It wasn"t easy, but it"s finally almost daybreak. Three people and a mysterious object are staring at each other in the s.h.i.+p cabin until their eyes feel dry, but they can"t do anything.

The three people are Lord von Christ Günter, his adopted daughter Gisela, and Lord von Bielefeld Wolfram respectively. As for the mysterious object, it"s the blonde-haired man poking his head out of the talisman made of one hundred percent Günter hair, "Günter"s Protection".

To be precise, that object can only stick out everything about the neck and the right arm by pus.h.i.+ng the pouch opening to its widest. As for what"s underneath that, no one can imagine it. If they were to let their new king, His Majesty Yuuri see that, his expression would probably change drastically as he said, "This does not obey the laws of physics!" Thank goodness he wasn"t around.

The first impression the man with sparkly golden hair gives off, is that he looks a lot like someone from the von Bielefeld family, but the aura he gives off is completely different.

His eyes are as cold as ice reflecting the sky, but their color is like a roaring blue flame, so he doesn"t feel very kind or gentle. The type that wouldn"t really laugh even if he heard a joke.

Maybe it"s because he emits such an unapproachable, stern aura, that he doesn"t feel annoying even though he"s semi-naked. Or maybe it"s because his armpit hair is nicely hidden by the pouch.

But that man, in such a state, suddenly…

"Hi, I"m s.h.i.+nou! Even if I said that, I bet no one would believe me immediately."

"But even if you didn"t say that, we still don"t plan on sharing any of our energy with you."

The Pouch Man looks at the wary Günter discontentedly.

The man had even tried desperately to break free from the pouch just now, and possibly gave up at the end because it was just too tight, so now he has to settle with only showing off his head and right arm.

But the troubled ones here are the three mazoku onboard the s.h.i.+p, because there"s no way they can leave someone who calls himself s.h.i.+nou lying on the ground. After many failed attempts, Günter finally learns his lesson and places him on the chair, so he can lean his head on the chair, not only to maintain his balance but also to protect his dignity.

His blonde hair covering his neck, with blue eyes underneath his long lashes, the Pouch Man looks younger than Günter, but his att.i.tude is very arrogant. And he even calls himself the ancestor of mazokus—s.h.i.+nou.

"What to do… Goodness, what do I do?"

"Please calm down, Your Excellency. I can understand your suspicions as to whether this is His Majesty s.h.i.+nou, but since he"s in this sort of place…"

Gisela looks down at the Pouch Man on the chair, her expression turning rather complicated. As for the trembling in her cheeks, that"s because she"s trying very hard not to smile.

"Pfft! To appear in a place like this, proves that he is indeed no ordinary person. Because an ordinary man couldn"t possibly come out of a talisman pouch."

"Of course I don"t think he"s an ordinary man! But Gisela, this is our beloved His Majesty s.h.i.+nou, y"know!? Have you ever thought that His Majesty s.h.i.+nou would descend to our world in a place like this!?"

The person in question just looks at Günter"s panicking with a stunned expression,

"There"s no need to be so formal. Because there"s some pretty decent maryoku gathered in here, and it"s made of this hundred percent hair too, only the maryoku inside the pouch seems even smaller than I imagined, that"s why it can"t form my entire body."

"What did you say--?"

Behind the open door, Wolfram demands loudly from the chair on the deck. He"s at least twenty adult steps away from this side. This is in order to prevent him from accidentally touching the Box, so they deliberately made him leave.

It is said that even when it is spoken in a foreign language, people can still tell between good words and bad ones. Even though Wolfram is so far away, he can still sense people badmouthing him—despite not knowing exactly what"s being said.

The maryoku sealed inside the pouch is Wolfram"s maryoku, and if he were to hear that… his maryoku is unexpectedly small, he would surely blow his top, so Günter hurriedly replies,

"It"s nothing, y"know—Wolfram—Nothing at all!"

Pouch Man mutters,

"Pretty stuck-up, ain"t he."

"How troubling, he"s always like that, his stubbornness is always so hard for us to handle."

"Oh~~ I understand his personality fairly well, to think that his stubbornness is very different depending on whether I"m watching it from afar or experiencing it first-hand."

"You"re saying you"ve seen Wolfram before?"

"That"s right."

There"s a smile on the corners of his lips as he glances sideways at the father-daughter pair of Günter and Gisela.

"I believe you two know it as well, he"s more than just a stubborn brat. Since I"m the father of all mazoku, of course I have to watch over my children properly. Isn"t that so!?"

"Y-you watch over everyone?"

"That"s right… No, you don"t have to worry, I have no interest in vulgar things, and I don"t watch all of you all day long, after all I only have two eyes. However…"

Before saying those important words, he smiles intriguingly,

"I know you"re calling the woolen doll you confiscated from Lord von Voltaire Julia, and you talk to it every night too, Gisela."

"Eh? Is that so, Gisela?"

"I-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-it"s not like that--!"

Gisela"s usually ferocious expression turned really white in an instant, so it seems to be true.

"You even told the woolen doll who your crush is."

"N-n-n-n-n-n-nooo--! Please forgive me! Please spare me, Your Majesty s.h.i.+nou! Don"t say it, I"m begging you, don"t say anymore--!"

Gisela kneels down like a young girl praying.

"Who is it? Who on earth is it, Gisela!?"

It"s slow to describe but quick to happen, in a flash she has already lifted the heavy wooden bed and thrown it at Günter. After all, right now she"s wearing those gloves Anissina invented, which could give a weak female shopowner the strength of a hundred men.

"I say, Günter, that"s not something a father should ask. But in that case, you should be willing to believe that I am the s.h.i.+nou you speak of, right?"

"Excuse me!"

However, the father over here has eyes sparkling like the twinkling stars in the night sky, so much so that even the wild blonde-haired man can"t help but s.h.i.+rk away from him.

"How many secrets of mine do you know?"

"Mmph…"

He hesitates for a while, and finally frowns in displeasure,

"You dare ask, too, when you know you don"t have any secrets that would trouble you if I found out."

"Eh—In that case there"s not enough evidence for me to believe you"re His Majesty s.h.i.+nou, now what do we do?"

"The way you"re suspecting my status like this, if we were back in my time you would have been executed on the spot long ago."

He continues muttering,

"To think that I"ve gotten softer too. Back in the past, I was very much respected and idolized, so although I never oppressed anyone with my power, no one dared to raise up their heads and look at me directly either. Especially Lord von Christ, I expected you would perform a spray all the way to the ceiling and then faint."

What—a pity.

"That"s because, um—Your Majesty s.h.i.+nou… Your Majesty"s appearance is a little problematic as well—"

"What are you talking about?"

They"re talking about the way he has his head and one arm sticking out of a disgusting pouch, and so it"s inevitable that his ident.i.ty was suspected. But this man does not feel inferior in the slightest, his confidence even rivaling the currently absent Lady von Karbenikoff Anissina.

"Then ask me some questions only I can answer. I will answer all of them, so I would then prove that I"m the founder of s.h.i.+n Makoku, yes?"

"Oh~~ I see, you are absolutely right. As expected of… the man who calls himself His Majesty s.h.i.+nou, you are indeed intelligent. Then I"ll ask right away, uh—Something only His Majesty s.h.i.+nou knows…"

Lord von Christ flips his beautiful long hair, saying with his head lowered disappointedly,

"…Come to think of it, I"m not very clear about those matters."

"After all, you"re still a wee young strapper who"s not even two hundred."

"How lacking in knowledge…"

"Then why don"t you ask what color Ulrike"s underwear is? Only I know that."

The prime minister refuses dejectedly,

"I never want to know that sort of thing, ever."

"Then let me ask!"

Günter and the temporarily-s.h.i.+nou turn around to see Gisela standing up with an expression of determination and gripping her hands tightly. Although she finally managed to regain her senses, the poor thing still has tears in her eyes.

"Where"s the rest of your body? No, more importantly, in these past thousands of years, where in the world were you, and what kind of life were you living?"

"Oh~~ That, huh."

The temporarily-s.h.i.+nou, also known as the man who looks like Pouch Man, knocks his head with his right hand, saying in a voice that started civilizations,

"Speaking of that~~ I didn"t have a physical body to start with, but that"s something you can imagine. Living alone all this time as a spiritual body, I was looking for an entrance to the real world when I just happened to find a gathering of maryoku that was in pretty decent shape, which is…"

He uses the tip of his fingers to pull at the hair from the pouch,

"Lord von Bielefeld"s maryoku was sealed up in a hundred percent hair, and became a perfect exit that connected the s.p.a.ce I was in to this world. From where I"m at, this is just like a little round window made of transparent ice. Then, the second I pa.s.sed through that little round window, I used the maryoku gathered there to make this thing that looks like a body physical. In other words… it"s like how when a bubble rises from the bottom of a marsh, the mud will fill with air and swell up. However, observe!"

"Ah!"

Temporarily-s.h.i.+nou quickly grabs Gisela"s hand, even though she had instinctively braced herself to back away, and allows her fair fingers to grab him.

"However, this body isn"t as frail as mud. In any case, as long as the maryoku in this pouch can maintain it, it won"t melt or crumble away. The strength of the maryoku is still problematic, though."

And then, deliberately, he sighs exaggeratedly,

"Relying on that guy"s power, it seems the most I can do is show my head and right arm. If he were stronger, I should be able to present my entire body."

"Then you"re saying, that if it were Lady Cheri or Anissina…?"

"Aaah, my adorable Cheri, and Anissina as well. If it were their maryoku, I might be able to present myself until you can tell my gender. How troublesome, now I finally understand exactly how much my country relies on Anissina."

"That is indeed not something to be proud of."

"In that case, Your Majesty"s true body…"

Gisela is confused. It seems she"s wondering whether to research this from a medical or maryoku point of view, and it"s frustrating her.

"It"s still in the s.p.a.ce I exist in, it hasn"t rotted."

Upon hearing this, an image of the Poison Lady"s lab appears instantly in Gisela"s mind. Temporarily-s.h.i.+nou"s body should be together with the seaweed and sh.e.l.ls, submerged in a huge tank filled with a strange liquid.

"I do not plan on telling you where this s.p.a.ce is, because explaining would be a pain. I can tell you that the feel and flow of time there is different from this world. You can pretend it"s the area between the first and second floor of the temple, if you will."

"For the past few millennia, you were always waiting there?"

"That"s right, in sprit form."

Wordlessly, Günter and Gisela remember something the current Maou Yuuri said. He said that people who mope around at home without ever taking a step outside are called "hikikomori", and they"re a very serious social problem in j.a.pan. Ah, by moping at home, he means these people don"t study or work, relying completely on their parents for a living, and stay at home doing absolutely nothing. Hikikomoris are really bad.

Hikikomori…

Really don"t want to think that. But even though they don"t want to think that, he is indeed the legendary man who, sulking after the Daikenja disappeared a few thousand years ago, decided to leave this world and hid in his temple, never to be seen again. Who knew that the father of the mazoku, the founder of s.h.i.+n Makoku is actually this sort of person.

Hikikomoris are really bad.

Whenever they think about Yuuri-heika"s pure smile and innocent words, the s.h.i.+nou in their hearts slowly crumbles away.

"What"s the matter~"

"N-nothing, nothing at all."

The father and daughter try to diffuse the awkwardness of the situation, desperately making up tons of excuses. One could say they"re fighting on the front line.

"Just thinking that you continued watching over us people even as a spirit, makes me so touched that the tears and snot just come flowing."

"Yes, that"s exactly right. But your appearance now is so incomplete, you poor thing… It"s just, such thoughts are truly a show of great disrespect towards you."

"Hmph, since it"s been a real long time since I returned here, I"ll just have to deal with it."

Do you really plan on keeping this appearance temporarily! Even if the von Christ father and daughter duo feel impatient inside, they can"t show it on their faces.

The man who popped out of the pouch to say "Good afternoon", seems to be His Majesty s.h.i.+nou himself. Except it"s midnight now, so he should say "Good night".

Since he"s using such a vulgar… no, since he"s not using any ma-powered devices, and travelling through s.p.a.ce using such a strange method, it probably requires a great deal of maryoku, huh. Too bad they can"t think of anyone else with both things.

"Hey--! Are you guys listening? And Your Majesty s.h.i.+nou--!"

"That guy, on the other hand, he actually dares to call Günter and Gisela, his elders, "you guys"?"

s.h.i.+nou looks at the beautiful face similar to his, saying disdainfully,

"Wolf sure is stuck-up, despite how cute he is when talking in his sleep."

"You even know that he talks in his sleep!? D-d-d-don"t tell me you"ve heard His Majesty Yuuri"s sleep-talk as well?"

"I have, so? The things Yuuri says are pretty descriptive, mostly about "a.s.sa.s.sination", "dead" and the like. It"s making me wonder recently, is he really a pacifist?"

"If you"re talking about Yuuri, I want in as well!"

"Ah, I forgot this."

Ignoring everyone else"s surprise, Gisela runs up to Wolfram and pa.s.ses some cylindrical object to him, stunned on his chair. When she jogs back to the other side, she has a cylinder identical to the one she have Wolfram in her hands.

"This is the New Ma-powered Wired Telephone, a Poison Lady invention."

"Gisela, it looks like you"re not on very good terms with Anissina, so why do you have so many of the ma-powered devices she invented?"

"Oh dear, Your Excellency."

She raises her eyebrow in surprise, as though saying, "You don"t even know this much?"

"If I don"t buy it and use it, I won"t be able to file complaints about it."

She smiles innocently, speaking as though she"s an expert in complaints.

"But this truly is a flawless item, one of the rare success cases amongst the Queen"s Inventions. Although I"m extremely reluctant to say it, this really is very convenient. The only thing is that it has a condition that must be fulfilled before it can be used."

"W-what condition? Since the Poison Lady is involved, it must be some strange condition."

"After speaking, you must say "Mr Gorilla"."

Günter, taken down by Gisela"s perfectly serious tone, also nods and replies seriously,

"I got it, "Mr Gorilla", is it?"

"That"s right, or the effect of the ma-power will be broken. Ah, Your Excellency Wolfram, hold on, please pull the string taut…"

s.h.i.+nou thinks to himself, "Is that really a ma-powered device?" But he doesn"t mention it to the three. After all, to him, all mazoku women are very adorable. If he were on Earth, he would probably add "Baby" to the back of all their names.

Cheri Baby, Gisela Baby, even Anissina is no exception, though it gives him gooseb.u.mps. My adorable Anissina… If he called her that to her face, even His Majesty s.h.i.+nou would most likely be tossed to the ends of the universe.

But there"s no need to deliberately put down that adorable little thing"s inventions, so he might as well a.s.sume it"s a ma-powered device.

"Ah—Ah—Ah--- Yes, yes, yes, can you hear me--? Mr Gorilla."

"I hear you, Wolfram, Mr Gorilla."

"Then I"ll get to the point and ask, Mr Gorilla."

That"s not the voice that always complains loudly things like "cheater" and "flirt".

"What on earth was the phenomenon I started just now?"

"Oh, that."

s.h.i.+nou resists the urge to smile. He must act the way the other party hopes he would, and give the answer the other party is hoping for. On the other hand, Gisela hands the New Ma-powered Wired Telephone"s receive to the blonde man, feeling touched inside her mind.

To think her adopted father"s knitted pouch can speak! And speak what may potentially be extremely important national secrets as well!

"It"s a reaction by a part of the Box inside your body."

"A, part, of, the, Box?"

"Lord von Bielefeld Wolfram, you are the Key to "Inferno on the Tundra". And the same goes for your two older brothers, Lord von Voltaire Gwendal and Lord Weller Conrart, the Keys of the Boxes of Earth and Wind are hosted on their bodies respectively."

"I am… the Key?"

"Didn"t you sense it slightly?"

"But… To think… I…"

The voice coming from the New Ma-powered Wired Telephone breaks suddenly, and Gisela hurriedly picks up the receiver, yelling, "Mr Gorilla". So close so close, she couldn"t believe that they forgot to add that line after speaking.

"By the way, I might as well tell you that the so-called "Key" is merged with the soul, so if the wielder dies, their soul would transfer to the next wielder as well, do you get that? Mr Gorilla."

"But Your Majesty s.h.i.+nou—"

Günter interrupts without thinking,

"What on earth is the so-called "Key"? In regards to that, I truly cannot understand…"

"The Key is a part of the Box, in other words, a part of the soushu."

The three who cannot deduce his meaning fall silent, six gazes fixed together onto s.h.i.+nou, showing only his head and arm.

"Think back to the distant past before history, when we sealed the soushus into the Boxes of Destruction, we gave a piece of them to the people who fought with us. Hiding a part of the soushu into their souls was to control the threat of them being released, and that is the Key. As a result, if the person acting as the Key prepared well enough beforehand, they will be able to control the power of the soushu even if the Box is opened."

"A part… of the soushu…"

"That"s right, so if you simply come closer there"s a high chance you"ll be affected by those guys, thus attracted to them. Because things separated from the same place will merge together. Do you understand now? Mr Gorilla."

"Then when I was attracted to the "Inferno on the Tundra" earlier…"

"That should be the reason, Mr Gorilla."

s.h.i.+nou is being surprisingly cooperative.

"And you approached it after taking off this hundred per cent hair amulet, right? Of course there would be resonance, you really have no sense of danger at all, Mr Gorilla."

"Eh? Eh? Does that mean the "Günter"s Protection" I weaved has such an effect?"

"It seems to have one or two uses as an amulet."

On the other end of the line, Wolfram falls into deep thought, speaking up angrily after some time,

"In that case my brothers are in danger as well? If they simply approached the Boxes, they would be attracted as I was, and may even be swallowed by that power, is that right? Mr Gorilla."

"That is correct. But "End of the Earth" and "Wind"s End" aren"t near the two of them now, which is the silver lining amidst all this mess."

"Then the reason Your Majesty s.h.i.+nou showed up personally was to save His Excellency Wolfram, was it?"

Gisela stops there, rather than continuing "looking like that".

"About that, that"s a reason too. But the bigger reason is that I hope you will deal with those Boxes in a different manner."

"No way, Mr Gorilla… Ah, no, I"m not using the wired telephone, so it should be okay, right?"

They did plan on throwing away the "Inferno on the Tundra" they brought out from Seisakoku, because Yuuri said "throw the Box away", and that way they wouldn"t be blamed by others.

But what if the "ancestor of the mazoku", the "founding father" His Majesty s.h.i.+nou, thinks differently from the current maou? As the king"s people, who should the mazoku listen to?

Perhaps sensing their expressions of confusion, s.h.i.+nou waves his right hand in denial,

"No, don"t you misunderstand now, I"m not asking you to disobey your king, I just want to suggest a place to throw it away to. Think about it, Wolf, how did Yuuri say it? Mr Gorilla?"

"He said he hopes it can be sunk in a part of the sea where fis.h.i.+ng boats rarely pa.s.s."

"See, don"t you get it now?"

s.h.i.+nou stretches his right hand lightly beside his head, as beautifully as a ballet dancer on water,

"To you guys, he might be an ideal maou, but his knowledge about the Boxes and Keys is lacking. After all, other than me, who personally sealed away the soushu and divided the Keys to the four warriors, there"s no one else who understand the Boxes and the Keys better. This is what I want to say, so listen carefully.

The truth is, he"s the man who saved the world from destruction, who grabbed humanity from the soushu"s clutches, so naturally s.h.i.+nou"s words have their own level of persuasion.

"These Boxes may be dangerous, but we can"t just let them be used by the humans either, that"s why throwing them away should be the best method, throwing them away in a place where humans can"t reach. But the four Boxes each have their suitable resting places, and it"s not the bottom of the ocean as you thought."

More importantly, s.h.i.+nou doesn"t deny the current maou Yuuri"s opinion, so they don"t feel any suspicions towards him.

Both the kings want to throw away the Boxes, to a place humans can"t reach.

Günter asks carefully,

"Then where should we throw "Inferno on the Tundra" to…?"

"To the s.p.a.ce I created."

s.h.i.+nou smiles a surprisingly strategist-like smile, pointing at the Box of Fire on his left with his chin,

"Wolfram, command Sizemore to speed up the vessel. Get this thing back to our country as soon as possible, and seal it in the s.p.a.ce where I"ve retired to, a place where the humans can never reach. In order to not let the Boxes be controlled by the soushu, this is the smartest way to do it."

Gisela feels as though she"s been cheated, her head hurting so much she wants to ma.s.sage her temples.