The land where the imperial capital of Euron, Shen Hai, once stood has been reduced to a pile of rubble. The earth had been gouged out and there was not a trace of the glittering city that had once existed.
　A single blow from an advanced species could have blown them to this level. I'm sure you'll be able to see how powerful it is when you stand on the scene again.
　As we, who had transferred from Brunhild, were looking around, Amber, who was at our feet, let out a groan.
　From the direction of Amber's glare, the shoddy men appeared from somewhere and approached. Each of them had a knife or hatchet in their hands.

'Hey, you little bastard. If you want to save your life, leave all the money you have and the woman there.

　One of the men calls out to me with a condescending smile. The woman there is probably Tsubaki-san standing beside me.

''What is this?''
'Probably a band of thieves scavenging for something of gold buried in the Imperial City.

　It's like hyenas. Well, they're all dumbasses.

"You don't listen to me, do you?
I'm listening. My ears aren't as bad as they used to be.

　Everyone around him felt ridiculed, and everyone around him held up their knives. It's so troublesome.

''Flame, blast, Red Lotus Explosion, Explosion.

　Without question, I unleashed my explosive magic towards the pile of rubble. With a loud sound, the area was cleared. Hmm? The power of magic seems to have increased. Is this another effect of the deification phenomenon?
　Sometimes these things make me wonder if I'm going to end up joining the ranks of the gods. I wonder if I'm grateful that I'm not going to die in my lifetime.

'Hiiiiii!
He's a wizard! Run!

　Ignoring my slight melancholy, the thieves flee like spider spiders in a heartbeat.
　It seems that this place is more lawless than I thought. I should get to the capital city where this new emperor is.
　I display a map in the air and expand the map of the area.

''Well, I think it's the capital of Heylon, right?
Yes. And here we are. It's just northwest of where we are.
All right, let's go.
''Wait a minute, Lord. Are you going to fly away?
'What? Yes, but?

　Briefly, Ember and Tsubaki's faces were filled with despair. It looks like everyone really doesn't like being blown through the air.
　I could move around with 'teleportation', but I'm not used to traveling long distances yet. I can't expect to see anything when I go out on the river. No choice.

I can't help it. I'll just go to Heylon first and open the 'gate', right?
That's all I ask.
"So do I.

　d*mn, I should have come in the high-speed amphibian "Gungnir" for this. But I'm faster than that one.
　Anyway.... I'll just use the fly and take off at once.
　I fly as fast as I can for three minutes, and I'm at my destination. I could see a large city below. Is that the capital of Halon?
　Why can't I put up with these three minutes? I landed in the forest a short distance from the city and opened the Gate to Shen Hai.
　After passing through the connected 'gate', Amber and Tsubaki-san came to our side.

''Let's go then. Oops, we have to disguise ourselves.

　I put an invisibility magic "mosaic" around me to use as a curtain and finished dressing. It's a magic that if a person from the original world saw it, they'd think I was completely naked.

''It's........flashy.......''

　Tsubaki-san let out such an impression when she saw me turned into a silver demon warrior. Is that so? Aside from the masks, the hakama and the Jinbaori are black and I think they're plain.

''It's not the color or anything, but the way you're dressed makes you look bad. Even if you were to try to steal, what about your appearance....... It's definitely a failing grade for a ninja.

　Mmm. Ninja test is tough. Oh well. It's not like I'm going to sneak in right now.
　For now, I take Tsubaki-san and Ember and enter the capital of Heiron. We had some trouble at the entrance to the capital, but I handed the gatekeeper the bottom of my sleeve and he let me through. At this point, I realized that the security of this capital is a monkey. It's not.
　The capital of the city of Haylon was a very Chinese taste of the city. A row of houses with tiled roofs and red pillars, and high towers can be seen. Stalls lined the streets, and things like lanterns were hanging.
　In the distance, we could see a building that looked like a big castle. It seems to be surrounded by a high wall, though it is hard to see clearly.
　It's a miscellaneous city with all sorts of things lined up. People passing by seem to be somewhat downcast, but I wonder if it is my imagination.

Everyone seems to be looking at me, but...
"All eyes are on the Lord.
That's why you said it was a bad idea.

　Hmm. Well, it can't be helped. If you get tangled up in it, that's the time.

"So, what do you want to do?
Tsubaki-san, I want you to gather information on the Ironmasters. Amber, you're Tsubaki-san's guard. I want you to find out where the Iron Machine Soldiers are, who made them, and so on. You don't have to go after them in depth, I can just gather them before nightfall. Call me if you need anything.
I understand.
I'm on it.

　Tsubaki-san and Amber disappear into the hustle and bustle of the city.
　I decide to hear rumors about the Shin-Tien-Emperor from the people in town.

''I suppose the bar is the basic place to gather this kind of information.

　But the sun is still high. I'll go to some restaurant and ask around. Well, I haven't had lunch yet.

'Err ... ah, that's fine.

　We headed to a stall that had set up shop at the end of the road and sat down in the field. There was a menu list on the table, but the name of the dish I'd never heard of and I didn't really know what it was about. What's that, "meat ramekins". I guess it's something with meat in it, but what kind of meat?

What can I get for you?

　A shopkeeper in the stall called out to me. The effect of the mask or something suspicious.

''Ah, well, one of these meat lamein'
Yeah, meat-lamein'.

　While I was waiting for my food, I was looking at the streets as they came and went, when I suddenly noticed something strange. There seemed to be fewer women and children in the streets.
　Instead, I often saw soldiers wearing special shoulder pads with the head of a dragon in the shape of a dragon. Those are the soldiers of this city, right?
　Are they on guard duty because of some incident?

Yeah, meat-lamein'.
...Char siu meng?

　When I saw the noodles in the Dombri that came out, I mumbled to myself. Is it ramen? No, it's not. The noodles are thin and short. It's more like Somen.
　I took a sip of the soup with a spoon, but it was very thin. The noodle was not good taste either. Is it hospital food? But the pork chashu was hard and had a crunchy texture like beef jerky. Oh, do they soak it in the soup to make it soft? Just a little bit. ...and it's hard.
　Let's just eat this as beef jerky now. The more I chewed, the more it tasted...tasted...tasted...like...rubber.
　I mean, what kind of meat is this in the first place........?

Owner, what kind of meat is this...?
Troll shins...
No more fishing!

　He slams the copper coin and gets out of his seat.
　What kind of thing did you make me eat........ What kind of an order.....
　I can't help but cry when I hear lines like that. In a different way.
　This place is close to the Demon Kingdom of Xenoas, so I wonder if that kind of food culture is mixed in here. I heard that when you become a nobleman of a certain rank, like Sakura or Spica-san, you don't eat so-called demonic beast meat. It's simply because it's not very tasty.
　But we eat dragon meat too. It's much better than troll shins. If the dragons weren't strong enough, they would be hunted down, I think.
　I'd like to have something to drink to cleanse my palate, but I don't want to walk into a store and drink something strange again. I sit down on a stone in a nearby storefront, take out a water bottle from the "storage" and drink some nondescript water. I didn't know that mere water could taste so good. Hmm?

Where are they? They can't have gone far! Find it!

　It's something hectic. Soldiers are running around the city. Looking for someone? I wonder what's going on.

'Hey, dude! I haven't seen you around here before! What's with that mask!

　One of them approached me. Well, I'll call him. It's suspicious.

'I'm a travelling adventurer. This mask has burned my face in the past.
Are you sure? Take it off!

　A little annoyed with the soldier who commanded him to be so commanding, he secretly poured the Mirage on his face under the mask. After pasting a phantom that looks like it's blazed with burns with all my might, I took off the mask. I change my bare face a bit with the illusion as well.

Ugh..... Wow, okay. That's enough.

　The soldier flinched at the horrifying look on his face. I felt a little depressed, so I put on my mask again and asked the soldier a question.

What in the world happened to you? You seem to be making a lot of noise.
"I'm in pursuit of people who fearfully attempted to kill His Majesty. "Fearfully, we're after people who are trying to kill the Emperor. They are probably in the hands of another false emperor.

　Oops. Did Euron's famous assassins get sent here?
　Whatever it was, they were attacked in the courtyard of the castle. I think there must be a problem with the security of the castle for them to have broken in to that extent. It was prevented by the Heavenly Emperor's guards, but the culprits apparently escaped.

''Among the three who broke in, the stick-artist was wounded by a slash to his right shoulder. If you see anyone suspicious, let me know immediately.

　The soldier just said it and walked away quickly. It's still a country of things.
　If I say it's irrelevant, it's irrelevant. It's also said that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and I might be able to get some information from them.

Can we search for it?

　It's conspicuous (maybe it's too late now), so instead of doing an aerial projection, I open the map on my phone and adjust the scale to Haylon's capital.

'Search. Person with an injured right shoulder.
End of search.

　Oh, it's done. If it's just an injury, it's not obvious from the exterior, so that means this hit guy is already deep enough to know that he's injured by his appearance, or he's bare shoulder.
　I thought he might be using recovery magic to heal his injuries, but apparently none of his friends can use light-attribute magic. Maybe they don't have any potions either.
　Anyway, let's go for it. I don't want to get self-destructed like the last assassin, though.

This way.

　Off the street, down a back alley, we came to a road with few people and a dense bamboo forest.
　It would be fun to see a panda or something. No, pandas in this world can't be decent. They'd have to be weird, like four arms or use kung fu anyway.
　I was walking down the street thinking about this, but I stopped in my tracks.
　There they are. Two people ahead of me, and one other presence. I'm not going to be able to get a good idea of what I'm talking about. Is it up there?

'Hah!
Oops...!

　I ducked the blow of the attacker who fired a flying kick from inside the bamboo forest with a paperweight.
　Landing as it was, he landed, dealing with the fists of his transformed opponent's successive fists to the right and left, and dodged more flying spinning kicks with a backstep to keep his distance.
　I couldn't recognize her because she was wearing a pitch-black hooded robe, but from her voice, she seemed to be a woman.
　I confronted her from a distance. The woman in the robe unleashed a palm bottom from a medium stance. Eh!

Haha!

　I crossed my arms to catch the impact that flew at me. This is........a jujin!
　As if to fold, the opponent's fist, which approached through the gap, stormed into my arm.
　I bent down to avoid the fist, and I paid off his leg as it was. In response, my opponent lost his balance and dropped backwards in a backward motion, taking a stance again. With that bounce, the hood fell back and the woman's face was exposed to the sun.

''Ah──! I knew it!
!

　I was surprised to see a woman of the dragon race who suddenly shouted and started pointing at me, and backed away a little.
　It was Sonia Paralem, the same Sonia Paralem who had fought a fierce battle with Else during the Pruning Ceremony at the Great Sea of Trees.

'What's wrong with you, here! Oh, by any chance, the injured stick-artist is Rengetsu!
Who are you?
'What? Oh yeah. This doesn't make sense.

　Not with the mask on. I untied it behind my back and took off the mask.

"Hey, it's me!
Who are you?
Huh?

　A jittery Sonia-san is surprised to see my face. Oh, I forgot to deactivate the 'Mirage'!
　I hurriedly deactivate the illusion that was plastered on my face. Sonia-san has a magic eye that can see through illusions, though. You can't understand it unless you activate it. Well, so do Yumina and His Holiness the Pope.

''It's me. Fuyao Mochizuki.
'Lord Winterfellas!

　I think she finally understands. But why would Sonia be in Euron's presence?