That was a productive discussion. At that moment, we stopped and rested. I observed Miyako who was sitting by Satomi as she looked up at the sky. I really gave her something to think about, huh? I mean, she really wanted it, and this place needed changing. Each and every island wanted to be the best, and as a result caused this discord.

And the cause of this was those at the top. Had been for hundreds upon hundreds of years. Nothing changed all that time, how fucked up is that? It was almost strange and unnatural. You mean to tell me none had attempted to change things all those times? There was just no way. If the problem was rooted deep within, best to pull it out and plant a new plant. Start fresh, and a sapling would always grow more beautiful than the old one.

This place annoyed me, and it had to change. And who better to change it than the one who was an inhabitant of this place? If its own people didn't even try to change things for the better, then they don't deserve the change. Of course, Miyako was just one person, but I'd like to see her try.

Was I playing with people? Not really my intention. Just giving them a little push. If my words could help with that, why not? But if I get directly involved, now that is a different discussion entirely. They should fix their own problems, you get what I'm saying…? Now would Miyako do it?

I had no idea. I didn't know much about her. It was just I sensed she wanted it — which she admitted. For things to change. She seemed like a nice and compassionate person. Making things better would be a common desire for someone like that. And I was right with my assumption.

Did I just accidentally give someone some kind of burden? Um, did I…?

Maybe I babbled a bit too much. Oh well, if she wants to do something, at least it's for a noble cause.

Hehehe. You could take this like some sort of action from a goddess that leads people to a beautiful destination. Wasn't I kind?

As I rested on a rock, I drank some water from my pouch. It was then that Satomi approached me, crouching down.

"Seems milady is deep in her thoughts that she is disregarding me."

"Is that so?"

"She takes it seriously."

"Is that not good? Setting things right is serious."

"Of course. But… milady…" She slowly leaned closer and continued in a low voice. "Milady is not ready for something so heavy. The pressure will crush her."

Indeed, some people were just too nice that if faced with something really dangerous, something severe, something true, they wouldn't be able to bear it mentally. A burden too heavy.

"Besides, such a thing, changing the entirety of Shinoroa will be too much for us."

"Then when will you act? Wait for another? And when will that be?"

"..." She had nothing to answer.

"Your lady wants change, but I'm sure you already know that. There is more than one way to achieve that goal, and it's up to you to find it. One that may incur less costs or not. Of course, if you even act at all, it's your decision to make."

"I don't understand why this is something you would bring up. To urge us to change."

"I am not urging you. Merely stating options, to help make things clear, to realize your wishes."

"I do not wish for my lady to suffer."

"As do all servants. But there will come a time that you will have to follow your master to the end. Wouldn't it be your responsibility that if it comes to it, that you will share her suffering?"

She stared up at me for a moment. "Yes."

I looked around. "You could transform this place into something beautiful. But instead, you have constant tension, a severe division. You already have countless monsters to deal with, and you fight amongst yourselves."

Way to make this place way uglier.

"Mm. This won't be the first time that someone tries to unite the islands. Some engaged in duels, wars. But in the end, all sides lost, one way or another."

"People had already gotten used to being independent islands. None would easily accept being under a rule of a lone figure if not themselves. So, instead of having a shogun, take it another way?"

"Another way…?"

I only smiled. "That's up to you to figure out."

"I see." She averted her eyes away and sat down on the ground. "How is peace maintained in your lands?"

"... Cooperation and coordination. We even have an alliance."

"So everyone gets along."

"Not everyone."

"Really?"

"There is always at least one great enemy. One you must prepare to fight, or must destroy."

"No room for peace?"

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"None."

Indeed, none. Even if those Empire fucks begged for peace, or even surrender, they would not be spared. I have no room for mercy upon them all. I'd kill their Emperor, and his family, wife, children — which I already killed two, even the fucking fetuses.

"I see. You must be an essential part of your kingdom, Miss Estelia."

"Hm."

"To be strong, and wise."

"I am not wise." Not at all. "I just say the truth of things."

"Is that not the nature of the wise?"

"... I don't think it's precisely that…"

Satomi smiled. "I wish to duel with you."

"Huh?" I was dumbfounded upon hearing that. "What?" I was at a loss for words. That came out of nowhere. "... Why?"

"As warriors, we always try to refine our skills. We duel with each other, trying to overcome someone stronger. To realize where to improve."

It was a warrior thing again, dammit.

"And you want to duel me, why?"

"You defeated our pursuers. You are stronger than me. I'd like to try battling you."

I frowned. I was not fond of fighting needlessly. Even more so in my current state. Therefore, there was really only one answer for this.

"I refuse. If it were any other situation, I might have considered it. But, now, I can't."

"... I understand." She sounded disappointed. "But if you were so cared for, how did you become so strong?"

"I had plenty of spare time."

"Uh-huh..." She didn't seem to believe me.

Suddenly, a couple of monsters pulled up on us. They were large porcupine looking things, crawling on four legs, and dozens of thick quills on its back and limbs — considering their sizes, there were small gaps that showed their skin. Satomi immediately stood to face the monsters, and Miyako got out of her trance and pulled out her sword.

"These two shouldn't be much of a problem," Satomi said. "You should stay back, milady."

"But…"

"I can take them, better keep you safe."

If she was confident she could take them, then these monsters shouldn't be that strong. Which was a relief. I would be annoyed if it was a more troublesome situation.

"Nira," I called. "Leave the bag here, you know what to do."

"Yes."

Nira carried the bag and dropped it next to me.

"Miss Satomi," I said. "Leave the other monster to Nira."

She glanced at the little girl for a moment, having that hint of concern on her face. But she nodded in the end. "Understood."

"Is this going to be alright?" Miyako asked me.

"We'll see."

Satomi sprinted towards one of the monsters with incredible speed. At the same time, she pulled out both her katanas and shot a pair of magical slashes at the monster. The monster closed itself, and the attack hit its upper body, the slashes cut through some quills. Afterward, the monster ran and charged towards her. She dodged its claws and swung down her sword at its leg.

She cut through halfway down its leg, and she subsequently swung her other sword and slashed the monster's face. The monster shrieked and suddenly curled and started rolling towards her. Satomi dodged to the side, then she swung her swords, and in a flash unleashed multiple slashes of light, crashing against the monster, damaging some of its quills and reaching the skin. That surprised me, that she could do something like that. I could probably defend myself from those, though.

The monster cried as it suffered intense damage and turned towards her before bowing down its body. At that instant, the quills suddenly launched and came shooting at her. She swung her swords to cut or deflect the shooting projectiles before lunging at the monster. She did a heavy swing as her sword glowed, inflicting a fatal cut on the monster's body, ultimately killing it.

Nira, on the other hand, flew towards her own beast. She attacked, damaging it, and the monster tried attacking her back. When she turned into a fog, the claws would just go through her. She thrust her claws into the monster's neck. The monster shifted away. And the moment it did, Nira swooped in and plunged her claws into its belly, where it had no armor whatsoever.

She cleaved and thrust, the monster cried in agony. It was going wild, and it lowered its body, and suddenly fired all its quills in all directions. And multiple came shooting towards me and Miyako. Miyako frantically raised her sword to block off the quills, but I lazily raised my hand, conjuring barriers for the both of us. The quills were not really powerful, so I didn't use much mana on the barriers.

The quills bounced off the barriers.

"Huh?" Miyako blinked and glanced at me. "Wow. Are you really a mage?"

"... Yes." Mage Assassin, to be precise. Pretty cool of me, huh? Hehe.

As those quills had no magical properties, they only passed through Nira in her fog form. Nira continued demolishing the monster. Amidst their battle, as she attacked, she failed to avoid one of its claws, and they pierced through her body. Miyako and Satomi were shocked.

"Nira!" Satomi exclaimed before rushing to her side and quickly dealt with the monster. She swung her katanas and inflicted several damages on the monster at once. It was almost like a rain of magical slashes. Very impressive. If she did it like that, even I might struggle against that.

The monster subsequently dropped to the ground. Satomi and Miyako quickly rushed to Nira.

"L-Let me heal her!" Miyako frantically said as she reached out to her.

But then Nira started standing up.

"Huh?"

The little girl glanced at the monster. "Thank you for the help. But there was no need for that. I could have taken it." She looked down with a sad expression as her wound started healing.

Awww, look at that sad Nira. She wanted the achievement of killing it.

Miyako and Satomi stared at the completely healed wounds of Nira. They seemed to be having a hard time understanding what they had just seen.

"How?" Satomi asked.

I approached them. "She cannot die."

Miyako turned towards me. "What do you mean?"

"It's part of her curse. She is immortal. She absolutely cannot die."

The two of them stared at her in shock.

Satomi blinked in disbelief. "How is something like that possible?"

I patted Nira on the head. "Now, now. Don't be sad. We're a team. We shouldn't be sad if a friend helped us defeat an enemy."

"Y-Yes."

She may have been fine if Hartwin or Velar did it. But these two were people we just met. She was not yet too open to them.

"What kind of curse grants someone immortality?" Miyako asked.

"... Someone powerful, I guess," I said.

"So it means no matter what happens to her, she cannot die?" Satomi asked. "Swords, spears, fire, drowning?"

"Yes. Nothing."

"Astonishing," Satomi looked closely at Nira, which embarrassed the latter.

"I can't even tell if that is good or not," Miyako said.

"It has its perks." I turned towards the monster corpses. "Can we eat those?"

Satomi shook her head. "I wouldn't recommend it. Their meat is very chewy and bitter."

"... Hm. I see." If that was the case, might as well consider it non-edible. Nothing we can do. "Let's go. It's time we move out."

I urged everyone to move. And as we went, the two seemed pretty curious about Nira. But it would seem they were unsure of what to ask, or how to.

***

The next day, in the morning. We had a peaceful walk. It was pretty good. That being said, now that there was a sudden increase in our number, our rations wouldn't last long. It was only supposedly for just me and Nira. But with another pair of adults, we'd run out of food and water in a few days. Especially water. At least monster meat can be gathered pretty much anywhere, disregarding how nasty they were sometimes.

This was a genuine problem. Water was not easy to come by.

But then suddenly, after some time of walking, we heard shouts and cheers coming in from a distance. We paused and raised our guards. A group of humans came rushing towards up, riding on top of the steeds, drakolisks.

"Hahahaha! What is this?"

"Wooooo! Bunch of girls!"

"Look at them, so pretty!"

They ran around us, their weapons at the ready. Their drakolisks shrieked with hostile intent.

"Bandits," Satomi said.

… Of course we'd encounter them eventually.

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