/
In a square with a large fountain in the city. There, sitting on a bench, Eisuke and the others asked him about the situation. The young man’s name seemed to be Marc, and he spoke with a somber expression.
“The name of the Hero who appeared in this city is… Hiroto.”
“Hiroto… does that name mean anything to you?”
“No… I’m sorry, I don’t remember him. There are so many heroes, and I only met them the first time I summoned them…”
Marielle said apologetically in response to Eisuke’s question. Marc shook his head at Marielle.
“Well, it’s impossible that you remembered them all. He’ll most likely hide his face anyway.”
“What did you say?” Eisuke frowned and urged him to continue the conversation.
“…He wears a mask so we can’t recognize his face. He rode into town on a wyvern and told us, “I’m putting this town under my supervision from now on. There shall be no fraternization between men and women of any kind. If you are found doing anything of that kind in this town, the monsters will attack you. I will be watching this city at all times”.”
“Why? why, of all things, can’t there be romance? Does he think he’s a celebrity or something?”
Serika asked a perfectly reasonable question. But Marc shook his head.
“I don’t know. …But this town was originally a tourist town. If dating is banned, there will be fewer visitors and the city will be less vibrant than before. Just take a look around. No one talks beyond what’s strictly necessary, see?”
Marielle’s eyes widened when he pointed this out. There were certainly people in this city, but… she couldn’t see an atmosphere of harmony anywhere. There were no conversations to be heard anywhere, and there was no group of two people or more. …In this town people just lived.
“In fact, I have seen with my own eyes many times people gathered together who disregarded the Hero’s words suddenly being attacked by a griffin or a wyvern. Even if at the time the masked Hero was not around. Even since he arrived, we have not seen him again, but whenever he smells the scent of men and women interacting, he attacks. We are… under surveillance.”
“It can’t be… how is it possible…?”
“Griffins, wyverns… they are all high-ranking monsters quite difficult to eliminate. But how could they reach the city and attack people with such pinpoint accuracy…?”
Marielle and Rukino grunted out of helplessness. Eisuke snorted, as if mocking.
“It’s clear you’re idiots. I guess what he does is “summon monsters and forcibly control them”.”
Rukino choked at Eisuke’s blunt statement. The griffins and wyverns, as well as the man-eater that appeared earlier, were monsters that normally an imperial knight alone would never be able to defeat. At the very least, they were monsters that would require a group of ten or more skilled knights to eliminate. The fact that Eisuke had finished one off with just a few pebbles wasn’t worrisome for now, but if the enemy had the ability to use such a vile monster at will, it would be quite troublesome.
“Even if the Hero isn’t present, he always knows when a man and a woman are together, and sends monsters after them…? Haha, I see.”
“What do you think?”
Marielle frowned looking at Eisuke, who lifted the corners of his mouth in amusement. He folded his arms and raised his index finger.
“In fact, having the others think that the Hero is not present is what he wants them to do.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Marielle, you should think more about how to make mischief.”
“Yes-Yes, sorry… wait, why am I apologizing…?”
Eisuke pointed at Marielle, who was still wondering why she was apologizing.
“It’s clear that the Hero is hiding in the city without his mask.”
“What…?”
“No one knows his real face, do they? Then he’s probably hiding in town, guarding the city G-Man[1] style. It would be very stimulating for him to be able to see the faces of those who think they won’t be detected and are secretly getting together taking such a risk.”
“You have to have a very twisted character to come up with such an idea.”
Serika made a sour face at Eisuke’s reasoning, who spoke with a sly smile. Inwardly, however, everyone present was impressed by his conjecture. At first glance, he exuded an aura of savagery and rudeness, but he possessed both the overwhelming skill to defeat a Hero head-on and the thinking ability to draw accurate conclusions from bits and pieces of information. Ironically, he was the one who radiated the aura of a pre-2000s movie slasher. Eisuke pounded his fist against his palm.
“Anyway, now we know what we’re going to do. Guessing the identity of this Hero will be an event in this city.”
“But how will we do it?”
Rukino asked Eisuke. It was hard to believe that the Hero would be the kind of man who would come out when you called him. Eisuke put his hand to his chin and let out a “Hmm”.
“Hey, Yui.”
“Yes?”
Yui asked in response with a flat tone. Eisuke scratched his cheek a bit and then pointed at her in an almost inaudible tone.
“If you and I pretend to be lovers, the Hero will surely send his monsters after us. That will mean he’ll be watching us where we can see him too. We’ll find him and drag him here. So… I’ll stay with you for the rest of the day, okay?”
Eisuke said, perhaps hiding his embarrassment, in a deliberately shy tone of voice. Yui’s expressionless face broke into a smile after a moment of indifference.
“I understand. I’m looking forward to working with you for a long time.”
“I told you it’s just for today.”
“…I’m afraid the plan is a little too perfect…”
“Haha. You think so too?”
“Oh, no, it’s not about that, but it’s okay.”
Serika felt even luckier that her own “plan to get Eisuke and Yui together” was also so in tune with the situation, but Eisuke didn’t know that.
“It can’t be…” Marielle stared at Eisuke and Yui, somewhat uneasy.
“…My lady, is something wrong?”
“…No, it’s nothing…”
Marielle cleared her throat when Rukino looked at her with an anxious expression. …Yui turned to look at Marielle suddenly. Marielle was startled when Yui turned her attention to her out of nowhere.
“La-Lady Yui? What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing…” Yui tried to say something, but was silenced first.
“Something’s coming…!”
“What?”
At that moment, a gale hit Eisuke and the others from above. A black shadow covered the sky above them. And then it landed behind Marielle with a thud.
“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
A deafening scream shook the whole city. The beast’s wings flapped menacingly causing the wind to blow. The upper half of its body was that of an eagle, and the lower half was that of a lion, its appearance alone unconsciously inspiring awe… Eisuke’s eyes bugged out at the legendary creature he was witnessing for the first time.
“Kyaaaaaaaah!”
“My lady!”
Marielle screamed, and Rukino quickly drew her into her arms to protect her. What appeared behind Marielle was the same griffin they had been talking about. Eisuke laughed.
“Isn’t it too early!? Yui, Serika! You guys look around for suspicious people! I’ll take care of the monster!”
“What, you can take care of that thing all by yourself?!” Serika was overwhelmed by the griffin and worried about him at the same time.
“Gyaaaaaaaah!”
Bashuuuu!
The griffin released a shockwave of wind from its beak like a tidal wave. Eisuke looked at the mass of air attacking him, which destroyed the pavement on the ground as if it was peeling it off.
“Come on!” He shouted, and stretched his right arm out to the front.
…The explosion he caused with his arm erased the wind blast without a trace. Eisuke gave him a hateful grin in profile.
“Hey, how about that, don’t forget who you’re talking to!”
“Ah, that’s right, you´re a stupid gorilla!”
“Who are you calling a stupid gorilla!”
Serika clicked her tongue in disgust and disappeared from the scene, taking Yui with her. Meanwhile, the griffin attacked Eisuke with its sharp claws. A crushing blow with a force that no human could ever hope to match hovered over his head.
“Hmph!”
However, Eisuke met him head-on with a hand.
“Hey, hey, what’s the matter, did you think you could defeat me with just that little strike?”
“Gu, gyah…?” The griffin raised a voice in dismay. The swipe of its claws did not crush it, but only pushed it back.
The griffin was a being of very high rank among the monsters. In the pyramid of biological monsters, it could be said to reign almost at the top. …But it was unlucky to be here in this city. Eisuke, who had trained so hard that he surpassed humans, was a being that easily skipped even the top of the pyramid.
“That’s how you finish off your opponent in one blow!” Eisuke pushed the griffin backwards and grabbed it by the top as it backed up. “Take that!” A tremendous heel strike slammed into the top of the griffin’s head.
“Gah, gyaah!”
Baghan! A ridiculous sound of impact was heard, and the griffin crashed to the ground. Its beak and face slammed into the hard stone, hitting it with a “BECKOOM!” and the ground cratered. Just like that, the griffin made no other sound. The blow had been such that you could even feel a little sorry for it.
“Y-You defeated the griffin… with one blow!?”
“U-Unbelievable…!
Neither Rukino nor Marc could even raise their voices in surprise. Even if dozens of imperial knights fought together, the odds would be 50%, but Eisuke finished off the monster with a single heel strike. This was no human feat, whichever way you looked at it. Shaking his leg slightly, Eisuke immediately turned his attention to something else.
“Yui, Serika, how’s it going!”
Yui and Serika answered Eisuke’s call. Serika, however, shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.
“Well… there was no one obviously suspicious, though. I thought he’d be doing something flashy, since he controls the monsters…”
“What about you, Yui, did you find anything suspicious?” Eisuke looked at Yui.
Yui was silent for a while with her usual emotionless face. …But then she shook her head a little.
“…No, me neither. There was no suspicious person.”
“Even you…? I see. He seems to play hide-and-seek very well, doesn’t he?”
Eisuke ruffled his hair in disgust, but smiled like a child who really played hide-and-seek. He couldn’t help it.
“…Lady Yui?” The only one who noticed Yui’s fingers twitching and looked sideways was Marielle.
[1] G-Man is a recurring character in the Half-life saga.