Starting from the city to the north, she crossed the mountains and then the Great Plains, which became the Time World Desert. On the way, she finally arrived at her destination while gazing at the decayed forms of magic weapons that were used to make the sands of the Time World Desert.
　The reason why she had to travel to the northwest of the Time World Desert was to negotiate with the clan known as the Blood Clan. This would be the first time in two hundred years that she had seen them face to face. In the other world, only seven or eighty years must have passed, but "she" has aged a lot.

　The Central Continent has its own civilization in Celia, which the people of the Central Continent call the New Continent, but only a few people know about it.
　But only a few people know about it. Among the adventurers who come here from the Central Continent, there are probably no adventurers who are aware of it. That's just a small percentage involved in the Central Empire's imperial family, and the rest are only blood relatives.
　She goes to negotiate on behalf of Sailia, with its diverse mix of different civilizations. The blood clans would have some understanding of the situation in Seria, so the landing point of the discussion was mutually visible. In short, if they could stick to their mutual non-interference, they would be able to do so.

　She moved her four legs supplely and stepped on the cold sand. The fluffy, full-grown golden body hair keeps her warm, so she doesn't feel too cold. All around them, fox fires floated in the air, illuminating the nighttime march.

''When you get to this area, you're going to get some adventurers or something.

　She muttered as she looked out over the wide desert. A young fox walking beside her looked up.

''I've heard that adventurers are very keen on capturing ayakashi these days, so you might want to pay attention.
You know, I'm not too far behind your more adventurous counterparts in that area.

　She laughs as she flutters her nine tails.
　Nevertheless, some of the foxes she released to the scouts have not returned. There are humans who can cross over as well or better than them, and in fact, those humans made them lick their bitterness two hundred years ago, so I'm not going to insult them.

　The negotiations with the Blood Clan will be tomorrow. Is it time for us to rest around here? That's when she thinks about it. Of the foxes that hadn't returned, three of them had returned from the west side of the desert. When she looked, she saw that all three had something in their mouths and were dragging themselves sluggishly across the sand.

'Omae-sama!'

　One of the foxes shouted.

'It's a dead end. Or rather, it has jumped down!'
'I flew at full speed and went straight into the sand and passed out!
What do we do now?

　The foxes said so, so she tilted her head and walked up to them. The foxes are not adventurers, and they are not demons. Nor would they be demons. In Celia, it's customary to kill demon knights as soon as you find them.
　She was surprised to see the shadow that the foxes had dragged in.
　A body covered in black feathers and a shugenja costume. With a large bill and wings, it was a being that she and the foxes were familiar with.

'A raven-tengu?　Why are you here?
Did the High Priest have us follow him?
Then you wouldn't be in the West. A straggler?

　From the looks of it, it seems to be exhausted and tired, but there are no noticeable traumatic injuries. Raven Tengu itself is not so uncommon, but it is a bit hard to imagine the circumstances that only one of them can be found outside of Seria's civilization.
　Still, they are a race that can basically be considered our people. There would be no need to be indifferent. She instructed the foxes to take care of him. The foxes nodded and carried Raven Tengu's body into the shade of a nearby rock.

　It wasn't long after that that the raven-tengu woke up.




"Yoshitsune, this kind of mind is called 'evil karma'.

　When I was a child, a man living in a nearby mountain told me this.

The word "demon" refers to the three obstacles and four demons, and it also refers to those Shugden monks who were caught up in their pride and fell into the demon world after death. The demon world is a place off the six paths of reincarnation. No matter how much time passes, there is no reincarnation and therefore no redemption for the soul.

　After that, the man continued to talk about something difficult, but all in all, it was all about 'don't be a tentmaker'.
　Don't be proud of your talent. Always have a humble heart. That may be fine for now, but eventually you won't be able to stand. The fact that you can be so dexterous at everything is only going to work in a small world.

　He didn't take it seriously because it smelled preachy. The man sighed in disgust at him. The man sighed in disgust at him.

　The man's words became more and more real as he grew up. His own pride was catching up with the talent around him. Eventually, he was slowly being chased out of his place, and now, at long last, he is losing his place.
　Would it have been different if he had been more humble, accepted reality and disciplined?

Uh.....

　With hazy thoughts, Karasumaru Yoshitsune regained consciousness. The surroundings were dim, but a vague light illuminated them. After flying away from the hillside where his companions were that time, Karasumaru had flown straight for the lights that floated in the desert.
　But eventually, whether from hunger or the coldness of the desert at night, his strength quickly ran out and he passed out as he plunged straight into the sand.

　There are a few faces peering at us in the hazy vision. Apparently, they had taken care of themselves.
　I had to thank him, and as Karasuma's eyes opened clearly, it wasn't a human face that jumped out at him.

"...Whoa!

　That thin, pointed face of the beast. Karasuma jumped back at that face, illuminated by the blurred flames.

''Ki, kitsune...!

　I thought it was a dog, but it's not. It was a fox. To Karasuma, it was more familiar to him as a messenger of the Inari Shrine than as a wild animal. But either way, he hadn't expected to meet a fox in this other world, and in the middle of the desert.
　Do foxes even live in the desert?　The foxes turn their gaze backwards as they twitch their heads.

''Omae-Sama!　I'm awake!
(It speaks!)

　Even a unicorn can talk, and a slime can talk. When a fox speaks, what is there to be surprised about?
　But, basically, the only people who can talk are my classmates. Karasuma felt fiercely uncomfortable that these wayward foxes could speak so matter-of-factly. At the same time, the word 'foxfire' came to his mind when he saw the eerie flames floating in the desert at night.

　Aren't these foxes just beasts, too?　Monsters?

　Come to think of it, the adventurers Kyousuke and the others had engaged said they were looking for a unique, rare monster that was only found on this continent. That's also why Azuki was targeted. I wonder if the rare monsters that they are talking about are not the monsters like the Japanese Yokai.
　Then, are these foxes one of those monsters?
　As Karasuma was pondering, a huge presence peeked out from behind them with a 'Nuh-uh'.

''You're awake,''
........Whoa!

　Karasumaru slumped back down again.

　The fox that peeked out there was a golden-furred monster, much larger than what Karasuma knew, but far larger than Karasuma's body. When Karasuma saw the nine tails wagging from around its tail, he was sure of it.
　These foxes are monsters, after all.

　Karasuma's mind was confused by the situation in front of him, and any bewilderment he had been holding onto was completely blown away.

''Yeah, yeah..... Ah, you are!　I mean, I mean, well, did you guys take care of me?
"Law.

　The big fox narrowed his eyes.

"You don't know me? You are not the ayakashi of the mountains, are you?
The mountain...?
The High Priestess didn't send him. But I doubt he's an enemy.

　The nine-tailed great fox looked up at the sky, scratching its head with its paws. The bright moonlight made its fur shine beautifully.

'I could send you up the mountain, though. Either way, we'll have to wait until we're done with our business. Well, they won't be too suspicious if we take one of the Raven Tengu with us.
Huh.... Well.

　What in the world is the fox in front of me mumbling about with one of them? Karasuma tries to use his brain, which can maintain a deviation of around 60 without studying, to figure out the situation.

　A mountain is surely the home of these foxes. There is a mountain where the youkai live and they came from. It is also home to raven tengu. The big fox says that he can take Karasumaru, an unidentified but apparently raven-tengu, back there.
　I'm not quite sure what he means by "jounin," but I do know that a famous Buddhist monk is called a nunchara jounin. Perhaps there is a youkai called a jounin who controls the Raven Tengu.

　I'm not sure what our business is. They also said they are not suspicious of him, and this is a meeting with someone else.
　I'm sure you'll find a lot of people who have come all the way to the desert for that purpose, and those people are the ones who have set up shop around here.

　It's not really a good idea for you to be in a position to do that. If you are in contact with them, they must know Karasuma.
　They must not be adventurers, either. It doesn't seem like they know about the mountain of youkai.

　Then it's a blood family.
　It could be something else, but having spent the last few days around the desert, I couldn't see any other life forms that seemed to be negotiable.

　I wonder if these foxes are trying to negotiate something with their blood relatives?

Well, if you think you have another agenda, I won't stop you.

　Looking at Karasuma, who looked thoughtful, the great fox said.

'This is the same ayakashi sobriety. What shall we do about it?'

　Certainly, there is no reason for Karasuma to stay here all the time. Being taken to the mountains where the youkai live is not a very good story either. It seems like the decent option here is to say thank you and leave.
　It seems, but the truth of the matter is that there is nowhere to go in Karasuma if we leave here.

　Right now, I can't intend to go back to Kyousuke and the others here with an omelet.

　It's an opportunity, depending on how you think about it. If I can pose as one of these youkai's friends and get in touch with the bloodline, I might even be able to get some special information that I couldn't get before. They might even be able to find out the whereabouts of Spider Saki and Tentahara, who had fallen into the hands of the enemy.
　If I can bring back that information, I will still be able to save myself some face.

　Karasuma replied.

　He didn't realize that this idea was precisely the root of the "demon's edge", which was utilitarianism and arrogance.




　The next morning, Kyousuke and the others would go to negotiate with the adventurers.
　They made sure that Weygun had a good breakfast, and for the time being they tied his arms and chewed his gag so that he couldn't use his magic, but they decided to untie him because they were starting to feel sorry for him as they watched him. Instead, he heads to the bargaining table, with Inugami pouncing on him as soon as he makes a strange move, and snowflakes positioned in such a way that he can freeze-shatter them too.
　It seems that the main magic that Weygun is good at is dealing with lightning, and the rest is ice and wind. Apparently, he's not very good at the fire attribute, which can be fatal to snowflakes and Rin.

''Wegan-san, is the magic that humans use different from the one we use?''
''No. Monsters that can use magic often do so through a connection to spirits with whom they have an innate affinity. It's a form of spirit magic.

　Weygun answers Azuki's question as they head to their destination.

'Spirit magic can only be used by races with a high affinity for spirits. We humans can't handle it.''
You can use an elf, can't you?
'Elves are now accepted as fellow humans, but until two hundred years ago they were persecuted as a type of monster. The same goes for dwarves. They too have a high affinity with earth and fire spirits and can handle spirit magic.

　It seems that the fact that humans have been able to handle magic is itself a very recent thing in terms of long history.

　It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to have the same thing happen to you. Until 200 years before they were developed, the only magic that humans could use was oracle magic, which was only used by a few priests.

'Oracle magic can only be handled by humans. It is a form of prayer to the heavenly gods to bring out their miraculous powers. This is because the gods are human gods.

　Saying that, Weygun turned his gaze towards the white horse.

''Eh, what?''
The unicorn's life magic draws the power of the King of Life, one of the pillars of the God of Kings. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like it. It is similar in principle to human oracle magic.

　On the way, they listened to Weygun's lecture on magic. For example, the chaos magic or dark magic used by Sakuma, Kaoruko and the Lesser Demons is also said to be activated by the power of the "King of Demons".
　"Both the King of Life and the Demon King were defeated by the heavenly gods during an ancient mythical war. However, their relatives remained on earth, and even the defeated king gods left the residue of their power on earth.

''Then what about you, Kyousuke?　You're undead, aren't you, Kyousuke?　"I think you can do some kind of magic on this guy called the King of Death, right?"
'The King of Death has no residue of power left because his body has disappeared from this world.

　Weigan clearly denied Rin's words.

''The destroyed king gods can be roughly divided into those that have lost their power because their bodies were separated from their power entity, the 'king piece', and those that have had their bodies themselves destroyed. Only if the body remains somewhere in the world will it be able to draw its power.
'Heh. Then both the King of Life and the Demon King still have their bodies in there somewhere.
This new continent is said to be the place where the Demon King, who lost his king's piece during the Mythical War, fled to. That's why direct lineage species like the Lesser Demon live here. The body of the rotten demon king is somewhere in this new continent, and not a few adventurers have crossed over here in search of it.

　Well, none of those guys came back after all, but, Weygun added a horrifying word.
　Hearing those words, Kyousuke, who had remained silent until then, suddenly had something on his mind.

''If it's said that the king piece is the source of power for those destroyed king gods, is it possible to bring it back to the body?''
''To prevent that from happening, the King's piece is under tight control in the Imperial City.

　If the king piece were to return to the body that had perished, or, as it were, to the king's body, it would mean the resurrection of the king god.
　The King God is the king of the monsters that live in this world. It is not impossible to say that he will not lead his followers and turn on the Empire and humanity again. The Empire is concerned about that, and the Adventurer's Guild is also helping to recover the undiscovered king pieces.

''That reminds me of a lot of things,''

　Crossing his arms, Snowdonia said in a cold voice.

'Christian devil stuff and all that.'
I'm a descendant...

　Even Goshiki, who rarely asserted himself, raised his voice, a rare occurrence.
　Now it was Weygun's turn to nod his head.

''What's that?''
I thought we said we were trippers.

　Kyousuke took over their words. When it comes to subculture knowledge, I'm confident. He speaks carefully, explaining it to Shirouma, Azuki, Inugami, and others who seem to be looking at him with a look of puzzlement.

In our world, there are several major religions, and one of them spread around the world over a long period of time, about two thousand years. In the process, the gods of the local religions were incorporated into the world as 'demons'.

　It's the same story with the descent of the descendants of the gods, according to Ozaiki. God comes down from the heavens and lays the foundation for governing all parts of Japan. That's about it. Most of the local clans that defy the imperial court are exterminated as youkai, and there are even a few games and comics based on this story. However, the game Koganei has been pushing so hard for was off-limits for 18 years, so Kyousuke hasn't touched it.
　Well, it's not impossible to perceive the story of the gods of heaven or the gods of kings as a story of a human who laid the foundations of an empire and conquered the continent by persecuting the local kings, that's how it could be perceived.

''I don't understand.''

　Wegan nodded his head.

'Isn't God a god and the devil a devil?'
Well maybe that's how you'd react in a world where gods and demons are real.

　This is why fantasy is not without its feelings.

　As they talk, Kyousuke and the others finally reach the adventurer's relay camp where Lesbon and the others are.
　The camp, which is said to have been set up by the Adventurer's Guild, is a bit of a thing, with a barrier to prevent monster attacks and a magic circle for warding. It was located near the seafront, near the front of the desert, with a few buildings inside.

'Here they come, Lesbons!

　Kyousuke called out, and the gates creaked open slowly.

　Kyousuke and the others walked inside with Weygun in tow. In front of the building stood the one-eyed, one-armed adventurer Lesvon Balk, and two female adventurers standing solidly on either side of him. One of the smaller ones was Filhana Glambana and the other, larger and more muscular, was Rain, who had finally cured herself.
　One of them was missing. Kyousuke and the others moved their eyes.

'Lesvon, what happened to the wombat?'

　It was Weygun who opened his mouth first. Lesbons looked surprised that Weygun, who was supposed to be a prisoner of war, wasn't even tied up, but his expression quickly clouded at his words and he shook his head.

''Well ... I see.''
Yeah, what's going on?

　Kyousuke asks Weygun, who seems to have figured something out.
　It's Thief's wombat that isn't here. I'm sure Inugami will eat him to death as soon as he finds him, and Kyousuke won't be in a good mood either, so if he's not here, I'm perfectly fine with him not being here. This thoughtless attitude is a bit worrisome.

''I told you. Karasuma is a bit like a wombat,''

　Wegan said. Kyousuke resentfully retorted.

'He's not going to take a frail-looking girl hostage or attack her for breaking a promise or anything like that.
...maybe...

　Wegan didn't argue back strongly, but simply admitted.

'Anyway, apparently the wombats aren't there. He must have been in a hurry to get the job done and sneak out. Stupid bastard.

　Kyousuke tried to examine what meaning is contained in that 'he's an idiot', but he stopped. It's because no matter how you think about it, your thoughts can only go to the unpleasant side. It's not often that Kyousuke was able to cause discomfort to others like this.

''Well, well, Utsurogi, let's start negotiating for now.

　Lesbons smiled bitterly and tried to placate us.

I can't say that I'll take all of your demands, but I'm sure we have a lot of information to offer you. For now, I would like you all to come inside so that we can apologize for our inadequacy.
I'm not looking for an apology from Lesbons.

　Kyousuke's voice was still mortified as he mumbled that.




　The kitsune and the others began to move to the place where they were to negotiate. In that small amount of time, Karasuma tried to get as much of the situation as possible.

　The great fox of the nine tails was called Gizen-sama, and Karasumaru decided to follow suit. Gomae-sama and the foxes, as Karasumaru had guessed, were still coming here from the mountain of youkai, and apparently they were going to negotiate on behalf of a civilization native to the new continent called Sailia.
　Celia is also their name for the new continent. It is a group of nations with various different civilizations mixed together, and has little to do with the people of the Old Continent. They do draw in adventurers who come to investigate the new continent.

　Karasuma's first thought was that the Seria was perhaps a civilization made up of trippers like themselves. But I can't be sure.
　From what I've heard, there are a number of humans in Seria as well, and they spend all their time fighting against the evil cult of daemons who worship the daemons. In order to focus on this battle, the Seria civilization sphere wants to maintain non-interference in the battle between the Blood Race and the Central Empire.

''But this information doesn't sound like it has much to do with us.

　Even if Seria was a civilization made up of trippers, they were the ones who chose to stay here. It's not a place that Karasuma and the others, who are thinking about returning home, should head to. Unless their other classmates have been sent to that Celia, it seems unlikely that they would have done so.

'I see them.

　Omae-sama said, and Karasuma, along with the kitsune and the others, looked in the direction she was pointing.

　It was the entrance to a small dungeon set up in a corner of the desert, buried in the sand. It was similar to the "Promised Cemetery (Catacombs)" to which Karasuma and the others had been transferred in the beginning. Either the blood clan has seized these places beforehand, or they have the technology to create dungeons like this one.
　But at the same time, what startled and frightened Karasuma was the figure of a guard standing at the entrance of that dungeon. Nearly ten meters long, a twin-faced, six-armed wreck. "It's the King of the Dead. That's not all. At his feet, gazing around him with a scurrying gaze, was a humanoid demon with a goat-like face and bat wings. As soon as the foxes saw it, they turned their fur upside down and expressed their alarm.

'Stop!'

　You are the one who told the Foxes.

"To Dimon's people, that's a replica of the Dead King. It's a fact that they have two of the King's pieces in their possession.

　The voice muttering this is somewhat abhorrent.

　A replica of the Dead King. King piece. Both are words I've never heard before. I can kind of understand what it means to be a Demon's consort. I've just heard that the cult of the evil gods they are opposed to worships daemons.
　Is the king piece an item or something that can control such monsters at will? And if so, as a representative of the Seria civilization, the blood clan that possesses a piece of the king's piece might want to avoid joining forces with the Evil God Cult. In other words, the blood clan could negotiate with the royal fragment as a shield.

''If it's an item with that much power, perhaps...''

　Don't be in a hurry. Karasuma will restrain himself. He will look for an opportunity. The time will come.

　The King of the Dead Spirits and Dimon---the Lesser Demon will be ushered in and you will enter. Kitsune and the others, as well as Karasuma, were allowed to accompany him. The inside of the dungeon is exactly like the promised cemetery structure, and inside there are corpses (ghouls) and small demons (imps) roaming around.
　There are no blood relatives to be seen in the dungeon. Nor is there a pawn in black armor. Is the master of this dungeon a pawn, or is it a higher pawn? One of the Lesser Demons leads us to the back room.

''---Welcome, Mizukume.

　Waiting for me in the room I arrived at was a tall man in a black tuxedo. His bright red eyes confirm the canine teeth except from his mouth. He is blood.
　He was not alone. In the corner of the room, there is a woman, also a blood relative. She was dressed in a black dress with fluttering lace and held an exaggerated spear in her hand. Your Highness first looked fed up with the smallness of the room's entrance, then turned her gaze to the man and peeled her teeth.

'Do not call me by that name.'
'Then I shall call you Your Highness, after the others. I'm Glenn the Bishop. This is Sink of the Knight.

　Bishop and Knight. Karasuma checks them out and freezes his mind. However, he is careful not to let it out of his mind, and tries to stay as far away from Omae as possible. He acts as if he is one of the ayakashi that followed her.
　If Omae-sama has a sense of kindred spirit in us, she should be able to cheat to some extent.

''There's only one raven tengu, isn't there?

　Sure enough, Glenn said curiously.

"The High Priestess doesn't trust me. Very well. We need to move on.

　Saying that, Omae-sama glanced at the lone Lesser Demon in the room.

''It doesn't feel good to be face to face with these people too much.
Okay, good.

　Glenn also gave a small laugh and sat down on a chair provided in the room.

　This is the base of the blood race on this continent. It's not the home base by any means. Koganei and the Blood Clan's king would not be here. Is the Spider Saki or Tentacle Field still here somewhere? Or have they been taken to their home base, wherever that is?

　And then there's the piece of the king. Where the hell is this piece of the King's piece?

　I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea. While Glenn and Omae-sama were about to start talking, only the Knight's Sink was in the room, staring at it with cold eyes.