Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou

Volume 11, Chapter 2: A True Hero

“We’ve lost track of the empress’s ship?” repeated Lily.

That classified information had been brought to her by Junko.

The two of them were facing each other on either side of the student council room’s desk.

“It only just happened,” whispered Junko. “This is naturally top secret, so do not tell anyone else.”

“Who did it?”

Lily’s expression was halfway between confusion and rage. She seemed to have some definite suspicions, but Junko could not answer.

“We have no information on that yet, but he is with them, so they should be fine no matter what happens.”

Lily tapped her desk in irritation.

“You mean Sai Akuto? I agree it’s silly to worry about the empress’s safety. I’m asking whether this was CIMO 8’s doing or not.”

Junko had her doubts about Lily’s attitude.

“President, what do you want to do about this?”

Lily’s mouth twisted into a grin.

“If you don’t know that, you haven’t been paying attention. I don’t like CIMO 8 and I want to crush them,” she stated clearly. “Ever since that Nonimora girl showed up, everyone’s been interested in the future of the empire, but I only care about crushing that group.”

“But that is nothing more than a personal grudge. I only agreed to your summons because I wanted to protect Keena and the others from this conspiracy.”

Junko leaned forward angrily, but Lily calmly reached out and flicked the girl’s forehead.

“Don’t be stupid. Just be honest and say you’re doing it for Sai Akuto. And let me tell you one thing: whether you’re talking about politics or whatever else, most of the world runs on personal grudges. After all, the human race has managed to use the power of grudges to evolve. Remember that. We will be priests one day and by then it’s too late to be surprised.”

“Now you are just being crazy,” complained Junko while holding her forehead.

“Whether you believe it or not, you’ll see it firsthand before long. You’ll see what kind of work goes into protecting this empire. Your Hattori family might even receive orders directly from CIMO 8. But I think I know how you’d handle that given how you disobeyed orders in the past.”

“That was…”

“You don’t have to defend yourself. If you understand the theory behind this, then go convince your father.”

“Eh?”

Lily’s sudden topic change confused Junko.

“The Imperial Knights were shot down, so the rest of the knights aren’t going to stay quiet. But CIMO 8 will have made preparations to avoid that. My guess is they’ll blame it on the Merlai.”

“Oh… I get it.”

“And if it comes to war, the Hattori family will act as commander. But we also need to make sure it doesn’t come to war. If a nation’s ruler does a good job of reading the general atmosphere of the people, a war isn’t hard to start.”

Lily was suitably convincing and Junko pulled away from the desk while feeling embarrassed her own thoughts had not made it that far.

“Understood.”

“Civilian control is meaningless. Propaganda and conspiracies are the way to win,” said Lily with a smile. “That’s what makes this so dangerous.”

At that point, a telepathic call arrived from Hiroshi.

“Oh, excuse me. …What is it?”

Hiroshi’s frantic voice reached her mind.

“Understood. Please provide periodic reports on their location.”

Lily closed the connection and grinned.

“Good. They’ve started moving.”

“Hiroshi is pursuing them, right? Should I go too?” asked Junko.

“No.” Lily shook her head. “Deal with your father first. And if Hiroshi’s found someone, it means they’re a decoy. They’d never miss his shoddy attempt at tailing them. However, this definitely means they’ve started moving, so we just have to check in the opposite direction from Hiroshi.” She spoke calmly. “I need to make sure the three officers are ready to move when his next report comes in.”

“I see…”

Junko realized she was no match for this student council president.

Lily’s conjecture turned out to be dead on.

Kei and The One watched as Rubbers and Hiroshi moved away between the buildings of the capital’s city center.

They were still in public, so The One communicated telepathically.

It was early afternoon and the two of them were in the government district. They looked like a wealthy and beautiful boy walking a large dog.

“Well, when he turns off the rubber form, he’s just a large bald man.”

Kei spoke aloud and laughed.

“It must have been during the war at the school. I don’t know the details, but I don’t like that boy who owns the Brave suit. After all, he must be an acquaintance of Kento’s.”

Kei’s smile vanished in an instant and he sent a cold glare toward Hiroshi’s receding back.

asked The One as if the mention of Kento had reminded him.

“We met the day before, so we talked about a lot, but nothing was all that different. He didn’t suspect me at all.”

“He didn’t say anything more than you have. He did say we have to acquire it all costs, though.”

asked The One suddenly.

“You sure are insistent.” Kei laughed. “And yes, there are no problems.”

The boy and dog entered a nearby building.

“You thought you’d lost us, but we’re still following you, arinsu.”

Ootake Michie laughed while hiding on a nearby rooftop. She was one of the three officers of the student council and she specialized in using small mechanical life forms, so she also specialized in tracking people.

“Something bothers me about that building,” said Yoshie with a tilt of the head.

It was unclear if she had been listening to Michie’s bragging or not. She pushed up the goggles she used as binoculars and turned to the small L’Isle-Adam next to her.

“Keisu, do you remember anything?”

“No, nothing. But I’m well aware that I’m not very smart.”

That was not modesty. Keisu was quite dumb for a L’Isle-Adam and she had a harder time thinking things through than a human. Her clothes and speech were old fashioned and she could be called the very first L’Isle-Adam.

“Oh, that’s right.” Yoshie turned to Michie. “Now, how should we pursue them?”

Yoshie and Keisu were working with the three officers in order to add Keisu’s analysis ability and Yoshie’s newly made mana canceler to Michie’s tracking ability. Keisu’s mana could not be detected by modern systems, so Yoshie had used that and successfully created a field around Keisu that hid people from the Gods. As Hiroshi drew CIMO 8’s attention, they had successfully hidden themselves.

“We can’t exactly enter the building, arinsu. I’ll contact Arnoul and Kanna who we had chase after them, arinsu.”

Michie sent an encrypted telepathic call to Arnoul and Kamiyama Kanna, the other two student council officers.

However, she did not receive the answer she wanted.

But then Kanna’s voice grew surprised.

“So they’re going even deeper.”

That comment reminded Yoshie of something, so she brought a hand to her forehead and thought.

After a moment, she suddenly clapped her hands and immediately contacted Fujiko telepathically.

“Hey, Etou-san. Do you remember the coordinates from that incident?”

“Understood. I will discuss this with the student council president first. Do not take any hasty actions until I do.”

Fujiko sounded calm enough, but she was actually seething with anger. The only reason she had not immediately taken action was due to her self-preservation instincts winning out over her anger.

She visited the student council room and suddenly spoke under the assumption that the three officers had already contacted the president.

“This would take a long time to explain.”

“I heard what Kita Yoshie said secondhand, but it wasn’t enough to understand it. What exactly is this about?” asked Lily. “All I know is that there’s something under that building.”

Fujiko lowered her voice so no one else could hear.

“I checked the coordinates and that is the place where the demon king resurrection ceremony was held. Although only Soga Keena and I went there, so almost no one remembers it.”

“Back then, huh?” Lily was left almost speechless. “I only heard about that ‘resurrection’, but it is true he came back from there as a true demon king.”

“Yes. I placed him in the device.”

Fujiko sounded somehow proud of that fact.

“But if they’re going there, does it mean what I think it means?”

Lily looked concerned for once and Fujiko nodded.

“They are attempting to create a new demon king.”

“But Sai Akuto was most likely born somewhere else, right? So why are they going there?”

“To be born as a demon king like Akuto-sama was, you of course must be born as a child. It is also possible only one such individual can exist at a single time.”

“Then that’s all the more reason why a normal person couldn’t become a demon king.”

Lily almost sounded like she was trying to put herself at ease, but Fujiko shook her head.

“I do not like to show off my own failure, but remember when Akuto-sama started a war in this academy?”

“Yes? What about it?”

“To produce the mana waves needed to control the demonic beasts, I cultivated some of Akuto-sama’s cells, but that rubber man stole them.”

“That guy known as Rubbers? I doubt Sai Akuto would be careless enough to let someone cultivate his cells now, but there’s nothing he can do if it had already happened. Anyway, are you saying it’s possible to turn a normal person into a demon king by adding in those cells?” Lily stood up. “If we know the coordinates, we can transfer there. If we do so from inside the school, we can rely on the academy’s resources.”

“It looks like we have no other choice,” said Fujiko with a shrug.

“You want me to come back? They knew I was following them from the beginning?”

Hiroshi was left dumbfounded after he was telepathically informed of the truth.

He had already spent a long time tracking the man. He had received this telepathic call just after finding it odd that his target had left the city center and entered a building that was under construction.

When he carefully observed the skinhead man once more, the man turned around. His skin grew black as it transformed into the rubber indicated by his name. He stared directly at Hiroshi as he became perfectly smooth and non-human. This was the face of Rubbers that Hiroshi had seen before.

“So I was tricked,” muttered Hiroshi.

Unexpectedly, Rubbers spoke.

“That’s right.”

That sharp reply in a deep male voice was accompanied by his right arm quickly extending.

Hiroshi realized he could not evade, so he simply muttered the word “Brave”. The transfer field created when the suit transferred in defended against the arm.

It was unclear if Rubbers could feel pain because he grinned as his arm was harshly deflected.

“Having a guy do it feels a bit different from a girl. Having it be a girl is better of course.”

Hiroshi frowned at the perverted feel of his tone.

“You say some strange things. Anyway, I don’t have time to deal with you. You can play on your own.”

The day’s work was already complete at the construction site, so there was no one around. Hiroshi activated the suit’s flight ability and began to ascend.

“Hold it! I was simply told to stall for time!”

Rubbers extended his arm again and grabbed at Hiroshi’s foot.

“Kh!”

Hiroshi gave up on rising and swung the high frequency blade equipped on his right arm. This caused Rubbers to let go and return his arm to normal.

“Are you aware you can’t win in a straight fight?” asked Hiroshi to provoke his opponent.

But Rubbers showed no sign of being affected by it.

“Well aware,” he said mockingly. “No one would be stupid enough to face someone equipped with mana canceler.”

A look of anger reached Hiroshi’s face instead and he moved quickly toward Rubbers.

“That just means I have to take the fight to you!”

But Rubbers remained unfazed despite the fact that any magic user would fear having Brave rush at them.

“That doesn’t matter. I just have to flee.”

Rubbers slipped into the half-constructed building.

“I’m faster than you!”

Hiroshi tried to pursue further, but he stopped when he realized the man had entered a space too narrow for a normal human. He had entered the gap between ceiling and floor that would eventually hold the complex air conditioning system.

“You damn rubber man!”

Hiroshi clicked his tongue.

“I know some of that suit’s shortcomings and I have analyzed your movement patterns.”

Rubbers’s voice echoed from the building’s framework.

“So what?” replied Hiroshi. “You don’t seem able to create a field to shut out the suit’s energy and you don’t seem able to shut down the suit’s devices themselves.”

During his series of battles against the late Empress Kazuko, the weaknesses of the supposedly invincible Brave suit had been made clear. If it was surrounded in a virtual alternate dimension field, its transfer of energy would be cut off. However, only a magician on Kazuko or Akuto’s level could manage that.

Also, the Brave suit itself had been given to him by Yamato Bouichirou. That meant anyone who knew the code could shut it down from the outside. Currently, that code was supposedly held by USD, but USD had not shown himself here.

That left no reason why Hiroshi would lose to Rubbers.

“Like I said, my objective is to buy time. To maintain your reputation, you can’t destroy this building. All I have to do is continue making small, insignificant attacks,” sneered Rubbers.

“Why is USD letting me attack you when he could stop this suit?”

Sensing a contradiction, Hiroshi decided to ask.

“I never know what USD is thinking. Plus, this has nothing to do with him.”

That answer confused Hiroshi.

“What?”

“As you’ve probably guessed, a plan is in motion. USD may have started that plan, but we’ve moved the timetable up without him. This has nothing to do with him.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“Why the hell would I tell you!? Don’t you get it? As long as you’re using that suit, you’re nothing more than a pawn in USD’s game. He has you under his control. If I went ahead and told you everything, I’d be telling it to him!”

Rubbers’s voice grew louder as he continued.

He may have been losing his cool or he may have been delighting at the mental pain he was causing. Either way, Hiroshi understood he could not have a proper conversation with the man. That said, it was clear Rubbers was telling the truth.

“You don’t need to tell me because I already know.”

Hiroshi tried to end the conversation there, but Rubbers was stubborn.

“Not a chance. I don’t know why Yamato Bouichirou chose someone like you. In fact, I don’t even know what he wanted you to do. You have no grand ambitions, you have no real philosophical views, your family is nothing, and you have no ability. Your one virtue is how readily you go along with what people tell you. In other words, it’s easy for certain types of people to make use of you.”

“…Shut up!”

Hiroshi swung his high frequency blade to sever Rubbers’s stretched arm, but he forgot to activate the mana canceler as he did so. The blade was unable to cut through the rubber body and the arm simply bent.

“As a more experienced fighter, let me give you a piece of advice: don’t try to rush things.”

Rubbers mocked Hiroshi’s mistake.

“Tch.”

Hiroshi began searching for a way to leave this place, but an arm extended toward him when he tried to fall back.

“Dammit!”

He grew angry, but not only because he was having difficulty leaving. Rubbers’s comments had been right on the mark.

“You all go help Hiroshi.”

Lily telepathically gave the three officers that instruction. The three of them, Yoshie, and Keisu were surprised, but they obediently replied.

“So it will just be the two of us?” asked Fujiko.

Those two girls were in the demon king’s castle below the academy. Ever since losing Peterhausen, Akuto had stayed away from that area and Fujiko’s remodeling job had given it an eerie atmosphere.

“Is that a problem?”

“Of course it is. We are heading into danger and I can only assume you sent your three officers away for that very reason.”

“Correct. Then again, Hiroshi does seem to be in danger, so it wasn’t a bad decision for that reason either. Anyway, I’ll be doing most of the work, so there’s nothing to worry about. I know you’re quick to flee, so you can start running if it gets dangerous. But I want you with me because you have the most data on the demon king.”

“Fine. I will begin the transfer.”

Fujiko stepped inside the transfer circle, waited for Lily to follow, and entered the coordinates.

The circle glowed and their surroundings completely changed.

Fujiko had seen the new scenery before, but Lily spoke in surprise as she had not.

“This place is huge. I’d have never guessed there was a space like this underground.”

The ceiling was quite a ways up for being underground. A faint light illuminated the thick columns which were similar to those inside buildings and were placed fairly far apart.

It was unclear how far that row of columns extended, but the space was easily larger than a soccer field.

“It may be huge, but I knew the exact coordinates, so the problem lies directly before us,” said Fujiko.

“Yeah. So it seems.”

Lily faced directly forward where a tube extended down from above. It ended at the coffin Akuto had used before. Previously, the coffin had been all alone, but it seemed to have been modified in the short time since then. Various new devices had been attached, the most conspicuous being the aforementioned tube. It may have been an extension to an elevator.

A long-haired dog sat in front of the coffin protecting the person inside.

“A dog?” asked Fujiko doubtfully.

The three officers had indeed reported the target walking with a dog, but it was strange to find just a dog and a person in the coffin.

“We should stay on our guard,” said Lily with a hint of amusement. “There’s a strange look in its eyes.”

“Its eyes? I can’t see them through all the fur.”

Lily bared her teeth in a smile.

“That’s not what I meant. If you change your viewpoint a bit, you’d be able to tell.”

Lily immediately extended a fist to punch the dog, but the only one surprised by the action was Fujiko.

“What are you doing!?”

“Hah. That’s no ordinary dog.”

Lily’s fist stopped right in front of the dog because a mana shield had opened in front of it.

“I see.” Fujiko backed away. “This really isn’t an ordinary dog.”

“Heh. It’s always a surprise every time I meet a new person from CIMO 8. In this case, it isn’t even a ‘person’.”

Lily’s sharp tongue received a response.

“What a rude little girl,” said the dog. “I can tell you did not have a proper upbringing.”

Fujiko was dumbfounded, but Lily seemed to have predicted the dog would speak. Either that or her anger over being called a “little girl” drowned out her surprise.

“Like a dog would have any kind of upbringing whatsoever! I’ll make a nice dog-meat hotpot out of you and then throw it out uneaten, so prepare yourself!”

Lily advanced toward the dog.

“It would take a while to explain my upbringing, but I will tell you my codename is The One. I think it is about time you learned the humiliation of being killed by a dog!”

The One intercepted Lily’s advance head on. She specialized in physical combat and he challenged her with his canine body rather than with magic.

“Oryaaah!” roared Lily.

The dog howled in response.

An instant later, Lily cried out in surprise. She had sent out countless punches with both hands, but The One had blocked them all with just his front paws.

“What!?”

The way he stood on his hind legs and quickly moved his short front legs looked like a dog playing with his master. However, Lily was the one being played with here.

“damn you.”

She stopped throwing punches and took a step back.

The One took a breath and exposed his canine teeth in a smile.

“I was not trying to mock me. It just so happens to look facetious when I do it with this body.”

“Thanks for your consideration,” said Lily with a glance to Fujiko.

Fujiko understood what she meant: they had not come here to fight a dog.

“Then let’s keep at it.”

Lily charged forward once more and The One intercepted her again. Their fists and paws clashed once more, but Fujiko took action this time.

However, she did not join in the bizarre battle against a dog. She began running in a wide arc to circle behind The One.

“This was our original goal, so I will stop the demon king creation process!”

“I knew you would try that. And even if we were doing this covertly, you should have given some thought to the fact that no one but me was here for protection.”

Without any real concentration, The One created a mana barrier covering the coffin in front of Fujiko.

“And I expected this much! I can break through a barrier like this!”

She reached out and expanded some mana. Normally, mana grew weaker the farther it was from the magic user’s body. The One may have been able to create a barrier of solidified mana without much concentration, but it would not be difficult to break through if she touched it directly.

But Fujiko’s hand failed to take it apart.

“Impossible!”

At only a few steps away from the coffin, she was blocked by a translucent wall of blue light.

“Why can’t you break through a simple barrier!?” shouted Lily.

However, Fujiko seemed just as confused.

“I don’t know! I can only imagine its composition is different! I can’t break it apart in the slightest!”

“I intertwined the mana in a way that is difficult for humans to imagine,” said The One. “You will never untangle it as long as you think about this normally.”

“Are you really a dog!?”

Lily raised her voice and ran forward to slip past The One, but he circled in front of her with the swiftness of a dog and she was forced to continue the fistfight.

“It does not matter to you who I am. Now, I believe it is about time. assuming Sakura Kei did not die in there, that is.”

Fujiko had been circling around the coffin to find a hole in the barrier, but just as The One finished speaking, she saw a scene she had seen before.

Light leaked from the coffin and steamy smoke rose from the slight gap that opened.

The only difference was the person inside.

“Ah!”

She realized it was already too late and she could only watch as this unknown person stood up before her.

The coffin fully opened and the figure inside came into view.

The action had a bewitching elegance that seemed out of place given the location.

“Eh?”

Fujiko found herself charmed and she stopped trying to break the barrier.

The figure’s lowered head smoothly turned upward and their long hair spread out like a butterfly’s wings. The scene resembled a butterfly leaving the chrysalis. Akuto’s rebirth had been filled with a sinister strength that made it truly look like the birth of a demon king, but this looked more like the birth of a beautiful demon.

“I didn’t think a human could endure it, but it looks like it worked.”

A cruel smile appeared on The One’s canine face.

“You don’t mean…”

Lily stopped fighting, backed away, and gained a look of concern.

“You’ve awoken a new one?” muttered Fujiko.

As if in response, the new demon king spread his arms toward the unseen sky in ecstasy.

“This is…amazing. I can see it all. I can see everyone’s records.”

Kei was not wearing any clothes. Fujiko had originally thought he was a girl, but his lack of clothes told her otherwise. However, she could not look away. His actions were truly beautiful.

“So this is the power of a demon king. Every resource is at my fingertips. I can use everything in the world.”

He raised his hands and clothes flew down to wrap around his body.

“Not even I’m sure if I transferred these here or created them.”

He then turned toward Fujiko.

She jumped in fright, but could not move even a step.

He smiled.

“You’re the one that prepared the demon king’s cells, aren’t you?”

There was nothing she could say to that.

“So what…if I am?”

“I have a part of the one you love inside me, so I wanted to ask if you love me.”

She was taken aback by his innocent question.

“I-I don’t know…”

“I see. Well, we did only just meet. But that’s not your real answer. I can tell. You would never be able to love me. After all, you thought I was beautiful just now, didn’t you? People who see me that way never seem able to understand me.”

Kei looked around with oddly clear eyes while acting like Fujiko’s answer did not matter in the slightest.

“I thought I might find someone like me if I could see the data on every imperial citizen. I had hoped to find someone who could understand me even a little, but this is amazing. There isn’t anyone. I’m the only one like this. I feel like I’m standing all alone below a never-ending expanse of blue sky. It’s refreshing but horribly worrying. So this is what it means to see everything.”

He spoke those lonely words with what looked like a beautiful girl’s face. It felt somehow fleeting, but he waved a hand and his expression completely changed.

A violent gust of wind blew through.

“Ee!”

“Tch!”

Fujiko and Lily tried to stand firm against the raging wind, but they were blown backwards a moment later. They were fortunate that the area was so large. That softened the blow of landing and they were able to escape almost all damage. If they had struck a wall instead, they would not have been so lucky.

“That isn’t what I wanted. I was hoping for something that felt more solid.”

Kei sounded disappointed and turned his gaze toward the two girls.

“Sorry I couldn’t be more solid.”

Lily stood up and took long strides toward Kei.

He tilted his head in confusion and then snapped his fingers in realization.

“No, that isn’t it. I thought it would have more recoil. I thought I would feel some resistance as it blew through.”

“Are you not even paying attention to us?”

Lily cursed, but she could do nothing more.

She could not even take another step.

Kei had done nothing more than turn a cold look toward her and then he started speaking to her.

“There is deep meaning behind killing someone. I understand that now that I’m a demon king. That means I only just figured it out. But going by that understanding, to kill someone is to eliminate the possibilities of everything they might have accomplished in the future.”

He looked like a child excited about a newly understood concept.

“What of it? That’s a really basic idea,” said Lily with no understanding of what he was thinking.

“That’s right.” He nodded. “It is basic. But has anyone tried to turn that idea on its head? If someone is going to eliminate others’ future possibilities or someone has no future possibilities whatsoever, then it’s okay to kill them.”

His expression was bright.

“Did you realize that after looking at everyone’s logs?” asked Lily in disgust. “Do you think you’re a real God or something?”

Her sardonic tone did nothing to move his heart.

“A God? Perhaps I should call myself a demon God. No, it doesn’t matter. And I don’t want to kill you. That has no relation to what I must do. You could say I now stand in a position to accurately judge who can and can’t be killed. In that way, I’m just like a real God.”

Lily listened to his refreshing tone of voice.

“What is it that you ‘must do’?”

“Well… Oh, look. It’s started. I need to protect this place from them.”

He suddenly looked up into empty space as if he had sensed something.

“What exactly has started?” asked Lily.

“You’ll know soon enough,” was all Kei said.

He picked up The One, lightly kicked off the ground, and flew up into the air.

Lily and Fujiko did not know what to do, so they stood still. When they had faced Kazuko, their opponent had still been human, but that was not the case here.

“Are you just going to let her go?” whispered Fujiko.

“This is the first time I’ve felt like I can’t even resist,” whispered back Lily.

“Come to think of it, you have never seen Akuto-sama fight seriously.”

“Next time I meet Sai Akuto, I might have to treat him differently. …Anyway, it looks like someone who can actually handle this has arrived.”

Lily looked up and grinned.

As Kei and The One ascended, the ceiling above them began to crack.

“Something’s coming from above?” muttered Fujiko.

“This is why I sent the three officers away. Although if I’d known we would be facing a demon king right away, I could’ve used him more effectively. At least he managed to arrive in time.”

She grinned again and the ceiling collapsed.

Brave burst from the rubble while travelling down from aboveground. In other words, it was Hiroshi.

“That’s the one!” shouted Lily. “Knock him from the air!”

Whether he heard her or sensed the demon king with his suit, Hiroshi travelled directly toward Kei.

Kei tossed The One into the air and prepared to fight.

The One stopped in midair under his own power.

Hiroshi charged toward Kei who remained motionless, but in the instant they were about to make contact, Hiroshi’s momentum suddenly vanished and he started falling.

“Eh? Hey!”

“Oh, dear…”

Lily and Fujiko panicked.

Hiroshi was no longer wearing his suit, so a boy wearing casual clothes fell upside down toward the ground.

“What are you doing?”

Lily extended an arm toward where he would land and caught him. He had to be able to use at least one type of flight magic, but he must have forgotten in shock.

But the real problem was what had caused that shock.

“Look…”

Fujiko poked at Lily and looked uneasily backwards.

A transfer circle had appeared and someone was appearing from it.

“Tch. Someone else is arriving?”

Lily’s click of the tongue produced a response from Hiroshi who had finally realized what had happened.

“Is it USD!?”

Just as he guessed, it was Kento, aka USD, who appeared from the transfer circle.

“I took the liberty of removing your suit.”

His voice was calm to the point of sounding disagreeable.

“So you were lying in wait this whole time?” asked Lily.

However, Kento did not immediately reply.

He looked up at Kei with a look that was half criticism and half concern.

“Why did you do this without my permission?” he asked the boy.

A unique atmosphere seemed to flow between the two of them. Despite the distance, Lily and Fujiko could sense it as well.

“Because I don’t need your permission,” explained Kei.

“I put off this stage because I wasn’t sure your body could endure it.”

“But I’m fine. It was worth trying.”

“The risk was too great. If we lost you, the plan could not continue.”

Kento’s tone was impossibly calm given what he was saying and Kei’s responses were filled with a cruel air.

“Like I said, it turned out all right. That means this is my plan now. And since you’re here, it means you realized everything has already started. In that case, I’ll act accordingly.”

A hint of irritation could be heard in Kei’s voice.

Once he was finished speaking, he turned around, grabbed The One again, and flew to the surface through the hole Hiroshi had created.

“This is a problem…”

Kento watched the boy leave, but he gave an exaggerated shrug as if it was not really that much of a problem.

“I feel like I just watched a lover’s spat,” complained Lily with a murderous look.

“Could you explain what exactly is happening here?”

Fujiko looked coldly at him as well.

“We had a plan to create a demon king like this ever since Rubbers stole Sai Akuto-kun’s cells, but it was temporarily frozen due to insufficient research. That was my plan.”

Taken aback by his odd willingness to speak, Lily asked a question.

“Then what is it that has started? And does it really require the power of a demon king?”

“A war,” said Kento.

“A war?” repeated Fujiko doubtfully.

In the empire, the word “war” meant nothing more serious than what Akuto had caused before. Simply put, no other nation could oppose the empire. In a way, creating a demon king was starting a war, so doing so because of a war sounded like circular reasoning.

But Kento continued.

“A nation is going to declare war against the empire. Or rather, they will be reluctantly made to do so.”

“What is going on today?” Lily shook her head. “Just how many unpredictable things am I going to be faced with?”

“I do believe that the Hattori family is prepared,” said Hattori Youzou.

He was the head of the Hattori family, Junko’s father, and the high priest in charge of reconstructing the God named Suhara.

He was speaking in the Hattori family’s sitting room while Junko and Yuuko sat before him. They were all wearing ordinary clothes, but the strict atmosphere indicated that this was not a casual family discussion. They were speaking as the family in charge of national defense.

“I am prepared,” said Junko.

“I will not sully the family name,” said Yuuko.

They were faced with a coming “war” of the sort the empire had not experienced for ages. Needless to say, not even the elderly Youzou had experienced something like this. He maintained his air of dignity, but his understanding of the situation was no greater than Junko’s.

The Suhara priests were being kept from the situation in ways unrelated to the loss of Suhara. The mana screen in front of the three family members displayed a news broadcast.

The screen displayed several ships that were clearly not of the imperial style. They were spindle-shaped, so they most likely had submarine abilities. This was clearly a fleet sent by the undersea kingdom.

“We have indeed received reports from the L’Isle-Adams manning the patrol boats. It is also true that the empress has gone missing,” said Youzou. “However, we have been keeping that information hidden.”

The Hattori family also carried out intelligence work for national defense. That made information warfare one of their specialties, but things had gone differently this time. The cabinet had released information they had been told not to.

“Father, with this made public, it will develop into war, won’t it?” asked Yuuko.

With her idol work, she had good instincts for this kind of thing.

Youzou agreed.

“Even if this is part of the cabinet’s information manipulation, we must work toward what the people want.”

“That’s the same as an idol,” said Yuuko with a laugh.

Youzou rebuked her attitude, but then he smiled because she seemed to understand the truth.

However, Junko did not seem to agree.

“I am prepared, but I think it is also our duty to correct the people if they are wrong.”

“Junko.” Youzou’s tone was fairly harsh. “It is not our job to judge what is right or wrong. If we think about whether it is right or not, we cannot protect anyone. That is how it works.”

“But…”

“We fight for those who cannot and we kill for the sake of others, so we must not choose who it is we should kill.”

“I understand the theory, but someone is manipulating the information and we more or less know who.”

Junko’s tone grew stronger, but Youzou still shook his head.

“We can only trust that the people will make the right decision. Even if we have been betrayed in the past, that is all we can do. The people will be able to see through to what is right.”

“If only Keena and Akuto were here,” muttered Junko.

“Trusting them is fine, but you should become the kind of person they can trust. That is how you should live your life,” instructed Youzou.

That was when a member of the Hattori ninja forces appeared on the other side of the room’s sliding door. Youzou sensed his presence and asked what the ninja needed.

“We have a report from the naval patrol. Someone has ignored the warnings and attempted to approach the target.”

“What do you mean by ‘someone’?”

Youzou asked for a clearer explanation and he received a nervous response.

“It is an individual.”

“What?”

“A single individual has appeared on the ocean and is approaching the target.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I know it is hard to believe, but it is the truth. According to the reports, it is a demon king.”

“A demon king?”

Junko and Yuuko both turned toward the paper door.

“Yes. To be clear, it is not Sai Akuto, but their presence and amount of mana put them on the same level as him.”

The ninja’s words brought a confused look to Junko’s face.

—What is going on?

“An undersea kingdom?”

Lily sounded doubtful, but she nodded in understanding once she saw the news broadcast on Fujiko’s mana screen.

She, Fujiko, Hiroshi were still underground because Kento was keeping them there.

“They refer to themselves as a republic, but they’re actually an aristocracy with a king,” explained Kento. “That makes them rather unique.”

“So their system is similar to the empire’s?” asked Lily.

Kento nodded.

“But they have a different set of values from us. They do have a magical society like we do, but they have a single God and no magical restrictions.”

That surprised Fujiko.

“That sounds a lot like the ideals of black magicians.”

“That’s right. But that isn’t the problem. Well, the difference in values may lead to problems, but their king is currently on a ship leading here. How he views us will have a large effect on what happens next.”

Kento’s explanation seemed indirect, but Lily understood what he was getting at.

“I see. So their king is responding to the Jewel Branch of Hourai.”

“That’s right. That’s the only explanation for their king coming to the surface. And he might want something.”

“He might want the Jewel Branch of Hourai or even the empire itself,” said Lily as she thought.

“He almost certainly wants the Formless Power that lies beyond the Jewel Branch of Hourai. If not, he has no reason to approach this far. However, we of CIMO 8 could receive no information beyond that when we made preliminary contact.”

“So you did contact them ahead of time.”

Lily glared at Kento with a displeased look, but he ignored it.

“Of course. The reason we do not know what he is after is because they were still friendly when we contacted them. Their king wanted to participate in a fair emperor selection.”

“What is wrong with that?” asked Fujiko. “It seems fine to me.”

Kento shrugged.

“Sadly, people cannot trust that kind of attitude. The priests of Mufa are in charge of overseas negotiations, but they remain highly cautious.”

“It looks like things only change if they can make it inside the empire like Nonimora did.”

Kento looked doubtful.

“That may have been part of it, but it had more to do with the secret she had that linked the Jewel Branch of Hourai with the Formless Power. In other words, the empire is hoping to take something from the Merlai.”

“I understand why, but what exactly is the Formless Power?”

“We only have predictions at this stage, but it’s related to what The One is plotting.”

“What is that skinny guy hoping to do as the demon king? Was that The One’s doing?”

“The One is deceiving him.”

Kento said nothing more.

“Then why did you turn off his suit?” asked Lily with a glance back toward Hiroshi.

“Because killing him would accomplish nothing.” Kento approached Hiroshi. “But I would like your help.”

“My help?”

Hiroshi looked displeased, but Kento continued nonetheless.

“Yes. You are the only one who can fight a demon king, so I want you to stop The One’s conspiracy.”

Hiroshi did not reply, but Lily asked another question.

“But we don’t understand anything here. What is this conspiracy?”

“Most likely, it will ultimately lead to the annihilation of the human race.”

Despite the horrifying words, Kento spoke casually.

The others all fell into a confused silence.

When Lily finally opened her mouth, the venom had left her tone.

“Annihilation? Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?”

But Kento folded his arms and shook his head as if to say it was true and there was nothing he could do to change that fact.

“The One is not human. He is a survivor from another dimension. To put it more simply, you could call him an alien.”

“Geh.”

“Oh, my…”

Lily and Fujiko clearly did not believe him.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but the Formless Power has likely come from a place we cannot detect. We planned to acquire the Jewel Branch of Hourai which acts as a key to acquiring that power and it can only be used by those with imperial blood.”

“Then why didn’t you act when Nonimora was…?” Lily trailed off as she realized the answer. “Oh, I get it. She’s supposed to protect the Jewel Branch of Hourai.”

Kento nodded.

“That is why we contacted the Republic rather than the Merlai. It all goes back to my plan.”

“Your plan?”

“My plan to acquire the Formless Power. If it was all resolved peacefully, even Akuto-kun would say nothing about it. It just had to be something the people decided on. Simply put, it could have been solved through friendly talks with the Republic. At the same time, we were preparing for war just in case. After all, the Republic could easily shake our very foundation.”

“I see. I assume The One was pressing for the war side of things.”

“Yes. He thought the losses could be minimized by abducting their king.”

“Cruel but effective,” said Lily cynically while exposing her teeth.

“So now the imperial people are having their information regulated while the new demon king and the Republic’s advance fleet glare at each other?” asked Fujiko in exasperation.

“That’s right. So I need you to stop this new demon king. That is the most effective method of saving the empire.”

Kento held a hand out toward Hiroshi.

Hiroshi looked up at him, but turned one eye aside as if pouting.

“If I know you, you have a plan for if I refuse.”

Kento narrowed his eyes as if to say “so you understand”.

“Of course I do. But I am hoping for you to have a conscience.”

“A conscience? Don’t be ridiculous. You just want to use me as you wish.”

Hiroshi shook his head and turned his back on Kento.

“That is true to an extent, but you have no other choice here.”

Hiroshi did not turn back around.

“I’m out too. I won’t let this go according to plan for you.” Lily followed after Hiroshi. “Then again, I’ve been working him pretty hard myself, so this is partially my fault. Still, I want nothing to do with you. Part of me wants to fight you, but your attitude has killed off even that desire.”

Fujiko sighed and followed Hiroshi as well.

“What you told us has given me something else I want to do. It seems you are hiding some other plan or ulterior motive here, but it is only women who look more captivating while hiding things and lying about their feelings.”

Despite all this, Kento did not look remotely shocked. With a glance back at him, Hiroshi entered the transfer circle. Lily started to follow, but she turned around as something occurred to her.

“Oh, right. You misread one thing here.”

“And what is that?” asked Kento.

Lily grinned.

“He became a true hero a while back.”

Lily and Fujiko disappeared into the transfer circle, leaving Kento all alone.

—All I’m doing is pouting.

Hiroshi thought as he sat on a park bench.

He had been able to leave that place after being saved by the student council’s three officers, Yoshie, and Keisu, but Rubbers’s words still caught in his heart.

—I know you can never live up to an ideal, but he was still right. That’s why the president has been able to use me as she wants.

“Why are you staring off into space like that?”

That sudden voice caused Hiroshi to frantically stand up.

“Wh-what is it!?”

Yuuko laughed at him.

“Ah ha ha. What are you doing? You’re acting funny.”

She wore a hat and glasses that changed her overall impression, so no one else in the park recognized her.

“I was just thinking,” he said to dodge the question.

Yuuko grabbed his hand and began walking.

“You can do that later. Look, I made us lunch!”

They searched for an arbitrary place in the park.

The park’s mana screen normally showed calming images, but today it was showing the news with text scrolling at the bottom.

The stare-off with the Republic’s fleet was continuing. The news claimed conflict was unavoidable. Hiroshi and Yuuko hoped nothing would happen because they knew the truth behind it, but the general public was naturally in favor of eliminating the Republic. The optimistic idea that that the Republic could easily retreat helped bring the pacifists…o…b…ard and it was expected that it would not develop past a small skirmish.

And if that happened, Yuuko would have work to do. This was likely her last day off, so she had called for Hiroshi during her free time.

“Let’s eat over there.”

She spread a sheet over the park’s lawn.

“These rice balls have a new flavor of furikake I got from a sponsor.”

“You’re turning into a furikake celebrity.”

They spoke and ate Yuuko’s lunch, but due to the surrounding atmosphere, an odd aura would occasionally cover them as well.

“The Republic is meaningless before the legitimacy of the empire!”

A group had opened a large mana screen in the park and was broadcasting a speech. No one went out of their way to watch it and no one gathered around it, but no one complained either.

A few people walking by spoke in hushed voices as if they did not want everyone knowing what they were thinking.

“Should we go elsewhere?”

“It would be the same anywhere else.”

“I don’t like the feeling spreading through the city.”

“You can’t really blame them with what’s happening.’

“Honestly! You’re acting weird too, Hiroshi-kun. You have Hoshino Yuri-chan with you, so be a man and put on a brave face!”

She poked at his forehead and he smiled, but it was a stiff smile.

“I’m just worried about a lot. That’s all.”

“Worried? It’s okay. I won’t be going on the front lines.”

“It isn’t you I’m worried about.”

“Eh? Isn’t that kind of cruel?”

“That isn’t what I meant. Even if you are on the front lines, I’ll save you, so there’s nothing to worry about there.”

“Oh, that’s the cool boy I know.”

She gave a carefree smile, but a shadow hung over Hiroshi’s smile.

“So is there something else you’re worried about?’

“Well…yes.”

“Speak more clearly. That isn’t the cool Hiroshi-kun I know.”

With that comment, she playfully put her chin on his shoulder.

The unexpected proximity of her face set his heart pounding, but it turned out to be a good opportunity.

“Um…Yuuko-chan? What would you do if you were implicitly forced to do something you think you can’t manage or that you don’t want to do?”

The answer came sooner than he expected.

“Eh? I’d refuse.”

“Well, yes, but what if it’s because you’re being told to do it that makes you not want to do it? Or what if the only reason against it is personally not wanting to, but you feel a strong obligation to do so. Wouldn’t you need more reason than that to not do it?”

As he spoke, he began to lose track of his own argument, but Yuuko seemed to understand because she cut in.

“Oh, so that’s what you mean. In that case, it’s basically the same as a job. I can tell because my job is different from a normal person’s. I have to wear weird clothes and I don’t always want to, but there’s a ton of staff and it feels like I have to. And anyone who resists is said to be an ‘artist wannabe’ and ends up getting fewer jobs. Of course, if they really do want to be a true artist, they can succeed like that, but they have to have things they truly want to do and continue ahead that way.”

Yuuko was talking about something wholly unrelated to Hiroshi’s situation, but he found an odd understanding from parts of it.

“Yeah, that’s it. I feel like I’m being forced to fight. And there are people with all sorts of different plans around me and they’re all trying to use me.”

“In my experience…”

Yuuko raised her index finger with an air of importance.

“Yes?”

Hiroshi leaned forward, waiting for her answer.

“You can only give up.”

“Eh?”

She laughed and he was at a loss for words, but she soon continued.

“It’s the same with idols. As an idol, people say all sorts of things about you. If it gets out that you’re dating a boy, your fans will panic and say you betrayed them.”

“Ha ha. That’s definitely true.”

“So you can only give up. After all, they’re saying that about Hoshino Yuri, not about me. Of course, I don’t think of that as an entirely separate identity, so I do worry like you sometimes. People think of Hoshino Yuri as someone a lot more wonderful than I really am, but that’s just due to bad luck.”

“Bad luck?”

“Yes. I’m Hoshino Yuri because of bad luck. The things I did just so happened to be received well by people and my looks just so happened to be what people like. This is just an issue of whether you realize it’s all due to chance or not.”

Yuuko smiled as she spoke.

“Then the reason I have the suit…?”

“That’s the ultimate case of it ‘just so happening’ to work out that way. Someone might try to take that from you, but it’s the same as me being Hoshino Yuri. Being an idol is something you borrow from the fans. If I announce my love or do something mischievous, it would immediately be taken back by them.”

“I guess that’s true…”

“So while you’re borrowing it, you can do what you want with it.”

“But there’s nothing I really want to do.”

“What? Of course there is. You want to protect those around you, don’t you?”

Her casual comment made him feel like she had seen straight through him and it discouraged him a little. He felt like a horribly simple person.

“Yeah… I guess I am that boring…”

“That’s completely normal, so there’s no helping it. It’s surprisingly normal for important jobs to be done by people who can’t think of anything more than that. It just so happens that there are things that no one but them can do.”

Yuuko gave a mischievous smile.

“What is it that only a normal person can do?” he asked.

“Reveal people’s feelings. The people around you are thinking about the empire, society, and other large concepts, right? People like that can easily lose track of their own feelings, so you need to remind them.”

That gave Hiroshi a kind of understanding. The people around him did often seem to set aside their own feelings.

“Come to think of it, you’re right.”

“Yeah, so you should become the kind of hero you can be. Become a hero that expresses everyone’s feelings.”

“I see… You might be right. No, you are right,” he muttered to himself. “There’s still something I want to do.”

“Heh heh. I’m glad I could help,” she said proudly. “My experience as an idol isn’t just for show.”

Suddenly, an unpleasant noise came from Yuuko’s handheld device.

Her expression changed and Hiroshi picked up on it.

“Don’t tell me…”

Yuuko checked the device and displayed a coded message.

“It’s begun. It’s really begun.”

She gave an uneasy look to Hiroshi.

“The war has?” he asked.

“No.” She shook her head. “Remember the strange person who appeared before the Republic’s fleet and won’t listen to us? They’ve started to attack.”

“The new demon king… Sakura Kei…” muttered Hiroshi.

“Sorry. I have to go.”

Yuuko stood up and energy filled Hiroshi’s eyes.

“I’m going too.”

“Eh?”

She turned toward him as he stood up.

“I finally see what I have to do and what I can do.”

He stretched and slapped his own face to psych himself up.

Then he smiled at Yuuko.

“I realized this thanks to you. Thank you, Yuuko-chan.”

Yuuko had never seen this look on his face before, so she blushed.

“Wow, how manly!”

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