To Become a King and a Magician 696-700

Title: Kotarō and Amakusa Still Haven’t Gotten a Role

When Naoki woke up from sleep, it was already noon the next day.

The moment he opened his eyes, Rei, lying beside him, also opened hers.

“Good morning, Master.”

“It’s already noon, Rei. It should be good afternoon.”

Sitting up from the bed, Naoki looked around: “Where’s Merry? Has she already left?”

“Yes, she left at dawn. She said she was going to arrange work for Fujimaru and the others, and it seems she plans to keep them busy all day.”

“So… that means she won’t be back all day?”

“Probably.”

After saying that, Rei licked the corner of her mouth: “So, it’s fine if Master wants to go for a fourth round. You’re already very skilled in wheel battles, right? With five hours of rest, your stamina should be fully recovered.”

A fourth round…

Naoki gave a wry smile and pushed Rei away: “Forget it. If it was just the two of us, that’d be fine. But there are others downstairs. Besides, it’s still daytime, and we’re not in Chaldea. You need to restrain yourself.”

“Arara, Master’s been caught.”

Just as Naoki could sense people downstairs, Rei could naturally sense them too. She was just teasing a little. Jumping out of bed and instantly conjuring a set of clothes, she laughed: “Then I’ll go downstairs to prepare lunch. Master, you should get up early too. Though Leonidas I returned to the Northern Wall after waking up, Miss Tomoe is still waiting for you to escort her back.”

Leonidas I already went back?

“That’s so like him. I told him he could rest today.”

“After all, he’s the King of Sparta. Even if there are no Demon Beast attacks, he’d be thinking about training soldiers and preparing for the next battle.”

In fact, it could be said that since there was no need to worry about Demon Beasts for now, it was an even better time to train soldiers. The more training, the higher the chance of surviving Demon Beast attacks—though not absolute, that was generally the case.

After saying that, Rei promptly left the room.

Walking from the bed and stretching in front of the window, Naoki let out a relieved sigh: “I should get up too. There’s probably a lot to do today, but before that…”

Turning to look at the messy room, though most of it was his fault and no one else saw, Naoki scratched his face in embarrassment.

(I need to tidy up and clean this room first. Luckily, I set up all sorts of barriers last night, or the smell here would’ve spread outside. That would’ve caused complaints.)

(No, it probably wouldn’t, right? It seems like in this era, such things are still highly encouraged. There are official brothels, and the temples and worship sites themselves have professional women…)

Even in mythology, Gilgamesh himself conquered all of Uruk, refusing no one, man or woman, old or young. In the end, only Enkidu could match him in battle to the finish.

Compared to that, Naoki might not be much.

Tidying the room didn’t take much time. With Imaginary Manifestation, it was no issue to destroy everything in the room and then recreate identical items in their original state.

Using Imaginary Manifestation, which could alter the world’s structure, for something like this—Arcueid would surely have mixed feelings if she knew.

Though she herself often used it for inappropriate things too.

After tidying the room and taking a bath in a bathroom also conjured with Imaginary Manifestation, Naoki went downstairs feeling refreshed.

A delicious aroma immediately filled his nose.

“It smells so good. What are we eating for lunch?”

“Ah, Natsukawa-sama, good afternoon.”

Tomoe, who was helping Rei bring prepared food to the table, quickly looked up with a smile: “Since you hosted me last night, I originally wanted to make breakfast for you as a thank-you, but you hadn’t woken up, so I prepared lunch instead. It’s just simple dishes—I hope you like them.”

Tomoe lived in the chaotic Kamakura period. Given the era’s background, there wasn’t really anything considered gourmet in Japan at the time. By modern standards, the lunch she prepared was indeed simple.

But Naoki didn’t mind. He’d survived on convenience store food in the past and didn’t care much about taste as long as it was edible.

“Thank you for your effort. You really didn’t need to prepare a thank-you gift.”

“No, kindness in providing food and lodging must be repaid. That’s basic etiquette.” Tomoe insisted firmly. “Besides, after coming here, I also learned some local dessert-making techniques from Siduri-san. I’m making butter cakes. Please try them later.”

“I helped too, you know.”

Rei smiled, flashing a peace sign, then patted the chair beside her: “Alright, Master, come eat quickly. You have things to do today, don’t you?”

“Eh? Is Natsukawa-sama going out?”

Naoki nodded: “I’m planning to go out, specifically outside Uruk. There are some things I want to confirm.”

The Demon Beast Frontline was temporarily secure due to the ice field, meaning the Magical Beast Goddess wasn’t a concern for now either. However, Uruk’s enemies weren’t limited to just one Magical Beast Goddess.

Quetzalcoatl, the South American Goddess hiding in the forest, and Ereshkigal, the Underworld Goddess in the Underworld.

Originally, these two Goddesses would become allies after battles and, for their own reasons, provide significant help against the Goddess Tiamat. Since Naoki was here now, he wanted to try pulling them to his side earlier.

He couldn’t let Ritsuka pull another “This is the resolve of a human!” stunt, could he?

Honestly, if she dared to act so recklessly, Naoki would be the first to kick her.

“If that’s the case, please allow me to come with you.”

After hearing Naoki’s words, Tomoe volunteered.

“Though Natsukawa-sama has extraordinary power, going to the enemy’s stronghold alone must be dangerous. Please allow Tomoe to accompany you… Besides, I also want to investigate the matter of two other Servants who haven’t returned.”

Two Servants who haven’t returned?

Fūma Kotarō and Amakusa Shirō?

Naoki remembered that both had gone to investigate the forest after being summoned and were sent back to the Throne of Heroes by Jaguar Man.

(Forget Fūma Kotarō, but Amakusa… It’d be awkward to meet him.)

After all, in a parallel world, Naoki had completely wrecked Amakusa Shirō’s plans. Considering Jeanne d’Arc here had memories from her parallel-world self, Amakusa Shirō might also have memories from his parallel-world self.

It might not be good to say this, but thankfully, he was likely dead now, or there’d probably be trouble again.

“I understand. Then we’ll set out after lunch.”

“Understood! Please guide me, Natsukawa-sama!”

-

Title: No Matter How Versatile, It’s Impossible to Give Birth

At this moment, in the Mesopotamian plains, Demon Beasts weren’t limited to appearing only around Uruk.

Wherever there were human settlements, Demon Beasts were sure to appear. If anything, Demon Beasts were now akin to wild beasts.

Thus, even in the open wilderness far from Uruk, Demon Beasts would show up, as they did now. Though their numbers were small, they posed a significant threat to those traveling outside, especially to scattered nomads. Likewise, those venturing out needed to stay vigilant.

However, in Naoki’s case, he had no need to worry.

*BANG!*

Without even moving his hands or feet, Naoki simply walked forward casually. Any Demon Beast that attacked him shattered into pieces the moment they entered a ten-meter radius around him. The blood accompanying them was instantly swept away by a strong gust of wind and lifted into the sky as it spurted out.

This was truly an automatic enemy cleanup and battlefield sanitation.

Behind Naoki, Tomoe, who had initially prepared to face enemies when they first encountered Demon Beasts, was now completely stunned.

Before setting out, she had confidently declared she would act as Naoki’s bodyguard to repay his kindness for the meal and lodging. But in the end, she was the one being fully protected, without even a single chance to attack.

“You’re truly powerful, Natsukawa-sama.” Tomoe couldn’t help but sigh.

Naoki walking ahead, smiled: “It’s decent enough. Rather than saying I’m strong, it’s more accurate to say my abilities are a bit excessive. Imaginary Manifestation is basically a versatile ability that can do anything. If we take that away, my strength is only on par with King Gilgamesh.”

This was an understated claim. In reality, a fight between the two might be a 5.5 to 4.5 split, with Naoki at 5.5—provided he didn’t use his Mystic Eyes.

(Strength on par with King Gilgamesh?)

To Tomoe, this was already an unattainable level of power. It should be noted that King Gilgamesh was humanity’s oldest Heroic King, one of the few Servants who could vie for the title of strongest in the Throne of Heroes. Even in life, he was stronger than his Servant form.

And this was just “decent” in Naoki’s eyes?

Tomoe couldn’t help but give a wry smile.

Meanwhile, arriving at a cliff, Naoki looked down: “That should be it. The forest Goddess’s territory closest to Uruk—Ur.”

The forest Goddess.

The main sun deity of South America, Quetzalcoatl. This was the first of the Three Goddesses Naoki planned to visit.

She was the closest to Uruk, and since Tomoe also intended to come here to investigate the whereabouts of Kotarō and Amakusa, they both chose to head this way.

For context, Naoki could have flown directly, but he chose to walk primarily to deal with the Demon Beasts, clearing out groups to reduce pressure on Uruk.

“Yes.” Tomoe nodded.

What appeared before their eyes was a somewhat strange situation. Given the Mesopotamian plains’ conditions, a rainforest landscape shouldn’t exist, yet now it occupied a vast area below, stretching to the horizon, giving Naoki the sensation of running straight from the Two Rivers region into a South American rainforest.

“This dense forest appeared alongside the Demon Beasts half a year ago. After that, Uruk lost contact with all the cities within the forest. Since Fūma-sama and Amakusa-sama couldn’t send back any information, we still know nothing about that area.”

“Hmm… This distance should be close enough…”

After measuring with his hand, Naoki sat by the cliff’s edge, closed his eyes, and focused his mind to sense the situation within the dense forest.

Unlike the outside, teeming with Demon Beasts, there wasn’t a single trace of their aura inside the forest. Instead, there were various birds and insects typical of a dense forest. Furthermore, deep within the forest, about three kilometers in a straight line from Naoki, he could sense a gathering of humans, likely the city of Ur.

“The number of people… still normal. Mostly women, almost no men. Living conditions seem very normal, no signs of harm… Hmm, everything’s as expected… Then, the important Goddess… I can sense one Goddess. Is the other one out of range?”

After muttering to himself for a moment, Naoki opened his eyes and stood: “Alright, I’ve got a rough understanding of Ur’s situation. Now, let’s go there and see the real thing.”

“Eh?”

Tomoe was slightly surprised: “You’ve already grasped Ur’s situation? Do you have Clairvoyance?”

“No, I don’t have Clairvoyance.” Naoki explained. “I just sensed it. I’m a fairy born from the Planet itself. Though I was created later, my abilities in all aspects are no different from those born naturally. As a fairy, it’s like an extra ability. I can sense various information from this world at all times.”

“To put it simply, I can sense every movement within a radius of at least five kilometers around me at any time. For example, Tomoe, your right toes are slightly gripping the ground, aren’t they?”

“!”

The precise information stunned Tomoe.

(Besides Imaginary Manifestation, he also has a perception ability that lets him grasp his surroundings at all times?)

“Tomoe is starting to wonder what you can’t do. You’re truly versatile.”

“Who says? There are plenty of things I can’t do—like giving birth. As a man, I definitely can’t give birth, right?”

“Hehehe, that’s true!”

After a brief pause, Tomoe couldn’t help but laugh: “You’re also quite the joker.”

“Anyone can joke. Even the stiffest people sometimes throw out a quip or two.” Naoki chuckled. “Alright, let’s head to Ur. My next move might be a bit bold, so I apologize in advance.”

With that, Naoki summoned a strong gust of wind, instantly lifting himself and Tomoe into the air!

The sudden ascent made Tomoe slightly panic: “Master, this…”

“Just using the wind to lift us up. Imagine the wind under your feet as solid ground, and you’ll get used to it. If we walked to Ur, we’d have to take a long detour, so we’ll just fly straight there like this.”

“This is Tomoe’s first time flying in the air. It’s quite a new experience. So this is the view Oda-sama has seen all along…”

Among the Servants stationed in Uruk, Nobunaga was the only one who could fly. By stepping on her matchlock rifles, she could easily soar into the stratosphere. Back in Tokyo, she had even faced attacking aircraft alone in the sky.

After trying the method Naoki described, Tomoe quickly mastered moving on the wind.

“It’s a bit harder than moving on the ground.”

“If there’s a chance in the future, I can train you more. Also, Ushiwakamaru and the others should practice too. Being familiar with aerial combat is very important—but we can talk about that after we return. For now, let’s head to Ur.”

With that, Naoki dove and flew toward Ur.

-

Title: Not a Tiger, but Jaguar Man!

Half a year ago, due to the emergence of the Three Goddess Alliance, Uruk nearly lost contact with cities across Mesopotamia. Though contact was gradually restored afterward, and some cities besieged by Demon Beasts were even rescued, many cities remained out of touch to this day.

Ur was one of them.

According to Tomoe’s initial thoughts, Ur should have been under the dominion of the Forest Goddess, and perhaps not a single person was still alive.

However, after landing in Ur with the help of the wind, the sight before her was almost unbelievable.

“The residents… are safe and sound?”

Just as Naoki had sensed, not only was Ur free from Demon Beast attacks, but it was entirely peaceful. Although the buildings were affected by the dense forest growing everywhere, with some covered by vegetation, Ur as a whole showed no signs of abnormality.

There were no indications of harm to the residents, and everyone seemed safe and sound.

“What a relief…” Tomoe let out an unconscious sigh.

But Naoki laughed: “Is that really the case?”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“You’re overlooking one important point. But we’ll talk about that later, so don’t think about it now—”

Approaching a woman tending to a child, Naoki asked politely: “Good afternoon, beautiful lady. Could I have a moment of your time? I’d like to ask a few questions.”

“Eh?”

The woman was slightly surprised: “You… came from outside the dense forest?”

“Yes, we came from Uruk. Since King Gilgamesh said Ur hadn’t sent any news and might have met with misfortune, we were specially sent to investigate.” Naoki casually gave a perfectly reasonable excuse.

Hearing that Naoki came from Uruk, the woman immediately lifted her child onto her back and gave a slight bow: “You two must be tired from traveling so far from Uruk.”

“No, the journey wasn’t tiring. However, Ur’s situation is truly unexpected. We thought it would be dire, but it looks peaceful. Could you explain what’s been happening here? Has the Forest Goddess ruling this place harmed you?”

“Thank you for your concern. Ur is very safe now.” the woman said. “The Forest Goddess has never harmed us. Everything is peaceful, and we don’t need Uruk’s concern—just please convey this to King Gilgamesh.”

No need for Uruk’s concern?

Naoki gave a faint smile: “That’s good to hear. Also… it might just be my imagination, but the population of Ur seems a bit small? Did something happen? And the proportion of women is unusually high. There are hardly any men.”

After Naoki pointed this out, Tomoe immediately noticed it too.

As far as the eye could see, almost everyone was a woman. Men were extremely scarce—perhaps only one man for every twenty or so people. Moreover, it was mostly women and children.

This wasn’t a normal situation for a city; this wasn’t the Land of Women from Journey to the West. And humans couldn’t just vanish. The likely conclusion was that something had happened.

“Were they offered to the Forest Goddess?” Naoki asked gently, subtly weaving simple Suggestion Magecraft into his words. “If you don’t mind, please tell me everything you know, beautiful lady.”

“Yes…”

Though they were humans from the Age of the Gods, they were fundamentally ordinary people. Hypnotizing them with Suggestion Magecraft was easy.

“Where did the men of Ur go?”

“One person each day—they were all taken into the depths of the forest by the Great Goddess.”

“As a trade for the Goddess’s protection, right?”

“Yes. The Goddess promised to protect us as long as we followed her rules.”

Sacrificing one man each day in exchange for the Forest Goddess’s protection. No matter how you looked at it, this was a profitable deal—the residents of Ur must have thought so. Though some might have opposed it, as long as the majority opinion in Ur agreed, individual dissent wouldn’t matter much.

Thus, Ur could maintain its current state.

“Hmm… More or less as I expected.”

“Did you already know, Master?” Tomoe asked.

“I figured it out when I sensed the situation from the cliff earlier. The number of men was very low, and there were no Demon Beasts. Connecting those dots led to that conclusion.”

Though, in truth, he had essentially read the script from the start.

After asking a few more questions about the rules set by the Forest Goddess, Naoki used Suggestion Magecraft to make the woman in front of him leave.

“No leaving this place, no resistance of any kind, and one man must be offered each day… plus a few other rules. As long as they follow these, they can survive in the dense forest and receive the Goddess’s protection.”

“This is a bit different from the Three Goddess Alliance we know.”

In Tomoe’s understanding, the Three Goddess Alliance was supposed to consist of evil Goddesses intent on destroying Uruk, like the Magical Beast Goddess. But based on these rules, it seemed the Forest Goddess wasn’t purely evil.

“Well, she is Quetzalcoatl. As the main deity of South America and the pinnacle of goodness, it’s fundamentally impossible for her to be an evil Goddess.” Naoki smiled. “Her actions against Uruk are based on her own reasoning. As for the details of the situation here, we can ask her directly later.”

“Directly… Wait a moment, Natsukawa-sama, how do you know the True Name of the Forest Goddess?”

Because Naoki said it so casually, Tomoe hadn’t noticed at first—he had directly mentioned the True Name of the Forest Goddess.

And this was an entity they had known nothing about until now.

“Hmm? Didn’t I mention it?” Naoki raised three fingers. “The specific members of the Three Goddess Alliance are the Magical Beast Goddess Gorgon, who keeps attacking Uruk, the South American main deity Quetzalcoatl, and the Mistress of the Underworld, Ereshkigal.”

“You didn’t mention it!” Tomoe couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Why didn’t you share such important information earlier?”

“I only arrived in Uruk yesterday, okay? Besides, even if I didn’t say it, it would naturally come up as the battle progresses. No need to mention it beforehand. And also, instead of that, you’d better pay attention to what’s coming next…”

As he spoke, Naoki grabbed Tomoe’s arm, and without giving her a chance to say anything, he pulled her into his embrace and leaped backward!

The next moment—

*BAM!*

A flash of lightning-fast movement suddenly shattered the ground where Tomoe had been standing.

“—A rather troublesome enemy is coming.”

The second half of Naoki’s sentence arrived a moment too late.

-

Title: Don’t Underestimate a Comedy Character’s Combat Strength!

Even though he knew in advance, seeing it in person made Naoki feel a bit of mental fatigue.

It wasn’t because of what was happening now, but because it brought back memories from long ago.

Looking at the figure that suddenly descended from the sky and shattered the ground in front of him, memories from Naoki’s high school days, about twenty years ago, suddenly resurfaced.

“Good grief, you can’t possibly be a Servant who somehow ended up here too, like Rin…”

If that were true, Naoki wouldn’t be able to handle it.

The Fuyuki Tiger should stick to causing chaos in Fuyuki City. If she went out into the world, it’d be bad in every way.

“Are you okay, Tomoe?”

“Eh… Yes…”

Snapping out of her initial shock, Tomoe nodded and immediately drew her naginata: “Is this an enemy attack? The Forest Goddess?”

“Forest Goddess? Yes! I am the Forest Goddess!”

The dust cleared abruptly, and with a loud voice, the attacker’s figure finally appeared fully in Tomoe’s view.

It was someone she didn’t know how to describe. At least for the serious Tomoe, it was hard to put into words what kind of creature stood before her.

In short—

“A tiger?”

“Not a tiger! It’s Jaguar Man!”

The Divine Spirit Servant, wearing a tiger mascot costume and with a face strikingly similar to Fuyuki’s Tiger, proudly announced her True Name!

“If you must know! I am the embodiment of the Forest, the embodiment of a great warrior! Jaguar Man!”

*SMACK!*

Seeing Jaguar Man strike a pose like a Super Sentai team, Naoki, unable to bear watching, raised his hand in disgust and shot a Mana orb at her forehead.

(Ugh… Even though I know it’s not the same person, I still did it instinctively.)

Naoki and Taiga could be considered bickering comrades-in-arms. During high school, he often suffered from her recklessness and energy. He’d nearly forgotten those times over the years, but seeing Jaguar Man instantly brought it all back.

This was the only time he truly wondered if Type-Moon couldn’t stop reusing the same actors.

After taking Naoki’s Mana orb straight to the face and lying on the ground for a few seconds, Jaguar Man sprang up with a backflip, continuing to shout with exaggerated Super Sentai poses: “Ahahaha! An attack like that can’t hit the swift and agile Jaguar Man! I was just dodging too deeply earlier! It didn’t hurt at all!”

“…”

Seeing the large bump on Jaguar Man’s forehead, Tomoe couldn’t help but say: “But you look like you’re in quite a bit of pain. Your tears are even flowing.”

“It’s just eye drops! It’s not as painful as Kukulkan’s punches! Anyway—”

Suddenly pulling out a large toy staff from nowhere—specifically from her crotch—Jaguar Man twirled it acrobatically a few times before slamming it into the ground: “You’ve got some guts! How dare you barge straight into this dense forest! Don’t you know you’re supposed to bring an introductory gift when you come here?”

(Is that what she’s focused on?)

“No, Natsukawa-sama, think about it carefully. We did force our way in here. In terms of etiquette, visiting someone else’s home does require bringing a gift…” Tomoe said.

“Don’t let her sway you.”

Sighing helplessly, Naoki stared at Jaguar Man in front of him: “So, you suddenly showed up just to demand an introductory gift? You’re pretty rude for a local.”

“It’s necessary etiquette! That’s how the law of the jungle works!”

“The law of the jungle definitely doesn’t have that rule!”

“Kukulkan set it! I proposed it!” Jaguar Man proudly thumped her chest. “Anyway—You two are rude barbarians, and for the peace of this dense forest! I, Jaguar Man, the envoy of justice, will drive out your darkness here!”

“The battle of light and darkness spanning thousands of years ends today, roaaar!”

Another Mana orb shot from Naoki’s finger, but this time, Jaguar Man dodged it perfectly with a backbend angle worthy of a magazine cover, landing with a backflip—

*WHOOSH!*

With the sound of rushing wind, Jaguar Man, who was nearly ten meters away a split second ago, was now right in front of Tomoe! Her toy cat-claw staff swung down with a fierce swipe!

(So fast! I can’t—)

Just before Tomoe could react, a tremendous force yanked her back by the collar. Naoki pulled her behind him and met Jaguar Man’s heavy smash with a single punch!

*BAM!*

Retreating from the impact to Tomoe’s side and swiftly helping her stand, Naoki asked: “Are you okay, Tomoe? It was an emergency, so I was a bit rough.”

“No, Tomoe is fine. Please focus on the enemy, Natsukawa-sama—”

“You still have time to flirt in front of me! Jaguar Man hates young couples flaunting their affection in my face! The FFF Brigade’s Heavenly Curse will punish you!!”

Jaguar Man’s shout, inexplicably filled with rage and sorrow, echoed from above, followed immediately by a diving attack from the sky!

(Where did this ancient Super God get so much modern knowledge?!)

An ice sword appeared from nowhere in Naoki’s hand, and he swung it toward the cat-claw toy staff slashing down!

But—

*WHOOSH!*

Jaguar Man’s figure, which should have been hit, suddenly vanished. The next moment, she appeared without warning at point-blank range, even closer to Naoki.

“That was my residual shadow, meow~~~ Jaguar Man Punch!”

“Ugh!”

As Jaguar Man’s Friendship Face-Smashing Punch came straight at his face, Naoki retreated dozens of meters while carrying Tomoe.

Planting her cat-claw staff into the ground, Jaguar Man looked at Naoki, her expression turning slightly more serious: “Ohhohoho~~~~~ You managed to block it with your palm at the super-critical last moment? Very strong!”

“You too. This is the first time I’ve met someone who can create a residual shadow from such close range…”

Shaking the hand he’d used to block the punch to his face, Naoki let out a soft sigh.

Though Jaguar Man was a comedic character, she was indeed worthy of being a True Goddess, an embodiment of one of South America’s main deities. In Uruk right now, only Nobunaga could match her among the Servants. No matter how many others came, they wouldn’t be enough for her.

Exaggeratedly speaking, she could take one of his Mana orbs, fight him like nothing happened, and even gain a slight advantage—that alone was already remarkably strong.

“I’m sorry, Natsukawa-sama.”

In Naoki’s protective embrace, Tomoe lowered her head with a hint of guilt: “You were put at a disadvantage because you were protecting me. Please don’t worry about my safety—fight with your full strength.”

“Huh? No, there’s no need for that. And you don’t need to blame yourself. This level is still very easy for me.” Naoki smiled. “But it’s not my style to look inferior in front of a lady. Let me show off a bit of my cool side…”

As he finished speaking, Tomoe clearly felt the surrounding temperature drop drastically in an instant!

The next moment—

Imaginary Manifestation: Ice Age

An extreme cold swept through, covering the entire area in front of Naoki in a single breath. The ice layer that had frozen the Ice Frontline outside Uruk’s Northern Wall now reappeared in the middle of the dense forest.

Jaguar Man, too, turned into an ice statue along with the forest.

Even if her speed was fast enough to leave residual shadows, she had nowhere to hide against a large-scale, indiscriminate attack like this.

-

Title: Please Turn Jaguar Man into a Mop with Mystic Eyes

Jaguar Man is a woman.

“Phew~~~”

Exhaling a warm breath slowly, Naoki released Tomoe from his embrace.

“That should do it. For a jumping flea like this one, freezing her is the best approach. You’re not hurt, are you, Tomoe?”

Tomoe nodded: “Yes, thanks to you, Tomoe is completely unharmed. I’m truly ashamed—I’ve troubled you to protect me again.”

What a failure of a bodyguard she was.

Naoki gently patted her shoulder: “It’s fine. The enemy is fundamentally a Divine Spirit Servant. Even though Heian-era Japanese warriors faced plenty of monsters, a Divine Spirit is on another level. You don’t need to worry—this part is indeed my responsibility.”

God-tier enemies like Ishtar, Ereshkigal, Jaguar Man, Quetzalcoatl, Gorgon, Enkidu… or Kingu—Naoki planned to handle them all himself. Among the Servants, only Nobunaga could assist him.

The other Servants just needed to focus on fighting the Demon Beast hordes.

Of course, this situation would collapse once Tiamat was awakened. At that point, god-tier Lahmu would roam everywhere, each with power surpassing a Demon God Pillar, their numbers covering the sky and earth.

In such a scenario, even Nobunaga and Naoki would be somewhat overwhelmed.

But that was still far in the future and not worth thinking about now. The more pressing matter was—

*SMACK!*

Snapping his fingers to free Jaguar Man’s head from the ice, Naoki gave her face a hard slap: “Hey~~~ wake up, comedy character. You’re still alive, right? A Divine Spirit wouldn’t just freeze to death, would it? Get up and answer some of my questions.”

“If you don’t wake up, don’t blame me for using Hypnosis Magecraft to brainwash you into a mindless creature that only answers questions—an emotionless alien responder!”

“That’s super scary, hey—!!”

Jaguar Man, who had been pretending to be unconscious, jolted awake at Naoki’s threat!

“Demon! Are you a demon?! You’re a demon! How dare you try to use Hypnosis Magecraft on me!”

“No, you know that wouldn’t work on a Divine Spirit. Its mystery is too low, and I’m not a specialist like Merry or Merlin. I was just tricking you.”

“Miiiaww!!”

Realizing she’d been fooled, Jaguar Man wailed and turned ashen white.

Waving his hand, Naoki asked: “Alright, let’s talk seriously. About the Goddess in this dense forest… Specifically, one of the Three Goddess Alliance, the South American Sun God, Quetzalcoatl. Do you know where she is now?”

“!”

“Ohho~~~”

Unlike Tomoe’s shock, Jaguar Man’s expression lit up upon hearing Naoki’s words: “Umm umm, from your tone, it sounds like you have business with Kukulkan.”

“Yeah, I plan to challenge her to a life-or-death duel, knock her out with a cool K.O., and then recruit her to fight the Magical Beast Goddess.”

Naoki smiled, uttering words that would shock anyone in the know.

Jaguar Man turned completely colorless again.

“Y-y-y-y-you you you want to wrestle with Kukulkan!?”

“Yeah, what’s the problem? You’re a local here—can you show me the way?”

“Please, please wait a moment, Natsukawa-sama!”

Just as Jaguar Man was about to say something else, Tomoe suddenly interrupted: “This is too sudden, Natsukawa-sama. Challenging one of the Three Goddess Alliance directly and saying you want to turn her to our side… Are you really serious? That’s almost impossible, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s possible.” Naoki smiled. “I believe in the good nature of the South American God—if that doesn’t work, I’ll make a contract with her, have her swear to obey all my orders for life if she loses, then beat her half to death with full force to ensure the contract is formed.”

Was this man saying fundamentally evil things with a face as bright as the sun?

“But the enemy is a major South American God… Master, isn’t it too reckless to challenge a god-tier enemy alone? It’d be better to return to Uruk first, discuss strategies, and gather more combat strength.”

This was also for safety’s sake.

Surprisingly, Jaguar Man agreed: “Exactly! With that fearless face of yours, Kukulkan will crush you into minced meat with a ruthless expression and eat you while laughing!”

“Well, how do we know who’s stronger without trying? I’m pretty confident in my strength. After all, I’ve faced world-ending crises a few times. At the very least, I don’t think a South American major God can compare to a world-ending crisis in terms of power.”

“World-ending crises… You sure talk big!” Jaguar Man sneered.

“But I like it! Alright! It’s decided! I’ll take you to meet Kukulkan now!”

“Eh? Is that okay!?”

Tomoe was a bit confused. Wasn’t Jaguar Man supposed to be an enemy? Yet this enemy was offering to take them to her friend… Was she that confident in Quetzalcoatl’s strength?

“Don’t overthink it, Tomoe.” Naoki whispered. “Though Jaguar Man is Quetzalcoatl’s ally, she’s basically just aimless right now, so she sticks with someone she knows. The concept of enemies and allies isn’t absolute for her.”

“So…”

“She’s just agreeing because she thinks it’s interesting.”

Shrugging, Naoki released Jaguar Man from the ice: “Then let’s not waste time. Lead the way—if you act weird, I’ll freeze you again, then corrupt and defile your soul to reshape you into my form, turning you into a puppet that obeys all my commands.”

“That’s super scary, Aaaaaaa!!”

Jaguar Man didn’t think Naoki was joking at all—his expression was deadly serious.

(Since it’s come to this… I can’t leave Natsukawa-sama alone here. I can only follow him.)

Letting out a relieved yet exhausted sigh, Tomoe followed Naoki and Jaguar Man, heading deeper into the dense forest.

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

Meanwhile…

On a grassland near Uruk.

“Umm umm~~~ A duel with a South American Goddess! Things are developing so well! Letting the King go alone was absolutely the right call!”

Peeking at Naoki’s situation through Clairvoyance, Merry shouted in satisfaction while drinking sheep’s milk.

“But it’s a pity I can’t watch the duel itself. If I peeked at the Goddess, when she becomes an ally later, she’d definitely beat me to a pulp… Sigh, such a shame.”

“By the way, even if you can’t hear me, go for it, my dearest King! I’ll quietly cheer for you with moral support from here.”