Magic City Sharia.
On its outskirts, there was a single office.
Inside, a young girl of the Long Ear Race was copying down the contents displayed on a communication stone tablet onto paper.
Her name was Faliastia.
Friends called her Falia or Tia, but the company's executives still hadn't committed her name to memory.
Even so, with the president and chairman both absent, she was the person in charge of the office.
And something Rudeus didn't know was that Faliastia was, in fact, the real name of the elf girl at the reception desk.
"Let's see… from Sylphiette… 'The Sword God has changed, and the previous Sword God's whereabouts are unknown. Nina is pregnant and can't come to support. I'm heading to the Begaritt Continent now'… Should I forward this?"
Her job was to copy onto paper all the information gathered from various locations, and hand it over in an organized fashion when Rudeus or Orsted returned.
However, when she obtained urgent information, she was permitted to forward it to another communication stone tablet at her own discretion.
That said, the information that came through frequently contained words like "god" or "king," and as an ordinary commoner, it was difficult for her to judge their importance.
"The Sword God has changed and the old Sword God is gone — that means there's a possibility he's become an enemy. I should forward this…"
The person who had chosen her for this role was Aisha.
She was a talent handpicked by Aisha under strict criteria.
She had been placed in a position that appeared, at first glance, anyone could handle — managing Orsted's office — yet was filled with information that absolutely could not be leaked.
Falia had been born in the capital of the Magic City Kingdom.
Her father was a wandering adventurer of the Long Ear Race, and her mother was the daughter of a wealthy merchant in the city — a member of the Human Race.
She was the youngest of three siblings.
Because she was a girl, she hadn't been allowed to study commerce.
So she'd never once thought about becoming a merchant. But from a young age, she'd darted around the trading house, growing up watching merchants who were as slippery as sea serpents.
Perhaps it was that foundation that had allowed her to excel when she'd casually taken an information broker course after enrolling in the Magic University.
And Aisha had keenly spotted that quality in her.
There were others even more skilled at handling information than her, but that was based on Orsted's assessment.
In Orsted's experience, she was someone unlikely to become an enemy.
"I should send this to Supard Village first… then, who would be good… Oh, maybe Eris. She's a Sword God, so once she knows, she might pick up on something."
Muttering to herself like this, she sat in the corner of the president's room, facing a communication stone tablet.
Clutching a magic crystal in one hand, Falia struggled with the stone tablet, sending messages to Supard Village and the third city of Heirellr.
A shadow suddenly fell across her back.
"Phew, that should do it… Hmm?"
Falia turned around.
What filled her vision was an enormous body that blocked out everything else.
"Um… and, well, are you a guest of Lord Orsted?"
A torso like a barrel, arms like logs.
Brilliant red skin, topped with a pair of massive horns.
A jaw like a cauldron, from which two long fangs protruded.
It was a member of the Demon Race.
"You — Orsted's woman?"
"Huh?"
"…"
The instant Falia hesitated, the demon swung his arm.
With a tremendous crack, the communication stone tablet she'd just used to send a message went flying.
Straight through the office wall.
"You — my enemy? You wanna fight?"
"N-No, I…"
He thrust his clenched fist toward Falia.
The fist filled her entire field of vision.
A fist that looked twice the size of her own face, with coarse hair on the backs of the fingers and knuckles scarred from countless fights.
And the proof of its power was behind her.
One glance at the wall that had ceased to exist made that clear enough.
What would happen if that fist struck her — that was immediately obvious too.
"N-No, that's not it, that's not it," Falia stammered, collapsing to her knees.
Her legs below the waist had gone completely numb, as though they'd vanished, and she couldn't run.
The only thing left in her head was the desperate will to not die.
"Then get out. I don't fight people who won't fight."
The demon grinned and reached out toward Falia.
"H-Hii!"
As the hand opened and stretched toward her, Falia shrank back.
For a brief moment she thought she'd be crushed, but the demon surprisingly gently lifted her up and tossed her through the hole he'd just made.
"Aaaaaahh!?"
Falia flew at tremendous speed, was hurled outside the office, bounced twice, and rolled to a stop.
"…gh!"
Pain shot through her entire body.
Her brain screamed: Run, run, you'll be killed.
Her body shrieked: I don't want to die, I don't want to die.
Her throat wouldn't form words — only pathetic, wheezing sounds escaped.
Having been slammed into the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of her, she staggered to her feet on trembling legs, like a newborn goat.
She ran a few steps, then fell.
She'd repeated this three times when a thunderous roar echoed from behind.
She turned.
"…ah…"
What rushed into Falia's vision was the office being demolished.
The red demon rampaged, sending wood and stone scattering everywhere, the building losing all recognizable form.
Before she knew it, Falia had forgotten to run and was simply staring, dazed.
Just staring blankly as it was destroyed and reduced to rubble.
She couldn't do anything.
She couldn't have done anything.
Tormented by her own helplessness, she could only watch.
She prayed the red demon wouldn't emerge from the rubble.
She prayed he wouldn't come this way.
Even after the noise had faded and everything had gone quiet, she kept praying.
She prayed, and prayed, until someone who'd heard the commotion came to investigate and took her in.
That day, every teleportation circle that Rudeus Greyrat had set up lost its light.
---
Meanwhile, Roxy and Eris were in a forest.
The third city of Heirellr was a port town.
The seas of this world were, fundamentally, the domain of the Sea People, or the Sea Fish Race, collectively the Sea Race.
Apart from designated sea lanes, creatures living on land were forbidden from even passing through.
A small amount of fishing was permitted near certain port towns, but if anyone strayed beyond those waters, the Sea Race would sink their ship without hesitation.
Heirellr, however, was a bit different.
The sea between this third city and Oni Island belonged to the Begaritt Continent Kingdom.
When the Begaritt Continent Kingdom was founded, they had purged the Sea Fish Race in these waters, claiming the sea for themselves.
Since then, Heirellr had thrived on its fishing industry, offering seafood you couldn't find anywhere else.
…Or so it was supposed to be.
"…I'm getting sick of nothing but fish lately."
"Really? I think it's delicious."
On the outskirts of Heirellr, there was a forest enclosed by fences.
Rather than forbidding entry, the fences were there to keep monsters from emerging from the woods.
The two women walked through the forest, eating dried fish.
"It's delicious, but it's so salty. Why do they use so much salt?"
"Probably for preservation."
"If it's about preservation, why don't they do what Rudeus does — use ice magic?"
"Not everyone can use ice magic, you know," Roxy replied with a chuckle at Eris's grumbling.
Eris was generally not the type to complain about food.
But there really was an abundance of salt-cured fish.
For a town supposedly rich in seafood, it seemed like all they had was preserved food.
The cause, however, had already been identified.
The existence of Oni Island, a day's boat ride from Heirellr.
The men living on Oni Island were outstanding fishermen.
Normally, those fishermen would cooperate with the human fishermen to catch fish around Oni Island.
But currently, the men of the Demon Race weren't fishing.
As though war might break out in the near future, they were pouring all their efforts into preparing for battle.
As a result, the port town had even fewer supplies than usual.
Why the Demon Race was preparing for war had also been thoroughly investigated.
They intended to join the extermination squad.
By the order of their leader — the Demon God.
And the leader of the Demon Race, Demon God Malt, was in the second city of Irel.
Now, they were heading to the cave where the teleportation circle had been set up in order to relay this information to Rudeus.
The transmission of information had been a bit delayed, but
the last time they'd checked the communication stone tablet, a promising report had come in — the Supard Race was recovering, and negotiations had gone smoothly.
There shouldn't have been a sudden deterioration from that point.
"The Demon Race is sworn to protect the Begaritt Continent Kingdom. That covenant is still alive, apparently.
But even so, it's strange that they're in the second city rather than the capital or the third city."
"Guys is probably pulling strings behind the scenes."
"It's too early to jump to that conclusion.
The Demon God himself might simply be inspecting the area. There's still a chance they could become allies, so picking a fight would be unwise."
Even as she said that, Roxy felt a slight sense of unease.
Normally, you wouldn't do this.
Was it an enemy's scheme?
Or was the situation simply not what it seemed…
At the very least, things had been going well.
Rudeus had saved the Supard Race and made them allies.
On the information front, while they hadn't pinpointed Guys's movements, they had located the Demon God.
Perhaps Zanoba in the capital had obtained information on the North God.
Things had been going so smoothly that such hopes seemed reasonable.
Yet, regardless, Roxy had a bad feeling.
A completely baseless bad feeling.
Come to think of it, she'd felt something similar when they'd been trapped in that Teleportation Labyrinth.
The sensation that something crucial was missing despite everything appearing to go well.
More than that, from experience, Roxy knew that whenever she was doing something smoothly, she was bound to stumble.
"Hey, Roxy. Once we finish this report, shouldn't we go meet up with Rudeus soon?"
"That's all you ever think about."
"Well, I want to meet Ruigerd too! I'll introduce you, Roxy!"
"We've already met once, actually."
Ah, that's where this bad feeling comes from, Roxy realized with a bitter smile.
Neither Rudeus nor Eris held any fear toward the Supard Race.
In her own mind, she knew they weren't the demonic race she'd heard about in old stories.
Yet, despite everything, her body stiffened up.
Probably because of those old tales she'd heard repeatedly as a child.
But she would have to meet them.
Ruigerd was Rudeus and Eris's benefactor and comrade.
It was only proper to pay one's respects.
Still, she couldn't help but feel her heart grow heavy.
If they met, talked, and connected, things would probably change…
But what if they didn't… The mere thought of that was what fueled her unease.
"Still, you're right. We should move to the second city and make sure Demon God Malt doesn't relocate elsewhere. That would be worthwhile."
For now, they'd gathered what information they could from the third city.
So leaving their posts briefly to visit Supard Village wouldn't be a problem.
Thinking this, Roxy stopped in front of the cave where the teleportation circle had been set up.
The entrance was a hole just large enough for a person to crawl through, camouflaged with tree branches.
Its original owner — a bear — had attacked when approached, and had been slain and eaten by Eris.
They'd simply reused the spot at a convenient time.
She moved the tree branches aside and entered.
The cave extended about twenty meters inward, with decent space, though the smell of beast was strong.
At the very back, the teleportation circle and a communication stone tablet had been installed.
"…Oh?"
But the teleportation circle was slightly off.
Deep in the forest, where magical energy was dense, the circle should have been perpetually active, glowing blue.
For some reason, its light had gone out.
"What's going on?"
"Hold on a moment."
Roxy calmly examined the circle.
Perhaps she'd made an error and disrupted the circuit…
As she investigated, she found nothing visibly wrong with the circle.
Besides, it had been working perfectly just the other day.
There were no signs of anyone having entered the cave either…
"Hey, this one isn't working either."
At Eris's voice, Roxy looked up.
Eris was crouched in front of the communication stone tablet installed in the corner of the cave.
The stone tablet, too, had lost its light.
Hurrying over, Roxy input a character string and sent magic power through, but there was no response.
"…What on earth is going on here?"
Roxy stood frozen in bewilderment.
Something was wrong. Setting aside the teleportation circle, the communication stone tablet had been made by Orsted himself.
She'd helped replicate it, but it couldn't possibly be defective — it wouldn't just stop working so easily…
"I know what happened."
But Eris didn't seem confused at all.
Did she know the cause?
Roxy looked at Eris as if asking for an answer.
Eris crossed her arms, planted her feet wide, and stared down at the communication stone tablet.
"Something happened!"
"Well, yes… if nothing had happened, this wouldn't…"
Roxy stopped mid-sentence.
Something had happened.
Where?
Not here.
No one had come near this place. She'd properly concealed the entrance, and there were no traces of humans or monsters having entered.
So it was somewhere other than here.
The teleportation circle and the communication stone tablet wouldn't function independently.
If one went down, the other would automatically cease operating.
Everything here was normal.
Then what about the other side?
"Something happened at the office in Magic City Sharia…?"
The face that flashed through Roxy's mind was Lala's.
And then, one after another, the faces of the other children appeared.
Lucy, Ars, Ziqi.
And the ones taking care of them — Lillia and Zenith.
If something had happened in Magic City Sharia, they would be…
"…!"
She scrambled to her feet and made for the cave entrance.
Even if the teleportation circle here was unusable, perhaps another one would work…
But after a few steps, she halted.
What if she were the enemy, and had attacked the office in Magic City Sharia?
What would she do about the other circles?
She wouldn't leave them intact.
She'd destroy every last one.
"What should we do… what can we…"
Was someone handling the situation?
According to the last communication, Orsted wasn't in Magic City Sharia right now.
If something had attacked, was there anyone to defend it…?
"Roxy!"
At Eris's shout, Roxy snapped back to her senses.
"Explain the situation!"
"…The teleportation circle and the communication stone tablet have stopped working.
There's nothing wrong on our end, so there's a high probability that Orsted's office in Magic City Sharia has been attacked.
It's also possible that our home was attacked at the same time.
Right now, there's no one at the home…"
"I see."
Eris had heard enough. She stood up.
"Does Rudeus know about this?"
"He might. Or he might not."
There, Eris paused.
She held her pose — chin tucked, mouth pressed into a tight line.
But she quickly lifted her chin again.
As though she'd found her answer.
"Sylphie's at home, so it'll be fine!"
"Wait — but she went to the Sword God's place…"
"Sylphie said that when Rudeus is away, she'll protect the home herself. So it'll be fine!"
"…"
That's ridiculous. No matter what…
Roxy started to think, but then reconsidered.
She didn't know exactly when the teleportation circle had gone offline.
But Sylphie hadn't used the office's circle.
She'd traveled using an ancient teleportation ruin.
If that was the case, she might not be able to reach the Begaritt Continent Kingdom, but returning to Sharia would still be possible.
There was nothing to do but trust her.
"…Yes, you're right."
And then there was Pergius.
He was hard on Roxy as a member of the Demon Race, but he was close to Rudeus and had even named Ziqi.
She didn't know how he would act, but there was a whistle at the house to summon Pergius's subordinates.
Lillia would use it if anything happened.
And that wasn't all.
Just in case something like this might occur, Rudeus had summoned Leo.
If Leo did nothing now, there would be no point in having summoned him.
There were still plenty of sources of reassurance.
The mercenaries were still around,
the engineers at the Zanoba Trading Company were there,
the professors at the Magic University would help if it came to that.
Thinking this, Roxy felt somewhat reassured.
There was nothing else to be done.
After all, there was nothing the current Roxy and Eris could do.
"Then let's go!"
"Yes, let's."
Staying here wouldn't change anything.
What they needed to do right now was obvious.
They needed to deliver the information they had to those who needed it.
Of course, they were worried about the children living in Magic City Sharia.
Not just Roxy — even Eris was fighting the urge to rush home on foot, if she could.
Swallowing that impulse, the two began to move.
Their destination was where Rudeus should be.
Supard Village.
---
Meanwhile.
Zanoba was anxious.
Rudeus hadn't returned.
The extermination squad was steadily completing its preparations, and departure was imminent.
Rudeus had set off for the Supard Race's village with two soldiers in tow.
He was the master, after all — Zanoba had assumed he'd use every trick in the book to win over the two soldiers and forge a peace agreement.
Had negotiations broken down?
The communication stone tablet had clearly read "Persuasion successful."
The signature was Orsted's, so there was no room for doubt.
Then why?
Could he have been ambushed by an assassin along the way?
Or perhaps he'd run into trouble during the journey and been delayed?
There was no way he'd be sightseeing in the second city out of a sense of security.
But if things continued as they were, the extermination squad would set out in about ten days.
Should he wait?
Or should he act?
After agonizing over it, Zanoba decided to act.
He would use the teleportation circle to go to the Supard Race's village and verify the truth for himself.
Once he'd made his decision, Zanoba moved quickly.
He gathered Ginger and Juri, packed up the inn,
and rushed to the cabin where the teleportation circle was installed, arms full of belongings.
"Hmm… this is…"
But the teleportation circle and the communication stone tablet had both lost their light.
Zanoba realized immediately.
Something had gone wrong at the office.
After thinking for a few seconds, he reached his conclusion.
"Ginger!"
"Yes, sir!"
"We're heading to the Supard Race's village!"
"Understood! …What about the second city of Irel?"
"We won't pass through it. If the enemy has a base, it's most likely there."
Zanoba stepped outside.
Then, reaching into his breast pocket, he pulled out what was inside.
A whistle.
A golden whistle engraved with a dragon motif.
Without hesitation, he blew it.
A soft rush of air.
But nothing happened.
No one came.
"Damn — it really is too far. Ginger! Juri! Was there a monument to one of the Seven Great Powers nearby?"
"I don't recall one."
"I didn't see one!"
They weren't the only ones who could operate a teleportation circle.
He'd wanted to contact Pergius and request his aid, but…
"There's no other option! If you see one on the way, let me know immediately! We're heading straight to the Supard Race's village!"
"Yes!"
The three of them set off.
Toward the Supard Race's village.