'Let's introduce ourselves again!　This is Mochizuki, Takeru, my uncle from Winter Nights!　Take care of it!

　It's a good thing that you're able to have a good time with your friends.
　It's a good thing that he is an older brother in age, but both Hanakoi and Morobane sister refused to have a hot brother like that, and so they forcefully made him their uncle. In other words, he became the younger brother of Uncle Kosuke, the god of agriculture.

''Hey Fuyao........Your 'uncle' means that's what you are, right?

　Else next to me speaks to me in a whisper.

''Ah, yes.... It seems to be a god of warrior gods. It's a god of martial arts and fighting. Mainly unarmed techniques...

　I was about to say, I looked at Else's sparkling eyes and said, "Shucks," and kept my mouth shut.
　But it's already too late. Else quickly went to her uncle Takeru's place and quickly exchanged greetings.

''Hm. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work. Are you a martial artist too?''
'Yes. My name is Else, Winter Night's fiancée. Could you give me some pointers?
'Hahahahaha!　Interesting!　If she's my nephew's wife, so is my niece!　I'm going to start my discipleship training now, so come with me!
Yes!

　Oops. Yae and Hilda were taught a lot of things by Sister Morobane, but Else was different on her own, so she was only taught basic body movements.
　That's what would happen if a god of martial arts came there and showed up.
　...Good for you, Ende. We have made a friend.

You're welcome to train with them, but just be careful.
I know. Thank you.

　Smiling, Else clenches her fist. Is it okay? I'm sure Else is becoming a family member, so I'm sure she won't get hurt a bit too easily.

Good!　So, you two, first of all, you have to practice your heaven-sent fist technique like a rising dragon!　Let's head to the falls now!
Yes!
'Oh, hi...'

　In contrast to Else, who replies cheerfully, Ende replies with a drawn-out face. Are you okay, that guy.
　Uncle Takeru puts his hand on their shoulders, and in an instant, the three of them disappear from the spot. Did they transfer to some waterfall? Anything is possible, even if it's humanized.

''Oh dear.......I thought I had gotten used to it a lot, but there are some extraordinary relatives of His Majesty.......''

　The reason why the Prime Minister, Mr. Kosaka-san, stated that was because of the one-on-one battle between Uncle Takeru and Sister Morobane that took place earlier, with the Knights looking on.
　It's difficult to put that battle into words. A tremendous exchange of skills and techniques. I'm sure that only everyone in the divine race, including me, was able to follow with their eyes what was going on.
　The game was stopped by the mediation of the hunting god, sister Karina, after deciding that any more games would cause damage to the surroundings.
　But how can you handle Morobane sister's sword with just those gauntlets equipped in both hands like that....... Although it's an edged sword for training, as expected of a god of war.

''Sister, will you be okay........''

　Linze let out a voice of concern for her disappeared sister. With a pop on her shoulder, sister Hanakoi smiled as she lightly tapped her shoulder.

''It's okay. He is an idiot in training, but he thinks about that part properly. I'm sure he won't force Else-chan to do anything.
'And he's sweet on the girls. I'm tough on guys for that, so if anything, I'm more worried about him going with them.

　As Hanakoi sister continues her words, Morobane sister talks about such things. Ende.........come back alive.......




''Ah, I want to eat sushi.........''
Ossi?

　Yumina looks up from the book she was reading and asks me. Oh, it was out loud.
　I was surfing the web on my phone and saw a website for a famous sushi chain and I couldn't help but say it out loud. It was partly because I hadn't been relaxing in the castle in a long time, so I was loosening up.

'What's Oshi?'
Here it is.

　I show Yumina the picture on my phone screen. There was a line of colorful nigiri sushi.

'It's beautiful. Is this some kind of meat?'
'It's mostly fish meat. They put it on top of sushi rice and eat it together. It's the typical food of my country. It's the typical food of my country, and it's often eaten on celebrations.

　Well, I wonder if there is no Jushi in Yisheng. I've never seen it. I have never seen even wasabi (Japanese horseradish). Nigiri sushi has already existed in the Edo period, hasn't it? It's called "Edo-mae Sushi". Hmm, the early Edo period and the late Edo period were very different... or rather, it was a different world to begin with.
　According to some research, nigiri sushi was invented in the Bunsei era. How many years is Bunsei.......1818-1830? I guess it's the late Edo period.
　It was the Warring States period until just recently, is it natural that there are no nigiri sushi in Yisheng? There might be Nare-zushi, but....
　As I was thinking about this while looking at my phone, the screen suddenly switched and let out a vibration that announced an incoming call.
　The words "Incoming Gekkoukan, Silhouette" appeared on the screen.
　Is it from Silhouette-san from the underworld?　Could it be...!

'Yes, hello. It's Winter Night.
'Oh, there's a connection. I've got a reaction. It's a mutant.
'　Time, number, and rank?
''About six hours later, the number is around a hundred. Mostly small reactions, but they say there are three slightly larger ones.

　I knew he was coming. Three intermediate types and a hundred lower types..... It's not a big number for frame gear. But if I had to deal with flesh and blood, I'd need at least five times that many. Furthermore, the middle-grade species would be difficult to deal with without powerful golems.
　That's just fine. You can be a training partner for the new pilots over there.
　I asked Silhouette to email me the location of the appearance of the Red Cat, and then I called the deputy chief, Esto, to ask for his help, since I wasn't sure if Nia, the Red Cat, would be able to convey the information properly. We've already lent out a frame unit to the Akaneko, you see. I'm sure some of them are already ready to ride.

''How many people do you need?''
''This time, there are three mid-grade species and the rest are all lower-grade species, and there aren't too many of them, so we'll be fine with ten of them. Our goal is to defeat them, but one of our goals is to get them used to fighting with Frame Gear.

　I asked Est-san to agree and hung up the phone. I looked up and met eyes with Yumina.

'A mutant species has emerged?'
In the underworld. Since there aren't many of them, I thought I'd have them be Nia and the others' practice partners.
'I'll go with you. You never know what's out there.
Thank you. You're very helpful.

　With that, Yumina went to call someone. There's no way they're all going to slink off together, and they're probably going to bring along Lou per se. And then she brought Leanne with her. And of course Paula the bear is with them.

'We're the support this time, and I thought it would be better to have the means to get there from a distance. Besides, Lou seemed to be busy in the kitchen.
I'm just bored and that's fine.

　I got it!　And then Paula slaps his chest. 'No, I appreciate the sentiment, but you're not worth it.

''Come on Red Ball, too. I might borrow the 'eyes' of my family members over there.
"As you wish.

　The red ball that had been perched on the balcony railing stops on my shoulder with a rustle. The underworld has unleashed its subordinates under Red Ball all over the world. It's easy if you borrow their 'eyes' and use the 【Gate】 to transfer them.
　I store the frame gear from Babylon's 'hangar' in 【Storage】 and prepare everything in place.

All right, let's go.

　Pulling Lean with Yumina and Paula in his arms, he crossed the world's walls in one fell swoop with [Different Space Transition].
　In an instant, I arrived at the abandoned fort that was the hiding place of Nia and the other 'Red Cat'. Incidentally, this fort's ward of human avoidance has been strengthened from the first time. I found a good magic tool, an artifact, in the storehouse, so I used it.

''Oi, isn't it Fuyao-san? Shuto-, Fuyao-san is here!

　A ponite girl, Yuni, who spotted us appearing in the courtyard, went to call her own boss.
　Yumina has been here before, but this was her first visit, and Leen was looking at the ivy-infested abandoned fort with great interest. Paula was moving around at Leen's feet, chomping at the bit and chomping at the bit and chomping at the bit and chomping at the bit and chomping at the bit and chomping at the bit and chomping at the bit and chomping at the bit and chomping at the bit.
　The "Red Cat" people around her also said, "What was that? I'm not going to be able to tell you what to do," he said, giving Paula a look as if he were looking at a rare animal (well, a rare animal, if you can call it that).
　It's a good thing that you don't have to do this, but Paula also waves her hand in response, so the people on the other side of the room are waving back and forth with a drawn-out smile on their faces.

You're here!　Oh, there's a face I don't see?

　Nia emerged from the tent in the back and tilted her head to look at Leanne, her red twin-tails swinging. Rouge, the 'red' crown, also appeared after Nia.

''It's Lean. I'm one of his fiancée. Nice to meet you.''
''Ah, one of Winter Night's wives? Heh........

　Nia stared at Leanne, then turned her gaze to Yumina next to her. After that, she sent an indescribable gaze to me somewhat.

''Hey, Fuyao........ Are you that kind of hobby?
Wait a minute, what do you mean?

　I'll wait for Nia's unheard words. You've got it all wrong, Oi!

I know. I mean, Lou is a long way down from where he was last time.
You know what?　Even though she looks like this, Leanne is older than I am!　Mistakes, ah, ta-da!
You don't want to give out too much personal information, do you, darling?

　Leanne pinches her arm and she jumps up involuntarily. Ouch!　You didn't seem to care about your age too much, and now you care about it at a time like this!
　It's true that Lean is no different than Lou and Yumina if only for looks. Is it any wonder Nia thinks so?　No, no, it's better to clear up any misunderstandings as soon as possible.

''I'm of a race called the fairy race. I have a long life span.
Oh, yeah. I thought it was the same as the 'black' one.
Hmm?　By "black" you mean the Norn?　Engineer Elka's sister?

　I interrupt Nia's words. 'Red' and 'black'. Well, Yuri said before that they are rivals or something.....

"What do you know? What do you know about that guy?
I know. I followed the Elka engineer to my world. Now he's in my castle town.
What!　He's getting into that world?　It's not fair!　Take me with you!
'Well....'

　He's starting to get nasty again. Help, Mr. Est!

There you go again. I thought about it, and then I told you to talk.
Aye!　Gotcha!　Ouch!　Ahead!

　You can't say you heard my heart cry, but Mr. Esto appeared behind Nia and chopped into his red haired twin-tail in rhythm.

'Hello, Mr. Est. How are you getting ready?
We have all ten of them, just like you said. This time Nia, myself and Yuni will accompany you. Yuri and Rouge will stay here.

　Ignoring Nia, who was squatting with her head down, Est-san and I talked about the future.
　Paula comes up to Nia and asks her if she's OK?　He tilted his head.

''Hey, what's this stuffed animal?　Are you a golem?
That's Paula. Well, she's a magical golem, I guess.

　Oss!　Paula raised her hand to Nia. Nia picked up the Paula and held her up stiffly, looking at her from the side and turning her over and moving her around. Stop it!　Paula went wild.

You're good at this. You're just like a real creature.
It took me 200 years to make it that way.
'Two hundred years!'

　Paula escaped from Nia's surprised hands. She ran underneath Leanne and clung to her legs, "Te Te Te Te," she said, "I'm sorry. Don't scare me.
　I open my mouth again for Est-san.

'We still have time, but let's move over there first. And there's some discrepancy in the appearance. I don't think it's going to shift that much, though.

　There's a reason why I said that. In fact, the point of appearance this time is in the country called 'Mage Kingdom Isengard' in the underworld (in the surface world, it would be around the Restia Knight Kingdom), which is very close to the northern part of this country, a place called the town of Jeene.
　In the unlikely event that a mutant species emerges too quickly, there is a possibility that this town could be attacked.
　The Freys had attacked humans to find the nucleus of the King. However, the mutant species would eat the souls of humans and turn the eaten humans into crystal skeletons.
　No, the creation of the crystal skeletons is only a byproduct, perhaps converting the souls they ate into energy for the evil gods to hatch.
　Just like a worker bee busily collecting pollen from flowers.....

''Everyone's here!

　When I turned around at Uni's words, there were eight men and women standing there, including Uni. Adding Nia and Est-san to this, there were ten of them.
　The only thing they have in common is that they all wear red bandanas on their heads, arms, necks, or somewhere else. They are generally people I remember seeing here and in the underground hiding place in the Holy City Allen.
　There are about three conspicuous people I haven't seen before, though.
　A thirty-something, mustachioed, soldier-like, ship-eyed man. An Indian-looking woman in her twenties with brown skin and long black hair. And a slender young man, also in his twenties, with narrow eyes.
　The one-eyed man lightly raised his hand and stepped forward, "Sorry, I have a question.

I'm sorry, but I want to ask you a question. I've been told that you are able to find out where the people of this world are by means of some kind of search magic. Is that true?

　At first glance, a man with a vicious-looking face was looking at us with serious eyes. If you look closely, you can see that the Indian-looking woman behind him and the narrow-eyed young man behind him are also looking at me with the same kind of eyes.
　I don't know what they were trying to do, but I felt that I should respond to their seriousness.

'I don't always know. First of all, you'll need a portrait or photo of the person you're looking for, or the memory of someone you know to help you find them. Secondly, if there are magical wards or other objects in the place where the person is, they will be blocked. We don't have a lot of those things in this world, so I don't think that's very likely.
I see. Very well. Now, would it be possible for you to find a certain person for me later?　We will reward you as much as we can. This is our personal wish.

　I turned my gaze to Nia and Est-san and they both gave a small nod. It looks like it's okay to take it on.

'That's fine. As long as it doesn't lead to a crime.
'That's no problem. I appreciate it.

　The three of them looked at each other and gave a small nod, then pulled back quietly. Is there someone out there you'd like to find?
　For now, I borrowed the 'eyes' of the Red Jade's household members and opened the [Gate] to the plains near the town of Jeane.
　Passing through the [Gate], me, Yumina, Lean, Paula and Benidama, and the ten members of the [Red Cat] transitioned to the plains.
　That wide plain was some distance away from the road. It wouldn't be a problem here, even if they got a little out of control. A town could be seen quite far away, but I guess that's Jeane's town.
　Ten heavy knights [Chevalier] from [Storage], and a total of twelve planes, Umina's Brünnhilde and Lean's Grimgelde, appeared on the plain.

''Whoa!　Awesome!

　A few Nia and the others who were excited began to quickly get into the heavy knight 《Chevalier》.
　Hey hey, originally we would have made them crouch down with external controls before getting in........ You're just going to climb in like that? It's too dangerous to crouch down now.
　Until the mutants appear, I'll have them move a little to get used to the real controls. It's probably okay, but it's better to get used to it.

Can I ask you two to instruct the others?
'Yes. I'll take care of it.
It's my pleasure.

　Yumina and Lean also climbed into their respective beloved planes, and the silver and black frame gear activated.

'Red ball, please keep an eye on them from the air.
"Will.

　Well, I guess I'll set up a tent to wait. I may have to stay there for six to ten hours. I've got to prepare a meal.
　Oh, I want to eat sushi.