I've won the duel, and I'm going to ask him to keep his promise, as he should.

　But Pierre is surprised.

'Ya, a promise?'

Yeah, I told you. That's what I said. Bring it back-- bring it in front of me.

　Pierre looked at him as he noticed something, and he appealed to Mr. Fernand.

'That's right. 'Yes, he won the duel. He is the owner of that ship, so it's not my fault. He's the one who's to blame!

　I tell Pierre, who is ranting in resignation, with a smile.

'Oh come on, didn't you hear me well?　Like I said bring it in front of me. Now, let's get this back to me. I haven't wanted to sleep in Einhorn's bed for a long time. It's too delicate for me to sleep on a new pillow.

　That's a lie.

　I could change my pillow and still have a blast that day.

　I watched Pierre's face turn blue as I grinned at him.

'What's up?'　Hurry up and bring it to me.

　Mr. Fernand stops him.

'I'm sorry, Count, but your airship is out of control. It's impossible to bring it back right away. If you can, help us stop it.

　I spread my mouth as wide as a crescent moon and told him I had been waiting for him.

　Yes, I had been waiting for this moment.

　This is why I stalled for time.

　This guy - thanks to Pierre's overconfidence in his own, or rather, in the power of the Holy Tree and the performance of the Aroganz, things went smoothly.

　All for this moment!

I don't care!

　Pierre starts to cry at my words.

'Oh, have you finally figured it out?　That's right, you've broken this or that vow of the Holy Tree. You lost the duel and you didn't return the Einhorn to me--what kind of punishment do you think the Holy Tree will give you?

　Then, a red magic circle appeared directly below Pierre.

　Fernand-san and the others moved away from that magic circle as if it was a conditioned reflex.

　They look very frightened.

　I stand on top of the magic circle and look at Pierre.

'No, no. Forgive me. Forgive me!　Forgive me, I'll do anything!　I don't want to be without blessings. I don't want to be without blessing!

　As Pierre cried out and tried to run away, tree roots grew from the ground and tangled around his body.

　Pierre is grabbed by his ankles and falls down, and as he does, tree roots entangle and lift Pierre's body.

　Ivy growing from tree roots tangled in his right arm.

'Stop it!　Please!　I won't be doing this anymore!　It's not my fault!　This is an outsider!　Forgive me!

　I approached Pierre, who was crying and I called out to him.

'Didn't I tell you I'd do anything for you?　Then you're going straight to No Blessing.

　No blessing - that's what the nobles with the Holy Tree's blessing fear the most.

　It was written in Marie's notebook.

　As Pierre's face turns despairing, the crest on the back of his right hand glows strongly - entangled in ivy. As the ivy broke away and the roots of the tree returned to the ground, the crest was not on the back of his right hand.

　Pierre sits up and doesn't move from his spot.

　He looks at the back of his right hand and has tears streaming down his face.

　I approached Pierre and smiled at him.

You mustn't break a promise, right? When you learn from this, you'll have to be diligent from now on.

　He knew all this and did it.

　I imagined what Pierre was most afraid of, and I was determined to make the crest disappear, for sure.

　After discussing things behind the scenes with Luxion, he decided that he was going to teach the Arzel turds a lesson in reality.

　As the red magic circle that was floating on the ground disappeared, Fernan and the others came slowly, as if they were afraid.

　No blessings. They seem to be a little upset when they see their blessings being taken away.

''........Pierre.

　Fernand-san, who turns a sympathetic gaze at him, is still a six great nobleman.

　I feel sorry for Pierre who has lost his coat of arms.

　This guy doesn't need any blessings.

　Just having it makes people unhappy.

　Above all, he has harmed me.

　That's the hardest thing for me to forgive.

　The event?　There's no need for events to get along now when the protagonist and the target of the attack are giving off an air of sugar-spitting sweetness.

　This is real ... if you're in the way, just get rid of them. You can follow the protagonists as much as you want later.

　Patience is poisonous to the body, you know.

　If this guy hadn't gotten involved with us, we would have watched over him but he crossed the line. As soon as he kidnapped Noel and Kara, I decided to treat this guy the cruelest way I could,

　I whisper softly to Pierre.

'What do you think?　How does it feel to lose the blessings of the Holy Tree?　Let's hear it, you pseudo-aristocrat from down under.

　I grinned and asked him, and Pierre looked back at me, and I couldn't quite tell if he was angry or crying.

　........I wanted to see that face!

'Come on, tell me. Tell me how it feels to lose it when all you have to offer is the blessing of the Holy Tree. Are you afraid?　 I'm sure they're all going to get revenge on you, right?

　Looking at the audience, the students of the school were looking at Pierre with cold eyes.

　Apparently, the world is cold to those who have lost their blessings, even if they are nobles.

　Pierre squats down on the spot and starts to cry.

''Why........why am I doing this to myself!

'Cause you put up a fight with me. Brace yourselves. It's not over yet. And then you'll get what you deserve. Well, that was a good show, Pierre.

　I put my hand on Pierre's shoulder.

You were a good clown.

　When Pierre started crying and screaming, Fernand-san and the others were looking at me and donning me.

　.........No, I'm the one who wants to be donned.

　What's the matter, I'm the one who was bothered by it.

　I was ruffling my hair.

Well, I should probably go get her now.

　I'm worried that Luxion has gone too far.

　He's a no-good kid who's always saying he wants to destroy the newcomers or something.

◇

　The Arzel Republic's airship fleet was deploying.

　The Holy Tree Temple was behind them, and the Holy Tree was in danger if they went any further.

　An admiral on the flagship shouted.

''Sink him here at all costs!　I don't care if the crew is safe or not!

　More than fifty naval ships, the one to whom the cannons were pointed was Einhorn.

　They proceeded to destroy the Favell family's territory and came here, sinking the Favell family's private fleet.

　The Republic's airships fired their cannons in unison.

　They shot cannons alongside the hull of the ship, but the cannon rounds were accelerated by magic to increase their power.

　In the midst of such gunfire, Einhorn pushes forward.

　He deployed his shield and played all the cannon rounds.

　The admiral looked as if he had bitten down on a bitter worm.

''........A monster?''

　In the history of the Republic, it had never been driven to this point.

　For the Republic, which believes in the Holy Tree, there was no way they could retreat.

　One after another, airships rise into the sky and join the fleet, but Einhorn ignores them and fires on them.

　The Admiral is surprised to see Einhorn firing with the bow of the ship pointed at him.

　The Republic's airship has been hit by a magical shield that has been pierced.

　One after another, friendly ships are hit.

''What accuracy in hitting the target. This is the airship of the kingdom?

　The Admiral shouts.

'Maximum engine power!　We'll sink that ship even if we have to smash it!

　When it was decided that it was not a good idea to shoot at each other, several ships, including the flagship, began to prepare to make an assault. Einhorn watched the movement in silence.

''Crush them!''

　The Admiral was also curious about Einhorn's movements.

"Ha-ha-ha!　We're the best!
"Long live the Favre family.
"Oh, get out of the way!

　A drunken voice came over the comm, and when the other man made a move that was difficult to understand, he dismissed it as "a drunkard's thing to do.

Charge!

　The airship deployed its shields thickly in the bow and charged towards Einhorn.

　One by one, the crew escaped from the airship, and the Admiral was surprised to find himself outside as he climbed into a small boat and left the scene.

''No way....''

　The assaulting airship was shot through with gunfire and sunk, and then the flagship - the airship that was over a thousand meters long - was assaulted.

　The flagship split to the left and right as it was crushed and slashed apart.

　Only Einhorn emerged safely from the flames and smoke generated by the explosion.

　The Admiral clenched his hands in frustration.

'There's nothing we can do about it.'

　There was a lack of preparation, but it wasn't a game to begin with.

　From the top of the small boat, he sees Einhorn's figure.

　If the armor with the Republic knights on board tried to attach, they would be shot down or knocked down by something that looked like legless armor.

　The admiral fell to his knees.

''In my generation, the Republic will lose........''

　The myth of the undefeated was about to come to an end.

　Then one of his men pointed to the sky.

'Admiral!'

What's that...?

　A large piece of armor, unknown to the Admiral, descended from the sky towards Einhorn, punching the legless armor away and landing on the deck.

　From inside, a young man descends.

'Are you a student?'

　The student--Rion held a shotgun in his hand and boarded the Einhorn's ship, and now the Druil family airship was explaining to the entire ship via communication.

'Don't shoot!　The young man is on our side now!''

　At the words of Fernand Toala Druil - the sixth nobleman, the fleet obeyed and stopped the bombardment.

　But the admiral got down on his hands and wept.

''Well you've just come to us now.

　Numerous airships had exposed the wreckage on the land where the Holy Tree was located.

　In effect, the Republic's fleet had been defeated by a single foreign airship.

◇

　Inside the Einhorn's ship.

　It's very much in disrepair, and I mutter to myself, holding my shotgun in both hands.

'I'll charge you a premium for the repairs.

　Then Luxion appeared in front of me, with his escort robots at his sides.

''I've been waiting for you, Master.

Did you miss me?

''Yes. I seem to have grown up enough to understand that it's lonely not to hear the Master's nonsense. It's just that if you had come a little later, we could have destroyed that temple.''

　........I knew this guy wasn't cute.

　Cleare would have sent me a picture of Angel's underwear.

　As I walk away, Luxion comes to a fixed position around my right shoulder and floats.

　The robots took up positions to protect me.

Now, where is the a**h*le?

"Some people are holed up in their rooms, trying to escape reality. Most are doing all sorts of things to get out of the hangar.

Show him around. And be thorough with Pierre.

Yes, sir.

　I held my shotgun, smiling and looking for Pierre's cronies.

　While looking at the ravaged Einhorn, I received a report from Luxion.

　One of the things that caught my attention was.

'Isn't your vow to the Holy Tree a contract?

'Yes. To be precise, it's not. In the first place, I don't deal with the Holy Tree in such detail. The contract is an application of the oath to the holy tree. Originally, the correct way to use an oath to the holy tree is to borrow more power. However, this method of application has been discovered in recent years.

'Is that why you didn't take it from us directly, and why you didn't put a curse on it and order us to do it?

　Pierre could have taken Einhorn away from us without question.

　That's why he took the roundabout way of swearing an oath to the Holy Tree.

　There was a reason for that.

''After checking, the emblem of the Sacred Tree also has a class. At the top is the "guardian". The next highest is the 'priestess'. Then there are the six great nobles, followed by the nobles further down. The more you go to the top, the greater the benefit you receive.

'Was it impossible for Pierre to take or curse so easily?

''Yes. ''It is likely that he used the Holy Tree's oath to do so. He must have reported to the Holy Tree that Einhorn is the property of Marie and the others. From the point of view of the Holy Tree, Pierre, who has the blessing, is our superior.''

　I give a small laugh.

''The saplings were effective against the arrogant Holy Tree, weren't they?

'He who has the saplings will not be able to act as a superior. I guessed from Marie's notes, and you were right.''

　Trading material.

　And as a preparation, the saplings were useful enough.

''But then again, the Holy Tree cut off Pierre so easily.

It's probably because he judged that the act of losing or breaking an oath to the holy tree was insufficient to protect himself. I'm sure you'll find that by swearing an oath to Seiki, you're lending your power of restraint and curse. And yet, it's no good if you fail.''

　To put it bluntly, the six great nobles are not only using Holy Tree unilaterally.

　Seiki is also using the six great nobles to protect himself.

''Pierre was rash. What will happen if we pass this information to the kingdom?''

''This will not change if the Master doesn't act. The fact is, the kingdom doesn't have the power to attack and destroy the Republic. The fact is, the Republic doesn't have the power to attack and destroy the Republic, and their advantage in defensive battles won't change. However, the Republic's weaknesses will be noticed, and it will be useful information in the long run.''

　As I was talking, I arrived at the hangar.

　Pierre's cronies, who are sitting there in resignation, look at me as I come in.

'Hello, rebels--and f*ck you!

　I pulled the trigger of the shotgun and the shells fired and shotgun shells flew out.

　It's anti-personnel, but it hurts like hell.

　One shot after another, and then I collapse in pain.

　Pierre's cronies were there and I stepped on his head. This is the guy I saw the day Pierre came to fight me.

'Well, now you're going to be tried as traitors... how do you feel?

　Pierre's cronies, in pain, were blue-faced.

　They reeked of alcohol, but they seemed to be sobered up.

'Do you see who you've been fighting with?'

　They're all shaking and I load the shells into the shotgun.

'You guys. Go attack the kingdom or something and you guys are going to take care of it?　Great guts. Would you like me to buy it for you?

　All of them were face down, as if they were watching what was going on outside.

　Mouth to mouth.

Oh, I didn't mean to.
It was Pierre, he told me.
Yeah, and we didn't do anything!

　I laugh when he pulls the trigger of the shotgun and silences me.

'It doesn't matter!　Your crime is that you put us--no, this me--in a fight.

　Now that the protagonist and the boy who is the target of the attack have become friends, and events are no longer necessary - there's no need for me to put up with them.

　Now, let's have the Arzel Republic take responsibility for the next one.