Godhorn Tech:Volume1 Chapter2

Status: Incomplete

1/5 parts completed

   

Chapter 2 Section 1

Everyone feared the great power of the Wicked Gods.

Humans were the only beings that wanted that power for themselves.

He was a mess.

Back in a room of a simple wooden house, Miyabi Blackgarden could not get out of bed. He felt like his muscles had been replaced with mud.

But the morning arrived despite his protests.

“Please get up.”

It announced its presence with a polite young woman’s voice.

Helen Clockgear was not just inside his house – she was inside his bedroom.

“Miyabi, you need to get up. It’s morning.”

“Ugh,” he groaned, but not because he had low blood pressure.

That young woman provided a little too exciting a visual. Her long black hair and glasses made her look like a stickler for the rules, but then there were her clothes. The chest was left open, the part that was buttoned still left her navel visible, her tight skirt was short enough to show off her thighs, her hair decorations looked like devil horns, and the whip on the back of her hips looked like a tail. He appreciated her waking him up, but this was a little much for his adolescent heart.

He did his best to keep her from noticing his reaction.

“Helen? What are you doing here?”

“I am a Republic official. Managing people is my job.”

“You unlocked the front door with magic again, didn’t you?”

“That is not an abuse of my powers. It is a part of my job. On that note, Miyabi, as peaceful as this village is, you should really use a Jack class or better lock for your outside doors. Anyone can get through a 9 of Diamonds.”

He caught himself before pointing out she would break through that as well.

Then the (busty) glasses woman pointed toward the wooden door.

The cacophony of people working with the lumber could be heard even in here. That meant it was already past 8 in the morning. Miyabi found it easier to tell time that way than using the mechanical clock Helen had brought from the big city.

“I made you breakfast, so please come to the table.”

She left his bedroom and her footsteps creaked down the narrow and steep wooden stairs toward the dining room. His parents were not here, but that was common in this village. When one parent was home, so was the other. When one was gone, they were both out deep in the forest. He knew his boss and the older apprentices better than them.

It must not have been cold enough for Helen to light a fire in the fireplace. The morning chill woke him up before he even washed his face.

The table contained a simple breakfast of toast, salad, and ham and eggs. The simplicity was due to the magic stove and poorly-sealed refrigerator being old and falling apart, not because Helen was a poor cook.

She had apparently expected him to wake up sooner than this, but the food was not cold.

The tableware itself seemed to keep the food and drink warm. That would be more magic. He got to see a lot of convenient magic when Helen was around.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Miyabi had a mug full of hot milk (which somehow had not developed a film on top), but Helen’s cup only contained cold water as she sat politely across from him. But not because she was showing restraint; she really did like the village’s water.

“It recovers so much of your magic. Enough that you don’t even need to stay at an inn. I wish I could fill a bottle with it and carry it around with me, but I go through it so fast.”

“?”

Born and raised in this village, Miyabi had no idea what she meant, but the forest water straight from the well was apparently a rare thing for someone who had lived so long in the capital.

“So why are you cooking me breakfast?”

“I would prefer not to, if I’m being honest.” She was blunt about that. And she was approaching the ultimate decision of whether to put salt or sauce on her ham and eggs. “The Republic has no Godhorn Tech. So what they fear most is what you might do with Alma. For example, you could break off the horn and sell it on the black market. If that found its way into the hands of the remnants of the old monarchy scattered across the land, the country could be in serious trouble. So to ensure their own safety, the Republic wants to ensure all your needs are met and you are never short on money.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“No thanks are necessary. I am only monitoring you for the country’s sake.”

She complained, but she had also refrained from adding carrots to the salad because she knew he didn’t like them. How cute could she be?

“Speaking of, where is Alma?”

The juvenile Wicked God would normally come running at the smell of food, so the curvy glasses woman explained.

“That elf dragged the poor thing outside to play.”

After eating, Miyabi volunteered to do the dishes. He hated working with the cold well water, but Helen warned him not to take it for granted. He still didn’t understand. They could get an endless supply of the stuff from the ground, so why was it so valuable? Washing dishes and his own face was a pain. It was so cold he had to wrap his aching hands in a towel to warm them before heading out to search for Alma. Helen followed him to “monitor” him as usual.

This was a small village.

It was half overgrown by the forest and Miyabi lived in a log house. Everything here was made from wood. But it really was a small village, so the roads were made of exposed brown dirt packed down by feet, hooves, and wagon wheels. Stone pavement was beyond anything they could hope for out here.

“In this village, we make a living cutting down the forest’s trees. We’re the only village out there that’s made a contract with the elves. We’re special!”

Lumberjack (Older Apprentice) was very cheerful for so early in the morning.

He worked accurately even as he smiled and greeted them. He ran his saw along the colorful pattern glowing on the magically-hovering log, rapidly shaping the desired piece of lumber. He worked alone on a tree several times taller than he was and his saw was unnaturally sharp. He had likely added on some water magic to cut with the water pressure. Miyabi could not do any of that yet.

(Special, huh?)

The village prided themselves in being left in charge of the forest by the local Blueforest race of elves. Although Miyabi sometimes wondered if the elves had tricked the humans into maintaining the forest paths, thinning out the trees, and all the other jobs they couldn’t be bothered to do.

Whatever the case, the village was hard at work for another day.

The sorcery bomb had been a very close call and the Celina and Schwarz Schütze problem remained, but he had protected this scene nonetheless.

“Please keep quiet about what happened,” quietly warned Helen, walking alongside him. His heart jumped when he felt her warm breath on his ear. “A single village boy wields a Godhorn Tech when not even the entire Republic has one. If word gets out, you can’t live here anymore. Do you want to be on the run around the clock? The remnants of the old monarchy still fantasize every night about bringing back the slave trade and they would love to get their hands on that thing.”

“So I’m a secret warrior, huh? Heh heh heh.”

“Why does that appeal to you? Sigh, boys never do grow up, do they?”

At any rate, he asked around for information on the long-eared hag.

“Hey, Miyabi! Tell that elf girl she can play in the village if she wants, but she shouldn’t use our lumber as an obstacle course!” (Lumberjack (Middle Aged))

“Sob, all I wanted was to make friends with some cute elves, so how did I end up surrounded by big burly men?” (Lumberjack (Newcomer))

“Ho ho ho. Watching Lady Alicia enjoy herself is so relaxing. Our ancestors agreed to a contract with the elves, giving us permission to cut down the forest’s trees, but it all happened so long ago no one remembers what the exact terms of the contract were. But that smile on Lady Alicia’s face is all we need to know we still have their permission.” (Elder)

None of it was very helpful.

And that old man’s lines were always long. Too long.

“Hm.” Helen placed a finger on the side of her glasses. “That elf isn’t surrounded by tourists like I expected.”

“?”

“The plays always present forests as a home to the elves and Azul Titanio isn’t that far from the Republic’s capital, so it’s known in some circles as a good health resort.”

“Azul what?”

“That’s the name of your village, Miyabi. Wait! Did you forget the name of your own home!?”

“Everyone born here just calls it the first village.”

“That’s sad. But it is a known social problem. When a long and complicated name is added to the official maps, the locals can end up abbreviating it to the point that no one there recognizes the correct name.”

That could explain why the pub and inn did such good business for a small village.

Miyabi had lived here all his life and one of his earliest memories was clinging to Alicia’s back and tugging on one of her long ears, so he had trouble understanding this talk of a health resort and traveling to see an elf. To him, the big city sounded a lot more convenient and comfortable.

And.

“Koo, kwehh!”

“Ah ha ha! Come and get me!”

He heard a joyous voice coming from the edge of the village where the forest had more or less taken over, so he took a look and then sighed.

“Finally found you,” he said.

“What are you two doing here?” asked Helen.

“O-ohh?”

For some reason, Alicia Blueforest froze with her hands in the air.

“Come to think of it, what are we doing here?”

“Koo?”

Seeing the two of them tilt their heads, Helen placed a hand on her cheek.

“Peaceful as always, I see.”

“I’m sweating bullets over here, worried my spot as the adorable mascot is at risk.” The radio complained from the elf’s chest. “Curse that vile beast. No decency at all. There might be a million faces to choose from in this world, but I only get to use one of them as an icon, you know!?”

“I want to hear what that old guy has to say. To figure out what to do next.” With Alicia, Alma, Helen, and the radio here, this seemed like the best chance for this. “What about the rest of you? You can sit this out if it doesn’t interest you.”

“Kyoo kyoo!”

“If the juvenile Wicked God is going, I might as well go too. I wouldn’t have anyone to play with anymore.”

“Vile beast! I belong at the chest of this real elf! Don’t you dare steal my position!!”

The philosopher’s stone created a staticky noise resembling grinding teeth, but Helen ignored it.

She might as well have been the village guide at this point.

“I believe Mr. Moebius is being treated at the clinic.”

Rural villages like Miyabi’s “first village’ tended to have small clinics instead of big hospitals. There was no end to careless accidents with sharp blades in the logging industry, but most any illness could be treated here. With the number of wagons carrying heavy lumber out of the village and the proximity of the Republic’s capital, any patient with a serious enough injury or illness could be transported elsewhere, weather permitting.

For that reason, rural Azul Whatever-It-Was’s log house clinic was very well equipped. It had a simple design, but it was kept extremely clean with magic. Miyabi did not like the feel of the place. It was clean, but in an unnatural way.

A creaking of metal sounded in the village’s lifeline.

It came from the axle of a wheelchair.

The tall-redheaded man wore a coat that made him look more like a pirate than a noble, but that wild impression was ruined by just the one item.

“Does that mean…?”

“Don’t worry about it. I was already planning to retire at some point.”

Miyabi was struck speechless, but Moebius Entrance himself did not seem to mind.

This world had no recovery magic.

Magic could sterilize a room or mix a medicine, but it could not directly affect the human body. It could create a medicine to heal a cold or boost the healing power of a cast holding together broken bone, but it could not heal a rare disease or serious injury that lacked a corresponding White Sorcery Item. So as destructive as a Godhorn Tech was, the user could not cheat death or serious injury. They would have to groan in pain while using magically-boosted medicines and bandages just like everyone else.

“This gave me the chance I needed.” Moebius smiled. “Passing the Godhorn Tech onto you is a burden off my shoulders.”

“…”

“Let’s get down to business.” He still sounded lighthearted. Maybe he always did. “The Sorcery Doc said I can’t talk for long. Ow…”

“And I can see why!”

“Looks like he needs medicine and water.”

On Helen’s instructions, Miyabi handed Moebius some water and medicine to drink.

“Phew. There’s no point trying to show off here, so let’s just get this over with.”

“Is this about the 11th?”

“That’s an important issue, but they’re only a shadow. They’ll have gone into hiding and we won’t see hide nor hair of them for a while. They attack on a whim, so they don’t seem to get fixated on a single target when their attack fails.”

“I thought you said you couldn’t predict what they did.”

“And a fixation on a single target would make them really easy to predict. But the 11th doesn’t make it that easy. Anyway, keep them in a corner of your mind, but you have a more immediate threat to deal with.”

“More immediate?” Miyabi looked Moebius in the eye. “Do you mean Celina Bodenburg and Armored Train Schwarz Schütze?”

“Ha ha. Memorized both of those long names already? I guess imminent death is a good teacher.”

The term “armored train” must have sounded odd coming from the carefree forest boy. Moebius sank down into his wheelchair with a mischievous smile.

“Now that the Godhorn Tech is yours, you’ll be her new target. You’ve got an idea of how she does things now, right?”

“Yeah, she wouldn’t hesitate to attack just because we’re in the village.”

“Koo…” Alma worriedly cried at his feet.

Moebius nodded.

“But unlike the 11th, Miss Celina is easy to predict. She wants to secure the continent’s safest trade route using an unbeatable power no one else dares even attack. That way she can increase trust in the Bodenburg company and raise its value. So she will not allow any other Godhorn Tech to fight on the same level as hers. That’s all she’s fighting for.”

“She really thinks money is everything, doesn’t she?”

Miyabi sounded exasperated and Moebius sighed.

“It’s not her fault. She was raised to think that way.”

Raised.

That was a simple word, but it had a somehow ominous ring to it here.

“And we’ve all benefited from it. Take a look around you. That company’s logo is everywhere.”

Shocked, Miyabi picked up some items around the clinic. The bandages, medicine bottles, and examination and treatment equipment all had the logo. So did the bed, the shelves, the cups, and the pitcher. He had never paid any attention to it, but now that he did…there it was.

The Bodenburg Company.

With the exception of the furniture made with wood, hammers, and saws, the hand-mixed medicines made from local plants, and the White Sorcery Items, almost all of the clinic’s equipment had been brought in from the big city and bore that logo.

“It’s everywhere…”

“That is a frightening level of market penetration,” commented Alicia, viewing a cylindrical package of chocolates with a frown.

“Pretty much any magical product is from them these days,” said Moebius. “And this village is more self-sufficient than most. You have that forest and the carpenters to thank for that.”

“And me,” added the elf. “You need to thank me for the forest’s blessings, boy.”

“?”

Miyabi was not sure why, but Alicia placed a hand on her chest and proudly winked at him.

Moebius continued on, whether he knew the reason or not.

“There are a lot of cities on the continent that can’t even get food and water without the company’s help. They own all the fishing rods and nets at the lakes and they control all the firewood and blankets in the snowy areas. They gain customers by offering enough convenient services for the local industries to deteriorate.” He smiled as he continued. “But you can make use of that. You know why Miss Celina fights, so you can set the perfect stage for her and guide her there. That means you can move the battle outside the village.”

“…”

“Still afraid of attacking another person? This would’ve been so much easier if you had only seen the Schwarz Schütze, but unfortunately you saw Miss Celina first.” The young man displayed his injured body in the wheelchair. “But don’t forget you already wielded the Lucifer Horn in battle and others saw it. You need to assume both Miss Celina and the 11th see you as a Godhorn Tech user. You can’t back out of the fight now. Not after asking me to lend you that power so you could save me.”

Sometimes having the power to fight caused a fight to happen.

But the boy had lived his whole life in this peaceful village and only ever thought of blades as something to cut through grass and trees, so he couldn’t be blamed for not realizing that.

Nevertheless, only his friends would listen to his complaints. His enemies would show no mercy. Celina and the massive Bodenburg Company that supported her were more powerful than the average country and they had poured everything they had into building that Godhorn Tech. That weapon’s cannons were now aimed squarely at Miyabi.

He may have been fortunate he had not known what he was doing.

If he had truly understood the threat, he might have fainted.

“Sometimes, options present themselves to you, but you won’t gain anything by sitting around until you’re out of time.”

Moebius then doubled over and groaned.

He had already taken some medicine, so blindly giving him another kind would be dangerous. And he appeared to know that.

“Okay, I’ve hit my limit.” He wiped sweat from his brow. “If you want some more details…yeah, you can come see me again tonight.”

Miyabi said nothing, but it was still up to him to choose.

“This is your life, so choose your own path through it.”

The village grew quiet at night.

Miyabi Blackgarden was lying in his bed staring up at the ceiling, but traversing the wood grain labyrinth with his eyes was not making him feel sleepy.

“…”

He couldn’t stand it anymore.

He held a hand to his head and sat up in bed.

In a village alongside the forest, the people were very careful with fire, but putting out the fire in the fireplace had still been a mistake. The chill of the night had crept into his room before sleep took him.

He doubted he was getting to sleep now.

“I should go ask that old guy what he can tell me.”

“Koo,” agreed Alma, squirming in the same bed.

He got dressed, left his house, and found a familiar face waiting with her back against a nearby tree. That familiar face had long ears.

“Hi,” she said.

“What are you doing?”

“Did you think you were the only one who had business with that Celina girl? The elf village might be safely tucked into an alternate dimension, but she more or less burnt the entranceway. I don’t see why I shouldn’t give her a piece of my mind.”

Alicia Blueforest gave a grumpy snort and Alma wobbled as the white stuffed animal thing nearly drifted off on its feet.

“Zzzkoo…”

“Mh, why are you so sleepy, Alma? I suppose this is late for a child, even if you are a Wicked God. If you need someplace to sleep, just leap into my chest and I will carry you around.”

“Another threat to my position!?” protested the radio hanging from the elf’s neck.

Miyabi smiled bitterly.

“Whatever the reason, I appreciate the company.”

“Y-yes, the village feels very different at night,” said the radio. “And thorough exploration is the key to adventuring. You might just find that annoying person blocking the way to the mysterious door is absent at night.”

“Now, ignoring the usual stray signal,” started Alicia.

“But don’t even think about leaving the village! You might run across more powerful monsters that only appear at night or on the full moon! Always make sure to train your party to a decent level before straying from the main story path! Don’t assume you’ll be safe just because you’re still in the early stages! And make sure to stock up on antidote items and sleep-prevention accessories before attempting to fight the alternate enemy forms!! Once those status effects get started, they come for the entire party!”

“Again, ignoring the stray signal!!”

After silencing the radio’s incessant chatter, Alicia crouched down, picked up sleepy Alma, and held it to her chest.

“Personally, I’m surprised we haven’t seen Miss Busty Glasses.”

“Let’s just get to the clinic. I want to hear what Moebius has to say.”

Miyabi did not need the radio to warn him about the dangers of the night. In the logging industry, working at night was like asking for an accident. You never wanted to enter the forest or operate a saw in the dark.

The village was quiet (except for the one establishment that served alcohol) as they walked to the clinic. With the sole exception of the pub’s lights, the starlight was the only thing illuminating their path. The clinic was wrapped in tranquility.

But something wasn’t right.

It was too quiet.

“Huh? There’s no one here.”

“Koo?”

“But could he really leave the village in that wheelchair?” asked Alicia. “The forest ground is covered in tree roots and rocks and that Celina girl just dug the place up, so I doubt he could have gotten far with that injury.”

“Assuming he isn’t endlessly going for random encounters in the hopes of finding a pink-haired succubus in a slingshot swimsuit, silver-haired brown-skinned apsaras covered only by a vanishingly thin cloth, or some other sexy night-exclusive mid-boss, then wouldn’t he be somewhere inside the village?”

Most of the philosopher’s stone’s line was incomprehensible, but Miyabi frowned at the ultimate conclusion.

Yes…

“Somewhere in the village?”

“That’s still running this late?”

“…”

“…”

The boy and girl fell silent and Alma tilted its head.

“Koo?”

The place had an entirely different aura.

The instant Miyabi hesitantly opened the door, the darkness of the night was swept away by colorful magic lights very different from his lamp at home. The din of excitement and mirth hit him like a physical blow. The young woman with her silver hair tied back in a single braid at the center of the pub appeared to be a dancer. She was wiggling her bare navel to the applause of the drunk crowd.

A full-on bunny girl greeted Miyabi with a smile. A young woman with long black hair wore a white and pink costume, including decorative long ears that, unlike the elf’s, extended vertically.

“Hello☆ Welcome to- eek!?”

Miyabi’s group looked around the noisy pub with its bunny girl and dancer.

“Now, where is that complete moron?” asked Miyabi.

“Hmm, I doubt he could have faked an injury like that,” said Alicia.

“That just means he’s such a moron that he decided to join in the festivities despite his injury.” Miyabi sounded exasperated. “Is he actually out drinking?”

“Heh.” The radio hanging from Alicia Blueforest’s neck interrupted in an unusually subdued way. “Sometimes a man gets so caught up in searching for the finest videos available that the dawn sneaks up on him. It can happen the day before an interview and it can happen the nervous night before a major surgery.”

“I’m not sure what that means, but I suddenly want to disinfect this piece of junk.”

Meanwhile, the busty white-eared bunny was muttering to herself.

“Th-they haven’t noticed. They don’t realize it’s me? G-good!!”

She clenched her fists and gave a snort of triumph before speaking up with a renewed smile.

“I am Venus, this the most popular girl you’ll find here. Welcome☆ Then again, you two look a little young for this kind of-”

“By the way, what in the world are you doing, Helen?”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!?”

Her scream sounded like it was tearing apart her large chest.

Had she thought they wouldn’t recognize her without her glasses?

She just about fell backwards on the booze barrel behind her and her eyes wandered while she sweated profusely.

“Cough! Cough, cough! Wh-who is this Helen? My name is Venus.”

“We don’t have time for your comedy routine, slutty exhibitionist,” said Alicia. “Just tell us where Moebius is.”

“Koo?”

“Stop it, vile beast. Honest questions like that can be like a sharp knife in the gut at times. Like when you’re using energy drinks to fuel an all-night online gaming session and you’re riding that midnight high when an ignorant elementary school kid logs on.”

The radio’s comment somehow felt like a finishing blow.

The sexy young woman (sans glasses) tried and failed to say more in her defense.

“…!?”

I swear I’m not doing this because I want to and I haven’t had a drop to drink. This is a traditional Republic method of intel gathering. You see, statistics have proven that drunks have loose lips and I can’t ignore an order from the higher ups. Ahh, why did you have to come here!?

If they could have read her flapping lips, they would have found something along those lines, but no voice ever made it out.

Miyabi’s group spotted the wheelchair they wanted among the swaying drunks and the dancer(?) sitting on the edge of the stage instead of doing her job.

Moebius Entrance raised a hand in greeting from a round table, showing no sign of guilt.

“Hey.”

“What are you doing here?”

“My wound hurt like hell, so I wanted some way to forget the pain☆”

“You know that’s like warming a bump on the head with a compress, right? There are always these idiots who sprain their ankle and try to reduce the swelling by soaking in a hot spring.”

No one was listening to the philosopher’s stone’s pointless trivia.

“If you ask me, alcohol is a disinfectant for the soul.” Moebius waved his empty glass. “Veeenus! Bring me another bottle o’ this tasty stuff! Or maybe I should get some water. Man, everything’s so tasty I can’t stop drinking!!”

“Eek!? U-um, I really don’t want to go back to that table…”

The bunny jumped enough for her large chest to jiggle vertically, but Miyabi was coldhearted.

“Helen, this guy’s being a pain, so get over here.”

“At least call me Venuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus!”

The tearful bunny rushed over.

Moebius hummed while pouring more amber-colored liquid in his glass. He would probably be here till morning if they let him.

“If I recall.” Miyabi got down to business. “You said you would tell me some secret plan to lure Celina away from here if I came to you tonight.”

“Finally worked up the nerve, huh?” The man took a teasing tone. “Well, she might be a sheltered girl, but that Godhorn Tech’s power is the real deal. You can’t hope to search out the 11th with her after you.”

“I get that, but still…”

“What, don’t like the idea of fighting a girl?”

“…”

“Oops, I’m outta snacks.” He made it sound like that was more important than any mysteries of the world. “Sorry, but could you grab me a cheese plate? At Mach speed! Oh, do you know what Mach speed is?”

This seemed like a job for sexy Venus, but Miyabi glanced over to see her slumped over with her soul halfway out of her mouth. She apparently had her hands full already, so he had no choice but to get up and do it himself.

He approached the counter.

“Here is your snack plate.”

“Thanks?”

It came out as a question because the large plate made from the village’s wood was handed to him by an unfamiliar young woman with her navel showing. She gave off a sophisticated aura, or maybe refined was the better word, but he doubted she was native to the village. She was the dancer with her long silver hair tied back in a single braid, yet her behavior was surprisingly elegant now that he met her face to face. She had the same upper class feel as Celina, yet here she was working in a pub. She seemed so mysterious and rare.

A faintly sweet aroma reached him whenever her long braid swished behind her, but that would be due to a type of seduction magic, not perfume. It was the same basic idea as when Helen had pushed her large breasts together while clasping her hands in apology after breaking a plate at his house. It worked its way to the forefront of his mind despite the mixture of smells from the food, drink, sweat, and heat filling the pub.

She waved a hand with a smile.

“My technical job title is waitress. My name is Iris Tempinvy. If you’re interested, make sure to ask for me☆”

The teenage boy was very interested but was short on guts and money, so he grew red in the face and froze up. A woman of the night was too high a hurdle for him.

He took the large plate and returned to Moebius’s table with movements stiffer than a clockwork doll.

“Can we please get down to business now?”

“It’s nothing fancy.” Moebius’s words dripped with confidence. “First of all, the Bodenburg Company is the world’s largest company. They judge everything based on its business value. Even Celina’s attack on me was only to advertise her own Godhorn Tech.”

“Advertise?”

Miyabi frowned.

That girl lived in a completely different world from him, but he had to try to understand it. He wanted as much information as he could get. Especially when this could mean the village’s destruction as soon as tomorrow.

“Having a Godhorn Tech is just that big a deal.” Moebius smiled, rocking side to side in his wheelchair. “The Bodenburg Company was built up in a single generation, but that causes some people to underestimate it. Especially by the royal, nobles, priests, and priestesses who tend to cling to musty old tradition.”

Miyabi only looked more skeptical since none of the people on the list sounded like anyone he would ever meet, but he grasped that there was apparently a world out there where people worried about that kind of thing.

“That’s why the company is rumored to have spent a fortune getting a Wicked God horn. They wanted power that the rest of the world would pay attention to.”

“So they have a Wicked God horn and Godhorn tech for business purposes?”

“But what does that matter?” asked Alicia.

The elf surreptitiously reached for a glass full of amber-colored liquid, so Miyabi slapped the back of her small hand. He didn’t know her actual age or her alcohol tolerance, but she looked younger than him and he had felt like he needed to stop her.

“The customer is always right, hm?” said the radio hanging from her neck.

“Exactly.” Moebius’s smile vanished there and they could only hope that was not just part of being drunk. “I’m sobering up now. Hey, grab me some water.”

Helen was still out of order, so Miyabi was stuck with the task. He made a mental note to avoid this position in the future.

The highlight of last time found him again.

The dancer named Iris winked at him from near the counter and even leaned against him this time.

“What’s this? Stuck running errands again?”

“Hyah!!”

“Ah ha ha. You sound even girlier than me! Anyway, what are you discussing all serious-like over there? Is it about magic? Well? Is it!?”

She had apparently heard an awful lot over the pub’s noise. Maybe it was true what he had heard about people who worked with alcohol tending to well informed. But there was a sharpness behind her cheer that suggested she only danced and had not had a drop to drink.

He somehow managed to shake free the temptation of the dancer blowing him a kiss and he returned to the man with a glass of water in hand. It wasn’t often the world felt quite this unfair.

“Now.” The young man looked surprisingly calm after drinking down the cold glass of water. “As hostile as the company can seem, they will shake your hand with a smile if you can work out a deal with them. And that includes the company’s young heiress. Take advantage of her professionalism and you should find a way out of this.”

“Heh heh heh.”

Venus laughed weakly with her head hanging limply back. What was she even looking at? She may have been staring at the magic-powered ceiling fan in an attempt to hypnotize herself and erase the night’s unpleasant memories.

However, the shiny white and pink bunny actually had something to add to the conversation.

“But that only works if you have something valuable enough to draw the interest of that giant company. No offense, but I don’t think this city’s lumber is going to cut it.”

“Oh, he has something,” stated Moebius. “Something Celina would be desperate to get her hands on. Something that would directly influence the world’s power balance.”

“Koo?”

“Wait…”

Miyabi could not believe it.

It did fit the conditions, but could he really make that choice?

“You’re telling me to sell her your Lucifer Horn!?”

“Don’t forget, it’s yours now.”

That correction did not sit well with him.

“When you write her the letter to lure her away, you only have to tell her you have a Wicked God horn for sale. The company already has the one Godhorn Tech to show off, but with all their influence, they still could only build just that one.”

It had the power to change the world, but that did not have to be done with direct violence.

Miyabi Blackgarden held that power in his hands.

Moebius winked and smiled.

“So not even the Bodenburg Company could ignore a chance at buying another, right?”

Character Profiles

Iris Tempinvy

Age: 17

Sex: Female

Height: 159cm

Originally invited to the magically-weak Arsenal Kingdom as a guest magic researcher, but in her desperate attempt to research the theoretically impossible recovery magic, the kingdom decided she was using public funds to fund a hobby and she lost all national support. She currently earns enough as a dancer to fund her own personal research.

Meanwhile at Horn Fortress

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