At a cemetery in the eastern part of the Empire, Ordovine was placing flowers in the cemetery.

'I'm sorry. I'll be away from home for a while when the Emperor calls.

　He stood up to apologize to his late wife, who lay in her grave.
　He was a small old man, sixty-two years old this year, and his hair and beard were as white as snow.

'Oh, Mr. Ordovine. 'Hello.'

Yes, hello.

　He smiled softly at people he met at the grave and took off his green hat to greet them in a good-natured manner, which was well received by those around him.
　He was so gentle and personable that they all agreed that he was a different person with the same name as the former Yagami Akira.
　Unlike Jurgen, he was opposed to accepting the summons by his family members.
　Perhaps there was a difference between the nobility and the commoners.
　Aristocrats feel honored to be needed by the emperor and consider it their duty to work for their country.
　At least, that's what decent aristocrats do.
　But commoners are different.

'You've been fighting for your father, for your country!　They should be exempt by now!

'That's right, father-in-law. Please take it easy from now on. We'll have a lot more respect for our parents that way.

　His own son and his daughter-in-law must have been concerned for Ordovine's well-being, he recalls the other day.
　They ended up breaking up in a fight, but he has no regrets.　
　It is because he knows the character of the emperor of his day that he agreed to quarrel with his only son for the summons.

(His Majesty is not one to go back on his word.)

　It's partly because he's a righteous man, but more importantly, he's afraid of the negative effects of broken promises.
　That's one of the reasons why I'm called a "coward.

(Still, if he dares to summon our three men, there must be something very wrong with him.)

　Ordovine thought to himself.
　He had heard about the demons becoming active and hordes of them appearing and being kicked around by the current Eight Divine Lights and others.
　It was quite likely that they had decided that they weren't enough.

(Most things could be taken care of by Bartolomeus alone, though.)

　He is not the only one who thinks that such a thing is possible.
　This should be especially true of Jurgen, Bartholomew's master, but he's already accepted a call to become the head of the Academy or something like that.
　The reason he didn't go to the imperial capital right away was to guess what was going on.
　He deliberately took a leisurely look around to the imperial capital and gathered information about the land.
　Although he was from a commoner's background, he was only a man who had become Yagamihiki, and Yagamihiki's sense of privilege was still there.

(Apparently, we are called in for this academy or something. But I don't understand. For defense, Bartolomeus alone is sufficient. (It seems like it would be good to assign one of them as a striker and send the rest of the members to be educators. ...... Is that not enough?

　Oltovine nodded his head as he walked towards the imperial capital.
　No matter how much he was a former Eight Divine Brilliance, and no matter how carefully he had collected information, as expected, he hadn't come up with anything until Invazion.
　It is impossible to read the current emperor's true intentions, and the only way to find out is to ask him.
　Ordovine came to the castle, but it was impossible at any price to suddenly have an audience with the emperor without a prior appointment.
　Instead, Jurgen was called in.

'That's quite a bit of executive duty, Ordovine.　

You should be thankful you're here, Jurgen.

　At Jurgen's sarcastic remark, Ordovine returned the pompous words and turned his brown eyes.
　It seems that when the other party is a former colleague, he has a reserved way of saying it.

''That's not something the last guy to come in would say.

　Zelgius appears from Jurgen's side stealthily, revealing himself.

'Zelgius!　You're here too!

　Ordovine rolled his blue eyes.
　He had heard that Jurgen and Zelgius had also been summoned, but he hadn't expected Zelgius to respond.

'The Emperor calls us. That is to say, the empire is at stake. I think.

　Jurgen nodded at Zelgius' answer.

'We're not at that stage yet, though. Just know that you can't know what the future holds.'

...... is that bad?

　Ordovine is immensely disappointed.
　It is quite extraordinary that the bold Jurgen, the free Zelgius, thinks that the Empire may be in danger.

'Can't Bartolomeus prevent it?

　He finally gives the name of a man.
　The name of the man who broke them and made them think about retirement.
　Jurgen shrugs.

'I'm sure he'll be able to prevent it. But I'm not sure the Empire remains in its current form.'

Bartolomeus will probably win. But the country will lose if there is no country left. The collapse of peace is also a loss.

　'Yes,' said Zelgius, and Ordovine agreed.

'Yes. Even if Bartholomeus alone is safe, that would be the same as a disastrous defeat.'

　He nodded, then he asked.

'What happened to you guys being concerned about such a development?　Or what do you expect?

　Here Ordovine is informed of the opinion that he anticipates the return of Invazion.

'Invasioon...... the Marshal of the Demon World...... his Majesty has summoned us, and it's no wonder that he has summoned us......'

　He groaned as he held his head.
　As far as being able to keep it at that level, it can be said that this man is also one of the former Eight Divine Brilliance.