Chapter 17

Van regained consciousness along with tremendous pain. The place where he woke was the cleared area of the great forest that Zeke had been using as a base. He saw the horseless carriage, its supplies almost entirely consumed. They must have moved by teleportation magic. It seemed he had avoided the worst possible ending of being targeted by monsters after losing consciousness.

“Finally awake? What a carefree fool.”

“That barrage of abuse… You’re the real one.”

“Has your head finally gone mad? How unfortunate, in many ways, to have such a small brain. Not that I sympathize.”

Van stroked his chest in relief. From the way he spat insults, there was no doubt that this was Zeke. Mentel had never spoken. If anything, these insults made him feel relieved.

“…What are you grinning about? Don’t look at me. It’s disgusting.”

“…”

He took it back. This, right after a life-and-death battle, was painful. Combined with the pain, it made him want to cry.

“N-Now that I think about it, my left arm is here… Why?”

“Are you an idiot? Obviously, I healed it with sacred arts.”

“O-Oh… Thanks. You saved me. It still hurts a little, though.”

Since his arm had been cut off, it was only natural that it hurt, but without sacred arts, Van would have been one-armed for the rest of his life. He had to be grateful for his meeting with Zeke.

“Ciel’s sacred arts even make the pain disappear, though.”

“…Do not lump me together with that monster. Her sacred arts are special.”

If even Zeke called them special, then Ciel’s sacred arts might truly be on another dimension. Since he had always received treatment as if it were natural, his senses seemed to have become strange. He had to revise his understanding.

“So, how many hours was I asleep?”

“One day. Thanks to you, we wasted time.”

“?! O-One day?! Seriously…?”

He had thought that deadly battle happened only a few hours ago, but apparently, quite a bit of time had passed. Now that it was mentioned, his throat was dry. He replenished himself with a potion instead of water.

“Then doesn’t that mean a month is about to pass? If we keep this up, we won’t make it in time.”

“Who knows. At this point, the night of the new moon may already be over.”

“Huh? …Huh?!”

Zeke said it irresponsibly. But it was true that in this great forest, it was only natural for one’s sense of time to go awry. Every day had been a repeated life-and-death battle. Blaming Zeke would have been harsh.

When he turned his eyes to that Zeke, he felt something strange. He seemed to be wearing the same clothes as when they had come here, but he looked somehow neat and clean. No matter how strong Zeke was, his clothes should have been damaged at least somewhat during this survival.

“Don’t tell me you prepared a change of clothes…”

“…Are you an idiot? Are you so poor that you cannot even prepare spares?”

He acted as if it were only natural. By contrast, Van’s own appearance was the complete opposite. His jacket had burned away and vanished due to the influence of Flame Demon God. His pants were in tatters, but they were just barely fulfilling their role. …In other words, he was a half-naked man. It was the absolute worst.

“Hey, could I at least get a jacket…”

“Feel honored that I healed your arm at all.”

“Right…”

Van inwardly felt fed up at the thought of returning in this state. If Zeke was nearby, he thought he would probably be fine, but… For now, he would buy clothes in a town along the way.

“A-Anyway, let’s hurry to the Lagias Domain.”

“You need not tell me.”

Zeke constructed magic. It was the same sensation as when they had come to the Forest of Death. This was teleportation magic.

“Huh? We’re teleporting directly?”

“Are you saying you will walk back? That would be what truly makes us fail to arrive in time.”

Without letting him argue, the light of teleportation enveloped the two of them.

The culprits who had spent a month ravaging the Forest of Death vanished, leaving the carriage behind.

A room inside the Lagias residence. The needlessly large guest room boasted a size comparable to a conference room. Gathered there were the king of Diabalet, nobles and royalty, key figures such as Baccus who would command on the battlefield, and Glanz’s group, who had been ordered to fight the enemy’s main force at the Gate to the Otherworld.

Over the past month, the kingdom’s main forces had moved to the Lagias Domain. The battlefield would be the lake behind Lagias Manor. They had been making preparations in advance so the army could deploy immediately.

…That said, if an army suddenly came rushing in, the people of the domain, and of course those connected to the manor, would be confused. Normally, the lord of the Lagias Domain should have served as the point of contact, but he had already passed away. Zeke, the only Lagias, was also absent due to various circumstances. Then what had he done? Anticipating this, Zeke had appointed people to act in his stead. Those people were Simon, the commander of the private army, and the servants.

Simon handled coordination with the kingdom’s side, while the preparations for receiving them were carried out mainly by the servants and the private army. Apparently, their efficiency had been so impressive that even the kingdom’s officials and civil officers were left speechless. Rumors had spread that after this battle was over, some of them might be headhunted.

“Baccus. Are the arrangements in place?”

“…I would say only the bare minimum, Your Majesty.”

Baccus answered Alderic’s question bitterly. Even one month to bring an organization under control was already a severe time constraint. On top of that, he had to unify not only the Knight Order and Mage Corps, but also groups as broad as a band of adventurers and even the Royal Guard Corps, which primarily guarded the royal family. If it had not been Baccus, even the bare minimum would likely not have taken shape.

“That is fine. This was a request I made knowing from the start that it was unreasonable. …But we are not permitted to lose either.”

Defeat would mean Elzen’s ambition coming to fruition. They did not know what he and his people wished for, but they were the kind of people who had sacrificed many lives for their own goals. No matter how one thought about it, they were not normal.

“Glanz. How are your group’s adjustments going?”

“Each of us has spent this month advancing what we can do.”

The six members of the mobile strike force, beginning with Glanz. The heroes Alderic spoke of. Each of them had an expression filled with resolve.

They were a varied group of men and women, young and old. Their ages differed, as did their genders, and they were a scattered mix of foreigners, commoners, and nobles. If there was one thing they had in common, it was that each of them hid a radiance ordinary people did not possess. Even to those who were not acquainted with them, they looked special. They could not explain the logic, but they found themselves placing hope in them.

“Repaying the lives that were lost will become a requiem for them.”

The enemy was the Sword Saint’s son and a former Sword Saint candidate. An immortal person who commanded the only spirit remaining in this world. With various powers such as unknown curses, magic circles, and ancient magic, he had toyed with the kingdom.

There was fear. To ordinary people, Elzen and his allies were objects of awe and terror. Even so, looking at Glanz and the others made one think they might still be able to win.

“However, if there is one point of concern, it would be them.”

“Yes. Tomorrow night is the new moon.”

The sixth hero, who was not present. If the enemy was the Sword Saint’s son, then that man’s grandson could become a trump card capable of opposing him. It had been one month ago that Zeke went to the Forest of Death to train that Van.

“There is no chance the enemy will wait. …Glanz. I do not know this Van in detail, but is he truly all right? To be frank, I cannot imagine him defeating Elzen.”

Baccus’s question. He asked it as if representing what everyone had been thinking. Certainly, Glanz and the others possessed something different from the rest. There was no basis for it, but they inspired hope. One thought that perhaps they could accomplish something great. On the other hand, Van did not give off that something. Some had never heard of the Sword Saint having a grandson, and the more severe among them had even suspected he might be lying about his status. He looked no different from an ordinary person.

“He is concerned about this in his own way, partly because of Masfelt-san. I would prefer you not blame him too much.”

“Even if you say that, we are staking our lives as well. We cannot leave this vague.”

If the prior information was true, the enemy possessed forces equivalent to the Knight Order. They also had the summoning arts that had brought forth the monsters that attacked the entrance exam and Osten. Given the scale of the fighting, it would not be an exaggeration to call it a war. There was a real possibility of losing lives.

“…As you say, Van-san would not be able to match that former Sword Saint candidate.”

Everyone swallowed. Baccus furrowed his brow, and Alderic closed his eyes. Glanz’s expression was stern. Unease spread through the guest room.

“He will participate in this battle because he is a successor to a ‘key,’ but if not for that, I would not have intended to take Van-san to the battlefield. I do not wish to see a young man throw his life away meaninglessly.”

“If you say so, then that must be true. It is unfortunate, but… there is still time.”

Not only in terms of ability, but also considering Van’s family circumstances, it could be said that he was unsuited for this. Making a young man with a future bear the burden of killing his own parent was far too cruel.

“If this had been one month ago, that is what I would have done.”

“…Are you sane? There is a limit to how much a person can change in a month.”

“Hoho. Ordinarily, yes. …But Van-san has him with him.”

Glanz’s stern expression changed into a gentle one. Looking closely, smiles had also appeared on the faces of those around Glanz.

“If His Majesty calls us heroes, then he would be… an antihero, I suppose.”

“An antihero, huh. I cannot say I do not understand, but…?! What is this?”

Space warped. It was a supernatural phenomenon that ignored the providence and laws of nature. Through a power that disregarded the restrictions of time and distance, the final hero appeared. The one who guided him to this land was the antihero.

There was no one left in this country who did not know this hated figure. His black hair and blue-based noble attire were the symbol of Diabalet’s evil.

Beginning as the wicked child of Lagias, then called a demon, the Sword Saint killer, and the reaper of the ducal house, he was an infamous magic swordsman. Would the ice magic said to be the greatest in the country become a force that saved the world, or a destroyer?

“Looks like we made it in time.”

“Yeah…”

Two people appeared in the center of the spacious guest room. One was Zeke, the infamous corrupt noble whom everyone knew, whose default was verbal abuse.

The other was the Sword Saint’s grandson, who had just been the topic of discussion. Van Freak, a key figure in this battle and the trump card against the immortal Elzen.

The sixth hero who would save the world was, for some reason, bare-chested. He was a half-naked pervert.

“Um… Van?”

“…Van.”

“Er…”

“Die.”

“V-Van-san?”

The cold gazes of the women, beginning with Atri. Selen’s even contained killing intent. Meanwhile, the men were also bewildered. Even Glanz, hailed as the Sage, could not hide his agitation.

“…Hey, we were in the great forest until just now, right?”

“Obviously. Has your head gone mad?”

“You knew what I looked like, didn’t you?! Why did you go out of your way to teleport to where everyone is?!”

“Because unnecessary preambles are not needed.”

“I need them! What am I supposed to do about this?!”

There was nothing to hide Van’s upper body. He did have pants, but only barely. …Depending on the angle, various things might be difficult.

A half-naked man making a fuss in the center of a room where the nation’s key figures, including nobles and royalty, had gathered, and Zeke dealing with him as though it were a bother. If this had not been an emergency, it would definitely have become a guard matter.

“Simon. Is everything going according to plan?”

“Yes. We are handling everything without issue.”

Simon bowed respectfully. His attitude was as though he were dealing with a king.

“If there are any pieces of trash complaining, throw them out. Also… find some suitable clothes for this pervert. He is too unsightly to bear.”

“Who’s a pervert?!”

A half-naked man with a sword hanging from his waist. No matter how anyone looked at him, he was a pervert. The gazes of everyone attending the meeting gathered on him. Some looked at him as if they were seeing a suspicious person, but in a sense, he was attracting attention for a different reason as well.

As Baccus had said, there had been nothing about Van that inspired expectation. But the current Van was vastly different, and one’s eyes were naturally drawn to him. It might be called the aura of a hero. He was like a completely different person from the Van of one month ago.

“This is… quite the transformation. Can someone change this much?”

“Hmph. I was the one who trained him. Of course he did.”

His appearance was absurd, but the unique atmosphere released by a strong person was genuine. Together with the sword engraved with the proof of a Sword Saint, the current Van could be called a master swordsman without exaggeration.

Many people turned their eyes to Van, but on the other hand, some focused on Zeke as well. It was not as easy to understand as Van’s case, but the power hidden within him had been polished even further.

If Van was motion, Zeke was stillness. A certain number of strong individuals could not hide their surprise at Zeke’s power.

“So they have gathered. The heroes who will save the world.”

With Alderic’s words, the meeting began to move. This was the final tactical meeting before tomorrow’s decisive battle. It was an important gathering that might decide the fate of the kingdom and the world.

“…I can only hope this will be the last.”

Alderic’s small murmur did not reach anyone’s ears.