This is...

A little while before the situation with Aki seeking help unfolded, Rio had been flying close to the ground, following the faint traces of footsteps, when he discovered grass that had been heavily trodden on by numerous horses. He came to a stop before the road and immediately deduced that three people had encountered others on horseback. Next, he followed the footsteps with his gaze, then spotted a large convoy of wagons far down the road. The convoy of wagons had stopped, but were about to depart at any moment.

Several exposed wagon loads caught Rio’s eyes. They had several people gathered together on them — slaves, most likely — with swarms of mercenary-like guards surrounding the wagons.

...Slave merchants, huh. This might be bad.

An unpleasant feeling settled in Rio’s chest.

He aborted his flight arts and landed on the ground, before bursting into a sprint toward the wagons, using his enhanced physical abilities. However, he couldn’t just attack them straight away simply because of an unpleasant feeling he had, so he decreased his speed once he had somewhat closed the distance between them. That was when one of the guards noticed Rio.

“Hey, someone’s approaching from the side of the road!” A guard yelled loudly when he noticed Rio, stirring the caution of those around him. Several of the guards immediately drew their weapons and took on a formation to protect the wagons.

Stop right there!” One of the guards yelled.

Rio decided to demonstrate that he had no hostile intentions, for now. “I’m searching for some people. Three of them. They came from the same direction I did just now.” He explained his intentions without drawing his weapon, staying exactly where he was, as ordered.

The air around the mercenaries changed slightly. They looked at each other, before they all turned to look at a man who was probably the highest-ranked one amongst them.

“...Someone call the boss and the captain over here. Quickly.” The man who was turned to — the leader-like man that Miharu, Masato, and Aki had encountered — said with irritation. Less than half a minute later, a well-dressed man appeared, accompanied by another bulky guard.

“Hmm. So, you’re the one who appeared out of nowhere. What do you want?” he asked unhappily, looking over Rio’s cloaked figure.

“...Forgive me for my rudeness. My name is Hans — you may have heard from your bodyguards already, but I am in search of some individuals. Three people should have appeared from the side of the road a short while ago... Have you seen them?” Rio asked, purposefully choosing to take on a courteous tone toward the haughty man.

However, it was clear that his tone was only for show, as he had given him a fake name he had made up on a whim in case things took a turn for the worst.

“Oh? And here I was, thinking you were but a mere hoodlum...” The well-dressed man muttered, narrowing his eyes.

“No clue. Unfortunately, we’re in a rush. If you’re done here, then leave,” he said with a curt shake of his head.

He had considered the possibility that he was talking to a noble based on Rio’s educated form of speech, but he ultimately decided to feign ignorance.

“I would, but I found the footprints of several people in the grasslands a small distance away from the road. There were signs that the grass had been trampled by horses — fairly recently, too,” Rio said with a troubled smile.

“...Are you accusing us of kidnapping those people?” The well-dressed man asked Rio with an emotionless look.

“Oh, no. Of course not. I was simply hoping you would drop the pretenses and open yourself up to discussion if they really were in your care.” Rio shook his head, wearing a poker face as he selected his words carefully. He had already given them the idea that he was fairly confident, so he tried to make it seem as though he was willing to settle things peacefully by making a roundabout offer to ignore any shady business that they were involved in.

At the same time, he made a show of looking over the wagons that stood behind the man. Unfortunately, there were large numbers of slaves on every wagon; he didn’t know what the people he was searching for looked like to begin with, so all he could do was pass his eyes over each and every one.

“...I’d like to ask you to refrain from staring at my precious cargo so intently. There are many slaves who start feeling a false sense of hope from interacting with outsiders,” the well-dressed man said, glancing at the wagons behind him. He shot the large guard standing next to him a look that said to lower the covers on the wagons. At that, the bulky man and several of his subordinates began to promptly move about.

H-Help us!” The voice of a young girl echoed from one of the wagons — it was Aki. Nearly everyone present had no idea what Aki had said and what the words meant. Almost everyone, except...

Help... us? Is that... Japanese?

Rio had heard it and understood it. A voice seeking help... But he hesitated for a moment, wondering if he had mistakenly heard wrong. After all, those words shouldn’t have existed in this world.

However, when he turned his gaze toward the wagon that the voice came from, he became certain that he hadn’t misheard.

There, inside the wagon, stood Aki with her East Asian facial characteristics.

“Tch. Cover the cargo already.”
While Rio stood bewildered, the well-dressed man clicked his tongue and quietly ordered his guards to hide the contents of the wagons. He had run out of patience.
Eventually, the covers of the wagons were fully lowered over the interior platforms.

“Now look at what you’ve done. The slaves are making a fuss because of you,” the well-dressed man said, still trying to feign ignorance. On top of that, his words were blunt in order to place the blame on Rio.

“...Please, hold on a moment. The girl who called out just now was one of the people I’m searching for. She was asking for help... Could you explain what’s going on here?” Rio asked in a composed tone after calming down and returning to his senses. He wasn’t going to back down, either.

The well-dressed man’s expressions twisted in displeasure. “What a bother. Enough already. Kill him,” he ordered the bulky guard next to him in irritation.

“You heard the boss, people! We’re going with the simplest and easiest way of silencing someone. Form up!”

With a grin, the guard stirred up the men surrounding them. The mercenaries got in formation gleefully and enclosed Rio in an instant.

Their movements were a fine show of leadership — the skill of a mercenary group varied dramatically depending on the abilities of their commander, but all the mercenaries here seemed to be quite experienced in group combat. “You’ve mistaken foolishness for bravery, as there’s a time and place for this kind of thing. This isn’t it. Any last words? If you beg for your life and agree to become a slave, then I may be willing to spare you. You do have a nice face, after all... Any interest in selling your body?” The well-dressed man asked in triumphant arrogance, obviously feeling assured in his overwhelmingly advantageous position.

“...How repulsive. You should have just handed over the people you kidnapped without a fuss while you could. However, if this is what you want, I won’t hold back, either,” Rio said in a calm but deadly tone, shaking his head in annoyance.
The man reacted to the bloodlust directed toward him. “E-Enough. Kill him!” he ordered in a high-pitched voice.

“Get him!” The bulky commander of the mercenary squad ordered the soldiers surrounding Rio.

The mercenaries thrust their spears at Rio from every direction as they protected themselves with their shields, but Rio gracefully leaped into the air and out of the circle of attack with ease.

“Wha...?!” The mercenaries were taken aback in spite of themselves, staring after Rio dumbfoundedly as he cleared their heads with a light jump.

“Eek?!” Rio pulled the dagger hidden under his overcoat out while mid-air, equipped it in his left hand, then stabbed at the legs of the mercenaries

nearby without hesitation as soon as he landed. The men who had been stabbed let out a scream.

Will they lose their fighting edge, now? Rio thought. Then, suddenly —

“Photon Projectilis!” The commander of the mercenary squad fired offensive magic toward Rio. A magic circle floated before the left hand he had held up toward Rio, his magic essence turning into high-speed bullets of light energy that shot forth in rapid succession.

Rio dashed to the side and evaded the attack.

...He’s awfully calm. Worthy of being the leader to all these mercenaries, I suppose. Guess it wouldn’t be that easy, Rio thought tiredly as he accelerated.

“Our opponent is using physical ability enhancement! Keep him moving and strike when he’s fatigued! Get into a defensive formation!”
The commander calmly called out directions as he relentlessly fired his light bullets at Rio. With that, the other mercenaries regained their composure, too.

The mercenaries got into a close formation, protecting the well-dressed man and the commander as he fired his offensive magic. Then, they lowered their bodies with their shields fortified in a circle so that the commander’s trajectory was unobstructed.

Rio had been avoiding the bullets by darting freely through the wide field next to the road, but when he saw the sight of the mercenaries, he frowned in irritation and charged toward the wall of shields head-on.

“The fool lost his patience. Ready the spears!” A bloodthirsty grin made its way across the commander’s face.

While the lethality of Photon Projectilis was low, it had enough force to severely wound a regular human. The magic also allowed for the ability to continuously produce rapid-fire bullets at will once activated. Its accuracy was low against opponents moving from left to right, but that changed dramatically when the opponent approached directly from the front. To charge straight for the defensive formation of shields was the height of foolishness.he light bullets fired from the commander were closing in on Rio.

“Wha?!” For the briefest moment, the image of Rio’s form in the mercenaries’ vision blurred. The rush of light bullets pierced through empty space, or so they had thought.

“...Huh?”

Before they realized it, Rio had traveled around the mercenaries and drawn his sword, holding it aloft sideways. The sword glowed, then released an explosive blast of wind.

“Gah?!” When Rio swung his sword, the shield-wielding mercenaries were cleanly blown away into the distance. With the wall protecting him gone, the commander took in a breath and moved to draw his sword reflexively.

However, he was already too late.

Rio closed in on him instantly, then moved his sword almost in slow motion as he stabbed the commander precisely through the solar plexus.

“Tch?!”

The commander’s eyes widened in shock, his expression showing he didn’t understand what had happened at all. When Rio withdrew his sword and slowly stepped back, the commander reached down to slowly touch the wounded area. Seeing that his hands were dyed red, the commander realized his imminent death.

With that, he feebly collapsed to the ground.

Rio tightened his grip around his bloodied sword shamefully before immediately turning his gaze to the well-dressed man, who stood frozen and in a daze.

“Ah...?!” The man let out a soundless shriek when his eyes met Rio’s. He instinctively tried to back away, but lost his balance in his rush and fell on his backside.

Rio thrust his bloodstained blade at the man and looked down. “Release the children you kidnapped,” he ordered in a cold voice.

The man let out a pathetic sound. “Eek!”

“The others won’t move unless you order them to, right? Hurry up,” Rio said, sighing in irritation.

“R-Release them now! Quickly!” the man yelled in a fluster, and the frozen mercenary guards jumped into action.

In that time, Rio wiped the blade of his sword and fastened it to his belt unsheathed. Then, he grabbed the well-dressed man by the neck and roughly dragged the corpse of the commander to the side of the road with his other hand.

“Eek! W-Why me?! What are you going to do?!” he wailed as he looked at the body of the commander with a paled expression.

“This guy’s dead body was just in the way. And you’re a hostage,” Rio said, lightly flinging the corpse of the commander into the grass; now the body could no longer be seen from the road. Grabbing his sword in his newly freed right hand, Rio and the man then returned to the road.

The mercenaries were silently gathered at the road, but they fearfully retreated when Rio approached. They were aware from the previous battle that the difference in their abilities was too great, and now, their commander was dead and their client taken as a hostage. They had completely lost the will to fight.

Aki and Masato had just been safely released from the wagon and were standing a small distance away from the mercenaries. Rio approached the two and spoke to them awkwardly in Japanese.

“...Are you two the only ones that are safe?”

“Y-You can understand us?!” Aki asked, clinging to his words.

“I can, but... I’ll leave the details for later. I thought there was one more of you. Was I mistaken?” Rio asked hesitantly.

Aki nodded with vigor. “T-There is! She was taken to another wagon!”
Rio looked down at the well-dressed man he had grabbed with his left hand. “I don’t see the last person. Which wagon is she in?” he asked, casually showing the sword held in his right hand.

“T-The second to last wagon on the right side! She’s on that one!”

“...You haven’t done anything to her, have you?”

“I-I haven’t! I haven’t done anything!” he replied frantically to Rio’s questions.

“I’m going to check. You’re coming with me,” Rio said, dragging the well-dressed man with him.

“I’m going to save your friend. Will you follow me?” he called out to Aki and Masato.

The two of them looked down at the completely terrified slave merchant with something like pity before hesitantly nodding. “Y-Yes!”

Once they arrived at the wagon where Miharu was, Rio turned to the slave merchant. “It seems to be locked.”

The door to the platform of this wagon was far more securely locked than the others.

“I-I have custody of the key to this wagon.”

“Then open it already,” Rio ordered, releasing the slave merchant from his grip around the neck.

The man stood up in a fluster and tried to unlock the wagon door with his trembling hands; after fum bling for a bit, the door to the wagon’s interior platform was finally unlocked.

“Don’t try anything clever,” Rio warned him with a sharp look before opening the unlocked door. A dark and gloomy air permeated the interior.

◇◇◇

With a dull, grinding creak, the door to the interior of the wagon opened. Light from outside filtered through to the interior of the covered platform, replacing the stale body odor with fresh air.

Miharu looked up at the opened door worriedly... But it wasn’t just her. The wagon was packed full of beautiful young women whose gazes were hesitantly drawn toward the door, when a boy with an androgynous face appeared. They all stared at Rio.

When he felt the gazes of all the girls locked on him at the same time, he began to look around the platform somewhat uncomfortably. Like everyone else, Miharu was also observing Rio’s face.

Is he looking for someone... Huh?! Miharu flinched when their eyes met.

As Rio looked at her, engrossed, Miharu stared back in a daze. She felt like she was being sucked into his eyes. The two of them continued to watch each other in silence; Rio remained so still, it was almost like time had stopped. The same could be said about Miharu, too.

“...” Rio muttered something Miharu couldn’t make out, his eyes watery and face twisting as though he was about to cry as he looked at her. Then, for some reason, Miharu felt like she wanted to cry, too.

Even though she was meeting him for the first time, there was a sense of nostalgia that couldn’t be described rising within her chest.

After some time, Rio’s expression changed to one that looked rather guilty. He sheathed the sword in his right hand as though to hide it, before taking a hesitant step onto the platform. He approached Miharu nervously. “I’ve come... to save you,” Rio said gently to Miharu with an awkward smile.
◇◇◇
Rio slowly offered his hand out to Miharu, who sat on the floor of the platform.

“T-Thank you very much.” Miharu’s eyes widened in awe before she timidly took Rio’s hand while watching his expression. He grasped her hand with reservation.

He noted how soft her hand was; unlike his rugged hands covered in sword blisters, her hand was pale, delicate, and fair. A vast difference to the hands that had just killed a man.

Ayase Miharu... It really is Mii-chan. Why is she here in this world? Rio’s face almost twisted with the indescribable emotions within him. Unable to look at Miharu directly, he avoided her gaze, his expression laden with guilt.

He had always wanted to see her again — yet now that she was here before him, he felt absolutely terrified. He had become a different person than Amakawa Haruto. He could no longer return to his former self, because he felt like he had been stained with sin.

It was true — Rio had already killed someone with his own hands, and he had set off from the Yagumo region carrying an intensely burning desire for vengeance.

He let go of Miharu’s hand. “Your two acquaintances are waiting outside. Let’s go,” he said, turning on his heel.

“U-Umm... What about them?” Miharu asked him timidly as she watched the girls around her stare with envy. Rio shook his head with a troubled expression.

“While you and your friends were kidnapped, these girls are most likely here after going through the proper legal procedures for a slave trade. If I take them along with me, I’ll become a criminal.”

Slaves were people without rights. By law, they were treated as objects. That was why stealing them was considered theft, carrying out a scam for them was fraud, and snatching them was robbery or extortion.

“T-That can’t be...” Miharu looked around at the girls in a daze.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do anything...” Rio’s expression darkened apologetically.

“N-No! It’s not your fault! I’m the one who should be sorry!” Miharu regretted her own foolishness keenly, and her own expression turned to one of embarrassment.

“Let’s go.” Out of consideration for Miharu, Rio held her hand as he urged her to move. She allowed herself to be led out of the wagon.

“There’s a bit of a step to the ground, so watch your feet.” Rio stepped out of the wagon before Miharu, then moved to help her down.

“O-Okay. Thank you very much.” Miharu timidly stepped out of the wagon. Then, suddenly, Aki ran over and hugged her.

“Miharu!”

“I’m so glad you two are safe.” Miharu gently patted Aki on the back. Masato stood next to the two of them and look on bashfully.

I’m glad too, truly. So... that voice was talking about Mii-chan... right?

Rio also smiled in relief. But at the same time, he found it mysterious that the voice in the back of his head had known Miharu and the others would appear here.

That being said, there was no use wondering about that now.

Imagine if I hadn’t made it in time... It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. All because of this guy... Rio directed a quiet but murderous gaze at the slave merchant.

“Eek?!” The merchant backed away in fear.
For a moment, Rio considered taking the slave merchant’s life, too, but he restrained himself — he couldn’t let his impulses drive him to murder without considering the consequences. Most importantly, he didn’t want Miharu and the other two to see any dead bodies, much less the sight of himself killing someone.

“Did they steal anything from the three of you?” Rio asked Miharu, Aki, and Masato with a sigh.

“Umm, they took our bags...” Miharu answered on everyone’s behalf.
Rio immediately turned to the slave merchant. “Where are their belongings?” he asked.

“T-They’re in my wagon! I’ll return them, I’ll return them right away! Just wait there!” The slave merchant responded in a flurry, then ran toward his own wagon. Less than a minute later, he returned and thrust several bags out at Rio.

“And everything is still inside, right?” Rio questioned the slave merchant in a cold voice. He passed the belongings over to the three without pause.

“O-Of course! I haven’t touched a thing! I-I’ll give you money, too, so please believe me!” The slave merchant nodded furiously, then held out a small pouch that was sagging with coins.

Rio accepted the pouch and took a peek; there was indeed a significant amount of gold coins inside. It was probably intended as some kind of compensation for what they had gone through.

“Is there anything missing from your bags?” Rio asked.

“No. Everything’s here,” Miharu, Aki, and Masato replied quickly.

“You don’t seem to be lying.”

“Yes, that’s what I said! Please believe me, I beg of you!” The slave merchant pleaded desperately.

“...All right. But if you ever try to do something to them again, I’ll find you and kill you,” Rio threatened.

“I got it, I got it!” The slave merchant nodded in fear.

With that, Rio had nothing more to say to him. “Let’s get away from this place, first and foremost. I’ll lead you to somewhere safe,” Rio said, starting to walk and prompting Miharu and the others to hesitantly follow him.

Once the entire group had walked out of sight, the slave merchant fell to his knees, feeling as though his soul had left his body.
◇◇◇
Rio and the others headed down the road toward the north, with Miharu, Aki, and Masato silently following him from afar.

There was no conversation between the four of them. Every now and then, Rio would turn to check on them, but he wasn’t sure what to say as an awkward air fell between them. Miharu and the other two also seemed nervous, not quite understanding the reality of their situation, and remained silent in somewhat of a daze. Thus, the silence continued as they walked on with a healthy distance maintained between them.

“Pretty...” Aki suddenly murmured. Her gaze was drawn toward the west — the day was nearly over as the sunset dyed the horizon scarlet red. It was scenery that couldn’t be seen in Japan.

The rest of the party naturally turned to the western sky.

“U-Umm, I’m sorry. Excuse me?” Miharu timidly spoke to Rio’s back.
“Erm, what is it?” Rio flinched before awkwardly turning around.

“Thank you very much for saving us,” Miharu said, finding the courage to speak up. She bowed her head at Rio. “Who knows what may have happened to us if you hadn’t come.”

It was a gesture that clearly conveyed the sincerity of her gratitude and her proper, educated upbringing.

Rio looked at Miharu sadly. “No, I only did what should have been done. There’s a lot I want to ask you, too,” he said, shaking his head uncomfortably. Miharu slowly raised her head.

“Umm, my name is Ayase Miharu. May I ask your name? Also, umm... If it’s possible, we’d like to ask you some things too.”

“My name? My name... Because of some circumstances, right now my name is Haruto... I don’t have a family name.” For a moment, Rio was shaken, and he averted his eyes in hesitation. However, he decided on telling them the alias he was officially operating under while moving around in the Strahl region.

Rio was a wanted criminal after formerly being falsely convicted in the Kingdom of Beltrum, so he figured it would be better to change his name. Black hair also stood out in the Strahl region, so he had changed its color with a magic artifact. That was why his hair was currently gray.

His moment of hesitation was due to the sense of resistance he felt toward calling himself “Haruto” in front of Miharu. That being said, calling himself Rio would have required a more complicated explanation.

In the end, acting so uncertain about giving his name would have seemed suspicious, so Rio resolutely called himself Haruto. Then, he turned to watch Miharu for her reaction.

“Haru...to?” Miharu blankly murmured Rio’s alias — no, Rio’s former name.

“Haruto?” Aki also showed a conflicted expression. The tone of her voice almost sounded bitter.

“Aki-chan,” Miharu said. Aki looked at her in surprise, but Miharu simply shook her head in silence.

...Aki? Rio’s eyes widened after hearing Aki’s name. That name was the same as Amakawa Haruto’s little sister; the one his mother had taken away when their parents divorced.

Rio examined Aki’s face. She was only four years old the last time he had seen her, and the impact of noticing Miharu first had distracted him, but she certainly did bear a resemblance. But, the most conclusive bit of information was in how Miharu had called her Aki.

“...Umm, what is it?” Aki asked Rio timidly, noticing that she was being stared at.

“Ah, no. Sorry. I was just wondering if there was something wrong with my name.” Rio stifled his unease and pasted on a smile.

“I’m sorry. It’s nothing,” Aki apologized, seemingly ashamed.

“Hey, what do you mean you don’t have a family name, Haruto? Ah, I’m Sendo Masato. Aki’s little brother.” Masato, who had been listening quietly, introduced himself.

“Sendo, brother... Then, Aki would be Sendo Aki — is that right?” Rio asked Aki.

Masato had said he was Aki’s little brother, but their family name wasn’t Amakawa and Amakawa Haruto didn’t have a little brother that could have been this old. Since that was the case, Rio immediately assumed Masato was a child of the person his mother must have remarried to.
“Ah, yes. That’s right. Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself earlier.” Aki nodded, bowing her head at Rio.

Rio looked up at the sky in thought. “It’s fine... Masato, you asked why I don’t have a family name, right? The sun’s about to set, and we’ll be talking for a while, so let’s move somewhere else first. I’ll set up a place where we can relax. Come this way,” Rio said, moving into the grasslands next to the road.

Miharu, Aki, and Masato looked at each other before nodding and following him.

Rio continued to progress further and further into the empty grasslands, and the others gradually became uneasy following him, wondering where they could relax in a grassy field like this.
Rio looked around the darkening field curiously before giving the three a strained smile. “Around here should do,” he muttered.

The place they had arrived at had flat ground, and was a fair distance away from the road — unless someone was staring attentively from the road, it was an area that couldn’t be easily spotted.

“Wait just one moment... I’ll prepare it right now,” Rio said, before placing his hands against the ground and manipulating the dirt to make a stable foundation. To Miharu, Aki, and Masato watching him from the side, however, it was unclear as to just what he was doing.

“Dissolvo.”

Rio held out his left hand equipped with the Time-Space Cache and chanted the activation spell. In the next moment, the space before his eyes distorted greatly, twisting like a vortex. Then, it was over in the next instant, leaving a huge rock house in its wake.
“W-What in the world...?” Aki muttered in utter shock. Miharu and Masato were standing there looking at the rock building in astonishment.
Rio smiled at their reactions. “It looks like a regular old rock, but the interior is a nice living space. Come this way,” he said, walking over to the door with familiarity.
Miharu and the others remained where they were, staring at Rio’s back and the stone house in shock. Rio invited them inside once more.