I had the eager Citry ghost take the princess and all her attendants off my hands.
I'd talked about strengthening her training, but there wasn't really time for that. Training was about cumulative effort. No matter how versatile Citry the ghost was, she couldn't accomplish that much. Besides, from a protection standpoint, it was better to have the princess and her attendants stay with Citry's group rather than keeping her near Kruse and me (and Kilnight).
The princess's entourage—her guards and servants—had vehemently protested my decision to essentially dump her on someone else. But when I told them they could all go together, they relented. With their eyes on things, Riiz and the others wouldn't do anything reckless. It was a perfect plan.
It honestly scared me how sharp I was being. Maybe this was the smartphone's power too.
As Citry was leaving, she looked at me with an almost probing expression and asked: "Mr. Krai... about Princess Murina... how far am I allowed to go with her training?"
"I'll send her back right away once the meeting's over, so keep it reasonable."
"...A blood test would be fine, right?"
I had no idea how a blood test connected to training. Not a clue. But looking at the gleam in Citry's eyes, I figured she'd figure something out. At worst, even if the princess didn't get any stronger, as long as the escort mission succeeded, nobody could complain too much. The princess did seem fairly unlucky, so there was a chance her talent was as empty as mine.
Once the ghost was gone and I'd dumped everything off, Kruse—my one remaining companion—covered her mouth and said: "Weakling, you are truly unbelievable, you know."
"The right person for the right job. I am the leader here, you know."
"Then what exactly is this so-called leader doing?"
Kruse's ability to hit you with undeniable logic was genuinely top-tier among everyone I'd ever met. I averted my gaze, pulled the latest smartphone from my pocket, and changed the subject.
"Come to think of it, what are they actually going to talk about at this meeting?"
"...You don't even know that? It's hard to summarize in a nutshell, but... various matters between nations."
I see... various matters between nations.
It was absurdly vague, but there was no hint of evasion on Kruse's face. I was guilty of pretending to know things myself often enough... but wait—did Kruse actually know exactly what this meeting was about?
It seemed that despite being a Spiritfolk, Kruse knew more about human society's common sense than I did. As long as I could defer to Kruse when the topic of the meeting came up, I was safe. I snapped my fingers.
"Alright, we've done everything we can. The rest is free time. Dismissed!"
"Dismissed to do what, exactly?"
"Huh...?"
What do I mean? Sightseeing, fiddling with my phone. Maybe riding the carpet through the sky would be nice too.
We stared at each other. I hadn't said a word, yet Kruse's expression had gone rigid.
"Get to work! The meeting hasn't even started yet!"
"Franz and the others are handling security, so resting up so I can move at any moment counts as work too."
"I don't need excuses! Come on, show me the real power of a Level 8! What am I supposed to tell Lapis in my report?"
Kruse really was something else. And apparently, Kruse had an obligation to report to Lapis. Maybe I was actually being evaluated on my qualifications as a hunter.
I thought back to what I'd actually done this time. All I could remember was being comfortable and playing with the carpet. Even when the Chill Dragons attacked, even when Term and Kechachachka betrayed us, even when I faced the Phantom at the Wandering Inn—I hadn't taken a single proper action. If the report went out like this, Star's Holy Thunder might just leave the Clan.
"...I protected you at least once, right?"
As I timidly said something utterly shameless, Kruse quivered her lips and replied: "Weakling, I protected you too. We're even."
"..."
"And besides, every single time, you pulled the rug out from under me."
I had absolutely no memory of that, but if Kruse said so, then I probably did. I didn't particularly mind if Star's Holy Thunder left—it wasn't like this was a final farewell—but I did seriously rack my brains.
I needed to have some tangible results ready for when Eva and Tino asked how the escort mission went.
"O-Oh right, I helped with the tree planting!"
"Tree planting...? In this country? That'll never work. Countless Spiritfolk mages have tried afforestation in Toaizant and failed. Nobody actually thinks it can succeed."
Kruse's face scrunched up even further. Apparently that answer hadn't impressed her. Well, I had only pawned the sister fox off on them, and there were no results yet anyway.
But she crossed her arms, let out a small sigh, and said in a hard-boiled tone: "You've got to think long-term with tree planting, Kruse. There's no way you'd see results overnight. And saying nobody thinks it can succeed is pretty harsh—they were really giving it their all in that brutal environment. You need to give them at least ten years."
"More importantly, when did you even do this?! You should have called me! I'm one of the forest folk, you know!"
That was a fair point. But the tree planting had been a side gig, so there was nothing to be done about it.
I placated the furious Kruse with a calming gesture. She was born into the Spiritfolk, a race of striking beauty—she should smile more; it was a waste not to.
"Is the man called Thousand Transformations here?!"
A thunderous shout cut through the air. From outside the room. Instinctively, I peered out the window, and saw a huge crowd of men packed in front of the inn.
Brown skin, turbans. Curved swords hung at their waists. Their clothing wasn't shabby, but it was rough.
They were definitely not civilians. It was broad daylight, and this inn was supposed to be a luxury establishment for foreign dignitaries, but they didn't seem to care one bit. What exactly was the state of security in Toaizant? And what had I done this time?
I had to run. I frantically checked both sides. If voices were coming from the hallway, the inn was probably already under siege. The only escape was outside. We were on the second floor—jumping would cost me Barrier Ring durability, but I had my carpet.
Don't underestimate my ability to flee. I grinned and whistled.
I had a contract with the carpet. It was supposed to come whenever I whistled.
"..."
...It wasn't coming. No, wait—maybe it just hadn't heard.
The carpet was staying in the room right next to mine. There was no way it couldn't hear my signal, but the possibility wasn't exactly zero.
"What are you doing, Weakling?"
I whistled over and over, but there was no sign of the carpet arriving. It was probably off canoodling with a female carpet. What a free spirit.
While I was busy with that, the commotion below grew louder.
What should I do?
Kruse furrowed her nicely shaped brow and muttered: "Weakling, those guys are Toaizant's desert soldiers—the regular Toaizant army. Did you do something again?"
"What!? We have to run!"
"!!?"
Just as Kruse said—when I looked more closely, the soldiers' uniforms bore the Toaizant crest.
They looked like bandits or something, but they were definitely regular soldiers. That explained why they could strut around town so brazenly. Still, the need to escape hadn't changed.
It wasn't like I knew what I'd done wrong, but I'd never had a good experience getting involved with another nation's military.
Since I couldn't fly, the window was out. The inn was surrounded. That meant I'd have to disguise myself and slip into the hallway.
They probably didn't intend to use force to subdue us. If occupation was the goal, they wouldn't have drawn this much attention. If I played it right, maybe I could slip away...
At that moment, Kruse wordlessly grabbed my arm. Her captivatingly beautiful eyes were staring right at me.
"...?"
I tried taking a step back, but she showed no intention of letting go.
"...What's wrong?"
"I'm holding on so you can't run away."
"?! Why?!"
It was a betrayal of the highest order. Kruse said nothing, simply sporting a hint of a smug smile.
I tried pulling my arm free, but Kruse—who, despite being a Mage, took her work as a Hunter seriously—was physically stronger than me, a guy who had barely absorbed any Mana Material. She didn't appear to be exerting much effort, but I couldn't get free. She'd found the weakness in my Barrier Ring approach.
"Weakling, you need to start taking your job a little more seriously. You dumped an important mission entirely on Citry—and besides, there's no reason to be running from the regular army."
This was bad. Kruse was dead serious. It seemed my track record of incompetence had finally caught up with me.
Maybe Kruse had actually wanted to be the one in charge of the princess's training.
"Relax. If anything comes up, I'll help you out."
Well... that was about as reassuring as it got.
While I was trying to figure out how to talk my way out of this, the door was getting pounded harder and harder. The regular army worked fast, alright. They knew which room I was in. It seemed I had no choice but to resign myself to this.
I let a small smile creep across my face and prepared to push the job onto Kruse.
"Fine, you win. But I'm going to lean on you hard for help, Kruse."
"Yeah, I know. That's why you'd better show me something a little cool for once."
Kruse answered in my place and opened the door.
The ones who filed in were the same fierce-looking soldiers who had surrounded the inn outside. In particular, the man who entered first wore attire far more splendid than the rest, with several drably colored ornaments dangling from his chest.
Most of his skin was concealed, but the glimpses of flesh visible through gaps in his white cloth revealed a well-developed physique reminiscent of forged steel.
The sharpness of his gaze was incomparable to anything I'd seen in the capital. The man who appeared to be their commander stepped right up to me and spoke in a slightly trembling voice: "So you are Thousand Transformations."
"No."
"That's right. Don't be a sore loser."
Kruse immediately crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. It was just a little joke. Kruse... she was starting to resemble Lucia a bit. Had someone been whispering in her ear?
But what did the Toaizant regular army want? This was my first time visiting this country. I shouldn't have had any grudges here.
The Toaizant soldiers silently scrutinized me as I trembled without showing myself—then, with great vigor, one of them dropped to one knee.
In front of my stunned face, he spoke in a suppressed voice: "On behalf of all the people of the vast Toaizant—I extend my deepest gratitude, Thousand Transformations. You have... you have truly brought green back to this land."
"...Huh?"
What was this guy talking about...?
§ The photograph I was handed showed a forest.
The trees were lush and green, and further back, a single particularly large tree towered over the rest. It was a perfectly ordinary forest.
The only thing slightly out of place was the familiar-looking men pictured nearby.
The men were desert folk. Turbans to shield them from the sun, sun-darkened skin. But their faces seemed somewhat dumbfounded.
After the Toaizant envoy had left, Kruse—who had remained silent the entire time—muttered: "...Weakling, what did you do?"
That was exactly what I wanted to know.
The photograph showed the current state of the tree-planting village where I'd left the sister fox just yesterday.
Just yesterday it had clearly been struggling—what on earth had to happen for it to transform like this in a single day?
If you showed anyone yesterday's scene and today's side by side, nobody would believe they were the same place.
"The sand in this region isn't suitable for growing trees. Even with abundant water, you wouldn't get results like that."
The forest folk said with a serious expression.
It hadn't even been raining—but apparently the sister fox had done something.
This was far beyond mere rain-summoning. Creating a forest in the desert in a single day—who else but the Phantom of a super-high-level Treasure Hall could pull that off?
The fortunate thing was that the Toaizant side was grateful rather than angry. I'd tried to play dumb, but having introduced myself when I brought the sister fox to the village had come back to bite me.
They'd come all this way just to express their gratitude, so greenery must truly be an invaluable thing in this land. If they knew the main reason I'd done it was to dump a dangerous fox on someone else, what kind of faces would they make?
Only Citry and I knew the truth about this. I'd have to take it to the grave.
I put on a hard-boiled smile and shrugged.
"Must be some kind of mistake. I wouldn't know anything about it. This is all the result of their own hard work. They must have lived good, honest lives."
Case closed. No thanks needed. No glory needed. It wasn't even a charitable act.
Kruse stared at me for a long moment, then let out a deep sigh.
"I'll keep quiet about it from Franz and the others. It'll probably come out eventually, though."
For a moment, I didn't understand what Kruse was saying.
But when I thought about it calmly, from an outside perspective, this incident would look like a bodyguard from Zebuldia had gone and done whatever he pleased.
The Toaizant side was happy about it, but it wasn't an action I'd gotten permission for in advance. For the sake of relations between both countries, it would be better to pretend it never happened. That was what I wanted too.
Maybe it was because things had been changing so rapidly one after another, but exhaustion suddenly crashed over me all at once.
At least I hadn't been asked to take on anything new. As long as this didn't lead to some fresh trouble...
Then, suddenly, Kruse clenched her fists and declared: "Alright, Weakling. Let's go get a drink."
I couldn't help but widen my eyes at the sudden declaration. I'd invited Kruse out drinking before, but she had never invited me. Besides, the sun was still high, and we were technically Zebuldia's bodyguards. This was uncharacteristic for the ever-dutiful Kruse.
"Huh? Why?"
When I asked instinctively, Kruse replied without batting an eye: "Because you worked hard. You've got a good story to tell Lapis now, and I'll treat you to a drink as a special reward."
§ § § That day became a special one for the sandy nation of Toaizant.
It was a celebration so momentous that even the planned summit of world leaders, to be held in the sandy nation itself, paled in comparison. The success of the afforestation project—utilizing the Ley Lines, a venture previously thought impossible—was a historic achievement that gave the desert people hope.
Yet almost no one knew that behind it all stood a certain high-level Hunter.
Before the unnaturally dense forest that had sprung up in a patch of the vast desert stretching to the horizon, a desert dweller murmured: "Without a doubt... compared to yesterday—it's spreading. We haven't planted any more trees... and it hasn't even rained... how far will it spread?"