by Aneko Yusagi
The women walked up, all casual and in control. They definitely didn’t think they were going to get executed. They were all women exactly like Witch, so just looking at them turned my stomach. How great would it had been if Witch had actually been among them!
“Ladies!” Takt shouted.
“Huh? Faker, you look so sad with all your women getting killed,” one of them said.
“What?! Please! Just get out of here!” he pleaded with them.
“How dare you even talk to me?!” One of the women, giving off almost exactly the same kind of atmosphere as Witch, proceeded to kick Takt in the face.
This whole thing had all been set up earlier in the day. A few hours before the executions, we had gathered Takt’s women in one place and asked them a question: “You are all close friends with the false hero Takt, correct? Spill his secrets!”
It made sense that those most loyal would be closest to him, but they all swore they didn’t know anything. Those who perhaps weren’t quite so loyal gave less clear-cut answers. Not all of Takt’s allies were blindly following him, after all.
“I wasn’t close with him!” One of the bitches was quick to deny her relationship with him.
“You traitor!”
“Shameless whore!”
“This is how you’d repay his kindness?” These and similar shouts came from the other women. I had seen the whole thing too, of course. These women were slime, all of them.
“I see. In that case, during the execution, we need you to proclaim that you aren’t the liar’s ally. If it’s the truth, we will let you live,” the executioner said, exactly as he had been told to. The women had cursed the traitor to start with, but it was true that some of them had simply been trying to survive by using their own cuteness against Takt.
Takt grunted again now, “W-what are you doing?!”
“I’ve been through hell, thanks to you tricking me!” one woman screamed. Others were kicking Takt in the face, arms and feet, and even more tender areas. It really was a terrible sight to see. Whoever had thought this up was sick in the head.
“I-I see! If you denounce me, you will be—” Takt started.
“I’m telling you to shut up! You filthy animal!” Takt was finally unable to conceal his confusion as the women laid into him at full tilt.
He had been right, too, with what he had started to say. At least half right.
“How dare you trick us like that?!”
“An imposter like you, putting on such airs!”
“All our friends went to their deaths, still believing in you! You murderer!”
“You pretended to be thinking about the world, but you were just thinking about yourself! You cold-hearted monster!”
“Pervert! Scumbag!”
“How many people do you think have died for you?” The women continued to take turns to berate him. I knew what was going to happen and I was still starting to feel sorry for him.
“You tricked us, nothing more. We haven’t done anything wrong. That’s why we’re doing this to you, to prove it.” The women from Takt’s retinue continued to laugh as they beat him. They continued to laugh as they snapped his fingers, one after the other, at the order of the executioner.
“You . . . devil . . .” he managed through his pain. Perhaps he’d finally realized that his women were truly enjoying causing him such pain, because his eyes died a second time. “I know . . . I know what this is now . . .”
A dream. He was about to say this was a dream. Then he glared at me and shouted.
“This can’t be real! There’s no way this could be happening to me! This is a dream! If it isn’t, then . . . hey! I know you’re watching! I request a do-over! I swear to come back to life and make all of these scumbags pay! So come right now!” Takt made this loud declaration to all of the heroes attending the execution and in particular to me and Trash.
“I see. It very much sounds like you know something. Who is there operating behind you?” I asked. If anyone did show up to save him, we were going to have to fight them—the puppeteer pulling the strings.
Takt quickly shut his mouth, as though he was snapping back to himself. He was requesting to come back to life and having a do-over. Kyo’s research suggested the one behind all this had some kind of system for spare bodies. There was also the fact that Witch had managed to escape. A cooperator with links to Kyo . . . I wondered if that was it.
They might have simply submerged again, preparing to cause more trouble.
Then there was the talk of him having defeated Kirin. I didn’t know what he had done with that energy. These were just some of the questions that still lingered.
The Shield Spirit and the others had said the one behind all this wasn’t an enemy on any level we could hope to defeat, but rather something that consumed worlds, and it was the role of the heroes to stop that being from getting into this world.
It sounded like little more than a clump of twisted evil. I wondered if it was some kind of uncertain enemy, like darkness or something like that—or something like a Demon King or devil. Hmmm.
It looked like there was nothing else we could do. If he wasn’t going to confess things now, I’d have to ask something else.
“If you’re going to spill it, now’s the time. Witch . . . the woman you know as Malty. Tell me where she’s run off to. Do that, and I’ll settle for just killing you,” I demanded.
“You’re joking! Why do you think I’d know where Malty is? I’ve no idea!” It really sounded like he didn’t know. That did tell me one thing. Witch and the one behind the waves were two different forces.
“I see. So someone other than Witch is pulling your strings?” I said.
“I-I can’t . . .” He really was pigheaded. We were taking his precious women out in front of him, one after the other!
Maybe Takt’s women were all dumb too, but none of them knew where Witch was. The only way was to get Takt to spill it.
“I hate to say it, Takt, but you have to know there are punishments in this world worse than death,” I told him. It was time. I pointed down below to the execution stage.
An executioner appeared with a monster on a chain. The monster was a soul vaccumer. There were no soul eaters in this world, but there were monsters that ate souls apparently.
Externally . . . it looked like a massive blue-white worm. It was related to the dune monster I had in my village. I was borrowing some that had been raised close to Faubrey—we had a number of them here for the executions. They were literally monsters that sucked up souls.
“I told you when we were fighting, right? I had no intention of letting you off easily in death! I’m going to destroy even your soul!” I told him. All the soul vaccumers present had been given orders to eat the souls of those killed here. We had quite a few with stuffed bellies already.
“If you die and this monster eats your soul . . . do you think you’ll be coming back from that?” I asked him. Takt’s expression paled visibly. Of course it did.
He’d still been possessed of such naïve ideas of this all being a dream, that he could have a do-over or that someone was going to come and carry his soul away and bring him back to life.
I considered what would happen, then, when he learned that a monster was going to eat that soul.
He hadn’t been taking this seriously because he’d thought he was going to get another chance. He’d been thinking that if he was executed and the women survived, he’d have a chance to come and save them. That was why he’d been able to say all those stupid things.
“Well then,” I said.
“S-stop it!” Takt shouted. It was his turn. Finally, it was here.
“If you really want me to stop, this is your chance. Confess. Tell me everything,” I said.
“. . . Very well,” Takt said through his moans. “Just don’t hurt them anymore!”
“Are you giving me orders now?” I asked.
“The one who gave me this power was—” And then he suddenly started to scr
eam, his head literally starting to change shape.
“What the hell is going on?!” I shouted. It was like some powerful seal just activated in order to shut Takt up. A moment later there was a nasty sound. Takt’s head exploded apart and his . . . soul . . . huh? His soul shredded into pieces and scattered too.
“Bye-bye. Treating people like objects, being so condescending, and having all those fawning sicko women around you is what finished you off,” one of the women snarled. It was like having Witch there with us.
That wasn’t what I was concerned with in that moment, however.
It was Takt’s sudden death and the scattering of his soul. I just didn’t know who could set something like that up or just how powerful the one behind the waves was.
“Master Takt!” The women who were left and did still believe in him from the bottom of their hearts gave some pleading screams. If only that loyalty had taken a slightly different vector, one of them might have become a second Yomogi . . . That said, this whole execution left me with a nasty feeling in the back of my mind.
“There. We helped you dispose of the imposter. Now set us free!” Numerous women made the same prompt demand, their work here seemingly finished.
“Yes, it is time for your reward. Do it!” As the executioner gave this order, I quietly slipped away. Behind me, the Witch-like bitches got bombarded by a storm of magic and arrows. Their screams filled my ears.
“W-what’s the meaning of this? You’re breaking your promise?!” I didn’t know anything about that. My business here was finished. It was so mentally draining I decided to leave all of this to the experts and move on to the next thing.
We’d have to just continue the investigation into the mysteries surrounding Takt.
Epilogue: Vanguard of the Waves
“We’re facing a wave soon. It’s important to be ready for battle . . . but we also really need to somehow bring Raphtalia back to this world,” I said. Takt’s execution was complete, and we were holding a discussion about what to do next in one of the resting rooms. The heroes, Rishia, Trash, Melty, and Eclair as a guard were all present.
It was a clear fact that, likely in order to save Raphtalia from torture, her katana vassal weapon had summoned her away to Kizuna’s world.
“We can hope that we are matched with Kizuna’s world in the upcoming wave,” I continued.
“Although I understand that it couldn’t be helped, this is still a bit of an issue, isn’t it, Hero Iwatani?” Trash interjected.
“Yeah. It’s not the best news I’ve ever had. With the wave about to happen, if we get lucky she may be able to reach us of her own accord,” I replied, perhaps a little too hopefully. Glass and L’Arc should be keeping Kizuna on the straight and narrow anyway. And they had promised we would have a full discussion prior to any potential fighting.
The scarier option was getting matched with a completely different world.
Eventually, I suspected we were going to have to fight the force with whom S’yne was opposed. But that likely wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. We also had to collect the remaining seven star weapons that had been scattered across this world. We still had plenty of issues left to resolve.
There was some good news. Having defeated Faubrey, we’d managed to bring most of the nations of the world under our umbrella. That was something, even if we hadn’t been exactly aiming for that result.
But we hadn’t caught Witch yet, Itsuki’s former underlings were still in the wind, and then there were S’yne’s enemies lurking around too . . . It was all starting to make my head hurt.
To top it all off, Raphtalia was in a different world!
In that moment, I felt a familiar presence at my back.
“Master Naofumi. This is where you dig in and fight back harder.”
Well said. Even though I couldn’t see them, I had people watching over me at all times, lending me their strength. Thinking that made me feel I could make it through this after all.
“The longest journey starts with a single step. Let’s tread carefully and carry on,” I said.
“Then I shall succeed my dear wife and do all I can for the sake of this world,” Trash said. Then he started to read from a document left behind by the queen.
Hmmm. With Trash and Rishia around, maybe we’d finally be able to read all the encrypted materials relating to the waves.
“Rishia, you picked up a book in Kizuna’s world, right? Have you made any progress reading it?” I asked.
“Ah, well . . . I’m making some headway, but everything I’ve discovered so far is pretty much things you already know, Naofumi. I’ve got about half left to read. However, I’ve learned that our enemy is related to the vanishing materials and interference with the spirits,” she continued.
“I see,” I said. It seemed highly likely that folk like Makina were connected to the waves. The actions of the past Heavenly Emperor seemed to back that up too.
“Trash, can I ask you to work with Rishia to read the writings from this world?” I requested.
“If you order it, Hero Iwatani, then I shall do all I can to aid you. Daughter of the house of Ivyred and Projectile Hero, please lend me your aid,” Trash asked formally.
“F-fehhhh!” That put Trash and Rishia onto focusing on the decryption of the ancient texts.
At that point a soldier came into the resting room.
“Shield Hero, I have a message for you from the village you command,” the man said.
“Huh? What is it?” I asked.
“A strange usapil with the ability to turn into a humanoid form has been discovered badly injured in your lands,” the man relayed.
“What?” A strange usapil with the ability to turn into a humanoid form? Among the people I knew, there was Ethnobalt, a rabbit-like monster who could turn into a humanoid form. That was about the only person who came to mind. When we traveled to a different world, Filo had transformed into a different type of monster. If Ethnobalt had come to our world, then . . . maybe he would turn into an usapil.
Ethnobalt was one of Kizuna’s companions, someone from a different world who we’d met there when we went to defeat Kyo. I wondered why he would be here. He should be in Kizuna’s world. The fact that he was badly injured was also a cause for concern. It might all have had something to do with the shaking of the anchor accessory I experienced prior to meeting Takt.
“Naofumi, do you have any idea who it might be?” Ren asked.
“Yeah. Let’s hurry back there,” I replied. We proceeded to the clinic in the village.
Arriving at the village clinic, Ethnobalt was lying on one of the beds. He was tall for an usapil. I checked later and discovered he was a type called a leshuant.
He was so badly injured he couldn’t even maintain his human form.
“I thought it was you, Ethnobalt. What’s going on?” I asked. On the way here, I’d explained to my companions about whom I thought it might have been. Now they all looked a little guarded, but also worried about Ethnobalt.
“Ah, Naofumi. I managed . . . to find you,” he said. His body was wrapped in bandages. He wasn’t as far gone as Atla had been. If healing magic was applied thoroughly to his wounds, he should recover.
I supported him as he struggled to sit up. This seemed like some kind of curse to delay the healing of his wounds. He’d got some nasty wounds and a curse too. Holy water had already been applied as an emergency measure. His life wasn’t in any danger, but he wouldn’t be running around anytime soon.
I concentrated on my shield and cast some healing magic.
“That feels better . . .” Ethnobalt breathed. A little at a time, the curse was melting away. With my awakening as a hero again, and as a side effect of the various new power-up methods, I could now remove curses faster than before.
“Ethnobalt, what happened? Why are you here in our world?” I asked.
“I managed to make it here . . . thanks to the accessory I gave you, Naofumi,” he explained. “So long as someone has that
accessory, the ship vassal weapon can cross to the world where the holder is, even without a wave.”
“I see,” I said.
“I had originally been hoping to use it to come here to aid you, Naofumi . . .” He trailed off. There was a barrier that completely closed us off from other worlds. There was no way to get to this world without a wave.
If that was the case though, he should have turned up when Takt first kicked our asses.
Maybe some issue had occurred that was keeping Kizuna and the others from coming to save us.
“The ship vassal weapon sent me here to seek aid from you in my time of crisis, Naofumi,” Ethnobalt continued.
“Of course!” I exclaimed. “What about Raphtalia?!” I pushed in closer to Ethnobalt and realized that something felt wrong. His ship vassal weapon was missing. A nasty feeling shivered up my spine.
“Ethnobalt, did you see Raphtalia?” I asked. “She should have been summoned across to your world.”
“I don’t know anything about that. It seems highly likely we crossed over around the same time. After I was sent here, I’ve been searching for you in my injured state for a while now . . .” he explained.
“I see,” I said, disappointed.
“Has something happened?” he asked. I proceeded to give him a quick rundown of the Takt situation.
“We were lucky enough to defeat him anyway, without losing any of the heroes,” I finished. That news seemed to put him at ease momentarily, but then he gave another tense breath and continued.
“We’re in a similar situation . . . if not a worse one, honestly,” he said. Considering the example set by Kyo, there was plenty of potential for someone else causing trouble relating to the vassal weapons. Kyo and the holder of the mirror vassal weapon had done nothing but cause issues since their selection—even if that had ultimately led to the weapons turning against them, preventing them from drawing out their powers.
Takt in our world had been the same though, stealing the seven star weapons and eventually my shield. We had also already determined that Takt and Kyo were the vanguard for the one behind the waves. This might mean that a similar vanguard had appeared in Kizuna’s world.
