academy!”

“You are in the presence of Her Majesty. Do not burst into the room like that.”

After Jouji’s scolding, the young knight fixed his posture.

“My apologies. Something is happening at Constant Magic Academy. The academy has…”

He began to explain, but trailed off while still standing at attention.

“What is it? It is rude to end in the middle of a sentence. The current empress may be kind, but your discipline has grown much too lax.”

Jouji began a lecture, but the young knight shook his head.

“My apologies, commander, but…”

“What is it? Stop interrupting me!”

“Yes, but…”

The young knight showed restraint in front of his angry commander, but he managed to point behind the old man.

“Her Majesty has escaped again.”

“What?”

Jouji turned around and found Keena’s clothes lying abandoned on the ground. That of course included her underwear.

“I have worked as an Imperial Knight for over a century and no emperor or empress has been more exhausting.”

Jouji began to weep in anguish, but the young knight gave a troubled shrug and decided to give his report.

“Constant Magic Academy has been overrun by rapidly-growing plants. It is believed to be the magic of the God Aff, but this much power would require a large-scale attack with several spell users controlling the mana.”

Jouji looked taken aback.

“This is the magic of the region I was just talking about!”

He turned to where Keena had been, realized the foolishness of his reflexive action, and turned back to the young knight.

“Um… Okay. Contact the academy right away. This must be an invasion by the Merlai!”

The students of Constant Magic Academy had been driven out of the school buildings, past even the schoolyard, and into the outer territory owned by the academy. The teachers and students stood idly on the small hill which had held the imperial troops during the war with the demon king.

“This is definitely magic of the God Aff, so it isn’t exactly a mystery,” muttered Torii Mitsuko-sensei.

“Yeah, that magic lets you accelerate the growth of plants,” said Kita Yoshie who usually remained in a lab underneath the school. She lifted up her goggles which were filled with analysis devices and rubbed her eyes. “But I don’t want to imagine how much energy it would take to do it on such a large scale.”

The school building was enveloped in green. No, that did not quite do the situation justice. The school building had fallen into a complete jungle. Tall trees leaned against it and branches and ivy flowed from all of the windows. It looked like some ruins after being abandoned for centuries.

Aff aided his believers in agriculture and the fishery industries. This magic to accelerate the growth of plants was meant to increase the production of food. Plants altered by mana would grow at several times the normal rate by absorbing water and nutrients from the ground.

But the faster the growth and the more plants being used, the harder it was to control the mana. And this incident was a little too large-scale. It went beyond difficult and reached a level almost impossible for a human.

“Is this being done by multiple people? But there were no signs of anyone infiltrating the area.”

Mitsuko-sensei crossed her arms.

“If one person is doing this, their power must rival the demon king’s,” said Yoshie as she turned toward Sai Akuto.

When Akuto noticed, he shrugged.

“Don’t ask me. All I know is this probably won’t be settled peaceably.”

The other students began to focus on him too.

This was to be expected. Most of the recent trouble in the school had been related to him. And this incident was much more bizarre than most. The academy had fallen into a jungle overnight.

Akuto did not know what was going on either, but he too suspected it was somehow related to him. Not only did he suspect it, he had resigned himself to the fact that it probably was. He had grown so accustomed to these commotions that he had learned passively letting things happen was less stressful than insisting he had nothing to do with it and regretting it later.

“I’ll go look into it. I’m sure it’s dangerous inside.”

A normal person would have hesitated, but he started toward the school building as easily as taking a stroll.

“He does not sense any danger to himself even in a situation as strange as this. How reliable,” said Etou Fujiko as if in a trance.

Even for someone as devoted as her, this was putting it too kindly. And Hattori Junko could not help but point that out.

“I am not sure reliable is the right word. It is more like he lives in an entirely different world from us. No normal person could walk calmly into such a strange place.”

But Fujiko gave a scornful laugh.

“Heh. Then why not leave him forever. If you cannot keep up with him, you should not have confessed your love to him.”

“Wha…?”

Junko had previously ended up confessing to Akuto in the Sasahara inn and she had even received a much too straightforward answer. Just remembering it made her want to scream and run away.

“But he said he loved all of us, so it did not have any real meaning…”

She grew flustered, so Fujiko became triumphant.

“Honestly, you are hopeless. We must all do the best we can to be his women.”

“His women!?”

“Heh. Are you that oblivious? And you have no use other than in a straight fight, so it is your duty to go with him at times like this.”

That made Junko begin seriously worrying.

“Uuh… You might be right. But right now, I think I would only get in his way. I cannot allow that. I need to get stronger.”

Mitsuko-sensei then clapped her hands and interrupted.

“Okay, okay. Enough silliness. Only Sai-kun needs to go. Unlike before, this is trouble at school, so you have to do what I tell you. This is dangerous, so only he will be going. The rest of you can give him advice after he gives a report on the situation.”

She then turned to Yoshie.

“That’s what we’ve decided. Can you hear me, Akuto-kun?”

With a sidelong glance at Mitsuko-sensei, Yoshie telepathically contacted Akuto.

Akuto telepathically replied after having travelled a fair bit already.

“Ah, no fair! I should have been the one to contact him!”

Fujiko leaned on Yoshie’s back and tried to cut into the conversation by pressing her face against the goggles. Yoshie almost fell forward, but she managed to stand her ground.

“Mghh… If you want to contact him, use your student handbook. And he should be able to pick up multiple conversations without a specialized device.”

“Oh, you’re right. Akuto-sama!”

Fujiko moved away and began her own telepathic conversation, but this time someone leaned up against her to cut in.

“Mgyah!”

She groaned as Korone leaned limply against her.

“I have information from the palace. It seems related to this incident,” she sent to Akuto.

“You’re too heavy…”

“It is about a tribe known as the Merlai.” Korone continued calmly while ignoring Fujiko’s complaints. “The Merlai have a strange history. They live in a deep jungle on an island to the south. It is part of the empire, but its existence is kept secret and the area is known as unexplored. And it seems the first tribe leader had imperial blood.”

“What? I’ve never heard of that,” said Yoshie.

“What kind of nonsense is this?”

Fujiko was half protesting and half surprised while Korone needlessly leaned against her.

“And most surprisingly of all, it was originally a theme park.”

Korone’s voice filled Akuto’s head as he approached the school building.

He could no longer continue without treading on underbrush and other plants. This had originally been the area in front of the dining hall, but it now looked like an unexplored jungle.

“A theme park?” he asked.

Korone continued her explanation.

“Hidden? So no data remains?”

“But it’s just a theme park.”

“That just sounds like a joke to me.”

Akuto looked around and realized that story had filled the jungle scene around him with a sense of madness.

“I know that, but there’s not much I can do,” he muttered.

—Can someone really take a theme park that seriously?

That bothered him. Based on the situation, it seemed this was caused by those calling themselves the Merlai, but that would require believing that rumor.

—But if that isn’t what’s happening, why is this happening?

He parted some branches, found the school building’s entrance, and entered. He decided to head toward the highest point. If this was manmade, the highest point or the central point would be the most important. Humans could not relax otherwise.

The building’s floor had been broken in places by trees growing up, which spoke volumes about how powerful these trees were.

He checked around and climbed the stairs. On his way to the top floor, he saw no signs of someone altering the surrounding plants. That would mean the no one entered the area after the trees had grown in.

“With this floor, I’ll have checked the entire building.”

The top floor lounge had a glass ceiling. With the green jungle filling it, it looked like a greenhouse at a botanical garden. The air was filled with warmth and calming aromas. The morning sun shone in at an angle, but the thick layer of leaves blocked it out just enough to create a soothing curtain of light on the floor. If one ignored how the plants had appeared, it seemed perfect for sitting around with a cold drink.

But the voice Akuto heard as soon as he set foot in the lounge was enough to return the tension to his loosening cheeks.

“Are you strong?” asked a high-pitched voice.

“Who are you?”

He spoke toward the center of the lounge because he was unsure where the voice had come from.

“I’m asking the questions here. …But it looks like I don’t need to. You are strong.”

The voice echoed throughout the entire lounge, making it unclear where it was coming from.

—Why can’t I sense their mana?

He searched for a presence, but he only sensed a static-like mana wave from every direction. It seemed the trees filling the lounge gave off a certain mana wave that was very similar to the speaker’s mana waves.

—It’s like they’ve become one with the trees.

That seemed to be why the person had filled the area with trees.

As Akuto took a defensive stance, the voice called out again.

“The Jewel Branch of Hourai called me here! You aren’t the empress. I, Nonimora, have business with the empress! Call her here!”

It seemed this person was named Nonimora. Based on what she was saying, it seemed she was exactly who they had predicted she was. Akuto had a bad feeling that she was the type who really did believe a theme park was real.

“The empress is not here. If you wish to negotiate, you must go through the proper procedures.”

He wanted to see how she would react to this.

He received response, but it was not what he had expected.

“You are the ones who aren’t going through the proper procedures! The Jewel Branch of Hourai will choose the true emperor! The different imperial candidates must compete to see who comes out on top!”

—Do they know what they’re doing here?

Her response had been unexpected, but his words were getting through to her.

“When you say ‘compete’, do you mean fight?”

“This is the problem with the people of the main island! Stop being so brutal! We compete in order to reach mutual approval. It doesn’t matter if its zutan-zutan or mosa-mosa!”

“Zutan-zutan?”

Akuto was confused, but he received an immediate reply.

“Zutan-zutan is zutan-zutan. What’s so hard to understand?”

“Well… All of it?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know what mosa-mosa is either.”

“Does it have to do with a hairy person?”

“Why in the world would it!? Fine! We can go with totechite-tetechite.”

“I’m not sure what that is either. And what do I have to do with this competition?”

“Oh, you’re right. Then go bring the empress here.”

“The people of this country didn’t even know the Jewel Branch of Hourai existed, so I’m not sure what to think of your claim. It would help if you spoke with the palace first.”

Akuto spoke the whole truth.

He felt he could trust this person a bit. Or rather, her tone of voice and comments showed she liked to keep things straight and to the point.

But that side of her turned out to be even greater than he thought.

“That’s too much effort! You have a connection to the empress, don’t you? I sense powerful mana. More powerful than a normal person.”

“Well, I suppose I do have a connection…”

“Out with it! No one but the empress could be as powerful as you! Tell me this: is the empress even more powerful than you?”

“Well…” He pictured Keena’s face in his mind. “I’m certainly no match for her.”

“Amazing!”

Nonimora’s tone grew cheerful and lively.

“Then let’s do totechite-totechite!”

“What exactly is totechite-totechite?”

“It’s totechite-totechite. The rules say you can run wherever you want and whoever touches the other with both hands first wins!”

Nonimora’s last word flew through the air and her body likely did as well.

Akuto sensed a presence behind him, so he jumped forward. A broken tree branch landed in the spot he had been in.

—Hm?

He sensed something and leaped to the right. He felt a wind to the left and someone ran right past him.

“Ohhhh! You avoided me!”

She sounded delighted that he had avoided her.

Akuto looked over, but she was already gone.

“You sure are fast.”

He searched for her presence again, but he could only detect the same waves all around him. The only motion he could find was the rustling of the leaves.

—!

He felt wind and leaped without even looking. He saw a brown shadow pass by out of the corner of his eye.

“You avoided me again!” she delightedly shouted once more.

—Um… What am I doing?

The situation confused him. He tried to establish a telepathic connection, but failed. There was no jamming, but the mana waves emitted by the trees created too much static.

—I just have to grab them, right?

After reaching that conclusion, he spoke up without knowing where she was.

“Can I use magic?”

“Go right ahead!” replied Nonimora.

“In that case…”

Without worrying about her movements, he casually swung his arms apart. The movement whipped up an intense current of mana.

“Ohhhh?” cried Nonimora in surprise.

A spiraling torrent of mana appeared around Akuto. The trees began to bend and creak. They seemed to have flexible trunks, but this was still bringing them to their limits. A few seconds after the wind began, they twisted and fell over. After the cracking noises settled down, the wind grew still and the floor was covered in a spiral of felled trees. It looked like the site where a group of giants had an exciting folk dance.

“Oh, my!”

A small child stood amid it all.

Even from a distance, her brown skin and large clear eyes were noticeable. Her appearance surpassed gender and reached a position that anyone would view favorably. She was childish and could be seen as either a boy or a girl.

She wore rough clothes. They were made of wonderfully decorated leather and covered in large jewels, so her outfit looked both simple and noble.

Akuto looked at her suspiciously and shook his head.

“Will you stop now?”

But she shook her arms in anger.

“No! I need to punish you for not taking care of nature!”

Akuto frowned.

“Nature? You used magic to make all this grow here overnight. How is that natural?”

“Ohhhhh! You piss me off! You main islanders are always like this! You always make fun of our desire to protect nature!”

Nonimora began exaggeratedly stomping on the floor.

That direct representation of her anger amused Akuto, but he could not accept what she was saying.

“These plants were altered with mana and you were controlling their growth. You can’t call that natural.”

“Why must you make fun of me like that!? You stupid main islanders! How much do you even know about us Merlai!?”

“Rumor has it you believed a theme park was a real jungle and started living there.”

“That’s fine and all, but we don’t believe it’s real. We know the trees are the same as what you call buildings!”

“Eh? Then why?”

Akuto had not expected that answer. In the empire, magic was just a social system yet it had been turned into a religion. Only the priests and certain intellectuals used it while aware it was a system. Even though all the information was publicly available, the normal people fully accepted the religious dogma in their lives. Were the Merlai doing the same thing?

“Are you saying only the leaders like you know the truth and are deceiving the normal peole?”

“Mkiii! Don’t make fun of us! Everyone knows! Kids learn about history in school!”

“Then…what do you mean?”

“Science and everyday life are two different things. Living like an animal is for the best. You have all the food you need, you don’t get sick, and you live convenient lives, but you don’t think you’re happy. That’s because you aren’t having fun with life. That’s why the Merlai got rid of all those precepts. The theme park was just an opportunity for that.”

“Really?”

Akuto was dumbfounded. He was surprisingly shocked. The empire was vast and it constituted the entire world to him, so this was the first time he had felt like he was contacting something foreign. Also, Nonimora was unexpectedly intellectual and her way of thinking was similar to his own which this country treated as heretical.

“Do you get it now?”

Nonimora bent her small body back to puff out her chest.

Akuto smiled and nodded.

“It does seem I was mistaken and I apologize for that. After speaking with you, I would like to know a bit more about where you live.”

When she saw the look on his face, her already large eyes opened even wider.

“Ohh, so you understand!? Then let’s continue the totechite-totechite!”

“Fine, but you won’t get anything from defeating me.”

Despite his warning, she gave a deep nod.

“Not a problem. I just think it’s fun!”

She prepared to continue, but then a voice reached them from above.

“A-chan!”

She was invisible, but Keena was definitely descending from the sky. Akuto looked up and his coat was swiped from behind.

Before he could try to put it on her, Keena wrapped his coat over her shoulders and appeared.

“If you’re just going to make your presence known, why even strip in the first place?” he asked in exasperation.

Keena puffed out her cheeks.

“If I don’t, I can’t escape the palace.”

“The palace!?” Nonimora reacted to their conversation. “Does that mean you’re the empress?”

She seemed to have oddly good instincts because she quickly caught on that Keena was the empress. Most people would have assumed otherwise upon seeing her.

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

Keena looked puzzled.

Akuto wondered if he could have done a better job of hiding Keena’s identity, but he realized that was near hopeless with those two involved.

“We were just talking about that. This is Nonimora of the Merlai who is apparently an imperial candidate.”

“I see.”

Keena looked at Nonimora and Nonimora stared back with her eyes opened wide.

“Amazing! That’s the empress for you! She’s naked!”

—Why is she focusing on that?

Akuto almost fell to the ground.

But Nonimora paid him no heed and continued speaking excitedly.

“The empress is going around naked to tell the people to return to nature, isn’t she!? That’s amazing!”

—At least it looks like we can talk peacefully about this.

Akuto was still shocked, but he breathed a sigh of relief.

But as a smile covered Nonimora’s face, she ran straight toward Keena.

“Then let’s continue totechite-totechite! This time the empress is my opponent!”

She had said the first to touch the other with both hands won and magic was permissible. In a space with nowhere to hide, those rules essentially meant magical combat. And as Akuto expected, Nonimora instantly fired mana spheres at Keena from four different directions while running forward. She likely planned to grab Keena while she dealt with those attacks.

“Kyah!” screamed Keena.

Akuto immediately circled in front of her and destroyed all the mana spheres with a single motion. He also blocked Nonimora herself with a mana shield.

“Ohhh?”

She tried to oppose his shield and advance, but she could not manage it. She quickly spun around, jumped, and fixed her stance.

—I couldn’t hold back because I acted on reflex. I may have overdone it.

But Nonimora was laughing loudly.

“Ohohhh! Nice! Amazing! You’re even stronger than before!”

“I’m glad. Now please listen. The empress is not suited for this kind of competition. I may be, but there is no reason to continue.”

Nonimora looked disappointed, but she obediently relaxed her battle pose.

“Oh, that’s no fun. I like to move around a lot.”

“At any rate, the empress doesn’t understand the situation, so could you explain it? I also have some questions.”

Akuto went on to tell Keena what he had been told. Nonimora chimed in a few times to add some information, but she provided nothing new about choosing a new emperor.

“In other words, one of the people the Jewel Branch of Hourai reacted to has to become emperor?” asked Keena.

“Yes. They say the Jewel Branch of Hourai will decide who, but it’s just a tool. I assume whoever uses it will become emperor. That means the emperor has to be chosen before that,” agreed Nonimora

“In that case, I don’t have to be empress,” said Keena as if it were nothing.

“Eh?”

Nonimora stared at her in surprise.

“Like I said, I don’t have to be empress.”

“Wait a second. You can’t set aside being empress like that. Of course, if you insist on doing so, I’ll take the title from you, but…”

She was clearly confused, but she folded her arms while looking oddly nervous.

“Didn’t you come here to get the imperial throne?” asked Akuto curiously.

Based on the situation, he had assumed Nonimora would act like an invader.

“The Merlai don’t desire things in that way. The issue is what the emperor or empress does with that position. And I have…no, the Merlai have a duty they must fulfill,” she said.

“A duty?” asked Akuto.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, but she finally nodded and spoke.

“That’s right. The Merlai protect the Formless Power.”

“Oh, that old knight mentioned that. I didn’t really understand, but he said it’s really strong.”

Nonimora shook her head.

“That’s not what I was told. The people can use the Jewel Branch of Hourai to plunge into the Formless Power using the ship that travels to the star which has been set in motion. The Formless Power grants good power only to those with a good heart. Otherwise, the Formless Power will eventually destroy their entire species.”

“Is that…a legend?”

Nonimora shook her head again.

“Those are the words of the first tribe leader, so it isn’t a legend. We also have the ship that goes to the star.”

“But…going to a star?”

“Yes. Research into travelling beyond the moon…no, research into travelling beyond the planets circling the sun was stopped. No one thinks about going into space anymore. There is probably some kind of wall if you travel through space far enough. And if you go that far, you can touch it. That is how we view it.”

Nonimora’s explanation matched with Akuto’s worldview. And Yamato Bouichirou had mentioned an invasion from outside the universe, so it was possible there was something beyond that wall.

“I don’t know what you mean by a good heart, but we might be able to help you with that.”

Akuto turned toward Keena, but she held a finger to her cheek with a blank look on her face.

“But if that’s the case, why don’t I just give up my position as empress?”

“I hate people who don’t live up to their great duty,” said Nonimora. “You have the Imperial Regalia, so you are the empress.”

“Yes, but I didn’t want to become empress.”

“Is that so?” Nonimora stood before Keena and put her hands on her hips. “Then I can take the position from you and I’ll take a nice bonus along with it.”

“A nice bonus?”

Keena tilted her head.

“Him.” Nonimora pointed at Akuto. “When he protected you just now, I could tell you’re suppressing his power with the Imperial Regalia.”

“Ah!” cried Keena upon realizing what Nonimora meant.

If she gave up the Imperial Regalia, she was giving up her relationship with Akuto as the demon king.

“I can’t let that happen. You can’t have my position!”

She shook her head and Nonimora looked disappointed.

“Oh, I see. And after I’d taken a liking to him. I wanted to have him by my side. But the Merlai know humans aren’t possessions, so how about this? I don’t need the imperial throne, but I’ll have him help me protect the Formless Power. And he has free will, so you and I can have a hem-hem competition and let him decide the winner.”

She clapped her hands together as if to declare it was a good idea.

“Hem-hem?”

Both Keena and Akuto looked puzzled.

Nonimora’s mouth opened in surprise.

“You don’t know about hem-hem? But it’s instinctual for humans. You’re naked, so I assumed you’d know.”

“Eh? But I don’t,” said Keena. “You use weird words, Nonimora-chan.”

“Fine then.” Nonimora raised a finger. “Hem-hem is when a guy puts his ryun-ryun in a girl’s pakk-pakk to make a child.”

“Bh!”

“Eh?”

Akuto spat out the saliva in his mouth and Keena fell silent and grew bright red.

Nonimora looked back and forth between them with a puzzled look.

“Why are you reacting like that? It’s a natural thing. It’s the best way for two girls to compete for a guy they like. And if you like both of us, the three of us can do it together.”

Akuto understood that was how it worked from a purely natural perspective, but…

“Wait a second. Nonimora, are you a girl?”

“Yes. How rude. Now, time for hem-hem. I’ll do my best!”

Nonimora swung her arms around to pump herself up.

“No, wait a minute!”

Akuto frantically waved his hands back and forth.

“What is your problem? There’s nothing wrong with trying it out,” said Nonimora as if it were not a big deal. “Unlike in ancient times, you can’t get any diseases and there’s magic to make sure you don’t have a child.”

“Th-that isn’t the issue.”

Akuto shook his head while Keena clung to his arm and looked at Nonimora with hostility in her eyes.

“A-chan doesn’t do that kind of thing!”

But that hostile glare did not faze her.

“It isn’t right to keep a guy to yourself! You can be his favorite, but you should lend him out at least once a week!”

—Her sense of values is just too different.

Just as Akuto tried to figure out what to say, help arrived.

“Stop right there, you filthy-mouthed child! Akuto-sama is mine!”

Fujiko’s comments were usually a bother, but they were welcome here.

They must have been monitoring the situation because Yoshie and the others entered behind Fujiko.

“That’s a lot of girls! So your name is Akuto, is it? You sure are popular. If you have hem-hem with me once…no, twice a month, I think you’ll really start to like me.”

Akuto assumed Fujiko would grow hostile, but after a bit of thought, she nodded as if to say it was not a bad idea.

“Yes… That’s an excellent idea! Akuto-sama is a kind person, so he would want to make love to his women in a rotation at first. But he would begin visiting a certain one more and more frequently! That’s perfect. Eventually, I would take four…no, five days a week. One day could be left to some worthless girl out of pity or obligation and the last day would be for him to rest.”

“That won’t happen as long as I’m around!” declared Nonimora. “I’m way better at hem-hem!”

“Your puny body can’t use any kind of techniques! But my abundant body can do all sorts of things!”

Fujiko began touching her body to show it off, but Nonimora refused to lose.

“I’m really good at suppo-suppo! I can send even a demonic beast to heaven!”

“Please, enough of this…”

Akuto tried to stop them, but someone else’s comment topped the others.

“I am willing to let him ravish me in ways simply impossible for a human.”

That ridiculous statement of course came from Korone.

“Could you not make the situation even more complicated?”

As Akuto turned toward her, she continued to speak with a serious expression.

“It is worth thinking about what Nonimora-san said. I am sure they will respect your will, but the government has decided to take action.”

“As long as this doesn’t get dangerous, I can only go along with their decision.”

Despite what he said, Akuto could not deny that he had a bad feeling about what was to come.

A few days after Nonimora’s arrival, the government announced they were putting together an expedition containing the empress, Akuto, and the Imperial Knights. While Akuto and the others were overwhelmed with preparations, it did not seem the academy students had much to do. But then Student Council President Lily Shiraishi ordered some of them to take part in a certain task.

“A large amount of secret funds are being used, so some large-scale magical operation must be underway somewhere. Why can’t you understand something so simple?”

Lily had gathered Fujiko, Yoshie, Junko, and Hiroshi in the student council room and she was lecturing Hiroshi as he stood in front of her desk.

He looked apologetic, but he still pouted his lips a bit and argued his case.

“I’m the only one here who was raised in a normal household.”

He was the son of the family which had for some reason been given the Brave suit, but he had not been born to a high-level priest’s family like the others gathered there. He had been told to investigate CIMO 8’s activities and they did not know what went on inside all of the religions.

“But you are the only one who can boldly take illegal actions. And we can’t contact you telepathically while you do so, so you have to act on your own judgment.”

Lily acted like a teacher and Hiroshi felt like he was being unreasonably bullied.

“But just because the secretariat’s secret funds are being used doesn’t tell us where they’re being used. We may know that CIMO 8 has been very busy and that the guy named USD is plotting something, but where am I supposed to investigate?”

“I just explained that. The Diet members with ties to the religions are meeting in secret with corrupt priests, so sneak into one of those meetings and gather some information.”

“But I don’t know who those corrupt priests or dangerous Diet members are.”

“I gave you a list.”

“There are too many!”

“It’s up to you to figure out who is likely to act when. And the timing will change what information you find.”

“And I’m saying I don’t know how to do that!”

“Oh… Well, I see.”

Lily folded her arms.

“But…” Yoshie spoke up to help. “It would be impossible for Miwa-kun to investigate too deeply. After all, it seems that USD guy acquired some of the Brave suit’s secrets from Yamato Bouichirou.”

“But he hasn’t done anything about him. If all goes well, he might even be able to meet with this USD. Then he can directly ask him what he’s doing.”

Lily smiled thinly as she spoke.

Hiroshi mentally paled as he realized how dangerous a situation he was being forced into.

“But USD isn’t showing up. For one thing, USD is extremely rich. Would he really so blatantly use public money if he wants to keep this a secret?”

“I understand your point, but this began once that small Merlai girl arrived and it is not unnatural for him to use public money for his work,” said Fujiko.

“Yes, but it’s a lot of money just to investigate the Merlai. Also, we know they aren’t actually investigating it. We have all of the Imperial Knights’ information thanks to Keena.”

Fujiko was forced to agree with Yoshie’s explanation.

“You’re right. But if it is really that great a sum being spent, it may be difficult to think of it simply as USD’s conspiracy.”

“These days, money is only needed for transfers that use energy on a large scale and magical experiments that make use of those transfers. There are of course exceptions like Sai Akuto that ignore that and waste a lot of energy. At any rate, what could they be doing?”

Lily brought her hands together on the desk.

“What if CIMO 8 is breaking apart?” suggested Junko.

Everyone turned toward her.

She waved her hands embarrassedly at the unexpected attention.

“Um, the Suhara followers were not all united, so I thought maybe the Cabinet Intelligence and Magic Office does not get along either. Especially since they lost Yamato Bouichirou.”

“It’s possible. In that case, we were thinking about this all wrong. We could try tracking down a member other than USD.”

Lily turned toward Hiroshi.

He jumped like a napping student who was suddenly asked for an answer.

“I had a feeling it would come to this…”

“Don’t say that. I’ll give you a starting point. Here’s a list of the important people.”

Lily displayed a list of names on a mana screen and slid it toward him.

Once he took it, his eyebrows twitched.

The list was quite large.

“Wait a minute…”

“It has to be a large list. These are the people seen entering or leaving the Cabinet Intelligence and Magic Office but aren’t staff members. There are some contractors who go in and out, which is perfect for camouflage.”

“Now I won’t have time to go on dates…”

“Sounds like you’ve been enjoying yourself. But you shouldn’t say that kind of thing when her sister’s sitting right behind you.”

Lily used her chin to indicate behind him.

It had completely slipped his mind. He was currently dating the idol named Hoshino Yuri, but her real name was Hattori Yuuko and she was Hattori Junko’s younger sister.

“If you cause any problems for Yuuko’s job, I will personally hunt you down.”

Hiroshi heard a sword lift partly from its scabbard. Without turning around, he stiffly began walking.

“I-I will start that investigation.”

“Thanks for your cooperation.”

Lily waved a hand to see him off.

It was not that Hiroshi had been slow to act. The situation had simply proceeded more quickly than expected.

A dog and a bewitchingly beautiful boy were looking at a ship from a distance. It was a large ship that flew through the sky and it was custom made to be especially luxurious.

“The empress’s private ship. I wish I could ride on it,” said the bewitchingly beautiful boy whose CIMO 8 codename was Esper and whose name was Kei.

“The standards of comfort are different for a dog, so I have little interest in it,” said the hairy dog whose codename was The One.

The empress’s private ship was located in the palace’s yard and the two of them were viewing it from a building in the center of the imperial capital. Parts of the yard were hidden by trees, but the ship was large enough to be seen. The white ship had a simple streamlined design and its surface glittered as it reflected the sun, but detailed patterns were carved deep in the smooth reflective surface. The color and shape of those patterns seemed to change depending on the angle they were viewed from, so the ship had a fantastical beauty to it.

“That and two Imperial Knight guard ships will be travelling to the Merlai village, right?”

“Yes. And Morlock is already inside.”

The horizontal opening of The One’s dog mouth opened and closed as he spoke.

“I’m so jealous. It must be wonderful on there.”

Kei clasped his hands behind his head, but his words contained no emotion.

“He does not have a normal human body either, so his standards of comfort must be different as well.”

The One looked up at Kei, but no one could tell what expression his dog face contained. But when he spoke to Kei, he kept his voice low as if speaking a secret.

“By the way, you really scared me back there. I didn’t expect you to announce our betrayal, even if it was jokingly. Surely you aren’t going to say you won’t betray USD.”

“That was just a tasteful joke. And USD’s already discovered your betrayal, so it doesn’t matter.”

Kei also kept his voice low as he responded, but it was only his tone of voice he kept subdued. He had a bewitching smile on his lips that did not look like it belonged on a boy’s face

“But even if he’s caught on to your betrayal, he’d never think I would betray him. Then again, you could call betrayal another form of love. Just kidding.”

Kei grinned and The One trembled.

“As an alien, I have grown quite skilled at reading a human’s thoughts from their behavior, but I can never tell what you’re thinking. I thought you had agreed to modify your body for USD’s sake. After all, the project to strengthen you was his idea.”

“Hey, do you think Kento loves me?”

Kei’s tone suddenly grew serious and The One nodded.

“It seems so. And it would be a problem if he doesn’t. He needs to believe that you haven’t betrayed him.”

“Heh heh… I see. That’s a relief.”

Kei stretched and gave a smile of pure enjoyment.

“Then I’ll go meet with Kento. He wants to discuss some stuff with me. He thinks another imperial candidate is going to arrive in addition to the Merlai.”

“A private meeting between two males?”

“Even aliens are prejudiced about that? Well, whatever. There’s something I want to do, so I’m doing it.”

Kei waved and parted with The One.

Once Kei disappeared from view, The One gave a cruel expression that was recognizable even on a dog face.

“A human mind I cannot understand, hm? But there is nothing more logically constructed than a mind. They obey their desires and give in to threats.”

No human was there to see the look on The One’s face.

“A-chan, this is amazing! This is what you call an all-expenses paid vacation!”

“This isn’t a vacation.”

Keena and Akuto boarded her personal ship. She simply rejoiced, but he was checking for any oddities or people hiding on the ship. She had released a certain percentage of his power, so he would not overlook even the slightest mana abnormality. In addition, he could read the life logs of the Imperial Knights via the Gods. He could see their career histories and even their personal secrets.

—There’s no sign of anyone disguising themselves and coming aboard. I feel bad about doing this to the knights, though.

He silently apologized. He knew this was necessary, but it still made him feel guilty.

“Nothing is out of the ordinary,” added Korone as she walked up behind him.

“Then it’s time to have fun!”

Keena hung from Akuto’s arm with a smile covering her face and Nonimora hung from the opposite arm.

“Don’t forget me. This trip would be meaningless without me!”

They were all quite noisy, but those four were the group taking the ship to the Merlai village. The Imperial Knights would ride the other two ships. Keena had selfishly requested that not even a few of the knights stayed on her ship. Then again, the lack of any knights made it easier for Akuto to act if something did happen, so he had no reason to object.

“Allow me to explain our flight plan. We will travel south from the capital. Our destination is located here on the map.”

Korone displayed a map on a mana screen.

“The Merlai village is located in the center of this island. It is quite large for a village and it contains as much land as the area within the capital’s belt line.”

“It must have been a large theme park,” said Akuto.

The inside of the ship was quite comfortable and the carpeted cabins were just as large and nicely furnished as a top-class apartment. Akuto sat on the circular sofa in the center of the cabin while he listened to Korone’s explanation. Nonimora and Keena were leaning against him, but he was holding them off as if playing with a dog.

“It was. However, the island is also quite large and most of it is covered in jungle. It is made from trees that absorb mana, so the village was difficult to detect from the imperial mainland. And they were of course intentionally planted for that reason,” explained Korone.

“But Nonimora says people from her village have visited the imperial mainland and they have a magical culture, so they must be under the empire’s influence,” said Akuto.

It was Nonimora who answered.

“That’s right. The Merlai follow the God Aff, but we can restrict what information we give by receiving the benefits of following a God but not returning a log. And that’s because we can use a portion of the Formless Power.”

Nonimora spoke casually, but this was another shocking statement for Akuto.

“So all this time there have been people personifying the ideals of the black magicians on a small scale?”

“It seems so, but only because of this Formless Power.” Korone had heard this explanation before, so she explained the situation to him. “But it is not known to what the term ‘Formless Power’ refers or what its effects are. However, we have seen a similar power.”

Korone glanced over at Keena.

She was hesitant to directly state in in front of Nonimora, but Akuto understood what she meant. He recalled the moment when Keena had altered everyone’s memories.

“I feel like everything is connected.”

He looked at Keena as well. She had been toying with his arm, but now she looked up in surprise and averted her gaze.

“Anyway, we will maintain a decent altitude over the jungle and descend into the village. The empress is making this journey on the invitation of her apparent relative, Nonimora Kananoni-sama. And as Nonimora-sama has suggested, we will be investigating the power of the Jewel Branch of Hourai. The Imperial Knights will be sending an investigation team along with us, so please keep that in mind.”

Korone finished her explanation. Akuto had already heard all this countless times from the old knight named Yuuki Jouji.

“Understood,” he said. “Let’s do our part in this.”

Korone headed toward the cockpit because she would be piloting it on her own.

After she left, Nonimora grew a bit livelier.

“Okay, let’s get down to the hem-hem.”

“No, you promised not to do it on the ship. …Not that we’ll be doing it elsewhere either.”

Akuto peeled the girl off of him. She looked displeased, so he decided to make her a drink.

“Look, there’s a bar over there, so I can get you a drink. Is there anything you’d like? Nothing alcoholic.”

But as he stood up, someone tugged on his arm. It was Keena.

“What is it?” he asked.

She fidgeted as if she wanted to say something and she repeatedly tugged on his sleeve.

“Again: what is it?”

Only after he asked a second time did she speak very quietly.

“Hey… Would you like it if I did it too?”

“Eh?”

He was not sure what she meant, so he moved his face in closer and asked her again.

She blushed and spoke again.

“If you want, we could do it…”

“Do what?”

“Hem-hem…”

She was looking him directly in the eye, so she did not appear to be joking.

“Um… Well… Are you sure you know what that means?” he asked seriously while moving away from her.

“A-chaaan!”

She grabbed onto his sleeve, but he rather forcibly pulled his arm away and headed for the bar.

“Ha ha… Okay, what would you like, Keena?”

Nonimora rejoiced when she saw how he was acting and she threw her small self onto the sofa.

“Oh? Oh? Oh? Has my charm won you over? Is that it?”

“No, it isn’t.”

He was not sure what to say, so he made three random drinks and changed to subject in an attempt to get some serious information out of Nonimora.

“More importantly, does the Jewel Branch of Hourai itself have any power?”

The wooden box containing the Jewel Branch of Hourai was placed on the table. Sasahara Nozomi’s family had been protecting it for generations.

That question put a serious expression on Nonimora’s face.

“It is said that the first test subject for the mana culture was the emperor and that emperor was my ancestor. The Jewel Branch of Hourai informs those with strong imperial blood that the imperial selection has begun. It was probably made for that purpose.”

“Then why was it passed down by the Sasahara family?”

“That was a cowardly act. Those in the imperial capital were ensuring that the imperial throne would remain in their own line.”

“I see. So that’s it. It was a complication of history.”

Akuto returned to the sofa and lined the drinks up on the table. He then felt a soft sensation wrap around his left arm.

Keena was clinging to his arm once more.

“What is it?” he asked.

She did not answer and started rubbing against his arm.

“Rub rub…”

She rubbed her cheek against his upper arm, pressed her chest against his forearm, and began swaying her entire body back and forth like a cat.

“C’mon, stop that.”

He tore her off of his arm.

She gave a groan that seemed half displeasure and half confusion.

“You’re acting a little weird today,” he said.

She did not reply and simply looked irritated.

“Ohhh! That looks like fun! I think I’ll rub against you too while continuing this serious discussion!”

Nonimora grabbed onto his right arm and started doing what Keena had done, but when she spoke, it was the same serious topic as before. It was weird.

“It’s said a few imperial candidates – that is, the original emperor’s descendants – scattered around the world, but the descendants of the primary successor at the time continually betrayed the other candidates after becoming emperor.”

As Nonimora spoke, Keena started rubbing against Akuto’s arm again. He could no longer shake them off.

“And you said the Jewel Branch of Hourai is also the key to activating a ship to a star,” added Akuto.

“That’s right.” Nonimora nodded. “The ship to the star flew into space once before and it brought back a portion of the Formless Power. That is why I can use a portion of it. That is what that L’Isle-Adam was saying.”

“Then what is that power?”

At that point, Korone returned to the cabin. A fair bit of time had passed since they had left. Akuto thought they might have already arrived, but it turned out he was wrong.

“I apologize for interrupting, but I have a report.”

“What is it?”

“The ship is crashing.”

“What?”

“It is crashing. I have lost control.”

She gave the report so calmly that it sounded unimportant, but it was clearly an emergency.

“Wait. How did this happen? Were we attacked?”

“No. If anything, we were the ones to attack. I do not know why, but the ship’s control system has been taken over from the inside. Its self-defense weapons shot down the two Imperial Knight ships.”

“It was taken over from the inside? Impossible. There’s no one onboard but us.”

“That is the mystery. However, we must accept reality and act accordingly. As such, we must prepare to evacuate. This may be a wonderfully comfortable ship, but it is crashing as we speak.”

“…Understood.”

Akuto stood up and ran to retrieve his school bag. Fortunately, Akuto and Keena’s luggage was gathered in a large bag and they had not opened it yet.

“Eh? It’s crashing? Really? But it’s been so quiet,” said Keena.

Korone nodded.

“Unfortunately, it is true. In the name of comfort, the ship’s soundproofing and attitude control are perfect.”

Korone forced open the cabin door and wind rushed in. Akuto walked over to the door and saw a green carpet of jungle below. It was oddly close by and he could tell they were gradually lowering while the ship remained perfectly horizontal.

“We have already arrived at the island,” explained Korone. “We will merely crash in the jungle surrounding the village.”

Akuto looked back toward Keena and Nonimora. Neither of them looked particularly worried. Nonimora even appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the situation. Then again, Keena could fly and Nonimora probably had no worries about this kind of thing.

“But please be careful. The jungle is filled with plants that absorb mana. Mana will not be stable except at high altitudes.”

By the time Korone said that, they had already jumped out of the ship.

“Oh, that’s right…”

“Eh? Then I can’t fly? …I really can’t! Kyaaaah!”

“Ah ha ha. Don’t be so scared! If you find a tall tree and fall while jumping from leaf to leaf, you’ll be just fine!”

Nonimora laughed.

—That’s asking a bit much, but I guess we have no other choice.

As he fell, Akuto held Keena close.

He looked up and saw Korone jump out with a parachute on her back.