Please remember Dragoon sometimes as well.

But, when I reread it, I reflect on how clumsy it was in many ways (^_^;

In the audience chamber, Isaac was breaking out in a cold sweat.

(W-what is this man?! Is this really my brother?)

He had seen Liam only once when he was a child.

It was nearly half a century ago.

He had watched from a distance as Liam visited the capital planet for his award ceremony.

Since a relative was being decorated, his grandfather and father had invited Isaac along.

He had only seen him from afar, but now he was terrified beyond measure.

The knights lined up here were a world apart from the ones he had brought with him.

Everything was just too different from himself.

The sight of the man who was his head knight making excuses to Liam looked utterly pathetic.

"Lord Liam, please listen. We were only accompanying the former head to protect him—"

Liam ignored the excuse as if he had no interest.

However, looking at the dolls lined up in the audience chamber, he seemed to feel something was off.

"Hey, one of my maids is missing."

He pointed out that one was missing and asked Klaus, who was beside him, for the details.

Klaus hesitated, but under Liam's questioning, he answered.

"—She is currently out for manufacturer repairs."

"Huh? Why? The scheduled maintenance isn't for a while, is it?"

It seemed Liam managed the schedule for each and every doll, and he looked incredibly displeased that one was missing.

No, he seemed worried.

"—Lord Isaac's knights intentionally destroyed her."

"Destroyed her, you say? —Isaac, was that your order?"

Glared at by Liam, Isaac couldn't utter a word.

He was trembling with fear.

(U-uwaaa—ah—)

While his thoughts were jumbled with terror, Klaus was giving his investigation report.

"Lord Liam, we have received reports that it was the independent decision of Lord Isaac's knights. We have confirmed this, and the information is accurate. We were waiting for your return to decide on their punishment—"

It happened in the next instant.

The moment the head knight tried to think of an excuse, Liam was by Isaac's side, swinging his sword down.

The knights beside him were cut down, dismembered while still alive.

Perhaps enraged in an instant, Liam was radiating fury.

Faced with that overwhelming pressure, Isaac fainted.

◇

"—Send Isaac back to the capital planet. A man who faints over something like this is not fit to be my successor."

I decided to send him away with a plausible reason.

I could kill him, but they'd just mass-produce another replacement for me, so it's pointless.

Sheathing my sword, I looked down at Isaac's men who were still alive.

I had intentionally not killed them in a single blow.

"H-help—"

I stomped on the man who seemed to be the head knight.

"I was going to play with you, but I've changed my mind. Kukuri."

"Here."

I decided to hand over the scum who destroyed my maid to Kukuri and her group, who emerged from the shadows.

"Do what you want with them."

"Heeheehee, are you sure?"

I could torture them myself, but just looking at them irritates me so much I feel like I'll just cut them down and kill them.

Besides, Kukuri and her group are probably better at torture.

"I'd kill them too quickly. —Now then, I suppose I should decide how to deal with the fools who cooperated with them."

There are those who betrayed me and tried to prop up Isaac.

They are traitors.

When the officials tried to cling to me and beg for forgiveness, the knights restrained them.

"Lord Liam, have mercy! Lord Liam!"

"They did this on their own! P-please, I beg you!"

I'm tired of hearing excuses.

"All traitors will be executed. Their families will be exiled from the territory. —Take them away."

The knights dragged those officials out of the audience chamber.

I was furious.

I'm so irritated.

I never thought things would get this messy just because one of my maids was destroyed and I went missing.

"It's been a while, let's do some cleaning. A big clean-up."

Klaus, who had rushed over, tilted his head at my words.

"A big clean-up, you say? But we perform cleaning duties regularly, don't we?"

Seeing Klaus breaking out in a cold sweat, he must know my true intentions and is just asking to be sure.

"No, we've let it go for too long and the trash has piled up. Let's all do a big clean-up together. —We'll find all the traitors and punish every one of them. No, on second thought—let's be thorough. We'll investigate and punish even those who aren't traitors."

I showed an attitude that brooked no argument, and I thought Klaus might try to stop me, but he just nodded.

"As you wish."

He's got more nerve than I expected.

He maintained the status quo while I was gone; he's far more reliable than Tia or Marie.

—He'll do.

I clapped my hands and gave orders to everyone.

"Alright, it's cleaning time. Everyone, return to your posts and clean up your workplaces. —Got it? Make it spotless. If any trash is left behind, those who slacked off on cleaning will be just as guilty."

Everyone knelt, showing their intent to obey me.

"As you command!"

Now, it's time to clean.

◇

Klaus had reached his limit in many ways.

He had held things together during Liam's absence and was completely exhausted.

Therefore, when he heard Liam announce the 'big clean-up,' all he could think was, 'Just do whatever you want.'

(Well, there are traitors, so maybe we should do this to tighten things up. If so, what will happen to Chengshi? It feels like we're past the point of no return.)

While thinking his workload would increase again, he felt a sense of resignation.

Liam looked around the audience chamber and tilted his head.

"Huh? Where are my junior disciples? Chengshi isn't here either?"

"If you're asking about those three—"

Chengshi, the most hot-blooded female knight, and Liam's two junior disciples were in a terrible situation.

◇

Using Liam's training facility were Rinho and Fuuka.

Their opponent was Chengshi, who no longer had a human form.

Facing the ominous mechanical insect, both Rinho and Fuuka were fed up.

"I'll give you credit for your guts, coming back no matter how many times we cut you down."

"I'm getting tired of this."

Every time Chengshi lost, she revived and challenged the two again and again.

She grew stronger each time, and now she had reached a point where she could injure them.

They had left her alone, thinking she was a good plaything, but now she had become a nuisance.

When Fuuka slashed with her two swords, the severed leg turned into liquid metal and returned to the main body to regenerate.

No matter how much they cut her up, she would just revive.

"I'm sick of this! Rinho, you do it."

Told this by Fuuka, Rinho also refused.

"You do it. I'm tired of it too."

There should be a core part of Chengshi within the liquid metal.

But it was moving around inside her body, making it impossible to grasp.

Thanks to this, Chengshi had begun to learn about the One-Flash Style by fighting the two of them.

And then, finally—she dodged Fuuka's flash.

Fuuka, whose attack was dodged, was surprised and took some distance.

"This thing... it dodged."

Having her serious strike dodged, Fuuka couldn't hide her surprise.

Chengshi spoke to the two of them.

"'Thanks to you two, I've learned about the One-Flash Style. Now I can fight Liam.'"

Rinho, irritated, stepped forward and slashed—but Chengshi split apart to evade it.

She continued to multiply, surrounding the two of them.

"Tch!"

As Rinho lowered his stance, Fuuka was similarly on guard.

"We played around a little too much."

Chengshi, having given the two a hard time, seemed intent on torturing them to death.

"'I'll show your corpses to Liam and make him get serious!'"

For Chengshi, who could only live through battle, the consequences didn't matter.

Her only desire was to defeat Liam.

Just then, the door to the training hall opened, and Liam entered.

He held a sword in his hand, and upon entering, he looked at Chengshi with a disgusted expression.

"You've become a pathetic sight."

"'Liaaammm!!'"

Overjoyed, Chengshi gathered the divided mechanical insects and became one again.

She had abandoned her human form to fight the One-Flash Style.

She lunged at Liam, trying to settle the score.

Fuuka hurriedly warned Liam.

"Senior Brother, that thing is—"

However, Liam seemed uninterested.

"Don't worry. More importantly, Chengshi, you've betrayed my expectations."

Just as Chengshi tried to see through Liam's flash, in the next moment, the liquid metal was blown to pieces.

The liquid metal splattered against the walls.

Liam was holding Chengshi's core, a sphere, in his left hand.

"'You're saying you found my core in an instant?'"

Chengshi was shocked, but Liam seemed uninterested.

He tossed Chengshi's core to his subordinates behind him and ordered them to regenerate her.

"Hey, regenerate this one's body. If this is all she can do even with a mechanical body, her flesh-and-blood form was better."

Having lost its core, the liquid metal stopped regenerating.

Chengshi was frustrated.

"'Is this your idea of mercy? Kill me! Otherwise, I'll come for your life again and again!'"

"It'd be lonely if my playmate disappeared. Although—at this level, you're no match for me. I'll have you be my junior disciples' opponent."

Told flatly that she was no match for him, Chengshi screamed from within the sphere.

"'Are you going to break your promise?! I'm the one who's going to kill you!'"

Liam laughed at Chengshi's joke.

"That's a funny joke. —How could you, who can't even kill my junior disciples, possibly beat me? From now on, play with Rinho and Fuuka. In about thirty years, I'll let you play with Ellen, too."

Liam lost interest in Chengshi and began to lecture Rinho and Fuuka.

"What's this about not being able to beat her? Are you trying to tarnish the name of the One-Flash Style? Huh?"

Scolded by Liam, Rinho and Fuuka cowered, looking down.

"S-sorry. B-but, it was just for today."

"To vent our frustration—we thought she might be good practice, so we let her off many times—l-look, we won many times, and today we were just pushed back a little."

Liam gave the two making excuses a cold look.

"You're starting your training over."

At Liam's words, the two hung their heads.

◇

Rinho and Fuuka hadn't grown as much as I thought.

Struggling against Chengshi is an embarrassment to our school.

So, starting today, I decided we would do some harsh training together.

While the two of them lay collapsed from exhaustion, I was meditating in a seated Zen position, unifying my spirit.

The two, wearing tank tops and spandex-like clothing, had passed out from exhaustion after sparring with me.

I had Ellen participate at first, but she's still a novice, so I had her stop partway through.

I was doing spiritual training alone.

"Master entrusted these two to me, and this is the result. —I can't face Master like this. Besides, the fact that I myself struggled against that small fry is also a problem."

I recalled the small-time villain who called himself the Demon Lord.

Needing my favorite sword to defeat him is just too embarrassing.

Normally, I should have been able to cut him down with a spare sword and be done with it.

My own immaturity is starting to irritate me.

"To cut an un-cuttable enemy—is there a way?"

There are opponents who cannot be cut, neither physically nor magically.

If that's the case, I just need to become able to cut them.

However, I don't know how.

I feel like I could manage it with harsh training, but that would take too much time.

My concentration wavered, so I focused my mind again.

To cut the un-cuttable—this is mental unification to devise a method for that.

When it comes to swordsmanship, I make no compromises.

An evil lord should be arrogant and prideful, but this is different.

I will seriously prepare countermeasures.

◇

Freed from their training with Liam, Rinho and Fuuka were walking, using their wooden swords as canes.

They hadn't been pushed this hard in training since they were trained by Yasushi.

Rinho looked like he was about to cry.

"Ah, Senior Brother is a demon."

Fuuka was the same.

Her whole body was screaming in pain, and she was trembling uncontrollably.

"We should have just killed that thing quickly. Senior Brother said we'd be training for a while, so this is going to continue for some time."

Liam was putting the two, who held the rank of Menkyo Kaiden (a license of full proficiency) in the One-Flash Style, through training so harsh they were whining day after day.

He had decided to continue the kind of training that would make them want to run away until the day he returned to the capital planet.

And since the two had fallen behind Chengshi, their participation was mandatory.

The two sat down on a nearby bench.

"Senior Brother should just hurry up and go to the capital planet."

"I agree. He's supposed to be in the middle of his noble training, right? Why did he come back?"

It was to deal with the insolent fools who had gathered after hearing of Liam's absence.

The Banfield family's territory was also in an uproar.

Because traitors had emerged, a harsh crackdown had begun within the territory.

Officials and soldiers were being executed day after day, and their families were being exiled from the territory.

Rinho took out his terminal and checked the news.

"Huh?"

"W-what's wrong?"

Fuuka, whose body ached all over, asked Rinho, who was looking puzzled.

It seemed the Banfield house wasn't the only one in an uproar.

◇

"Wiped out?"

In the palace on the capital planet, Calvin was listening to a report from an ally.

His eyes widened at the contents of the report.

The nobleman giving the report also looked like he couldn't believe it.

"Y-yes. All the agents we sent into the Banfield house have lost contact. Furthermore, many of the nobles we incited have died. We don't have an exact number, but it's said there are likely no survivors."

Liam had disappeared due to summoning magic.

Calvin, who had obtained this information, had used those likely to act rashly to throw Liam's territory into chaos.

He leaked the information and decided to watch as they got worked up on their own.

He had given strict orders to his own faction not to get involved.

"He got us. To pull this off at this timing, he truly has nerves of steel."

"Your Highness?"

As the man who gave the report looked confused, Calvin suppressed the urge to sigh and explained.

"He must have used this timing, when the faction had rapidly grown, to sift through them. If he had failed, his own territory would have been in deep trouble. He managed to drive out the fools who took the bait from Cleo's faction. Just as I feared. It was a trap."

"S-so that was his plan? In that case, we fell right into his—"

"We were completely played. But we didn't participate, so our forces are intact. The only ones exhausted are the fools and Liam-kun. It's not the worst-case scenario."

Calvin lied.

If he had gone all out here, he should have been able to leave a huge scar on Liam's territory.

(I was too cautious and ended up reacting too late.)

On top of that, all of his agents were eliminated.

Gathering information will be more difficult from now on.

(But it's not the worst.)

However, their own damage was minimal.

Calvin asked about the fools who had invaded Liam's territory.

"More importantly, what happened to those who attacked Liam-kun's territory? Were they really killed? Isn't it possible they were captured as bargaining chips?"

Capturing them alive for ransom.

Among nobles, that is considered the smarter way to do things.

"—They were all mercilessly killed as pirates."

However, Liam was different.

"All of them? He does such extreme things. He'll be resented."

Even if they invaded, doing nothing but extreme things will earn him resentment.

The nobles whose heads and relatives were killed will surely hold a grudge against Liam.

If they were to drag Liam down, it wouldn't be a bad thing for Calvin.

"They're useful. From now on, we'll support them and—"

"Your Highness, there is one more important matter."

The man giving the report had a bitter expression.

"What is it?"

"Actually, the members of the houses that were exterminated by Liam as pirates have declared that they will join our faction. They are calling for the overthrow of Liam."

"W-what?!"

"The nobles who hate Liam gathered, but with no one to lead them—th-they seem to have unilaterally declared that they are joining us."

"They've gone and done whatever they pleased."

They really did as they pleased, Calvin fumed inwardly.

Nobles who were enraged after being defeated while committing piracy against another house had started declaring their support for Calvin.

Even if such people became his allies, they would be nothing but a nuisance.

As a result, a large number of rash individuals left Liam's faction.

At the same time, people who unilaterally declared their entry into his faction appeared on Calvin's side.

(Is Liam-kun favored by the goddess of fortune, or am I cursed by a god of pestilence? —He's a truly troublesome opponent.)

Caught in an unmanageable flow of events, Calvin decided to act to dispel his future anxieties.

"Make a list of the nobles who made these unilateral declarations. I can't have them dragging me down."

Dismissing the man who came to report, Calvin prepared himself to be busy for a while consolidating his faction.

Calvin had become unable to move freely during this crucial time.

Wakagi-chan ( ゜∀゜): "I've received numerous comments saying it's lonely when I don't appear in the afterword! I'll keep on promoting things like crazy. For now, the 4th volume of the manga version of 'The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs' will be released in early August!"

Brian (・ω・｀ ): "If there are two or more, it's 'numerous.' It's all in how you say it, isn't it."