“──Good grief, what investigation? What a hassle.”
Mato Delmond.
Standing before the imposing research institute on the outskirts of the city, grumbling to himself, was Twinko, one of the elite Eight Prison Gatekeepers, and a member of the supreme King Orc species.
With muscles as angular and polished as a finely cut diamond, the man easily pushed open the heavy iron doors of the institute, which were designed to only open from the inside. His two sharp tusks jutted upward from his lower jaw as if in anger, and he stomped heavily into the interior.
“Iwagane ! Where are you?! Get your report up here, now!“
Twinko had absolutely no desire to come to this place. Today was supposed to be an easy job, merely guarding the executive committee’s regular meeting. However, an attack had apparently occurred at the research institute, and the sudden orders to investigate the scene and bolster security had left him disgruntled.
A heavy sigh escaped from beside him.
“Man, this is so over-the-top.”
The voice belonged to Achis, a member of the flame species whose entire body was composed of fire.
“Sure, the new water elixir might be the organization’s biggest source of income, but sending the top two of the Eight Prison Gatekeepers here? Isn’t that just paranoia? Don’t you think so too, Twinko?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Even one of us would’ve been enough. There’s no one out there who could take us down.”
“True… except for the demon country’s executives and their direct subordinates.”
Twinko was always cool-headed in drawing such distinctions.
The demon country’s executives were extraordinary beings. Victory against them was impossible.
Their direct subordinates, the high-ranking demons, were shrouded in secrecy, making it difficult to gauge their abilities. It was best not to get involved with them from the start.
…There was no need to clash with the monsters who upheld the demon country’s prestige.
“Come on, Twinko, aren’t you being a little too timid? Those high-and-mighty types sitting in the Demon Lord’s castle center probably aren’t all that.”
“…Hmph. Achis, you speak that way only because you’ve never faced a true powerhouse.”
“Oh, right. You used to be in the military, didn’t you? They say you fought that elf or something.”
“Yes. It’s well-known that several high-ranking elves together can rival the demon country’s executives. But even the strength of just one elf was beyond my comprehension—”
“That was decades ago, though, right? I bet my Scorching Fist would burn an elf to ashes before they could even cast their holy magic.”
Achis laughed, his flame-like face twisting as blue fire danced on his fists.
He was clearly far too cocky. Twinko considered putting him in his place, but then thought better of it and kept his mouth shut.
…If he didn’t know better, there was no need to educate him.
As long as they remained part of the Eight Prison Gatekeepers—a covert assassination unit—they wouldn’t encounter such formidable foes. Whether or not Achis understood what true strength looked like was irrelevant; that difference was precisely what separated Twinko from him.
Those who knew their limits tended to live longer.
…Letting a colleague die first wasn’t so bad, even if they were part of the same team.
Smirking inwardly, Twinko turned a corner deeper inside the institute.
The moment he did, something pierced straight through the center of his body.
“…Huh?”
He looked down at himself.
There was a gaping hole in his abdomen.
“Urgh…”
Blood gushed from his throat, robbing him of his ability to breathe. He couldn’t even cry out. His knees buckled, and he collapsed on the spot.
Just barely, he managed to lift his gaze. At the end of the corridor stood three figures draped in white cloaks, hoods pulled low over their faces.
“Wh-what the hell are you bastards?!”
Achis shouted in panic. A similar hole had opened in his abdomen, but as a being made of magical flames, the damage wasn’t as severe. It closed almost immediately.
In the next moment, blue and orange flames surged from his fists like a tidal wave, roaring down the corridor toward the white-hooded figures.
But—
“──Hmm, a flame attack relying on innate traits rather than magic rituals? Doesn’t spark my interest.”
A languid female voice echoed.
Suddenly, a wall of light spread across the corridor, completely blocking the flames.
“What?! My Scorching Fist…!”
“Alright, fine. If Iberis’s ritual isn’t a good match, then… I’ll just do this.”
The woman at the center of the three raised her staff.
With a thud, a crushing holy force descended on Twinko, pinning him down.
…No way. This overwhelming holy power… No way!
“Wh-who the hell are you people?!”
Under the holy pressure, Achis extended both fists forward, creating a blast to try to blow away the cloaked figures. But most of the wind was once again stopped by the wall of light.
However, the blast lifted the hoods of the three, revealing their faces.
“Still moving, huh? Rose, Kinseika , help me out.”
The central woman spoke lazily, covering her distinctive pointed ears, likely annoyed by the noise of the explosion.
“Rain of Light!”
The other two cloaked figures raised their staffs as well.
Thud. Thud.
With two successive blows, immense holy power descended, pressing down on both Twinko and Achis.
“Ugh──Gaaahhhhh!”
Twinko could no longer even lift his head. Achis, too, was flattened against the ground. From above, massive spears of light rained down endlessly.
“What the hell is this… What the hell is this?!”
Achis’s screams echoed futilely through the institute’s corridors. That was likely the first and last time he would ever feel true helplessness.
As for Twinko, it was his second. He bitterly, quietly choked on that realization.
…He had thought there were no enemies in this demon country except for the executives and their direct subordinates.
And yet!
“Why… Why are elves here…?!”
As the spears of light rained down without mercy,
Those were Twinko’s final words.
“──It’s done. Let’s hurry back to Mukomuu. I want to hear more about how to make the water elixir.”
The elf woman Anemone, her white hood pulled back over her head, glanced at the corpses of the two intruding demons she had killed inside the research facility before swiftly turning on her heels. With the task of repelling intruders—entrusted to her by Kiwi—now complete, she moved with a carefree lightness in her steps, ready to follow the whims of the wind.
“Hold on, are you seriously going to leave the corpses there?”
A voice of reason came from Rose, the only truly sensible member of the group. Like Anemone, Rose was cloaked in a white hood, and she grabbed Anemone by the fabric to stop her.
“We have to at least carry them deeper inside. If we don’t do it, no one else will.”
“Ugh, that sounds like a pain.”
“You can use levitation magic, can’t you?”
“How about this? Let’s just purify them here and now. It’d be way easier. Don’t you think so?”
Anemone directed her gaze toward the third member of their group, a fellow white-hooded figure who was staring blankly at the ceiling—Kinseika .
Kinseika , only noticing she’d been addressed after a delay, nodded sluggishly.
“Ah, yeah. Today’s perfect weather for a nap.”
“Great, we have Kinseika ’s approval. Purification it is!”
“Wait, wait, wait!”
Rose immediately stopped Anemone, who was already raising her staff enthusiastically.
“Kinseika clearly wasn’t listening just now! That reply was way too random!”
“What? That’s not true, right, Kinseika ?”
“Yeah. The fact there’s no direct sunlight in the Demon Nation is great.”
“See?! She wasn’t listening!”
Rose pounced on the inconsistency, exasperated.
“Anyway, no purifying! We’ll carry them, so quit complaining and help out!”
“Ugh, fine.”
Despite their grumbles, Anemone and the others finally lifted the demon corpses.
The first was an orc, extremely heavy, requiring both Rose and Anemone to carry it together. The other was a flame demon, but its remains had been reduced to a core roughly ten centimeters in diameter, which Kinseika could handle alone.
“Why can’t we just purify them? What’s the big deal?”
Anemone grumbled as they worked.
Rose shrugged and replied, “This orc seems like a rare species. We should keep its body for examination.”
“Huh? I didn’t think you were into dissecting demons, Rose.”
“It’s not for me.”
“What?”
“Kiwi might… want it.”
Rose muttered the last part under her breath, pulling her hood lower over her face.
“Kiwi? We’re carrying these bodies because Kiwi might want them?”
Anemone tilted her head but soon clapped her hands in realization.
“Ah, I get it now, Rose. You sly one…”
“W-What?”
“I didn’t realize you understood Kiwi so well. That’s a blind spot on my part.”
“…Huh?”
As Rose stared blankly in confusion, Anemone gave a knowing, triumphant smile.
“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks to him, we can act freely, even while keeping our faces hidden. We owe him for that, and it’s only right to return the favor from time to time. You’re so thoughtful, Rose. Good for you.”
“Y-Yeah. That’s right. Let’s go with that… Let’s just go with that.”
Relieved, Rose let out a deep sigh.
From behind, Kinseika lightly patted Rose’s shoulder.
“I’m rooting for you, Rose,” she said with a mischievous smile.
