“He’s made the Superd Clan his followers, and now he’s sheltering them.” “The Dragon God isn’t evil. He’s one of the heroes who defeated the Demon God Laplace. By rights, he and the Superd Clan should be enemies.” “You’re talking about the Dragon God from however many generations back, right? Times change, people get stupid. Right?” “Well…I guess.” “But there, that’s where you’re different. You’re trying to surpass the previous generations. I think that’s admirable of ya.” The kid had gotten real quiet. Despite being a chatty guy, now he fell silent. That was a sure sign he’d taken in what I’d said and was giving it proper consideration. “You can kill the last of the Superd Clan and defeat Orsted,” I went on. “Then, you’ll be a hero for all eternity. Not to mention number two of the Seven Great Powers.” No reply came. “Just being great doesn’t make you invincible and irreplaceable. Anyone who ever had a heroic epic made about them had someone they were never able to beat. Know why? Because they never had the opportunity.” The kid’s eyes went wide. “You’re getting handed an opportunity. The chance for renown beyond what anyone’s ever had before. You might never get it again.” The kid’s mouth was shut tight. He watched me closely. Yeah, I get it. You gotta know even better than me, right? You looked up to him ever since you were little, you heard all about him from your mom and dad, and then when that wasn’t enough, you went all round the world collecting legends of him. All so you could be even better. Guess what, kid? If you beat Orsted, you sure as hell will be. “Impossible,” he said. “For years now, no one has known the whereabouts of the Technique God or the Dragon God or the Demon God or the Fighting God. No one knows where Orsted is.” Ha, I thought ya might say that. Page 190 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
“True that. But I knew exactly where the Behemoth was.” “It wasn’t the Master.” “Hey, what d’ya want from me? The Master isn’t gonna show up here for another eighty years.” “Is that right? Thank you for telling me. Eighty years from now, I’ll be back.” “Well, eighty years from now is eighty years from now… Don’t ya want to try your skills against Orsted? He’s certified as the world’s strongest. Way stronger than the Technique God— if that guy’s even still kicking. He’s been crushing the competition since the Laplace War, and you get to challenge him.” He stared at me. No way would this guy have ever looked at me if I weren’t working for the Man-God. We could have crossed paths at the Adventurers’ Guild and he’d have ignored me like you would a patch of weeds. I’m not the shy type, but I wouldn’t have had the guts to strike up a conversation with a guy like this. He’s one of the world’s few SS-rank adventurers, and he was on another level even among them. It’d be fair to call him the very best of the best. That’s who this guy was. Even I looked up to him. Back when I started adventuring, I’d wanted to be like the guy he was trying to surpass now. One day, I swore to myself, I’m gonna accomplish great things like him. Then reality came and kicked me up the ass. I never accomplished so much as one great thing. I was an adventurer for a long time, and I saw things that you’d want to boast about back home. Problem was, I never did anything except watch. I fixed meals for the ones who accomplished great deeds, got everything set up for them, but when push came to shove, all I did was watch. It was like that with Paul, too. In the fight with the Hydra, I never got near the front line. “All right,” he said. “So where is Orsted?” “I’ll tell you, but there’s a condition.” “I accept.” “Whoa, there! I haven’t said what it is yet, have I? Don’t get ahead of yourself.” “A nobody like you would never hand anything over without setting conditions on it.” “You’re not wrong,” I admitted. Page 191 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
I was on top of the world. This guy I’d looked up to since I was an adventurer was talking to me like an equal. “It’s nothing too arduous,” I continued. “There’s two things. For now, you’re to go here—” I handed him a map, “—and then once you get there, I’ll tell you what comes next. One more thing—if we run into each other, act like you don’t know me. This is all top secret. “As for the second thing: there’s a guy my employer wants dead. A follower of Orsted, separate from the Superd Clan. He’ll definitely try to stop you if you go near Orsted so, basically, I want you to do him in on the way.” “Your employer?” “Haven’t you dreamed of him? This real mysterious guy who gives you advice?” I asked. “Yes,” he murmured, “I think I did have a dream like that, long ago… You follow his advice?” “Well, y’know.” The kid made a face that said he sure as hell wouldn’t follow any advice from a guy like that and shrugged. But I knew that weren’t true— not when I was here on the Man-God’s orders to bring him in. See, the Man-God only chooses folks He’s certain of. The Man-God’s a coward, you see; real cautious. If anyone blabbed at this stage of the plan, the whole thing would fall apart. “Well? What’ll it be? I want a yes or no.” “Yes, obviously,” he said. He made his decision, just like that. I liked that. “I don’t like the idea of killing innocents, but, as they say, sometimes you’ve got to get your hands dirty.” “‘They’ say, huh? I’ll take your word for it.” Personally, I didn’t like the idea of anyone accepting a mission to kill all those guiltless Superd without question, but hey. I remembered back when I’d just barely started adventuring. Back when I almost died, and Ruijerd saved my life. Yeah, all right, I was just following the Man-God’s instructions back then, too. But look, in my heart, I like to think of myself as an ally to the Superd Clan. I didn’t have any nasty prejudices against them, certainly. But I’ve come this far. There’s nothing for me to do but keep falling and steel myself for the final Page 192 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
splat. “Right, that’s all,” I said. “Try and hurry, all right?” “Very well. I’ll set off at once,” he said, then started walking. The old desert warriors tried to stop him, but he paid them no mind. He hadn’t in any way prepared for a journey, but he strode off into the desert like you’d go for a walk in the park. They don’t waste time once they make a decision, these guys. “Heroes,” I muttered. I looked up to heroes too, long ago. The thing is, when you grow up and see your contemporaries trying to be heroes themselves, you realize just how fragile they are. Or maybe “young” was a better word… Admittedly, out of all of them, this kid was especially so. “Right, I’ll stay in this village today and wait for your next message, yeah?” I said to the air. Scratching my neck, I went back to the village. On the way, something made me look back. I saw the figure of a man disappear into the desert. He’d been easy to fool and easy to manipulate, and even then, no one could deny his ability. But still… I couldn’t feel secure surrounded by only guys like that. into matter how much of a comfort it was, knowing they’d be on our side. But you can’t win if you always go for the safe bet, y’know? Well, holy Man-God—what do You have to say to that? Page 193 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
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