Chapter 3

There are loud and hurried footsteps coming down the wet stone stairs.

How many days has it been since there was last a soldier passing by? Usually there isnt much light shining into this underground prison, the only thing on the mossy stone floor is a cracked bowl.

Although theres still half a bowl of water in there, time has long since turned it sour.

At the bottom of the stone steps, the castles lowest steel gates are creaking open, and the footsteps of two people approach closer.

One is the familiar clack of army boots, but the other one doesnt walk like a prison guard, looks like both visitors shoes and physiques are fundamentally different.

Maybe its an executioner here to deal punishment, or maybe its another comrade who got caught.

The man thinks dazedly, but he remains motionless, lying on the damp stone floor with his back against the cell door.

After so many interrogations and much physical violence, his body has long since fallen to the pressure. Even if there werent cuffs on his limbs, he doesnt know where to run to.

The rusty bow-shaped lock makes a screeching sound of metal, and the floor, its color changed by the perpetual moisture, is lit up.

Thats right, its this guy.

Just as hes wondering at the familiarity of the voice, hes kicked viciously in the back.

As hes splayed over the floor, groaning, this time hes kicked in the side, forcing his body to face forward.

What a bother.

A man raises the bright torch in his left hand, mumbling cynically.

So you havent died, after all.

Ah

The prisoner swallows the words on the tip of his tongue, not that he could have voiced those words anyway.

In his blurred vision, he can see the other partys golden hair sparkling in the orange flames.

Hey, you sure are sleeping like its nothing. To get to this lowest-level underground prison, do you know how many crimes I had to commit?

The tall man with the prison guardAdalbert von Grantz continuously makes a piercing, gleeful laugh.

Not only did I eat and drink without paying, vandalized city property, I even sold roast biscuits with drinks without a license!

How could such a petty criminal be locked together with the mastermind who disrupted the national order?

But you sure look bad, looks like prisoners are the same in every country.

This man is the sinner who attempted to take King Saraleguis life, hes different from the other convicts.

The prison guard replies self-righteously, in a tone of unwavering determination in this truth.

But no matter how we interrogate him, he simply refuses to reveal his companions names.

Maybe your interrogation methods are too gentlemanly? How interesting, this guy was a high-level general in the military not too long ago. Who knew he would have fallen so far, so quickly.

Adalbert bends his knees and squats down, grabbing the silent mans chin. Although hes covered in bristles now, not long ago he was very clean-shaven.

Normally, this condition could never be found on a Shou Shimaron soldier.

Its this guy all right, Im taking him.

No way, this wasnt what we

Adalbert waves his large hand, throwing the prison guard who was grabbing him at the bars, and then he kicks the prisoner in the stomach, speaking to him in a familiar tone and lifting up his entire curled body.

Oh, yeah, theres something you might like to hear. Wanna hear it?

Whate

At first he wanted to say whatever, but the other party doesnt give him a chance to reply. This part hasnt changed either.

That king who got ahead of you, the boat hes on

These unexpected words make his back twitch subconsciously, which then makes him moan in pain.

The way I see it, it wont work, something will probably happen.

Why?!

Aiya, shouldnt you be very happy?

His tone is even sterner than imagined.

Come to think of it, something like this happened before, a long time ago.

But before he can remember what it was like, Nigel Weiss Maxine loses his consciousness.

Which idiot would believe such a far-fetched thing?

Shibuya Shouri put his cellphone on his shoulder, purposely raising his voice as he spoke.

The shocking truth his brothers friend told him is still echoing in his mind, but his ears are listening to a regular time enquiry service.

Hey, Sapp[1]? Its me, its me!

As expected. Murata Ken leans in closer, but he doesnt seem to be in the mood for his bad jokes.

Im not looking for that Bob. Besides, which scamming syndicate would call robot cops?

Not robot cops, its ROBOCOP!

I dont care if its crop, copper, Crocop or Coppola[2], just help me get Bob! Im sure youre really worried for your brothers safety, right? Brother of my friend. Im begging you, do me a favor since were both glasses guys.

Not cute at all, now if it was some glasses girls club, that might still be cuter.

Finally fed up being bothered by the brat, he scrolls down the B list in his contacts. Bonda Tetsuro (friend), Boston Shop (hotel), Bowling King (bowling arena), Boris Akademi (exchange student).

Bob, Bob got it. Muraken, listen closely, if it doesnt get through then you gotta give up. If hes not in the country, I cant reach him. Because my phone cant connect with the system over in Europe.

As long as youre willing to give him a call. I wont complain about your crappy phone, just make the call already.

Really, brats should be sincere when asking for favors

Shouris grouching is abruptly cut short once he hears the dial tone.

For some reason, behind the ridiculous amount of background noise, theres a hearty American greeting.

How unlucky, they actually got the guy the brat wanted.

Hi, Shibuya! Its been a while, why are you calling me now?

Bob?! Where on earth are you!

But the other end of the phone is nothing but shuu or babeebabee noises. Maybe its because the phone is an old model, all they can hear is the background sounds, including even a rhythmic drum beat.

This voice is JUNIOR, youre JUNIOR, right? WoYeeHeh--! Im dancing the samba now! Sing, samba! Dance, samba!

Hes in Brazil? Shouri grips the phone firmly again.

Dont call me JUNIOR, Im not your son. Back to the point, are you in Rio? Rio de Janeiro?

No, Shouri, Im in a shopping street. Since yesterday Ive been at a business meeting in this shopping street where a carnival is taking place. Hayahou! Follow the samba rhythm everyone, easy delivery[3]!

Are you telling me a bad joke?! And in Japanese, too. What type of activities are you handling now?

The eldest son of the Shibuya house tsks at the phone receiver.

Having such a crazy sunglasses dude as a leader, is the world economy okay?

And this uncle is also the Maou of the entire world, looks like the future of the earth isnt so bright.

Bob, Bob took the call? Is it the real Bob?

Beside him, Muratas lenses are shining, and hes as excited as though its his first time discovering matsutake mushrooms.

Oh, yeah. A brat called Murata came to my place, and he wanted to find you urgently.

Murata? Whos that

Murata quickly grabs Shouris phone before the American enjoying a samba New Years festival starts reminiscing about the past, yelling into the phone and waving at the man whos obviously not there to see him.

Bob? Im Henry. Well, honestly thats not my identity now, but you should be more familiar with this name, right?

Another unfamiliar name. Shouri cant help but frown.

Thats right, Im Henry Regent. But now Im called Murata Ken. It's nice to meet you as Muraken.

Is this really their first meeting? The introduction right now is spoken in French, but everything before that was fluent English.

He had heard that Yuu-chans friend here has a high test score, but he didnt think that his English was so good, too.

Sorry for the sudden call, Bob, but I urgently need someone who can help me get to that world. If there isnt anyone, then a thing or a place will do. The place where Lord Weller came to earth, wasnt there a power user who helped summon him of their own accord?

Now theyre talking about a man who came to earth from another world.

That world and earth? What world is that world?

Mars, or Venus?

Dont tell me its warping to an alternate world?

Dont tell me that before the universal clock starts its countdown, the era of Star Trek is already here? Hearing the reason for his brothers disappearance, Shouri cant help but think that way, and do he asks,

What? What do you mean? Youre saying that Yuu-chan didnt travel in a spaceship or a machine, but physically went straight through a black hole?

Thats absolutely right. And not a black hole, the first time he was flushed down a toilet.

Stop joking around, if you wanna sleep talk, then wait till youre asleep!

This is not sleep talk, brother of my friend.

The brother who has lived with him for sixteen years, is actually the king of a powerful country in an alternate world, and not something romantic like the heir to a long-lost royal line, but the demon king of a tribe with great powerssomething like that is really hard to believe.

And surprisingly, the reason hes forced to believe this sort of fantasy story, aside from the fact that he knew his father is a mazoku since he was young, is the forced heir to the position of the Maou of earth.

And that person forced to be heiris himself.

Shouri pinches the Post-it notes on his computer desk lightly.

If it was his smoker of a great-grandfather, by now he would have long since smoked a cigarette to calm himself down.

But he cant smoke, because theres an athlete in the house.

If the second-hand smoke affected his brothers growth, he would blame himself till the day he dies.

Thats why, Bob, normally he should be back within two or three minutes. If you count according to that places beeptime, it should been a few days already. Normally hed be wearing that beepG-strings, floating in the same place as that beep stupid Star Tour. But this time its already been ten or twenty minutes

Gripping someone elses phone tightly, Murata swears uncharacteristically.

The high school student is actually proficient enough to converse with an American in fluent English, but when he listens carefully he notices there are plenty of curses mixed in, four letter words and excrements flying everywhere.

Where did a Japanese high school student learn this kind of language? The strings of beeps really grate on someones ears.

Hey, use some politer English! Dont just spout poop or F-words.

His brothers friend reacts to an elders warning with just a glance.

Nothing, its just that JUNIOR is a bit impatient, being sidelined. The main problem now is how do I go over to that side? Last time Shibuya Im talking about Yuuri, the younger one. As long as theres a technique to find his presence, moving across is surprisingly easy. Its actually a piece of cake, after all hes so unique, and his maryoku so powerful. Truth is, Yuuri can already travel across these two places with his own power, he just hasnt realized it yet. As long as the circumstances allow it, he can cross over with his own power, though of course it needs sufficient stamina and outstanding resolve. But the situation this time is a little serious. Because I cant feel his consciousness and soul whatever I do. This is the first time Im not able to sense a soul like Shibuyas anywhere in my sensory field, I could vaguely feel him even when he was in human territory last time. What kind of strong barrier did he meet this time? Or has he really been called to a place where the power of the mazoku cant reach?

Hey!

Murata ignores Shouris yell completely, just shaking his head at the phone in denial.

In this moment its very clear that he is after all a Japanese.

Mazoku items from that side? Hmm One thing does come to mind, I think its a metal carving of a condor or an eagle! Its something Yuuri was wearing from the start.

Hey, you cant do that

Turns out the special calendar used to note down when the new games can be pre-ordered has been used by Murata to jot down notes.

Whatever, small matter.

Mn, Mexico should be around there. Got hold of the place Rodriguez is working?

Finally losing his patience, Shouri snatches his phone from the guests hands, and uses the English he learned from a textbook to deal with the college entrance exams to say non-stop,

Bob Robert! Tell me where to go, too, PLEASE! HE IS my BROTHER, you know! No matter what, as an older brother, itd be weird if I dont go along. Yuuri is my younger brother, theres no way I can hand my precious baby brother to a friend he just met a few months ago, is there?!

But the answer he got is monotonous.

Im really sorry, Shouri, but you cant go there.

His response of why? comes out trembling. The hand holding the dark blue plastic cover on the phone is already sweating.

You are purely and wholly a living being that belongs only to this world. Be it your blood, flesh, or your endlessly reincarnating soul, theyre all created from the earths elements. As long as you are a descendant from the prokaryotes of the distant past, youre considered as having a very pure bloodline. And so those who lack any elements from that world, cant get across without a certain amount of power. And youll need a lot of that power.

You say a certain amount of power Then exactly how much force do you need to go to the alternate world? Is falling from a very high place enough? Like the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building or the Yokohama LANDMARK TOWER? Or is it a bomb, or nuclear bomb? If I use the explosive force of a nuclear core, will it blow me to the ridiculous world Yuuri is in?

The other side sinks into a long silence. The background noise has long been left behind, all thats left is the piercing sound of a connection almost lost.

Robert!

Very sorry.

Shouri slams the phone onto the ground without ending the call.