Chapter 4 — What Are You, Ten Years Old?

Tomochika was able to see the approaching party with her superior eyesight. About ten soldiers on horseback, clad in military uniforms, were heading straight for them. As they drew closer, she began to recognize the outfits they were wearing as belonging to the Kingdom of Manii, where they had been staying up until the day before.

What does their army want with us? mused Mokomoko. The capital had been destroyed. There should have been more than enough work to keep the forces of Manii occupied near the city.

"Did we do something to make them chase us?"

Well, we killed an entire assassin's guild and an Archbishop, so we likely qualify as criminals.

"I guess so. I feel like I've gotten kind of numb to all the death."

But given the state the capital is in, I doubt they have any evidence on us, nor are they really in a position to be carrying out an investigation.

"Well, we've still got those things Rick gave us, so we should be able to talk to them."

Both Tomochika and Yogiri had received amulets from Richard, the third prince of Manii and current Swordmaster. The talismans demonstrated their connection to him and were likely to be useful while they remained in the kingdom. At the very least, it should have been enough to smooth things over with a single group of soldiers.

Shall we wake the boy?

"No, there's no reason to rely on him for everything."

Since those approaching were soldiers from their host kingdom, she figured they would be willing to listen. And if the situation became dangerous, Yogiri would probably wake up on his own anyway.

Turning around, Tomochika saw that the half-demons were already mounting a defense. At the head of the formation were Theodisia and Euphemia. They were standing near the edge of the barrier, which was still invisible. Tomochika ran up next to them.

"I don't know much about magic, but is the barrier working as it should?" asked Theodisia.

"Yes, it is functioning normally," Euphemia answered. "Being a barrier set up by an Origin Blood, it shouldn't be easy to see through, but..."

From the outside, it was meant to appear as if nothing was there. But the mounted troop approached nonetheless, stopping just before the barrier. There were ten in all, with a generally even mix of men and women. They varied widely in age, but all were older than Tomochika. Their mounts were similarly armored.

The man leading the group met Tomochika's gaze, confirming that the barrier was having no effect.

"Umm..."

"We are the Invincible Battalion, serving under the second prince of Manii, Lord Darian! We have come to exterminate you!"

"'Invincible Battalion'? What are you, ten years old?" she snarked back, unable to help herself in response to the man's booming voice.

"How dare you! Do you intend to insult us?!"

"Since you've shown up out of nowhere and threatened to exterminate us, I think it's a bit late to worry about being insulted!"

"Jolt, we're not going to exterminate them," a young man said, stepping forward. Tomochika's instincts told her that this was Lord Darian. He had features that were similar to Richard's and carried himself differently than the rest of the troop.

"Is that so? I thought it would be too dangerous to leave a group of this size roaming free."

"And what do you plan to accomplish by threatening them?" He spoke with a calm elegance. Tomochika felt sure that they would be able to smooth things over. "These women are a valuable resource that has been stolen from our people. We need to return them to their owners intact."

"Why am I such an idiot?! Of course he's not a good person!"

Tomochika was once again convinced that there were no good men anywhere in the world. Even so, this one seemed better than most of the enemies they had met so far. She figured it had to be an improvement on the unrestrained tyrants (also known as the Sages) they had been dealing with up to that point.

But now what? She looked over at Theodisia. Although the half-demon's expression was frigid, Tomochika knew that it hid a rage deep down. It wouldn't have surprised her if Theodisia had jumped forward and attacked the soldiers without warning.

"Can I interrupt for a minute?" she asked the prince, holding up her amulet. First, she needed to give them a chance to be reasonable. They could decide what to do after that. As she stepped forward, she could feel Theodisia's bloodlust recede a little. It seemed she was willing to let Tomochika talk things out first.

"Ah, I heard there were some friends of Rick's around. I guess they were talking about you. But why are you here? And why with these half-demons?"

"Oh, we just met them by chance. Umm, Second Prince, was it? Why are you here?" Tomochika silently cursed herself for not thinking of what to say beforehand. It was a sad excuse, but she'd simply felt pressured to force the conversation forward.

"Please call me Darian. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm somewhat weak when it comes to the lineal power held by the royal family, so I'm not too useful in the capital. Instead, I'm traveling around the country, setting the wrongs of the world right."

"And you came here to 'right' some 'wrong'?" The troop was obviously not there by chance. They had come to the area with a clear purpose.

"Hm, I see. You're from a different world, so you don't understand what's going on. In that case, don't worry; I won't hold you responsible."

It didn't feel like their conversation was making much ground, but at least he recognized that Tomochika was not a local. Either he had guessed it from her appearance or heard it from Rick at some point.

"Are you here to take these people away?"

"Correct. There was a serious incident of half-demon theft. We need to return them to their owners."

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on a second. These people were enslaved against their will. Don't you think that's wrong?"

"Taking another person's possessions is a crime. Is that not the same in any world?"

"They're...not possessions, though?"

"Well, they aren't just things, of course, but according to our country's laws, half-demons are property. They have owners. Removing them doesn't change who they belong to."

"But they're not animals. You can't just own a person because they look a little different!"

"Hmm. I can't say I entirely disagree, but that's the law. We can't ignore it."

"All right, got it. Talking isn't going to work here." If that was how the laws of the land were, then trying to argue from a moral or ethical stance was pointless.

Isn't whether they are taken captive or not irrelevant to us? asked Mokomoko.

"You think I could just let this happen?" Tomochika whispered back. She could talk to Mokomoko without the others hearing her.

There's a famous saying: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Taking a stand against an entire country could be problematic for us.

After the king's death, the first prince had temporarily taken over his duties. But if he had been in the capital during Mana's invasion, it was quite possible that he too was now dead. In short, for the moment, the second prince might well have been the kingdom's ultimate authority.

Tomochika felt torn. In the end, she and Yogiri were outsiders. It wasn't really their place to interfere in the affairs of this world.

"I thought to wait and see how it would go, but it doesn't seem like this will be resolved through conversation," Euphemia remarked.

"I agree. There's nothing left to do but eliminate them," her sister agreed.

The two stepped forward, sending Tomochika back behind them.

"Now then, there are only ten of us and more than a hundred of you," Darian addressed them. "Trying to restrain all of you will take an awful lot of time. We want to bring you back with minimal injuries, so—"

"Who cares?"

Theodisia drew her sword, interrupting the prince's speech. A flash of black light shot forth from her weapon, a blade of darkness sweeping out to target the entire troop. The slash was wide enough to take out all ten soldiers at once, but not a single one of them was harmed. The moment the attack reached their uniforms and the horses' armor, it dissipated harmlessly into the air.

As if she had expected that, Euphemia raised her hand, preparing an attack of her own. Her hand began to shine with a red light, which shot up into the sky, splitting into countless branches before falling back onto Darian's group like a waterfall of light.

The troop was engulfed in moments. Each strand of light held incredible power, tearing apart the ground and throwing clouds of smoke and steam into the air as the heat vaporized everything it touched.

"Did she do it?"

That's a flag, you know.

The forms of the mounted soldiers became visible again as the smoke cleared. They hadn't been wiped out. There wasn't even a speck of dust on them.

"It's a little embarrassing to have to say it, but our name, the Invincible Battalion, isn't just for show. Making magical items is my specialty. The uniforms we wear, and the armor of our horses, can stop any kind of physical or magical attack."

"That's impossible. Something like that couldn't possibly exist!"

"Then keep trying. Attack us as many times as you like. And once you've tired yourselves out and given up, will you come with us?"

Something sprang from the ground around the battalion's feet. Spears that looked like human spines shot upwards all at once, striking at the horses. But the moment the spears touched their armor, the weapons shattered harmlessly.

Euphemia continued to fire red spears made from her own blood, and Theodisia attempted to sweep the men away with her sword. They fought with every kind of attack they could muster. It was almost humorous.

As Darian and his soldiers watched calmly without lifting a finger, their would-be victims continued the desperate onslaught. The half-demons observing the encounter began to stir, turning and running as they realized they couldn't fight the soldiers.

"Bind," Darian murmured as he weathered the barrage of attacks without concern.

Something suddenly wrapped itself around Tomochika's body. Chains of light snaked around her, preventing her from moving. The same thing began to happen to the others around her as well—everyone except for the two who were fighting.

"We can't have you running away. If you don't think you can fight us, just go back to your owners."

"Your magic is truly incredible, Lord Darian. Being able to restrain so many all at once..."

"It's not particularly difficult. Even you can use Bind, can't you, Jolt?"

"Yes, but my success rate is fairly low, and I could never target so many at once."

"Oh, really? All you have to do is picture your target in your head."

"That's impossible for ordinary people like us."

Darian and Jolt chatted idly as the fierce attacks continued to rain down on them.

"What is this?! I can't move!" cried Tomochika. The strands of light that had wrapped around her felt as solid as real chains. They bound both her arms and legs, holding her in place from head to toe. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make them budge.

Even with her superior sense of balance, it was all she could do to remain on her feet. Most of the others had already fallen to the ground.

Oh? That's impressive.

"This isn't the time to be impressed! Do something!"

Something, you say? Well, I suppose there is one thing I can do.

"Really?!"

I have made considerable progress in analyzing Battle Song. There are a number of security flaws in the system. I should be able to nullify the entire program for a short time.

Battle Song was the name of the Gift that had been installed in her classmates when they had first come to this world. Most of the magic and skills that were used here operated through that system.

"Then do it!"

It won't work for long, so we need to make sure that our timing is perfect.

"How long?"

Thirty seconds at most. Not enough to run away. You would need to defeat Darian within that time. Can you manage it quickly enough?

Once she could move, Tomochika would have thirty seconds to defeat the prince. She decided that, as long as she could make contact, it should be possible. The main issue was the distance between them. More than half of her limited time would be consumed just by closing the gap.

"What's going on?"

Hearing a voice behind her, Tomochika turned around. Standing there, looking as sleepy as ever, was Yogiri.