Episode 4

The battle with the Rochebird flock. Faced with an unexpected irregularity, the Duke Guard knights lost their footing—only for Selen to deal with it effortlessly. After that, the group traveled without major trouble and arrived at a certain post town.

“With the destination village still far, and with the risk of an attack, camping out isn’t the best option. This kind of journey isn’t so bad, I’d say.”

“Hmph. Pathetic lot.”

Their goal was to investigate the villagers’ disappearance, but they also had to protect Ciel and consider capturing the attackers. Setting safe stopping points and advancing steadily wasn’t a bad strategy.

“For people who mostly work inside the capital, it must’ve been a real strain. Oh—speak of the devil…”

Maenof appeared before them, leading several knights. The armor he’d been so proud of before departure was now smeared with dust and marked by small scratches.

“Mr… Silver Cord. Do you need something from us?”

“!?…It’s Maenof Protocol. Remember that. And the one I want is Lagias.”

“I have no business with you. Disappear.”

“What is that attitude?! I—I am speaking to you! You’re someone a Lagias would never be able to associate with in his entire life!”

Maenof screamed, his face bright red. The knights around him flared with similar anger.

“Enough. Get to the point.”

“!?…Lagias—what is your role?”

Maenof swallowed his rage, forcing himself to hold it back. He’d already learned the hard way that his opponent’s verbal warfare was leagues above his own.

“You were hired as an adventurer! So why aren’t you taking the vanguard? Isn’t it shameful, skulking around at the very back?!”

“Are you stupid? Clearing the way is your job. Though I do pity you—your role got stolen by that woman alone.”

“Shut up! This mission has many special circumstances. You don’t understand politics or palace affairs, and you can’t even use sacred arts—your part is limited! Fighting monsters is something you alone are enough for!”

Maenof barked, already short of breath from exhaustion.

“I see. Then what do you exist for? Taking a stroll?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I am here to protect Lady Ciel, and if needed, to heal the people with sacred arts! That’s why I’m here! Unlike you Lagias, who act only for money!”

“I see. That’s wonderful. You’re the best.”

Apparently bored of the exchange, Zeke ignored them and headed toward the inn.

“Don’t get the wrong idea! Because of the escort arrangement, we’re staying at the same inn—but Lady Ciel’s floor is off-limits! A brat like you isn’t even allowed to come near!”

Maenof kept shouting, as if something about Zeke offended him at a fundamental level. Nearby guests stared with curiosity. This was a thriving post town—there were always travelers around. With Maenof’s conspicuous presence, his group stuck out all the more.

“…You’re getting irritating. Shut up and sleep.”

Zeke stopped and turned only his eyes toward Maenof. Those eyes were cold—like they rejected other people outright.

“Phew… Little young, take care now.”

Aaron, who’d been watching, tossed out a single line. He veered wide around Maenof and headed for the inn. Only Maenof and his knights were left behind.

“W-what are you saying? I-I don’t care if he glares at me from that—!? Gwah—?!”

Zeke hadn’t moved an inch. For a moment, it looked like his eyes glinted.

Then Maenof and his men were slammed down into the canal as if they’d been swatted aside by something invisible.

The surrounding guests—thinking it was a performance—burst into applause.

“Marvelous! A splendid bit of entertainment.”

“Be quiet. Want to join them?”

“No, no. I’m overqualified. I have a stage more worthy of me.”

As applause rose, two figures watched Zeke carefully from a distance.

“Ugh—?! Why is Lagias here?!”

“It isn’t strange. If he’s tied up with the ducal house, even more so.”

One looked ambiguous—could’ve been a boy or a girl—small and childlike. The other was the opposite: a burly man close to two meters tall.

“But it’s Lagias! There’s no way he’d act for the good of people, or for the sake of Diabaret!”

“His reasons don’t matter. Him being here isn’t coincidence.”

They’d been operating in the shadows for years, for the sake of their plan. Their first move had been Apion two years ago. Looking back, the Lagias heir had always been entangled with the plan’s shadow.

“Even if we go head-on… no, even with tricks, we can’t win. That’s not inferior even to Masfelt at his peak.”

“Pariaach. You saw him directly two years ago, didn’t you? …Because of him, our plan was delayed.”

Apion, the royal capital, the recruitment exam—each plan had been obstructed, comrades captured. There was almost no chance of information leaking, but the important part wasn’t the organization. It was that a single person had forced them into changing their plan.

“Let’s give up on the saint for now. I don’t want to be involved with Lagias anymore. And we already removed her from the alternative plan, so who cares?”

“That’s exactly why. …That’s exactly why we need contact with him.”

The large man narrowed his eyes and clenched his fist. His face was filled with resolve.

“He understands. The distortions of this nation—of this world. …Precisely because he’s Lagias.”

“You’re not seriously trying to drag him to our side, are you? That’s a cruel joke. Listen—he’s a calamity. Not something humans can handle.”

Pariaach insisted, voice tight. The ancient magic seen in the capital’s outskirts—the power that shattered the laws of the world—still burned in their memory.

“Then we give up? What do we exist for? …Even if Lagias won’t join us, if he becomes an obstacle, we have to erase him. Right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. …If Lagias is still human, there might be ways. Then it’s down to praying, I guess…?”

“You’re the one saying that? —There are no spirits (gods) in this world. That’s why we’ll pry it open. We will…!”

“Dex is fired up. —Still, there’s someone interesting around… might be a good find!”

A black-haired young man walked through the post town at night.

The gaze he’d felt when they arrived. To confirm what that discomfort was—and to stay alert—Zeke was making the rounds.

Unlike the evening, there were hardly any people out. A post town, with many inns, but not a tourist spot. At night it was normally wrapped in silence.

If anyone broke that silence, it was either people who did bad things, or people meeting in secret. One of the two.

“Such a quiet town. For Actol (Mr. Blackhearted), it’s surprisingly good taste.”

“…”

He’d noticed the presence behind him. He chose an unpopulated area on purpose, to draw them out—waiting to see when they would move.

“You don’t have to be so wary. Your killing intent is leaking.”

“Spare me. Make a strange move and I’ll take your head.”

The quiet pressure coming off Zeke made Selen unconsciously hold her breath. If she made a mistake, it really could happen. She understood Zeke wasn’t the type to joke about it.

Selen drew her two magic guns from their holsters and placed them on the ground. If she wanted him to lower his guard, she had to show it with actions. She still didn’t understand why he was this wary of her in the first place, though.

“You’re cautious. But… I don’t dislike that.”

“Enough buildup. What do you want?”

Selen made a sad expression—purely on the surface.

“…I still haven’t thanked you for two years ago. You left without warning.”

“Don’t misunderstand. I moved for my own reasons. I had zero interest in what happened to you.”

“Fine. Even so, you saved me, I misunderstood on my own, and I’ll thank you anyway. —Thank you.”

It was a pure smile, without masks. The carefree smile Selen Bloom had shown the protagonists in the original story—now aimed at the story’s worst (Zeke). That was exactly why, to Zeke (Hiroto), it looked like hypocrisy.

“Hah. You ignored your protection target and came all this way just for that? If something happens now, your name will be remembered for generations—as an irredeemable incompetent.”

“Thanks for worrying. But it’s fine. When she sleeps, she always puts up a barrier. A special sacred-arts model.”

Selen brushed off Zeke’s insults. She hadn’t spent long with him as Brad, but she’d already researched how to deal with him.

“…After that, I chased you and came to this country. I met Ciel and traveled all over Diabaret.”

She met Ciel in Apion, and after a pile-up of events and circumstances, ended up becoming her guard.

A ducal-house young lady. A sacred-arts user tied to the nation’s core. At first, Selen thought it was simply a convenient position to learn the truth of Diabaret—but now she protected her in the truest sense. Ciel had become an irreplaceable best friend.

“Lagias, a lordly noble house. Everywhere I went, it was nothing but bad rumors.”

They abused their people with unjust taxes. That kind of common slander was everywhere—but there were also claims so outrageous she couldn’t believe them: that he unleashed monsters on the capital and tried to conquer it.

“Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about Zeke Lagias, though. …You’re popular.”

“Shut up.”

Behind every major incident lurked the shadow of the Lagias ‘bad boy.’ Some accusations were so absurdly forced that Selen had nearly laughed.

“So I looked into it. What’s true, and what isn’t.”

“Playing journalist? If that satisfies you, do it for life.”

“You’re my exclusive subject, though. …Rent Territory. Only there did people evaluate you completely differently.”

Rent Territory, neighboring the Lagias lands. That was where Zeke Lagias’s life as an adventurer began.

A twelve-year-old boy saved a same-aged boy stricken by an unknown disease.

Though a rookie, he hunted numerous brutal monsters. Sometimes he even saved endangered adventurers and citizens.

He crushed nobles who abused their status, and wiped out bandits haunting the roads.

“Everyone agreed your mouth is terrible, but… in the end, people in Rent were grateful.”

Those who had ties to Zeke and those who didn’t had completely opposite opinions. In Diabaret, it was “common sense” that Lagias was evil incarnate. That extremity felt warped and eerie to Selen.

“Curses, the capital attack, monster stampedes… there’s more. Those were all your achievements. You should’ve saved them. …So why does this country deny you with malice instead of gratitude?”

Even the knights traveling with them on this mission—despite meeting him for the first time—looked at Zeke with hatred. It resembled the gaze Selen had once received from her own family: she’d used forbidden equipment to save them, yet was repaid not with thanks, but rejection.

“Why don’t you break? Bathed in malice from an entire country… I couldn’t endure it.”

“So what?”

“You’re the only one getting hurt… and you’re satisfied with that? I hate it.”

“Hah. I don’t care what you think. …I’m moving forward.”

Don’t get in my way—Zeke’s glare carried that message. Persuasion was meaningless. Ciel had warned her in advance: that man would never bend.

“Hehe… you really are good, Zeke.”

“Get lost, you’re disgusting. …There was a woman who spewed the same kind of nonsense as you once.”

“…………And who would that be? Tell me in detail. —I’ll make sure to deal with her properly.”

Selen smiled in a way that made the hair on one’s neck stand up. Zeke renewed his assessment: she was dangerous.

“We’ve strayed. Anyway, I’m your ally… or maybe your accomplice, is that it?”

Selen understood Zeke hadn’t committed the “evil deeds,” but to the public, Zeke was evil itself. If she helped him, then she was an accomplice—Selen’s kind of joke.

“I’ll protect you.”

They reached the farming village Actol had mentioned—the site of the disappearance.

A gate stood at the entrance, and fences ringed the village. From the outside, it looked like any ordinary rural settlement.

“Hm. No signs of a struggle. On the surface, anyway…”

“Right. We won’t know until we search inside, but if it was kidnapping, people would usually resist.”

Each person gave their thoughts before the village. While everyone wore serious expressions, Maenof and his men stood back, faces tight.

“What are they doing? There’s a whole pack of small fry who only know how to talk.”

“My friend scolded them, apparently.”

“So that’s it,” Selen said, satisfied.

Their eyes were fixed on Zeke, arms folded, silently observing the village.

“I sense no people. If anyone lived here, there would be life force, always…”

Ciel clasped her hands, as if praying, and searched for presence. In two years, she’d learned more than just how to heal.

“Then we’ll have to search the village directly. My friend—shall we go in?”

“Don’t. It’s too late. We’re moving on.”

Zeke declared they would go on without investigating. For Aaron, who usually saw Zeke as cautious in his own way, that decisive call was unexpected.

Even so, Aaron didn’t reject it. He knew his partner didn’t move without thought. —But someone else did object.

“L-Lagias! Don’t just take over! This should be the village in question!”

It was Maenof, Ciel’s escort, raising his voice despite obvious fear. He advanced on Zeke, bringing knights with him.

“If it’s for our mission, we obviously have to search it! And what do you mean, ‘next’?!”

“Are you stupid? Another farming village, obviously.”

Zeke dismissed Maenof with insolent contempt, insulting him without even looking away from the village. That attitude only grated on Maenof further.

“!?…Lady Ciel, please wait here. We will investigate inside, and we will absolutely find a lead. Not Lagias—me!”

With hostility bared, Maenof and the Duke Guard marched into the village.

“Shouldn’t we stop them?” Aaron asked.

“They brought it on themselves. I’m not obligated to guarantee their lives.”

The lead knight stepped into the village.

The moment he did, Ciel caught something.

“Huh? …Oh! A survivor! We did it, Lady Ciel!”

A figure emerged from behind a building—someone dressed like a villager. They approached Maenof’s group with slow steps.

“! A presence appeared suddenly. …But I don’t feel the breath of life from that person.”

Ciel’s serious look made Maenof misunderstand. He saluted, then strode toward the villager himself, like he wouldn’t let anyone else claim the credit.

“Villager—what happened? I, Maenof, will save you.”

“…Aaaah…”

“What? I can’t hear you— …Huh?”

Though the face was hard to see under the lowered head, Maenof noticed the wrongness. The villager’s skin was ashen, drained of vitality. From this distance, a stench—like rot—wafted over.

“A-Aaaah!!”

The villager screamed like they’d snapped, then latched onto a knight behind Maenof.

“W-what?! What are you doing?!”

The knight tried to tear them off. Other knights helped, but it got them nowhere.

“This is bad… I can’t shoot with the knights in the way.”

Selen muttered, raising a magic gun from afar—only to have the knights block her line of fire.

“—! Their mana is spiking rapidly. From that person,” Ciel said.

The knights couldn’t even touch them—heat radiated off the clinging “villager.” The grabbed knight’s armor had started to redden, as if glowing from the heat.

“This is bad… it’s going to detonate,” Selen warned.

“Knights! Get away from there!” Aaron shouted.

But panic drowned him out. Maenof had already collapsed, legs gone.

“Tch. Useless trash.”

Zeke snapped.

Just moments ago he’d been beside Aaron—now he was in front of Maenof.

With Zeke’s spell, the knight and the thing that had once been human were launched upward, skewered by ice pillars. Then ice walls formed around Zeke, enclosing the people nearby.

Above them, light flickered.

A violent explosion thundered across the area.