"Hiyaaaaah!"

"Hey, hang on... Whoa. She just defies logic, doesn't she."

I watched with a frown as Elna fought just up ahead of me.

She was fighting against bloodhounds, a kind of red and black wolf-like monster. There were more than thirty of them. Bloodhounds traveled in packs, and in a group of five or more they were ranked A-class monsters. Defeating a challenging pack of thirty would easily be a AAA-class kill. Yet their great number was no obstacle to Elna, who swiftly took down the pack one by one. Even as a top-ranking adventurer myself, I was taken by surprise.

After wiping out the pack of bloodhounds in a matter of minutes, Elna recorded the result on a peculiar crystal magical tool.

The information would immediately be transmitted to Keel, headquarters of the festival, and announced to the people. Based on the interim reports, we were far and away in first place. Elna had already slain one AAA-class monster, and now she'd also conquered the equivalent of a second in bloodhounds. By nature of the festival's method of scorekeeping, someone else killing one gigantic monster could still overturn our lead, but we definitely had the upper hand.

"Arn! I saw some more monsters over there! Let's go after them!"

"Nah, I'm too tired to fight any more. Why don't we go take a break in a town nearby?"

"What lazy nonsense is that? You do want to win, don't you?"

"I don't remember ever saying that, actually."

I couldn't let Elna and the knights go on ahead without me. Those of the emperor's children who had gone out in the field were outfitted with a magical wristband, as was the officer commanding their accompanying regiment of knights. These wristbands were set up to break if the two people wearing them became separated by more than half a mile or so. Because of this, it was impossible to let one's knights go off on their own.

Krista's knights didn't have that limitation, but when they spotted a monster, they had to receive Krista's permission to pursue it via a long-distance magical transmission from Keel, where she was staying. They were allowed to fight back without waiting if monsters attacked first, but not many monsters would dare go after a fully armed regiment of knights.

Likely due to that transmission handicap, Krista's knights had still not recorded any successes. The monsters were probably getting away before they could receive Krista's reply.

In other words, it had been the right decision to travel alongside the knights.

"You might be fine, but everyone else is tired. It's only the first day anyway. No need to push ourselves. The festival lasts three whole days, so let's take it slow and steady."

"You know, you are so—"

"What's that now? I believe I'm temporarily your boss. Are you going to go against my orders?"

"Ugh. Fine. I'll follow your decision, Your Highness."

"Good. Then let's head to the nearest town."

And so, that's what we did. The town we arrived in was also in a festive mood, and the inn the emperor had prearranged for competitors to stay at gave us a warm welcome.

In similar ways, the entire eastern region had become involved with the festival. The mere visit of an imperial or famous figure not usually seen in person would cause big excitement in a town. Here, everyone was in a fervor because of Elna, of course, but any reason that brought a sense of excitement was better than none.

"It's a real party here."

"That's what the emperor was hoping for. Putting on a festival is helping the people of the East forget their complaints."

Elna came into my room without even knocking. How rude. Never mind that I'd left the door open.

"Ever heard of knocking?"

"Really? Is that necessary?"

"What would you do if I walked into your room without knocking?"

"I'd slice you up."

"That seems kind of excessive!"

Before I knew what I was doing, I began heatedly arguing back. Caught up in emotion, I accidentally spilled some of the wine I was holding. What a waste.

"You seriously act nothing like a prince. You don't have to look like the world's ending after spilling a couple drops of your drink."

"Well, for a big-shot knight, you sure don't seem to understand the value of a drink! You're more of a proper lady than a knight. You don't know anything."

"As if I'm going to listen to a spoiled brat who rarely even leaves the capital. Are you even supposed to be drinking wine, anyway? Don't come crying to me if you have a hangover tomorrow."

Elna continued in an exasperated tone as she sat down in the chair facing me.

With her armor off and wearing more casual clothes, she seemed unaware of how others were looking at her. Prioritizing clothes that were easy to move around in, she was wearing a white shirt and a short, red skirt. My eyes shamelessly went to her long, toned legs. But then, I noticed something else.

There was one aspect of Elna that didn't seem to have grown at all in the years since we'd last met. I was a healthy young man with the typical vices; I always checked whenever there was a comely young woman in front of me. With that preface, I had a feeling Elna's chest hadn't gotten any bigger since I'd last seen her.

"Arn? What are you staring at?"

"Your boobs."

"You could at least pretend otherwise! Sheesh!"

Elna retorted as she hid her modest upper half. But that didn't put me off from observing her. She was a year younger than me, at seventeen years old. That size of a chest at her age was...unfortunate. It made me want to offer my condolences.

Without a doubt, Finne was more blessed in that department. She wore loose clothing so it wasn't overly obvious, but even then I could tell. I guessed that maybe all the training Elna did had left her chest without enough nutrients.

"Stay strong."

"I don't need anyone's pity! That's all you have to say after staring at me all this time?!"

"I was just thinking to myself that you haven't developed much. I guess you really haven't."

"I have so! I'm just a late bloomer! They're not that small!"

"...Uh-huh."

It was a pretty pathetic argument, but for Elna's sake, I decided to let the subject go.

Meanwhile, Elna's shoulders began shaking with rage. Whoops, that wasn't good.

"I-I think you look great! Someday those tiny boobs of yours will make someone out there very happy!"

"Stop calling them tiny! I'm just developing a little slower than most girls! They'll be huge in just a few more years!"

"I kind of doubt that. You might reach about average if you really try hard."

"Arn... I'm getting the urge to get some post-dinner exercise in..."

"Okay okay! You'll get huge boobs someday! Just calm down!"

Elna started taking deep, huffing breaths, like someone about to go into battle. Sensing danger, I got as far away from her as possible.

Seeing me huddled in a corner of the room seemed to take the fight out of her. She sat back down in her chair.

"Jeez. You never change, do you."

"People don't change that dramatically in just a few years. What crazy fantasies were you expecting of me?"

"That you'd be a normal, ordinary prince. At the very least, I'd hoped that no one was making fun of you anymore."

"That's none of your business, is it? I've been made fun of all my life. I've got no talent, no work ethic, and spend my life goofing off. Leo got all the good traits, and I'm just the Insipid Prince. I honestly think the nickname is pretty fitting."

"I, for one, find it sad and disappointing."

"Well, thanks, I guess."

My "thanks" earned me another sharp glare. I shrugged in response, and Elna sighed. She sure gave herself a lot of troubles. I would've assumed she didn't have time to be worrying about the likes of me, yet she persisted.

"You realize what the problem is, don't you? People even within the nobility make fun of you because you never say or do anything about it. Some nobles publicly mock you, you know. I can understand why the people of the empire would be frustrated with you. You don't fulfill any of your duties as a prince. But the nobility are your subjects. They're obliged to show you common courtesy, even if only for show."

"Even nobility have the right to make fun of me. Calling an idiot out for his idiocy is normal, and a good thing, to my way of thinking."

"There, you're doing it even now! It's not people giving you blunt advice to help you; they're actively enjoying mocking and insulting you! It's a whole different level of bullying from what happened when you were a kid!"

Elna spoke with unusual passion. Had Ghido or one of his cohorts said something cruel about me in front of her? Or maybe it was one of the ministers? Whatever it was, something had definitely rubbed her the wrong way.

I realized then that maybe that explained why she'd barged in on me.

"So, what? I'm supposed to win the festival thanks to your help and shut all the naysayers up? What do you want from me?"

"If Leo's trying to get the throne, then you should be trying your absolute best, too. I believe in you. I know that you have a lot more in you than you pretend. You always do this. You avoid even trying, all because the worse people think of you, the better Leo looks in comparison. That's why you've never really put your best effort into anything."

Wow. Elna was seriously perceptive. If nothing else, she clearly knew me well, thanks to our long history together.

But if she knew all that, then she should have also anticipated my response.

"I like how things are. And once this festival is over, you'd better go back to staying out of my business."

"But—"

"Someone tried to have me killed."

"...What?"

My sudden admission momentarily shocked Elna into silence.

Just outside the window, we could see the townspeople carousing and celebrating. I idly watched them as I matter-of-factly explained.

"I was attacked one night while I was walking around the castle. I don't know what would've happened if Sebas hadn't been with me. And I'm sure you can guess why?"

"Because of...me?"

"This festival is an important factor in the battle for the throne since the ambassador position's at stake. With you on my team, I have a shot at winning. Naturally, my brothers and sisters don't like that. Even as someone who's normally a non-threat, it makes me a target."

"I-I had no idea..."

"You might not know since you've been away on missions, but some of my brothers and sisters are mercilessly fighting to take the throne. They'd do anything and everything to win, because they know that losing means death. No one's cutting any corners, and no one has any compassion. Even I'll probably be killed if Leo doesn't become emperor. But when a complete nobody like me suddenly becomes a threat, that puts me in even more danger. So stay away from me. You're too powerful."

By saying that, I distanced myself from Elna. It was for her own good. Elna, the renowned Amsberg prodigy, personally giving support to me was a bad idea. Because from that point onward, my siblings would try to eliminate Elna. Not physically, but politically.

There had been others in the Amsberg family who'd been similarly eliminated in the past. That was why the household didn't typically get involved in politics. I couldn't afford to get Elna involved in the conflict for the throne, the biggest political battle of all.

She would absolutely make a most powerful ally, but she would also create equally powerful enemies. Keeping her distance from me would be best, both emotionally and practically.

"...I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I'll do my best during the festival, so don't worry about that."

"Yeah..."

Looking dejected, Elna left the room. The sight of her walking away was terribly sad, but I didn't say anything to stop or cheer her up.

After that, our performance in the festival suddenly and dramatically dropped.

2

"Ugh! Why is this happening?!"

It was the morning of the third day. I didn't respond to Elna's cries of vexation, as I felt, unlike her, that the situation was just as expected..

Mindful of what Krista had said, I remained as near to Keel as possible while traveling further and further south. Dispirited after our conversation on the evening of the first day, Elna hadn't objected to my decision. Her drive to win seemed to have helplessly faded.

Because of that, from the second day onward our frequency of encountering monsters dropped dramatically. It was a natural consequence when you consider their innate behavior. Monsters' survival instincts were stronger than humans', so they avoided fighting any creatures more powerful than themselves whenever possible.

"Arn? Are we just going to stay here?"

"Give me a minute. I'm thinking."

What gave me pause was the fact that things were still more or less progressing according to plan.

On the first day, Elna had gone on a huge rampage. Being sensitive and determining her to be a danger, monsters had stopped coming anywhere near her.

That much was common knowledge for an adventurer, but apparently as a knight, Elna's knowledge of monsters was not as robust. Knights might be able to slay monsters, but their understanding of the creatures was no match for that of adventurers. An adventurer would have proceeded carefully and made sure to chase down and kill a really large monster on the third day.

The reason I didn't stop her in light of all that was because what was happening was exactly my desired outcome.

Currently, the only teams who had killed AAA-class monsters were us, Gordon, and Leo—and only one monster each. We had also slain the pack of bloodhounds, putting us provisionally in first place, but that position was becoming more and more tenuous.

That was because I was heading southward on purpose. The only teams farther south than us were Leo and our youngest brother, and I was trying to push monsters toward Leo. Since Elna was repelling monsters, she acted like a sheepdog, herding them where I wanted them to go.

When I was planning out my strategy, I had considered driving the monsters south as Silver, but I tried it out using Elna first. Thanks to that, Leo and his team were also able to kill one AAA-class monster.

Us winning was the most certain strategy, but the best outcome was Leo taking first place. From the first day's results alone, Elna and I had an adequate possibility of winning, so I pivoted to assisting Leo instead. Still, everything was going much too smoothly.

If Leo could kill just one more AAA-class monster, everything would be perfect. But I wondered if that was too much to hope for. Any of the commanders of the Knights of the Imperial Guard would be able to take down a AAA-class monster, but the only ones who could do it with ease were the few highest-ranking commanders. If Leo and his knights weren't in good form, driving monsters toward them would be pointless.

Not to mention...

"If they're going to make a move, I think now might be the time..."

"Arn?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking, it's strange that Erik and Zandra haven't taken action."

"It's not so common to run into AAA-class monsters. I was surprised there were even three of them in the East in the first place."

"Yeah..."

"Commander! Your Highness! Look at this!"

As Elna and I were talking, one of the knights rushed up to us and showed us the crystal. On it was displayed the current rankings.

We had fallen to second place. Ahead of us was Karlos Lakes Aadler, Fifth Imperial Prince.

"What happened?"

"The ranking just suddenly changed. He must've slain two AAA-class monsters."

"That's impossible! No one but an SS-class adventurer or one of the top commanding officers could do that! Prince Karlos is paired with the commander of the Seventh Regiment. I'm not saying he's weak by any means, but it's just not possible."

"He might not have fought the monsters outright. He could have attacked them when they were sleeping, or when the two AAA-class monsters were fighting each other. There are several possibilities."

"Isn't that too much of a coincidence?!"

Well, that was certainly a normal reaction when the seemingly impossible had happened.

Interesting. So our foe couldn't wait any longer and had showed their hand. I'd assumed whoever it was lying in wait to pull off a much bigger stunt. But in Karlos' case, it made sense. Simply put, he was an idiot, so someone else must have been using him.

The Fifth Imperial Prince was twenty-three years old. He was a very nondescript character, known neither for being particularly skilled or intelligent nor all that competent. He was, however, a dreamer, and when you talked to him his fantasies of one day being a hero frequently slipped out.

Someone who was able to take advantage of that dream of his would have an easy time controlling him.

"Supposing it's not a coincidence, then what do we do? Cry foul play?"

"Well..."

"It's useless saying anything now. At any rate, we have until the night of the third day. Let's do what we can."

Despite what I said, in my mind I'd all but given up on finding any more monsters. Unfortunately for Elna, there were no monsters who'd get anywhere near her without running away. There was no hope of us rallying back.

However, if Karlos had taken first place, then that didn't matter anymore. My great-grandfather had suggested that the true wasn't to win the festival. That was a man who had foiled several plots in order to take the emperor's throne. I could trust what he said.

Then, there was also the matter of Krista's nightmare.

If I believed her nightmare that the city of Keel would be surrounded by monsters was a premonition, then that implied a very bad development in the situation to come.

Keel had a garrison, of course, but the Knights of the Imperial Guard who protected the emperor were now scattered about the East alongside the emperor's children. The emperor was unprecedentedly defenseless.

The only ones near Keel were me, Leo, and Karlos. Everyone else was much farther away. Considering that Karlos seemed to be deliberately staying close, one could deduct that he was planning on saving the emperor once the monsters attacked.

What an idiot. As if that would ever work.

"Please, just don't let him do anything stupid..."

I muttered a quiet prayer for my brother to the heavens.

***

The ground was shaking.

It was Elna who noticed it first.

"Oh no..."

"Elna! What's happening?!"

I jumped down from my panicking horse and called out to Elna. It was clear to me something was happening, but I couldn't see anything from my location, and I couldn't use magic in front of Elna. I had to rely on her for now.

Elna got off her horse and put her ear to the ground. Then, she slowly stood back up.

"A huge pack of monsters is running. It's a tsunami."

"A tsunami?"

"It's a phenomenon that occurs occasionally in areas with lots of monsters, when many of them start moving in the same direction, and it turns into one huge migration. All the monsters in the East must have started running away at once after we started chasing them!"

Ah, so that was her interpretation.

It was certainly a very logical explanation, and it made sense. Much more sense than someone having a magical whistle that could control monsters. Karlos was probably counting on that fact as well.

But from my perspective as an adventurer, so many monsters moving in the same direction at once was too abnormal. "Tsunamis" of monsters happened in concurrence with volcanic eruptions, massive storms, or other natural disasters. The only thing possibly causing any disturbance right now was Elna, in which case they should be running away from her. But these footsteps were much too close for that. It was just too unnatural for them to ignore the presence of Elna.

"Where are they heading?"

"At this rate...they'll run straight into Keel."

"Can the Keel garrison handle something like this?"

"I highly doubt it. The head commander of the Imperial Guard will be guarding the emperor's wives, who have traveled here from the capital for the announcement of the results tomorrow, and there are a few imperial knights with the emperor... There's no possible way they can hold off so many monsters."

All the emperor needed to do was escape to safety. He'd surely have enough fighting power with him to do so. However, running away would render all of his efforts so far futile.

The festival was supposed to pacify the East, but a tsunami coming plus the emperor fleeing on top of that would only increase their reasons for complaint. At worst, there could be a revolt. Whoever was manipulating Karlos was incredibly malicious if they'd anticipated that possibility and done this anyway.

If a war started, someone could profit from providing exemplary service on the battlefield—quite likely Erik or Gordon—but it was a strategy that completely ignored the suffering of all the empire's citizens.

After winning the battle for the throne, whoever it was would become emperor. Considering that, we were obligated to protect the people of the empire, not put them in even more danger.

"So whoever is doing this really should definitely never become emperor..."

"Arn?"

"...Elna, if I told you to save Keel, could you do it?"

"I...of course. It is our duty as knights to protect the emperor and the empire's people."

"We don't know how many monsters there are. You could be marching to your death."

"I'm not afraid of dying."

"And the rest of you?"

"Of course! I'll stake my life on protecting the city!"

"We will save Keel! That's a promise!"

Elna's knights all responded valiantly.

Not fearing death, staking one's life... All words I hated hearing. I had no use for such trite and self-righteous phrases.

"Just swear one thing, Elna, on this sword."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Swear that you'll come back alive. All of you. Swear on this sword that you won't die, or else I won't let any one of you go."

"Arn..."

Elna sounded surprised. Then, she got down on one knee, thrust her sword into the ground, and pressed her forehead against its hilt. The other knights followed suit. Then...

"I, Elna Von Amsberg, Knight of the Imperial Guard, hereby swear on this sword that I will not perish."

Everyone said their vows to not die. Now there should be no problem.

"Okay, now let's go! Arn, this many monsters could mean a chance for us to take back the lead!"

"No. I'd just be in the way. You all go without me."

Having said that, I wrenched off my wristband. The one we were never supposed to remove. I was now technically disqualified for breaking the rules.

"A-Arn?"

"Damn, it accidentally came off when I was fiddling with it. Oh well. That's what I get for not being careful. I guess I'll go get a drink in the next town."

"Why in the world... We still had a chance to recover the lead! Why did you do that?!"

"I'm already disqualified. Now you can forget about the festival and go. We didn't lose because you all left. I disqualified myself, all on my own. Don't worry about me."

If I simply said I would be staying behind, that would have given Elna and the other knights pause. In order to remove any hesitation on their part, I headed it off at the source.

With the emperor and citizens facing grave danger, the results of the festival were a distant second in importance.

"Arn... You are so—"

"Make sure you tell my father, too, that I broke my own wristband."

Since the emperor had declared that the heirs and the knights were to be one cohesive team, it would be unacceptable for any knight to deliberately let their partnered heir lose, even on direct orders.

By taking the wristband off myself, it was now my own responsibility. Elna and the knights couldn't be held to blame. If they saved Keel, that wouldn't be an issue anyway, but I had to consider the possibility they would be unable to save the city as well. If that happened, a fight to find who was to blame would begin. I couldn't give any opportunity for them to be found guilty.

Elna had apparently intuited my thought process, as she got a tearful look in her eyes. The other knights also hung their heads. I faced all of them and spoke.

"I hereby command you..."

"..."

"Save the emperor and the citizens in Keel. In the worst-case scenario, I don't care if the city itself is lost. People's lives take precedence."

"Understood, Your Highness."

"Also, Krista and Finne are still in the city. They must be scared, so go help them somehow, too."

"...Yes, Your Highness. I'll leave a few of my knights with them."

Elna replied, her facial expression a mixture of frustration, distress, and sadness. The same was true of the other knights.

Just then, Sebas silently appeared behind me.

"I shall guard His Highness. None of you need worry about him."

"Sebas... What are you doing here?"

"Naturally I was concerned while you were away—primarily in regard to your lifestyle. Lady Elna, please allow me to take over from here."

Elna seemed faintly shocked at being told her services were unnecessary. She had probably taken it as a slight to her ability to protect me. That wasn't what Sebas had meant, but there was no time to be correcting anyone's misunderstandings.

Nevertheless, the knights were impressive in their professionalism and speed. Everyone immediately began preparing their horses.

At last, it was time to set off. I gave one last word of farewell.

"My knights. I'm counting on all of you. You're the only ones I can entrust with this mission."

The moment Elna heard those words, a thin sheen of tears filled her eyes. But she brushed those tears aside, drew her sword, and responded with determination.

"I, knight of the Imperial Guard Elna Von Amsberg, shall fulfill your command! I swear on this sword and on my name to annihilate all our enemies and save Keel!"

"Godspeed."

With that, Elna galloped off with surprising speed. She'd seemed fast before when I was riding alongside her, but I realized now that even then she'd been holding back.

Just as Elna and the knights were fading from sight, I addressed my one and only steward.

"Sebas."

"Yes?"

"Get everything ready. It's time to go undercover."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Donning my usual black robe and silver mask, I transformed into Silver and used transfer magic to carry out my own departure.

3

"Your Majesty! You must leave immediately!"

"I'm not going anywhere. Prepare the defenses."

Upon receiving word of the impending tsunami, Emperor Johannes chose to remain in place. Naturally, this was not out of any worry or concern for the citizens. The emperor had long abandoned such personal emotions by the time he'd taken the throne. Rather, it was because he had determined the likelihood of a riot, or even full-scale rebellion from the East if he were to run away now.

Therefore, he stationed the few imperial knights still in Keel around the castle walls and appointed them commanders of the garrison. Then, he donned his own armor and sword and headed out to the front line of the coming battle.

"My people! We must not allow the citizens of the East to suffer! We must fight to the death to protect our empire!"

The emperor's personal presence rapidly raised morale among the garrison.

However, that alone was not enough to defend against the flood of attacking monsters. Their endless numbers came flocking in from east of Keel, and in the blink of an eye the castle walls were completely surrounded. They attacked the city with a mindless frenzy while the garrison intercepted them and fought them back.

Even Emperor Johannes himself killed several monsters, but he and the soldiers were outnumbered. There were three thousand men in the garrison, but there were nearly three times that many monsters.

Johannes clucked his tongue as he watched the soldiers fail to adequately beat back the threat. They were clearly overwhelmed. They should retreat, but retreating would create even more enemies for them.

As Johannes was wracking his brain for the best course of action, he heard laughter coming from the sky.

"Ahahahaha! Get a look at this! The emperor has such a sour look on his face!"

"I know. It's hilarious."

Johannes glared up at the sky toward the sudden insults.

Above him were two men. The first was young and short with silver hair, and he looked just like a child as he innocently chuckled. The other man had long, blond hair and handsome features. He wore a thin smile as he gazed directly down upon the emperor. What the two men shared was their beauty, and an almost sickly pale hue to their skin.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Sam."

"I'm Dean."

Those two names were familiar, and the emperor snorted when he spotted their characteristically long canines. They looked an awful lot like the fangs of a vampire—one of several races of demi-humans which populated the continent.

Vampires had extremely long lifespans and great physical strength, and despite being few in number, their single clan openly controlled part of the continent, forming a nation unto themselves.

They used to be classified as monsters and had constantly fought with the humans until both races came to an unspoken agreement not to interfere with one another. In present times, you rarely ever saw them.

One particular pair of those vampires was well known among humans.

"A generation ago there were two vampires who committed such atrocious acts of evil that they were cast out from their clan and assigned a bounty by the Adventurers' Guild. I believe their names were also Sam and Dean. The pair of them together was classified as an S-class monster. I'm guessing that pair of vampires is you?"

"That's right. That's us!"

"What an insult that was. The Adventurers' Guild treated us like any other low-class monster. We haven't forgotten that humiliation, nor our resentment toward those who supported that decision."

"Oh? That's quite a long-standing vendetta. My predecessor is no longer in this world. Are you planning on getting revenge on me in his place?"

"Of course! Humans are weak and die too easily!"

"We gave up on getting revenge on any one individual. You all die way too quickly compared to us. Therefore, we will be getting our revenge on their descendants, and all their property."

Upon hearing this proclamation of revenge against the entire empire, Johannes clucked his tongue again. Normally he'd have been quick to retort, but considering all the circumstances, it was almost certain that these two vampires had caused the tsunami. He already had his hands full, and now the equivalent of an S-ranked monster had appeared; there was nothing left to be said or done about it.

If only his prized Knights of the Imperial Guard were here... Johannes ruefully thought to himself, but those prized knights of his were out with his children. They were far away from Keel at this point, so even with the promptest reaction, only a very few would be able to return to the city in time.

"Well, this is your last chance to be referring to yourself as emperor. After I suck out all your blood and turn you into a mummy, I'll toss you back to the capital!"

"Hah! Go ahead and try! Killing me will not kill the empire! Our elite warriors will destroy you! If that does not scare you, then go on and give it your best shot!"

"If nothing else, I applaud your spirit. But no amount of shouting will change the fact that you're greatly outnumbered."

With that, Dean raised his right hand.

Mana gathered around the hand, and a black sphere appeared. This was different from the magic that humans used. It was an attack of pure mana, which only vampires with their immense capacity of mana could use.

"You will die regretting making enemies of us!!"

Dean hurled the ball of mana toward Johannes.

His cruel grin was full of confidence at first, but it quickly turned sour.

Before the ball could reach Johannes, it split in two.

"Are you all right, Your Majesty?"

"Yes... I'm so glad you're here, Elna. Are you done babysitting Arnold?"

"...Forgive me, Your Majesty. I was unable to uphold your command to remain together as a unit."

Upon seeing Elna's morose expression, Johannes realized what had happened.

If she had ridden here along with Arnold, she would never have made it in time.

Johannes gave Elna a smile.

"It greatly pleases me to witness my son's growth. I have you to thank for that, Elna."

"Your Majesty... I—"

"Arnold sent you here. You respected his wishes and made it here in time. This makes me very happy. Not to pressure you, but perhaps we will get to witness your own growth as well?"

In answer to Johannes' question, Elna gave a firm nod. Then, looking straight at the two vampires, she drew her sword.

"As you wish, my emperor. I will show you the true power of an Amsberg sword!"

"Pah! One measly knight? I know you. You're the knight who was with that idiot, the Insipid Prince! I guess his incompetence prevented you from getting very far, huh? Man, this sucks. That fool's stupidity is going to disgrace your plan, Dean."

"Don't get cocky, Sam. The Amsberg household is a family of heroes. They're not your standard humans. Don't assume she's just some average woman."

Despite Dean's warning, Sam didn't even attempt to hide his complacency. Then he saw the look in Elna's eyes and immediately raised his guard.

"What the—?!"

The aura of murderous intent emanating from her was like nothing Sam had ever felt before. A river of cold sweat went pouring down his back.

He took a few steps back while readying the sickle he'd generated from mana. Though he didn't realize it, he was already making his retreat.

Meanwhile, Elna slowly rose into the air while keeping Sam pinned with her menacing gaze.

For a talented mage, flying wasn't particularly difficult. However, very few could fly freely while also fighting. And yet, despite not even being a mage, Elna had mastered that skill.

The Amsberg prodigy didn't lack even one single skill necessary for battle.

And Sam had now incurred that prodigy's wrath.

"You've got some nerve! You just said the two words I hate above all else. You're not getting away now!"

"You have no idea who you're dealing with, you pathetic human!!"

A split second later, Sam rushed toward Elna with his sickle. But Elna easily dodged and attacked Sam back.

Sam barely managed to block Elna's attack with his sickle, but he clearly found her power daunting and looked to his brother for help.

"Not bad. Your reputation as the present-day Amsberg hero is deserved. But I'll make you regret defying us vampires!"

At that point, Dean joined in.

The three of them entered into a ferocious battle in the skies above the city of Keel.

Below them, the emperor roared in an effort to rouse the garrison. They had regained some ground thanks to Elna's subordinate knights of the Third Regiment joining the battle, but the monster herd still showed no sign of decreasing in number.

The troops valiantly fought on, waiting for reinforcements, until one of the princes appeared on the scene.

"Father! It's me, Karlos! I'm here!"

It was Karlos, the twenty-three-year-old Fifth Imperial Prince.

Karlos had brown hair and a slender build and was known for his mild-mannered personality. Unfortunately, as a dreamer, his admiration of the bold and valiant heroes in the tales of yore led him to act recklessly on the battlefield.

For Karlos, joining the knights as they raced to the aid of their emperor and fellow citizens was a dream come true.

Many people watched and cheered him on as he arrived to offer reinforcement. Relishing the joy of that moment, Karlos led the way to the castle.

"Your Highness! Stand down! It's too dangerous!"

"I'll be fine! I'm a hero!"

He may have allowed himself to be carried away by the moment, but his confidence was not without good reason.

A while back, Karlos had a meeting with Sam and Dean arranged by a third party. Together they came up with a plan in which the two vampires would attack the city of Keel and Karlos would come to the rescue. The deal was that, in return, Karlos would ask the Adventurers' Guild to remove the bounty on them once he became emperor.

To Karlos, it had made sense that Sam and Dean would cooperate with him. The Adventurers' Guild rarely removed bounties, but if he ascended to the throne, he could make it happen. Even the Guild could not ignore the wishes of the emperor.

Therefore, Karlos believed that his appearance now would at the same time lead to Sam and Dean's retreat. Then, he would clear out the remaining monsters, and as the new crown prince, be seen as a hero by all the people.

Seconds later, Karlos was still dreaming of that future when Sam blew him away with a shot of mana.

"I can't believe he actually showed up. He's more stupid than I thought."

"Never mind that loser. Pay attention to what's in front of you! Look out!"

Both Sam and Dean took no notice of Karlos whatsoever.

That was because they never considered him an equal partner worth dealing with in the first place. They'd merely deceived him and used him.

If Karlos had had the presence of mind to do the same and use the pair of vampires for his own gain, he might not have charged in so readily, but thanks to his naive ignorance he'd simply trusted them.

Before he even had time to regret his decision, he began to lose consciousness from the blow which had pummeled his entire body.

One of the knights had managed to catch him when he was blown back, but the wound he'd suffered was potentially fatal.

Still, for the knights who'd arrived with Karlos, witnessing his assault ignited a fire within them, and they began attacking the monsters with even great fury.

As humiliating as it was, being immediately incapacitated could have been considered Karlos' greatest achievement in the battle. And thanks to the time his knights bought the rest of the soldiers, little by little, the balance of the fight began to shift.

4

I transferred myself to Leo's location.

That said, using transfer magic with an individual person as a target was imprecise, so I wasn't able to end up in exactly the right spot.

After arriving just slightly off-target, I went flying after the group of horsemen kicking up dust as they rode.

I hadn't anticipated they'd already be on the move. Yet again, Leo had shown his usual resourcefulness.

They were headed toward Keel, galloping at top speed.

I placed myself in Leo's path and waited for his arrival.

After a short while, Leo noticed me and slowed his horse.

"...Silver?"

"Indeed. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Your Highness."

"There's no time for leisurely greetings. Can I assume you've come as reinforcement?"

"Yes, that's the plan. But you shouldn't head straight to Keel now."

"What do you mean?"

Leo sounded unusually angry.

With the tsunami occurring, he must have been hoping to reach Keel as quickly as humanly possible. That was precisely why I'd gone to him.

I couldn't let him and his small number of knights engage the monsters under the current circumstances.

"There's a massive number of monsters attacking the city. Bringing so few knights into battle will have no substantial impact, even if they're Knights of the Imperial Guard."

"We won't know that if we don't try! We could save at least one extra life!"

"That's a noble way to look at it, but if platitudes could save lives, there'd be no suffering. I believe your knights understand this."

Leo looked around at his knights. Seeing their grave expressions started to shock him back into reality.

While he was starting to come around, I continued with my reasoning.

"Now that the tsunami has begun, we'll need an army to stop it."

"And where are you going to find such an army? Are you trying to say we should sit by and twiddle our thumbs because it's pointless to try? My father and sister are back in Keel, as are all the citizens it's my duty to protect! I could never forgive myself for leaving them to die!"

"Ahh..." I sighed. "I never said anything about leaving anyone to die. I said that you should acquire more manpower before you go."

"...?"

My circuitous explanation seemed to be gradually calming Leo's impassioned anger.

At that point, I finally brought up my main point.

"Prince Leonard, there are other knights in the East besides those of the Imperial Guard you have with you here."

"...Are you suggesting I use the knights from the surrounding territories?"

"What a ridiculous idea! Using the knights of the territorial lords? Prince or not, that's an undeniable overstepping of authority! And even ignoring that fact, we have no idea how many days it would take to mobilize knights who have no grasp of the current situation!"

The commander of the imperial knights responded with irritation.

He had clearly found it an unrealistic proposition, and I couldn't blame him. Just getting any territorial knights here would take several days. It was unrealistic to try to gather more knights.

However, I was someone who could make the unrealistic into reality.

"Let me take care of the technicalities. The only issue is whether you are on board, Your Highness. You could receive censure for doing so after this is all over. Can you accept that possibility? How sincere is your desire to save your family and the citizens?"

"If I can't save them, then my status within the imperial family means nothing to me. I have no objection to mobilizing the knights under my authority. Explain how you plan on making it possible."

"Your Highness?!"

"This is an emergency. And any action taken in order to protect the emperor can always be justified. There's no issue here. So tell me, Silver."

"I applaud your determination. It's very admirable. My method is simple. I will use transfer magic to open a transfer gate on a hill near Keel. You will go through the gate and give a speech to explain the situation, and to summon the knights to the transfer gate."

It was a crazy plan. It meant having Prince Leonard, by voice alone, with no way to prove his credentials as a prince, persuade the knights to trust in suspicious magic.

The knights' masters were the territory lords. If their lord ordered them not to go, it was all over. Everything depended on Leo's speech.

If we ended up not gaining very many knights, then it would have been a waste of my precious time and mana. But even given that risk, the plan had enough potential benefit to be worth a shot.

The festival was still going on. The current first place leader, Karlos, would probably end up disqualified, and I, who had been in second, was also out. Gordon and Leo were tied for third. If Leo were able to gather more knights and kill more monsters, then he would become the winner, and the addition of his team and the other knights would immediately resolve the chaos in Keel as well.

The sole concern was whether Keel could hold out until then, but that was why I'd sent Elna on ahead. Everything should be fine. And on the chance that Elna ended up out of her depth against the tsunami, then that was all the more reason I couldn't let Leo go in with only his small unit of knights.

"What do you say? Are you unsure?"

"Yeah... I don't feel confident about this. But I'll do it. Because I know my brother would say I should give it a try."

"I can't imagine the Insipid Prince saying such a thing."

"That's because you don't know him like I do. He's incredible at making decisions under pressure. At this very moment he's probably taking action faster than anyone else."

Behind my mask, my eyes widened in surprise at Leo's praise.

I had no idea he thought of me like that. It felt pretty good to hear.

"All right. Then let's do this."

I brought my hands together. I wouldn't be using individual transfer magic this time. Instead, this was magic that created a portal through which a large number of people could transfer together.

After a few moments, the portal connecting to the hill was complete. It was about large enough for ten people to pass through at one time.

It looked randomly distorted, unstable, and wasn't particularly inviting. I passed through first.

Without hesitating, Leo came through right after me.

For a moment, my field of vision warped, but before long I was standing on a hill near Keel.

"So that's what transfer magic is like."

"That was just a warm-up."

I replied in an effort to encourage myself, then created the same portals within each of the seven main towns surrounding Keel.

Now, it was all up to Leo's speech.

"I used a voice amplification spell. Go ahead and start."

"...To all the knights of the East who can hear my voice, please give me a moment of your time. I am Prince Leonard Lakes Aadler, Eighth Imperial Prince of the Adrasia Empire."

Leo carefully began speaking.

Knowing that he couldn't afford any mistakes, he avoided talking fast and prioritized sounding clear and concise.

He was calm. This could actually work.

"A tsunami is currently spreading across the eastern region, and Keel is directly in its path, placing the city in great danger. I am currently seeking knights willing to go there to fight. If you can hear my voice, please pass through the nearest transfer magic portal to join me. There is no need to first acquire permission from your lord. I am asking for volunteers to fight based on your own personal judgment. I will take full responsibility."

Just when I thought his speech was over, he inhaled deeply, then drew the sword hanging at his hip.

Then, in a voice louder and more passionate than I'd ever heard from him before, he continued.

"Spirited knights! Brave soldiers! All those who protect the people of Keel! You who are willing, come and join me! I eagerly await your decision!"

As he concluded his speech, Leo reminded me exactly of our father heading into battle.

The Knights of the Imperial Guard around him must have felt it too, as they all stared at Leo with surprise.

Only Leo stared at the portal with a grave expression.

No one came through initially.

Just as I was about to give up hope, one young man appeared through the portal.

Though he appeared shocked after experiencing transfer magic for the first time, upon spotting Leo, he quickly dismounted from his horse and bowed his head.

"Your Highness! I am Hans, knight of Hessen! I've come to offer my services!"

"Thank you for coming, Hans. I greatly appreciate it."

"No, Your Highness! I am the one who should thank you! Ever since hearing of your visits to check in on all the villages of the East, I've been hoping to one day fight under your command! I'm not the only knight who feels that way! Many more are on their way! They should be arriving shortly!"

People said charisma was the power to naturally attract and draw people to you. At this moment, Leo was the very definition of charismatic.

One after another, knights began arriving through the portal, including one more unexpected volunteer.

"My name is Folka, lord of the town of Ulm! I've come along with my cavalry of five hundred knights to join your forces!"

The man who arrived on horseback was clearly elderly, probably over sixty years old. He had a strong and sturdy build, but his white head of hair and elderly features made me wonder if he was fit for such a battle.

"I appreciate your willingness, Folka, but are you sure you're up to the task ahead?"

"I have both spirit and bravery! Is there a problem?"

"...No, not at all. Thank you for joining me. I will have you fight at my side. Let's do this."

Leo looked at Folka's bold. determined gaze and replied with a smile.

Folka must have been prepared to be turned away. His eyes widened in surprise before he shouted back his reply.

"Y-yes, Your Highness! I will not let you down!"

"I'm looking forward to it."

In that manner, more and more knights gathered until they numbered over three thousand. It was a ragtag army to be certain, but each and every knight and soldier had come not under orders but entirely of their own volition, which meant morale was unusually and frighteningly high.

Looking out over them, I felt relieved. Now we were all set.

"Silver. I must thank you for your assistance."

"I only acted in my capacity as an adventurer for the sake of the people. And it's too early to thank me yet. That can come after we've saved Keel. And with that, I'll head out first. See you there."

With that farewell, I transferred myself to Keel.

When I got there, an unbelievable scene was unfolding in the sky above.

5

"I'm scared...!"

"It's all right, Your Highness. The knights will be here soon."

Back in the manor, Finne comforted Krista, gently stroking her hair.

Just then, some handmaids approached, looking rather distressed.

"L-Lady Finne... Um..."

"What is it?"

"It's just...a lot of people from Keel want to come into the manor."

The townspeople had been forbidden from leaving their homes or inns by command of the emperor. However, with all the worrisome battles occurring nearby, the manor must have seemed like the safest place to be for some of them.

Finne did not blame them for feeling that way.

"What does the lord's wife say?"

"She said that she would defer the decision to you and Princess Krista."

"I see... What would you like to do, Your Highness?"

"I...I don't know... But I'm really scared..."

Krista clutched tightly to Finne's dress out of fear.

Finne gave her hand a squeeze in return and gently tried to persuade her.

The lord of the territory was currently out fighting alongside the emperor. His wife was deferring the decision, so now Krista's opinion took priority.

"I know you are scared. But are you going to abandon all the other people out there who are feeling the same way?"

"N-no... I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because...my brothers will be mad at me."

"Yes, that's true. All right then, we will give the elderly, the children, and the sick priority to come into the manor. It might get a bit noisy. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes..."

"I need to go outside for just a minute. Is that okay, too? Everyone is feeling anxious. I have to go reassure them."

"...Okay..."

Krista's reluctance to let Finne go was written all over her face, but Finne smiled as she had her sit down in a chair, then left her in the handmaids' care.

Then, Finne went to the entrance of the manor.

There, the few soldiers who had stayed behind as guards were facing the townspeople with swords drawn.

"Return to your homes immediately! Did you not hear His Majesty's decree?"

"Please! Let us in!"

"Get back!"

"Stop that this instant!"

Finne immediately grasped how tense and explosive the situation was and barked at the soldiers. She was officially the daughter of a duke in status. But she was also well known as Blau Mowe, and the emperor had designated her as equal to a member of the imperial family. In this situation, her words held imperial-class power. Therefore, the soldiers immediately sheathed their swords and knelt before her.

"L-Lady Finne..."

"The people out there are not the enemies you should be pointing your swords at. Don't you agree?"

"Yes, you're absolutely right. We reacted thoughtlessly."

Satisfied with the soldiers' contrition, Finne looked toward the crowd of people at the gate.

There were far more than a couple hundred of them, including both common townspeople, and visiting nobles and merchants. All had worried and frightened looks on their faces.

"My name is Finne Von Kleinert. You all may better recognize me as Blau Mowe."

As she said that, she pointed to the blue gull ornament in her hair. The emperor's gift was proof that she was the empire's greatest beauty.

Upon realizing she was the duke's daughter and favored by the emperor like a daughter as well, the people all knelt at once.

However, a group of young men pushed their way through the crowd to the front.

"Hey, Lady Finne! It's me, Ghido!"

It was the last person Finne wanted to see right now, Arnold's long-time acquaintance Ghido Von Holzwirt, who she'd seen hit him—a behavior Finne could not overlook.

Ghido and his buddies grinned when they spotted her and made their way through the crowd, selfishly assuming they'd be let inside. It hadn't even occurred to them to go and fight. Instead, they had arrogantly stayed back where it was safe.

Looking at them now, Finne got the odd feeling that her own noble blood had been sullied by their actions.

She'd never had that feeling looking at her father. Even her lazy brother knew better than to think of only saving himself in a time of crisis, because doing that took all the meaning away from being nobility.

One could only receive respect by acting in ways that deserved it. So Finne completely ignored Ghido.

"We will give children, the elderly, and anyone sick or injured priority to enter the manor. Those of you who are in good health, please gather together in the largest building possible and fortify the entrance. The tsunami is a massive migration of monsters. They are not purposefully after human lives. Even if monsters do infiltrate the city, as long as we can buy enough time, we'll get through this. If I can have your assurance you all understand, I will open up the gate."

"L-Lady Finne? It's me! Ghido! Do you not remember me?"

"I remember you very well, actually, Master Ghido of the Holzwirt household."

"Thank goodness. So can I get in?"

Ghido's attitude, confident that he'd get special treatment, made Finne furious.

If she thought of Arnold and his situation, she knew it would be best to let Ghido inside. There was no point in making an enemy of him.

But Finne didn't do that, because she knew Arnold wouldn't want her to.

Instead...

"You should be ashamed! Take a good look at yourself, trying to save yourself rather than go out and fight with the emperor! Do you truly not feel guilty to your ancestors for disgracing the old and honorable Holzwirt name?!"

"Wha...what did you just say to me?! Who do you think I am?!"

"I don't care who you are. The only people who will enter the manor are the children, the elderly, and the sick. Everyone else must go elsewhere. This is Princess Krista's decision. If you wish to waste any more time, you may bring your complaints of being mistreated to the emperor at a later date. However, should you do so, I think it's as clear as day which party will be found at fault!"

"Argh...! You shouldn't get such a big head just because you've got Leonard behind you! Just you wait! I'll get you back for this!"

With a final angry reply, Ghido and his cohorts left the manor.

Finne watched them go with a heavy sigh. Then, she put on a gentle smile and ordered the gate to be opened.

After that, without having to be told, the people worked together to get the children, elderly, and unwell into the manor, and everyone else left to go elsewhere.

Once the most needy were inside, Finne ordered one of the manor's servants to block the entrance with furniture.

"Blockade the entrance as tightly as you possibly can! When the monsters get here, we'll all hold them back together! If it's possible to change their course, that's fine too!"

"Understood, Lady Finne!"

"Lady Finne, Princess Krista is asking for you!"

"I'll be right there. Everyone, there's no need to be afraid. I know the knights will be here soon."

Finne tried to act as cheerful as possible in front of the new arrivals, thinking it was the least she could do to put on a smile herself. In fact, that was all she practically could do.

As the daughter of a duke, Finne had some knowledge of magic, but her talent was recovery magic, not the kind of magic that would be useful in battle.

She couldn't be a magnificent warrior like Elna, and right now, that fact felt crushing to her spirits. She'd left her family's territory in hopes of being of use to Arnold, and yet she'd been of no use at all.

Taking care of Krista was the first job Arnold had given her. That was all the more reason she was determined to stay by Krista's side no matter what happened.

"We have to get the whistle! Too many monsters will come!"

Listening to Krista's frightened cries, Finne remembered something—the conversation between Krista and Arnold she'd overheard through the door.

Krista had said that Keel would be surrounded by monsters, and that was exactly what had happened.

Since Arnold had taken her words seriously, Finne deduced he must have some basis for doing so. So now, Finne gave Krista a tight hug.

"It's okay, Your Highness. If you're looking for a whistle, I can go get it for you. Can you tell me where it is?"

"No... You'll die..."

"Don't you worry about that. I'm a very lucky person. Besides, if I get in any danger, Master Arn will rescue me."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. So go on. Where is the whistle?"

"I saw it falling toward the clock tower. That whistle is what started everything..."

"All right. I shall go fetch it for you."

After that, Finne brushed off the protests of the handmaids and headed to the clock tower, the tallest building in Keel, located in the center of the city.

***

Keel's clock tower was on a completely different scale from its like in other cities. Standing several dozen yards tall, it was one of the city's sightseeing attractions and a valuable source of tourism.

Finne climbed that clock tower now, gasping to catch her breath.

At the same time, in the sky above, Elna was still fighting a well-matched battle with Sam and Dean.

"Tsk! This is ridiculous!"

At that point, Dean abandoned the idea of getting rid of Elna by a fair fight. He and Sam together should be able to beat her, but it would take too much time.

He decided that it was time to bring out their secret weapon.

Dean took out the "Hamelin," a magic whistle that could control monsters. By using the whistle to increase the number of monsters, Elna, being a knight, would be forced to leave to help protect the emperor.

Once that happened, all Dean and Sam had to do was sit back and watch.

Dean raised the Hamelin to his mouth and was all prepared to whistle for reinforcements, but Elna intuitively sensed something bad was about to happen and attacked.

"I won't let you do that!"

"Ugh!"

Dean immediately evaded the attack, but the Hamelin fell from his hands down to the streets of Keel below.

"No!"

"Come back here!"

Dean frantically chased after the whistle; it didn't belong to him. The person he and Sam were in cahoots with had lent it to them, and they had used it to lure in Karlos and come up with their current scheme.

However, the one who'd given them the whistle had told Dean and Sam that they must also destroy it. That was the deal. Without the help of their co-conspirator, even if they survived the battle now, it would be difficult to escape afterward. Making sure the whistle was destroyed would help save their lives.

That's why Dean was so desperate. Watching him, Elna intuited that the whistle wasn't just any ordinary object and went after it herself.

Elna and Dean collided again and again as they flew, and all the while, the whistle continued to fall.

Just as it was approaching the clock tower, a hand reached out and caught it.

"Whoa?!"

Too much momentum nearly caused Finne to fall from the tower, but she narrowly managed to maintain her footing.

She let out a sigh of relief at having caught the whistle, then was abruptly startled by Elna's shouting.

"Finne! Run!!"

Finne looked up just as Dean's ball of mana struck the upper part of the clock tower.

The impact made Finne lose her footing, and she began to fall.

However, Finne paid no attention to that fact.

She'd come here being fully aware of the danger all along. That's why she was able to fling the whistle over to Elna as she approached. Elna caught it with a look of surprise, and Finne smiled to herself.

"Finally... I did something to help."

"You little...!"

Furious, Dean hurled another ball of mana at Finne as she fell.

Finne didn't possess the ability to dodge it in mid-air.

"Fiiiiinne?!"

Elna's scream echoed out.

Mentally entrusting Arnold into Elna's care, Finne quietly closed her eyes.

Just as her lids shut, she thought she saw a flash of light in the sky, but she didn't have the capacity to worry about what it was.

She kept her eyes shut in anticipation of what was to follow, but the painful impact she had imagined never came.

Instead, she felt warmth.

When she hesitantly opened her eyes, she found herself in the arms of a silver-masked adventurer.

Shock left her speechless. She'd told Krista that Prince Arnold would come to her rescue just to reassure her; she never even considered the possibility he would actually come to save her.

Someone else was equally surprised as Finne. That was Dean.

"Grrr... Who do you think you are, intercepting my attack? Tell me your name!"

"I am Silver, SS-class adventurer of the imperial capital branch of the Adventurers' Guild. And I'm here to detain you."

Wearing his characteristic silver mask and black robe, the greatest adventurer in the history of the empire had arrived.

6

What I saw after transferring to the sky above Keel was Elna in battle against two figures that appeared to be vampires.

In all honesty, that didn't surprise me.

What did surprise me was that Finne was right nearby.

She had climbed the clock tower, and she kept her gaze trained on the sky above.

Then, when she saw Elna make the vampire drop the whistle, she reached out as far as she could to catch it.

By the time that happened, I was already in motion.

I descended at absolute top speed with every ounce of magic I had, blazing like a shooting star toward Finne.

The demon who'd lost the whistle destroyed the clock tower, and Finne was flung off of it. At that moment, instead of reaching out her hand, Finne threw the whistle towards Elna. She wore a look of satisfaction as she fell. The sight was unbearable. I sped up even faster.

"You little...!"

The vampire shot another ball of mana.

Right as it was about to strike Finne...I deflected the ball out of the way and caught her in mid-air.

The warmth of her body filled me with relief. I'd made it in time. I'd saved her.

That might have been the most stressful moment I'd experienced in quite a while.

And...it had also been a long time since I'd felt so angry.

"Grrr... Who do you think you are, intercepting my attack? Tell me your name!"

"I am Silver, SS-class adventurer of the imperial capital branch of the Adventurers' Guild. And I'm here to detain you."

Feeling the rage build within me, I quietly replied. My words were an oath; I'd never let that bastard get away alive.

"M-Master Silver?"

"How could you be so reckless?"

"I'm so sorry. I acted without thinking again..."

"We can talk about that later. But...you did well. I'll take over from here."

I gently stroked Finne's hair, which made her cheeks faintly blush.

She was still blushing when I set her on the ground. Then I looked up at the vampires in the sky.

Of all vampires, these two were the only ones likely to plan such a major crime. They were the heretics of the vampire world, with Adventurers' Guild bounties on their heads—the S-class-designated brothers, Sam and Dean.

"Good luck, Master Silver!"

"Thanks. Leave everything to me."

After replying, I swiftly rose into the sky.

Both Sam and Dean were keeping a very cautious eye on me.

They were right to be on high alert. The qualification for becoming an SS-class adventurer was to slay an S-class monster. In other words, I'd killed a monster equal to their rank in the past.

"I had no idea an SS-class adventurer would show up. This is a surprise."

"Damn it! It's just one problem after another! All of you need to stop obstructing Dean's plan!"

So the smaller, whiny one was the younger brother, Sam. That meant the more powerful vampire was his older brother, Dean.

"I'm just as surprised as you. I thought having a bounty assigned to you and knowing SS-class adventurers would step in if you caused trouble might keep you two on better behavior. Haven't you been living in fear?"

"As if! We were just waiting for our next opportunity!"

"Well, you've already lost it. The efforts of the garrison and the knights were enough to hold back the monsters, and now I'm here. Your plan is done for."

"Hmph! You think you've won? We lost the whistle—so what? There are still plenty of monsters out there, and once we kill you and miss hero here, we win!!"

I couldn't believe these guys. They really intended to take on Elna and me at the same time.

Surprised, I looked over at Elna. She also wore an unamused expression.

"Good luck with that. The two of you put together were just about an equal match for me alone."

"You're the one who'll need luck! You haven't seen anything yet!"

"Then show me what you've got! In the Amsberg name, I will annihilate you!"

"Actually, Elna Von Amsberg. I hate to interrupt your enthusiasm, but I'll deal with these guys."

As Elna stood with her sword thrust out heroically, I stepped in with my own declaration.

Elna turned to stare at me. Her brow was furrowed in an incredulous look that really didn't belong on a lady's face.

"Excuse me, Silver. I think I may have misheard. Did you just say you were going to steal my prey away from me?"

"I don't recall saying it like that. You really must have poor hearing. You're a knight—go protect the emperor. I'll take care of things here."

"As if that isn't exactly the same thing! You're the one who should stand down! I was fighting them first!"

"I believe the emperor's nearly defenseless right now."

"And that same emperor gave me my orders! I'm not going anywhere! And even more importantly, they just said the two words I hate more than anything in the world! I'm determined to kill them. So please, stand down. Unless you want me to kill you too?"

Whoa, scary stuff. She was absolutely livid. What did they say to make her like that? Sheesh. I'd only wanted her to go back up Leo.

"Hah! This is rich. You sure got arrogant as soon as the two of you teamed up. Don't you know that even in the best circumstances, we're an even match now?"

"An even match? I'm pretty sure we've got the edge over you."

"Do you have any idea what's going on down there right now, Silver? The emperor's all but done for. Your friend there seems awfully intent on fighting us. Why don't you go and give back-up? For an adventurer affiliated with the empire, surely you care about the emperor's safety?"

He had a point. Back down on the ground, we were fighting a losing battle.

One of the two of us needed to go give reinforcement if the situation didn't improve. But the vampire had one thing all wrong.

"My loyalty isn't to the empire. It's to the Guild. Protecting the people across the entire continent is an adventurer's job, but I have no obligation to protect the empire. It's not like the empire's the one paying me. In all honesty, it made no difference to me if the emperor died."

"Is that so?"

"If someone doesn't want the emperor to die, then they should look elsewhere for his protection. I protect the people of this city, not the upper classes. I protect the people of this empire, not the empire itself. Within the empire, there are those who receive tax money and are guaranteed status and work. It's them—the imperial nobility and knights—whose job it is to protect the empire. If they don't do their job now, their lives are of no value. I'm not about to take that job away from them."

"Take their job?"

Dean appeared doubtful about my wording.

Not a moment later, the answer to his doubts arrived...from south of the city of Keel.

From a direction perpendicular to the streaming herd of monsters came the sound of heavy footsteps. The sound, like a peal of thunder, grew louder and louder, until at last it stopped with the arrival of one of the imperial heirs.

"What in the world...?!"

"Knights! I, Prince Leonard Lakes Aadler, Eighth Imperial Prince, hereby command you to protect the city of Keel! Go!"

Leo, standing at the head of thousands of knights, gave his orders and launched an attack.

The monsters were unable to keep up with the sudden appearance of such a large cavalry.

Sam and Dean attempted to intervene, but Elna and I each blocked one of them.

"Well, Silver, let's do this. I'll give you that one, and I'll take this one here. What do you say?"

"Great idea. I accept."

Our objectives clear, we both readied ourselves for battle.

Below us, Leo's group of knights was mowing down the monsters. The frenzied herd was blind to anything not directly in its path and helpless against attacks from the side.

Eventually they would perceive the knights as a threat and counterattack, but for the time being it was easy going.

While the situation on the ground was being handled, I got ready to end things up in the sky.

The battle to defend Keel had entered its final stage.

***

"Ugh! No measly human's getting the best of me!"

Dean hurled ball after ball of mana while on the move, and I attacked while chasing after him.

Brilliant flashes of light exploded across the sky like fireworks.

The sight seemed to be fanning Dean's irritation.

I also realized that the vampires had apparently been holding back in their fight with Elna. Perhaps they had considered running and were then forced to devote that energy toward combat, because they were definitely a lot stronger now.

Dean approached me, baring his characteristic vampire fangs.

He seemed to have determined that his mana attacks alone weren't going to cut it. He was obviously a seasoned fighter.

"Tsk!"

I voiced my annoyance as Dean beautifully dodged my next magic attack.

With no other choice, I tried to put some distance between us, but before I could do so, he closed in on me and punched me in the stomach.

"Ugh!"

"Hah! Take that, SS-class adventurer!"

"Shut up!"

Dean evaded my magic counterattack and circled around behind me.

Recognizing I was in trouble, I wrapped protective mana around my body.

Dean clasped his hands together and brought them down on me with all his might. The hammer-like impact knocked me flying toward the city's main street.

"Ow! You're really not holding anything back, are you?"

"What's the matter? Looks like you're helpless against my true strength, huh?"

"What are you doing?! He can't be that strong! Are you going easy on him? You are, aren't you?! Do you think that makes you look cool? Well, it doesn't! You look foolish!"

Not only did Dean make fun of me, but for some reason, my own ally decided to berate me too.

It wasn't easy being an adventurer sometimes.

I decided that this time, I'd accept the insults.

I thought of my dear brother and all the knights who'd become involved for his sake, and the soldiers of the garrison, whom I could have assisted as Silver and yet didn't, and who'd been forced to fight a tough battle all for the purpose of someone gaining advantage in the conflict for the throne.

And, I thought of all the innocent people of Keel.

For all of those many people's sakes, a little bit of abuse was nothing.

That said, my anger had nearly reached its limit.

"Hmph! We were stupid to hide in fear from people like you! You're all just weak and pathetic humans!"

"Aha, so you were hiding. I guess vampires aren't such hotshots after all."

At that point, I easily got back up. There were no injuries on my body, or any damage whatsoever.

That seemed to surprise Dean, but soon after, he caught on to the strange phenomenon happening all around him.

"Aaaaargh! My arm! Wait, h-huh?"

"Ow! It hurts... Huh? It's already healed?"

Ever since I'd shown up, not a single one of the garrison fighting on the castle walls, nor any of the knights under Leo's command attacking the herd of monsters, had died.

That was because any injuries they sustained had healed almost instantaneously.

"You sneak! Have you been fighting with a healing barrier up?!"

"Close."

The magic I'd been using wasn't only a healing barrier.

I'd put up a healing barrier when I arrived and maintained it while fighting, but at the same time, I'd also been preparing another type of magic as well.

Those preparations were now complete.

"I've been fighting with two different types of barriers. Well, one of them I only just now finished."

Right as I said that...an enormous magic circle appeared surrounding the entire city of Keel. From it, a number of chains appeared, which wrapped around Dean and Sam.

"What the hell are these things?!"

"Dammit! Let me go!!"

"You won't be able to break the spell. It's a cursed chain barrier. Ancient magic. It casts a curse to weaken anyone bound by the chains. So now...are you ready?"

I'd had enough of these two scoundrels making trouble when I had better things to be busy with.

It was time for revenge.

7

The chains continued to grow in number. That meant the weakening curse was also growing more powerful.

After capturing the two vampires, I slowly rose into the air. They were weaker than bugs now; it would be easy enough to crush them.

"Vampires get their strength from their vast amount of mana. They live extremely long lives, but without mana, their physical strength is no different than that of humans. That means so long as you block off their mana somehow, there's nothing to—"

"Hey! These chains! They're coming after me too?!"

"......"

Seriously? Why did this woman have to interrupt just when I was about to make my big finale?

When I looked over at Elna, the chains were indeed following after her. Maybe it was because I'd set them up to automatically capture anyone who was hostile toward me.

But more importantly, why couldn't they catch her? Was this girl really human? The chains should've been a total surprise attack.

"Sorry. It's because I made the barrier so that it would capture anyone who felt hostile toward me."

I stopped the chains' motion with a glance.

Breathing raggedly, Elna glared at me menacingly.

I snorted—she had just perfectly demonstrated my point—and her face went bright red.

"You know what?! Something's wrong with you! Who tries to chain up someone on their own side?!"

"The chains wouldn't react to anyone who was actually on my side. You just feel too much hostility toward me. My 'stupid'-looking chains were a piece of cake for you anyway, right?"

"Argh! You're still mad about that, huh? I've never met anyone nearly as petty as you! I only said that because I was worried about you getting killed!"

"So you insult people when you're worried about them? I feel sorry for all your friends and family."

Elna's face went completely red. It was obvious she was ragingly angry.

Seeing her so worked up was amusing. I would have liked to tease her some more, but my initial guests still needed tending to.

"Sorry. I forgot about you guys while I was dealing with our feisty hero here. Now, where was I? Oh, right. I was saying that, once I block off your mana, you're toast."

"Bloody human! How dare you humiliate us?!"

"Release me! Once I'm out of these chains, I'm going to pound you to pieces!"

"If you want out, do it yourself. You could spend your entire life trying and it'd still be impossible, though. Now then...it's time for your confession. Any last words?"

With that, I began gathering a large amount of mana within my hands. This mana was going to be for magic that was a level above all the magic I'd used so far. Sam and Dean started sweating icicles as they watched me.

"W-wait...! You don't have any grudges against us, do you? If you let us go, we'll repay you!"

"No grudges against you, huh? I'm pretty sure you're wrong about that."

Dean was the one who'd attacked Finne earlier. Reflecting on my anger at that moment made me want to kill these fiends a thousand times over.

The reality was, they had attacked Finne, and she could have died. Regardless of the fact that she hadn't been hurt, what they had done was worthy of capital punishment.

"What did we ever do to you?! You're not here on a quest from the Guild, right? You wouldn't want to kill us until after officially receiving the quest from the Guild!"

"Humans are complicated, you see. You never know what sort of grudge they'll latch onto. And I might not be here on a quest, but I'm still an adventurer. That fact never changes, no matter where I go. Quest or not, it is always my duty to protect all the people on the continent from monsters."

"W-we're not monsters!"

"The Guild designated you as monsters, and you're certainly acting like monsters now. Come on, then. Nothing else you want to say, huh? If you'd just tell me who was giving you orders, my partner here might stop me from killing you."

As I spoke, my mana continued to grow and grow.

It was obvious to anyone watching that I was about to perform an excessively powerful attack. Sam and Dean had to have known they were facing certain death.

And yet, while their faces were contorted in fear, they didn't betray the name of their co-conspirator.

Either they had a strong sense of obligation, or they were just plain scared. I couldn't imagine these two had much in the way of sympathy or loyalty; it must have been the latter. That meant whoever was masterminding the big plan was someone intimidating enough to frighten even S-class, bountied monsters. Who in the world could it be?

"Hurry up and tell us. If you don't, I'll kill you myself."

Elna joined in with her own threats.

"W-we are proud vampires! We will not be coerced by any humans!"

"Oh, okay. Then let's end this. I'm just about ready anyway."

The one most shocked by that comment was me. The vampires didn't appear to realize it, but there was only one thing Elna could have been preparing for.

"E-Elna Von Amsberg! Don't tell me you're going to summon the holy sword?!"

"So what if I am?"

"My magic is enough! Are you trying to destroy the entire city?!"

"I'll keep it in check, so no problem. Since a certain someone so helpfully trapped my opponent, now I can summon it without any distraction."

"H-hey—"

"I'm an Amsberg. Defeating enemies of the empire is my mission. I'm not letting the likes of you take that away from me!"

With that, Elna raised her right hand to the sky. Then...

"Hear my voice and descend! Radiant sword of the stars! This hero requires your service!"

A white light fell from the sky.

Elna grasped the light in her hand, and it soon faded and transformed into a thin, glittering silver sword.

Five hundred years earlier, the hero who had defeated the demon king had used a legendary holy sword—Aurora. The sword, said to be made of falling stars, could cut through anything and would leave not a single demon alive.

Because of that immense, even dangerous power, the original Amsberg hero had placed a spell so that only those with true ability could summon the holy sword.

If Elna could do that, it meant she was indeed well qualified as a hero herself. And Elna was able to do so when she was mere twelve years old—that was why she was called a prodigy.

"Whoa...!"

As befitting of the holy sword that had slain the demon king, the sword's mere presence gave off a tremendous sense of power.

That sword in the hands of someone with Elna's ability made her invincible. This was also why the Amsbergs were so feared by other empires. An entire army could be destroyed in one fell swoop by the summoning of this celestial holy sword. Not that there were more than a few instances in all history of it being summoned to fight an army.

For one thing, it was only rarely summoned at all. I was pretty sure Elna was the only one who'd ever summoned it just because she'd gotten a little mad at someone.

"Now, stand back and watch."

"Sheesh. Fine, you go ahead and have that one then."

"Hmph! They were both my prey in the first place! Remember that I'm the one willing to share!"

"Well, let's leave it like that."

After agreeing to the compromise, I started reciting a spell. I'd made it this far without any, but using a spell to maximize my magic gave me the surest chance of eliminating our enemies once and for all.

"I am the usurper. I have usurped the blackness from the depths of the underworld. It is a blackness darker than darkness itself. A blackness deeper than the darkest of nights. The pitch blackness that existed before the beginning of all beginnings. The utter blackness of the end of all endings. All was born of that blackness. And all shall return to it... Infinity Darkness."

A huge, black sphere appeared above my head.

As if in opposition to the all-consuming blackness, Elna's holy sword emanated an enormous white light that seemed to reach all the way to the heavens.

Black and white. Darkness and light.

The two attacks were opposite and contradictory in nature, yet they shared in common the certain destruction of whatever was in their paths.

Elna and I both reconsidered our intended targets. It would be easy enough to blow away all the monsters at the same time as we took out the vampires. It was perfect timing as well, with Leo being temporarily away from of the herd as he prepared for his own next attack.

As far as I could see at a glance, there was no one within the herd of monsters, but I made an announcement just to be on the safe side.

"Anyone currently inside the herd of monsters, get out immediately!"

"I can't promise I won't hit you!"

Elna and I both called out. Leo and his army, sensing danger, put even more distance between themselves and the monsters, and the soldiers of the garrison up on the castle walls also started to retreat.

In contrast, the monsters themselves just stared blankly up at the sky. I knew that among them were monsters who kept to themselves and didn't harm humans, but I had to do what I had to do. Even if it wasn't their fault they were being used for malicious purposes, I couldn't let them off the hook now that the pack as a whole had attacked humans.

Just as they had attacked humans in order to protect their fellow monsters, we humans also had to fight in order to protect our fellow humankind.

That was my version of an apology for what we were about to do. I had no such apology to give to the two vampires in front of me.

"Now... Get ready, because this is going to hurt."

"Repent for what you've done!"

"Eeeeeek?!"

"Whooooa?!"

The black sphere swallowed up Dean and then proceeded to swallow up the herd of monsters.

Elna's holy sword swallowed up Sam and then also began working on the monster herd.

Then, as if in a battle themselves, both of our magic attacks canceled each other out, until at last, nothing at all was left.

There were no joyous shouts of victory. When I glanced at the emperor, he looked back at us with an exasperated expression. Maybe we'd gone a little overboard.

Oh well. The only one who'd get in trouble was Elna. And actually, that reminded me of something else.

"Your Majesty! I acted on my own authority this time, but if this debacle has taught you anything, then I'd suggest you refrain from neglecting and underestimating the role of the Guild in the future."

"Huh... Well noted. Thank you for your cooperation, Silver."

Now this would save face for the Guild, and they wouldn't go seeking to blame the empire for what had happened, either.

I gave a short bow to the emperor, then started preparing to use transfer magic.

As I was doing so, Elna spoke to me.

"Silver."

"What is it now? Any more complaints?"

"Yes, plenty. But I'll save those for later. You were a big help today. Thank you especially for saving Finne. She's...an important friend of another old friend of mine."

"I'm assuming you're referring to the Insipid Prince?"

"Um... Did you already forget that I just annihilated those vampires with the holy sword for saying those two words? If you value your life, then take it back right now. My friend is an incredible prince. I won't stand for you insulting him!"

With that, Elna turned the holy sword on me.

Her eyes told me that she was serious.

She was actually willing to fight an SS-class adventurer for the sake of defending my name.

With a wry smile, I corrected myself.

"Let me apologize. If you're that insistent, then it was disrespectful of me to call him names. But at the same time, I also feel sorry for him. It must be difficult having had you for a friend all these years."

"Excuse me?!"

"Now, I'll be off."

Before Elna could assail me with her next comeback, I transferred away.

Once I made it to my room, where Sebas was waiting, I pushed through my exhaustion to strip off my mask and robe.

"Welcome back. I've made you some tea."

"Thanks. That's just what I needed."

"You must be very tired."

"Yeah, that's for sure."

In addition to several bouts of transfer magic, I'd used a healing barrier, a cursed chain barrier, and the magic of my final attack, and I'd used even more mana on top of all those. Frankly, my mana was all but gone, and the same was true of my energy and strength.

"I'm so tired...and sleepy..."

"I'll take care of everything now. Please get some rest."

After having a bit of tea, I started drifting off while still seated in my chair. I thought about lying in bed, but my body wouldn't move.

Just then, I heard Sebas' kind voice in my ear.

"You really did well today, Prince Arnold. You were absolutely spectacular."

"Oh really... Then I guess no one will blame me for having a nap, huh..."

When was the last time Sebas had ever given me a compliment?

That thought hazily went through my mind just before I let go and drifted off into a pleasant sleep.

8

Three days after the eventful end of the festival, I was the last of the emperor's children to reach the city of Keel.

The others, although they hadn't made it back in time to help defend the city, had been on their way, and by riding nonstop along with their knights, they had all reached Keel that same night, almost as if by design.

"You're going to be made fun of again."

"Then let them make fun of me. I don't care."

I chatted with Sebas as I dismounted my horse in front of the manor.

Once I did so, unlike usual, a small welcoming party came out to greet me.

"Arn...!"

"Whoa. Hey, Krista. What's going on?"

"I was scared..."

Krista, holding her rabbit toy like always, ran clumsily over to me and gave me a hug. I stroked her hair, then took her by the hand as I continued walking. Also there waiting for me were Finne, Leo, and...

"Hey, Arn."

"Welcome back, Your Highness."

"Hey. Thanks, guys."

Elna and her knights lined up to welcome me back as well. As far as I could see, no one was injured. I sighed with relief at that fact, then turned to Leo.

"I could've guessed Elna would make it in time to fight, but I was surprised to hear you did too, huh?"

"Yeah. Silver helped me out."

"I believe it. What a stand-up guy."

"Seriously, Arn? What exactly do you think is stand-up about a guy like him?"

Elna commented, looking displeased. I shrugged as I replied.

"He saved the empire, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but all on some random, selfish whim of his. I can tell."

"Who cares? He saved the day in the end. Right, Krista?"

"Mm-hm."

"See?"

"Th-that's not fair, dragging Princess Krista's opinion into it!"

We continued our conversation as we entered the manor.

At one point, my gaze met Finne's. She returned the look with a soft smile. Was she trying to tell me that she didn't mind waiting for her turn to talk to me? I decided to interpret it that way anyway. I kept hold of Krista's hand as we continued further into the manor.

Father had already announced that there would be a meeting held upon my arrival. However...

"You're awfully late, Arnold. What kept you?"

"Hi, Erik. My knights were away, so I was waiting for their return. I apologize for my late arrival. "

"I don't need your apologies. I know you're not actually sorry, are you?"

Erik, the Second Imperial Prince appeared. The blue-haired man in glasses planted himself firmly in our way.

As always, even from behind his glasses, the intelligence in his gaze was obvious. Those eyes were constantly judging everyone and everything else, determining whether they had value or not. Krista seemed to find his gaze scary and hid herself behind my back.

"I am sorry. A little, anyway."

"I should've phrased that differently. You're not sorry to us. That's the kind of person you are."

"Well, when you put it that way, you're right. I don't feel sorry to you all because I haven't done anything that would inconvenience you."

The only people I felt sorry to were the people closest to me, and that didn't include Erik, any of my other siblings, and especially not our father. My reply made Erik smirk.

"You're a funny one, Arnold. It was a good decision to send Elna on ahead. I hope you'll keep on making the right choices. If you can be of value to me, I'll keep both you and Leonard in my good graces."

"You speak as if you're already the emperor."

"I'm next in line. Gordon and Zandra, and even you can try all you want, but nothing changes that fact. Just remember that."

After sweeping his gaze across our group, Erik let it stop on Leo.

Leo looked him straight back in the eye. Good for him, I thought. He had nothing to fear, not even from Erik.

"Don't let one minuscule victory go to your head."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Erik."

Erik spun around and walked off ahead into the manor. Meanwhile, the rest of us stood frozen in contemplative silence.

He had just declared war.

Leo and I had just made a great achievement together. I'd sent Elna to fight early on, and Leo had quickly joined in, leading his knights. Silver had provided assistance, but even so, our own actions were well-deserving of merit in their own right. Erik had taken advantage of that to declare that he'd crush us if we tried to take our success and run with it for the throne.

Even the strongest candidate for emperor could no longer ignore us. All that said, I knew it was only a warning. Erik wouldn't do something as simple as take me and Leo out; he would wait until we gained even more of a following and arrange for Gordon and Zandra to attack us so we deplete each other's numbers. That's what I would've done in his position.

"Arn..."

"What's wrong? Was that scary?"

"Don't worry. He'd never hurt you. Or us, of course."

Krista nodded. We gave her unconvincing smiles and continued walking.

"Oh, Leo. Here's the answer you should give in case Father asks about..."

On our way, I whispered about a certain something to Leo. He's eyes went wide, but I pressed him.

"You got it?"

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah. You're the only one who can say it, and it will end up saving his life."

***

After the events in Keel, Father had remained in the city and directed reconstruction efforts in the East. Or at least, that was his purported purpose. The tsunami hadn't caused all that much damage.

What Father was actually doing was investigating who had been involved in the debacle that had transpired.

There must have been a development in his investigations if he'd been waiting for my arrival and gathered together all his children and imperial knights.

"Thank you for coming, everyone. It has been a trying week for all of us."

As Father spoke, you could tell from his face that he was clearly exhausted. It was no wonder why—despite no longer being a young man, he'd gone out on the battlefield, and even after that spent several days tirelessly working. And to add to that, he'd probably also just found out that his own idiotic son had been heavily involved with the chaos that had happened.

"The reason I've asked you all here is because you have a right to know what I'm about to tell you. This is all classified information. Last night, though still suffering from grave injuries, Karlos regained consciousness. When I showed him the evidence I'd gathered over the last few days, he admitted to being in collaboration with a pair of vampires. He used a whistle belonging to the two vampires to hunt monsters and gain first place in the festival. He had also promised that, on the condition that the vampires retreat upon his return to Keel, he would remove the bounty that had been placed on them. This is a complete and total outrage!"

"So you're saying...everything, beginning with the appearance of the monsters, was all Karlos' doing?"

"That's correct. To be precise, Karlos was a pawn in the vampires' own scheme, but he still put not only myself but the entire empire in danger for the sake of his own interests. That is utterly unacceptable!"

Father's eyes were now bloodshot with irrepressible rage.

Despite that, Erik fell to one knee and entreated him.

"Your Majesty. I beg you to be lenient in your judgment of Karlos. He may be a fool, but he is still my brother."

It was a shameless performance. Gordon and Zandra followed suit.

Their pleading for the emperor's leniency was not done out of any loyalty or affection for Karlos. Naturally, an investigation would be of no inconvenience to them, either.

They were doing it because they knew it was what the emperor was hoping for. If he'd intended to kill Karlos, he'd have done so immediately. He'd only gone through the trouble to summon everyone and express his anger because he could not afford to single-handedly forgive Karlos for his misdeeds.

Now, he could forgive him because his siblings had begged him to. Otherwise, he could not have done so without losing his dignity.

Well, not that there was any reason to kill Karlos now, either.

Karlos had lost his right hand due to Sam's attack, and his lower body was paralyzed. He would be bedridden for life. Even my coldhearted father couldn't bring himself to kill his son after seeing him sentenced to such a condition.

However, things couldn't end this simply. If everyone begged for Karlos to be spared, then it would look like the emperor had simply lost out to the majority. That would be bad all around.

"Leonard. You were our greatest asset in this crisis. What do you think?"

"If I may express my honest opinion, I don't think that Karlos should be spared. He should be sentenced to a beheading."

At that moment, everyone in the room froze. The most unbelievable words had just come from the most unexpected person. Even Father himself seemed taken aback.

"...Why do you feel that way? He is your brother."

"He is my brother, but first and foremost, he is a traitor to the empire. Sparing him now will set a dangerous precedent. Besides, how will you explain such leniency to all of the knights who risked or lost their lives because of him?"

"I will not tell the citizens or the general knights anything. All of this stays within this room. That need not be a consideration."

"That isn't right. You should punish him and tell everyone the truth. You must also show everyone, within this empire and all other empires, that you, our emperor, are impartial and just, and that you are willing to punish those who commit crimes, even if they are your own son. That is what will give your people a sense of stability and safety."

Leo spoke with decisive conviction.

Now there were two opinions out there. Whichever the emperor chose would alienate the other side. In other words, the emperor now had an excuse to do the following: he would pardon Karlos, but in order to let Leo save face, even though he and Gordon had tied for first place in the festival, the emperor would award the status of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to him. I knew that all of these developments were ideal outcomes for my father.

As I was feeling pleased at pulling off my plan, my father glanced over at me. When he saw the satisfied look on my face, he scowled.

"Did you put this idea in his head?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Ahh... Never mind. I will honor my children's wishes and pardon Karlos. However, Leonard, this doesn't mean I don't hear and respect you."

Father then asked Leo to come before him. Leo reverentially stepped forward and knelt.

Our father then held out his sword, and Leo took it.

"I haven't come prepared for this, so this will have to do for now. Leonard, I declare you the winner of the festival. Karlos was disqualified, and Arnold was disqualified from second place as well. Third place was a tie between you and Gordon. However, you commanded your knights skillfully to achieve great merit and success, and you have great popularity among the people of the East. Declaring you the winner will help assuage their discontent. I believe this makes sense. Do you agree, Gordon?"

"...I will respect Your Majesty's decision."

Gordon grimaced and bowed his head. He was obviously and understandably upset, based on the way his voice shook as he spoke. But he didn't argue, because he had no basis for argument.

As this was happening, Elna stepped forward.

"Your Majesty. Please allow me to make an appeal of my own."

"What is it?"

"Please revoke Prince Arnold's disqualification. He disqualified himself in order to send his knights into battle. It was an honorable and praiseworthy action. He does not deserve the disgrace of disqualification."

"Your Majesty!"

The knights all followed Elna in falling to one knee. At this, Father closed his eyes and replied with a question.

"Arnold... You say you 'accidentally' broke your wristband, correct?"

"That is correct. I accidentally broke it."

"Then I cannot revoke the disqualification. There would be room for deliberation if you had purposefully broken the wristband in order to send Elna on ahead, but rules are rules. The victory goes to Leonard."

Elna looked at me with an expression of disbelief, but I ignored her.

Even if I agreed that I had purposefully broken my wristband to let Elna move freely and had the disqualification revoked, I would still not become ambassador.

The most I would get was a few words of commendation. Like my father had just said, he had declared Leo the victor because he was popular among the citizens of the East. No one would be happy if the victory were given to me.

That's why I was fine with remaining the incompetent fool who'd accidentally broken his own wristband and let victory slip away.

However...

"That said, it is true that Keel was saved thanks to you, Elna. And it was Arnold's mistake that helped save the day. So I will reward that mistake."

"What?"

"I award Arnold the title of aide to the ambassador. You will work as Leonard's assistant and adviser."

"Um...F-Father?"

"It's 'Your Majesty,' Arnold."

"Uh... I don't...I don't think I'm qualified for that, so..."

"You can let Leonard handle everything at first. Sooner or later you will take on one or two duties and prove your own competence. That is my final word on the subject. Tomorrow I will make the official announcement. Until then, I hope all of you will get some much-needed rest."

With that, Father got up from his seat. As he was leaving, he sent me a final cheeky smirk, looking just like a kid who'd gotten away with a prank.

The sneaky bastard... He did that on purpose! Damn it! That wasn't how my plan was supposed to go at all!

If I went off to a foreign country with Leo, who would supervise our influence here?!

This couldn't be seriously happening?!

I was stupefied by the startling turn things had taken. Meanwhile, our rivals all wore triumphant looks that said I'd gotten just what I deserved.

This was bad. If I didn't fix this somehow, our base of influence would be entirely destroyed in Leo's and my absence.

"Congratulations, Arn!"

"......"

"Arn? What's the matter?"

"You really, really need to stay out of my business."

"What are you talking about?!"

I held my forehead in one hand and brushed Elna off. I knew, though. I knew it wasn't her fault. Her trying to get my disqualification repealed was exactly what I had expected. What I hadn't expected was my father's reaction. He'd taken a different course of action all because I'd appeared so cocky. He must have been offended by feeling that I'd manipulated him. This was all my own fault.

I left the meeting cradling my head in vexation at the preposterous situation I'd gotten myself into.

After the meeting, Finne was in her room, preparing tea. She knew that a certain guest would soon arrive.

"Hey, it's me. Can I come in?"

"Of course, Master Arn."

When her awaited guest, Arn, came inside, he seemed slightly surprised to find the tea already ready and waiting, but seeing Finne's cheery smile, he sat down without saying anything.

"This is a different tea than usual."

"I thought you must be feeling tired, so I chose a tea with ingredients that help ease fatigue. Even if you don't like it, I still need you to drink it."

"I'm not that tired."

Arn muttered in protest, but he still looked weary to Finne, despite having had several days since the battle during which he should have been resting. That's why she'd prepared the special tea. He grimaced as he sipped the tea with its unique bitterness and scent. He recognized the taste.

"This is the same tea my mother used to make for me. I think it was made with tea leaves from somewhere in the East and required an unusual method of brewing."

"I learned from my mother, too. When I saw you looking so tired, I borrowed some of the tea leaves from the manor here."

"Hah... I am tired, but you don't have to be that worried about me."

"I'm glad to hear that. Now, drink up."

Finne smiled brightly, but within her smile was a determination that she wouldn't take no for an answer. Giving into the pressure, Arn wordlessly continued drinking the tea.

For a while, the two remained in silence, but it wasn't an unpleasant one. It felt comfortable to just be together without talking. To Arn, that was a very welcome and pleasant sensation. In public he played the Insipid Prince, and in private he was Silver, the great adventurer. On top of that, he was now also working secretly to help Leo win the fight for the throne. He had almost no time to ever relax and just be himself. Finne provided that time to him. That was why the words of gratitude naturally spilled from his lips.

"Thanks...for everything."

"Not at all. I'm the one who should be thanking you, for saving me. Once again I ended up making trouble for you."

"It wasn't trouble at all. And thanks to you getting ahold of that whistle the tsunami didn't get even bigger, and no extra lives were lost. Just..."

"What?"

"Just try not to do anything so dangerous again. I nearly had a heart attack for a second there."

"Yes... I thought I was about to die, too. But then you came. I was so happy."

Finne smiled as she said that. It was a sweet and gentle smile, but it was slightly different than the one she gave most people. It wasn't a smile that was put on purposefully but one that came naturally out of a sense of trust, and it enhanced Finne's attractiveness.

Upon catching himself staring, Arn gulped down his tea to hide his embarrassment. Just as he rejoiced at finishing it all, Finne immediately made him a second cup.

"Uh...?!"

"You need to have two or three cups."

"Oh, come on..."

Despite his complaints, Arn grimly started drinking, and Finne happily watched him. The two once more fell into silence. No one broke the pause; they both knew that one of them would speak when they felt like talking again.

Enjoying the pleasant silence, Finne continued observing Arn. He was drinking the tea with a childish look of disgust on his face. It was a stark contrast to his bearing when he'd visited the Kleinert manor.

Seeing him like that now filled Finne with a sense of relief, because it let her know that he hadn't changed. He was just the same as he was back on that day, years ago, when they'd first exchanged words. Arn didn't even remember. She knew and accepted that, because at that time, she'd been wearing a veil over her face. It was the day she had become known as Blau Mowe.

She'd been so nervous between experiencing her first visit to the capital, the unprecedentedly huge crowds of people, and her looming meeting with the emperor. For fourteen-year-old Finne, the entire situation was far above her capacity to deal with.

As anxious thoughts whirled around in her mind and she started to feel light-headed from the stress, Arn had casually engaged her in conversation. Looking back now, Finne realized how irresponsible he'd acted. He'd just run away from the very place Finne was headed, purely out of boredom and annoyance. But it was that conversation that allowed Finne to calm herself down and receive the honor of being called Blau Mowe. It might have been an unremarkable incident to Arn, but to Finne, it was a big deal. Ever since that day, she'd felt a great fondness for him.

Finne had thought she could finally give her thanks to Arn when he came to her house. That was why she hadn't greeted him like it was their first meeting. Yet even though she had been reunited with Arn, he was incensed and she was disappointed, thinking he had changed. But really, he hadn't changed at all.

Just like on that day, he was still the same kind person. After learning of his secret, Finne had requested that her father allow her to go be of assistance to him. She knew that she might only get in his way, but even so, she wanted to be with him. She wanted to be of use to him, no matter what form that might take.

As Finne was reminiscing, at some point she noticed that Arn was breathing rhythmically and fast asleep. She gave a quiet chuckle at the sight of his innocent sleeping face, then got a blanket and placed it over him.

"Even though you might not remember..."

In a voice too soft for anyone to hear, Finne whispered and gently took Arn's hand. Nervous that he might wake up, she gradually leaned in closer to his cheek.

Then, she gave him a soft, quick kiss. That alone made her face turn bright red.

Knowing it might not help much, she drank the water set out on the table hoping it would take some of the heat from her cheeks, then took several deep breaths before finally looking back at Arn. His carefree and peaceful dozing brought a wry smile to her lips.

This hunter had no idea that, on that day, he'd bagged himself one very special blue gull.

***

"Lady Zandra, I received word from Madam. She says it is time."

A middle-aged man spoke from the shadows. Upon hearing his report, Zandra curtly acknowledged him as she sipped her blood-red wine.

"It was disappointing to lose out on the ambassador position, but no matter. I don't need the help of a foreign empire. What's important is how much power I can grab onto within the capital. While those twins are off building a relationship with our neighbors, I'll be gaining power right here at home."

"It's finally happening."

"Yes. It's taken many long years, but now I too will get a position as minister. I'll gain the power Erik's monopolized all this time to have a voice in the imperial council meetings!"

Zandra let out a high-pitched cackle. Her laughter lasted several seconds until she finally calmed down and addressed the man.

"By the way, whatever came of the men you dispatched to deal with Arnold?"

"None of them have returned. I believe they may have been intercepted by that steward of his."

"They must have underestimated him, thinking that he was just some old retiree. Next time you make a move, ensure everything is set up perfectly. That steward is the sole threat in the twins' camp."

"It is a great mystery to me how the fabled assassin once known as the Grim Reaper has somehow ended up as the Insipid Prince's steward."

"It's a waste of good talent, is what it is. The prince is also close to the Amsberg prodigy. How do all these people end up in the hands of someone who has no idea of their value?"

"Someday they will all be in your hands, instead."

Zandra nodded with pleasure to the man's words. Yes, she thought. Someday, it would all be hers. That was what she'd spent so long preparing for.

"That's right. That's exactly right! The throne will be mine. Everything will be all mine, to do exactly as I please with! I'll have the heads of all those loathsome louts who oppose me! Ahh... I can't wait..."

Entranced by that thought, Zandra slowly sipped her wine. She could already picture in her mind her rivals, tortured and begging for their lives, just before being beheaded.

The battle for the throne was about to become even fiercer.