Good girl. Good girl. Enjoy your meal.
Meow.
"Phew!

　The proprietor of the tavern shows a broken face. She was giving the leftovers of her customers to a stray-looking black cat and a black dog in front of the shop after nightfall, but she went back inside the shop as the new overnight guests arrived.
　The black cat "Bastet" and the black dog "Anubis" had infiltrated the magician city of Steele, which is said to be the second capital of Isengard.
　All sorts of information are flying around in the taverns and inns. The two scouting golems never fail to hear the information, even while eating outside the shop. However, neither of them need to eat any bait.

It's a good thing that you don't need to eat this stuff, sister.
"Don't mock kindness. It has the added benefit of being friendly and informative.
"Hey.

　That's about it, said Anubis, gobbling up the rest of the bait with a gulp. This kind of food isn't entirely useless, as the magic glimmering furnace in his body turns it into a power source ether.
　Despite appearing to be engrossed in the food, his ears were still listening to the gossip inside the tavern.

''I heard that the village in Nam was attacked by a golden beast.''
'Really? What were the Mage Knights doing?
I heard they got their asses kicked. How many villages and towns have been attacked by golden beasts?
"I don't know. A lot of things have been strange since the day of the meteor shower.

　The golden beast is probably a mutant species. It seems that several villages and towns have already been attacked.

''There are also rumors of golden skeletons marching through the streets at night...''
'What's that? Where are you going?
"Looks like it's a bit of a southerly thing.
South Isenberg?

　To the south of here is the capital of this country, the industrial city of Eisenburg. Due to the rampage of the giant demonic golems, Hecatoncaire, the Industrial City has been on the decline.
　Of course, that was not the only reason, but also the death of the Mage King, an almost dictatorial one-man king, and the lack of a replacement for him.
　As is usual in a country that has lost a dependable leader, a battle for succession broke out, and the nobles spent their time in a war of power, neglecting the affairs of the people.
　None of the aristocrats extended any help to the people who lost their homes, jobs and families due to Hecatoncale, and as a result, the people abandoned the city in anger and despair.
　More and more people are leaving the city every day, and now it seems that it is doubtful that it can be called the capital.

Is it cursed by His Majesty the Magus King?
'Don't do it, it's not a good omen.'
"One way or another, this country's doomed. I think we're better off running to Galdio or the Strain. There are still ships out there, but they could disappear at any moment. This country has been cut off from the rest of the world.

　In fact, more and more people were fleeing Isengard.
　People's anxiety caused rumors to be exaggerated, which in turn caused even more anxiety, casting a dark shadow over the country.

''I'm worried about the skeletons that say they headed south.
So, what's next?

　The black cat and the black dog discuss with each other in a voice that humans can't hear.

''If that's true, then there are definitely mutants involved. We can't afford not to look into it. Let's go.
I'm sorry.

　Bastet and Anubis walked with him out of the town. No one cared about it.
　As they entered the darkness of the night, Bastet jumped on Anubis's back with a flutter.
　Anubis runs off with unusual speed. As it was, the two animals disappeared into the darkness of the night.
　As a side note, this is rumored to be the 'Shadow Running in the Dark Night', and the two animals are unknowingly increasing the anxiety of the people of Isengard.


　　　　　　　　　　◇ ◇ ◇


I don't know, but it means we've come full circle!

　It was two hours after Prince Zanberto of the Rase Armed Kingdom, who had been sleeping in our bed for a long time as a compensation for the spatial transfer, woke up two hours after Prince Zanberto of the Rase Armed Kingdom had been completely defeated by Yae, Hilda, and Lou, following Ende and Else.
　After losing so many times in a row, one would think that the Rase Martial Kingdom wasn't much of a big deal, but in this case, they must be crazy.... They're at a level where they can easily defeat Elder Dragon or something like that by themselves.
　I don't mean to say it, but I can't help but feel that our knights could probably beat this prince half the time. They're the ones who receive training from Morohana sister every day.
　Prince Zanberto's heart was broken, but I thought he was going to be quite depressed, but my expectations were reversed, he became very excited, and towards the end, I think he was losing with a half-hearted feeling of desperation.
　In the end.

"I've learned the hard way how weak I am. All I have to do now is to work hard and aim for the top!

　And he looked rather refreshed, though.
　Well, if he was satisfied, he didn't say anything.
　I handed Prince Zambert, who seemed satisfied, a letter of intent addressed to the King of the Lase Armed Kingdom, and the group left again with Blau's spatial transfer.
　I'm sure Robert will have another blast over there. What a useful but inconvenient ability.
　We were about to return to the castle as well, when our phones alerted us to an incoming call.
　It's His Majesty King Lefan of the Kingdom of Egret. What is it?　I wonder if there's that giant squid tentacle again.

'Yes, hello,'
Oh, King Brunhild!　I'm sorry, could you come over here at once?
What's going on?
There's an unidentified vessel heading this way from the southwest sea. We've scouted it from the air with our Ruf, and it appears to be an armed vessel.

　Ruf is a giant bird that is used in Iglet. An armed ship ... a warship?　Or is it pirates?
　Southwest......... I call up the New World Map and check it. Don't tell me it's this 'Devil's Country Helgaia'?
　Ever since I found out that the two worlds overlap, I've been collecting information about the countries in the underworld to a certain extent. After forming a cooperative relationship with Silhouette-san from The Black Cat, I was able to gather more detailed information. That's why I have a certain amount of knowledge about the Devil's Country of Helgeia.
　Hellgaia, the Majin Kingdom. The island country where the sub-human race called 'Majin' lives.
　In this case, the 'demon' is like the 'demon race' as we say on this side. Among the races that are close to the human form, the so-called sub-human races, such as war wolves, alraune, vampires, and ooga, the races that are close to demonic beasts fall under this category.
　Unlike goblins, kobolds, and minotaurs, who are unable to communicate with each other, they have a proper culture and education, but it seems that they have a history of being persecuted because of their appearance, just like the demon race on this side.
　Hundreds of years ago, a vampire who claimed to be the King of Demons founded the country of demons, Helgaia, and began activities to protect the demons from persecution.
　Perhaps because he didn't like it, some countries started a war to destroy Helgaia, but the Majin-King defeated all of them, and nowadays no one does anything about it.
　Because of this, the number of "demons" (demon race) in the underworld is extremely small. This is because most of the demons are in Helgaia. In fact, I've never seen a race of demons in the other world.
　Although Helgaia is smaller than the Demon Kingdom of Xenoas, it is a rich tropical island just like Igrette, so I heard that the demons are living happily.
　Are the armed ships that are currently heading to the Kingdom of Igrette a warship from Helgaia?
　But Hellgaia felt like the same as Demon Kingdom Xenoas, it felt like a 'buy the fight that's sold, but don't sell the fight from us' stance.
　Anyway, can't we just leave it alone?




'I'm sorry. "I'm sorry, but I'm dealing with a country from another world, and I'm going to need the help of my mediator, the king.
I don't remember being that mediator, though...

　Standing on the sandy beach of Igrette, which is as beautiful as ever, I was looking out beyond the sea with the [Long Sense] that I had amplified with [God's Eye].
　There's definitely a ship coming towards us. Two ships. That's a black hull with a cannon on board too, that one. The black ship is coming?
　Moreover, that ship, in addition to having a sail, has a large outer ring on both sides. There is no chimney, but is that a steamship?　No, as long as there's no steam, it's not a steamer.
　Maybe it's a ship with Golem technology.
　There's some kind of coat of arms on the sails, but I wonder if it's a Hellgaia coat of arms?

'It's not like they've been attacking you all along, but what do you want to do?
'Mm. But my people are frightened. I want to know what they're up to first.

　King Iglet, standing beside him, opens his mouth. The great man, whose body had a distinctive tattooed flesh, wore a Native American-like national costume in his attire and stared out across the sea.

''For now, why don't you give the order to stop the ship?　And if that doesn't stop you, it means you're not going to listen to us.

　As Hilda, who followed Iglet together, says, it's true that the first step is dialogue. And depending on their reaction, we need to change our response as well.

''What will you do if they attack us?''
''Hmm, since they attacked us, there's no reason for us to stay quiet, but I don't understand the situation, and when I think about the future of Helgaia and Igrette, I think I'm going to capture them rather than kill them.
Hmm. I'm thinking the same thing. I wouldn't hesitate to do it if it was clear that it was an invasion.

　King Iglet and I give our thoughts on Else's question.
　From my information, Helgaia should not be a country that would invade on its own. I think it's probably safe.

'I'll go and talk to them anyway.

　Activating 【Fly】, he took off from the beach. In the blink of an eye, when I reached the sky above the two ships, I deployed my non-attribute magic [speaker] in front of the ships this time and let out a voice of warning, ''Ah, ah.

''I'll tell the two black ships over there. From here onwards, we are in the waters of the Igrette Kingdom. Immediately stop the ship and send a message to the messenger on a small boat.

　In the middle of our conversation, he fired the bow cannon at me. Oh come on, this is not a very friendly attitude, is it?　You may have thought I was a flying suspicious person, but not out of the blue.

'We'll overlook the current attack, but we'll take the next attack as a declaration of war on us. I want you to listen to me first. Once again, I will tell you. I want you to stop the ship and follow my instructions. We will discuss the matter with you.

　I'm in the middle of a conversation and there's a guy on deck yelling at me, pointing at me. I don't know if it's him or not, but he just keeps on yelling at me.　Don!　And twice, the cannon was fired again.
　You bastard. You're not going to talk to me. This is a perfect way to sell a fight, isn't it? 'Shoot it down!' on deck. Break it up! And there are people screaming about it.
　Even if I catch them, I'll give them a bit of a scary look...

"Come, O Darkness, I seek the Kraken, the champion of the deep sea.

　Two huge shadows appeared behind the black ship. Many undulating tentacles crawled up the hulls of the two ships, and the sailors began to flee in fearful cries.
　Clinging to the back of the hull, the Kraken stopped the ship's movement completely. He ordered the ship with a telegraphed order not to destroy it, just in case. But this isn't the end of the story.

''Come, O darkness, I seek you, soldier of the abyss, merfolk.''

　This time, a group of half-scaled fishermen with three-pronged spears, the Trident, crawled up from the sea and rushed into the ship.
　Merfolk are sea-dwelling demons, but they can also operate on land for short periods of time, and although they are not as powerful as those in the sea, they are more effective in battle.

Hey!
Ohhhhhhhhh...

　The sailors confronted the attacking merfolk with their swords drawn and released, but they couldn't pierce their hard scales, and one by one they were incapacitated.
　This one ordered them not to kill them either, but to capture them. With a sense of familiarity, the merfolk tied the sailors up with the ropes that were on the ship.
　Eventually, after the ship was completely under control, I noticed one strange thing.
　There were no sub-humans among the sailors on board. Could they have been pirates and not a Helgaia warship?
　He landed on board and had the man who had ordered the sailors to bring him to the Merfolk.
　He was a big, bearded man, and when I say pirate-like, I mean pirate-like.

'You are the captain of this ship? Why did you ignore my orders to stop?
Who are you.... A monster king's pursuer?
The Witch King?

　That's what the Demon King is, the king of the Demon Kingdom of Helgaia, right? Are these guys being chased by the pursuers?
　I was about to ask for more information when I saw one of the merfolk beckoning me through the door leading to the hold. Summons that can't talk, unlike Ember and the others, are inconvenient in these situations. I can communicate with them, so there's no problem.
　Leaving the deck to the other merfolk, I headed for the hold of the ship, where there was a two-meter cubic cage made of iron, plus three women chained to it with silver chains.
　Two of them were brown-skinned women dressed like maids. Dark elves.........?
　The rest of them have long silver hair, red twin eyes, translucent white skin and slightly pointed ears. I can recognize her at a glance because she's in our Order. She's a vampire.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about the fact that you'll be able to find out more about the fact that you're a vampire.
　What she was wearing was also different from the other two, it was an expensive tailored dress. Probably a nobleman.

''...Who are you?　You don't seem to be one of those people.

　The vampire woman glares at me with a hard stare as she says this. But she also shows signs of fright when she sees the merfolk next to her. Well, if a half-fishman like this appeared with me, of course I would be scared. It's a huge explosion of suspiciousness.

"I'm Fuyuya Mochizuki. I'm the king of a country called Brunhild Duchy. What's your name?
'Brunhild...?　I've never heard of this country, but...
'It's a small country. As far as I can tell, you are a vampire, but are you from the demon kingdom of Helgaia?
Yes, sir. I'm Claudia Mila Helgaia. I am the wife of the Witch King Alford Cura Helgaia.

　.........what?