Chapter 308: Kirin

Chapter 308: Kirin

After returning to the village by Portal, we immediately set out for Faubley.

“Firo’s carriage…”
“We had to leave it. There’s no helping it.”
“Uu…”

I can’t warp while taking something of that size along.
So Firo will have to use one of the cheap carriages in the village.
One of the other Filo Rials will carry her’s back to the village later.

“Let’s do our best.”
“Yeah”

I took whoever had high combat abilities with me.
The heroes were a given, and Fohl was included in that category now.
Raphtalia, Firo, Rishia, Kiel, Sadina, Taniko, Gaelion, and that Granny, whose combat experience is high (She apparently performed quite a bit in the previous battle, but I never saw it). Motoyasu’s three, and Female Knight were also brought along.
There’s also the Queen, and Trash. I don’t care about the latter, but the Queen will be useful in negotiating with their government.

“What sort of enemy is Kirin?” (Naofumi)
“I have knowledge of it from the game, but I can’t guarantee its accuracy….” (Ren)

Right… Ren’s right.
In the Houou battle, everyone’s info differed, and the real one was also different from all of them.

“Do you know anything, Queen?” (Naofumi)
“The tales describing Kirin? I’m knowledgeable of the legends, but… was it supposed to be in Faubley…?” (Queen)
“It wasn’t?”

The Queen is a lover of legends, right? At least from what I’ve seen.
Why doesn’t she know about it?
Perhaps the country of Faubley intentionally concealed the fact. It’s possible.
It’s a country made of the blood of Heroes.
There’s no way they didn’t know.

“Faubley’s gone through a long period of political upheaval, so I can’t deny the possibility of the information dying out. They also claim to be investigating the four beasts, so you may find something in their large national library.” (Queen)

National Library. I believe Melty was able to remember a bit of info from a book, but what book was it?
Ah, there were a lot of Seven Stars in Faubley, right?
I may end up fighting alongside them here.

… There may be the person who caused the incident mixed in as well.
If I find them out by how they attack, I may end up killing thme.
What’s more, if there are Seven Star Heroes summoned from another world, I may be able to ask it from them.
Not that I’m expecting anything great.

Our carriages proceeded at full speed, but…
The time came, and the hourglass in my vision enlarged.

This time, it displayed a 『9』.

But that doesn’t really matter.
The problem is what came afterwards.

I guess it was after about an hour.
Firo was surpassing her limits, and running at breakneck speed. We were storming down the streets of the country neighboring Faubley.
Suddenly… the number vanished.
I stopped the carriage, and called out to the Queen, and the heroes.

“What’s this about?” (Naofumi)
“What happened?” (Queen)
“Yeah, the hourglass vanished. As if the beast had already been defeated.” (Naofumi)
“Naofumi, mine’s gone too.” (Ren)
“Fumu…” (Naofumi)

Faubley has their own heroes.
So it’s not impossible.
How many of them are there right now?
Um… Trash and Fohl are Seven Stars… what about Rishia?

Unlike Fohl’s, hers has settled into a translucent state.
I really don’t think it’s a Legendary Weapon, so what exactly is it?

Anyways, there are five more of the Seven Stars, so it’s not that strange if they were able to beat Kirin.
Then why would people with that sort of power refrain from participating in the Houou battle? It’s strange no matter how you look at it.

“Queen, does Faubley have all of the other Seven Star Heroes?” (Naofumi)
“I’ve heard that five of them mainly operate from their lands. Of course, they also visit other countries.” (Queen)

So Faubley has all of the rest.
And Trash and the Four Summoned are centered in Melromark.
It appears we were equal in numbers.

There’s someone among them that I can never forgive.
The enemies summoned in the wave… It’s possible that someone like Glass appeared there as well.
If that’s the case, they might be trying to get the Heroes to kill each other.
But I won’t stand by false charges.
I’ll deliver retribution unto the true culprit.

But…
There’s one large problem.

The number on the blue hourglass is gone.
No, the blue hourglass Icon itself is gone.
In its place is the normal Red Hourglass, counting down time to the next wave.

One Week.

It’s certain that something defeated the wave, be it the Seven Star Heroes, or something else. Then where did Ouryuu go?
I turn my eyes to Gaelion.

“KYUA!” (Gaelion)

Taniko’s cuddling with him.
I want to somehow call true Gaelion out, but…
From the start, he doesn’t come out before Ren or Taniko.

… Kirin’s gone. Ouryuu’s left.
Even if he is set to appear, I have no idea where it’ll be.
It would be troublesome if he appeared with little warning like this time.
I need to ask for the location.

“Ren, Itsuki, Motoyasu, where does Ouryuu revive?” (Naofumi)
“Over there.” (Ren)
“Here.” (Itsuki)
“That way, Father-in-Law.” (Motoyasu)

They each point in different directions altogether.
They’re all over the place…
We can’t determine its location. I never expected this.

“I-it seems we don’t know Ouryuu’s location.” (Ren)

Ren seems to be bewildered.
Yeah.
I mean, everyone’s disagreeing here.

There’s no choice.
We’ll put Ouryuu off ‘til later. I’ll get what I can from Gaelion.

“I’m going to ride Gaelion, and observe Faubley’s situation from the sky.” (Naofumi)
“What about Firo?” (Firo)
“You can come along if you want. Along with Gaelion.” (Naofumi)

Perhaps that was a bit forced. But since Ren and Taniko are with us, we’ll have to fly up high to speak.
Taniko tries to get on him, but Gaelion rejects her, and begins beating his wings.
I straddle Firo, and we lift off.

“… And? Tell me everything you know about Ouryuu.” (Naofumi)
“Sorry. I know nothing.” (Gaelion)

I look towards Faubley from up high.
I see something like a speck in the distance… Is that it?
I can’t tell what’s going down there.

“So you aren’t the dragon?” (Naofumi)
“It may be an assimilation of the Dragon Emperor cores…” (Gaelion)

Fumu… because Ouryuu’s seal isn’t breaking, the blue hourglass didn’t appear. Can I look at it like that?

–

After I conversed with Gaelion, we stopped by a small country.
To easily cross Faubley’s border, the Queen stopped by the castle of said country, and came out quickly.

“Iwatani-sama, I have found out what became of Kirin.” (Queen)

Well, it’s not like I didn’t hear any gossip on the city’s streets, but hearing the Queen’s, and Shadow’s information is for the best.

“The Heroes in Faubley led the army, and managed to subjugate it. The damage caused was 0. Absolutely none.” (Queen)
“I see… that’s good.”

Still, the one who killed off Atlas, and our armies may be there.
Just by thinking that, I feel I need to get there immediately, and make him taste the same, no an even greater pain than that he inflicted on Atlas.

“And? How many of their Seven Star Heroes participated?” (Naofumi)
“That’s the strange thing. Apparently, it was only one.” (Queen)
“One…?” (Naofumi)

One, is it? There seems to be a capable person among them.
But what the hell were the other heroes doing?
They didn’t even go help out with Houou. They didn’t fight the Kirin that appeared right next to them.
It’s as if they’re useless.

“We’re still going to confirm the truth. For Atlas, and the other’s sake as well.” (Naofumi)
“I understand. I’ve already sent messengers ahead to grant us an audience with Faubley immediately.” (Queen)

On the Queen’s orders, the country we stopped in sent messengers to Faubley.
They were on flying dragons, so they shouldn’t take long.
The problem is if we’re setting out yet or not…

“Should we rush there?” (Queen)
“Fue…” (Firo)

Firo’s collapsed on her own carriage.
She’s just fought a series of battles.
Though she claims she’s fine, she must be pushing herself.
We should rest, if only for a bit.
I bet Faubley will take a while to gather their Heroes as well, so we should rest when we have the chance.

“No, let’s rest, and recover our strength.” (Naofumi)
“Understood.” (Queen)

Like that, the third of the four beasts was defeated, and the wave’s hourglass turned red once more.