A man with pale skin.
His face… is hidden.
An iron mask adorned with golden engravings, concealing not just his face but his ears and entire head.
The iron mask resembles a beautiful woman’s face, almost like a death mask or the face of a doll.
On closer inspection, it appears that only his hair is exposed from the back of his head, revealing soft, golden hair.
What could this be? One of those people who ride killer-speed robots? Maybe like a firefighting Wind figure?
As for his outfit, it’s not a ghillie suit, but a white officer’s uniform. Epaulets—oh, you know, the ones with a bunch of gold threads on the shoulders? It’s decorated in a lavish manner.
Most countries in this world haven’t invented what you’d call a “universal standard” like in games set in worlds without night. No, you can’t just buy it with gold from neighboring countries either.
That’s why being able to produce something like matching uniforms is quite impressive.
Ah, though only this iron-masked man is speaking, there are several other similarly dressed iron masks. But this one, in the officer’s uniform, seems to be the most important.
And… this iron-masked man’s neck is pale.
The people of Adon are a northern tribe with pale skin, but this pale tone feels different from theirs.
His build is also slender. The people of Adon are usually more robust and tall.
Hmm…?
“Are you the leader of the Aurora group… I see, such an impressive amount of magic power you have.”
The iron mask lets out a low chuckle after saying that.
…Calling him an iron mask makes him seem less like a firefighting Wind figure and more like someone who wants to wipe out 90% of humanity. Oh well.
But magic power?
I’m supposed to be concealing mine, though. Is he spying on me with some kind of magic? Wow, that’s impressive.
“Won’t you step aside? Killing you lot would just cause unnecessary trouble.”
I made my request for now.
I asked politely, with a respectful bow.
“Hmm… well, very well.”
The iron mask nodded lightly after hearing that.
Great, it’s wonderful that there won’t be any needless deaths. Peace is always best.
But then, there’s one fool who just can’t read the room.
“P-Please reconsider, ‘Lord Hakko’! Do you realize how many soldiers have died for us to establish and maintain a foothold here…?”
One of the Adon Magocracy’s officers? No, a leader perhaps?
A large man with blonde hair and a grown beard.
Hmm…?
Hakko? That’s not a person’s name… is it?
Maybe it’s the name of a group?
If that’s the case, then it might be some kind of separate unit that holds more authority than the military…?
Wait, earlier I was thinking of a certain mecha anime, but… does that make them like the Titans?
That kind of thing is only allowed in anime! A special unit treated as two ranks higher than their actual rank would be a hindrance in a real job setting, not helpful at all.
Isn’t it just like when a client asks for some nonsensical process to be added to a perfectly functional system? What trash… yeah, they’re trash.
So… this ‘Hakko’ iron mask group gave the commanding officer a cold stare.
“Silence. You lowly soldiers should simply follow our orders.”
Oh, that’s just the kind of terrible superior you’d expect.
“B-But!”
“I said, ‘obey.’”
“Eek…! I-I understand…”
Oh?
Seems like there’s quite a power gap.
If this big man is genuinely terrified, that must mean Hakko holds that much strength—whether it’s authority or sheer power, I’m not sure.
“My apologies. For now, we shall withdraw. Until we meet again, Aurora group.”
The most important-looking iron mask said that, and the surrounding iron masks began chanting something…
“…They disappeared? No, this is…!”
I see.
It’s teleportation magic.
I haven’t been able to create spatial teleportation magic myself yet.
I’ve been busy, but I also haven’t guaranteed its safety. I’ve barely done any testing, and it’s dangerous. I could probably manage teleportation alone, though.
Well, whatever the excuse, I’m a step behind these Hakko folks.
Not having updated my analysis magic is also a setback.
I assumed there wouldn’t be any spell structures worth analyzing in this world, so I didn’t bother developing any serious spell-analysis magic.
Still… yeah.
“It’s impressive to do something unexpected, but instead of using it to actually kill me in some way I couldn’t understand, they just flaunted it as a show of force. That’s… just pure stupidity.”
Whether they can or not, they should’ve teleported me to deep space, disassembled my body in transit, or thrown me into the sun if they wanted to.
Not that it would kill me, and even if it did, I have ways to deal with that—but still.
If they were truly such a powerful existence, I’d already have been taken out long ago, or we would have clashed somewhere along the way…
In conclusion, they’re just a bunch of fools showing off their halfway-decent tricks for the sake of boasting.
Even if they’re fairly good at magic, being an arrogant bunch of fools doesn’t really cut it…
Well, if all they do is pose without challenging me, I guess I can just leave them alone.
