C³

The fleet on the sea stopped. However, a small boat appeared from among them and made a beeline towards Haruaki"s group.

They watched as the boat advanced for quite a few minutes. Slowly, the boat buried its prow into beach before them. Strangers jumped out from the boat. First was a man with a young girl... Or rather, a man with a young girl "attached"?

"There!"

A tall redheaded man. His well-built and brawny body did not even show an ounce of fat. Despite his ma.s.sive size, the man"s entire body was covered with extremely flexible muscles, displaying a physique that one would a.s.sociate with an Olympic athlete"s. Reminiscent of a lion, beneath his slightly long and unkempt hair was a manly face with deep-set features. Overall, he was a man who gave off a fierce and rugged impression.

Also, most striking of all was the pet.i.te girl, currently clinging to his muscular shoulder and arm using her limbs. Haruaki recalled that this style of doll used to be fashionable at one point, but of course, this girl was no doll. She moved. Clinging to the arm, she slowly climbed up, moving some distance—to the man"s back. After reaching a piggyback posture, she climbed over the man"s head and glared at everyone with vicious eyes. One could almost hear growling sounds. The girl was truly tiny in stature, dressed in an outfit that was almost all black, clinging tightly to the man while glaring at everyone—A girl whom one could not help but a.s.sociate with the image of an imp.

The man advanced over the beach while slightly looking around without appearing to be searching for anything in particular. Then immediately, his gaze settled on a certain point.

"Oh... Ohhhhh~~! Yes yes, you"re really here! You"re Gabriel, right? I can"t believe you"re wearing such a cool-looking mask! Haha~ It"s been so long!"

The man smiled and waved his hand while speaking cheerfully. Unexpectedly, just by smiling, that fierce face instantly felt like it had gained a boyish sense of friendliness.

Greatly surprised, Haruaki looked at the one whom this man had called out to. Namely, the one who had arrived at this beach not too long ago without saying anything, simply staring at the sea as though waiting for something—his own school"s superintendent.

Then for some reason, the instant the mysterious man called out, Zenon and Ganon"s shoulders shook while they were standing by the superintendent"s side. However, the superintendent raised his hand lightly and stopped his two subordinates from taking some kind of action, then made something like a shrug and said:

"—You haven"t changed at all, Max."

"Really? I can"t feel it myself."

At this time, the boat"s engine noise ended and another young woman descended onto the beach. She was dressed in loose clothing reminiscent of Chinese or Central Asian style with her hands inserted into the large sleeves of opposite sides. Despite the looseness of her garments, her extremely svelte figure was obvious from a single glance. As for a certain part of her body, its enormity could possibly surpa.s.s Konoha"s. Perhaps out of habit, she kept her eyes almost closed, so it was difficult to read her emotions.

After seeing her, the shoulders of the superintendent and his aides shook again. But at this moment—

"Hey~ Superintendent, it"s just you guys talking, we"re totally lost here. Do you know these people?"

Fear was suspiciously eyeing the people who had arrived by boat and asked a question that could not be more natural.

"Yes, they are old friends."

The superintendent"s answer was very simple. Zenon and Ganon did not interject. Haruaki took this opportunity to sweep his gaze around slightly. Like himself and Fear, Konoha, Kirika and Kuroe were watching the new arrivals warily. Shiraho and Chihaya was maintaining their group"s outsider att.i.tude as though going "none of our business." Then there was—

Kotetsu"s entire body was screaming b.l.o.o.d.y murder while he glared viciously at the group before him. It was as though he could take action any time, as though he could attack in full force any time.

Haruaki did not know if the man had noticed Kotetsu"s killing intent, but the guy grinned and said:

"Serve me a cup of tea first! Wow, is that your villa over there? You must have made bucket loads of money~"

Without waiting for the superintendent to answer, the man strode towards the villa with the girl still clinging to his back. The woman with almost closed eyes also followed them quietly.

"Well, that"s—fine."

The superintendent oriented his gas mask towards the sea for an instant. While walking past him, the man said:

"Relax, they"re not going to move. I"ve given orders already."

"Then... Why did you bring that here?"

The man replied very readily.

"I just happened to bring it along. It just so happened. You could call it coincidence as well. If Nirushaaki were waiting for me, I would have hurried here alone, but since this objective had vanished, I used this rare chance to leisurely move the entire Dragon Island over."

"...That"s why you took longer than what I was told? I was thinking you were definitely not coming."

Haruaki"s group did not register any of the superintendent"s words at all.

As soon as the man uttered that name—Haruaki and his companions instantly showed alarm on their faces, lowering their stances in preparation for combat. They were just like Kotetsu who had become filled with killing intent as soon as he saw them. Haruaki finally understood the meaning of Kotetsu"s reaction.

"No way—!"

Konoha readied a knifehand strike, intently staring at the trio without lowering her guard.

However, as though to restrain everyone"s killing intent, the superintendent raised a hand lightly, roughly conveying the message: If the other side intended to fight, they would have made a move a long time ago, so please calm down for now.

Then still staring at the fleet across the sea, the superintendent spoke as though addressing Haruaki"s group:

"Indeed—That there is precisely the Draconian"s headquarters, the giant mobile fleet known as Dragon Island. Also—"

The superintendent turned to face forward, no longer looking at the sea. The woman with narrowed eyes happened to pa.s.s by him while following the man.

"Granaury, since you are by his side, that implies—"

"What a happy/sad reunion... It has been a long time. The situation is as you imagine."

The woman stopped walking for merely an instant, but still looked ahead with the side of her face towards the superintendent while replying in this strange verbal pattern. Then she bowed lightly and followed the man again.

The superintendent sighed then shifted his gaze again—towards the back of the man walking up to the villa.

"Although I"ve heard rumors... You really are the current Number One, Max."

The largest s.p.a.ce on the ground floor of the villa was a living room with tall ceilings. At the center, on one of the sofas surrounding a table—there was no choice but to admit this—sat the following trio: the man who was allegedly the boss of the Draconians, the beauty with narrowed eyes who comported herself like a maidservant, as well as the girl clinging to the man"s shoulder.

"Some of you probably don"t know me, so I"ll introduce myself. I am Maximilian Pendragon."

The man swept his gaze around and spoke with a fearless smile. The superintendent tilted his head slightly.

"You"ve added a surname you didn"t have before, though I"m not surprised... Pendragon huh?"

"I was thinking I should add a surname, so I looked everywhere and chanced upon this name. It means something like dragon head, which I feel is appropriate, so I picked it. Not bad, right?"

"Of course! It"s super cool!"

"Identical to certain historical figures, truly an arrogant/perfect name, Master."

"How contradictory your words as always... Anyway, it"s definitely better than just Maximilian on its own."

The superintendent was sitting opposite the man while conversing with them. Zenon and Ganon were standing behind the superintendent"s sofa as though protecting his back, bearing unprecedentedly serious expressions on their faces.

Meanwhile, Haruaki and others were leaning against the living room wall. Kuroe was sitting on a cushion she had pulled over on her own without asking. Haruaki really admired her laid back ways. Shiraho and Sovereignty were staying in the second floor hallway overlooking the living room. Chihaya and Isuzu were sitting in the middle of the staircase leading to the second floor. Compared to Shiraho"s disinterest, Chihaya showed a faint glint of seriousness in her eyes. Finally, there was Honatsu who had his elbows leaning on the kitchen counter, watching the whole affair"s developments with interest.

Pendragon suddenly looked at Haruaki"s group that was glaring at them offensively, then smiled cheerfully again, as bright as sunshine, and said:

"Haha~ What nice spirit you have there. However... I"ll make this clear first. I don"t really want to fight you guys, Fear-in-Cube. Unless you insist, of course, which would be a different matter."

"Hmph! Don"t want to fight? I seem to be hearing this a lot lately, but in fact, there wasn"t a single time when things ended peacefully!"

"Trust me. Ultimately, what defeated Nirushaaki was the suicide attack executed by a certain someone from the Knights Dominion, right? Strictly speaking, you guys did not defeat her. As a result, it"s not appropriate for Number One to step in to punish people who failed to defeat Number Two. I have to attend to matters of face too."

Next, Pendragon looked at Kotetsu whose shaking hand was in a tiger claw dangling by his side.

"You don"t need to be so nervous... I"m not interested in you either, Kotetsu. Since Nirushaaki is no longer around, if you want to stay by another master"s side to seek your own strength, do as you wish. If you couldn"t care less about being strong or not in the first place, do as you wish too. I"m actually quite lenient on this issue."

"...I... am not..."

Kotetsu"s words dried up mid-sentence. He bowed his head, looking like he did not know what to say.

That being said—Haruaki recalled what Pendragon had just said.

—Lenient? The leader of the organization that believed "curses existed for the sake of becoming stronger than everyone else" actually said "lenient"? Although Haruaki did not think Pendragon was lying, he still found it impossible to believe. What was his intention?

At this moment, the situation suddenly changed dramatically.

Someone who had been suppressing her emotions the whole time finally surpa.s.sed her limit.

This someone had no combat ability at all and did not even have a reason to be here, which was why no one paid attention to her movements.

The someone whom no one expected her to commit this unbelievable act of violence—

Namely, Hayakawa Chihaya.

Standing up from the staircase she had been sitting, with her lips pursed in a straight line, she strode across the living room. Advancing in a straight line without regard for anything else, to the point that one would mistakenly think she was heading to the kitchen for some juice.

However, instead of going to the kitchen, she stopped in front of the sofa.

Then drawing in a quick breath, she raised her arm at the same time—

Smack!

The instant the sound of a slap striking someone"s cheek was heard—

"Stop!"

Pendragon"s voice was heard with pressure enough to bring a shudder down Haruaki"s spine.

These two sounds entered Haruaki"s ears almost in superposition. During the same instant, a change occurred in the view ahead.

"Stop... Don"t do anything, Riko and Granaury."

"B-But~ This girl hit you!"

"What a very crisp and clear sound, my uterus is hurting with excitement. Truly perfect/careless."

The girl originally clinging to Pendragon"s back had instantly shifted her position. Right now, she was supporting herself with just her thighs clamped around his neck, extending her body through the air, her extended hand stopping just as she was about to grab Chihaya"s throat.

The woman with narrowed eyes had pulled her hand out from her loose sleeve with lightning speed, thrusting it forward under her armpit. With her palm facing upwards, her sharp fingertips had also stopped just before they touched Chihaya"s chest.

"I told them to stop because you are clearly an amateur. So... Why?"

Still sitting on the sofa, Pendragon looked up at Chihaya. His slightly reddened cheek stood as proof of Chihaya"s crime.

The current atmosphere was tense. It was imperative not to make a reckless move. Haruaki had no choice but to watch silently with Fear and the others.

Just as Pendragon said, Chihaya was just an amateur. Despite the killing intent of warriors slowly brushing against her skin, despite her eyes glimmering with tears beneath her gla.s.ses, despite her trembling legs—

She still did not collapse on the spot.

As though putting on a brave face, she maintained her twisted expression of anger and said:

"I am... Hiwatari Yume"s friend...!"

"...Oh?"

Pendragon narrowed his eyes.

"I heard that she was following your orders to come to my school. Then she died. So it can be said that she died because of you!"

"That"s not right~ The actual killer was one of those guys from the Knights Dominion! By the way, don"t go acting so familiar—Nyahhh!?"

"Shut up, Riko, or else things will get even more complicated. Granaury, you sit down too."

Pendragon grabbed the girl leaning forward from him—grabbing Riko"s waist—and threw her sideways. With her thighs wrapped around his neck as a fulcrum, Riko spun half a circle then returned to his back using high-difficulty movements akin to pro wrestling or dance techniques. The woman named Granaury also silently returned to her seat on the sofa.

"—Yes, I sent her there. She died because of me... Perhaps you could say that."

"Not perhaps, it totally is the case!"

"But that was also the result of her choice. Even if it meant sacrificing herself, she still chose to save Fear-in-Cube."

From the corner of his eye, Haruaki seemed to catch a gasp. The silver-haired head was shaking slightly. Haruaki did not know what kind of face she was making, but she was probably reminiscing. Reminiscing that brave girl who was both her friend and her first undercla.s.sman.

Chihaya shook her head emotionally and reb.u.t.ted Pendragon.

"How inane! Forcing her into that kind of desperate situation was really too meaningless! What "becoming strong" nonsense, what a great big idiot!"

Probably unable to ignore these words, Riko was frowning with displeasure. Even so, Pendragon"s voice remained very calm, to the point that one could describe it as even steadier than before.

"Yes, her death definitely resulted because I sent her there. I honestly concede this point. However... Her will to become strong is the one thing I ask that you do not disregard, please."

Pendragon lifted his head slightly. Not only his voice but even his gaze was very calm and deep. Under his stare, Chihaya retreated as though intimidated by his silent pressure.

"W-What do you mean by that...?"

"She was an orphan and not even j.a.panese in the first place. I happened to find her back when she was standing in shock amidst conflict, slaughter and chaos, then I happened to take her in and raised her. Why? It goes without saying—Naturally, because she was staring at me from under the corpses of her parents, her eyes told me she wanted to become strong."

"! ...That"s to say... You count as her foster parent..."

Chihaya"s voice stuttered and grew smaller and smaller, vanishing mid-sentence. Hearing her mumbling words, Pendragon first answered "that"s actually quite a common situation for Draconians" before continuing:

"It"s not a crime for the weak to seek strength, right? That"s even more true for those who have thoroughly come to understand how weak they are. Sometimes, this even becomes a person"s goal for living. To say "becoming strong is truly inane" to people like that, don"t you find that very cruel?"

"Oh..."

"I"m not going to ask for your approval, neither will I seek your understanding. However, at least don"t reject the idea. Because that girl can"t even reject your rejections anymore."

Chihaya looked down, grabbing her elbows as though hugging herself.

Then after spending a long time, she finally squeezed out a feeble voice to say:

"Then... I"m so sorry... But..."

"Excellent!"

Pendragon answered loudly without warning and nodded. Chihaya looked up in surprise.

"So, this topic ends here. And no matter how much more reasoning I bring up, from your perspective, the fact of your friend"s death is not going to change. Hence, I can only say this—Sorry. Also... For being willing to be her friend, thank you."

More shockingly, after Pendragon said that—

He bowed his head.

Unbelievably, the leader of an organization was bowing his head to an ordinary high school girl who was just throwing a temper tantrum.

Haruaki"s group stared wide-eyed in astonishment. Even as his companions, Riko and Granaury were also rendered speechless. Although Granaury"s eyes remained almost closed, making it difficult to read her expression, she was exuding an aura of surprise.

Probably surprised by the excessively straightforward words, Chihaya could only blink repeatedly.

Pendragon slowly lifted his head and looked straight at Chihaya, then he smiled and said:

"By the way, that girl was really fortunate. It"s not that easy to make a friend who"ll get angry on your behalf. By the way... You"re an awesome chick. It must"ve been tough for you, dealing with that overly excitable girl all the time. Just from that, I can tell you"re a kind person."

"W-What?"

"Whether the guts in hitting me or your fit looking body, both are great. That husky voice is quite s.e.xy too. How about it? If you don"t mind, let"s be friends?"

"W-What are you talking about—I-I-I... I"m gonna hurt you! This time, I"ll definitely hit with full force—"

Going red in the face, Chihaya wanted to raise her arm again. However—

"Stop stop stop~ Please allow me to say in fear and trepidation, it would be too impolite to hit someone else"s guest twice in a row~ So it"s time to exit the stage. Excuse me~"

"Ah! Hold on... Isuzu!"

Creeping up quietly from behind, three smiling shrine maidens picked up Chihaya forcibly, transporting her upstairs like carrying a palanquin. Shiraho was probably going to handle the rest.

"Y-You b.a.s.t.a.r.d—! That bad habit appeared again!"

"Haha~ What does it matter? As the saying goes, all heroes are perverts."

"I can"t believe you can shamelessly say that about yourself, how amazing/terrible."

Even if Chihaya were not taken away by force, Haruaki believed that her slap was not going to hit Pendragon again. That was because Riko had turned herself into a shield—That would be the nicer way to describe it, but actually, Riko had moved in front of Pendragon"s face halfway through his proposal to grab him by the collar and shake him forwards and backwards.

Haruaki and his group exchanged glances with exhausted expressions before deciding to relax their tense shoulders.

Although they could not afford to be careless, at least they now understood this man a little. Through his interactions with Chihaya, they came to know certain things.

The Draconians" boss. The Commander. The superintendent"s friend. Maximilian Pendragon.

At the very least, he was facing the concept of strength with seriousness. One could not feel twistedness or eccentricity from his att.i.tude. The impression he gave could be considered rather honest and upfront.

But of course—the chances of that upfront honesty causing some kind of trouble could not be ruled out as zero yet.

"Purpose? Do you even need to ask? Of course I"m just here to see an old friend. Why else would I be here?"

This was Pendragon"s answer to the question "by the way, what are you doing here?" The hosts could not think of anything to refute him, so in the end, they started to prepare tea and refreshments according to numbers present. Haruaki and the others sat down casually on the floor and received the cups.

"Oh, you"re the younger of the Houjyou sisters, right? I haven"t seen you for a long time too. Looks like you"re still following that guy, but once you tire of him, feel free to come over to my side, I"ll definitely satisfy—"

"Pray forgive my refusal."

"Ah, so loyal as always... Oh, the older sister is here too. How have you been lately?"

"...So lazy."

Ganon was lying on her side with her jaw"s edge resting on one hand. The surprising thing was that she was not as lazy as claimed, from what Haruaki could see. In other words, it seemed like she was speaking without meaning it.

Pendragon grinned without making a sound. Then receiving the iced barley tea Zenono handed over, he took a sip before looking at the gas mask across him, the superintendent who was drinking through a straw.

"By the way, there"s something I always wanted to say to you."

"What is it?"

"Basically—I can"t believe you ran away while you"re ahead! In the last ranking battle, you were second while I was third... I really resented you for that back then."

"Well—I"m truly sorry about that."

Haruaki was reminded. Christmas last year... The incident caused by Kokoro Pentangeli. In the process of resolving the incident, they had come to learn of the superintendent"s past.

A former member of the Draconians. The cursed spear «Treason Piercer» whom he loved was destroyed, then he deserted. Ever since, the superintendent had worn a gas mask to hide the tattoo proving his former allegiance to the Draconians, meanwhile searching for a way to resurrect his beloved spear—

Probably in an attempt to diffuse the boring atmosphere, Fear deliberately ate rice crackers with loud crunching noises to go with her tea while saying:

"So you used to be rivals? Did you ever fight each other?"

"Yes. To be honest, I usually placed lower than him. Although he looks like an utterly broken man now, he used to be very amazing."

"Oh? Even though he"s just a masked deviant now?"

"Even though he"s just a masked deviant now."

"You guys are really..."

The superintendent shook his head lightly in exasperation then—

"But even though you usually placed lower than me, that was only because you hadn"t found a weapon suitably matched to your own strength, right? You were using a different weapon every time I saw you, so losing was inevitable."

"Back then, yes, that"s definitely correct."

"But... Things seem different now."

The superintendent crossed his hands together over the table and rested his chin on them while looking at the opposite sofa.

"Mmmfufu..."

The girl moved slowly over Pendragon, straddled his neck then nimbly straightened her back and said:

"That"s right! He finally found me! I"m his absolute guardian—"

"Oh, I still haven"t made introductions. This is Riko who only became mine after you left."

"Hold on! Let me introduce myself with awesomeness at least! Say, declaring so clearly that I am "yours," umm, that"s too direct, it"s embarra.s.sing!"

Riko rubbed her fingertips together in an old-fashioned way, twisting awkwardly. Haruaki already had a rough idea by now.

"So it"s just as I thought? This girl is not human..."

Hearing Haruaki, Pendragon immediately grinned and nodded.

"You"re correct. As for what she is... Hmm, since we"ve no intention of fighting, let"s keep that unmentioned for now. You guys might feel like fighting if you were to find out, perhaps?"

"Idiot, we"re not like you guys. We don"t care at all. So—is it the same for the one over there who looks like she could either be awake or asleep?"

"Correct/incorrect. I am like/unlike you."

"Come again?"

Still expressionless, Granaury was still entirely sunk into the sofa, speaking incomprehensible words (but definitely awake). Fear c.o.c.ked her head in puzzlement upon hearing her reply.

"Oh, every sentence of hers is a pain, so don"t worry about it. Just go with the feeling. The feeling is good enough. Going straight to the point, yes, she is also my partner."

"Hmph... I get it now. So you used to keep losing to the superintendent because of the gap in weaponry, but after obtaining these two, you powered up greatly to become Number One, congratulations... Is that what happened?"

"Not necessarily. More precisely, I believe that before becoming Number One, all he obtained was her—the one called Riko-kun? That"s all."

The superintendent sighed beneath his gas mask before continuing:

"Because she—Granaury—used to attend to the original Number One."

Once these words were heard, the tension in the air became slightly stronger. However, this did not come from Haruaki"s friends but from those who knew about the past. While taking care not to provoke them, Konoha commented quietly:

"Since it"s a ranking system, the top will eventually get replaced... That"s only natural upon further thought. In other words, the superintendent knew her from before."

"Yes, but rather than me, the one who was truly close with her was—"

"—Liz and I were coincidentally/inevitably compatible. That was all."

Granaury"s eyes remained almost closed, making it impossible to tell if she was gazing forward, murmuring softly. Liz. The «Treason Piercer». The one whom the superintendent was in love with.

"Hmm. So summing up, you defeated the previous boss and acquired all his rights?"

"Yeah... Defeated huh? To be more precise, I didn"t have the luxury of going easy on him—So it"s better to say I killed him."

"Is that so? I guess that"s true..."

The superintendent sat back, looking up slightly towards the ceiling and muttered as though to himself:

"The former Number One, the Commander—He was just an elderly man who called himself Long, meaning dragon in Chinese. He was also the founder of the Draconians. As indicated by his name, he was most likely Chinese. Specializing in physical skills under the category of martial arts, his strength was something no one could imitate, also—"

"You can also tell from his own name, right? He was quite sloppy in picking names, which is something I must bring up. Whenever he took in babies, he would only prepare a first name. This was why everyone searched for a cooler name after they grew up."

"So you mean..."

Haruaki stopped mid-sentence, swallowing his words. Naming the babies he took in. Pendragon. His past—was just like Yume"s? In other words, Pendragon had killed his own foster father—

"Speaking of which, I seem to recall him teaching you something, Onee-sama? "The Void Night Sword requires exceptional talent." How rare of him to make that kind of comment. Were you able to master it?"

"No, because I was too lazy..."

In fact, the instant she heard Pendragon say "I killed him," Ganon"s eyes seemed slightly perturbed. Using this sloppy answer as a trigger, she returned to a full-body sense of laziness. No rather than laziness, perhaps it was closer to the emptiness of self-abandonment.

Ganon switched hands and leaned on her elbow, flipping herself to the other side and whispered:

"...Really? He died? I guess..."

These women"s pasts, these men"s pasts. Haruaki and his friends were not privy to them, but these pasts carried definite weight. Connections of the past. Bonds of the past.

The superintendent exhaled deeply.

"I always believed this day would arrive sooner or later. But to be honest... I still find it unbelievable. I"m not doubting your ability, Max, it"s just that the Long whom I knew was so overwhelmingly powerful."

"There were two reasons. The first being—"

"Me! It"s all thanks to this Riko-sama helping out this weakling!"

"Yes, well said. Good, good."

"H-Ho wow... So honest. I-If only you could be like this every time, seriously."

Riko suddenly poked her head out from his shoulder. Pendragon reached out and wrapped his arm around her head while stroking her hair and rubbing his face lightly against her cheek. Riko"s face went bright red while she fidgeted bashfully.

"Second reason... It"s just as you say, this day would come eventually. And that time was when it happened. Naturally, I can"t defeat the Long whom you knew. However, he cannot remain forever as the one you knew—So that"s what happened."

The superintendent nodded lightly in comprehension.

"In other words... Old age?"

"Frankly speaking, that"s what I think at least. Even someone who used to wield such overwhelming power would grow old. No one can escape old age..."

Just as Pendragon finished speaking in a calm and quiet voice, Riko straightened herself and stepped on his shoulder, presumably unhappy that his hand had stopped moving.

"However—! As long as we"re here, Maximilian will be so invincible that there"s no need to care about something like that! Although it"s unnecessary, even Granaury has also joined our side! Going as far as to absorb the power of the previous strongest fellow, being strongest, we are truly the strongest!"

Fear placed her gla.s.s on the floor, resulting in the sound of ice cubes colliding. Then looking sharply at Pendragon"s group, she said:

"Ha! Strength, strength, strength... After saying so much, in the end, it looks like you guys are also obsessed with the concept of strength. I knew it, you guys can"t be trusted. You"re not plotting anything weird, are you?"

"Nope. Didn"t I say just now? Right now, I"ve no intention of fighting you guys."

Pendragon looked up. From the second-floor hallway overlooking the living room, Chihaya was observing the situation below. She frantically pulled back out of sight. Grinning, Pendragon turned his face forward.

"Wasn"t sending Yume to your school evidence enough? You guys already know the purpose, right?"

"I remember it was something called the "Nest Parasitoid Plan"? Although there are still parts I don"t understand... It"s some kind of plan to steal my strength, right?"

"Indeed. Although the plan went to waste due to getting hijacked by Nirushaaki, the plan itself did not include anything about fighting your side. It was simply about planting someone by your side who idolized you and possibly might grow strong because she idolized you."

"..."

"After becoming Number One, there are things I only started understanding as a result of my position. Even with a desire to become strong, simply challenging others is useless. Certain types of strength cannot be obtained if all you do is that... Ideas of this sort."

Pendragon leaned his elbow on the sofa"s backrest while looking at Fear with a calm expression. Fear pursed her lips hard and took on his gaze squarely as though trying to see through his true thoughts.

Haruaki could hear Kuroe and Kirika whispering softly.

"Hmm~ As expected of the boss, his calm and collectedness is not quite the same as the small potatoes... I guess I can say that?"

"Indeed, calm composure is probably a leader"s necessary trait, but the issue here is what lies beneath his calm exterior. I hope it"s not terrible and despicable desire like that of a certain organization"s lab chief."

Haruaki"s feelings were similar. Pendragon"s way of thinking was not quite the same as the Draconians they had encountered so far. This should be quite certain. The issue was whether he could be trusted.

Haruaki really wanted to believe. Neither did he want any more trouble. Pendragon was not interested in them and did not intend to fight. Coming here was just to have a reunion with the superintendent. Haruaki hoped that this would be the case from start to finish.

If only this could conclude without any problems arising—

But of course, Haruaki"s thought was ultimately an un.o.btainable wish.

Because even though it was unclear whether Pendragon"s side was involved or not, in any case, something had to be done about—

The "ordinary" major incident, which happened in the next second.

"...Muu? It seems quite noisy outside."

"Did something happen?"

Fear"s silver hair shook as she spoke. Zenon went across the living room and opened the large gla.s.s door facing the beach.

As befitting a villa"s style, the gla.s.s door allowed them to walk directly to the beach from here. In other words, it connected them to the same s.p.a.ce as all the other beachgoers.

Hence, riding upon the wind, the beachgoers" noisy commotion—

Horrifying words which were truly hard to ignore—were transmitted here.

—A phantom slasher had appeared.

"The timing is too perfect... You guys must be responsible!"

"No no no, I really have no idea."

While listening to the exchange between Fear and Pendragon, the group dashed to the beach first. Ganon, Shiraho, Sovereignty, Chihaya and the others stayed behind to watch the villa whereas the superintendent and Honatsu, who had remained silent all this time, followed.

Soon they found the source of the commotion. A crowd was gathered on an unpaved path made by tire tracks leading to a plaza near the beach for camping purposes. After pushing through the crowd of bystanders, they went up closer—

"Oh—My apologies but I"ll be staying away for now. Kotetsu, you come with me too."

"...Yes."

Konoha and Kotetsu gave up making their way to the center of the crowd, distancing themselves and looking away. In other words—At the center of the crowd, a man could be seen in beach pants along with reddish brown stains splattered on the soil.

Seeing a lifeguard standing by the victim, unsure what to do, Zenon and Kuroe went up with a first aid kit and declared they were willing to bandage the wounded man. Putting aside Kuroe who was dressed in a school swimsuit, Zenon was calm and composed, greatly inspiring others with a sense of security. The lifeguard kept nodding and agreed to let them help. Hence, holding the medical kit they had brought from the villa, they took out things like bandages to start treating the wounded victim. Of course, Kuroe secretly placed her own hair under the bandages.

"The wound is on the arm huh... Although the bleeding is serious, his life doesn"t seem to be in danger. But this is truly an absolutely ridiculous situation."

"I"m relieved. What on earth happened..."

It was impossible to question the victim himself in the current circ.u.mstances, hence, Haruaki and the others first walked out of the crowd surrounding the man then told Konoha and Kotetsu, who were waiting on the side, that the man"s life was not in danger.

Arms crossed, Fear glared viciously at the suspects and said:

"I"ll say this again. The timing"s too perfect. This wouldn"t be your goal, would it?"

"I"ll say this again too, I really have no idea. It"d be troublesome if you guys got the wrong idea, so I already gave orders that no one as to leave Dragon Island while I was here... But just in case, let me check. Riko, cellphone."

"Get it yourself~"

Despite saying that, she still reached out while clinging to his arm, rummaging through his pants pocket to take out his cellphone. Glancing at the fleet on the sea, Pendragon operated the phone and pressed it against his ear.

"Therese? You should have a good idea of our members" movements to a certain extent, right? Let me ask a question, did anyone act without permission after I came here?"

"..."

The other side answered something. "Yeah, I thought so." Pendragon spoke quietly and quickly hung up.

"My rule is that members are personally free to defy the Commander"s orders. But of course, there"s one condition—They must prepare themselves. For example, just like how Nirushaaki prepared for a duel against me."

He grinned proudly and said:

"So in my view, I"m actually hoping for someone to disobey, but unfortunately, this doesn"t seem to be the case. None of my subordinates acted on their own."

Hearing that, the superintendent suddenly relaxed his tense shoulders and said:

"So, can you guarantee that this phantom slasher is absolutely unrelated to your side?"

"To be honest, there were a few members who had entered this country a while ago. Right now, there"s one team who could have come to this area, but they have no reason to hurt people randomly. After all, the curse requires her to lock people up in order to replenish life force."

"No way, are you talking about Satsuko and Fourteen?"

"You know them? Their progress has kind of stalled lately, but they do have promising talent... Anyway, it"s possible they might have come running nearby to greet me, so let me try calling. Let me see~ Ontenzaki, Ontenzaki... Huh? How can it not be here? Oh right, the name I put down was Squishy-ko instead. Despite being so tiny in size, I never thought her waist would be so—

"Ah! I can"t believe you"re recalling memories that you shouldn"t!"

While Riko kept hammering his head, Pendragon took out the cellphone he was just about to put away, then tapped the b.u.t.tons. He pressed the phone to his ear but the other side did not pick up instantly. After roughly ten seconds, finally—

"Hi, it"s me. Where are you two?"

Pendragon"s lips went "oh~" once he heard the other side"s answer.

Then immediately, he took the cellphone away from his lips slightly and grinned suggestively at Haruaki"s group.

"Bingo! They"re apparently tailing the phantom slasher as we speak... What do we do?"

Leaving behind Kuroe and Zenon, who were treating the victim, as well as the superintendent and Honatsu, Haruaki and company began to run as fast as they could. The superintendent had stayed behind because once the ambulance called by the lifeguard arrived, the commotion was going to spread further, thus depending on the situation, certain strings may need to be pulled with regard to the authorities. As for Honatsu... No idea. He looked like he was trying to a.s.sist the superintendent but it was possible that he simply did not like running. No, before that, Haruaki had felt that Honatsu was keeping his distance from Pendragon and the Draconians the whole time, trying to avoid contact as much as possible—

"Muu!"

Hearing Fear groan, Haruaki looked up to see a familiar pet.i.te figure ahead. Dressed in a sailor-style school uniform with a waist pouch and hair styled into buns as usual, it was Ontenzaki Satsuko.

"It"s just ahead not too far away. Let"s talk while walking."

The destination was apparently farther. The group slowed down temporarily before speeding up after Satsuko joined them.

The place they were running towards was somewhere in the mountains after taking a turn directly from the path where the slasher incident had taken place. With many trees surrounding them and a narrow asphalt path underfoot, rather than a road for vehicles, it seemed more like a walking trail for tourists to admire the scenery. As one would expect in summer, the sea was more popular than the mountains, right? Anyway, the place was completely deserted.

"Umm... H-h.e.l.lo again, Commander."

"Hi, Squishy-ko. Are you squishy today too? If there"s time later, perhaps we can have a bit of squishy-ing after so long."

"Y-Yes... If there"s time... Sure..."

Satsuko looked down with her face red in embarra.s.sment. Riko bared her fangs savagely again.

"I"ve never heard "squishying" as a verb! What are you trying to do!? Something dirty? It must be something dirty, right!?"

Running alongside Haruaki, Konoha sighed in exasperation.

"These people are so noisy..."

"Agreed. We"re approaching the phantom slasher, so I hope everyone could be slightly more quiet."

"I agree with the shameless brat too. Also, Satsuko."

"Yes?"

"You two wouldn"t be interested if this was just an ordinary phantom slasher, right? To start tailing without hesitation—Is it because you noticed it"s someone involved in our circles?"

Hearing Fear say that, Satsuko smiled and replied:

"As expected of you, Fear-san, what an astute observation! Fourt was the one who said: "There appears to be a presence from some kind of curse." Then almost at the same time, we heard a scream and rushed over to have a look, then we saw someone injured and a very clearly suspicious person holding a weapon. It really was obvious from first sight that the perpetrator had attacked the victim with that weapon. And lately, Satsuko has been looking for a weapon, wondering if that weapon might be worth a try to see if it"s usable~ So we chased—"

"Meaning that you intend to steal the weapon by seizing the right moment? Seriously, you"re still incurable... By the way, are you that desperate for a weapon?"

"Yes, weak little Satsuko definitely still needs a weapon in order to become stronger~ Or rather, this is partially because of you guys, Fear-san~ After losing to you last time, you took away all of Satsuko"s weapons and it"s been hard to replace them with Wathes on the same level. Satsuko really had a tough time... Oh dear, however, it is evident that someone like Satsuko can"t easily get a hold of good tools, what with poor luck, short height and being so weak, with a stout-waisted figure too."

Satsuko nodded seriously for one moment, pouted the next and went gloomy for another, a mult.i.tude of facial expressions changing rapidly. Fear went hmph.

"Who cares about you! So, what does that weird weapon look like?"

"Umm—Oh, rather than have someone like Satsuko explain, Satsuko thinks that it"s faster if you see it for yourself. Looks like we"re almost there too."

At this moment, a girl in a cape silently descended in front of them. Fourteen. She had probably been following the phantom slasher closely in Satsuko"s place just now. Throwing a glance at the group, she said:

"Just around the corner, walking calmly and confidently."

"Yes! Don"t let the culprit escape!"

Fear finally accelerated with momentum like a runaway car that was challenging a mountain peak, turning around the corner that Fourteen had indicated.

The right hand side was a concrete reinforced slope while the left hand side was a not particularly st.u.r.dy guardrail. Up ahead was the lower part of the slope where trees were growing. Visibility wa fairly open with the sparkling sea surface in view past the foliage.

The person walking along the center of this deserted path looked back without hurrying. Haruaki caught his breath while taking a gulp.

"That"s...!"

"The phantom slasher? Ha, definitely looking very weird."

Fear was right. There were two suspicious points at first glance. One was the spear in the person"s hand. Without any particularly glamorous ornaments or design, it was a spear consisting of a straight shaft and a sharp tip. The person holding this spear was most likely female. One could not say for sure because the person"s face was obscured behind a helmet resembling a visor, leaving only the cheeks and mouth visible—Naturally, this was the second suspicious point.

Apart from that, she was wearing clothing providing ease of movement, but it was no ordinary outfit because it definitely gave the impression that the wearer was dressed that way while conscious of "battle." It looked somewhat like armor, an outfit that was halfway between light armor and fabric-based clothing.

Turning her helmet towards them, she appeared to exhale.

"Fear-in-Cube huh... I found you a bit too quickly. That said, it was originally just a matter of time in the first place."

"To think you know my name, you are involved in this world as expected."

Fear frowned and muttered whereas Konoha yelled with a furrowed brow:

"Why are you hurting people like a phantom slasher!? Answer me!"

"I—have no obligation to answer."

"Either way, it must be related to some curse, right? Absolutely ridiculous. Also, allow me to confirm one matter—"

Saying that, Kirika glanced behind her. As could be expected of someone along the path of strength pursuit, Pendragon was not breathing hard at all. Shrugging his shoulder with Riko attached, he said:

"Let me clarify beforehand, I don"t know her. She"s not one of our members... Right?"

"Correct. Satsuko doesn"t know that person."

"A single "agreed" is enough to explain it all."

Pendragon threw the question at Satsuko and Fourteen who nodded readily. "I have never seen her either." Kotetsu testified as well. In that case—

"I"m quite bothered by that outfit that looks like armor. Speaking of armor, you"d think of knights. Are you from the Knights Dominion?"

Fear jumped to conclusions based on appearances without thinking, but unexpectedly, the other side admitted it readily.

"Indeed, I am part of the mission to sweep this world clean of all cursed tools."

"What bold words. Still, I wish you"d announce your name like a knight."

"It would be unpleasant enough to make me shudder and vomit nonstop if you lot were to call my name. However, a knight"s etiquette must be upheld—just call me Sleif."

"Slave... huh? That"s quite a lowly name for a knight."

"...Think whatever you want. Indeed it is so."

Due to the helmet covering her eyes like a visor, her expression could not be seen with only her cheeks and mouth visible. Just by looking at these parts of the face, one could tell that she was still calm and collected, although her lips had twisted in disgust just as claimed back when she said that hearing them call her name would displease her.

Her helmet moved slightly, thus indicating a shift in her gaze. After a period of time which felt like she was confirming something—

"The one over there... Maximilian Pendragon, I suppose...?"

"Haha~ Anyway, we"re just here to watch and have no intention of taking part."

Almost at the same time as Sleif"s murmuring, Pendragon explained, stuffing his hands into his pockets and swiftly retreating. Naturally, Riko, who was clinging to him, and Granaury stayed with him.

"Hmph, who knows how far you guys can be trusted... Kirika, anyway, I"m leaving Haruaki in your hands. Be careful."

"I understand."

"Don"t go too crazy either, Fear!"

Fear did not respond. Staring at the opponent"s spear warily, she took out her Rubik"s cube from her parka"s pocket and took a step forward.

"So, the one called Sleif, back to the question just now. I"ll ask again, why are you hurting people?"

"Words coming from a calamity-spreading Wathe sure smell bad. The act of conversing is truly unpleasant. I shall answer only one more time—I have no obligation to answer you."

Haruaki saw Fear"s face twitch then—

"Looks like there"s no point in asking, after all, there can"t be any respectable reason, right? I can"t let you do weird things anymore, so you must be captured first! Also, whose mouth are you calling smelly? I"ll curse you!"

"On the other hand, I don"t really think she said that!"

As though declaring "I absolutely won"t let you get away," Fear and Konoha both charged to close the distance.

"...No helping it..."

Sleif murmured. Just as Haruaki thought she was going to ready the spear in her hand, unexpectedly, she swiftly secured it behind her back. Instead, she drew a sword from a scabbard at her waist.

The blade was quite long but very slender, probably what one would call a rapier? A sword whose main purpose was for thrusts. It looked light and easy to control, but—

"Ha! Do you really think something like that can block attacks!? Mechanism No.20 slashing type, great blade form: «A Hatchet of Lingchi»!"

Fear raised the giant chopping blade up high and swung hard. Whether ma.s.s or volume, it far surpa.s.sed the enemy"s weapon in these two aspects. Haruaki originally thought the result would be obvious enough but—

"What!?"

It stopped. With just a quiet "clang!", Sleif"s rapier blocked Fear"s executioner"s blade. Sleif"s movements were so light that even an observer like Haruaki found them bizarre. The expected heavy impact from Fear"s motion seemed to have been entirely sucked into somewhere else—

"Why you little—!"

Fear renewed her spirits and raised her hatchet for a horizontal sweep. However, Sleif turned swiftly and pointing the tip down, used the rapier to block the attack. The hatchet was stopped again. The instant Fear clicked her tongue, Sleif had already withdrawn the rapier tip and retreated, proceeding to use unnaturally light movements to block Konoha"s series of knifehand strikes.

"Hmm... What kind of blocking move is this? It feels truly disgusting on every impact...!"

"Disgusting? How dare you say that when you and your kind are disgusting existences... Hoo, hmm..."

Sleif began to make exhaling sounds once in a while, but due to the helmet covering her eyes, her expression still could not be read. She continued to use a slender and fragile sword to block Fear and Konoha"s attacks.

"So... This is a cursed sword as well!?"

"Indeed, it is too unusual to have lasted this long without breaking. The feeling on impact is also very odd."

"Shut up, Wathes. You"re rotting my ears."

Clink! Clonk! Clank! The impact sounds were faint and fragile, difficult to imagine from the crossing of blades between lethal weapons. The attacks were being blocked unnaturally. Despite the tough looking battle, Fear and Konoha did not give up.

"Ha! It"s been so long since the last time I met a knight very much in the style of the Knights Dominion! Let me ask a question, do you have any connection to that woman—Lilyhowell? Are you chasing after her!?"

"Don"t know. That woman is just a traitor."

"Just a traitor huh? That woman is dead, you know? Fighting Nirushaaki to a draw, she avenged her fallen comrades!"

"This I know, but it has nothing to do with me."

No connection to Lilyhowell? Haruaki was quite surprised. Given a knight from the Knights Dominion, he would have thought Lilyhowell would be the main reason. Then why had Sleif appeared here?

Just as Haruaki was thinking over these things, someone rapidly sped past him. Someone who could not hold back any longer.

"Move aside!"

"Nwah!"

Shoving Fear away, Kotetsu focused his center of gravity on his tiger claw and attacked Sleif. A straight line attack prioritizing power. However, his tiger claw did not surpa.s.s her rapier either. Kotetsu stepped back for now and clicked his tongue.

"—Muramasa-sama, pray allow me to a.s.sist you."

"Not a problem, but don"t forget to spare her life."

The trio of Fear, Konoha and Kotetsu launched wave after wave of attacks. Sleif continued to retreat while taking care not to get hit, using light and nimble sword moves to block all attacks—But not once did she ever switch from defense to offense. What was she planning? Fear, Konoha and Kotetsu gradually became cautious.

Meanwhile, Sleif"s weird breathing was getting increasingly frequent.

"Mmm... Ooh, kuh... Ha, ah...!"

After issuing a grunt of disdain, her breathing rhythm suddenly sped up, then as though reaching some kind of maximum, she panted especially loudly—By this point, her body finally gave some kind of reaction. A violent shake of her shoulders. Drool dripping from her slightly gaping mouth. Squeezing the inside of her thighs together.

"Guh, ah... This extent, should be enough..."

Instead of panicking from her body"s reactions, she kicked the ground to back away greatly as though she had expected this from the start. But still, she was not able to secure enough distance to shake off Fear, Konoha and Kotetsu. The trio chased her relentlessly and closed in. For the first time, Sleif now showed a stance not for defense.

She raised the rapier in her hand lightly.

Although her opponents clearly had yet to enter the range of her rapier"s tip, she swung downwards.

What was she doing? Haruaki"s puzzlement only lasted an instant.

Even though the blade was not within range of the opponents, even though it looked like an empty swing...

It was still undoubtedly—An attack.

"W-What—!?" "Gah!" "Muramasa-sama!"

The unnaturalness of the situation was identical to how the rapier had blocked their attacks. The scene before them was contrary to "the natural conclusion based on expectations."

Unbelievably, what swung out from the rapier was a slashing ma.s.s, visible to the naked eye. It was like a spatial distortion imbued with sharpness, so large in scale and power that it was impossible to imagine that slender blade had released it. Like a large-caliber artillery sh.e.l.l, like a runaway train, the slashing ma.s.s flew towards Fear, Konoha and Kotetsu with powerful pressure.

Probably out of instinct, the trio instantly leaned close together and counterattacked the slicing pressure in full force. The executioner"s blade, the knifehand strike, the tiger claw. Nevertheless, their power was still not enough to resist. The trio was sent flying in different directions.

(Oh no, hold on, it"s even coming over here...!)

After the giant, overwhelming and tangible ma.s.s of slicing pressure knocked the trio away, it continued to fly in a straight line without slowing down, ripping apart the asphalt, chopping down trees on the roadside in its wake—

"...Riko."

"No other way, I guess~ Here I go—!"

Then Haruaki saw it. Pendragon suddenly took a step forward and extended his arm. Still clinging to his arm, Riko poked her little head out in front of his fist and chopped the air with her hand as though joking around. This action alone was enough to produce a strange "smack!" as though distorting the s.p.a.ce, whereupon the tangible slashing attack was deflected to the side. After sweeping past Haruaki"s group, it smashed into the railing behind them and disappeared in the air above the seash.o.r.e.

"Ah! I never thought it"d hurt so much! d.a.m.n~ Why do I have to do this kind of thing..."

Riko shook her fist with a frown on her tiny face. Pendragon stroked her head with his other hand.

"There there, this is called in for a penny, in for a pound. You did well, Riko."

"B-But you must praise me more. It"s not like it"ll make me happy, but, umm, it"s out of the kindess of my heart so that your efforts don"t go to waste! So, uh~ I permit you to stroke slightly harder!"

Ignoring the noise on Pendragon"s side, the trio of Fear, Konoha and Kotetsu landed and rolled on the ground before looking in Haruaki"s direction with shock.

"Haruaki, Kirika! Are you okay!?"

"Yeah, we"re... Oh."

Haruaki suddenly noticed that his body had acted on its own accord to embrace Kirika beside him by the shoulders. Her body warmth. The fragrance of her hair.

"...!"

But the instant she noticed, Kirika raised her hand and shoved Haruaki"s body away lightly. After seeing her own hand"s movements, Kirika"s eyes wandered as though in shock. It looked like hers was a subconscious action as well.

Feeling a slight air of rejection, Haruaki was rendered speechless. For several seconds, the two of them could only stared into each other"s eyes. He recalled what had happened before the current situation developed. Before Pendragon"s side made their visit. His slip of the tongue under the parasol. Her feelings. What he must do, no matter what—

Kirika was the first to shift her gaze away. As though trying to hide the cause, she turned to face forward.

Looking at the asphalt ground that had been gouged and sc.r.a.ped violently with straight-line trail, Pendragon muttered quietly. Like a child who had found a new toy, he seemed excited, enjoying the moment.

"Haha~ What amazing power. But why didn"t she use this move from the start? Does it require intense concentration? Or it needs to store up something first...? Hmm."

Meanwhile, Fear, Konoha and Kotetsu were staring with a frown at the source of the slicing.

Despite the three of them losing balance completely—the reason why the enemy had not followed up with further attacks was most likely because—

There were no remaining signs of anyone in front of them.

Night fell. The day when many things happened was also about to end.

Haruaki"s group had returned to the Yachi residence, spending their time individually as they wished. After finishing dinner and doing the dishes, Haruaki walked to his room while thinking about the day"s occurrences.

According to Kuroe who had treated and bandaged the victim together with Zenon, the man who had suffered the phantom slasher"s a.s.sault was safely loaded onto an ambulance. His life was not in danger. Truly a big relief despite the misfortune.

In the end, the Draconians had not made any strange moves. After meeting up with the superintendent again, there was nothing important for now. Pendragon"s next plans was apparently "time to gather back the other members living in this country, since it"s a rare chance." In other words, they were going to remain on standby for a while at that sea. Haruaki also wondered, although they were staying on the sea far from the sh.o.r.e in an attempt to be inconspicuous, wouldn"t they still be considered suspicious ships? But having heard that the Dragon Island essentially drifted through all the seas in the world, surely they must be quite adept at political maneuvering.

And after retrieving all members in this country—Who knew what would happen next.

"After Nirushaaki"s death, the Number Two seat is now vacant. But it"d be too boring if the empty spot gets filled by ranking everyone up starting with Number Three. Might as well hold a tournament..."

While parting ways, Pendragon remarked with a childish look on his face, but—

"Who cares about you guys! Anyway, just hold it somewhere far away from us!"

Fear"s response represented everyone. Although it was concerning, the conclusion at the current stage was that seeing as Pendragon had not done anything so far, there was nothing they could do about him.

(Sigh, if only this could continue with nothing else happening...)

After hearing that Pendragon was the Commander of the Draconians, Haruaki taken greatly by surprise but felt truly relieved that they had no need to fight at the moment. If possible, he wanted these peaceful times to continue forever. However, it was still unsettling that Sleif"s whereabouts were unknown after her escape...

Haruaki sighed.

Then pulling open his room"s sliding door, he found an unfamiliar object on his table. Tied with a ribbon, a box roughly the size of a lunchbox. Walking over for a closer look, he found a note under the box. Written on it were the words: "Happy Birthday! I gave it a lot of thought, but in the end, I decided to give you the birthday present first. How you use it is freely up to you, Haruaki, but feel free to consult me if you feel lost. Dad"—

Haruaki instantly felt all strength drain from his shoulders. Birthday present? How to use it was freely up to him?