Wof figured this was a good excuse to head back to Hydrangea.
He'd have to go back someday. He'd have to see Ruma.
So he came back. He made it back.
Ruma hadn't changed a bit from the old days.
Still just as beautiful. Same as she'd always been.
Surprised at himself for actually managing a proper conversation with her, he kept things going.
"...Um... So, actually—I'm getting married."
"Huh. Oh, uh, right—that's... that's great, really."
So that's how it went.
Quite a lot of time had passed since then.
"My fiancé is... Barrow. Barrow Jinryuu."
"Jinryuu, huh... that's a big shot."
Barrow? Didn't ring a bell. Had there been someone like that?
"Oh, and by the way. I'll be his ninth wife."
"Huh—oh, right. So that's how it is."
Ninth wife, huh.
Why wasn't she number one?
"It's basically the same as being a concubine."
"............I-If that's who you love, then..."
"If you love her, if it'll make Rel happy—"
"I don't love her."
"...Huh?"
That was Rel's voice—flat, like a needle piercing straight through.
She didn't love him.
What was that even supposed to mean?
I went to see an information broker I'd known for ages, ignoring Rel's attempts to stop me.
Paid him some coin to dig up everything he could on Rel.
"Bottom line: if things stay the way they are, Rel dies."
"...What are you talking about?"
The broker wore an expression that said there was no putting it gently.
"Barou is dangerous. The Jinryu family is finished."
"What do you mean?"
"The Jinryu clan—the patriarch Hagan is dead, the eldest son Jingi is dead, the second son Garad is dead. The only one left is the third son, Barou. And Barou's been rounding up every woman he can get his hands on in Hyzen, calling them his wives, placing curses on them, having his fun, and killing them once he gets bored."
"That— that's really true?"
I couldn't believe it. Any of it.
"Yeah. And it's not just outsiders. People who belonged to Zen Zera or Gouro and had ties to the family have been victims too. Members of the Jinryu family itself as well."
"...That's insane."
"It is insane. Both the Zen Zera and the Gouro families are moving behind the scenes to get revenge. Some have cut ties with the Jinryu family and left, and there are defectors too."
"Wh— why would Barou do something like that? Back when I knew him, he was completely unremarkable. Quiet as could be."
What I faintly remember is a small, thin young man who was standing beside Garado.
He didn't leave much of an impression. I think he was called something like "worthless" behind his back.
"……I don't know. No matter how you look at it, they're walking the path of self-destruction. The Jinryu family is done for. One of the Three Great Families is about to collapse. Heizen's going to be in chaos."
"What's going to happen to Ruma? What am I supposed to do?"
Why.
Carvi, the information broker, murmured.
"If you had taken her with you back then……this never would have happened."
"Th-that's……I……"
Why, why can't Ruma be happy.
Back then and now — why, why, why.
"Ruma was waiting. She was waiting in that dining hall the whole time."
Carvi's words felt like an accusation.
Maybe I should have… gone with her instead of walking out alone.
So even now.
"……I want to save Ruma. No matter what. Please help me."
"Then I'll introduce you to someone."
The person I was introduced to was a man with a scar across his face and a crude, coarse manner of speaking.
He looked suspicious as all get-out, but he told me everything.
That Ruma was cursed.
And because of that curse, Ruma couldn't defy Barou.
Freedom and everything else have been taken away. All that's left is to marry.
To break the curse, Barou must be killed.
Since Barou himself would never lift the curse, killing him is a certainty.
"Then I'll be the one to kill him."
The target is the Full Moon Bazaar.
The only day Barou—who has turned himself into a fortress—leaves his estate.
Full Moon Bazaar. I'll kill him inside the VIP area, the mobile palace.
Sigh. I can't tell Wof and the others about this.
Sorry, Axe. Sorry, Rel…
But I want Ruma to be happy. This time, for sure.
Upper floors. The mobile palace.
VIP area. Jinryu family quarters.
The head of the household's private bedroom.
Near the canopy bed, the sounds of things being smashed and shattered ring out.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!!"
Shaking his obese frame, he smashes expensive furnishings one after another.
On the bed, three blood-soaked, completely naked female corpses lay sprawled.
Nearby, a blood-stained sword lay on the floor. A pure white, beautiful blade.
Slender and gleaming lustrously, as if it had drunk in the blood.
A single swing from the Sword Goddess's daughter. And it was just carelessly tossed on the floor.
Barrow doesn't know that. This sword was handed to him by "that woman."
"That woman" had appeared before Barrow — the "failure" of the Jinryu family — several months ago.
In those few months, Barrow had undergone a dramatic transformation.
He assassinated his father, Jingi, and indirectly caused the death of his brother, Garad.
Something the old Barrow could never have done.
And his body had changed as well.
Before, he was short and scrawny. Now his belly bulged like a pregnant woman's, and his face had become pig-like.
Even being called a pale-skinned orc wouldn't have felt out of place.
"Lord Barrow. Why are you so agitated?"
"That woman" had arrived.
A black hood was pulled deep over her eyes, yet her violet pupils shone with a striking light.
Even through the hood, one could tell that her appearance was extraordinarily beautiful.
But Barrow had never laid a hand on "that woman." He couldn't.
"Laada. The woman we captured together with Luma — did you know what she was?"
"No. I assumed she was just some girl."
"She's from Tasan."
The woman called Laada's face went pale.
"The Tasan Duchy? Surely you didn't—"
Laada looked at the corpses.
She wanted to confirm whether it was the worst-case scenario, but she didn't even know what they looked like.
Even so, it was obvious he was shaken.
"No. I realized it right before we were about to start. What do I do? What should I do?"
"...Killing them is absolutely out of the question. You cannot kill them, whether it's an accident or anything else."
Laada's purple eyes flashed sharply.
Anything else was just futile resistance. It meant only ruin.
"I know that! If I did something like that, it would be ruin! But I went and snatched them!"
"—Accept all of her demands."
"...She's telling me to release Rel."
"We have no choice but to release her."
"Ugh, no no no! Aargh!"
Barrow grabbed the fallen sword and began slashing at the corpse on the bed.
He was striking wildly, as if striking the bodies down. It was an outburst of frustration.
Three corpses... They were explorers from Hydrangea.
They had come to Hyzen to participate in the Forest Wave.
Their goal was to earn money and test their strength.
Their end was to become Barrow's playthings.
Because they were beautiful, this is what happened to them.
"But I think it's fine to release her after the Full Moon Bazaar."
"What do you mean?"
"It's not wise to release her right now. She probably believes she won't be killed and that her demands will be met. And that she will be released... but we must not release her yet. We need to buy time."
"What is it?"
"Preparations for escape."
Hearing this, Barrow let out an absurd cry.
"What!? Escape? You're telling me to run!? How could I do that!? I finally got my hands on Jinryu! Status, honor, power — everything! From here on, I'm going to crush every other house and become the king of Heizen!!"
"If things stay this way, you'll lose everything."
"Don't be ridic— Nngh!? Uuuuugh…!?"
Barrow suddenly began to writhe in pain and dropped to his knees.
Larda simply watched in silence, doing nothing.
"Ugaaaaaahhhhhh…!"
"……………"
Even as Barrow thrashed and writhed, Larda only stared.
Then, as though nothing had happened, Barrow stood up.
He looked at Larda and let out a sigh.
"It worked, but honestly, I hate this pig."
"I know. Just bear with it a little longer, Jumi."
"Yeah. Hey, Larda. Couldn't you have done it better?"
He directed a reproachful gaze at Larda.
Larda gave a slight, wry smile.
"There was nothing else I could do. The Twilight Authority Relic, Demonic Charm, isn't a simple enchantment. All it can do is draw out what lies within the other person's heart. What happened to Lord Barrow was the covetousness he already carried inside him. I merely helped him see it fulfilled. Even so, I didn't expect him to go this far."
Larda let out a bitter, self-mocking smile.
The root of the Jinryū family's downfall was Larda herself.
Larda, daughter of the Sword Goddess and bearer of the Demonic Charm, had taken human form and wandered the world for ages.
Now and then, she would be invited as a guest to prestigious households like this one.
Her breathtaking beauty and the purple eyes that served as proof of her Edda heritage.
The Edda were, without exception, nobility.
And wielding the Authority Relic Demonic Charm was child's play.
This time had been no different.
But this time, she had failed. A spectacular failure, the kind rarely seen in recent memory.
By the time she realized what was happening, it was already too late to stop it.
That was no excuse, either.
She thought to herself.
The Demonic Charm could only bring tragedy and ruin.
"Utterly tasteless. She's a goddess's daughter, but as a woman, it's enough to make me sick. No wonder Gwene left."
Upon learning the truth, Gwene had been so enraged that she immediately turned on both Barrow and Larda.
Larda let out a sigh.
"I did Gwene a terrible wrong. And the ruin that was always coming regardless—it merely arrived a little sooner than it would have otherwise."
Larda had kept silent about the fact that the Zenzera and Gōro families had been making their move.
She had shut out all of that information, ensuring none of it reached Barrow.
Because she already knew there was no saving the Jinryū family.
In that case, there was no further purpose in staying. She had never intended to linger long in the first place.
I never thought this kind of situation would continue forever.
Still, I figured things would hold together somehow until I made my escape.
"All that remained was to use Lord Barrow as a scapegoat. And yet you had to go and do something unnecessary. That's just like you, Lord Barrow."
Of all people, he'd gone and snatched the daughter of the Tassan Duke family.
The countdown to the end accelerated violently.
"What about Luma and Samarnia?"
"I'll keep them under house arrest until the Full Moon Bazaar. Please treat them well. Doing this won't atone for anything, but they're the only ones left alive, so I want them to be safe."
"Understood."
"You should proceed with the plan as scheduled."
"I will."
"After the operation, there will be a team to extract you."
"I'm counting on you."
"There is, however, the Unknown to consider."
"The thing that destroyed Vinu and Luubei."
"—Please be careful of that."
"Understood."
"Then, let's pay our respects to them first."
At Laada's words, Barrow—or rather, Jumi, the vessel that contained him—nodded.
Tomorrow, the Full Moon Bazaar would open.
It was the largest flea market, running from evening until dawn.
This year, too, all sorts of encounters and events would surely begin.
Same time. The hideout.
Wof's room.
"Aaaahhhh!?"
I let out a scream. The knife I'd been sharpening snapped with a crack.
It was an ordinary-looking knife from the loot.
A knife with rust blooming across its blade.
While I was sorting through the remaining loot.
I figured I could probably grind the rust off if I tried.
So I'd been carefully sharpening it with the new whetstone I'd bought.
But the rust was stubborn, and when I applied too much force, it snapped clean in half.
The shock made me scream without thinking.
Then the other sea knife—the one I'd been polishing and soaking in salt water—stirred.
It shot out four octopus tentacles in one burst, snapping the broken knife to pieces and absorbing it.
"Wha..."
When had it... grown another one...?
After absorbing it, the four tentacles turned toward me.
They bobbed up and down in a little bow, then returned to their original knife form.
"............"
Guess I'll sleep.