The Thirteenth Seat

"No!"

To Lupin, the Rounds weren't worth a single treasure chest.

A hollow laugh escaped Kain before he could stop it. It wasn't the answer he had expected, and he had been turned down by someone much the same once before. Like master, like disciple. He hadn't imagined that even their attitude toward a seat among the Rounds would be identical.

Interesting.

Back then the whole of the Rounds had thrown themselves at the man, and half of them had ended up rolling across the floor in disgrace. They had gone a little easy, since someone actually dying would have been a problem, but the momentum of him cutting every which way with the Lightning Sword had been as fierce as a dragon in a rampage.

And then he had said—

Across thirty years as an adventurer, he had cut down magical beasts and demonkin beyond counting — so many that the edge of the Lightning Sword had never once stayed whole. For strength that precious to choose neutrality had left a bitter taste in Kain's mouth. Even so, he had not gone so far as to step forth in his full capacity as a Grand Master and force Tassili down. That could well have been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠taken as a declaration that he meant to make an enemy of the entire Adventurers' Association.

As things turned out, it had been the right choice. If the two of them had clashed then, only the North Country would have been laughing, and he would never have gained this chance to stand face to face with Lupin and speak. He could not afford to lose another talent that precious the way he had then, and so Kain spoke of a seat that existed only in rumor. A seat he had offered Tassili as well, only to be refused in the end.

"I see. Then what of the Thirteenth Seat? It is an honorary post. You would not have to carry out the duties of the Rounds. Nearly all of a Round's privileges, however, would still be yours."

At the word privileges, Lupin's eyes flew wide. If it helped with treasure chests, she had no reason to refuse anything.

"Does that mean I could do bad things, like Ekaterina, and not be held responsible?"

Of all the things to ask first.

Lupin's humanity score, which had been on the verge of rocketing clear to the edge of the universe, let out a little beep and plummeted a very long way.

"Only for as long as you remain among the Rounds. And if you cross the line the way Ekaterina did, the qualification can be stripped from you."

"So even if I cause a huge incident, it can be settled with a single disqualification?"

And why, of all things, was she so fixated on that part? Absurd as the words were, he sensed no malice in her face or in her eyes. Lupin had asked in perfect sincerity.

Suppose, for instance, that she cleaned out a Secret Safe hidden in a royal palace, only for the entire country to turn out to be one enormous nest of evil. They would try to bury the truth — a bounty, perhaps even an order for her head — and who was going to compensate her for every treasure chest she missed in the meantime? Kain had no hope of following a chain of thought like that, so the next question was inevitable.

"And why do you need that privilege?"

Lupin answered without a shred of shame.

"To find treasure chests, obviously."

The Sub-Rounds member who had reported to Kain had said as much. Lupin was obsessed, to an extreme, with something called treasure chests, and Tassili was actively helping her on adventures to find them. The first time Kain heard it, he had wondered what on earth she was thinking, living that way.

On this continent, treasure hunters were regarded as layabouts, the jobless, people who couldn't fit into society. Gold bars and treasure chests scattered across the world were nothing but baseless tales. They would have to have been found. And every chest discovered so far had been a fake, built by human hands for some particular purpose.

"Same as when you spoke of Ekaterina. You truly are fond of treasure chests. May I ask the reason?"

Lupin recited, as she always did, the famous words of an elf she loved — her motto for life.

"A treasure chest holds infinite possibility."

In that bright, innocent face, Kain caught a glimpse of obsession. Still, an obsession with treasure chests was better than an obsession with what lay under a woman's skirt. A seat among the Rounds was like that. If you meant to cause trouble, you caused ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it big. Get caught doing something as pathetic as Ekaterina, and the scorn only grew worse. She had dragged the bar down as far as it would go, and thanks to that, Lupin's crashed humanity score crept back up until it scraped past a passing grade.

Kain made the offer again.

"In any case, may I take it that the Thirteenth Seat is acceptable?"

"Hmm... Could I try it for just a month first? If the trial feels all right, I'll keep going."

Lupin proposed a venerable marketing method handed down in her homeland. A win-win, satisfying the customer and the company both. She had even used it herself back when she was the one out making the sales, so for once she was full of confidence.

Had they been speaking of the Twelfth Seat, Kain would likely have refused. The Thirteenth, however, was honorary. There was no need to attend anything important, such as the Golden Council. In a sense, it was the very model of the responsibility-free pleasure Lupin loved best. After a moment's thought, Kain nodded.

"Very well. But remember this. The Thirteenth Seat is not a regular Round. Cause trouble, and you are expelled on the spot."

If expulsion takes care of it, perfect!

Lupin nodded furiously.

The going had been rough, but in the end Kain had succeeded in binding Lupin to the Thirteenth Seat. The problem now was how to draw her the rest of the way into the Twelfth.

Expelling Ekaterina right away has gotten awkward...

Lupin had been offered the Twelfth Seat precisely because Rostov had acknowledged her to that extent. If she slipped neatly out of it, he could not expel Ekaterina. Promote one of the Sub-Rounds under Ekaterina, and their strength fell far short. Bring in someone from another nation, and Rostov would resist fiercely. Even a Sephira's aura would have made the Rounds of other nations easier to control, and now they did not have so much as that.

I'll have to tell her to do some reflecting, at least, while this chance lasts.

With no suitable method at hand, Kain decided to withdraw for the time being. Soon he rummaged through the inner pocket of his gold-trimmed jacket and drew out a single cornflower insignia. Unlike his own badge, its center was empty — a mark that the post was honorary. Lupin took it and grinned.

"Thank you. If I still like it after a month, I'll subscribe right away."

To Lupin, the Rounds were something like a monthly subscription of the kind you found on game sites, the sort that handed out special buffs and exclusive goods. In her eyes, a Round's privileges were exactly that. Was it not, in practice, a free pass for farming treasure chests?

While she pinned the cornflower insignia in place, Kain produced a stiff slip of paper the size of a business card.

"If you have questions about your authority, send a telegram here. I will answer you in good faith."

Questions — and Lupin suddenly remembered something she had forgotten. She ought to have asked Ekaterina, but the woman had been made a slave and was away from her post.

"Would it be all right if I keep Klein with me?"

"She is a dangerous one. Better to transfer her to Ginnungagap, I should think."

"Don't worry about that. I'm looking after her just fine."

In truth, it was already astonishing enough that Klein had taken off her Shrine Maiden uniform and was following Lupin so meekly. Kain trusted her skill, and so he nodded and told her to do as she wished. The authority of the Rounds' Thirteenth Seat included the management of prisoners to begin with. There had been no need to ask.

"Then I will see you in a month. Another of the Rounds may come looking for you. Know them by this cornflower."

"Yes, sir!"

With that, Kain turned and took his leave. The corners of Lupin's mouth hooked themselves toward her ears all on their own.

Who am I?

A few hours later, the jaw of the Rounds' Thirteenth Seat — a woman who had not even known that body reconstitution existed — fell open.

"That man is over a hundred? Older than Master? No — not just older. He was a complete grandpa...?"

He had felt anything but ordinary, so she had equipped polite speech from the very start, and she considered herself lucky ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for it. The look on Tassili's face, however, when he saw the cornflower badge dangling below Lupin's chest, was far from pleased. Kain had gone and struck first after all. Whether he could have stopped it, even if he had tried, was another question entirely.

At that flicker of muscle, gone in an instant, Lupin's shoulders slowly sank.

"Don't tell me I wasn't supposed to take this? Honey laced with poison? Did I just sign a slave contract? No, wait — there's no contract, so it's void, right?"

Up through the Thirteenth Seat was fine. She could quit whenever she liked, and quitting was easy enough. But if Lupin set her sights on a regular seat — the Twelfth or higher — then there would be cause to worry. Tassili decided to ask what she intended first.

"Do you wish to climb to a high seat among the Rounds?"

"No? If I can help it, I'd like to live my whole life as the Thirteenth Seat. Hehe."

"Then it is fine."

Fortunately, Tassili's worry had been groundless. Yet if that was truly her will, he would need to forge the sword that was Lupin all the more firmly. She might be the Thirteenth Seat for now, but there was no chance Kain would simply leave her there. In the past, had the Rounds not been willing to use force itself to bring Tassili in? Back then the international situation had forced even Kain to watch his step. Now was different. She had already set a foot inside the Rounds. They would only be more aggressive.

"You will, however, need to grow stronger."

"Huh? I'm already plenty strong!"

Tassili smiled kindly. The words that followed were ones he had turned over again and again, searching for a way to persuade her.

"Keep flinging pigeons about as you did today, and they will keep catching you by the ankle. Small fry would be one thing. But imagine the likes of Ekaterina seeing those pigeons and descending on you four or five at a time."

It was a fair point. She had solved things with pigeons today as well, but she had certainly been far too conspicuous.

"More than that, no one is accustomed to you yet, so you may still flee first. Now that you are a Round, your opponents will prepare to fight you properly. That is a penalty the Rounds must always bear when they fight. You should assume that one or two of your techniques will be sealed as a matter of strategy."

In practice, the pigeon magic was less a one-strike kill than a wide-area skill that kept on dealing damage, and every time a fight dragged out, it had done its share. If an opponent came prepared with a countermeasure, a clean finish might well be out of reach.

"Above all, is it not best to claim many treasure chests, and to claim them quickly? For that, you ought to move quietly even when you meet an enemy. Learn a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠little more of the Shadowless Sword Style, and it will help you a great deal. What do you say?"

That's Master for you. Actually persuasive!

Lupin was just about to nod and agree when a status window burst into being and hid Tassili's face.

Lupin reflexively flicked past the description, and only then caught herself.

Damn it. I was supposed to read that.

But the choices that followed, and the preview of the reward after them, blew that thought clean away.

After brushing the status window aside, Lupin drew the Lightning Sword. Running her eyes up the blade from base to tip, she spoke with a flushed face.

"Master. This disciple has always wanted, if only once, to conquer the world with a sword."

Tassili, who had been gazing quietly at the Lightning Sword, murmured.

"The sword seems a little shorter than before...."

Steel rasped as Lupin slammed the blade home at lightning speed. In truth, the Lightning Sword had been ruined completely while she bored through a cave, and when Klein repaired it, the blade had come out a little short.

"Th-that's—!"

And yet, somehow, her left hand was throbbing and sore. When she belatedly looked down at it, Lupin got a shock. Blood was pouring out. Flustered at being caught over the shortened Lightning Sword, she had used her own left hand in place of the scabbard.

"Oh, shit."

The dopamine surging through her dulled the pain, but it had been nearly three years since she had seen blood on her fingers. Lupin let out a shrill scream and jumped.

"Kyaaa! My hand!!"