There is a single road connecting the Zelga Gladiatorial Duchy, the Adventurer's Autonomous Region Zelneus, and the Kingdom of Verneus.
　These three principalities are located in the southeastern part of the continent, and are protected by the Beast King mountain range to the north, and the Gulf of Neus and the Delius Great Trench to the south, making it extremely difficult to invade from the outside. At the same time, the development of the trade network in the three territories has made it one of the few places where there is a strong cultural exchange.

　Behemoths often appeared on this roadway near the Beast King mountain range.

　Behemoths are large magical beasts that belong to the Behemoth family of the Beast King Clan's order of mammals. The largest behemoths can reach up to six meters in length. Its large horns, well-developed forelegs and full set of tusks around its mouth give it a vicious-looking appearance. The brown bear is more of an omnivore than a carnivore, and it often attacks travelers when it comes down the road.
　It is like running into a brown bear on a mountain trail, and if you encounter one, you are out of luck and the traveler curses you for your misfortune. Conversely, the appearance of a behemoth would not, in principle, cause the roads to be blocked off. There are those who can get away with it when they encounter it.

　However, on this day, the roads were blocked off by the agreement of both the Zelga Gladiatorial Principality and the Zelnaeus Adventurer's Autonomous Region. The reason for this was the appearance of the behemoths, which were in an extremely unusual state. It had been confirmed that its entire body had become larger and more ferocious than normal individuals. A quest was ordered by the Adventurers' Association and some adventurers went to defeat the behemoth.
　And now a young girl stands in front of the behemoth singularity.

''Gurrrrr........''

　A pool of blood has already formed at Behemoth's feet. The rolling mass of flesh probably belonged to the victims who had challenged the monster for its bravery and scattered their fragile lives. The behemoth's jaws and full-grown fangs made it easy for it to chew up human bones, and each time the behemoth repeatedly chewed, a crisp, grating sound could be heard. A black haze of breath was exhaled from his mouth.
　It's not as if the girl was terrified in the face of the monster. But whether she was burning with righteous indignation or a sense of duty, it's still not true. The girl was just standing there. From the looks of it, she was only ten years old. She was looking at Behemoth with a gaze that was too languid to be called a glare.

''Gogah!''

　Behemoth swings his massive paws down at the girl. It's like a mallet. It swung down mercilessly from above the girl's head, who didn't even try to avoid it, creating one small red stain on the street.
　It seemed as if.

...Gah-ah?

　Behemoth shows his agitation. The girl, who seemed to have been crushed, was still alive under her paws.
　That's not all.
　It had received that paw with one arm and, as expected, had lifted it up.

''Hah!''

　The girl unleashed a kick towards the sole of Behemoth's foot. Immediately afterwards, a thrusting impact runs through the behemoth's right front leg. Bone creaked and muscle fibers tore. Pssst, blood gushed out of the torn blood vessels. Not red. It was an eerie blood, cloudy and black with a thud.
　Losing the front legs that supported his body, Behemoth slowly fell to the earth of the street. She tries to stand up again with her empty left arm, but it's faster for the girl to stand on the monster's nose. The behemoth opens its great jaw and tries to bite the defenseless girl's body. The black haze that leaked from her mouth made an unusually large mass.

''.........''

　The girl gently put her hand on the tip of the monster's nose. Immediately after that, the black haze that was spat out was sucked into the girl's body.

".........!

　The haze gradually seeps out of Behemoth's body as well. Each time it slips out of the monster's body and is sucked into the girl, Behemoth's body gradually shrinks. Or rather, it returns to its original size. Eventually, the behemoth transformed into a normal female individual, about four meters long. Covering its injured forelegs, it staggered to its feet and walked back into the mountain with footsteps that echoed slowly and steadily.

''.........''

　Slowly, the girl looked away from it. As it was, she spun around and looked back.

'Here you go!'

　Before the girl, there were three companions.

　The Dial Knights of the Dialing Knights, the Fourth O'clock Seat, "Saint of the Iron Fist", Filhana Granvana, and the Sixth O'clock Seat, "Sword Assault", Rambald Gaudin.
　At Sixth O'Clock, Rambald Gaudin, the "Sword and Violent Arts".
　At 13 o'clock (irregular time), the Black Sun, Akira Hino.

　And the girl is the Melodious Killer, the Dark Beast Hero of the Dial Knights' second seat (two o'clock).

Gordant.

　Ei asked the elf standing next to him with his arms crossed.

'What did she just do?'
Yeah, it's called Plague.

　Rambalt replies, opening his thin eyes.

The creature that breathed in that black haze, as you can see, turns violent like that. Originally, the disease was possessed by orcs, goblins and other beast-demons, but Melodious is able to control the source of the disease at will.
Hmmm...

　Ei replied curtly. In other words, the mutant behemoths that were causing a stir in this area were all in a state where they had developed a violent state due to that black haze.
　There's something similar to the bloodline factor, Ei thought. Both of them were indicative of the fact that they both prompted organisms to drastically strengthen themselves through outside interference. You could say that the blood factor is more conscientious because of its lack of reason, but the factor bears the karma of having to continue to ingest the blood of the same species. They're both tricky.

'What do we do now, Melokey?'

　Filhana asks, wiping the blood from Melodious's cheek.

'It seems there are still some underworlded behemoths in the area. Do you want me to cleanse them?''
Hmmm....

　The girl put a hand over her mouth and thought about it.

'Is there no hurry to get to Verneus?
There's no such thing as a good thing.

　Rambalt replies.

''The Adventurer's Association has also issued a quest to defeat Behemoth. It's best to leave it to them and quickly head to Verneus. It would be troublesome if the Blood Clan were to become aware of their whereabouts.
Hmm, I see...

　Melodious meditates as if in distress.

'But I wish I could stay here a little longer...'
Yes, I agree with you.

　Filhana smiled smugly and raised one hand, but Rambalt looked reluctant.

'I disagree. What about Akira?'
I'm going to...

　I disagree, I was about to say.

　Now, Ei and his friends are about to leave for Verneus' second year 4 students. The goal is to "protect" them in the Empire and protect them from the hands of the bloodline. He also wants to keep them from falling into the hands of the Bloods, as they could be an asset to the Empire. Either way, we need to get to them before the Bloods do, or we need to get to them before they do.
　We don't have time to waste here.

　As it should be.

"...I agree with you.

　When he murmured that, Melodious grinned and Melodious laughed, and Rambaldo, after all, made a reluctant face.

'You're ackee, you know what you're talking about!
No, no, it's not like that...

　What snatched Ei's mind was the face of a friend.
　He wondered what he would have done if he had been here, and other meaningless thoughts.

　Even though such thoughts didn't change the fact that Ei had betrayed his ways.

　The separation was conclusive, and he should have known that.



'Hey, Goubayashi, take a look at this article for a moment.
M.....

　At the Zelga Gladiatorial Duchy, Goubayashi was getting ready to leave when Kenzaki brought a newspaper to him.
　Naturally, the newspaper was written in our language. Even if he showed it to me, I wouldn't be able to read it. Goubayash frowned and asked Kenzaki, "Can you read it?

'Can you read it?'
There's no way you can read it!
"Then why do you want to get your heart...

　As he said this, Goubayashi ran his eyes over the paper. There were two portraits written on it.

''This one......... "Nameless and........."

　I was about to say, "Utsurogi," but I still kept my mouth shut.

　The picture on it was the unnamed likeness of the adventurer I had previously met in the arena of this gladiatorial dukedom, the echoing wolf star. He was wearing distinctive clothing, so there was almost no mistaking it. The peculiar dead-eyed look he usually displayed was also well reproduced.
　Next to it was a skull with its flesh completely ripped off. To Goubayashi and Kenzaki, this face was familiar as that of their classmate, Soraki Kyousuke. But if you think about it, this is a common face of a skeleton and not necessarily Kyousuke's.

''It's Nameless and Utsurogi. You're so cold-hearted, Goubayashi. Have you forgotten your classmate's face?
I'm sure of it. I've seen Mr. Hotoke cremated in the family home, but I've seen him cremated a few times.

　I'm not so familiar with them that I can tell them apart by their skulls alone.

'Have Lumiera read it to you. I've actually summed it up to some extent.

　And Kenzaki took out another small note.

'Hm.'
According to them, it's got to be a molehill.

　The newspapers said that Kyousuke had a duel with Nameless in the Adventurer's Autonomous Region Zerneus, east of here.
　Nameless took a liking to something about Kyousuke and asked him to fight. The duel took place in the great square, and the result was, of course, an overwhelming victory for Nameless. The strange skeleton that spoke the language was defeated after merging with the intruder slime, and was able to do almost nothing about it.

''I see. Seems to be Nameless.''

　Goubayashi nodded.

'And what's Utsurugi's... oh no?　I've heard they have something like that...
Oh my god...?
'I'm not sure about this. Lumiera didn't seem to know the details either.

　However, I know that being written in a newspaper article is important in its own way.
　I hope they don't end up being targeted because of the fact that it was written here.

'Anyway, it's good to know that Utsurogi and the others are safe. Zelneus is close. I'd like to meet up with them in some way.

　It would be nice if we could use a move like the newspaper ad that Ryuzaki hit, but that one was carrying information that only we could understand, so we could do something so bold. If we were to do something poorly, it could lead to exposing our location to the blood relatives.
　No, the enemy isn't limited to the blood race.

　Goubayashi quietly closed his eyes and recalled the events that had happened in the past few weeks.

　The Imperial Clockboard Alliance (Dial Knights) and the Second Time Seat (Two O'Clock) "Underworld Hero".
　That petite girl was probably one of the beings that could be called an enemy. The black haze she emitted was harmful to Goubayasi and Zeku, the Oga, and Okumura, the Orc. As soon as she breathed in the haze, she lost all reason and turned into a vicious monster. As a result, it caused trouble for his friends.
　Even remembering it now, it still makes me cringe. He realizes his lack of training.

　It's unclear what kind of stance the Empire will take towards the students of the second year and fourth class, but I already understood that it's not necessarily friendly. At that time, thanks to Nameless's help, we were able to get through it. However, I don't know if it will be the same next time.

''.........Goubayashi, you have a difficult look on your face.

　Kenzaki said while folding the newspaper.

''........Ah.''
I heard you're having omelet rice for lunch today. Lighten up.
Yeah.

　That being said, Goubayashi chuckled slightly. This was Kenzaki's unique and clumsy way of comforting her. I've recently figured it out.

''For now, let's discuss after lunch whether we should leave for the east immediately or think of some way to meet up.

　The Underworld hero must have returned to the Empire. I'd like to believe that I'll never see him again, though.
　Goubayashi decided to proceed with his packing for a while longer, until lunch.



　A party was formed, led by Lesvon, and Kyousuke and his team were going to kill Behemoth.

　It became, but it was quite a bone of contention to get there. First of all, the eyes of the surroundings.
　Having crossed swords with the Nameless, Kyousuke would end up looking strangely bad in the Adventurer's Autonomous Territory of Zelneus. Besides, it didn't look good for him to be revealed in possession of the king piece. The adventurers began to look at Kyousuke's left arm with glazed eyes. That man called Nameless, he was skilled, but apparently he couldn't read the air very well.

　The next hardest part was preparing for the adventure.
　In addition to stocking up on potions and other consumable items, they would also be looking at new equipment. Kyousuke and the others refrained from doing so, but Lesbons gave us a certain amount of preparation money, so we finally decided to take advantage of the favor. However, there isn't much in the way of equipment that would be troublesome without new equipment. After all, this is the Demon Army.
　Karasuma wanted a weapon for the white army, so I bought him a longsword, but the rest of the time I mainly bought potions to ease the burden of the white horse. I also bought a rather luxurious harness. Hakuba was very proudly wearing it. Snowman accompanied me on the shopping trip. She was a little torn on whether she should change from her snow woman costume to a costume that was more appropriate for this world, but in the end, she decided not to buy it and let it pass as it was.

　Now, after a few days of preparation, it's finally time to leave tomorrow.

''Hey, Kyousuke-kun,''
Hmm?

　Rin spoke to Kyousuke, who was brushing his teeth at the sink.

''There's something that's been bothering me...''

　Having said that, Rin brought some newspapers with her. Since Kyousuke can't read the letters of this world either, it's annoying to have newspapers brought to him, but if it's something that's bothering him, he can't ignore it. For now, I took the newspaper.

''Um, what's wrong with this?''
Yeah. You know what? It's all about a coup d'état a bit west of here, isn't it?

　I don't know if there's any photography skills in this world, or just illustrations of portraits. In all of these cases, the faces are unfamiliar to me.
　A coup is not a peaceful thing to say. According to Rin's story, a third or fourth prince had risen in an uprising to save the citizens from the oppression. But in the end they were unable to do anything about it, and with the help of the Empire, the current government put down the coup and the prince was executed. What a tragic story.

　There were not only sketches, but also illustrations that seemed to be sketches. This is exactly the scene of the prince on the verge of being hanged. It's not a very pleasant thing to look at. While looking at it, Kyousuke suddenly found something in the corner of the illustration that caught his attention.
　A black cat, being held down by an MP. The cat is wearing a fancy hat with a feather on its head. Kyousuke recognized the outfit, which reminded him of a pretentious person somehow.

''........Doesn't that cat look like Mya-chan?''
Yeah.

　Yes. My classmate, Nekomiya Miya, whom I hadn't seen in a long time since the one incident of the dismemberment transference accident. He looks just like her who was reincarnated in Ket-Si.
　It's no wonder that Nekomiya had been transferred to a place not far from the site of this coup. Although...

I wonder what's going on with the soldiers holding us down.
"Lesbon-san and the others told me that the coup d'etat, some monsters were helping the prince's side. I heard that the Ketsey had become friends with the prince...

　Kyousuke's mind buzzed. That was because it was a story that was well understood.
　It hadn't been that long since they had been together, but it had been a while since he had caused the transfer to another world. Kyousuke had come to know Nekomiya's personality well. With Nekomiya's personality, there was nothing wrong with doing such a thing. She was pretentious, passionate, and yet strangely righteous.

　Nekomiya and the others cooperated in this coup, but ended up clashing with the Empire and were defeated.

''Are the Nekomiya and the others safe?''
I don't know. But they didn't find any monsters during the execution.
Well....

　Good, I guess I should say.

'I'm sorry. I wasn't sure if we should talk about this or not...
'Why is Rin apologizing? Thanks for telling me.

　Kyousuke glared at the newspaper. If he could, he would go looking for Nekomiya and the others right now, but it would be difficult.
　By the looks of things, it's not even close to whether the girls have seen Ryuzaki's message or not. Perhaps the easiest ones to join up with at this point would be Goubayashi and the others, so should we discuss what happens after we join them?

''Everyone isn't necessarily safe, you know...''

　Rin's words were strangely heavy.

''Well...''

　The whereabouts of Beni, Sakuma and the others are still unknown. Why and where are they now?

　And yes... It's Akira Hino.
　It's a long time since Kyousuke has heard his hateful comments.

　Kyousuke knows very well that Ei is a weak man like that, and when he's alone, he takes on a lot of things. The fact that he's overly caring is the flip side of the fact that he can't keep his mind balanced unless he does so. If we don't take care of him, he'll carry on recklessly, and then he'll go under.

''I hope he's not doing something reckless too, somewhere...''

　As Kyousuke folded the newspaper, he silently worried for his best friend.