The East (3)

The whole situation had been absurd, but Aquaril had at least succeeded in obtaining the Spirit Swordmaster class. That left Abraham as the only member of our party who still hadn't unlocked a second-tier class.

Me? I already possessed what you could call a final-tier class — a fourth class, even: Uroboros's Avatar.

I'd have preferred to wait until Abraham's class evolved as well, but unfortunately, the day after Aquaril became a Spirit Swordmaster, I received a summons from Montblanc.

"It's time you headed east. Zoldik will travel with you. From this point on, you take your orders from him."

Orders from a Fairy — not even a Master.

Other Masters might have taken that as a blow to their pride. I didn't. Zoldik was the Fairy of Montblanc, who was effectively my superior, and more importantly, he was an 8-Star.

If Zoldik felt like it, our party — which had only just reached 5-Star — would be carved apart like meat. That was simply the reality.

The weak obey the strong.

In a world drowning in the logic of power, that was the most natural thing in the world.

"I'll prepare to depart immediately with my party members."

"Oh? You're planning to bring them along this time?"

Montblanc looked at me with genuine surprise. I'd never taken my party with me on a mission before.

Truth be told, I'd wrestled with this one quite a bit. Was it right to drag them into the plague-ravaged, extremely dangerous eastern region?

Then again, looked at from another angle, this could be an opportunity. They say crisis and opportunity come as a pair, don't they?

Besides, just because a plague had broken out in the east didn't mean it had spread across the entire region. Humanity had identified the disease and was doing everything in its power to contain it. The infection would still be limited to certain parts of the east.

That meant we'd be clashing with the forces of Falcon — Palos's Bird's eastern administrator — somewhere the plague hadn't touched. And that could be a chance for my party members to grow at an explosive rate.

When else would they get to go up against actual powerhouses instead of monsters?

Until now, my targets had been individuals, so I'd operated alone. This time, there was no need for that.

"Yes. I intend to use this opportunity to show my party members exactly what kind of organization they've joined."

"Hmmm~ Well, do as you like. Just make sure you look after them yourself."

"Of course."

Tch. She didn't take the bait.

I swallowed my disappointment as Montblanc drew a clean line in the sand.

Up to now, she had steadily supplied me with Growth Stones, dungeon access, potions — everything I needed. But that support had always been limited to me. Not a scrap of it had gone to my party members.

She hadn't objected to me sharing what I received, but the support itself was strictly mine and mine alone. I'd said what I said hoping to expand that support to cover my party as well.

Whether she'd seen through my ulterior motive or not, Montblanc shut it down on the spot. A shame, nothing more.

I returned to the mansion, gathered my party, and we passed through the city gates. We arrived at the assembly point to find a considerable crowd already waiting.

They all stared at us with cold eyes as we walked up. Not hostility, exactly — more like wariness. They were sizing us up.

As if any of you could scout better than I can.

You people can't even see other people's status windows, can you? I can.

I returned their assessing stares and checked their windows one by one.

5-Star, 6-Star, 6-Star, 5-Star, 7-Star... So these are Montblanc's subordinates operating in the south?

The lowest among them was 5-Star. Rank for rank, that made my party the weakest ones here.

It was a formidable force, and that was only natural. The operation we were about to carry out in the east involved stabbing our own people in the back — the eastern agents of Palos's Bird. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Naturally, it was more important than any previous operation, and more dangerous. If our side had this much firepower, the other side would have something comparable.

The 8-Stars... they're all Montblanc's Fairies.

Among the crowd, five individuals possessed conspicuously overwhelming power, and every last one of them belonged to Montblanc. That included Zoldik, the one I was supposed to take orders from.

These were forces that, out in the provinces, could have styled themselves kings and queens — all of them serving under Montblanc.

Tch. There's a disgusting number of them.

And this wasn't even everyone. Given how important the mission was, she would have assembled only those who knew how to keep their mouths shut.

This gathering alone could occupy any city short of the imperial capital in a single day — and she had even more than this in reserve.

Even if I eventually became as strong as Montblanc, if I didn't have at least this much force under my command, the odds of capturing her would be slim.

They could become enemies someday. I'd better remember them well.

Memorizing every face and ability among this many Masters and Fairies was impossible, but I committed the higher-ranked ones to memory as best I could. They were the ones most likely to stand against me down the line.

"Looks like everyone's here. Time to move."

Once about three more teams had arrived ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠besides ours, a man spoke up. His name was Falcones — another of Montblanc's Fairies, and naturally an 8-Star like Zoldik.

Montblanc's Fairies started moving first, and everyone else fell in behind whoever they were assigned to. Our party followed Zoldik.

"So you're the rookie Lady Crow brought in personally?"

Someone addressed me as I walked behind Zoldik. A tall, well-featured man who looked to be in his early thirties.

"No, I'm not."

"Huh? You're not?"

"That's right."

"Uh...?"

I shook my head without a moment's hesitation, and the man was thrown completely off. He'd clearly been certain it was me.

Well, circumstantially, the rookie he was talking about probably was me. There might be other Masters Montblanc had recruited personally, but I was one of them, at least.

The reason I denied it on the spot was that this bastard had come at me without even introducing himself. If you're going to talk to someone, you start with your name. That's basic courtesy. Guess manners aren't a thing where he's from.

"You two. Save the chatter."

"...Yes. My apologies."

"Yes."

Zoldik, walking ahead, had apparently overheard our brief exchange and issued a warning. Goddammit. That asshole got me chewed out too.

After that, I kept my mouth shut and followed Zoldik. So did the man who'd spoken to me.

Hmh... I like that Fairy.

Among the Fairies trailing behind the man, one in particular caught my eye.

She was a 6-Star with the advanced mage class Wind Sorceress. True ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to her nature as a Fairy, she had an alluring face and a body that made you look twice.

Wind Sorceresses possessed the special attribute of Wind, which wasn't among the six primary elements. It was similar to the Lightning attribute held by Plasma, the Fairy of Oscal Goldenheire — the Witch Queen — whom I'd fought alongside once before.

It didn't display in the attribute slot, but they could still use it.

Wind Sorceresses wielded wind-type skills, which made them a devastating source of firepower. They paired especially well with fire-attribute mages — a combination capable of mass slaughter.

Fairies who could use special attributes were extremely rare, which made me want her all the more.

Tch. A shame.

But I couldn't take her. If word got out that she'd become my Fairy, Montblanc would learn one of the abilities I'd been keeping secret all this time.

Even if I did end up claiming that Fairy, it would only be in some distant future — the one where Montblanc herself had become my personal toilet.

Avalon... Noted.

I memorized the name, at least. The moment an opportunity presented itself, I'd make her mine.

How long did we walk?

Zoldik, leading the group, came to a halt. Several cabins stood before us.

"Balbo. You're this way."

"Yes, Lord Zoldik."

At Zoldik's call, a Master named Balbo took his Fairies into the leftmost cabin.

"Edith. You're..."

Zoldik continued calling out Masters' names in turn, and they filed into the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cabins one after another. My turn came soon enough.

"Alan. You're this way."

"Yes."

I led my party into the cabin Zoldik indicated.

"There will be a bag inside. It contains your assignments for the eastern region. Carry out the mission. If you succeed, shatter the blue orb. If you fail, the red one."

With that, Zoldik entered a cabin no one else had gone into.

Creeeak— thud!

Whoooooosh—!

The cabin door shut on its own, and the interior filled with white light. It was large-scale spatial teleportation magic — one of Montblanc's abilities.

She can even do this...

A shiver ran through me. I'd assumed we'd be walking all the way to the east. I hadn't expected her to have something like this prepared.

Montblanc possessed what you could genuinely call the greatest spatial magic in existence.

Shit.

A vicious headache and a wave of nausea hit me amid the radiance — the aftereffects of the teleportation. A moment later, the light faded.

"Ugh. I feel like death."

Groans answered me from every direction.

"Masteeer... Oralisa's tummy feels all queasy... I think I'm gonna throw up..."

The aftereffects of spatial teleportation never got any easier, no matter how many times you experienced them. We waited until our stomachs settled, then stepped out of the cabin.

"Damn... This really is the east."

The south was brutally hot in every season except winter — like midsummer year-round. But the place we stood now was filled with the gentle warmth of spring.

We'd arrived in the eastern region — a journey that would have taken at least three months by carriage — in a single instant.

Fsssssshhh—!

"Master!"

"Huh? What the fuck is this?!"

I turned at Aquaril's call and nearly jumped out of my skin.

The cabin we'd just teleported through had burst into flame the moment we stepped out. It was nothing like ordinary fire — no smoke, no drifting ash. The cabin burned out of existence as if it had never been there at all.

I stared at the vanished cabin and muttered under my breath.

"How the fuck are we supposed to get back?"

Montblanc had cut us a one-way ticket to the east.