Part One
Attack Operation Preparations Complete
"All right, with this, preparations are roughly in order."
There was still leeway before the deadline, but…
"No, when contacting the Magicians' Association to move things up, we should request with leeway. Adjustments will probably take a few days. I'll make the contact."
… And so the contact was made, the Crafting Artisans' schedules pinned down, and 4/12 was set as the day of action.
About 5 days of leeway opened up.
"Is there anything we can do these 5 days besides training?"
"Indeed, there's the option of doing more monster subjugation than usual.
"Reducing monster numbers makes the attack operation easier.
"Only somewhat easier, mind."
"It'll also serve as monster-combat training — that's good. And studying the characteristics of the monsters in the domain too.
"All right, let's spend 4 days that way and rest the day before."
So, with the breathing room, I spent a little time chatting with comrades and the like.
"… Hmph, finally the attack operation, is it."
First was a chat with Himeno.
"Hmph, this is the first true test of thy worth.
"After Ursula-sama hath done so much to prepare this fight, failure is unthinkable!
"To become Father's successor, success is absolutely indispensable — bear that in mind!"
So Himeno declared.
"Mn. By the way… no prophecies about a Demon God charging in or anything, right?"
"… What's this? Hast thou not even the gumption to think 'mere Demon Gods, I'll drive them off'?"
"Ursula said it, didn't she? Think about what you can and can't do.
"If we end up fighting a Demon God at our current ability, even surviving is doubtful.
"We'd have to consider canceling. So… how about it?"
"… Hmph, I am one of the world's only two Prophecy Princesses, equal to Mother. Relying on me is correct.
"There's nothing to worry about. There's no prophecy of a Demon God attack! … However, careless moves — bringing the one known as Griera into monster territory and the like — could end up summoning a Demon God.
"Take ample care!"
So Himeno informed me.
"Good, thanks. Then we're fine. We'll absolutely succeed."
I smiled.
"Hmph… Of course. The thorough preparations Ursula-sama hath made… I won't allow them to come to nothing!"
"Mm, of course."
… That haughty tone of hers was Ursula's influence, wasn't it. Cute.
"You're close with Ursula, huh."
"Indeed. Ursula-sama is intimate with Father, so she often visited the castle.
"She'd play with me often!
"I deeply respect Ursula-sama.
"… For Ursula-sama, whom I so admire, to acknowledge thee… I cannot accept it!
"I'll definitely peel off thy false face, so be prepared!"
So Himeno declared.
"And so… about the duel with that fool…"
"Fool? … You mean Julian?"
Brrr — Himeno shivered.
"… U-uu… Are we… really going to be all right? If, by any chance, Ursula-sama were to be stolen away by such a terrifying beast of a man…
"I'll have to tear thee to pieces!"
Himeno said in a trembling voice.
… Ah, Himeno, so you were scared of that Julian. I'd thought she'd been awfully quiet then.
… Well, frankly, I'd been scared too.
"… But he's still one of the candidates for Leonhardt-sama's successor. Is it okay for you to be backing me?"
"Ugh…"
Himeno made a face like she'd bitten down on a sour bug.
"S-someone like him is out of the question! Such a rude, discourteous, mannerless man!"
All meant the same thing.
"S-someone like him is absolutely, absolutely unfit to be Father's successor!
"Better thee than him, by far…"
She started to say, then —
"Th-this doesn't mean I acknowledge thee or anything!"
After all, no dere came.
"A-anyway, ensuring this shameless fool does not become Father's successor is now the bare minimum condition!
"To call thyself Father's successor without even managing that much, I won't allow!
"… Thou absolutely must win!
"… That girl, Sonya, was pitiful too. A girl about my age, being bullied like that, is intolerable to watch.
"… The way thou leapt out when she was being bullied…
"… J-just a little… I reconsidered thee a bit."
Oh, dere appeared. Just a little.
"Just a little! Only a little! If thou thinkest thou'll be acknowledged by me with merely that, thou flatterest thyself!
"Minus-100 became minus-99, that's all!"
Tough…
Well, in that case, I just had to show 100 more good points. No need to rush at all.
"Then in the next attack operation, I'll show you a good side and aim for minus-98, I guess."
"H-hmph…"
That was the conversation Himeno and I had.
*
"… Naoto!"
"Ruria."
I met Ruria after several days. We exchanged messages daily, but couldn't meet every day.
Ruria was training daily for C-Class, and I was somewhat busy too.
I hugged her, smooch. Lately this had become a standard greeting, which made me happy.
To Meifa, smooch. To Farida, smooch.
I was happy.
But compared to my smiling face, Ruria looked a bit sour.
Hmm, something happen?
"… Naoto. Um… about Eve…"
"Eh, ah… come to think of it, Ruria, you had a same-year rival, didn't you?
"Amazing — so pretty and cute, and an A-Class Master to boot…"
When I praised her, Ruria turned a little more displeased.
Meifa was smirking.
"S-someone like her…! I-I could've debuted half a year early too if I'd wanted! But with Father bedridden it was a difficult time, and besides, since everyone debuts in March or April, I thought truly demonstrating ability meant debuting at the same time without using noble privileges! Debuting one step early in October like that — it's underhanded!"
She fumed.
"… Huh, Ruria, you don't get along with Eve?"
"It's not that we don't get along… She is an acquaintance through nobility, and…
"We're the same age, and we were on good terms…"
… Why was she so peeved?
"… Ruria, are you in a bad mood?"
"T-that's not…"
"… Naoto-sama. Onee-sama is jealous after seeing the scene on TV of Eve kissing you."
Meifa whispered into my ear.
"T-there's no such thing!"
It was loud enough for Ruria to hear, so she denied it. Deliberately, I'd say…
"More than that, the fact that Eve has achieved Onee-sama's stated goal of becoming an A-Class Master to serve Naoto-sama — ahead of her — has Onee-sama livid."
"There's no such thing!"
Ruria denied angrily.
I-I see… well, I sort of got it.
… Eh, how to soothe this?
Eve had become my subordinate… but Ruria wasn't even C-Class yet, so she couldn't become my Knight…
"E-eh, well anyway… what to say…"
What to say.
"Well anyway, I like you, Ruria."
"…"
Time froze for a moment, and…
"… Ehe."
Smiling, Ruria's mood had completely turned around.
"… I'll become a C-Class Master in no time…
"And then I want to be Naoto-sama's… Knight. Please…"
Smooch, smooch…
Ruria clung to me and kissed me. I held her too, and we exchanged a hot kiss.
"… Farida, please keep supporting Ruria in this same fashion."
"… Y-yes…"
Farida was looking down.
"Farida?"
"… It's frustrating. Naoto-sama is about to enter a harsh fight… and I still lack strength. I can't be of help to Naoto-sama."
"Don't say that.
"… It's fine. Farida, you're helping me too. I'll absolutely come back to you."
"… Yes. I'll be waiting…"
Smooch… I kissed Farida too.
"All right then, Meifa. Don't tease Ruria too much."
"That's an impossible ask. It pertains to my reason for being."
"That much!"
I couldn't help retorting.
"… Please do your best. If you make Onee-sama sad… I won't forgive you.
"The only one allowed to make Onee-sama sad is me."
"You know…"
"And please flirt with Eve-san as much as possible — it lets me see a lot of cute Onee-sama, so much appreciated."
"What are you thinking…"
Talking with Meifa was exhausting… well, beyond that, it was fun, though.
*
"Melvis, I'd like you to be our roving unit when push comes to shove. If there's an unfavorable battlefield, I want you to reinforce it.
"And when a party gets exhausted, fill in as the replacement.
"I'll send messages, so I think you'll be moving around quite a bit."
I was explaining the attack operation to Melvis.
"… Understood. I've done a few attack operations before.
"One success, two failures."
"… Oh? You were there and it still failed — how?"
"My stronghold might not fall, but if others fell, it couldn't be helped.
"… In that sense, the overall command's quality decides the match.
"Your responsibility is significant."
"Mm, well, I'm pretty decent at strategy SLGs as well as STGs, so I think it'll be fine."
"?"
"No, just talking to myself."
The genre of fight would be a bit different from anything so far.
I needed to be careful…
"… A Master from another world."
"You knew about me?"
"Well, with all the publicity in the Garumon Weekly and such, yeah.
"Not many Masters who don't know about you."
"That so… What did you think after meeting me in person?"
"… I didn't have enough interest in you to think 'what.'
"Not just from reading magazines.
"The strange messages Griera kept sending got me curious for the first time, but…
"… Actually meeting you, I was surprised by what a strange Master you were."
"… What were Griera's messages like…?"
"… All right, I'll show you."
With that, Melvis showed me the messages.
Sitting side-by-side looking at the message screen, she smelled nice. When our shoulders touched, she was soft…
"Long time, Melvis. It's Griera, the ex-mercenary.
Back at that tournament I lost completely, but next time it won't go like that.
Right now I'm serving S-Class rank 24 Naoto Akai. The best Master in the world.
Me, of all people, serving some other Master with this kind of happy feeling — I never dreamed it.
You're a lone Master too, with no liege worth serving, like I was.
If you served Naoto, you'd be as happy as can be. I guarantee it.
Naoto looks weak and pathetic at first glance, but he's a wonderful Master with a truly strong core.
What's more, he insists on calling us Garumon equal comrades.
Outside combat he absolutely refuses to give a single command…
He acts as commander only in combat; outside that, he treats us as equals — that's how he must see it.
No other Master like this. Period.
Naoto is the one and only special Master in the world.
I want to help Naoto. But Naoto's road is going to be steep, and I can't help him alone.
… You, as far as I know the strongest Master, can help Naoto more than anyone.
Please, become Naoto's strength.
If you're on his side, that's a hundred-strong. I'll do anything I can, so I'm begging you.
… You'll be at the next champion match, right? I'll bring Naoto then, please talk with him.
He's the kind of best Master who'll have you thanking me too."
… Yikes, raving praise… appearances aside.
"… Fufu, my reply to it."
"It's been a while, Griera. The lone wolf I knew has become a house pet, what a surprise.
And wagging your tail so gleefully at your owner, how pathetic.
But, this Master who made you talk like that, I'm somewhat interested.
Fine. The day of the champion match, I'll meet this Naoto Akai of yours.
… However, if I don't take a liking to him, I'll have you take responsibility.
Yes, in bed, perhaps? Plenty of service. This way, whichever way it goes, I get to enjoy it."
Cool stuff.
"… So, can I take that as meaning you liked me?"
"…"
Melvis's face turned scarlet.
"T-that's not how it is. We're still very much in the trial-watching phase.
"… I'll see your fighting and your commanding in the attack operation.
"Whether you're truly the vessel I should serve… I'll judge."
So Melvis got a little tsundere on me.
"Fufu, understood.
"… Then, am I better off planning so that Melvis has no role at all?"
"… I'll do at least a Knight's worth of work.
"Use me properly. A reserve with a purpose is fine, but creating useless roving units doesn't make a good tactician."
"Mm, understood. Adding Melvis ought to make winning easier, after all.
"I'll do my best."
I smiled.
"… You have a soothing, pleasant air about you."
So she praised me.
While I blushed…
"This isn't necessarily praise… Kind Masters aren't only you, after all.
"But such Masters generally lack leadership.
"… An S-Class Master who hired me once — Lang, who retired 5 years ago — was that type.
"He was kind, and trusted by his Garumon.
"… But the moment a Garumon got hurt he'd fluster off to the rescue, and the battle lines fell apart.
"His attack operation, 15 years in the making, was a total failure.
"He took heavy injuries then, and retired soon after.
"The other failure was… ah, that one was sworn to silence.
"The tactics were sloppy, truly awful.
"… The successful Garland was a different story — he hired plenty of mercenaries to fully solidify his forces before challenging."
So she told me about past attack operations.
"I see… there are quite a few failure cases. It's difficult, then."
"Indeed. Though I wasn't in a position to oversee the whole.
"Stably maintaining 9 battlefields seems to be the difficult part.
"To repeat myself, I've never had a fort breached.
"I think I could've held even at several times the attacking force.
"In that sense, I was idle more than enough.
"That the past Masters couldn't properly balance that imbalance of forces was where they fell short.
"Garland was a different story — he had more than enough force prepared from the start to make it a non-issue."
"… Garland, huh…"
S-Class 14th, Garland. He was probably the Master who'd first proposed Leonhardt's succession contest.
A Master who, despite inheriting many talented Garumon from Leonhardt, couldn't fully bring those talents to bloom.
That was my impression of him…
Even so, he was probably strong enough. Maybe even above me right now.
… Unless I could beat him, I couldn't call myself Leonhardt's successor.
In the attack operation he had succeeded in, I absolutely couldn't fail.
… If this attack operation couldn't succeed, the decisive battle with Eclair was also in doubt.
If I couldn't make Eclair a comrade, one goddess candidate would be lost…
Dark clouds were gathering all around.
I absolutely couldn't miss.
"But whatever the difficulty, the chance of success was already plenty high, and now Melvis has joined.
"If I fail at this, I really won't be able to face anyone.
"… Thank you for worrying about me."
"… I-it's not that I was worried…
"… Honestly. Well, if you fail, the Knight contract ends right then.
"… Conversely, if you succeed in a way I truly approve of…
"I'll deepen the contract by one stage."
The current Knight contract with Melvis was the lightest employment relationship.
Pay to have work done. Decline whenever it doesn't suit you. That sort of thing.
Naturally, I couldn't shift members around freely, let alone view her stats.
The deepest contract was absolute obedience.
Once there, I could swap members freely, no different from a Sub-Master.
"Hmm, but a relationship where you can't refuse work and such isn't of interest to me — one step deeper means basically nothing.
"I mean, outside of combat I'd never give orders anyway.
"In combat, if a seasoned mercenary like Melvis doesn't want to obey, it can only be a bad order — of course you should be able to refuse. Right of refusal is better to have."
"… Then you'd demand absolute obedience from the start?"
"I'd want to forge a strange contract: absolute obedience, but with right of refusal."
"… And what's the meaning in that?"
"I want to see your stats. And I want to swap the lineup as the situation demands.
"I want you to command my comrades with synergy in mind, and conversely I want to put your comrades into other parties. Pair Melvis with Griera, all sorts of trials."
"… Truly, an oddball. You don't want to do as you please with me?"
"… I don't want it without consent. Forcing sex by command — absolutely not."
"… Truly an oddball. Fufufu… fine. Beyond that, just how much talent for combat you have…
"I'll judge it firsthand."
That was the conversation I had with Melvis.
The attack operation was right around the corner.