O Month X Day

Aqua-senpai came over to chat today. Well, actually it was mostly her complaining to me. Apparently, someone she wanted to reincarnate as a hero not only refused her, but called her a "false deity." Though not as common in Earth's current era, there are those who still adhere faithfully to their own religions. In a world where gods and goddesses no longer directly interfere with the lives of humans, these religions are built almost entirely on faith.

It's not surprising that such devout people would be reluctant to accept someone appearing before them and proclaiming themselves a goddess different than the deity or deities they believed in.

Especially if it's someone like Aqua-senpai. Really though, she was the one who wanted to work in a foreign world, so I wish she wouldn't complain so much.

"…"

I crouched in the nook, motionless, looking up and down the hallway without moving my head. Even though I know that Lurk will keep me from being seen, it never hurts to be extra cautious. For all I know, the intruder might have something that nullifies stealth skills.

Well, they probably don't. But it's good to practice good habits.

The castle is silent, save for the snores of the guard around the corner to the left, and the only light came from the dying torches on the walls. The intruder apparently comes in the dead of night, so they should be here soon.

I closed my eyes and focused on my hearing. That relic makes them invisible to both sight and magic, so neither my eyes nor my Enemy Detection skill will be much use before they trigger the traps. As long as I can grab them, though, I should still be able to use Steal and Skill Bind. The relic hides the user from magic and skills, but doesn't make them immune if they get hit, and at point blank I won't miss.

…!

I think I heard something. A footstep? I listened harder.

…tap…

Again. It's very faint, but I know it's there. It's hard to pinpoint the location, though. I can only tell it's coming from the right. I opened my eyes and focused on the vault door. I'll have to rely on the traps to reveal their exact position.

…tap…tap…

Just to confirm, I tried Enemy Detection, but sure enough, it turned up nothing.

…tap…

…tap…

…click.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING

In an instant, a blaring alarm sounded, and a giant metal gate slammed shut over the vault door. In the distance I could hear the sound of the castle's main gate locking down. And around the corner, I heard the snoozing guard jump as the alarm woke him.

There was a flash of movement near the vault, and a small hole opened up in the wall, out of which a net was launched.

It flew towards a spot near the door…! It caught something! There's definitely the shape of a person under that net–? Suddenly, the net deflated, as if whatever was underneath had vanished. So, I was right, they did have something to escape traps. Judging by the intruder's apparent lack of skills suitable for infiltration, they're probably relying on another magic item. And they must still be nearby, because long-range teleportation can't be activated so quickly, even with an item.

I closed my eyes again and listened hard. The guard around the corner is out of sight, so the intruder should think there's no one around to hear them. They might try to rush their escape…

TAP TAP TAP

There! I leapt out of the nook and did a diving tackle towards the source of the pounding footsteps. I collided with something, and wrapped my arms around and grabbed it tightly.

Squish

… squish?

"EH!? P-PERVERT!? Y-You… I'll unseal the dark powers locked within my crimson eyes and rend your immortal soul for that!"

Immortal soul!? How did she… no, wait, that's just a figure of speech, right?

Forget about it, I need to stop her from escaping.

"Steal!"

"Eh!?"

My skill pulled something into my hand…

It was a small orb, with a red button on it labeled "ESCAPE."

"H-Hey! Don't take my escape orb! I need that since I can't cast Teleportation!"

While it's good that she can't escape now, she's still invisible since she still has that relic equipped. Just need to use Steal again–

"Tornado!"

One moment I was pinning her down, and then the next I was slammed against the wall by a gale-force wind. Such powerful magic… why is such a strong mage trying to sneak into a castle!?

I jumped back to my feet and looked around, but naturally I couldn't see the woman I had been grappling. Though, she would've been flung aside by that point-blank spell too, right?

Then, before she recovers and gets away… I inconspicuously tossed the escape orb to the side.

"Oops! I accidentally dropped that escape orb I just stole! Where could it have gone?"

As soon as I said that I realized how dumb it was. There's no way she'll actually fall for such a blatant ruse.

TAP TAP TAP

*snatch*

She actually fell for it. Frederick, you have my deepest sympathies. The security you're so proud of was being made light of by a complete idiot.

"Gotcha again!"

"STOP GRABBING ME THERE! Just cause I'm breaking the law doesn't give you the right to grope me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I can't exactly SEE where I'm grabbing, you know! Steal! And before I forget, Skill Bind!"

This time, a circular piece of metal, warm with body heat, appeared in my hand, and a dark-haired woman with her magic sealed appeared in my arms. She looked at me with brilliant red eyes, brimming with tears.

"And now my precious ring! You… why'd you have to ruin everything!? I was so close to getting in this time, too!"

"Yeah, no, you weren't. Now come along. There's a certain castle lord who would like to have a word with you."

"As if! Go, escape orb!"

Ah, right. She picked that up before I grabbed her. When she pressed the button, she teleported about a meter to the side. I see, if it's super short-range teleportation, then it doesn't need precision, so it can be done without any startup. That's a pretty clever tool.

She took off to the left, right towards where the guard was stationed around the corner.

"Hey, buddy! Can you come over here for a sec?"

"Huh? What was that?"

The guard came around the corner when he heard my shout.

WHAM

Both he and the mage woman were sent sprawling from the collision. Neither of them looked like they'd be getting up anytime soon.

"Steal."

And the escape orb returned to my hand. Now I just need to grab her.

As I walked towards her, however, I hesitated. Something doesn't feel… right. This was way too easy. Where was the excitement? The struggle? The chaos? The painful, bittersweet resolution?

I'm not satisfied with ending it here. I need to draw this out more.

I slipped the ring onto my finger.

Pax's Interlude

After parting ways with Hideki, I realized I was starving. Since I knew where Chris was, I decided there was no need to rush, so I stopped by a restaurant to grab a meal. And then I realized I hadn't bathed since the hot springs. I was too busy trying to calm Dad down to take a bath at the house. So, I stopped by the bathhouse too.

By the time I reached the Dustiness Manor, it was already late at night. I raised my hand to knock on the door, but then it suddenly opened.

"Eh? Oh, Pax, you're back in town."

It was none other than the Berserker noble himself, Sirius.

"Yes. Good evening."

In our past quest I wrongly blamed him for an injury I received. Even though Maxwell was the culprit behind that mistake, I still felt guilty about being cold towards Sirius, so I feel a bit awkward whenever I talk to him. Thankfully, he doesn't seem to hold a grudge about that.

"Sorry, I was just heading out. Was there something you needed?"

"Yes. I heard Chris here?"

"Ah, sorry, you just missed him. He was here taking a nap earlier after being chased around all morning. Oh, right, apparently the head Eris church priest announced that he was a messiah or something. Unfortunately, it seems he doesn't really like all the attention."

Wait, Chris was napping here? And I missed it? Dammit, I wanted to see her tucked up in bed. If I had just gone straight here instead of taking detours…

"Where is Chris now?"

"He headed down to Lord Feldus's castle over on the hill. Apparently, he thinks he can solve a… problem, that they've been having. I'm not sure if they'll let you in at this hour, though."

"Thank you."

"No problem. I'd like to chat more, but I've got to get going."

"Where are you going? Something important happened?"

"Sort of. I've got an urgent matter in the capital to see to. I'll hopefully be back sometime tomorrow."

"Okay. Have safe trip!"

Pax's Interlude (cont.)

When I arrived at the castle, I was surprised to see that I wasn't the only one trying to get in late at night. Two other people were standing at the gate. One was an adventurer man with short brown hair who had a sword hilt on his belt and some flowers in his hands. He was arguing with the guard. The other was…

"Hideki?"

"Eh? Pax? What a coincidence… no, wait, you're probably here for the same reason as us, right?"

Ehhh…

"… both want to see Chris?"

"If you mean the silver-haired girl, then yeah. See, two different people asked me about her, and then I heard that she was apparently a messiah of the goddess Eris, whom I still have my suspicions about. If that's not a blatant flag, then I don't know what is. At this point I can't sleep until I get some answers."

Does he mean the thing about Eris-sama being a goddess of discord and strife? Not sure why he's still hung up on that, but Chris can probably clear things up for him.

"What about him?"

I gestured to the other man. Hideki just shrugged.

"No idea. Hey, er, Terry, right? Terry!"

He had to shout to interrupt the argument between Terry and the guard.

"What is it? I was just about to convince this guy to let us in!"

"No, you weren't. What reality are you living in?"

The guard gave an incredulous retort to Terry's claim.

"Never mind that. This girl, Pax, wants to know why you wanna see that silver-haired girl."

Terry turned to me and held out the flowers he was holding.

"I got these for her!"

"Back off."

"Eh? Hey, woah, why'd you draw your sword!?"

The woman recovered before the guard did, and staggered back to her feet.

"Damn, that smarts… eh? Where'd that perverted girl go?"

She looked around, but of course she couldn't see me.

"… is she letting me go? Did she just want to rob me and have her way with me, then throw me away?"

Hey, that's slander.

"Dammit, next time I see that bitch I'll give her a taste of my signature spell."

"… over here!"

Suddenly, the voices of the rest of the castle guards echoed from down the hall.

"Shit, I need to get out of here. Is my magic unsealed yet? Invisibility!"

She vanished from sight. Though, this time it's just light-bending magic, so I can still track her using Enemy Detection.

"Oh, thank goodness. Now, time to leave."

She fled opposite their direction. I followed behind.

"Spread out and find the intruder! Use your detection spells and skills!"

The pursuit was still closing in. The woman made her way over to one of the two stairwells leading up out of this floor.

"Dammit, it's blocked off."

Guards were obstructing the stairwell. The other one was back where the search group came from, so it was probably blocked off as well.

"… before, I'd just hide and wait out the lockdown, but without that ring I'll be caught. And if I fight my way out, innocent people might get hurt. Come on, think, think! How do I escape!?"

Surprisingly, this burglar seems to have a soft side. I pondered the situation as well. The way things are now, she won't even make it out of this floor. That's way too soon of a resolution.

Guess I'll have to give her a hand. I found a spot around a corner where the guards in the stairwell couldn't see me, and called out to them.

"Hey, you two! Get over here! The guys over in the other wing said they cornered the intruder and sent me to get backup!"

"Eh? They actually caught him? Is this real? Am I dreaming?"

"Dream later, numbnuts. Let's get going!"

They ran over to the other wing.

"Eh? Did they mistake someone else for me? Well, doesn't matter."

Naturally, the mage took the opening and scrambled up the stairwell. Meanwhile, I heard a commotion from down the hall.

"You idiots! What are you doing away from your post!? The intruder's going to escape!"

"What are you talking about? You guys are the ones that needed help to catch him even though you had him cornered. Don't tell me you let him slip away from you?"

"Bastard, the hell are you saying? Are you trying to pick a fight!?"

Ah, music to my ears.

Now, back to following the mage. This was the only basement floor, so the stairs took her up to the ground floor. It seems like her goal is the main entrance. If she got there undetected, then she could force her way through with magic before anyone can react. Though, I'd imagine it'd take very powerful magic to bust through.

Naturally, there were plenty of patrols here as well, so she made slow progress. She moved from room to room, waiting for the patrols to pass by before changing cover. The guards were mostly concentrated around the entrances and main halls, so she worked her way around the outer rooms, taking the route with the least risk. I had her pegged for an idiot, but thinking about it more, she is a powerful mage, so she'd naturally have high Intelligence.

Though, I didn't want her to have too easy a time, of course. I played around with the guards like I did before, spreading contradictory intel to cause confusion and start arguments. And I occasionally had them pass close by where the mage was hiding. Eventually she even started praying to Eris for luck when they came near her.

I struggled to hold in my laughter at that.

At one point, her route took her through the dining hall. She eased the door open and stepped in as quietly as possible.

Splat

She stepped in something. She cursed under her breath and shook her foot, then continued onward. When I entered after her, I saw that she had stepped on a tomato. Looking around the room, there was food everywhere, all over the floor and walls. Seems like dinner got a bit heated after I left. I smiled to myself.

After exiting that room, she was only a short distance away from the entrance. Alright, I think it's about time to move to the endgame.

"Okay, I'm almost there. The entrance is right down this hall–"

"The intruder's almost at the gate! All hands to the gate!"

"Eh!? How!?"

My warning didn't actually reach the ears of any guards, but it had the desired effect. Panicking, the mage woman abandoned her stealth strategy and sprinted towards the entrance, which had locked down with iron bars when the alarms were first triggered. There were three guards stationed inside the entrance: two warrior-types, and one mage type. I targeted the mage-type.

"Skill Bind!"

"… eh? Hey, something just shut off my detection spell!"

Now then, show me how you're planning to break through.

"Tornado!"

"!?" x3

The guards were all flung aside. She continued on without breaking stride, then…

"Detonation Triple Shot!"

She fired off three shots of Detonation Magic in rapid succession.

BOOM x3

Each shot unleashed a violent explosion where it hit. I had to shield my eyes from the shockwave.

By the time the dust cleared, I saw the sturdy gate in pieces, and the mage was running through it. Seems like she dropped her invisibility spell when she thought she was home free. Unfortunately for her, however, it turns out there were people outside as well. A single guard… and three others? Looks like… Pax, Terry, and some third person I haven't met.

This is getting exciting.

Pax's Interlude

BOOM

A rapid triplet of explosions rang out, and the solid gate barring our way was shattered into pieces. I released my grip on Terry, whom I had been whacking on the head with the hilt of my sword, and turned to face the figure running out from the rubble.

A woman, with red eyes and dark hair. Judging by her outfit, a mage-type. And judging by her destruction of the door and her panicked expression when she saw us, I probably shouldn't allow her to pass.

The others seemed to agree with me. The guard pointed his spear towards the approaching mage, while Hideki pulled out his staff and took a few steps back. Terry brought out his sword hilt and pressed a button, and a brilliant beam of light sprung forth, forming a blade of pure energy.

The mage woman's eyes opened wide upon seeing Terry's weapon. Is she afraid of it?

"… so cool. That sword is so cool! Hey, hey, what's it called!? How powerful is it!? Where'd you find it!?"

"Oh, this old thing? It's called the Saber of Light, and it can cut through just about any–"

"Terry, focus! She is enemy!"

"Sorry."

Terry, the guard, and I moved to surround the gate. Hideki seems to be a support type, as he stood a few paces behind me, his snake-adorned staff held at the ready.

"Heh. Do you four really think you can take me? You must not know who I am."

"Of course we don't. This is the first time we've met."

Terry answered straightaway.

"Eh, that was supposed to be a rhetorical statement… nevermind."

She flicked her robes in a dramatic manner, then struck a strange pose.

"My name is–"

"Say, if you're trying to escape from the law, is it really a good idea to just tell us your name?"

"Terry, shut up!" x3

What's the deal with this loudmouth!?

"… ah, you've got a point there. In that case, I'll start again."

She flicked her robe again.

"I'm the number one user of Detonation Magic and ace of the C.D. Assault Corps: Archmage-Whose-Name-I-Shall-Withhold-For-My-Own-Protection!"

We all gave her a blank stare. From the castle behind her, the sounds of approaching soldiers could be heard.

"… screw it. Crystal Prison!"

The entryway behind her was instantly sealed up by a wall of ice. And that magic she used earlier to destroy the gate was Detonation, wasn't it? Despite how she acts, she's quite a fearsome mage.

"Now then, let's finish this! Prepare for my ultimate technique!"

Crap, if I get hit by Detonation Magic, I won't be able to just walk that off. I slid my wand into my offhand and prepared a countermeasure.

"Here I go… Invisibility!"

… seriously? Is this all just a joke to her?

"Light of Revelation."

As I was thinking that, Hideki cast a strange spell, and the entire area was bathed in harsh sunlight despite it being midnight. The mage's invisibility vaporized like water on a hot road, revealing her to be a few feet from her previous position. As the light faded, she looked at us with a less than pleased expression.

"Are you kidding? Dammit, now I really wish I had learned Teleportation."

"Stop right there, criminal scum!"

Terry charged at her, but stopped short when he realized he couldn't inflict any non-lethal blows with that magic blade of his.

"Oh, you're not approaching me? That's a shame, I'd have liked to get a closer look at that Light of Saber you have there."

"Saber of Light."

"That's what I said. Well, if you won't attack, then... Detonation!"

She sent a blast right near Terry's feet, forcing him to dive out of the way. And even then, he still took a serious hit from the explosion.

"Gah, I'm gonna be feeling that in the morning."

"Come on, is that the best you all can do? I know this is the town of beginners, but still, this is just too sad! Hahaha!"

I've had enough of this. I've had a long day of being lectured by Dad and not seeing Chris. And now this person is really getting on my nerves.

"Paralyze!"

"Counterspell!"

I ran up and attempted to subdue her, but she canceled out my spell with her own. As I approached melee range, I swung the hilt of my sword at her head, but–

"Detonation!"

She sent the blast right past me and set it off behind my head, close enough that the shockwave knocked me off balance, but far enough that she was barely affected. Coincidentally, the guard had also started to move in, but was unfortunate enough to get knocked away by that same blast.

"Hahaha! Do you see now the power of a true specialist? You should be grateful that I'm being merciful and–"

Thump

She suddenly cut off mid-sentence, then slumped to the ground.

"This girl's a lot of fun to watch, but I did promise to capture her, so…"

Standing behind the unconscious braggart mage was a silver-haired girl, holding a knife whose pommel she had just slammed into her target's temple.

"Chris! Missed you… much?"

"Oh, hey Pax. Something wrong?"

For a second there, her eyes… no, maybe I was imagining it.

"Nothing wrong. What are you doing?"

"Ah, I was hired to catch this rascal here. I took her magic items, but she managed to slip away from me, so I was trying to catch up to her. It's a good thing you guys were here to slow her down, eh?"

Something definitely feels wrong. A mage shouldn't be able to escape from her. She has higher speed, plus the Lurk and Enemy Detection skills. And she appeared here with such impeccable timing…

"Hey, Messiah-sama, I got those chrises for you–"

"Good job, Terry, I'm proud of you. So, what's the deal with you? Why are you here?"

She brushed off her fawning follower and questioned Hideki.

"Ah, you must be Chris. I was hoping to ask you some things about the goddess Eris."

"Oh? What sort of things?"

"Like, for example… have you ever heard of the Trojan War?"

"Depends. Why do you ask?"

"… wait, do you actually know it? You're not just pulling my leg here, are you?"

"Who knows?"

She smiled mysteriously. Again, it felt off. She's not the type to tease people like that… no, wait, I guess she is. But normally she's more straightforward about it.

I walked up to her and got a close look at her face.

"Uh, seriously, is there something bothering you, Pax? Do I have something on my face, or…"

I saw it again; I was sure of it. A flash of green in her eyes.

"Are you really Chris?"