by Aneko Yusagi
Melty needed to go out and play every now and then too. Filo would watch out for her, I’m sure.
“It’s decided. Allow me to make the proclamation. Melty, Her Royal Highness the Second Princess, has set out on a journey of personal growth with her cherished bird!”
“What’s going on, bubba?” asked Keel.
I made the announcement in front of Keel and the other villagers. Keel looked tired. She was yawning the whole time.
“N . . . Naofumi? What did you just call me?” Melty grumbled.
“It’s just your official title. Eclair, you tell the residents of your town the same thing.”
“U . . . understood.”
“So that settles it. Filo, take Melty and go level.”
“Yaaaay!”
“Wait a second, Naofumi! You can’t just decide something like that on your own!” Melty complained.
“It’s okay, Melty,” I replied.
“What’s okay?!”
“I didn’t decide on my own. Your assistant agreed to it too. And Eclair is going to take care of your work for you. Go play with Filo and have a little bit of fun.”
“Stop messing around!” Melty shouted.
“All that’s left is to decide whether or not to set you up with the slave maturation bonus. I’m pretty sure the queen would give us the go-ahead.”
The queen apparently wanted me to marry Melty, so she would probably let me do anything I wanted to her. I just needed Melty to agree to it.
“No thanks!”
“Oh? That’s too bad. Oh well. Off you go!”
“We’ll be back, Master!”
“Wait, Filo! I never agreed to—”
Before Melty could finish, Filo grabbed her by the collar with her beak and threw her on her back. With Melty on her back, Filo flapped her wings and took off running while yelling, “Here we gooooo!”
“Naofumi! I won’t forget this!”
Melty’s voice trailed off as she got further away.
“Melty, Her Royal Highness the Second Princess, we eagerly look forward to your development!”
I made an exaggerated saluting motion. In a final display of spite, Melty nonsensically tore an accessory off of her outfit and threw it at me. Of course, since she was riding on Filo’s back and Filo was sprinting away, it didn’t actually hit me. It just fell on the ground. That girl was always screaming so hysterically. Did I really upset her that much? All in all, she wasn’t that bad though.
“Rafu!”
Raph-chan was sitting on top of Filo’s head and waving to me. I was counting on her to watch those two helpless dolts.
“Now then, it’s morning already. I’m tired . . .”
“I’m sure Melty is tired too. We were still fighting just a few hours ago,” Raphtalia said.
“Filo is in good spirits, so they’ll be fine. I’m sorry, but I don’t have the time or energy to be worrying about those two right now. Raph-chan is a different story, of course.”
I decided to cancel my training for the day. I would just make breakfast for the slaves and then take a nap. I was completely exhausted.
“Alright, everyone. Once you finish eating breakfast, I want you all to get to work.”
And then, out of nowhere, S’yne suddenly appeared at the village.
“Did something———?”
Oh, yeah . . . I had totally forgotten about her.
And just like that, things had finally returned to normal for us.
Chapter Eleven: Perfect Hidden Justice
It was the day after Filo and Melty set off on their journey to train. I gathered up the slaves from the village who had been making an earnest effort to level up, and I used my portal skill to teleport us all to Zeltoble. When the old lady had gotten back to the village, she told me that it would be good practice for them if they fought against some unfamiliar opponents, like mercenaries. She said they were at least strong enough to fight in the coliseums now.
“Bubba! Bubba! Do we get to fight here?!”
Keel was excited. We were watching a duel at a coliseum in Zeltoble.
“Yeah. This is the open coliseum, so it’s relatively safe. I want you all to fight hard, but do your best not to get injured too.”
“Sure thing, bubba!”
“Keel, do you really understand?” asked Raphtalia.
“Of course! I don’t want to get injured and get left behind!”
I was glad that Keel seemed to be in her usual good spirits.
“Besides, with Sadeena here, we’ll be fine no matter what happens!”
“Oh my!”
“Yeah, I’ve heard she used to rake in the money here in Zeltoble. Speaking of which, where’s S’yne?” I asked.
Apparently, S’yne hadn’t noticed that something was happening when we were dealing with the dragon incident recently. She had been asleep or something. Sheesh . . . She was never around when we needed her the most. Maybe she would have come if I’d called her though. I guess it was partially my fault for forgetting about her. She may not have even been able to teleport to that corrupted mountain in the first place.
“I hear little S’yne is busy in the underground coliseum,” Sadeena replied.
“Does she ever take a break?”
“And of course, she’s donating half of her profits to you, little Naofumi.”
“Nice! Keep it up, S’yne!”
“You prioritize profits too much, Mr. Naofumi,” Raphtalia said.
“An impressive attitude, Mr. Naofumi!” Atla exclaimed.
“What part of that is impressive?!” Raphtalia retorted.
The two of them went back and forth in their usual manner.
By the way, Fohl had realized just how weak he was and went out to train with the old lady. On top of that, he’d apparently asked for the no-holds-barred course and the old lady got really excited or something. The group of slaves with me now had nothing to do while the old lady was out, which is why I’d brought them to Zeltoble to fight in the coliseum.
We were at the coliseum that the slave trader managed. The bets here were on the small side, but we still had to pull some strings to participate, just like when we had fought Sadeena. My slaves had stat adjustments. They were far stronger than their levels would imply, and their histories had to be touched up a bit too. The Lurolona slave price bubble had burst, but they were still being traded on the high side.
“Fehhh . . .”
“Rishia, are you still making that pathetic sound after all of your training?”
“I . . . I can’t help it!”
Her talents had finally blossomed, but she was still the same useless Rishia. Sheesh . . . I’m sure we would have been able to defeat the Demon Dragon a lot easier if she had been there. Whenever faced with an opponent bent on world domination, Rishia’s true powers would awaken and she’d defeat the enemy like some kind of heroine saving the day.
“Alright, everyone. Be careful while you’re out there fighting,” I told the slaves.
“Okay!” they shouted back in unison.
I left the slaves with Sadeena and the rest of us made our way to the gallery seating.
The tournament that we’d entered was a short one that would only last one or two days. In general, the open coliseum was meant to entertain guests with straightforward fights. That’s why there was a greater emphasis on rules than in the underground coliseum. There were all kinds of restrictions, like level classes and only being able to use dulled weapons. Of course, you never knew what might happen since betting was still part of it. The current tournament had level classes, and killing opponents was strictly forbidden. It felt more like a sports tournament than underground fighting.
I considered having Raphtalia or Sadeena enter, but it was likely that someone would recognize them, so I decided to hold off on that. As for myself, this tournament was one-on-one matches only. I might have been able to win without breaking the rules, but you couldn’t win by forcing the opponent out of bounds, so I decided not to
enter. Even though I couldn’t attack, I might be able to win by restraining the opponent, but that would be a real hassle. It made more sense to just have the slaves get some real-world fighting experience.
“Alright, we’ll be watching from the gallery. You all do your best!”
“This way, Shield Hero,” said the slave trader.
He had been silently standing nearby. He led us to our seats in the gallery. On the way to our seats, I caught sight of the other contestants getting ready for their matches. The majority of them looked like degenerates. Many of them had brutish or muscle-bound appearances too.
And then I saw it. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“I . . . Itsuki?!”
“Huh?!”
“Feh?!”
There was Itsuki, mingling with the other contestants like he was just another ordinary mercenary. When Raphtalia and Rishia heard my outburst, they looked over and saw him too. They both cried out in surprise.
“Is something wrong? Yes sir.”
“No, it’s just . . .”
I explained to the slave trader that Itsuki, the Bow Hero, was here in the coliseum. We needed to talk to Itsuki before we did anything else. S’yne’s adversaries were trying to kill the holy heroes. I wasn’t going to let Itsuki slip through my fingers here.
“Let’s see . . .”
A brawny man whose face was concealed by a piece of cloth brought the slave trader a list.
“Contestant #982. He’s registered as Perfect Hidden Justice.”
I almost fell over backward. Perfect Hidden Justice? That had to be a joke. That was so blatantly obvious that it would have sent even the most delusional escapist running back to reality. Even I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
“Can we talk to him?” I asked.
“Yes, I can grant you permission under my authority.”
The slave trader instructed his assistant to take us to the contestant waiting room. I didn’t want to alarm Itsuki, so I approached casually and greeted him.
“Hey. Long time no see,” I said.
“Mr. Itsuki!” exclaimed Rishia.
Itsuki just stood there vacantly and showed no sign of responding.
“I . . . Yes . . . Everyone . . .” he mumbled.
“Hey,” I repeated.
“Everyone is counting on me. Yes. Everyone . . . is counting on me. This prize money will help save people.”
“Are you listening?!” I shouted.
Itsuki just kept mumbling to himself quietly. It was hard to make out what he was saying. He had a vacant look in his eyes. I couldn’t even tell where he was looking.
“I . . . I’m not inferior. I’m . . . Actually . . .”
“Hey! Listen to me!” I shouted at him.
“Mr. Itsuki! Umm . . . I—” Rishia began.
I grabbed Itsuki by the shoulders and shook him back and forth, but he showed no response. I heard the sound of a gong echo throughout the coliseum.
“I . . . fight for justice!”
“Mr. Itsuki! Ahh!”
Itsuki shoved Rishia out of the way and sprinted off, as if he hadn’t heard a word we said.
“What’s up with that jerk?” I grumbled.
“Are you okay, Rishia?” asked Raphtalia.
She had caught Rishia before she fell.
“Fehhh . . .”
It was like we didn’t even exist to Itsuki.
“So . . . I looked into that contestant a bit more, and it seems he’s been making the rounds at all of the Zeltoble coliseums for a while now. Yes sir.”
“Really? This is the first I’ve heard of that.”
“Yes. I’ve been told that he started showing up a day or two after you left Zeltoble.”
We’d just missed each other! That put me in a mood to complain.
Still, I don’t know what had happened to him, but something was clearly wrong with Itsuki. It probably had something to do with losing to the Spirit Tortoise coming back to haunt him though. That was easy enough to guess. That reminded me, the queen had mentioned receiving several eyewitness reports from when he fought the Spirit Tortoise. Going by those and what Kyo had mentioned, Itsuki’s party had a falling out.
When the coliseum matches began, I focused on Itsuki’s match. I’d assumed that attacking from a distance would be much more advantageous for Itsuki than close combat. But the rules restricted combat to a small area. An opponent would be able to close the gap in a flash. That would make using a bow disadvantageous. Regardless, Itsuki was advancing through the tournament with ease. He actually seemed pretty skilled at one-on-one combat.
But there was something strange about his expression. And every time the audience cheered, he threw his hands into the air and howled ecstatically. Was that really Itsuki? The Itsuki I knew was a bit more reserved. He was a hypocrite who was always trying to act like a real man of character.
“Fehhh . . .”
My slaves were fighting in a separate tournament, so I wouldn’t have to worry about them getting hurt. But I still needed to figure out how to take him into custody. Also, something about the way his bow looked really bothered me.
“How can we take him in without letting him get away?” I wondered out loud.
We’d already figured out how to interfere with the portal skills. Magically generating a magnetic field in the area would cause the portal skills to malfunction. It would be possible to keep him from running if we used ceremonial magic, like Sanctuary or Judgment.
Luckily for us, this was Zeltoble, the country of merchants and mercenaries. If I gave the order, I could have the slave trader arrange to obstruct portal usage in the coliseum Itsuki was fighting in. But if we did something that went against the rules, it was likely that Itsuki would feel threatened and run away. And things could turn really bad if he took hostages from the audience and started getting violent.
Just as I expected, the slave trader wasn’t prepared to agree to a plan that might result in people getting injured in a coliseum full of visitors. He said we’d have to be extremely careful and make advance preparations if we were going to try anything.
“We can just knock him out, no questions asked, and then take him into custody,” Atla said.
“Why are you always so violent?! Jeez . . . We should at least try talking to him, right?” Raphtalia replied.
“Yeah. I’d like to take him in on amicable terms, if possible,” I said.
More of S’yne’s old enemies might have still been hiding out in this world. We couldn’t know when or where to expect them. I wanted to convince Itsuki to stick with us, if possible.
“Mr. Naofumi, perhaps we should try to find out what he’s after by talking with our fists. I’m sure we would be able to get through to him that way.”
“What are you, Atla? Some kind of martial arts master?”
It was hard to believe she was a sickly little girl not too long ago. Everything she said made it sound like she only knew how to think with her fists. At least her brother had a little common sense.
“Mr. Itsuki . . .”
Rishia was watching Itsuki fight with a really worried look on her face. Hmm . . .
“What do you think we should do, Rishia?” I asked.
“I . . . I . . .”
Rishia put her hands together like she was praying and spoke hesitatingly.
“Mr. Itsuki seems very troubled. I would like to help him resolve whatever is bothering him.”
“Even though he discarded you like a piece of trash?”
Incredible. Rishia must have been some kind of saint. Her devotion was unwavering. Itsuki sure was a lucky guy.
“Either way, it seems like Itsuki is fighting in the coliseums to earn money.”
I had the slave trader do a bit more digging. He confirmed that Itsuki had been fighting day after day to earn money in coliseums around Zeltoble, both open and underground. It was clear that he wanted money. But we still hadn’t been able to figure out where he was staying. It was probably a good idea t
o look into why he was trying to make all that money too. Knowing Itsuki, I’m sure he was fighting to fund some kind of hypocritical scheme or something.
Maybe I would tail him and see where he went after the tournament ended. Or maybe we could lure him out somehow later.
“Hey, Perfect . . . I’m going to beat you this time!”
Itsuki’s opponent spoke to Itsuki.
“No, the victory will be mine again.”
“Like hell it will! I’ve seen all of your attacks now!”
Oh? It seemed like Itsuki would respond to his opponents. So the reason he had ignored us earlier is because he had been focused on the tournament . . . perhaps. But I could tell that something was off by the look in his eyes, even from a distance. His bow looked strange too. It was an unnaturally pure white, and yet it had a really sinister design. I could sense a strange aura coming from it.
“So we can assume that he’ll respond during combat . . . I guess,” I wondered out loud.
“Naofumi!” Rishia called out to me.
“Umm . . . I . . . I want to talk to Mr. Itsuki. So please, let me fight in the coliseum!”
“I think that’s a good idea. I have a bad feeling about that weapon of his,” said Raphtalia.
She nodded in agreement with Rishia’s proposition.
“Isn’t that pretty much the same as Atla’s idea? Then again, it did work for Ren. I guess we should try it sooner than later this time.”
“In that case, I have a suggestion, Shield Hero.”
The slave trader seemed to have a plan.
“What’s that?”
“There’s an underground fight arena that isn’t being used tonight. You could lure the Bow Hero there and then capture him. Yes sir. I could give him a written invitation when I present him with the tournament prize money.”
Something seemed off. I couldn’t help but feel like there was some kind of ulterior motive at play here.
“Let me guess. The queen is offering a reward to anyone who assists with the capture of a hero or something, right?”
“Impressive! You understand our true intentions well. My hat’s off to you! Yes sir!”
“There’s nothing impressive about it . . .”
His intentions were painfully straightforward.
“You better not try to turn this into a hero-deathmatch spectacle or something. I can’t guarantee anyone in the audience will make it out alive.”
