"Excuse me, could you help me?"
Right now, I was visiting a hospital. Or better put, I was there to visit someone.
Rinne had told me that Lost had attacked Rikimaru and Seigi, the Candidates for Strength and Justice Arcanas, a few days before the Labyrinth Battle Royale. It seems they were saved by the Devil King showing up.
Lost was a friend of mine from a few years ago, but he was subject to some experiments and so his body became of some dark liquid, rather than flesh and blood. He also gained the ability to absorb other people, which eventually drove him insane.
I fought him during the Labyrinth Battle Royale, but his body was taken over by whatever that thing that showed up in the end was. He was killed by the Devil King...
Anyway, that's enough of that. I came here to check on Rikimaru and Seigi.
While it only happened less than a month ago, we did form an alliance. So I asked Lizel to try and figure out where they were taken, and this is the place she directed me to.
After I talked with the receptionist, she told me which room they were staying in. Also, it seems she recognized me, since she called me Lovers' Candidate. I guess the Labyrinth Battle Royale has already been broadcasted to everyone. It feels a little weird, if I'm being honest.
Regardless, I made my way to Seigi and Rikimaru's room. I knocked on the door and it wasn't long before I got permission to come in.
"Oh, if it isn't Yuuto."
"You took too long to come visit us!"
Of course, once I went in, I saw the twin Candidates. Needless to say, they both looked very similar.
They both have reddish-orange hair that reaches only a little lower than their shoulders. They both also have green eyes. Despite being about the same age as Miyabi, their bodies aren't nearly as curvy, leaning more towards the petite, and their breasts are small.
Despite their very similar physical appearance, their personalities are very different. Seigi is the younger twin, more quiet and the type to plan and think things through. Rikimaru is the older one, she's always screaming and never thinking.
"Sorry, I swear I only just figured out where you both were taken to. Hello to you as well, Swordia."
"Hello, Yuuto."
There was 1 more girl in the room with them. The girl wearing a blindfold Swordia.
Swordia is a girl about my age with light brown hair that goes down to about the middle of her back. As her name suggests, she's a sword fighter. She was Reina's senior disciple and joined the Devil King War as a Card in order to try and get a revenge match against her. She is currently Seigi's Card.
The reason why she wears a blindfold is because Swordia is blind. That said, she can use mana as basically a radar, so in a way she sees more than people normally do.
Of course, I didn't come here just to look at them. I brought a jar of flowers with me as a get well gift. It was the usual kit you might have seen in movies or something. Though maybe I should have brought some sweets as well.
In any case… things were worse than I expected.
I could see the damage from their fight with Lost. Rikimaru had lost an arm, Seigi had lost a leg, and I'm willing to bet these bandages all around their bodies aren't just for show. Some are dirty with blood.
… I don't know what exactly I expected, but this is much more. I thought I could apologize in Lost's place, but no apology can make up for this.
"Hahaha! We really screwed up, didn't we, Seigi-chan?"
"I don't know what we could have done differently, but it is true we're now just shells of our former selves."
Maybe they're trying to let me know I don't need to tiptoe around the subject? If so, I'm grateful.
"Even now, you're both still Devil King Candidates, so you're still far above a bunch of other devils."
"... About that…"
"Might as well get it out of the way first. You see, Yuuto, when we woke up here, we were no longer Candidates."
What? Is that even possible? I thought I'd ask that, but Seigi continued to talk without me needing to prompt her.
"There's not much to say about it. When we woke up, we no longer had our Arcanas and couldn't summon them to us. Swordia is also no longer my Card, so we knew we were no longer Devil King Candidates."
"No idea how it happened though. Maybe it is true that the Arcanas have a mind of their own and they just got fed up with us."
I know for a fact that Arcanas have their own consciousness, I even talk with Sein.
That's why I find this all strange. Sein has told me that an Arcana can't back out on their choice once they pick their Candidate. So how could Rikimaru and Seigi lose their Arcanas?
[Yuuto, this seems strange.]
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Something must have happened to take Strength and Justice from them, but what?
[I will try to think about it, but it seems unlikely that we will be able to figure it out with the present clues.]
Right. We know basically nothing, and unfortunately this is no badly written mystery novel where clues just present themselves.
"Anyway, sorry to have made you waste your time, Yuuto. It was short lived, but our alliance was good while it lasted."
"What are you talking about?"
"Isn't that why you came here? To see if we could still fight and offer to make us your Cards if we couldn't. Unfortunately, we can no longer fight and our bodies are ruined, so we can do neither."
"Rikimaru-chan still thinks Seigi-chan is cute though…"
Seigi was there when I made Neith my Card, so she knows I can do it. And, to be honest, she wasn't entirely wrong. Depending on how things went I was planning on asking them to become my Cards.
But she's wrong if she thinks I'm just going to go "okay, bye" and never see them again. The reason why I made an alliance with them wasn't just because they were strong and pretty, it was also because I thought they were nice people.
"I have no intention of simply disappearing. Actually, I might even know a way to help."
The first thing that comes to mind is Rinne's Revival. That Characteristic Magic was powerful enough to even bring me and Reina back from the dead once, it could surely heal them.
But how much damage would Rinne have to do on herself for that? If it was me I wouldn't mind it, but I don't want her to get hurt. So I'll have to go with the second option.
I took out my phone and called a certain someone. Luckily, it seemed she was free and agreed to meet me here. Of course, Seigi, Rikimaru and Swordia were curious, but I didn't tell them who would be coming.
"Hello. Sorry for the wait."
"""Huh?!"""
Fleminar, the Candidate of Priestess, showed up.
Swordia almost got into a fighting stance, but I managed to calm her down by explaining that I had called Fleminar here.
I guess I should have properly told them. For all they knew, maybe Fleminar had come here to dispose of them. It was an unnecessary scare. I'll apologize to them in my heart and think about it.
"I remember you two. You're the Candidates from the Sannou family, right? It's quite rare for a single family to have more than one Candidate in a given Devil King War, and I don't think there have ever been twin Candidates. But anyway, why did you call me, Morioka-kun?"
"Well, as you can see, Rikimaru and Seigi were really hurt in their last battle. I was wondering if maybe you could help them. Maybe with homunculus parts."
Homunculus are artificial life forms created by devils. There are many reasons for one to be created, but what's important is that they're nearly indistinguishable from humans or devils.
Fleminar knows a lot about homunculus. In fact, when Reina was having trouble, she was the one who made a new body for her. So I thought she could make something like homunculus prosthetics or something.
"I see. Yes, it could work, and I don't think it has ever been done before, so it would be interesting to research. How about you two? Are you fine with this?"
"... I've personally never had much contact with homunculus, but I don't think I harbor any special prejudice against them. If anything, if it helps me heal, I don't mind having part of my body be that of a homunculus."
"Rikimaru-chan wants a cannon arm! No, actually, make it a transforming arm that can turn into a bunch of weapons!"
"Please take this seriously, nee-sama."
Oh yeah, I had kind of forgotten about it, but some noble devils have a lot of prejudice against homunculus, treating them as if they're not living things. It kinda slipped my mind, but it's a good thing that it's not the case for Rikimaru and Seigi. Things would have turned awkward otherwise.
Hell, Rikimaru even seems a little too excited about it.
"Alright, I'll see what I can do. Morioka-kun and… girl whose name I don't know, please leave the room for a bit so I can take a look at them and talk privately."
"But…"
The girl Fleminar was referring to was Swordia. But she didn't seem willing to leave, probably because she was still weary of Fleminar.
"I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Swordia, you are no longer my Card, you are dismissed. Rather, the only reason me and nee-sama are alive is because of you, so you have our thanks. But you should stop beating around the bush and go with Yuuto and challenge Reina directly. If you're worried about being a bother, just offer to become a Card, I'm sure Yuuto would love it. If and when we meet next, I hope you'll tell me how it went."
"... Then, Swordia Nihondou, I will be taking my leave. Thank you for having me so far."
Swordia bowed to Seigi. Being an outsider, I don't really know what went on between them, but I imagine it's like saying goodbye to a friend after graduation.
Also, did she assume I'd be happy to have Swordia just because she's a pretty girl? I mean, I am happy to have her, and I'm happy that she's a pretty girl, b-but I have to keep some level of dignity here…
Me and Swordia left the room. I still wanted to talk with Fleminar after, so I thought I'd wait in the waiting area. Swordia followed me.
"So… about what mast- Seigi said…"
"Ah, I don't mind if you want to hang around. By the way, where are you staying?"
"I had been staying in the Sannou mansion before and in this hospital ever since the attack."
"I see. Then we first need to find you a place to stay."
I can't just bring her home. Hopefully someone has a place for her. I took out my phone and sent a text message in the Lovers' group chat. Surprisingly, Lizel replied not long after, saying she knew just the right place.
She didn't say it would be her home. I wonder where Lizel has in mind. Guess I can ask later.
"It seems Lizel has somewhere for you to stay."
"Thank you."
So we just waited around for the next few minutes. I wanted to talk with Swordia more, but I wasn't sure how to. I thought about inviting her to be my Card, like Seigi had said, but since she wants to have a match against Reina, this could be an unwanted invite, a-and I didn't want to make it seem like I had second intentions (which I will admit to having), so I figured I'd save it for a while.
After about half an hour, Fleminar came out of the room. She signaled to me with her hand, so I guess she also wanted to talk to me.
Swordia stayed behind, so it would be just me and Fleminar talking. She took me into an empty room, I guess so we could talk alone.
"So?"
"In about a month, I should have everything ready and they'll be all healed. What I want to talk about with Morioka-kun is the payment."
"O-oh, right…"
Of course, this isn't for free, even though she did it for free when it was for Reina. I'll have to ask for money from Lizel and Miyako. I just hope it's not too pricey, or I might have to haggle.
While I was worrying about that, Fleminar continued talking.
"Don't worry, I don't want money. What I want is for Morioka-kun to tell me something. How do you turn Candidates into Cards?"
I see, so that's what she wants. It's something that was thought to be impossible for a long time, so I suppose the information itself is worth a lot.
I don't think Fleminar is someone that would make bad use of this knowledge, so I suppose I'll tell her.
"Alright, I'll tell you. To make a Candidate into a Card, they need to concede victory in the Devil King War to you. But there are a few drawbacks to becoming someone's Card. The Candidate that becomes someone else's Card won't be able to have Cards of their own, and they'll have forfeit victory for their master. There's no taking it back once it's done."
"I see. So it's not as simple as making anyone else into a Card. Not only is their consent needed, but it's not something that can be done temporarily."
It's as Fleminar said. For example, Stella and Neith are my Cards. Even if I Released them now, they wouldn't be able to have Cards of their own, and, in a situation where there was only me and them left in the Devil King War, I'd win automatically.
Maybe she's also thinking of the previous Devil King War. The current Devil King won, but he didn't kill her or Marchosias, and no one knows how he did that. Making them into Cards seems possible, but something tells me it's not quite the right answer.
But this works as a nice bridge. I suppose, if I'm ever going to ask Fleminar to become my Card, I might as well do it now.
"Since we're already in this subject and I've already explained the consequences, Fleminar, would you become my Card?"
"Hmm… ask me again later."
"Eh?"
I'm not going to lie, that wasn't the answer I was expecting. Isn't this the part of the script where the older woman enters the harem? Even a straight up "no" would have been more within my expectations.
"I'm not really refusing Morioka-kun. In fact, if it wasn't something that couldn't be undone, I would have accepted it just to have the chance to observe you up close. You see, I've been looking at all the Candidates recently, thinking about who I should support, since I have no plans of becoming Devil King myself. That's the reason why I can't answer Morioka-kun right now, so I would like you to ask me again once some time has passed."
"Oh… okay?"
So, between yes and no, it's maybe. I guess it's not a complete loss.
"But I personally like Morioka-kun, so I'd rather we don't become enemies. Ah, before I forget, the twins said they'd like to talk with you a bit more."
"Oh, then I'll go there."
I don't know what else Rikimaru and Seigi want to talk about, but I suppose I might as well check in with them. So I went back into their room.
"Did you forget this?"
As soon as I entered their room again, Seigi threw a wooden sword at me. After I caught it, I recognized the sword.
{Masteeeer! Please don't leave me with her again!}
That's Tenka Fubu, a Devil Sword Seigi made for me with her powers from Justice Arcana. I gave it back to her because Tenka Fubu was taking over my body, so Seigi said she'd fix it.
I'll be honest that I had forgotten about it.
Since I left Tenka Fubu with Seigi, I unlocked my third and final Characteristic Magic, which is to use Sein as a sword. So I kinda don't need Tenka Fubu anymore.
No, I suppose Sein takes 200000 mana just to pull out, and that's basically all I have at the moment. So I guess Tenka Fubu still has some use. So long as she doesn't take over my body, that is.
"I reeducated her as best as I could, but I wasn't able to finish before losing Justice. I can't help with that anymore, but there is a sword dojo in the Sannou region of the Devil World that can help. Swordia can guide you."
"Oh, I see. Thanks."
{Bleeeh!}
Well, at least Tenka Fubu isn't trying to take over my body right now. Let's store her away before she tries though.
{Tsk, almost had him.}
Just dodged a bullet there. I thought this was everything they had to tell me, but Seigi told me to sit down for a bit, since she had more to say.
"Yuuto might not know this, but the Sannou family is known for using Devil Swords. More than anything, our family places value in being good with Devil Swords."
"Seigi-chan…"
I didn't get why the sudden family history lesson, but I suppose I'll listen. Even Rikimaru looks a bit more serious.
"Much like many other families, ours would give preference to the older sibling, even if they're twins like us. But nee-sama is absolutely no good with a sword. That's why our family discarded her and I'll take over as the next head."
"Ahaha, yep, it's like Seigi-chan says. Rikimaru-chan is a punchy kinda gal. The only reason Rikimaru-chan wasn't disowned yet was because of Strength Arcana, but that's gone now, so Rikimaru-chan is probably going to be thrown out one of these days."
"Yes. Our objective in the Devil King War was to survive more than to win. With an Arcana's power, even nee-sama couldn't be easily discarded. But that plan is gone. I know you've already done much for us, but I need to ask one more thing, Yuuto. Will you please take nee-sama?"
"Huh?"
"It can be as a maid or a concubine or whatever you want. I know Yuuto is kind, so nee-sama's future will probably be better with you than on her own."
"Rikimaru-chan is counting on Yuuto from now on."
What exactly am I expected to do here?! Well, I don't like people who mistreat their family just because they weren't what they expected, so I do want to help, but how?
I suppose I can ask Lizel later. I was only allowed to leave once I promised I'd help Rikimaru after she was healed.
Luckily, I had already called Lizel before for her to pick up Swordia, so it didn't take her long to arrive. I suppose I might as well tell her about everything.
"I see. I know what to do about Strength, or rather I suppose I should call her Rikimaru now. And I suppose we'll have to wait and see about Priestess. Overall, you did good, Yuuto. It was a surprisingly fruitful visit."
I'm not sure if I did anything other than react in a way anyone would have, but as long as she's happy I guess it's fine.
After that, Lizel left me at my house first. She said she wanted to talk with Swordia alone for a while.
By the time I got home, it was already night. The rest of the day went as normal, and so another day ended.