Daydream Believer

As the world leaders got used to their smartphones, they realized just how

useful a tool it actually was.

As far as foreigners went, I handed them out to leaders associated with my

alliance. In Brunhild, my fiancees received one each, and the Babylon Gynoids

all got one as well. Along with Karen, Moroha, the former Takeda Elite Four, the

Knight Commander and Vice-Commanders, Laim and Micah from the Silver

Moon.

I also made sure that their contact addresses only had people they were

familiar with in them. I didn't give Micah the king of Belfast's number, for

example. She had mine, though. Otherwise, the highest rank in her phonebook

was Lain.

She'd be able to register the king's number if he personally told her it, though.

But I didn't want just anyone having a direct line to a national leader.

There were some unintended negative consequences to my introduction of

smartphones, though. People would just send texts or make calls for every little

thing.

The novelty wasn't lost on them, so they were using it as much as they could.

I could understand how they felt, though. They'd likely calm down after a while,

so it was fine.

"This is... tremendous... It's even better than the artifact I currently use for

communication. Are you saying I can truly have this?"

"Yup, I am." I explained the general functions of the phone to Guildmaster

Relisha, and then handed it over to her. I'd come to the guild on important

business.

Relisha had made some tea, so I was drinking it down. It was a little different

to the usual kind, but it tasted great. Relisha had a preference for black tea. She

had a large variety of tea leaves on her office shelves.

"How's the Phrase situation looking?"

"Two Lesser Constructs in Hannock last week. They were taken out by a party

of Red-ranks. It's the third emergence this month. They've been appearing a

little more frequently lately." She wasn't wrong. It seemed like the boundary of

the world was being torn at again. It was good that the ripped areas weren't too

close together, though. If they connected up, then the tears would become

even larger.

If that happened, then they'd open up to the point where Upper Constructs

and Dominant Constructs could come out. That wouldn't be good.

Our options were limited for the time being. We had a few courses of action,

however.

Method One: All-out Phrase Purge

This one was a little extreme. I didn't know how many Phrase existed on the

other side, after all. There'd also be massive loss of life on humanity's front.

Method Two: Phrase Diplomacy

Only the Dominant Constructs seemed capable of intelligent speech. I didn't

think talking with them would do much though, they clearly wanted us dead.

Even if I'd only encountered a couple, the two Dominant Constructs I'd met so

far were volatile and dangerous individuals.

Method Three: Take the Sovereign Core, and Push it Somewhere Else

The world would definitely survive if we sent on the Sovereign to the next

world, but I wouldn't feel comfortable with the ramifications. I'd be putting the

crisis on another society instead. I also had no idea how to do that. It wasn't like

I could just ask God Almighty for advice, either. He had a firm policy of noninterference.

Method Four: Destroy the Sovereign

That would make Ende my enemy. I wasn't keen on that. Plus I had a feeling

that the Sovereign itself wouldn't go out without a fight. I didn't want it to wake

up and for things to get really bad.

Method Five: Repair the World Boundary

I had no idea how to do that.

Each option I had was inconclusive. Realistically, method one would be the

best for tangible progress. Method two would be my default if I met another

Dominant, but even then...

"Oh, right. Got some news out of Yulong. There's a new heavenly emperor

marching around."

"What, again?" How many self-proclaimed rulers can one country even have?

Ever since the old one died, there's been a new heavenly emperor popping up

in every major city. It made the broken remains of the country like a collection

of competing city-states.

"Well, this guy's pretty serious, apparently. He's waged a war against all the

other self-proclaimed leaders and slaughtered them. He's been pretty brutal in

his means so far."

"How so?"

"He's ruthless. Bribery, assassination, he even had one of the homes of his

competitors blown up. The biggest threat though? His Steel Battalion."

"Steel Battalion?" I frowned as I heard Relisha's words. I had some suspicions.

"Just as the name suggests, it's a force of steel soldiers that operate

autonomously. We currently believe they must be based on the Frame Gears, or

some form of plagiarism."

"I knew it..." I figured the stolen Frame Gear parts would come into play at

some point. But they'd managed it sooner than I expected. They must have had

serious technological or financial backing.

And that probably meant, though I was assuming here... Gordian, the Golden

Order, had stolen our parts, created the Iron Soldiers by reverse-engineering

the tech, and brought it over to the new self-proclaimed heavenly emperor in

Yulong. The Golden Order had members ranging from merchants to scholars,

after all, they probably had many contacts.

Hell, it was even possible that this new emperor was a member of the

organization too. I didn't really think he was a blood relative of the previous guy

anyway.

"Tell me more about it? How similar to a Frame Gear is it?"

"Ah, sure. There's definitely a resemblance. Look here, one of our guild

members sketched one. Here, this one." Relisha passed me a slip of paper from

the huge pile on her desk.

"Mm, I see... There's definitely a resemblance." The image depicted a metal

giant with long arms and stubby legs, it was fairly short but made up for that

with how broad it was. It had a short neck too, and generally looked somewhat

malformed. It definitely looked durable and stable, though. Hm... So this is one

of his Steel Battalion...

It sure looks like a Frame Gear... No idea how it'll actually fare in battle

though.

"And how many of these things are there?"

"There isn't an exact number, but our guild report states around one-hundred

exist. He used these machines to attack the other independent cities, and

succeeded in no time at all." That made sense, there was no way a normal

soldier could fare against mechanized infantry. If there were a few they

might've been able to fight back, but not against a hundred.

"So what do you think this new heavenly emperor intends?"

"Likely to unify the entire nation under his banner. He could probably do it

with the support of those machines." The Steel Battalion was definitely

formidable. Unifying Yulong was probably something he could do with their

power, Relisha was right.

What should I do...? The tech was definitely stolen from Brunhild. I don't feel

good about it being used for warfare or anything. But at the same time, I can't

just barge in... I'm a bit mixed in general here...

Still, if Gordian is behind this, then I can't just let it lie. They might have

malicious intentions. Guess I could come up with an easy excuse to interfere.

"Alright, then... They stole our Frame Gear, so let's steal one of theirs. How

about that?"

"Hm?" Relisha raised an eyebrow in surprise.

◇ ◇ ◇

"...And that's why I'm gonna steal one of their Steel Battalion!"

"Ohoho... Superb. I like this idea, Touya. You're gonna let me give it a

thorough, deep analysis when you get it, right?" Doctor Babylon grinned

menacingly towards me as she spoke. She was probably wondering about what

they'd done to her tech.

Yumina, Lu, and Hilde, the three princesses, were staring at me with wide

eyes. Sakura was technically a princess, but she was raised and lived as a regular

noble. Elze, Sue, and Leen also seemed pretty enthusiastic about the idea.

Linze, Yae, and Sakura just seemed a bit puzzled.

"A world leader talking about something so dishonorable as stealing? Just

what are you planning?"

"Don't call it stealing! Call it, uh... Unauthorized eternal borrowing."

"That's the same thing!" Hilde frowned. She was the honest type, so it made

sense.

"It's fine, I'll hide my identity. Look!"

"You are wearing that again, you are?" Yae sighed a bit as she recognized the

silver oni mask. It seemed to have a bit of a negative connotation with her for

some reason. But I loved it, it let me hide my real identity and also go all-out!

"Then if you steal these machines... Will you be going alone, will you?"

"Nah, I was thinking of taking Tsubaki and Kohaku with me. I don't want too

big of a group, it'll increase the chances of getting caught."

"I want to go, too. Can't I, Touya?"

"You can't."

"Hmph. Bully..." I promptly rejected Sue's request. I didn't expect her to be at

any risk with me, but there was still the chance things could go wrong.

I didn't tell Kousaka about this, either. He would've absolutely vetoed the

idea.

"Why're you doing this, though? Isn't it fine just to leave them be?"

"I don't know if they'll use their mechanized soldiers against other nations

afterward. Felsen, Hannock, Xenoahs, Roadmare... I want to know the potential

of the enemy, just in case."

"Then why do you have to go and do it, Touya?"

"It's my personal prediction, not a national one. I can't have someone do this

on my or Brunhild's behalf." I gave general replies to Elze and Linze, but in truth

I wanted to find out the true mastermind and take them out for good.

There was just one thing I was worried about.

The king of Felsen had talked about the former Golden Order's ambitions.

"These people attempt to revive ancient techniques and make use of them,

out of sight. This is the purpose of Gordian, the Golden Order."

It made me wonder if their goals were still the same. If this Neo-Gordian

Order was trying to revive the same kind of forbidden magic.

I had a hunch that aiding the current claimant to Yulong's throne was a part of

their ambitions. I couldn't say for sure, though. It was just a gut feeling.

My gut feelings tend to be right, though... Is this an effect of my divinity,

perhaps? Eh... I guess that's fine... It's not like it's an issue.

Using such ancient, taboo techniques took a lot of power. They wouldn't

easily be able to do such a thing. The possibility of it being dangerous or

destructive was extremely high, and they could probably cause a major incident

by invoking something so primal.

If that was the case, then I had to take them out before it got to that point. I

needed to acquire solid proof of their activities before I could make my move,

though.

I had a feeling I was going to be in for a wild ride.

◇ ◇ ◇

The former glorious capital of Yulong, Shenghai, was now no more than a pile

of rubble and trash. There was no trace of the gaudy city that sat there once

before.

The Phrase had done a real number on the place, and it honestly made me

more than a little uncomfortable. Just looking around really gave a sense of

scale for the awesome power that Upper Constructs wielded.

Our group had just gated over from Brunhild, when Kohaku suddenly raised a

warning growl.

Kohaku was glaring off in a certain direction, and it didn't take long for us to

see a group of vagrants heading toward us in that direction. They were holding

knives and axes.

"Hooh... Boy... Leave your money, leave the girl. If you do that, we'll let you

live. Scram." One of the men raised a dirty laugh as he yelled. The girl he was

referring to was Tsubaki, who stood by my side.

"Who are they?"

"Likely a group of scavengers. They're probably salvaging valuables from the

remains of the capital."

So they're vultures... Gross. A group of villains, more like.

"Bastard! You listenin' to me?!"

"I'm not deaf. I can hear you just fine." They were way too impatient, it was a

real annoyance. They surrounded us in a circle, knives at the ready.

"Burst forth, Fire! Crimson Eruption: [Explosion]!" I had a feeling they

weren't interested in diplomacy, so I aimed an explosive spell at a nearby

mound of rubble. A massive sound echoed out as the debris fizzled out into

nothing.

Huh? Were my spells always that strong? Is this another side effect of my

divinity? I wondered if I'd end up joining the actual gods at the rate I was going.

Immortality definitely didn't sound like a bad deal.

"Eeeeeek!"

"Shit, it's a mage! Get the hell outta here, boys!" The would-be bandits began

to scatter in all directions.

So it's already this lawless, huh...? Guess I'll head toward wherever the new

heavenly emperor is. I pulled up my map and made it display the surrounding

area.

"Uh... Let's see here... The new capital was called Heilong, right?"

"That's correct. Right here... Northwest of our current position."

"Alrighty, let's get going."

"W-Wait a moment... Do you intend to fly there?"

"Huh? Yeah. Why?"

Kohaku and Tsubaki made pained expressions. Seemed like they hated flying

just as much as the others did.

I could've used [Teleport], but I wasn't used to operating it at long range, so I

didn't want to appear above a river or something. Seemed like I had no choice.

"...Alright, then. I'll go to Heilong myself and open up a [Gate] for you guys

when I land."

"That would be greatly appreciated..."

"Y-Yes, it very much would be." If I knew they'd be so fussy, I would've

brought Gungnir. Still, I could fly faster than any machine all on my own, so it'd

be fine.

It was fine by me really. All I had to do was invoke [Fly] and then zap off at full

speed.

It took me about three minutes to get there at my top speed. As the

landscape shifted beneath me, my eyes finally settled upon a city. It was

Heilong, the new capital.

Man... That was just a three minute flight, why'd they have to make such a big

deal about it? I grumbled as I made my descent into a forested area.

Once I was out of sight, I opened up a [Gate] to Shenghai. Kohaku and Tsubaki

came through a few moments later.

"Alright, we're ready. Oh wait, I gotta disguise myself." I used [Mosaic] to

censor my body as I quickly changed my clothing. The people of my old world

would associate such mosaic censorship with stark nudity... But I didn't quite

strip down to that degree.

"How... fancy..." Tsubaki stared at my Silver Oni outfit and had a fairly

interesting reaction. I was a little surprised, since the getup didn't seem

particularly gaudy to me. Mask and hakama aside, it didn't strike me as all that

special.

"N-Not the color or style or anything, it's just... Your outfit just feels... Evil? I

know this is a mission to steal and all, but... It doesn't feel very befitting of a

ninja."

Hmph... Being berated by a ninja feels a little funny... Still, no big deal. Not like

we're here solely for infiltration, after all.

I took Tsubaki and Kohaku with me to Heilong. There was a little bit of trouble

at the gate, but we managed to bribe the guard for entry. It was at this point

that I realized how corrupt the guardsmen were in the area. They felt out of

place.

Heilong was a traditional Chinese-styled castle town. It had various rows of

red-tiled houses lining the streets. There was a tall tower in the distance, and

some stalls lining the street paths. I saw some paper lanterns here and there,

too.

There was a large castle around the middle of the town, too. I didn't get a

good look at it, though. Walls were too high.

It was a town with a lot of things in it, here and there. I saw people shuffling

around lifelessly, like they were depressed. I suddenly felt a strange sensation,

though.

"Kind of feels like we're being watched..."

"That's because we are. You're being stared at."

"...I told you that your outfit stood out as evil, didn't I?"

Bleh... No point worrying about it now. Besides, people are just looking.

"So, now what?"

"Intel, Tsubaki. You need to collect info on the Steel Battalion. Kohaku, you go

guard her. If you can find information on where they are and who made them,

that'd be ideal. Don't chase after them or anything, just get the information if

you can. We'll meet up again tonight."

"Understood."

"Yes, my lord. I'll contact you if anything happens." Tsubaki and Kohaku

promptly vanished into the hustle and bustle.

I decided to take it upon myself to hear from the townsfolk about the new

heavenly emperor.

"Hm... One would typically go to a bar for this kinda thing, right?" Even

though I was following that logic, it was still midday. I decided that checking out

a store or a restaurant would be just as good. I hadn't eaten lunch either, so it

was good timing.

"Uhh... Hm. I'll go there, then." I headed toward the roadside and sat in a

weathered old chair. There was a menu on the nearby table, but I didn't

recognize any of the dishes at all. I wondered what this 'Meat Ramein' thing

was, especially. Presumably it had meat in it, but I didn't know about what kind

of meat.

"...Whaddya buyin'?" The stall owner called out to me suspiciously. His eyes

were fixed on me, like he was concerned. It was probably because of my mask.

"Ah, er... I'll have that meat ramein."

"Sure. One meat ramein comin' right up." I decided to people watch as I

waited for my food. I saw people coming and going all over the place. I suddenly

noticed a distinct lack of women and children in the crowd.

I noticed a disproportionate amount of young armed men walking around.

They were wearing pauldrons with a shape that vaguely resembled a Dragon's

head. I wondered if they were the town militia.

Some kind of incident going on? That's a lotta guards walking around...

"Here. Meat ramein."

"...Wait a second..." I looked down at the bowl of noodles and meat and came

to a stunning realization.

Ramein is just ramen! Wait, no... They're a little different. The noodles are

thinner and shorter. Kinda looks like somen, though.

I slurped up the soup, but it was way too thin and gruel-like. The noodles kind

of tasted cheap, too. Kind of like the sort of food you'd get on a plane or in a

hospital. The meat was tough too, almost like beef jerky. I thought it might

soften if I dipped it a bit in the soup, but... Nope, it was as tough as a leather

boot.

Well whatever, let's just chow down... This is... Huh...? What the hell's with

this flavor and texture...? It kinda tastes like... rubber? It kinda smells raw,

almost...? What the hell kind of meat is this thing? Seriously.

"Hey, shopkeep. What meat is this, anyway?"

"Troll flank steak."

"Hgh... K-Keep the change!" I slammed a copper coin down on the table and

promptly left.

Wh-What the hell are you trying to feed me, here?! What the hell...

I grumbled in quiet disgust, but I didn't want to make it too obvious on my

face.

This area of the country was near Xenoahs' border, so it seemed like some

kind of demonic fusion in their cuisine was going on. From what I understood,

people of noble families like Sakura and Spica culturally avoided eating the

meats of magical beasts. It was hardly tasty, so I didn't blame them for not

partaking.

It was true that we'd eaten Dragon meat in the past, though... But that taste

was on a whole other level than something like troll meat. I wondered if

perhaps Dragons had evolved to be so powerful in order to avoid being hunted

for their tasty meat.

I wanted to drink something to wash the bad taste out of my mouth, but I

didn't want to check out a store and get something bad again. I opened up my

[Storage] and took out a thermos of water.

Aaah! After that crap, even this normal water tastes amazing... Hm...?

"Scour the area! They can't be far! Keep looking, fools!" A fuss had been

kicked up all of a sudden. There were soldiers all over the place. It seemed like

they were looking for someone, which meant something must have happened.

"You there! I've never seen you before! What's with the mask?" One of the

soldiers glared at me. I wasn't too surprised, really. I looked super suspicious.

"I'm just a travelin' adventurer, son... Burnt my face real bad back in the day,

so I wear this mask ta mask them there scars."

"Really? Prove it!" I quietly used [Mirage] to change my face beneath the

mask. The soldier approached me quickly, so I began to remove the mask. The

image he was presented with was a grizzled, hideously scarred man.

"Ugh... Alright, got it. Put it back on." The soldier was visibly nauseous after

seeing 'my' face. I put my mask back on and used the chance to get a little more

information out of him.

"What's happened, hm? What's the noise all about?"

"It's troubling, but we're after dangerous criminals. They attempted to kill His

Greatness the Heavenly Emperor. A group of two men and a single woman.

They likely serve one of the other fakers claiming to be the real rulers..."

Oh my... Is this just what happens in Yulong? Assassination attempts all day?

Apparently he'd been attacked in his courtyard. The bigger issue was the fact

that assassins had managed to get this far, though. The heavenly emperor was

successfully defended by his personal guard, and the would-be assassins made

their escape.

"One of the males in their group, a man wielding a bo staff, was injured

around the shoulder. If you see anyone like that, let us know." The soldier

nodded toward me before dashing off. Yulong seemed like it was dangerous as

ever.

Man, this is totally unrelated to me, but... The enemy of my enemy is my

friend, right?

"Let's see here..." I opened up the map on my smartphone. I didn't want to

attract too much attention or anything, so I didn't project it. Though I had the

feeling I stood out enough anyway.

"Search. Man with wounded shoulder."

"Search complete. One in local vicinity." Bingo. I didn't know the guy, but it

seemed like he still had a wound so noticeable that it was still showing.

I thought perhaps they'd have patched it up with light magic, but it seemed

like there wasn't anyone capable of casting it in their group. Nobody must have

brought a potion, either.

I decided to go and track the guy down. I was a little guarded, however. I

didn't want to get suicide bombed right in the face again.

"Hmm..." I headed off from the street and found myself in a dense expanse of

bamboo, there were few people in the area.

This place seems like the prime spot for a panda to live... Wait no, pandas

probably aren't normal in this world... They probably end up wisecracking and

learning kung-fu or something.

I walked down the beaten path as such thoughts passed my mind, but then I

paused.

They're here. I felt the presence of two others. One felt different. The

different one had already noticed me and was already coming toward me. Wait,

from above?!

"HAAAAAH!"

"Augh!" The dense mass of bamboo provided the perfect cover for attack,

and I just barely managed to avoid the strike. My attacker landed, launching a

flurry of blows that I expertly parried, before sweeping out with a mighty kick

that I just barely avoided by jumping back. They were wearing a dark black robe

that covered their entire body, but they had a voice that reminded me of a

woman's.

We clashed again before jumping back and establishing a good distance. The

hooded woman suddenly raised her palm and pointed it in my direction.

Wait a second...!

"Haaah!!" She blasted a shockwave toward me and I just barely dulled the

impact with a cross counter. I knew that move! The attacker didn't relent,

closing the gap in under a second and unleashing a merciless barrage of fists

upon my body.

I darted to the side and made a sweeping kick toward her legs. She fell off

balance and immediately jumped back, flipping in mid-air as she moved. The

jump caused the hood of her cloak to fall away, revealing her true identity.

"Aaaahaaa! I knew it!"

"Mh?!" The dragongirl retreated cautiously as I spoke, beady eyes trained on

me.

She was none other than the woman I'd met in the Sea of Trees, the

dragongirl who had furiously fought Elze during the pruning, Sonia Parallem.

"What's going on here?! What're you doing out in Yulong? Wait, does that

mean the injured staff guy is Rengetsu?"

"...Who are you?"

"Huh? Oh, right! You can't tell because of the outfit." I was still wearing my

mask, so I pulled at a string and let it fall to the ground.

"See? It's me!"

"Who are you?!"

"Huh?" Sonia was startled by my face for some reason. That was when I

remembered I'd forgotten to undo [Mirage], so I looked absolutely horrifying. I

quickly dispelled the illusion on my face. Sonia had a Mystic Eye that allowed

her to see through illusions, but it seemed like she had to actively invoke it. She

was similar to Yumina and Her Holiness the Pope in that regard.

"See? It's me. Mochizuki Touya."

"Touya...?!" Seemed like she finally had a grasp of what was going on. I sure

as hell had no idea why she was in Yulong, though.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Come forth, Light! Calm of the Goddess: [Mega Heal]!" I used one of my

stronger restoration spells on Rengetsu. The cut on his shoulder was patched up

in a matter of seconds.

"...Most incredible. It's just as it was before." Rengetsu stood up and smiled

as he rolled his shoulder around.

"Still... Why are you here in Yulong, Touya? Or, er... Your Highness the Grand

Duke of Brunhild..."

"Ah, don't bother with the formal stuff. I'm traveling in secret, remember?

Right now I'm just the Silver Oni, a wandering warrior from Eashen." I very

quickly intercepted Rengetsu's attempt to bow down. I didn't want my identity

exposed or anything. Still, it seemed like Sonia's interest had been piqued.

"Let's put that aside from now, I have a question. I've heard about a group of

three that attempted to assassinate the new heavenly emperor. Is that you

guys?"

"Assassinate? Is that what they're saying? It's certainly true that we broke in

and attempted to take his life. But that was no mere assassination attempt.

That was justice."

"Guh... That damned Xiaofah! We got so close, but his guards were stronger

than we expected..." Sonia spoke with anger backing her words.

"Xiaofah?"

"The new heavenly emperor, or so he claims. Chieh Xiaofah. Even though he

claims divine heritage, he's nothing more than a weaselly adventurer who

became an even slimier thief." Rengetsu spoke with bitterness behind his voice.

Thief, you say? What's that mean?

"Ever since the great Phrase invasion of Yulong, there have been a lot of

people who showed up claiming they held the rights to the throne. The late

heavenly emperor definitely slept around a lot, so him having a large number of

successors isn't all that surprising, honestly. But the concubines and their

children, as well as his legal wife, all died when Shenghai blew up. Even his

directly known sons that escaped the blast ended up being killed a while ago.

That's why it's almost impossible to verify who's lying or not in their claims

nowadays." That all made sense to me. If a person fabricated a story, all they

really had to do was show some kind of object that backed it up, and that would

be enough for the foundation of a reasonable claim.

But there were no longer any items in the world that people could use as solid

evidence, especially since the capital city was gone.

And so, naturally it just came down to talent or strength. By displaying his

might, the candidate could receive powerful support.

But that too wasn't without risk. The others claiming to be the heirs wouldn't

just roll over and accept defeat. If anything they'd be galvanized to attack each

other in order to assert dominance.

"Xiaofah is one such candidate asserting his dominance. He brought out a rare

item known as the Heavenly Seal. He claimed that it was definitive proof that he

was part of the previous leader's bloodline, as it's a royal treasure from the

Yulong imperial family."

"So he's actually related to the previous guy?"

"Absolutely not. The Heavenly Seal is a precious item that was excavated from

a ruin. He coldly murdered the adventurer who found it, and is now trying to

claim he's had it all his life."

So he swiped it, huh...? Then that means the item he has might not even be

legitimate, either.

"The adventurer that he killed was a man who did a lot for the two of us. He

looked after us when we were young and inexperienced. We must murder

Xiaofah and avenge his death!"

"Normally a guy like him wouldn't be recognized, even with the Heavenly

Seal... But he managed to obtain a frightening force from somewhere else. I'm

referring to his—"

"His Steel Battalion, yeah." Rengetsu nodded at my words.

So a man suddenly appeared with Yulong's Heavenly Seal, and a battalion of

mechanized soldiers. It certainly seemed enough to assert one's dominance in

the rat race.

But I definitely wondered where he'd obtained his technology. I really didn't

want to find out Gordian was pulling the strings here, but I had a bad feeling in

general about it. "By the way Tou... Oni Warrior, why are you here?"

"Ah... His Steel Battalion is based on technology stolen from my country. I just

came here for a little bit of payback."

"Oh, interesting... They certainly are a technological marvel. But I believe that

the Frame Gear I saw fighting those Wood Golems was much more powerful

than the Steel Battalion I've seen fighting so far." That much was obvious. The

ones in Yulong were reverse-engineered pieces of crap in comparison. But I still

couldn't afford to make light of them, they were based on serious tech.

Hm? Who's that...

"Sonia! Rengetsu! Are you alright! Who is this masked man?!"

"It's okay, Jesty. This is a friend of ours. He healed Rengetsu's injury." I was

worried we'd been found by the city militia, but I'd been mistaken. It was

another fellow wearing the same robe as Sonia and Rengetsu. From what I

understood, the two of them had stayed behind to let him escape, but he

ended up coming back for them.

"Touy— Oni Warrior... This is Jesty Parallax. He's the son of the adventurer we

mentioned just before."

Damn... This really is a revenge mission. The man referred to as Jesty Parallax

took his hood down. His hair was short and brown, and his eyes seemed to be

hazel in color. I estimated his age at around twenty-one or twenty-two. He was

roughly a hundred and eighty centimeters tall.

He was certainly taller than average. Rengetsu was about my height, but

Sonia was taller than the two of us. Apparently the draconic clan had many tall

women.

Hm... I'm only around a hundred and seventy centimeters right now. I-I'm still

growing, right? I'd like to get at least five centimeters more... W-Wait, hopefully

my body doesn't stop growing entirely if I fully awaken as a God or something...

"A pleasure. I'm Jesty Parallax. Thank you for healing my friend."

"Hm? Oh, seriously. It's no problem." As I was lost in thought about height, I

was greeted by the newcomer. He seemed to be a pretty kind and cheerful

young man.

"Alright, staying here isn't gonna do us any good... [Gate]." I opened up the

same portal that I'd connected to the former capital a while ago.

"Let's go." I ignored the triple assault of stunned faces and walked through

my portal. After a brief period, all three of them followed through. Sonia came

first, followed by Jesty and then Rengetsu.

"We're..."

"We're in the former capital of Yulong, Shenghai."

"Seriously? That's way far..."

"Incredible... This is the power of transportation magic..."

The three of them looked around with wonder, when Sonia suddenly adopted

a combat stance. Seemed like she noticed something.

"Hooh... Boys... Leave your money, leave the girl. If you do that, we'll let you

live. Scram."

"...Again, really?" The gang I'd encountered earlier came scuttling out of the

shadows, like cockroaches.

Seriously guys? You're doing the exact same thing you did before.

They didn't seem to realize it was me, probably because of the mask and the

different getup.

"[Paralyze]."

"Gwaugh!" I quickly used my smartphone to incapacitate the entire group of

dumbasses. Seemed like scaring them wasn't enough, so I wanted to humiliate

them and hope that would drive the message in a bit more.

"So, back to what you guys were saying earlier. If this guy becomes the

heavenly emperor, what'll happen?"

"We're unsure, but we doubt anything good. You saw his town, right? The

lack of women and children? That's because his men are unreasonably violent.

They're also extorting money from the stores and businesses within the city

walls. A lot of merchants have left the city entirely, so trade is largely

stagnating. Even if their goods did come back, they'd just be diverted to the

castle. The people shuffle around lifelessly because they're just waiting to die.

He doesn't care."

Hmph... Was that shitty ramen caused by this, too...? Maybe not.

"Why is he collecting so much money, then?"

"It's for his Steel Battalion. He's trying to improve them further, and mass

produce them. According to our sources, a vast amount of raw construction

materials were brought to his castle a few days ago." Jesty answered me

quickly. It seemed like they were producing the units inside the castle itself,

then.

I did wonder where he was getting such vast quantities of materials, though.

If he had connections with the Golden Order, then it was probably from Felsen.

"If we leave him be, he will surely use his Steel Battalion to wage war on other

nations in the future. He doesn't want Yulong, this is just a convenient place for

him to flex his muscles. He'd much rather focus on more prosperous nations.

And there are some countries bordering Yulong that are doing very decently."

Sonia was probably right.

Which country would he attack, though... We've got Roadmare and Xenoahs...

That'd be bad. Eashen's a possible target, but it's across a lot of water.

If I were him, then... I'd target Hannock. It might be protected a bit by a river,

but a united Yulong could easily stomp it to pieces. There are also a lot of mines

in Hannock, so taking it would be strategic. He could bolster the numbers of his

Steel Battalion if he conquered that place.

His intentions were probably to conquer Hannock with the Steel Battalion,

and establish a new kingdom using that place as the base. He probably viewed

Yulong as a lost cause, something that would cost far too much time, money,

and effort to rebuild. That would explain why he was hoarding money and

goods, and letting the people suffer and die. He was going to abandon Yulong

as soon as he found a better piece of land.

He was proclaiming himself the heavenly emperor so he could have a

legitimate excuse for building his army, but it was all a temporary measure to

him.

"...Yeah, that sounds about right."

"You agree, then? Even if it doesn't have anything directly to do with us, we

can't simply turn a blind eye to this situation! Lives are at stake, we must do

something!" Jesty clenched his fists, the determination on his face was

palpable. He was pursuing the man that killed his father, so such a reaction was

only natural.

"We cornered him a long time ago, you know? This was before he was doing

his whole heavenly emperor thing, too... But we failed and he escaped. If only

we'd managed to kill him back then..." I didn't think that lamentation was going

to do us any good. What mattered was what we could do going forward, not

what we couldn't do in the past.

"I should get some information from my friends soon, they're investigating

the situation in the capital right now. Incidentally... have you guys heard of the

Golden Order?"

"Not ringing any bells here... Rengetsu, Jesty? What about you."

"Not I."

"Nope, never heard of them." All three of them shook their heads.

I wasn't too surprised, it was a secret society. Information on them wasn't

supposed to come easily.

"What is this Golden Order, exactly?"

"It's a secret society that might be behind the Steel Battalion's creation. They

might be backing Xiaofah as well."

"Ah, well... Now that you mention it... Two of the men guarding him were

wearing unusual golden pendants around their necks." Sonia seemed to

remember something all of a sudden.

"Pendants?"

"It was a six... No, seven-sided shape. One with a golden circle in the middle

of it, that's what I recall at least." Sonia used a stick to draw out a basic image

on the ground.

Interesting... The pendants being gold was suspicious enough, but it being

seven-sided made it even more curious. From what Leen had told me, I

understood that in this world the heptagon was a shape that represented

magic. Or, more specifically, the seven pools of magic. Fire, water, wind, earth,

light, dark, and null.

The Golden Order was a group built around magic, so it was likely that this

pendant could've been their symbol.

I better ask the king of Felsen about this... Wait, that reminds me, I never gave

him a smartphone! I had no choice. I pulled out my phone and started scrolling

through my contacts list. Eventually, I came to Laim, our household butler.

"'Sup, Laim. You hear me okay?" I asked him to use the Gate Mirror to send a

letter to the king of Felsen. It was a simple enough message, asking for him to

send over any picture of the Golden Order's emblem if he knew about it.

I figured it'd take a while to wait, so I took out a couple tables and chairs from

[Storage], seated us all, and then pulled out some tea and donuts.

I should've just eaten these to begin with... I'm never gonna get the taste of

troll off my tongue. But I guess I shouldn't close myself off from new

experiences... This one just happened to be really, really bad.

The other three were surprised at my sudden inexplicable production of a full

table and chair set, but they quickly shrugged and began devouring the snacks

I'd set out. They must've been hungry. Sonia seemed especially starved. I

wondered if draconians needed to eat more than humans. I didn't mind though,

there were plenty of donuts to go around.

I started munching down on the donut I'd picked up. It was tremendously

good. But that was to be expected, it was baked by none other than Crea, after

all.

Most of the donuts were gone by the time I received a text message from

Laim. He'd attached an image to it and sent it without any trouble. He was

surprisingly adept with the smartphone for a man his age.

I looked at the image I'd been sent.

"Guess I was right, then." A heptagon with a golden circle in the middle.

With that, I had my definitive proof. This new heavenly emperor absolutely

had ties with the Neo Golden Order.