Central district of Krit. One of the bases controlled by the Nine-Tailed Shadow Fox, Gaff nodded with satisfaction at the combat results of his subordinates.
Though fatigue was seeping into his wild features after consecutive days of missions, his eyes gleamed with a sharp light.
"Well done. With this, even the Boss should be satisfied."
A special directive from the Boss. The neutralization of multiple organizations.
It was a difficult task to run in parallel with his original mission. Among the targets for elimination were organizations he had originally planned to use for that very purpose.
The Fox operated from the shadows, keeping its hands clean. Secrecy was maintained precisely because they used the minimum number of personnel.
Gaff had been forced to alter his carefully laid plans.
But he had managed it. No criminal organization could flatly reject a proposal from the Fox.
Drawing them in, sometimes striking directly, the key members of most major organizations had fallen into their hands.
Gaff didn't know what benefits destroying these organizations would bring to the group, but there was surely some deeper calculation at play.
With this, Gaff—Seven Tails, the "Thief King" Gaff Schenfelder—had taken one step ahead of his fellow members in rank.
He had been surprised when shown the Boss's true face, but considering it a token of trust, it wasn't so bad.
He had carried out all manner of missions over the years. For Gaff, who had once led a large band of thieves, intrigue was his specialty.
But now, Gaff was feeling a sense of accomplishment stronger than anything he'd experienced before.
Until now, virtually nothing unexpected had occurred. That was something to be proud of in its own right, but quashing accidents as they arose was also a true test of skill.
One of his subordinates—a man who had served as Gaff's right hand—spoke in a flat voice.
"Still, as expected of the Boss's direct subordinates, they're something else. ...I'd appreciate it if they'd tone down the rampage, though..."
"...Controlling the wild cards takes a certain caliber of leadership. Strong types all tend to carry their share of baggage."
He tried to smooth it over, but the ones handed to him as Boss-direct personnel were on a level of trouble that even Gaff, who had dealt with countless problem cases before, had never seen.
Acting on their own was a given. They slashed targets he'd specifically ordered them not to harm, abandoned their posts, spotted criminals carrying Treasure Weapons and seized them by force—doing whatever they pleased.
The Fox was supposed to be a secret society, but their behavior betrayed not a shred of concern for secrecy. It was honestly miraculous that they'd managed to keep anything hidden.
Regarding the fox that seemed to be "Lantern" and the one that seemed to be "Thousand Transformations"—the Lantern-like fox only did the jobs she was assigned, but her subordinates refused to listen to Gaff's orders and even tried to charge fees for their services.
The Thousand Transformations-like fox had, to make matters worse, even announced her presence in front of the enemy. At least she hadn't gone on a rampage like the others...
And yet, even those troublemakers were equal to or stronger than Gaff's own elite subordinates. The world had truly gone mad.
"Well, for better or worse, Mana Material affects those with strong willpower more intensely..."
That was why Gaff, who had clashed with nations through charisma and martial prowess, had grown stronger. And that was why those brazenly arrogant types were impossibly powerful.
Those with strong willpower were, in a manner of speaking, difficult people. Gaff had to tip his hat to the Boss who could effortlessly assemble and lead such eccentric individuals. If this operation went well, the mask was supposed to be passed to Gaff, but he had absolutely no confidence in his ability to keep those people in line.
In any case, the reason Gaff's team had been able to destroy criminal organizations so swiftly was thanks to the Boss's direct unit.
Without them, they would have been short on combat power. There would have been gaps.
His old habit of trying to make do with the bare minimum of personnel—perhaps the Boss had seen through that weakness of his. He should structure his future operations to handle sudden directives properly from now on.
"Plan X can be left to the other members now. Don't slack off on Plan A either. This is a large-scale operation—the Fox's operation."
"Of course. We haven't received orders to cancel."
Gaff broke into a deep grin, and his subordinate narrowed his eyes.
When the Fox caused an incident, most incidents ended with the mastermind unidentified. But this plan was different.
Plan A was an operation on an unprecedented scale, and it was the Fox's operation. Through this operation, the Fox would make its name known far and wide.
Power had been gathered. The time of hiding underground was over.
It meant the dawn of a new era.
He suddenly recalled a comrade he had once worked alongside—a fellow who had boasted the same number of tails: "Still Water."
His thick arms, his fingers—they trembled. Not from fear. This was a warrior's thrill.
Still Water had been a terrifying Mage.
Vast magical power backed by experience. Holding social status, when it came to human-targeted assassination, no one could match them.
Powerful Mages were rare beings. Because of that, Gaff and Still Water, despite having the same tail count, handled very different tiers of missions.
Gaff only learned of this after the incident, but apparently this plan was originally supposed to open with Still Water's assassination of the Emperor.
But they had been preempted. Still Water had failed.
What exactly had happened—the details hadn't filtered down to Gaff.
Officially, it was said that Thousand Transformations had prevented the assassination before it could occur, but since Thousand Transformations was one of their own, that information had surely been tampered with.
But none of that mattered.
"Still Water failed. But I won't—"
The plan was proceeding with almost no issues. The Boss's support was there too. If he failed now, that would mean—he simply wasn't worthy.
"Come to think of it, they're apparently planning to enter the Martial Emperor Festival—"
"Placing people inside is standard, but infiltrating the Martial Emperor Festival... how far ahead had they been planning this—"
It was a terrifying thought. Even Gaff, as a fairly high-ranking member, had never heard that Thousand Swords or the Lantern Knight Order were allies.
But they had made their move this time. Trust was fragile, and this could truly be called a one-time-only chance. Failure was absolutely unacceptable.
Just then, the subordinate handling information exchanges came rushing in.
"Gaff, we've received communication from headquarters. They're asking about the status of the 'thing' for Plan A."
At the unexpected message, Gaff furrowed his brow.
Plan A depended on the power of a certain item. It had been stored under heavy security in the imperial museum, and its seizure was Phase One of the plan.
"The 'thing'...? I reported the operation's success, didn't I? I've already handed it over to the Boss. The information must be delayed..."
Originating from an intelligence agency, the Fox placed great importance on information. A delay of a few hours was one thing, but information lagging by days was unusual.
It wasn't as if the Boss had forgotten to relay the message— § § § Luke gritted his teeth hard, his expression one of frustrated defeat.
"No good, Krai. No matter how many times I try—I can't charge it!"
Thrust toward me was the suspicious-looking sword-type Treasure Weapon with peculiar engravings that the Fox Mask Appreciation Society had given him before.
Luke was a swordsman through and through. A swordsman, yes—but that didn't mean his mana was zero.
He had tested out most of the sword-type Treasure Weapons in my collection. And unlike me, he didn't rely on Lucia, so he possessed enough mana to charge most sword-type weapons.
Well, if he didn't have it at the time, he would forge and develop it until he did. That was the kind of man Luke Saikol was.
I took the offered sword and held it up to the light.
Shorter than an average sword, it would be terribly unwieldy for a swordsman to use as a main weapon.
"Key of the Earth"
If it was the same Treasure Weapon that had nearly been stolen from the museum, then its powers seemed to be unknown.
The reason it had been designated a national treasure was based on the fact that no similar Treasure Weapon had ever been found, combined with its discovery in a high-level Treasure Hall.
Basically, a Treasure Weapon's power was proportional to the concentration of Mana Material—the level of the Treasure Hall it came from. Most Treasure Hunters had no use for Treasure Weapons of unknown effect, so it was fairly common for weapons to end up purchased by museums for similar reasons.
"...Key of the Earth, Key of the Earth... huh?"
But names had a way of describing what they were. If a weapon with unknown abilities had been given such a name, there had to be a reason.
The newspaper hadn't carried detailed information, but the blood of a Treasure Weapon enthusiast stirred within me.
Perfectly straight like a ruler-measured blade, adorned with patterns—it was thoroughly mystical.
Luke clenched his fist and shouted as though making a declaration.
"Ggh... To think I can't even properly handle a sword—I'm still green! My training isn't enough! But there's no one left to cut!"
"No, this is a key. It's not a sword."
"!?"
Luke's face went blank with shock.
"You and Riz went on a rampage too, you know. Lantern sent a whole list of complaints about it. The tournament's about to start, so keep it together."
Straightening my posture, I locked eyes with Luke and, with a perfectly serious expression, said something that sounded completely plausible despite being entirely made up.
"Luke, do you know what a key needs? The answer is surprisingly simple."
He was a top-tier swordsman who surpassed me in virtually every area outside common sense, but when it came to knowledge of Treasure Weapons, I had him beat.
Luke thought deeply for a moment, then said hesitantly.
"What a key needs... a keyhole?"
"..."
He'd said exactly what I was about to say.
I let out a deep sigh and deflected.
"In other words... this is, well, the key to the door to the future! If it falls into the hands of evil, things would get really bad."
"Wha... what!? The hands of evil!? What are the hands of evil!?"
"Well, you know... like... what is it... the enemy of the world."
"The enemy... of the world!? Where are they!? Can I cut them!?"
Why did he look so excited about this...? I was just making stuff up, saying whatever seemed like it would appeal to him.
Lucia, who had been quietly reading a book, was looking at me with an exasperated expression.
If I talked too much nonsense and Luke took it seriously, that would be a problem. What should I say...
I pondered for a while, then answered cautiously.
"That would be... you know, natural disasters, or something."
"Natural... disasters, huh..."
"...But the strongest swordsman could cut through even a disaster!"
"!!"
Luke was busy being disappointed one moment and fired up the next.
I'd only ended up with the Treasure Weapon because of a misunderstanding. I'd need to return it before leaving this town.
But since I had it in my possession, even if I was going to give it back, I wanted to at least try testing it out in various ways first.
I let out a small yawn, then silently placed the Key of the Earth in front of Lucia.