The World is at Peace Today

"They broke in to the deepest end, huh ..."

Fenrir muttered in the white fog.

A pool of blood and two footprints remain in front of the

intact device.

"They could have destroyed the device. I guess they

realized they didn't have enough magic power ... No, but

even if they did, they should have destroyed it."

Bloody footprints pass between the devices and lead to the

back door.

"The door will not open unless the seal is broken. I wonder

what they broke in for..."

Fenrir walked to the door where Diabolos' right arm was

sealed.

Then, he realizes that the defense mechanism has been

activated.

"I wonder if Lili pushed them back."

That was the only reason he could come up with.

One way or another, Shadow Garden will show up again.

There is not much time left.

"... Looks like you're in trouble."

At that moment, a voice echoed from the white fog.

Fenrir immediately turned around and released his sword.

The sword pressure cracked the fog.

There was one priest there.

"Oh, scary."

He gives a thin smile.

"Petos ... You should at least say hi. I almost killed you."

"It has been a while, 5th seat of Rounds Fenrir-sama. You are

indeed a great swordsman. It chilled my liver."

"... Hmph."

That blow that Fenrir had just released with the intention of

killing him. With his original ability, Petos would not have

been able to prevent it.

But Petos is not wounded. He is an unpleasant man.

"If I were to fight normally, I would not be able to win."

"I wonder if you are the kind of man who fights normally.

Tenth Seat of Rounds, Petos-kun."

Fenrir said so as if to throw up.

"So what do you want?"

"You seemed to be having trouble. I thought I might be able

to help."

"Do you think I would let a fiend like you help me?"

Fenrir laughs with a snort.

"Oya, to be called fiend is unexpected. I'm just loyal to the

cult."

Petos said with a deepening smile.

"...I ask again. What are you doing here Petos? We're not

even close to making small talk."

The smile faded from Petos' face as Fenrir filled the room

with killing intent.

"The repeated failures of the Fenrir faction have become a

problem at the Round Table. It seems that the release of the

Right Arm has also been delayed."

Petos glanced at the cylindrical device.

"I'd say progress is at about 60%."

"Sixty percent, huh ... As you may know, the collapse of

the sanctuary has freed up the left arm. This year, the

number of drops is expected to decrease even more."

"Is Aurora still refusing?"

"Yes, more than usual. She continues to refuse. Perhaps her

ego is returning to her after being released."

"It's troublesome... So, how many drops?"

"I would say nine drops... but it might be eight.

Fortunately, thanks to the Shadow Garden, the number of

Rounds itself is decreasing ... oops, that was

inappropriate."

Petos chuckled at what was funny.

"If there are fewer drops than expected... or if new Rounds

are appointed. Fenrir-sama, you will not have one this year."

"You've grown big, Petos."

Fenrir unleashes a sword filled with bloodlust.

It slashed through Petos' coat and created a thin streak of

blood on his neck.

"Oops...."

"You think you're equal to me now, just because you're a

newcomer?"

"This was decided at the Round Table. I am only here to tell

you that. The Round Table takes the failure of the Fenrir

faction that much more seriously."

Fenrir suppresses his killing intent with a small click of his

tongue.

"... Did Loki instigate it?"

Loki is the head of a faction that has long been hostile to

Fenrir.

"Loki-sama too...He was present at the meeting."

"I guess you agreed too, Petos. Because you might lose your

share of the drops."

"No, I'm always on Fenrir-sama's side."

Fenrir snorted at Petos' words.

"If anything, it was the fault of the cult for neglecting the

Shadow Garden. It was about five years ago that it was first

reported. The incident in which a demon-possession

carriage was attacked by an unidentified group. If we had

responded to the situation there, it wouldn't have escalated

as much as it did."

"...There was something like that, too."

"As a result of having sat on eternal life, the cult became as

dull as a fattened pig. In addition to the originally vacant

twelve seats, Nelson and Mordred have fallen. What a

decline in the quality of the Rounds! You are just a

replacement for the ten seats that Shadow killed two years

ago. Under normal circumstances, someone like you would

not have been able to become a member of the Rounds."

"In a way, I owe the Shadow Garden for making me a

Rounds, you know. I'm grateful to them."

Petos said mockingly.

"Excuse me, my mouth slipped ... However, the round

table is finally lifting their heavy hand. They're serious."

"That plan... "Shadow-hunting Jaw" huh?"

"Will it work?"

"I don't like the idea of Loki as an ally, but it's a good start.

We'll have to find out. Whether Shadow's ability is real or

not?"

"...Do you think it's fake?"

"I didn't say that. But if it is real, it is too unrealistic. Either it

is a legendary artifact, possibly from the demon world, or

they have the same technology as the cult..."

"What if he's a normal human being?"

"That is truly the pinnacle of martial arts. If it were real, I'd

like to see it. In any case, it's been hundreds of years since

the Round Table has cooperated. You'll find out what that

means in due course——"

Fenrir let out a fearless smile.

"I see... Then, as a newcomer, I will quietly follow. I, too,

am a part of the plan."

"Don't make a mistake, Petos-kun."

"Fenrir-sama too. If the release of the right arm fails and the

ruins fall into the hands of the Shadow Garden..."

Petos stopped speaking and braced himself.

The dreadful magical power overflowed from Fenrir.

"Who are you talking to, Petos —— I'm Fenrir. I've been in

the 5th seat of the Rounds for a long time. I'm proud of that.

I will definitely release Diabolos' right arm."

"...That's Fenrir-sama that I know."

"We will resurrect the demon Diabolos and bring it to full

life. For that, I won't let anyone complain, no matter what

steps we have to take. Even if this country collapses..."

"...Results are everything. I am here to help you, Fenrirsama."

"I have told you, I don't need any help from you."

"This is a decision of the Round Table. Please use this

artifact."

It was a vicious collar with needles that looked like clocks.

"... This is?"

"It is the latest artifact developed in the cult's laboratory. It

seems that Fenrir-sama is having a hard time collecting

magic power. I think it will be useful."

"... I'll use it when I feel like it. Still, I'm surprised you

came all the way out here to use it. I wonder what kind of

wind you are blowing "

"I was just following orders. I am a man loyal to the cult. I'd

like to change the subject ... but I hear that a golden

beastman visited these ruins."

Petos asked, casually, as if making small talk.

But Fenrir sensed something in the tone of his voice and

knew this was the main issue.

"The Golden Beastman, huh? I wonder..."

Of course, the golden of Seven Shades remains in Fenrir's

memory.

But he's not going to tell him nicely.

Fenrir's gaze crossed with Petos's.

"If you find one, please let me know."

It was Petos who took his gaze off first.

"Do you need something with that beastman?"

"No, it's not worth talking about. If you'll excuse me."

With that, he disappeared into the fog at a quick pace.

"Golden Beastman... Petos obtained the samples by

annihilating the Golden Leopard tribe. That was his stepping

stone to promotion to the Rounds. Could it be... survivor of

the Golden Leopard Tribe"

Ahead of his line of sight is a cylindrical device with about

60% of magic power accumulated. No matter the means,

the word was given.

"This has turned out to be interesting."

Fenrir bared his fangs and laughed.

The kingdom of Oriana, destroyed by the Black Beast, was

rapidly being rebuilt with the help of the Shadow Garden.

Alpha squinted as she watched the sunset from the royal

castle.

"So——are you ready?"

She asks the girl behind her.

There was a beautiful girl there with honey-colored hair. She

was Rose Oriana.

"Will I be forgiven?"

Rose said with shaken eyes.

"You won't be forgiven. Many of the people still hold a

grudge against you."

"As I thought, I...can't be a king. It will only bring chaos to

this country."

"In normal times, that might be true. But not now. If you

know what this country is going to become, you know there

is no other choice."

Alpha looked back and turned her strict eyes to Rose.

"You know that the alliance between the Kingdom of Midgar

and the Kingdom of Oriana has been broken. The Holy

Church has officially declared the Kingdom of Oriana a

heretic state. Oriana's trade is severely restricted and will

soon dry up. Eventually, the neighboring nations will be

ordered to defeat the Kingdom of Oriana. I don't know how

many countries will move, but there's nothing this country

can do about it, because it doesn't have a proper military

force. It will be destroyed."

"Heretic Nation ... How did this happen?"

Rose clenched her fists and looked down.

"The cult is afraid. This country..."

"Why do they fear this small country?"

"They are frightened lambs. That's why they're afraid of the

sunlight."

"What do you mean?"

"Eternal life is a symbol of mankind's desire. Those who

have it in their hands fear more than anything else that it

will be taken away from them. If they ruled the world and

stood out in the open, there would always be someone who

would try to take it away from them. That is why they hid.

They chose to hide their eternal life so that it would never

be taken away from them, and to rule the world from behind

the scenes using the Holy Church. That is how they have

feared the sunlight."

"The frightened lambs..."

"But the hostility between the Kingdom of Oriana and the

Diabolos cult has connected the front and back sides of the

world. If the Kingdom of Oriana is left unchecked, the

Diabolos cult will eventually be dragged out into the open.

They are afraid of that."

"... So Shadow Garden takes advantage of that, doesn't

it?"

Rose turned her stern gaze on Alpha.

"Yes. We use the Kingdom of Oriana. That's why we helped

you."

"With the power of the Shadow Garden, you should be able

to defeat the cult. Why did you make the Kingdom of Oriana

involved?"

"Because then the Diabolos cult will not be destroyed."

"... Eh?"

"People will die. Nations perish. But religions never perish. It

does not end when we defeat the Diabolos cult. That is what

religion is. As long as there are those who believe in it, it is

eternal."

"No way..."

"Do not underestimate the cult. If you make enemies of the

cult, the people will cut your back. The people who believe

in the Holy Church, and even the priests, are mostly good

citizens. The cult uses the Holy Church to incite the people

to kill. No matter how powerful Shadow Garden is, it cannot

kill all the followers of the Holy Church in the world. That is

why we need the Kingdom of Oriana. To bring the evil entity

called the Diabolos cult to the surface and break the

relationship between the Holy Church and the Diabolos

cult."

"How do you cut them off?"

"Let the Holy Church cut off the cult. What the people

believe in is the Holy Church, not the Diabolos cult. By

making it clear, the Diabolos cult will become the common

enemy of the world. For that reason, we must win. The

surrounding nations will eventually come to defeat the

Kingdom of Oriana. There, we must win. We shall win and

proclaim to the world. That the world's enemy is the

Diabolos cult."

"That's why you want me to be king."

"We need a state to stand in our place on the front side to

destroy the cult. The battle between the Kingdom of Oriana

and the Holy Church is a proxy war between the Shadow

Garden and the Diabolos cult. If you are ready to be king,

we will support you from the shadows."

"... Will I be a good king?"

Rose looked down and squeezed the words out.

"You are not a king in times of peace, but a king in times of

emergency. The qualities necessary for a king in times of

peace are kindness, which endears you to your people and

enriches your country. But in times of emergency, it is

different. The quality needed for emergencies is strength.

The strength to achieve your goals despite the pain,

sacrifices, and resentment of your people——"

Alpha looked at Rose with her beautiful eyes.

"Rose Oriana, you shall be a strong king."

"The Strong King ..."

Rose chewed on those words.

Repeating it in her mouth, but not out loud. And what came

to mind was her own weakness.

"I am weak ..."

"Only those who know weakness can become stronger."

A single tear ran down Rose's cheek.

"If there is anything I can do for the Kingdom of Oriana and

the people Otou-sama left behind ... I will protect this

country, no matter how much they may hate me. I ..."

Rose wiped her tears and looked up.

Then she pulled out a thin sword and placed it against her

long honey-colored hair.

"I ... don't want to end up weak."

Saying so, she pulls her thin sword.

Her cut honey-colored hair fluttered in the wind.

"I will be a strong king"

Rose's hair had become shoulder-length.

"As long as you are prepared for that, I swear that Shadow

Garden will never betray you."

Alpha smiled gently.

She then called the Number 664 and Number 665. They

were both dressed in maid uniforms for some reason.

"Put these two at your side. The one you are familiar with

would be better."

"Thank you very much."

"You don't have to be so formal. You and I are equals. You

will be a strong king, won't you?"

"Yes... Ah, yeah, I will be a strong king."

Rose said, sounding unaccustomed to it.

"Kusu... Number 666-chan, you're so cute."

"Well, that's good to hear. If you had talked to me about it,

we would have worked it out a lot quicker."

Number 665 and Number 664 said so in a small voice.

"Thank you, both of you."

"You're welcome~"

"I-I'm your squad leader, so don't forget that."

"Understood, Squad Leader."

Rose gave them both a gentle smile.

"I'll communicate future plans through Number 664 and

Number 665, and you'll need to provide them with a front

registry and position. You still need to keep the connection

between Shadow Garden and the Kingdom of Oriana under

wraps."

"You two will be hired as my maids. As soon as the family

register is ready."

"Do that...Looks like someone is here."

At that moment, the door to the room opened and a girl with

indigo hair entered.

It is the third seat of the Seven Shades, Gamma.

For some reason, Gamma was dragging a girl.

"Alpha-sama, are you here?"

"Ara, Gamma also came to the Kingdom of Oriana."

"Considering the future, we have closed the Mitsugoshi

Trading Company in the Kingdom of Oriana. As a

replacement, we are doing the groundwork to enhance our

Shadow Garden location."

Gamma said, lowering her voice slightly.

"As expected of Gamma, I really appreciate you working so

fast."

"What about Princess Rose?"

Gamma looked at Rose with a sideways glance.

"She's prepared to walk with us."

Alpha also looked at Rose and Rose said.

"I look forward to working with you."

Gamma responded to Rose's greeting with a silent bow of

her head.

"Alpha-sama. I have two reports, but would it be alright if I

talk about them here?"

Gamma seemed concerned that Rose was here.

Rose sensed that she was not yet trusted.

"I'll prepare another room——"

"——I don't mind."

Interrupting Rose's words, Alpha replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I don't mind."

Saying so, Alpha looked at Gamma and Rose.

I don't mind. What about you guys?

That is what Alpha is asking.

"... I don't mind either."

"Me too."

Gamma and Rose replied.

"First of all, the equipment that Beta recovered in the

Demon World the other day."

"It's about "Notopasokon" and "Taburetto"." (TLN: Laptop

and Tablet)

"I had Eta check everything. Eta, explain it."

Gamma said so and called out to the girl who had been

dragged.

"Supii"

Cute sleeping breaths are escaping from the girl.

"Hey, Eta, wake up!"

Gamma grabs Eta's shoulders and shakes her violently.

Eta's head, rocking back and forth, bumped against

Gamma's nose.

"Pegya!"

The impact woke Eta up.

"Hmm?"

She is Eta. She is the Seventh of Seven Shades and mainly

focuses on the study of Shadow Wisdom.

"... Where is this?"

Eta looked around absentmindedly.

She was a small elf.

Her long, dark hair is bedraggled by her sleeping habits.

"C-Come on, tell Alpha-sama about that thing!"

Gamma says, holding her nose from bleeding.

"Report ...? Ah~, about notopasokon"

"R-Right."

"Etto, report!"

Eta looked at Alpha sleepily.

"Notopasokon and other things that use electricity,

everything was broken. I disassembled it and examined it,

probably due to the electromagnetic radiation when it

crossed the gate."

"Is it possible to fix it?"

"At the moment it's impossible. But we'll figure it out in

time"

"That's so...It can't be helped, I guess we'll just have to

wait and see. That Beta, all she brings is things that run on

electricity."

"Not so. The technology used is extremely high. Even if we

can't operate it, we can learn a lot of different

technologies."

"Is that so? Well, that's good. But Beta must have been

depressed, right."

"She was wailing."

"Is that enough to make her cry?"

"No. She was depressed, so I mixed her tea with some pills

to make her feel better."

"... So?"

"Suddenly she took off her clothes and started crying. Cause

unknown, interesting."

Eta twisted the edges of her lips into a grin.

Alpha let out a big sigh.

"... Next month's research funding will be drastically

reduced."

"Eh, why!"

"I told you that you shouldn't experiment on human

subjects without permission. You should reflect on that."

"Eh~, sacrifices are always made in the development of the

Shadow Wisdom."

"Not 'eh'. Then, report back when you find a technology that

could be applied in this world."

"Eeh."

"And there was one more thing that she brought back with

her."

Alpha's eyes narrowed quickly.

"Thing ... Aa. That person from the otherworld has just

woken up. I don't understand her language, so now she

talks to Beta. Her name is Akane."

"Akane ... What else did you find out?"

"I think her body is almost the same as a human's. But I

don't know the details yet. If I'm allowed to experiment on

humans, we'll know soon enough."

"Leave it to Beta until things calm down. Don't do anything

weird, absolutely."

"Yea~."

Eta nodded reluctantly.

"I understand Eta's report. So, what's the second report?"

Alpha spoke to Gamma.

"The second one is about Zeta in the Kingdom of Midgar.

Has there been any report from Zeta?"

"No. Good grief... She never reports back to me at all."

Alpha let out another sigh.

"Before coming to the Kingdom of Oriana, I came to see how

things are going, so I'll report."

"Thank you, Gamma."

"The Fenrir faction is on the move. They seem to be

kidnapping students from Midgar Academy. Since we have

recovered most of the demon possessions, they seem to be

having a hard time unsealing."

"So, what about Zeta?"

"That's... She is not moving yet."

"Not moving?"

"Yes. Although she should have grasped the movement of

the Fenrir faction."

"That girl has a lot of selfishness in her behavior, but she is

definitely talented. I wonder if something happened."

Alpha said a little curiously.

"The Fenrir faction, though in decline, has long controlled

the underworld of the Kingdom of Midgar. And Fenrir was

one of the first Rounds. They should never be

underestimated."

"The credit collapse must have caused enough damage to

the Fenrir faction. I thought there was little left in the way of

strength and funds, but ... I wonder if that's the underlying

strength of the original first Rounds."

"I think someone should send support. I know there is Delta

in the Kingdom of Midgar, but I don't think those two can

cooperate."

"Right..."

Alpha said vaguely and looked at the scenery outside.

"I am busy preparing the base and Eta has her hands full

with research. Beta has to deal with the person of the

otherworld and paperwork ... Is Epsilon the one who's

free? There are a few other Numbers..."

"No need."

Alpha said as she looked into the distance.

"But... Is it okay?"

"Don't worry. She will be fine. She has always been like

that."

Gamma thought this was an optimistic view, which was not

like Alpha.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"... I still remember the day I first met that girl. I had

never seen such sad eyes, like she hated everything in the

world. In order to heal her emotional wounds, I welcomed

Zeta as a family...She has changed."

Alpha turns and looks at Gamma with her blue eyes.

"So, it's okay...Because we're family."

Alpha smiled. It was a gentle smile that encompassed

everything.