On a planet far from the Empire.

In a small, shabby apartment, Yasushi was carrying a baby on his back.

His wife, a woman dressed in a suit, was about to leave.

"Yasu-kun, I'll be back by seven, so please take care of things until then."

"—Yes."

The intelligent woman had made Yasushi a house-husband while she went out to work.

Yasushi had the baby strapped to his back.

He desperately wanted to run away, but ever since she chased him with a kitchen knife, he'd been too scared to try.

The scar running diagonally from his chest to his abdomen was still raw.

He couldn't get rid of it because the woman had told him, "Let's keep this scar, shall we? —So you never think of running away again."

With this world's medical technology, it could be completely erased, but he was intentionally leaving it.

Yasushi regretted getting involved with a woman whose love was so heavy.

"Ugh, I want to escape. But I can't get away on my allowance."

He had spent most of the money he received from Liam to raise those two.

He'd blown what little was left on having fun, and now he was living off the allowance his wife gave him.

He stayed home and looked after the child, but his wife did most of the housework.

He couldn't fully commit to being a house-husband, nor could he fully commit to being a freeloader—he was in a state of limbo.

This was the true form of the Sword God who had raised Liam, Rinhou, and Fuuka.

The baby started to fuss.

"There, there, let's change your diaper. —Haaah, what in the world am I doing?"

On a distant planet, Yasushi was alive.

◇

In a special medical room prepared in a luxury hotel.

There stood Rinhou and Fuuka.

They were dressed in hospital gowns, their bodies covered in bandages.

As their injuries healed, they both complained of hunger and began devouring one dish after another on their beds.

Tia was watching them with a look of disgust.

Ellen was by her side.

Tia watched the two girls, who were eating with perfect posture on their beds.

Despite their proper posture, the food on their plates vanished one after another, and the serving staff bustled about, replacing the empty dishes.

Tia was dumbfounded by their voracious appetites.

"I can't believe you can eat so much right after getting better."

Fuuka, seeming to have caught her breath, put down her chopsticks and stretched.

"Can't get strong if you don't eat."

Beside her, Rinhou, having finished her soup, let out a small breath and smirked.

"Coming from someone who's weaker than me."

Fuuka pointed a finger at Rinhou.

"You're still scrawny even after eating all that! And your chest is small, too."

Compared to Fuuka's impressive bust, Rinhou's was average.

Seeming to be bothered by it, Rinhou narrowed her eyes.

"Hah? Did all the nutrients that were supposed to go to your head go to your chest instead? Why would you think I care about breast size? In the first place, I don't understand the appeal of large breasts. If you live by the sword, wouldn't it be better to slice off such obstructive fat? In fact, should I slice it off for you?"

Watching the fast-talking Rinhou, Ellen thought to herself.

(Ah, she does care.)

The two were boisterous.

Then, their stomachs rumbled again, and they resumed their meal.

Meanwhile, Tia, their guard, looked displeased.

Her cuffed arms were fitted with bandages and devices.

"Why do I have to be the one to look after these two?"

Ellen had been chosen as their minder because they were from the same school of swordsmanship.

Liam had decided to take the two in, and this was an opportunity for them to talk, if not a formal introduction.

The two seemed to understand this.

Fuuka spoke to Ellen.

"Hey, shorty."

"I'm not 'shorty.' My name is Ellen."

"Doesn't matter. We're from the same school. What's our relationship, aunt and niece? Well, let's get along."

The two were friendly towards Ellen.

It was as if they had never tried to kill Liam.

However, partly because of that, Ellen found it difficult to be friendly with them.

"I can't be friends with people who tried to kill my Master!"

When she turned her face away, Fuuka looked disappointed.

More than a fellow practitioner of the One-Flash Style, she looked like an older sister saddened by her younger sister's rejection.

Rinhou, on the other hand, chuckled and showed some understanding of Ellen's feelings.

"Well, I'd be furious too if someone targeted my master, so I guess it can't be helped. But it was that same master who ordered us to target our senior disciple. Our senior disciple knew that and accepted us. As his apprentice, you shouldn't have such an attitude, you know~"

Fuuka, satisfied with her meal, was now lying down.

"Ellen, you might be targeted by your younger brothers or sisters someday, too. On your senior disciple's orders."

"—Th-That's..."

Right now, Liam only had one disciple: Ellen.

Rinhou and Fuuka were merely fellow disciples under his care, not his official apprentices.

She would eventually have at least two younger brothers or sisters in the school.

For some reason, Ellen disliked that thought.

If he ever took on other disciples, Liam's attention would turn to them.

He wouldn't look only at her, like he did now.

As Ellen was struggling, Liam entered the hospital room.

"You seem to be doing well."

Seeing the two of them, Liam was smiling, not at all on his guard.

The two on the bed immediately sat up straight in seiza and bowed their heads.

Despite their audacious attitudes and rough language, they had at least been taught proper etiquette.

Rinhou offered an apology to Liam.

"We are truly sorry for what happened. We have come to understand our own foolishness."

Fuuka did the same.

"We understand now that in our immaturity, we are still unable to reach our senior disciple's level."

Facing the two contrite girls, Liam sat in a chair Tia had prepared and looked at them.

He showed no signs of caution whatsoever.

He acted as if he were dealing with his own family.

"It seems you understand who's on top. Now, I've been entrusted with you two, but to be honest, I have nothing to teach you about the One-Flash Style. The most I can do is provide a place for you to train."

Both Rinhou and Fuuka, trained by Yasushi, were already accomplished swordswomen.

From here on, they had to train themselves.

The most Liam could do was assist them.

However.

"But everything else about you is a complete mess. The fact that Master entrusted you to me must mean he wants me to make you into proper knights. As soon as your injuries heal, I'm taking you back to my domain. For a while, you will study in my territory to become knights."

Being told to study, Rinhou made a blatantly disgusted face.

"—D-Don't swordsmen have no need for academics? Senior Disciple, I must decline. I believe I should be spending this time training myself."

Liam was smiling.

"No. Since Master entrusted you to me, this is what he must have intended."

It seemed Liam had his own ideas about how to raise the two.

Fuuka seemed indifferent.

"We just get put in a capsule and train outside for a few years, right? Well, we're used to rough stuff."

Indeed, they would probably be fine if he threw them into the military to become knights.

But Liam had something else in mind first.

"Is that so? In that case, once we're back, I'll entrust you to my head maid, Serena, as etiquette apprentices. Do your best as maids."

Both Rinhou and Fuuka were stunned to hear this.

"S-Senior Disciple!? What do you mean, maids!?"

"D-Don't mess with us! Why should we have to do something so girly!?"

Liam was still smiling.

"I also worked as a servant at my training destination. Since you're not nobles, I'll have you properly educated at my mansion. Don't even think about running away."

"N-No way!"

"M-Me, a maid!?"

Liam likely intended to train them strictly out of goodwill, but for the two of them, the prospect of training unrelated to the sword was despair-inducing.

Ellen felt just a little bit of schadenfreude.

◇

"—What did you say?"

The Guide collapsed to his knees.

His trump card for assassinating Liam had been utterly useless.

It was one thing for them to lose.

But afterward, far from continuing to target Liam, they had begun to adore him as their senior disciple.

This was all Yasushi's fault.

And Liam, having received Yasushi's letter, was now doting on his two junior disciples.

"Th-That bastard, he saved his own skin at the last second!"

Considering Yasushi's personality, it was to be expected, but from the Guide's perspective, it felt like a betrayal.

But more than that.

There was something he absolutely could not forgive.

"—Are you telling me that my actions actually ended up helping Liam?"

When he investigated in detail later, he found that he had done nothing more than assist Liam.

When all was said and done—the Calvin Faction had lost a great deal of its influence and power.

In contrast, within the Cleo Faction, Liam's influence had grown even stronger.

He had succeeded in strengthening the faction's military power and increasing its numbers.

Hadn't he built up a major force that could now stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Calvin Faction, which had previously been untouchable?

"I won't forgive you."

The Guide clenched his fists.

And then there was Liam's territory.

The troublesome elements that had originally infiltrated it had been identified, and the seeds of future trouble had been plucked.

Everything had turned out conveniently for Liam.

"Liam, you're the one I'll never forgive. If it comes to this, I'll kill you even if it's a suicide mission!"

Having thrown all caution to the wind, the Guide decided to gather negative emotions to kill Liam.

There was a war between interstellar nations going on, and it would surely be a vortex of resentment.

He would gather the negative emotions related to Liam as well and finish him off with his own hands.

He didn't know if he could actually kill Liam.

But regardless, the Guide wanted to defeat him.

"I will absolutely kill Liam!"

A dog watched as the Guide, who had vanished from the spot to gather negative emotions, disappeared.

And then, the dog—vanished somewhere.

◇

When the expeditionary force safely returned to the Empire, victory celebrations were held throughout the capital planet.

Nobles and soldiers who had participated in the expedition were invited, and the nobles were in high spirits.

Some were simply celebrating the victory.

Others wanted to get closer to the Cleo Faction.

Cleo was no longer as powerless as he once was.

Cleo, for whom the party was held, was exhausted from greeting so many attendees.

He entered a break room with Lysithea.

"—This is exhausting. Does the Count do this every day? He's incredible."

In response to Cleo's complaint, Lysithea chided him, but she also looked pleased.

"It's thanks to the Count laying the groundwork for us. I hear he was working tirelessly while remaining on the capital planet. But the fact that so many people will move for your name means we're not powerless anymore."

Liam had invited promising nobles.

Or rather, Wallace had, not Liam himself.

"I was just on the battlefield, though."

Cleo hadn't done anything.

The de facto commander-in-chief had been Tia.

And the one who coordinated everything was a capable knight named Klaus.

"More importantly, the Count himself doesn't seem to be making many public appearances."

"He said he's returning to his domain for a while. The large-scale demonstrations have apparently calmed down, but he's probably worried about the situation back home."

Lysithea was moved that he had stayed on the capital planet despite such circumstances.

However, Cleo couldn't bring himself to be purely happy.

"—The Count really can do anything, can't he? He's so different from me."

He was competing with his brother for the throne, but Cleo was just a figurehead.

He had accepted that—but he himself was not pleased about it.

"Even without me, as long as he's here, everyone would be satisfied, I suppose."

"Did you say something?"

Lysithea, who had missed Cleo's murmur, was excitedly thinking about the future.

They had overcome the crisis and now possessed enough power to fight the Calvin Faction.

She was probably happy about that.

So, thinking there was no need to rain on her parade, Cleo shook his head.

"No, it's nothing."

◇

The Guide had returned to the capital planet.

The vengeful spirits of those annihilated by the expeditionary force.

And the swirling hatred on the capital planet.

He had gathered negative emotions without a care in the world, all to challenge Liam to a fight.

"Liam! Today, I will end you with my own hands!"

Unable to defeat the android Amagi, and having learned that his actions were not only meaningless but had ultimately led to Liam's victory, the Guide was furious.

He had been elated, only to be slapped with reality, and now he was beside himself with rage.

He discovered that Liam was at the spaceport, about to return to his domain, and headed straight for him.

"There you are!"

Liam was giving Rinhou, Fuuka, and Ellen a tour of his prized warship.

He was walking down the corridor of the needlessly opulent spaceship without any guards.

Seeing the four of them from behind, the Guide honed his negative emotions into a single blade.

The Guide's arm transformed into a sinister blade and closed in on Liam's back.

"Liaaaammm!!"

◇

"What do you think? Amazing, right? This is a super-dreadnought I poured a ton of money into. Some of the soldiers have been living inside this thing for years!"

A three-thousand-meter-class ship is practically a colony in itself.

There are personnel rotations, but some people have lived on the warship for years and even gotten married.

I heard reports that babies were born, which I couldn't quite comprehend.

Will the babies grow up properly?

I heard there are schools, but I'm still worried.

I bought this ridiculously huge warship for show, but there are many things about it that are beyond my understanding.

The interior of this incomprehensible warship is lavishly decorated, thanks to all the money I spent.

I was strangely pleased to see the flashy Fuuka enjoying it.

"Awesome! Senior Disciple, give me one!"

I'd love to buy her one or two if I could—but that's not possible.

"Do you think I can just do whatever I want with a super-dreadnought? I need Amagi's permission, so it's impossible. She'd never approve."

Amagi already gives me a hard time for privatizing the warship, so I can't imagine what she'd say if I told her I gave one away to my junior disciple!

She even lectured me a while ago when I had Nias build my personal flagship.

It's almost complete, and I can't wait to receive it.

"Aww~"

Fuuka looked disappointed.

But I do plan on getting them a present.

"Don't look so down. I'll have custom mobile knights prepared for you two. You'll need pilot training from now on, anyway."

Rinhou was fiddling with her hair, seemingly uninterested.

"Men sure do love their robots. I think they're all the same once you cut them down."

She doesn't seem to be interested in robots.

Ellen's eyes were sparkling.

"Master, m-me too!"

But no, not for Ellen.

"It's still too early for you."

"I-I see."

It's a pity to see her look down, but Ellen is still young, so I want to raise her slowly.

Fuuka seems to have a little interest in robots.

"Senior Disciple, what kind of mobile knights are you getting for us?"

Glad you asked!

"Actually, I've decided to mass-produce my personal machine. Well, a downgraded version, anyway."

Mass-producing Avid is apparently impossible.

According to the Seventh Weapons Factory, "It's not a machine meant for mass production." In other words, they can't do it.

Even if they gathered the rare metals, without a Machine Heart, Avid's performance is impossible to replicate.

So, I decided to prepare mass-produced versions of Avid for the two of them, which, while downgraded, still maintain high performance.

In terms of performance, they're inferior to Avid, but they should be better than most.

After all, even the downgraded version costs more than your average custom machine.

"A downgraded version... that's not very motivating."

I flicked the complaining Fuuka on the forehead.

"Don't be selfish. Even if it's a downgrade, it's a machine that takes a lot of time and money. To others, it's a high-end model."

Well, that kind of expense is nothing to me, though.

Anyway.

As I was looking ahead, smiling happily, Ellen spoke to me.

"Master, did something good happen?"

It seems she can read my mood.

"It did. Before I knew it, I'd achieved a complete victory beyond my wildest dreams."

I've gained enough power to compete with Calvin.

And on top of that—I met my two junior disciples, and my own disciple is growing steadily.

I'm in a good mood today.

This is all thanks to the Guide.

Lately, though, I've been so busy that I feel my gratitude towards the Guide has been waning.

I'm sure he worked hard on the after-action follow-up for me this time, too.

Just then, a statue I had made in the Guide's likeness caught my eye as we passed by.

A statue of the Guide, made of solid gold.

"—You all, pray here."

Rinhou gave me a bewildered look.

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"Just pray. Offer your gratitude to this statue!"

At my sudden command to pray, Fuuka and Rinhou exchanged glances.

"What should we do?"

"Well, it's an order from our senior disciple, so I guess we'll do this much."

Ellen, however, was full of enthusiasm.

"Master, I will give lots and lots of thanks!"

"Well said! Now, let's offer our gratitude to this statue!"

◇

Told by Liam to be grateful, the three decided to pray for the time being.

Rinhou, not knowing who to be grateful to, thought.

(Well, if I'm thanking anyone, it's Master Yasushi.)

And Fuuka, naturally, thought the same.

(I should just thank Master Yasushi, right?)

Finally, Ellen offered her gratitude to Liam.

(I'll put all my heart into being grateful for meeting Master!)

The sincere gratitude of the three was poured into the golden statue of the Guide.

◇

Liam and the others had stopped.

Seeing this, the Guide leaped into the air.

"Liam, this is the end for you—huh?"

Then, the four of them turned, knelt down, and in front of them was a golden statue of himself.

What in the world were they doing?

Then, the grateful prayers of Liam and the others began to gather in the golden statue.

The golden statue of the Guide, placed there so that one could offer thanks from anywhere.

Suddenly, the golden statue began to glow.

Liam and the others couldn't see it.

"S-So bright!!"

As the Guide was burned by the golden light, a sword materialized from the golden statue.

The sword with a golden blade was a manifestation of the prayers from the successors of the One-Flash Style.

It was kneaded with pure feelings of gratitude.

To the Guide, it was poison, and with Liam's gratitude added, it was a deadly poison.

"St-Stop—"

The moment he tried to say stop, it pierced his chest.

The blade burned the Guide's body from the inside and spread its deadly poison.

"Noooooo!!"

Flowing through the blade was an even greater amount of Liam's gratitude than ever before.

However, an extraordinary amount of gratitude for Yasushi and feelings of gratitude directed at Liam were also mixed in.

And around him, other golden swords were floating.

The moment they turned their blades towards the Guide, they pierced him one after another.

It wasn't just Liam's gratitude; various other feelings were mixed in.

"I have nothing to do with that—"

And finally—the Guide's body disintegrated from the feelings of gratitude, and only his top hat fell to the ground.

Just like that, the top hat sank into the ground and vanished.

Brian ヾ(´ω｀)ノ "Serves the Guide right, it does!"