“Certainly, Your Majesty.”

  Upon answering, the Expert made an elegant bow directed at Solomon and another, in gratitude, towards the young girl.

  “Okay, off I go.”

  “Yeah, I’m counting on you.”

  Both Solomon and Mira exchanged only a few words, but behind their voices that seemed to be hiding something, Joachim was able to notice an incredible degree of trust between them, unthinkable for people who had known each other for barely a day. He then remembered a certain phrase, faintly heard through the door to the office:

  “It can’t be anyone else but you!”

  With a completely wrong idea about what had happened inside the room, Joachim guided the girl towards the garage, where the special vehicle was being prepared.

  ◆◆◆

  Situated in the underground of the Arkite Castle, that peculiar garage was used solely to house unique and special carriages. Mira, who had been brought to that place, found herself in front of a black vehicle, its pretty modern look a result of remodeling and application of matte paint over the carriage’s body. In addition, sticking out on top of its metal reinforced roof was a distinctive gun barrel, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to say the girl was standing in front of an armored vehicle. Somehow, it seemed like that was exactly the “special vehicle” Solomon had talked about.

  “I see he was pretty focused in his hobby.”

  “As for me, I really love it.”

  When Mira looked up at the familiar-looking vehicle and murmured those words, someone replied. He was the one who had traveled together with her that morning, the coachman—or rather, chauffeur—Garrett.

  “Never thought we would meet again this early.”

  “Oh my, it’s an honor seeing you once more.”

  The young girl narrowed her eyes as she moved them to the side, bringing Garrett into her field of view; while seemingly embarrassed, the military man moved and opened the armored vehicle’s heavy-looking door.

  “Please, Mira-sama.”

  Greatly resembling a common passenger car, the inside had a bulky couch dividing the front and rear of the vehicle. After observing it and lightly poking the armored exterior with the back of her hand, Mira went in and quickly sat down on the car seat, almost burying herself in its softness. Excepting that fluffy sofa, the interior looked particularly plain, with only leather and wooden boards filling everything. To Mira, however, it didn’t feel bad.

  “Ohoh, in contrast to its outward appearance, this seems rather comfortable.”

  “That thing was added out of necessity, though.”

  While the young girl was going up and down on the sofa to test its elasticity, Garrett heard her comment and replied, a wry smile showing on his face; of course, Mira would soon learn—the hard way—what was the meaning of that expression.

  ◆◆◆

  After departing in a rush from the Arkite Castle, the armored vehicle moved towards the place where the group of monsters had been discovered, its figure roaring noisily on the road that cut through the grasslands.

  (That damn Solomon, I never thought he would be able to make something like this...)

  The Thousand-mile Carriage was simply no match for its armored counterpart in terms of speed, as evidenced by how fast the scenery outside the window was moving. Having ascertained that fact, Mira shifted her attention to the person sitting in the front, Garrett. Amidst the mess that was the driver’s seat, with a great number of different devices lined up, he was cheerfully gripping the steering wheel.

  “This vehicle seemed so heavy at first, but now I see that it can run pretty fast.”

  From the windshield—that was short in height but large in width—the only things she noticed at a glance were the grassy plains and the sparse forest that surrounded them. However, when looking way further ahead, the girl spotted a certain white pillar, towering towards the sky in a clearly unnatural way. While observing it, she made her remark about the vehicle’s speed.

  “Of course, this is the crystallization of the most advanced technology from our Sorcery Engiiineering!”

  As the military man answered, his voice grew to a lively tone and, even though he was still facing the front, Mira managed to catch a glimpse of his face, apparently beaming with joy.

  “Hmm, Sorcery Engineering...?”

  Having never heard about that term before, she expressed her lack of understanding through her words and tone. Then, in even higher spirits, Garrett started his talk.

  “Yes, it’s pretty amazing. I have been told that this is controlled by a device made by combining metal components with the stored power of sealing gems.”

  “Oohh… it uses sealing gems...”

  “Indeed. Considering this Armored Jeep has been just completed, it includes most of our state-of-the-art technology. Because of that, however, its fuel consumption—gem consumption, in this case—is still significant, so we only ran it for tests once.”

  In spite of what he had said, his tone and mood kept growing with every word.

  “But just a while ago, they suddenly came and gave me a great number of sealing gems, saying that I could use them as much as I wanted. Then, I was ordered to use the Armored Jeep to take you, Mira-sama, to your destination with utmost haste! Thank you very much!”

  With a quick movement of his head, the man looked back and expressed his thanks towards Mira, returning his gaze to the front not even a second later.

  Dunbalf was the leading person in refining technology and, with his disappearance, the kingdom lost the only person who knew the fundamentals of such arts; this resulted in thirty years of nearly zero advancements in that area of expertise. In addition, because the production couldn’t keep up with the demand, higher grades of sealing gems ended up becoming incredibly valuable. And now, for the sake of bringing Mira to the group of monsters, said valuable items were being used without any control. While Garrett was surprised at the treatment given to the Sage’s disciple, he also felt incredibly grateful to her.

  (I see… that is why he talked about those gems...)

  Mira recalled how Solomon asked if she had any sealing gems with her. Basically, since the King saw the prospects of a great supply of those items, he decided to splurge. In fact, the girl didn’t receive any kind of special treatment; Solomon simply saw the benefits of running a second test run on his Armored Jeep while simultaneously sending his friend to her destination in a swift manner.

  No one held stronger feelings than Garrett if vehicles were considered. Not surprisingly, it was mostly because of those feelings that he took the position of vice-leader of the Mobile Infantry Force. Seeing that he had the chance to drive his number one favorite vehicle, unrestricted, the military man took the orders and received the sealing gems.

  The Armored Jeep’s performance was higher than what Mira had imagined, especially its frame that was reinforced by the power of a gem. Even while running over the monsters in its way, it didn’t budge an inch; furthermore, when rushing at full speed on the trackless, unpaved path, the burden applied to that frame was almost nothing.

  However, the same couldn’t be said of the jeep’s interior.

  “Could you please… do something about this!?”

  Mira raised her voice in protest while falling from the couch. All things considered, it was mostly because they were now pushing their way through the middle of the grasslands, after ditching the road.

  As the Sorcery Engineering’s most advanced invention, the Armored Jeep was built with a communication device, and was able to contact any locations equipped with transmission tools. When Garrett used it to obtain the latest data about the monsters’ whereabouts, he confirmed that the herd was moving straight ahead, as if aiming to reach some specific place. On the direction they were heading, there were no inhabited lands, only forests and prairies as far as the eye could see; if one were to mention something special, however, it would be the flower bed at the base of the towering, white pillar.

  With the information that had been gathered, they inferred what was supposed to be the herd’s destination and rushed there. But there was a problem with that pacing. With the unevenness of the terrain, the entire vehicle began shaking violently, sometimes even jumping and moving midair for a few moments. As a result, every time it happened Mira would get launched up, only to have her small body fall on the soft and comfortable sofa. That was the meaning behind Garrett’s bitter smile and words, regarding the necessity for such an item inside the jeep.

  “I have spotted the flower garden. We’ll arrive there shortly!”

  In contrast to Mira, the military man was in top form and didn’t have the slightest intention of stopping there, so the Armored Jeep continued cutting through the grassy plains.

  “Oookay… I can, see it, too.”

  While bouncing all over the couch, almost as if she were in a trampolining routine, the young girl muttered a reply, her mind actually seeing a different kind of garden: the Eden one.

  ◆◆◆

  After climbing to the top of a vibrant and small green hill, the Armored Jeep continued moving and, with its momentum, flew off that peak. Immediately, while fully enjoying the slight floating sensation from inside the vehicle, Garrett yelled in delight.

  The other side of the hill was a gradual slope, ending in an area completely covered by grasslands and a sparse forest. From the vehicle’s current place, it was possible to see a beautiful flower bed, its existence opening a circular gap in the middle of that distant, deep green. Then, standing at the center of such a richly colored place was the pure white pillar, a structure that evoked the image of a guardian protector’s sword.

  Having fixed her posture on the sofa, Mira strained her eyes and looked through the windshield.

  “I suppose we were right, huh.”

  Being twice the height of the Silver Linked Towers, the white pillar was the target of a group of creatures, with every single one of them coming out of the woods nearby and advancing straight ahead towards their—supposed—destination. Since there was still a great distance between them, it wasn’t possible to identify their species, but Mira and Garrett could at least confirm that the wriggling mass was indeed composed of monsters.

  “Hmm, it seems that at this distance, they will be able to reach the place first.”

  When compared to how close they were to the pillar, the herd of monsters had the overwhelming advantage, to the point that even with the Armored Jeep’s speed, it would be unlikely for Mira’s group to overtake them.

  “No other choice then. Let us go full speed ahead.”

  “At your command!”

  Immediately after his answer, Garrett picked around three sealing gems and threw them, all at once, inside the small port that connected to the engine. Converting the power of those gems into its driving force, the Armored Jeep’s main device started rumbling even louder, prompting Mira to ask the driver to take safety into account while speeding.

  In a flat-out run, the vehicle continued its descent down the gentle slope, pushing its way through the densely grown vegetation—bushes and trees alike. Then, a few minutes later, they reached a distance that allowed them to discern the details of the group of monsters.

  Trying to not look at the driver, who was completely fired up while gripping the steering wheel, Mira directed her gaze to the flower garden, catching sight of the monsters casually trampling down that place. It was then that she noticed something.

  “Hey, what is happening over there...”

  As soon as the herd arrived to their destination, after so much work to get there, every single one of them prepared their special abilities, moved to face each other, and began a slaughter with their travel companions as the target. It may be true that they were an unorganized gathering of monsters, but there were also individuals of the same species there. Even then, regardless of that fact, they attacked anything that was in their direct vicinity.

  “What the hell are they doing… hurry up!”

  Obviously, anyone would know that monsters preyed on each other. However, that wasn’t supposed to happen with beings of the same race; furthermore, if all of those monsters had a predator-prey relationship between one another, it wouldn’t be possible for them to even march together in a peaceful manner, just like they had done a few moments before.

  (Are they fighting over something that exists there? Or perhaps...)

  Regardless of their true intention, it was without a doubt that the monsters had a specific goal. With that in mind, while bearing an indescribable sense of uneasiness, Mira lied down on the sofa.

  ◆◆◆

  When the Armored Jeep finally stopped in front of the flower bed, a lone girl jumped out of the vehicle, almost tearing off its door in her hurry to leave.

  “A Lesser Demon… I knew it, that guy was really involved in all of this mess.”

  Amidst all the monsters, there was but a single irregular existence there: with a body covered in wounds, it was a demonic being called “Lesser Demon”. As the monsters continued to kill each other, their numbers decreased in the blink of an eye and, when the herd’s size was finally reduced to one monster, the Lesser Demon was the one who cut its neck off.

  “What a strident voice...”

  In a corner of the garden, there stood the demonic being, cackling like a maniac. Mira threw a hateful glare at her foe and instantly summoned a Dark Knight. The figure clad in black armor ran through the scattered corpses, kicking around anything in its way and, in a flash, bisected the Lesser Demon. Subsequently, some sort of black mist flowed out of the wounds opened by that attack; however, after floating for a moment, it dissolved and dispersed in the air. Below that spot, on the ground, the remains of the slain demon were added to the other countless corpses, its face displaying what appeared to be a blissful, distorted smile.

  “Damn, they really made a mess here.”

  When Garrett finally caught up with the young girl, he surveyed the surroundings and commented about the situation. The many flowers, that were supposed to fill their eyes in a colorful scenery, became tainted by the dark red blood of monsters; it was akin to the picture of a maiden laying on a place, collapsed, after having her purity stolen and sullied.

  A section of the flower bed, however, remained safe from the pollution. The damage was focused only on the outer portions of the circular garden, somehow leaving its central part, or about half of the entire place, without a single drop of blood tainting the flowers.

  “Well then, shall we go back? Oh, that is right, we need to take care of the corpses first.”

  If it were still a game, the dead bodies of monsters would naturally vanish by themselves, but then Mira remembered what happened right after she had arrived in that new world. When her Dark Knight massacred the goblins, the Magic Clothed Knights took the monster’s corpses and burned them.

  “Indeed. If we leave those bodies like that, a huge number of ghouls might be born from them.”

  Glancing at the myriad of scattered corpses by his feet, the military man said, “I’m going to get something real quick,” and ran towards the Armored Jeep. He then returned a moment later with two small bags in his hand.

  “First of all, we need to gather everything in one place. Mira-sama, would it be okay for you to sprinkle this over the monster’s corpses?”

  As he asked the favor, Garrett presented Mira with one of the bags.

  “...Okay, and what is this?”

  After receiving the pouch, the girl found that it was filled with a white, fine powder. She then did as told, taking a handful of said powder and sprinkling it on the dead bodies by her feet, not forgetting to also question Garrett about the item.

  “They are called ‘Ashes of Hamelin’. Ah, you don’t need to use that much, just a pinch of it will suffice.”

  Following his reply, the military man trotted towards the flower garden and began using the ashes on the corpses. In the end, he didn’t tell her what kind of item those ashes were, so Mira decided to ask again later, after finishing the job of copying the guy’s movements and sprinkling powder over the monsters’ bodies.

  The entire work took about ten-odd minutes, and the two were now by the jeep’s side.

  “Okay, let’s finish this already and go back to the castle.”

  While saying that, Garrett took a few steps forward and placed a rectangular gem on the ground. After he returned to his previous position, it required only a few moments for a bizarre scene to unfold right before Mira’s eyes. The monsters, that were supposed to be dead, stood up in a sluggish way and started walking.

  For a second, the girl stayed vigilant of their movements, but after seeing the calm expression on Garrett’s face, she remembered the name of the item they had just used and inferred its effect, finally revealing her understanding with an “Oh, I see.”

  Their eyes lifeless, the slain foes moved mechanically towards the place where Garrett had set the gem and, one by one, lied on top of each other. Then, in just a few minutes, there was a pile of monster corpses gathered on that spot.

  “I’m going to burn them now. Mira-sama, please get a bit further away from there.”

  Without a moment’s delay after his request, the military man jumped on top of the vehicle and aimed the muzzle, that was equipped on the roof, against the mountain of bodies.

  “Let’s see, which one is the fire sealing gem… oh, found it. Well then, I’m shooting! ”

  Garrett manipulated something and, not a second later, a thunderous roar resounded as a ray of light was launched towards the corpses, being absorbed by them in the process; what followed next was a huge pillar of flame shooting upwards, so high it seemed to even pierce the heavens.

  “This is… quite splendid, I must say.”

  While seeing the shower of sparks coming from the burning pile of corpses in front of her, the little girl muttered a few words in admiration. However, when looking over her shoulder and noticing the bright expression coming from Garrett’s face, she let out a bitter smile.