Near the southern tip of the Principality of Cadenis.
　In the city of Traunil, home of the Blue Army of the Caenis Empire and its forces in the Great Forest of Gethenfall.

　The castle of the small lord who ruled the city has been seized by the Blue Army.
　One of the rooms. A room that used to be a game table has been remodeled to look like a parlor.
　Seventeen minutes late for his appointment, Ishimakura burst into the room where his guests were waiting.

I apologize for keeping you waiting.
　The consultation took longer than I expected.
No, I'm grateful for the time you've taken to see me on such short notice.

　The four guests who had been enjoying the tea and heaps of sweets (the Qing army's budget was ample enough to provide them to the guests) stood up from their chairs and bowed lightly.
　The four guests stood up from their chairs and bowed lightly. The stone pillows also bowed, wrapping their fists in their palms.

My name is Ishimakura, and I belong to the Special Combat Corps of the Blue Army of the Caenis Empire.
　My name is Ishimakura, a member of the Special Warfare Corps of the Blue Army of the Caenis Empire. I am the first special warfare soldier in this conflict.

　The special warfare soldier to which Ishimakura belongs is simply a group of people who excel in their individual combat abilities.
　In order to get rid of the out-of-bounds strongmen who can't be dealt with by standardized soldiers, and who can break through the crushing power of "groups" and "numbers", we also hit the out-of-bounds strongmen.
　The opponent is not necessarily a person. There are times when you fight a powerful named monster.
　In such cases, you may hire adventurers to help you. Like now.

Thank you for this.

　The leader of the four, a young man in light armor, offers his hand for a handshake.

"We are the spear spear adventurer party. I'm Zeft, the leader.

　The stone pillow shook Zeft's hand back.
　The feel of his hand, the amount of force, the balance of his body. As a skilled fighter, Ishimakura could gauge his opponent's strength from a single handshake.
　He was strong.

　The "spear" had not been recruited by the Blue Army, but had come to the Blue Army by himself through the Adventurer's Guild.
　If we had enough manpower, we could have turned him away, but right now, we have plenty of money and not enough manpower.
　If they want to sell, the people in the field will assess them, and if there are no problems, they will be hired.

　Ishimakura had already obtained the materials from the adventurer's guild, and had already read through them to understand the achievements of the "spear of subterranean spear".
　He also seems to have no problem with his behavior. ...... Although the borderline of behavior required of adventurers is quite low.
　If there's anything to be concerned about, it's the overly tense atmosphere of Zeft.
　His eyes are too fixed.

　--The man has a dangerous look in his eyes. ...... I can't say the same. ......

　The stone pillow was poisoned and wandered between life and death.
　And when he somehow came back to life, he looked at himself in the mirror and thought he looked terrible.
　I felt something of the same kind from Zeft.

First of all, we, the Blue Army of the Empire of Caenis, pledge to abide by the Adventurer's Charter and not to use all adventurers to settle interstate or political disputes.
　We hereby affirm that your rights and obligations to the Adventurer's Guild are inviolable and supersede all contracts and instructions given by us.

　Ishimakura repeats the words that he has already said and memorized. It was an extremely deceptive explanation. It was a very deceptive explanation, since the Blue Army would invade on a battlefield that had been made easier to fight by having them kill the demons. Well, this is quite common. The adventurer's guild will turn a blind eye to this unless they are sent to fight against the army.
　The four seemed to know what they were doing, as if they had already heard a similar oath somewhere before.

"We're only asking for the extermination of demons.
"Very well. We came all the way here from Ciel-Teira for that purpose.
　"The Rose Princess of Hell will be defeated by ...... me, or rather, by the spear of Zero."

　Zeft clenched his fists in front of his chest, as if he wanted something.

"I heard that Chaen-shi appeared. He fought you.

　Zeft looked at the stone pillow with a pressure that seemed to catch him in a shoulder hug.

　-- "Spear of Zero". The party that Chenshi belonged to: ......

　Ishimakura knew what was going on to some extent.
　The information about the Blue Army's battle had been circulated to the Adventurer's Guild, and the "spear spear" who had come here in pursuit of the "Rose Princess of Hell" had grabbed it, and while selling themselves to the Blue Army, half of them had used it as an excuse to ask for a meeting with Ishimakura.
　Ishimakura agreed to the request.

Let's have a long talk. I'm sure we both have something to ask.

　Ishimakura offered chairs to the four men and seated himself.

　It was still early in the day.

　It was still early in the day, but by the time they had finished talking, the blood-red twilight had enveloped them.

Well ...... she is in a faraway land ......
　No, I didn't think you were in Ciel-Teila.

　With a map of the world in his mind, Ishimakura muttered to himself.

　Ishimakura felt exhausted, as if he had experienced all the years he had been away at once.
　Zeft had been recruiting friends in Teira-Ruare to start up a party. Then Chen Shih came into his life. They soon became the country's foremost party of adventurers, and ......

Tell me one thing.
　Was she ...... laughing?
"...... Yes.

　A quiet question, a quiet answer.
　The empty teacup cast a black shadow like a sundial.

At first he was like a stray dog that bellowed at everyone, but before long we were on the same page.
　He was so easygoing that he seemed rather unthinking.
　It bothered me that he didn't want to talk about his past at all.


Oh yeah. ............

　A mixture of emotions flooded me.
　Relief and joy that she was happy.
　Relief and joy that she was happy, and disappointment that someone else had done what she should have done.
　Sadness and anger that what she had in the new world had been taken from her.

She was a person who smiled like a flower. As the name suggests: ......
　Oh, if only she had been able to smile again ...... more than anything else .......

　Unsure whether to be happy or sad, the stone pillow held his eyes.

I'm sorry. I want to thank you, not as a soldier, but as someone who knows her.
I'm honored.
　...... and we have to get her back.
"Get her back"?　Does that mean we get the body back?

　There was an unusual ring to Zeft's words, and Ishimakura couldn't help but ask back.

"We stopped in the Holy Kingdom on our way here to check it out.
　We stopped by the Sacred Kingdom on our way here to check it out. We put our faith in a divine miracle to purify the bodies of the undead and turn them back into 'mere human corpses' to revive them. ......
　It's possible.
How is that possible ......?
There have been a few documented cases.
　Normally, the success rate of reanimation decreases as the corpse becomes less fresh, but Kyonshi is an undead creature originally created to preserve corpses. There may be hope.

　It was as if the sound of his own blood was echoing in his ears.
　It was all over now, the stone pillow thought. Everything was irretrievably lost.
　But what if he could save Chen Shi now?

"...... Sorry to interrupt, but just in case. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get it back or not, but the problem is the miracle tunes that make purification possible.
　Rare. Or limited. Either way, the Holy Kingdom will have to play its hand on a national level to finally make it happen. ......
"Claire.

　The wizard with the glasses (probably a pair) adds.
　But Zeft conquers him without even looking at him.

The way is not closed. Then ...... I'll just go for it.

　Claire fell silent, as if she was uncomfortable.
　Zeft had an uncanny air about him that made him hesitant to even raise an objection.

　Ishimakura felt the hope that had been swelling in him rapidly fade away.
　You can tell by looking at Zeft. He only sees what is possible or not, and does not think much about the realistic possibility of realization. The hope he talks about is like a pie in the sky. And that Zeft is trapped to the point of clinging to something so uncertain.

　--That's devastating.
　　　That's what happens to adventurers who start out strong and half-decent. He probably thought he could save the world. Then they run into a threat that's beyond their control and lose their way.
　　　He's a pawn that will crumble on its own if you use it carefully. It's a shame, but we have no choice but to let him burn up. ......

　Ishimakura put aside his personal feelings and gave Zeft a cold-hearted evaluation as a warrior and a soldier.