Tyramore
The undulating ripples quickly subsided.
Perhaps it was just an ordinary tide.
Once the brief tension dissipated, Charbun leaned in and whispered cautiously into Roan's ear.
"U-Um... Lord Roan. That man... his personality seems rather dreadful... Is he truly a comrade?"
"He's a comrade, all right! Though we usually travel separately."
For now, this was more than enough.
In fact, progress was surprisingly swift. Under normal circumstances, Rowell would have simply fled, yet here he was, initiating the conversation.
"So... did you come here on a commission, Mr. Rowell?" Belgard asked.
Rowell nodded at Belgard's question.
"But that is not my true purpose."
He lightly tapped his armor.
"I came to feed my armor. It told me there was a powerful entity here."
It seemed he had come at the armor's behest.
He was diligently growing the armor, just as Roan had advised.
Looking at it now, even the shape of the armor seemed to have subtly changed.
"Can we join in?" Roan asked.
"...What kind of ridiculous—"
Rowell cut himself off and paused to think.
From his perspective, there was absolutely no reason to decline the offer.
What he needed was the end result, not the process of the fight itself.
With the strength they had displayed against the White Mage, they would easily be able to take down this monster as well.
I am not strapped for cash. If so, accepting their help might be the wiser choice.
But.
I don't want to.
He simply didn't want to.
It makes it feel like I've actually become their comrade.
Having lost his comrades in the knighthood, he had resolved to live on with only his armor.
If he were to laugh and make merry with a new group, his fallen comrades in heaven would surely look down on him with disappointment.
"Absolutely n—"
"Then we shall assist you as well. We just need to defeat that monster over there, correct?" Belgard chimed in.
"Yes, indeed... Thank you... kind adventurers..." the client stammered.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Rowell barked.
Roan had completely bypassed Rowell to finalize the agreement.
In truth, Rowell already knew.
That the man named Del Roan was far more decisive and fast-acting than one would expect.
"...Fine. Since the deal is already struck, there is no helping it. Very well. We shall join forces."
Perhaps, deep down, this was exactly what he had wanted all along.
Too proud to ask himself, he had simply been waiting for Roan to take the initiative.
"Then come this way. I will brief you."
As if to conceal his own weakness, he turned and led the way to an adjacent building.
It appeared to be a tavern or restaurant, but it was entirely deserted and quiet.
"Now, the monster we are facing is a Kraken. I assume you have heard of it."
"...Isn't that a monster from the deep sea?" Jane asked.
"Indeed. That is what I heard as well, but having arrived here, it truly is a Kraken."
"Have you already seen it?"
Rowell averted his gaze.
He had already encountered it once, but its sheer size and overwhelming presence had forced him to make a tactical retreat.
"...A wolf always measures its prey carefully. One does not recklessly charge when the enemy is at full strength."
"My word... He actually referred to himself as a wolf..." Charbun murmured.
Charbun's innocent remark pierced Rowell straight through the heart.
"You won't be laughing once you see it. It is no ordinary Kraken. It uses human tools."
"What on earth is that supposed to mean?" Jane asked.
At Jane's question, Rowell described the sight he had witnessed.
Over ten tentacles.
Tiny suckers lining the tips of those tentacles.
And weapons gripped tightly by those suckers, multiplying its lethality.
"Make some sense, will you? How is that even possible? And how does a creature living in the deep ocean even acquire weapons?"
"You will see for yourself."
Rowell replied flatly to Jane's skepticism.
He led the party out to the shore.
Their footprints sank into the deserted sandy beach.
Yet, there was no sign of any monster.
"What gives? There's nothing here."
"It will appear shortly. Client! If you please!"
At Rowell's call, the client dragged over a massive fish and brought it to them.
"If we throw this in as bait, it will emerge immediately. Once it spots us, it will mark us as prey and try to drag us under."
It was an apex predator that devoured anything and everything.
It would even crawl onto the beach to wreak havoc.
That was why the authorities of Tyramore had been utterly helpless and forced to shut down the resort.
"Now then, everyone prepare for battle."
Rowell spoke, but only one person actually began to prepare.
The others merely lingered, glancing around.
"Huh? What is everyone doing? Get ready."
The moment Roan, the only one preparing, spoke, the other three instantly assumed their battle stances as if they had been waiting for his command.
Their loyalty is absurd. Annoying bastards.
Muttering to himself, Rowell hurled the fish into the sea.
Like boiling water, something began to churn and rise from the depths of the ocean floor.
Soon,
-Splash!!
Along with a massive wave capable of swallowing a man whole, the creature revealed itself.
Dark blue tentacles as thick as tree trunks erupted from the water, seizing the fish and tearing it to shreds as they dragged it down.
"...What the, it really is armed with weapons?"
"Indeed. But more than that... even though they've been submerged in the sea, the weapons didn't seem to have a speck of rust."
"Is this really the time to analyze it?! Here it comes again!"
Rowell shouted, springing backward to gain momentum.
The crashing waves grew violent, and the beast finally showed its full form.
A marine monster of such colossal scale that it could easily swallow two or three buildings.
Its powerful tentacles whipped through the air, unleashing sharp, whistling slashes.
It was glaringly obvious that the creature understood how to wield its arsenal.
Rowell, preparing to strike, glanced at Roan.
In a situation like this, Roan, who should have been stepping forward to issue commands, was standing perfectly still.
"What are you doing, Del Roan?! Have you lost your nerve?!"
"Nope."
"Then why are you just standing there?! Draw your sword and do something!"
"Huh? Why should I?"
His voice was completely relaxed.
Rowell whipped his head around, only to find the others reacting the same way.
They maintained only the bare minimum of defensive stances, their eyes fixed on a single person.
"...Just what are they planning?"
"I need to test the power of our new gear," Roan said.
At Roan's words, Jane pulled out her staff as if she had been waiting for this exact cue.
It was a crude creation, a mere stick bound haphazardly with gems and stones.
Yet, the aura radiating from it was more intense than anything else.
A swirling vortex of mana coalesced at a single point.
It seemed to draw in not only Jane's personal mana but also every scrap of magical energy scattered through the atmosphere.
"W-What is this...?! With a toy like that..."
"A toy? If I sold this, I could probably buy an entire city."
With those words, Jane began her incantation.
"DAI."
⟨ Heaven's Wrath ⟩
A short chant utilizing the runes carved on the stone, followed by a long chant utilizing the gemstone.
Completing it in the blink of an eye, Jane pointed above the Kraken as it thrashed through the water.
"Heaven's Wrath."
-Flash!
A blinding white light, intense enough to burn the retinas, filled the world.
BOOM!!!
A deafening roar followed the flash, crashing down directly upon the Kraken's head.
A lightning spell that brought down a bolt from the blue.
Jane's flames fused with the lightning, creating an even more devastating effect.
-Crackle, crackle...
The chunks of fire floating upon the sea's surface bore testament to its sheer power.
"Insane..."
Rowell's jaw dropped.
The magic was incomparably more powerful than what he had witnessed back then.
Yet, Jane merely clicked her tongue in disappointment.
"I didn't manage to finish it off. It's still awkward using a staff I'm not used to."
She was dissatisfied that she hadn't obliterated the colossal Kraken in a single blow.
The Kraken shuddered violently, thoroughly electrocuted.
The waves that had been crashing violently against the shallow shore subsided in tandem.
"Then, to finish it... Huh?"
Just as Jane began to gather her mana once more, a black flash darted past the party.
Leaping off the water's surface, it lunged straight toward the Kraken's torso.
-CRACK!!
SPLASH!!
With a swift, powerful spin kick, he completely snuffed out the Kraken's life.
The massive body tilted and collapsed.
Sprays of black ink painted the sky, and the swords slipped from its suckers, splashing onto the beach.
"Nothing special."
Having delivered the clean finishing blow, Rowell walked back toward the group, leaving the collapsing Kraken behind him.
"M-Mr. Rowell...!"
"Surprised? Well, it is only natural. I was not this fast when you saw me last."
"What on earth do you think you are doing?!"
He had expected awe and bewilderment, but what he received instead was a harsh scolding.
"What if you had been gravely injured?! Why would you recklessly jump in like that? There are flames floating on the water, and the Kraken was electrocuted, meaning you could have been shocked! If you wanted to show off so badly, do it somewhere else—"
Belgard's nagging, which even Roan and Jane dreaded, bombarded his ears.
His chance to boast utterly ruined, Rowell stood there awkwardly, taking the scolding.
Watching this unfold, Charbun thought to himself:
Oh? Setting aside his selfish attitude, isn't his rank within the party actually the absolute lowest?
...
"Ahhh... I feel alive again... This is the true joy of taking commissions."
A luxurious lodging in Tyramore.
Having lounged around inside for three days straight, Jane spoke in a lazy, relaxed voice.
"It certainly is wonderful. To think we can stay in a place like this without paying a single copper..." Belgard agreed.
"Right? Plus, there are so many people around, and the food is amazing. It really makes the past few days of non-stop traveling worth it."
Between the events at the canyon, the journey to Tyramore, and the battle with the Kraken, they had been running ragged.
This was the ultimate vacation for those who had been running without a moment's rest.
"I'm relieved to see Lord Roan finally letting his hair down and going out to enjoy himself as well."
"I know, right? He went out with Rowell and Charbun, didn't he? I wonder what they're so busy running around for... They never seem to get tired."
"Well, they are the vanguard, after all. Still—"
-Rumble...
As they chatted, a sudden vibration caught Jane and Belgard's attention.
Without a word, both of their gazes snapped toward the table.
A pitch-black fragment of armor.
The piece Roan had left behind temporarily—the very lifeline that monitored Rowell's status—was trembling.
"...What's going on? Why is it still vibrating? Didn't we finish everything by defeating the Kraken?"
-Slam!
"We're back!"
As if in response to Jane's question, the three who had gone out burst back into the room.
Perfect timing. They could just ask Roan about this.
Jane picked up the armor fragment and scurried over to Roan.
"Roan, look at this..."
"Huh? What is it?"
Roan turned his gaze to Jane's open palm.
The armor fragment was vibrating violently.
However, it was not pointing toward Rowell, who stood right in front of them.
"...I suppose that Kraken wasn't as strong as we thought."
Roan looked in the direction the fragment was pointing.
Outside the window lay the bright, sunny sea.
Peering closer, a silhouette emerged through the distant mist.
A tiny island.
Yet, it was covered in jagged, protruding spikes far too sharp to be a mere island.
As if it had been waiting for Roan's eyes to find it, the armor fragment began to vibrate even more violently.