History Lesson (4)

Lyuka's history classroom in the breaks between special training — today was the fourth session.

It was a great success, and even the natives of this world, who likely already knew this history, were listening with interest.

"So, time is around year 200. This year, Silvana debuted.

"A peerlessly beautiful girl with silver hair and red eyes… a futanari Garumon."

"… I really would have liked to meet her."

"You can. Silvana's still alive."

… Ah, that's how it was. With 'Legendary,' I'd somehow had the image of her being long gone.

"Leonhardt took a great liking to this girl from the vampire realm. He made the rounds of every S-Class Master, bowing his head when needed to gather up the era's most promising newcomers — an all-star, talent-laden lineup of Garumon — and gave them all to Silvana, sending her off with great fanfare for her debut.

"Silvana met Leonhardt's expectations… no, exceeded them with overwhelming strength, winning the A-Class Tournament undefeated and earning promotion to S-Class number 24.

"The one who dropped out was Esta Belzebute.

"It wasn't that Esta was weak; she was reputedly strong among the lower S-Class, but it seems she was no match for Silvana.

"This year, 200, was also when the Queen Titania mass transition incident occurred — beginning the previous year, 199, in groups of eighty.

"Famous among the Garumon who transitioned across at that time was Mille-Feuille Fauria.

"And Salvia.

"Mille-Feuille, with her overwhelming beauty and ability, drew everyone's attention the moment she debuted.

"So much so that she was even said to call to mind the bygone country-toppling princess Charlotte — that's the kind of beautiful girl she was.

"She was held by an S-Class number 6 Master named Paris.

"If Leonhardt hadn't been a person of character, it might have been a repeat of the Madness incident.

"As for what Salvia is famous for, it's that she's still active today.

"S-Class… currently number 6 Duras Heidrich holds her.

"Well then, Mille-Feuille Fauria. She's rarely spoken of as an individual.

"What she's spoken of as is… the tragic heroine of the 'Calamity.'"

"… 'Calamity,' huh."

"Now then, Naoto-san, let me speak about Great Magical Beasts.

"Outside the human realm of this world is monster territory, where vast numbers of monsters live.

"There seems to be a cap on how strong monsters generally get, and going beyond that in the wild is rare.

"Exceptions include cases of human monster tamers raising them.

"In such cases, they grow beyond the natural cap. There are also cases of Demon Gods, Demonkin, and other inhabitants of monster territory raising Magical Beasts. The same applies there.

"But sometimes, in the wild, with no human hand, a Magical Beast suddenly begins to grow.

"The Magical Beast grows endlessly strong, and at times becomes so powerful it can't be dealt with — a bug in the world.

"That is… a Great Magical Beast.

"Humanity has encountered these Great Magical Beasts several times, but the cause of their occurrence still isn't well understood.

"However, there is a factor that further, explosively increases their danger.

"That is… a Great Magical Beast preying on a Garumon or Master and taking them in alive.

"The living Master or Garumon supplies the Great Magical Beast with magic power, endlessly strengthening it.

"The higher the abilities of the absorbed Garumon, the greater the boost.

"For such an existence… well, the name doesn't change from Great Magical Beast, but there is one other name.

"'Calamity.'

"In year 200, humanity encountered the first Calamity.

"… The Calamity of Great Magical Beast Titan.

"S-Class number 6 Paris, who had gone out to monster territory for monster subjugation, fought Great Magical Beast Titan, was defeated… and all his Garumon, starting with Mille-Feuille, were taken in.

"As a result, that Great Magical Beast, named Titan, grew into an unprecedented, unmanageable existence.

"S-Class Masters, led by number 1 Leonhardt and number 2 Altair, sortied en masse to intercept it.

"Including Sub-Masters, around sixty Masters in total went out to intercept…

"and the result was a great defeat.

"Starting with number 2 Altair, many Masters died, and even more Sub-Masters did.

"Number 1 Leonhardt was also gravely wounded in his defeat."

"… Eeh? Hold on, isn't that pretty bad? How did it come to that?"

"Ignorance about Great Magical Beasts is part of it.

"A Great Magical Beast that's become a Calamity has infinite technique uses, and levels up and powers up the more it fights.

"Having multiple Masters attack one after another in succession was, in fact, a foolish strategy.

"But against a first-time opponent, they didn't understand that… and tackled it by the rote of past anti-Demon God battles."

"Ahh… I see. It was the first Calamity humanity had encountered, after all. Can't be helped…"

"That's right. I think the same… but the price of that failure was paid in the lives of many Masters.

"They realized the opponent was repeatedly leveling up at an abnormal speed, and switched to mass attacks via Out-of-Battle Battles, but it was too late.

"The result was the first mass death of S-Class Masters since Tiari Belzebute.

"Not just number 2 Altair — Hamasu and Yucas, who had fallen to lower ranks, also died here.

"Leonhardt survived but was gravely wounded. Mercheada and Arianrhod both fell into combat-incapacity. Humanity's fate seemed to hang by a thread.

"… And the one who stood up there was Silvana, freshly debuted, number 24."

"Eeh…? No, if she handled that situation, of course she'd become a legend in one stroke! But how on earth?"

"Yes. She gathered her companions' buffs onto herself, and faced the Calamity that even the full S-Class force couldn't beat, alone.

"She had the Vampire Princess trait… at that time she'd apparently already evolved further into Vampire Queen.

"With that trait, she could steal her opponent's power and convert it to her own.

"By that means, she could match and surpass an opponent who leveled up with time, recover her technique uses, and go on fighting endlessly.

"In this way, Silvana fought Titan for three days and three nights, and at last brought it down."

"Ohhh… So… amazing!"

I was genuinely impressed.

Absorb damage taken, raise stats… well, then so long as you don't die in one strike, you might be able to manage somehow.

But that was easier said than done; an extraordinary feat.

These Garumon weren't game characters, so it wasn't an easy thing to keep performing the same action endlessly.

When you get tired, mistakes happen.

Three days and three nights — with sleep deprivation and fatigue, her consciousness would have grown dim, and her overworked body must have ached terribly.

If she swayed and took the opponent's attack as a critical?

If she zoned out and missed an attack? It would all collapse in an instant.

On top of that, the magic power she'd absorbed swelling too far would put extraordinary strain on her body.

It must have been a victory won through overcoming all that hardship.

"… That's exactly right. When people hear this story, they think Silvana was just overwhelmingly strong, full stop.

"That's certainly not wrong, but…

"On top of that trait and skill, this victory was won by mental strength enough to overcome that hardship — we mustn't forget that."

Lyuka wrapped it up that way.

"With that single achievement, Silvana instantly joined the ranks of the Legendary Masters.

"Due to the mass deaths, the S-Class Masters were reorganized, and Silvana, in recognition of her great feat, was immediately ranked S-Class number 1.

"… At year's end, the S-Class Tournament was held as planned.

"There were apparently many who said this was no time for that, but they figured the brilliant debut of a new hero, Silvana, would be effective in consoling the despairing public.

"It was supposed to be the year-200 commemorative tournament, but with most S-Class Masters sidelined with injuries, most participants were promoted up from A-Class — a fairly sparse tournament, by all accounts…

"As an exception, this tournament was held in the format of S-Class number 24 through 2 challenging number 1 Silvana in successive battles.

"Silvana magnificently won 23 in a row, electrifying the crowd and entertaining the audience.

"… Almost the only proper S-Class Master who participated was Wallace, who took part as S-Class number 2. Silvana's fatigue surely played a part, but with seasoned technique he gave Silvana quite a hard time."

"Heh…

"Wallace's trait of using seasoned technique to give promising young Masters a hard time was already showing here. Splendid."

"From the next tournament on, S-Class Masters returned one after another from their injuries, and the S-Class Tournament returned to its usual form.

"In a normal one-on-one, Silvana wouldn't let anyone come close, with overwhelming strength.

"Leonhardt's wounds lingered, but he returned ten years later.

"He fought Silvana in years 212 and 216… and the result was Silvana's winning streak.

"Since Silvana had refused to transfer Arianrhod, this was victory while cutting down the two strongest — Mercheada and Arianrhod.

"With those battles, Silvana cemented her name as the strongest Master holding the strongest Garumon.

"Of course, it wasn't just Silvana — all of her companions were Legendary-level strong, too.

"As for the feats Silvana achieved in this roughly twenty-year period…

"- The first-ever solo defeat of Demon God Salem Belial. Not just defeated — she made him surrender and brought him in as her companion.

"- After being promoted to Vampire Goddess, a return order came from Vampire Queen Elma of the vampire realm, but she ignored it.

"She singlehandedly drove off the vampire realm's military force that came to attack.

"And so on. The list is endless.

"She achieved a five-peat at the S-Class Tournament, and it seemed Silvana's era would continue indefinitely… but

"Silvana, undefeated for life, suddenly retired.

"Silvana and her eight companions became the only S-Class NPCs in history.

"It's by way of this final act before retirement that Silvana is called a Legendary Master."

"… Mn?"

S-Class NPCs, as in…

"… Yes. Witch Almaria and Kishimojin Pamela are members of Silvana's party.

"It might be easier for you to make the connection, Naoto-san, if I said they're the mothers of Yuria and Patty."

"… Ahh."

I had somewhat sensed it.

No wonder Yuria had had a complicated look on her face during the talk.

… I never imagined the Legendary Master we'd been hearing about all this time had such a connection to my own circle.

"… So, that's how it is. As for my opinion as a daughter on Legendary Master Silvana… I'll tell you later.

"For now, please go on. We're still partway through, right?"

"Yes.

"… After Silvana's retirement, Leonhardt returned to number 1. But no one rated him highly.

"Silvana's image had been too brilliant.

"He's just sitting in an empty throne. That's what everyone thought.

"But Leonhardt never sulked, never raged.

"Quietly, steadfastly, steadily, he did what needed doing. He's that kind of Master.

"He's by no means overwhelmingly strong. He still loses sometimes after this.

"Probably the Master who's lost the most in S-Class is Leonhardt.

"… But Leonhardt kept fighting. No matter how often he lost, he'd build his combat strength back up and reclaim the throne.

"In time, the people came to re-evaluate Leonhardt at that figure.

"Without Silvana's flashiness, never fighting for personal gain, always doing his best for the people — voices calling him the true hero rose.

"Fighting on for many years, leading and protecting humanity, getting up after defeats, and still continuing to fight — that indomitable spirit.

"Voices saying Leonhardt is the true Garumon Master, the figure befitting Legend, are very strong now.

"And eventually, with one defeat in between, he achieved two five-peats.

"Like that, the renown that had once dropped was reclaimed, and then made immovable.

"Afterward he ceded the throne to Satoru, his rank never rose again, he was passed by Aqueria, passed by Sairas… currently he's at number 4.

"But even so, that Leonhardt is a great Legendary Master is beyond doubt."

With that, Lyuka brought her history lesson, for now, to a close.

Clap, clap, clap…

In gratitude for having been taught 300 years of this world's history, I applauded.

Now then, impressions from Lyuka's history classroom.

Discussion of currently living Legendary Masters. First…

"Leonhardt is… amazing, isn't he…"

We discussed Leonhardt, with whom I'd had all kinds of ties through his sons up to now.

"Well, he is my father, after all!"

Suzanne held her head high.

… The daughter of that Legendary Master and the strongest Garumon, Mercheada, being Suzanne, right here — that itself was an amazing thing.

"Onii-sama, by all means become the fifth Legendary Master, ranking right after Father!"

"… As things stand now, I think the closest is the current world number 1, Satoru…

"He's already achieved an unprecedented S-Class six-peat. If he keeps extending his wins, he might be called a Legendary Master."

"Is there some kind of problem with Satoru not being called a Legendary Master?"

"It's not that. Satoru's strength is more than sufficient, and an S-Class six-peat is very impressive.

"It's not that there's anything wrong with him personally. He's a little spaced-out, but.

"… It's that he doesn't yet have a feat of obviously saving the world.

"While Satoru is in office, it's peaceful. Peace is a very good thing, of course."

… Ah, I see. For a hero to appear, the world needed to fall into crisis.

In that sense, you could say he hadn't been blessed by the times.

… No, peace was better any way you looked at it.

"But ten-peat, twenty-peat — by then I think it would be Legendary class."

"That's where Onii-sama steps in to block him!"

Suzanne's grandstanding was something.

"… That's right. Exactly.

"By all means, let us beat Satoru and become world number 1."

Lyuka agreed too.

Next, I talked about Silvana.

"If you want to meet Silvana, you can probably meet her fairly soon. She gets called in every time as a commentator for the S-Class Tournament.

"She's a hugely popular commentator."

… For a Legendary Master, awfully light!

"What kind of person is Silvana?"

I asked Yuria and Patty.

"She's called a Legendary Master, but… well, to family, she's nothing but the eccentric weirdo type.

"Since retirement, Silvana drifts around hanging out at wherever her former party members have scattered to."

Yuria sighed.

"Geez, Yuria, you're not honest～. Even if you say that, you wanted to become a Master because you admired Papa, didn't you～"

Patty teased Yuria.

"… J-just… Well, that overwhelming strength, that beauty… I'd be lying if I said I didn't admire her. She's a weirdo, but no doubt she's an amazing person."

Yuria gave up and agreed.

"Patty loves Papa too～

"But getting my breasts kneaded every time we meet is a bit much, please give me a break～…"

"Hrm, as Patty's lover, I have something to say about that…"

"But Papa probably has something to say about you drinking from Mama's breasts too, Naoto-san～"

"Ugh…"

I was weak to having that thrown at me…

"Ahaha, just kidding～. Papa pays attention to you too, Naoto-san～

"But he tries not to make contact with Masters below S-Class～

"Once you become S-Class, there may be chances to meet him."

So Patty said.

"… The strongest Legendary Master… is paying attention to me?"

I got a little intimidated.

"Of course. My father is paying attention to you too, Onii-sama.

"… But unless it's truly an emergency, the norm is not to make contact with lower-tier Masters belonging to other S-Class Masters, so he just isn't reaching out.

"Once you become S-Class, my father will surely contact you too."

So Suzanne said.

Eeh… even Leonhardt?

Without realizing it, I'd been locked on by two of the currently living Legendary Masters.

… Well, of course. Both had daughters who were my companions, after all.

I, too, far in the future, if my daughter said she'd become someone else's Garumon… I'd at least glare to gauge whether he was a Master worthy of my daughter.

"… It's b-because of that, it was good to hear this story now…"

If I was called by Leonhardt or Silvana and said 'Eh, who?' or took it lightly, that would be a huge problem.

"… Mn, no need to be so stiff about it. Despite the mysterious look, she's a flippant person inside."

So Yuria reassured me.

… Yeah, learning history was a good thing, and treating important figures lightly was bad.

But it would also be no good to shrink and stiffen up more than necessary.

"All right, then let's aim to end Silvana's undefeated legend."

I, too, made my grand pronouncement.

Such a beautiful and strongest futanari Master… a final boss candidate!

If I could win and have sex with her, that'd be the best.

"My, that sounds good. In that case, I have to do my best too."

"Yes, Patty will give it her all～!"

Yuria and Patty agreed strongly.

And so I learned this world's history.

I hoped I could become such a Legendary Master too.

The kind of figure who'd appear in this world's history textbooks.

Just being able to seriously think that — I'd grown a lot from before, if I do say so myself.

In history, A-Class Masters are almost never spoken of. The only one mentioned was Kaiser, who took down every S-Class Master.

For now, S-Class promotion. That was the first step.

For the fight against Ursula, my spirit grew even stronger.

"All right, one more push, on with the special training!"

"Yeah!"

Everyone rose, full of fighting spirit.