The Muster

I ended up spending the night at Avalon's party's lodgings, then rushed back to the hotel where my own people were waiting.

"Hmm... so you stayed out all night?"

"Master..."

"Hiiing! That's so mean, Master! Do you even know how lonely Oralisa was last night?!"

"Did you enjoy your time alone?"

"... I'm sorry."

I hadn't even shut the door before they tore into me. Kanisia and my fairies hit me with a barrage of complaints from every direction.

"Take heart, Master Alan. Thou hast made thine own bed — do not take it too hard."

Abraham, the only other man in the party besides me, looked on with something like pity. Yeah, thanks, you bastard.

The scolding blew over soon enough, and the party's faces turned serious. It was time to carry out our second mission in the east.

"Let's go."

"Yeah."

"Yes."

My party and I left Merligan, the city ruled by the Blood King, and headed for the rally point. It was Apumpa Forest, sitting five hundred meters off the edge of the Paniotipa Granary.

A man was waiting at the treeline.

"Lord Zoldik."

I approached and offered him a slight bow. He was Montblanc's fairy and an 8-Star powerhouse — Zoldik. I seemed to be the first Master to arrive; aside from him, the place was empty.

"...You were assigned this mission as well?"

Zoldik looked at me with genuine surprise.

"I was."

"Unexpected. Not everyone is here yet. Go rest."

A fairy talking down to me like that? The second I outrank you, your head's coming off.

"Yes."

I swallowed what I was actually thinking, answered him politely, and led my party a good distance away to sit and wait.

We hadn't been resting long before the others assigned to the Paniotipa Granary arson mission began to trickle in.

"Ahahaha! Good to see you again! Thanks to you, I had a fantastic time. Let's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hang out after this mission's over."

The next team through the trees was Avalon's party. Behind him came the fairies I had spent a very heated night with until that very morning — Izabella, Hisoka, Reizle, and Kanna. They each bowed their heads to me.

"See you in a bit, then."

"Sure."

I had been dreading the possibility that Avalon would open his mouth about the sixsome at dawn and say something catastrophically stupid, but he mercifully kept it to himself and took his fairies off to settle in on their own.

"What's with that guy? You two look pretty close."

"We're not. And that's Avalon — he's a lot stronger than he looks."

"Hmm... stronger, you say? Stronger than me?"

"Yeah. So don't pick a fight with him if you can help it."

"That strong, huh? Whew... I've still got a long way to go."

Kanisia's curiosity wilted into a sigh the moment I gave her the short version. At 5-Star, our party was the weakest among Montblanc's people — myself excluded.

I was 5-Star too, but I could always throw my extra lives and stacked stats at a problem.

The next arrival was a man who walked straight past Avalon and me as if we weren't even there.

"I'm here."

"So you are."

He went directly to Zoldik and spoke. Zoldik nodded and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠received him without ceremony.

His name was Falcones — another of Montblanc's fairies, and like Zoldik, an 8-Star at level 160.

What's his class? Status window.

Holy hell...

I clicked my tongue the moment Falcones's status window opened. The man was a superhuman built by the book — the platonic ideal of a swordsman.

His class was Sword Emperor, a Special-grade third-tier evolution of the Swordsman line. One more step up from there and he would become a Mythic-grade Sword Sovereign.

If I had never gotten my hands on the spirit-summoning skill stone Aquaril used, I would have grown in a direction a lot like his. Not a carbon copy — just close enough to wring every last drop out of the Swordsman class.

This world ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had far too many traits and skills for anyone to raise two identical fairies. It simply wasn't possible.

A soft rush of light bloomed near Zoldik and Falcones.

Hm?

When the white radiance faded, another man was standing in its place.

"What? I thought I'd be first, but you all beat me here."

That one...

The man who had made his entrance in a splash of light was yet another of Montblanc's fairies. His name was Aman, and he too was an 8-Star superhuman at level 160.

Jesus. The place is crawling with monsters.

Aman was every bit as terrifying as the other two.

An assassin, a swordsman, and a mage... what a flashy lineup.

I had now seen the status windows of all three of Montblanc's fairies gathered here, and I could only click my tongue in private.

After that, the remaining parties Montblanc had called into the east began to arrive, one after another. By the time everyone was accounted for, there were seven Masters including Kanisia and myself, and twenty-six fairies. Add Zoldik, Falcones, and Aman, and the total came to thirty-six. We had left the south a hundred and four strong — which meant more than thirty percent of that entire force was standing in this one forest.

This mission... it's going to be the hardest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fight I've ever been in.

And in the same breath, I understood all over again just how dangerous this arson job really was.

Every Master and fairy Montblanc had committed to the east was a heavy hitter. She hadn't just thrown more than thirty people at this — she had sent three of her own fairies, her single strongest assets.

I had expected the mission to be ugly. I had not expected it to be this ugly.

"...Listen. All of you."

"Hm? What is it, Alan?"

"Yes, Master?"

"This mission... we might actually have to bet our lives on it. So if things start looking bad, don't look back. Just run."

I put the warning out plainly. The whole party stared at me.

"Run? You want us to run?"

"Yeah. I can't stand watching you die or get hurt. If anyone's dying, it's going to be me. So if something feels wrong — if the air goes bad — you turn around and you run. I'll handle whatever's behind you. Understood?"

"But Master..."

"The only answer I want to hear is 'understood.' Don't give me anything else. I'll ask you again. If it looks dangerous, you run. Understood?"

"...Yeah. I will, Alan."

"Understood, Master."

"Oralisa is a running champion! So don't worry, Master!"

"Heh. Master is the same as ever — now as then."

I had all but forced the answers out of them, and their faces were still bright. They had felt it — that I held them closer than I let on.

"Everyone's here. Gather up."

"Come on."

"Yeah."

"Yes."

Zoldik called the assembly in. I brought my party over.

"You all know why we are here."

Once the crowd had closed in, Zoldik spoke from between Falcones and Aman. Of the three, he was clearly the one in charge.

"What stands guard over the Paniotipa Granary is the Blood King, Agan Tapoa, his subordinates, and two fairies belonging to Falcon — the bird who commands the east from the shadows."

"The Blood King and Falcon's fairies are on our level. Not one of you could take any of them alone."

"You need not worry about them. Shortly, they will all leave their posts — all but one of Falcon's fairies."

What?

Leave? A murmur ran through the Masters and fairies alike, and I didn't blame them. The single greatest obstacle to burning the Paniotipa Granary was exactly what Zoldik had just named: the Blood King and Falcon's fairies, 8-Star superhumans one and all.

If two of them politely vacated the premises on their own, the difficulty of this mission dropped off a cliff.

"Falcon has decided he will not sit idle while the east he means to rule is drowned in plague. He is gathering his strongest and intends to destroy the source."

The source of the plague... he's going after Pestilence?

The plague eating the east was the work of a raid boss — Pestilence. Destroying the source meant they were going to try to put it down.

Can they actually do it?

I didn't know Falcon's full strength, and I didn't know how strong Pestilence really was. Predicting a winner from here was a fool's errand.

Falcon's scraped-together elites on one side. Pestilence on the other. If those two forces collided, who walked away?

...Not that it matters.

Whether Falcon won or Pestilence did was none of my business. I just needed to burn this place, finish the next mission, and get the hell back south.

"The Paniotipa Granary is the root of Falcon's power. Burn it, and you deal him a wound he will not easily forget — and when Lady Crow swallows the east, that wound will serve her well."

"Those of you who take part will have earned a great merit, and Lady Crow will see that you are rewarded for it."

"The Blood King and Falcon's fairy leave this place two days from now. We burn it five days from now."

"Until then, keep your heads down and your claws sharp."

Zoldik finished, then turned and walked into the forest with Falcones and Aman. The rest of us were left standing there, staring at each other in blank disbelief.

What, so we were supposed to come back here in five days?

Then why the hell did he call us here now? He could have just gathered everyone in five days and kicked the operation off on the spot.

Zoldik had said a lot, but every word of it could have waited. I had come here thinking we were running the operation today. Judging by the other Masters' faces, so had they.

"Tch. Come on. We're leaving."

I clicked my tongue and headed back toward Merligan with my party. The moment we turned, the other Masters started peeling off as well.