That same afternoon, Liza brought the request to Satoru. When she explained that Rusus and Fifi had agreed to train the three of them if he allowed it, Satoru saw no reason to refuse. Liza, Tama, and Pochi wanted to take advantage of the opportunity, and the two fighters were willing to spend time teaching them, so he gave his permission.
Their first training session began shortly afterward. Liza approached it with the same seriousness she showed when training with Zotol, while Tama and Pochi seemed capable of turning even a painful correction into a reason to ask for another try. Satoru did not interfere with the way Rusus and Fifi taught them. If they had sought out different fighting styles, there was little point in forcing the two women to train them the way someone from Muno would.
Nina, meanwhile, stopped bringing him reports about merchants who refused even to approach Muno. There was still some caution, but several of those who had attended the exhibition returned, while others began sending representatives. Satoru did not need to involve himself in every discussion. It was enough to know that things were continuing to move forward.
The most noticeable change was how often he began seeing Hayato.
The airship's visit did not remain an isolated encounter. Over the following days, the hero's obligations and the help he had promised brought them together several times. Hayato returned to Muno when Rusus and Fifi came back to continue training Liza and the girls, and on one of those occasions he ended up standing beside Satoru at the edge of the field, watching part of the session.
Pochi had just taken a hit that sent her several meters backward, but as soon as she regained her balance, she stepped in front of Fifi again.
Hayato laughed.
"That girl really doesn't know when to give up."
"There would be little point in asking for training if she gave up after the first blow."
"You know, I'm not surprised that's your answer."
Satoru looked at him for a moment, finding nothing unusual about what he had said. Hayato simply smiled and turned his attention back to the field.
They did not discuss anything important that day. Hayato remarked that Rusus and Fifi were probably enjoying the sessions as much as the girls were, Satoru asked how long they intended to remain in Muno, and when the training ended, each went back to his own affairs.
A few days later, they met again in the capital. Hayato had several places he needed to visit and thought it would be useful for Satoru to accompany him for part of the way. They walked through a commercial district, stopped briefly outside a guild, and crossed streets busy enough that their presence together was impossible to miss. People stared and spoke quietly among themselves, but no one tried to stop them.
Once they were finished, Hayato raised a hand in farewell.
"See you."
Satoru had already begun preparing to return to Muno when he stopped.
"When?"
Hayato blinked.
"That was a goodbye, not an appointment."
"I know. I was asking when we will see each other again."
Hayato's expression shifted before spreading into a broad smile.
"I've got to come back here in a few days. I'll let you know."
"Very well."
Satoru opened a portal and returned to Muno without giving much thought to Hayato's reaction. Still, when Hayato kept his word and contacted him several days later, Satoru agreed to accompany him again.
Their meetings continued like that. None lasted very long, and nearly all of them had some practical reason behind them: a visit, a trip through the city, some matter Hayato needed to handle where Satoru's visible presence was still useful. Sometimes they talked along the way, while at other times they spent several minutes in silence before going their separate ways.
The difference was that the silence no longer needed an explanation.
***
The next time Satoru came to the capital, Hayato finished his business earlier than expected.
They had spent most of the morning walking through several streets near the city center. The hero attracted attention wherever he went, and walking beside Satoru gave people another reason to stop and stare, though by that point Hayato had stopped paying attention to the murmurs. Satoru saw no reason to concern himself with them either as long as no one interfered.
As they left the last building, Hayato stretched his arms above his head.
"Finally."
Satoru glanced back at the entrance they had just left.
"I expected that to take longer."
"So did I. Which means I just got part of my afternoon back."
Hayato took two steps before turning toward him.
"Do you have to head back right away?"
Satoru reviewed what he had left pending in Muno. Nina was handling the day's meetings, Hans could reach him through [Message] if anything happened, and none of his current experiments required his constant presence.
"Not immediately."
"Then come with me."
"Where?"
"Haven't decided yet."
Satoru waited a few seconds, expecting Hayato to elaborate. When he did not, Satoru realized that having no destination was part of the proposal.
"You want me to accompany you without any particular purpose?"
Hayato stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing.
"When you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous. I just want to walk around, maybe get a drink and kill some time. If you feel like coming along, come with me."
Satoru could have returned to Muno at that very moment. He had already accomplished what had brought him to the capital, and Hayato was not asking for help with anything else.
Even so, he did not open a portal.
"Very well."
Hayato made no comment on the answer. He simply started walking, and Satoru followed.
The route he chose did not lead toward the grand buildings or anywhere the hero's presence might serve a particular purpose. They gradually moved away from the more formal streets and eventually reached an area where shops occupied the ground floors of older buildings, tables sat beneath awnings, and merchants called out offers from both sides of the road.
Hayato seemed familiar with the neighborhood. He greeted one vendor without stopping, brushed off an overly persistent salesman with a joke, and a few minutes later entered a small establishment with a terrace overlooking a quieter street.
The owner recognized him immediately, but after exchanging a few words, Hayato managed to get him to return to his work. He chose a table off to one side and dropped into a chair.
Satoru sat across from him.
"You come here often."
"When I'm in the capital and manage to get away for a while. It's not fancy, nobody tries to give me a speech, and the drinks are good."
Hayato ordered a pitcher for himself and, after glancing at Satoru, added another alcoholic drink before Satoru could say anything.
Satoru looked at the glass when it arrived.
"Alcohol does not affect me."
"Yeah, I figured."
"Then why did you order it?"
"Come on, drinking alone is no fun. People don't go to a bar just to get drunk. They go to talk to someone too. If you don't want it, you don't have to touch it."
Satoru accepted the explanation. Hayato took a drink and settled more comfortably into his chair.
For several minutes, they talked about the capital. Hayato pointed out a nearby street that became almost impossible to cross on market days, mentioned a place Rusus and Fifi had been thrown out of after getting into an argument with other adventurers, and recalled with obvious amusement that Ringrande had forbidden them from going back for months.
Satoru listened without asking what had happened.
The outcome seemed obvious enough.
Hayato noticed.
"Don't you want to know why they got thrown out?"
"I assume there was a fight."
"…"
"Then the additional details would not change the conclusion."
"I think I'm starting to understand what Lady Karina meant…"
Satoru tilted his head slightly.
Hayato set his pitcher down and laughed again.
The conversation continued without any real direction. They talked about roads Hayato had traveled, the differences between various cities in the Empire, and how much time his group could lose whenever someone found a tavern, a market, or somewhere interesting to train. Satoru eventually mentioned that Tama could disappear for hours if she found enough stalls that interested her, while Pochi tried to control her spending until she saw food.
"And Liza?"
"She usually stays close to them. When we are in Muno, she also trains with Zotol."
"Yeah, I've seen that. She takes getting stronger pretty seriously."
"It is important to her."
Hayato nodded and did not press the subject.
The silence that followed lasted longer than the previous ones, but Satoru felt no need to fill it. He watched the people passing through the street while Hayato finished half his drink. No one seemed willing to approach their table. Some recognized the hero, while others looked toward Satoru before continuing on their way, but the distance was enough.
Hayato was the one who spoke again.
"By the way, I still think the way you asked me for help was funny."
Satoru turned his attention back to him.
"Was there something wrong with my request?"
"You showed up out of nowhere, said you needed my help, and not long afterward we were in Muno. You didn't even try to make it sound dramatic."
"It was important."
"Exactly."
Hayato rested one arm on the table.
"Most people who want something from the hero start by explaining why their problem is the most urgent thing in the world. You just told me what you needed and waited for an answer."
"I saw no reason to exaggerate it."
"I know. I think that's why I agreed so quickly. For… whatever you are, you're surprisingly honest."
Satoru remembered the conversation and shook his head slightly.
"I would not describe myself as honest."
"No? Then tell me this. If I'd actually refused, would you have attacked me?"
"I would not have. You had no obligation to help me, and although the situation was unfavorable, it was the result of my own actions. Finding a solution was my responsibility."
The answer came easily. Hayato received it with a smaller smile than before, quieter this time.
Hayato had a few ideas about why Satoru did not consider himself honest despite the way he behaved. There were still parts of him that worried Hayato and others he simply could not understand. Satoru was not human, so expecting his emotions or priorities to work exactly like a human's did not make much sense either.
Still, Hayato was beginning to understand one thing clearly: Satoru knew how to deal with other people. He returned the respect he was given, accepted a refusal when the other person owed him nothing, and treated the responsibilities he had chosen as his own. He also seemed to feel no need to constantly remind everyone around him of the enormous difference between them.
Perhaps that was why respecting him became surprisingly easy once the initial fear wore off. To Satoru, treating someone politely even when they had nothing to offer him seemed completely natural. But it was difficult not to attach some importance to that courtesy when it came from someone powerful enough to impose his will almost anywhere he wished.
None of that made Satoru a good person by itself. Hayato knew perfectly well what he was capable of.
But it did mean there was something to build on.
He could understand bonds. He could care about others. He could take responsibility for things that offered him no immediate benefit. If those parts of him could grow, perhaps his ability to live alongside humans could grow with them, and perhaps one day he could come to value them in a way he still did not understand.
Hayato had no idea what kind of person Satoru would eventually become.
That was precisely why he wanted to help him find a good answer.
"Well, let's be optimistic."
Satoru did not ask what he meant. He could tell that Hayato was thinking about something he had chosen not to explain.
Hayato took another drink and looked toward the street.
"Now that I think about it, almost every time I see you, you're doing something."
"Everyone is doing something."
"You know what I mean. You work with Nina, make magic items, deal with Muno's problems, or blow up that tower of yours."
"The tower does not explode that often. Only a couple of times a day."
Hayato turned his head and wisely kept his comment to himself.
"I talked to Zotol. He told me the soldiers and maids get together and try to tell your microexpressions apart. Apparently, they're trying to understand you better."
Satoru considered the information.
"That is efficient."
Hayato covered his eyes with one hand.
"Of course that's what you take from it."
Satoru waited for him to lower his hand.
"What conclusion were you expecting?"
"None. Forget it."
The conversation could have ended there, but Hayato remained seated, and Satoru did not get up either.
The business that had brought them to the capital had ended more than an hour ago. No one expected them to remain together, and if Satoru wanted to return to Muno, doing so would take less than a minute.
That lack of necessity was unusual, though not unpleasant.
Hayato leaned back in his chair.
"Then let me ask you seriously. What do you do for fun?"
Satoru took some time to answer.
"I conduct research."
"That's work."
"I also train."
"I really hope that isn't a serious answer."
"Gather information for new spells?"
"Are you asking me?"
"I go on missions with Liza and the girls."
"Isn't that literally work?"
"…"
Hayato stared at him until Satoru understood the problem.
"You are using a definition of enjoyment that excludes productive activities."
"I'm using a definition where you do something because you want to, not because someone needs it. Not even you."
Satoru thought back over the past few days. He had worked with materials because he wanted to see how far he could take them, reviewed spells without any particular need to do so, and spent time watching Liza and the girls train even when his presence was unnecessary for their safety.
"Then some of those activities still qualify."
Hayato conceded the point with a nod.
"And what do you do?"
"Me? Lots of things. I drink, walk around, look for new places, annoy my companions when they're being too serious or when I'm bored, try food I've never had before. Sometimes I do nothing."
Satoru looked at him.
"That last one does not seem to qualify as an activity."
"That's the point."
Satoru had no useful response to that, and Hayato smiled when he noticed.
"Have you ever spent time with someone just because you wanted their company?"
That question finally gave Satoru a clearer idea of what Hayato meant.
He told him about the time he sometimes spent with Liza and the girls after their missions, eating with them or listening to them talk about their day. With some reluctance, he also mentioned the legends he discussed with Karina and Raka, along with the conversations he had with Nina about the land assigned to him and Muno's progress.
Hayato asked a few questions, shared similar experiences, and offered his thoughts on several of them. Since meeting Satoru, he had never heard him talk this much about… well, anything, really.
Once he realized that, he could not help smiling.
After finishing his drink, they went back out into the street. Hayato did not suggest returning to his duties. He simply kept walking, and when he found a food stall, he bought something for himself before continuing their conversation as though it had never been interrupted.
They passed through a plaza where a group of children were chasing a ball between the benches. Hayato had to stop it with his foot when it rolled toward them, then sent it back with a gentle kick. One of the children recognized him, shouted his name, and immediately caused the others to rush over.
Satoru stepped aside far enough not to get in the way.
Hayato spent several minutes answering questions, patiently refusing to demonstrate a dangerous technique in the middle of the plaza, and signing a piece of wood one of the children insisted on handing him. When he finally managed to get away, he returned to Satoru with a tired expression.
"That happens more often than it should."
"They seemed happy."
"What can I say? I'm just that incredible. Makes it hard to send them away."
Satoru looked toward the group, who were still admiring the signature.
"You could have left."
Hayato glanced at him.
"I could've stayed too. It's not like doing something nice for people once in a while is a bad thing. People like them are part of why I do this in the first place."
Satoru kept that answer in mind.
They continued until they reached a quieter area near one of the canals running through the capital. There was less traffic there, and the conversations from nearby establishments were far enough away not to intrude.
Hayato rested his forearms on the railing and looked down at the water.
"When I first got here, I hated this city."
Satoru stopped beside him.
"Why?"
"Because everything was too much. The language, everyone calling me a hero, adults telling me what I had to do, and this constant feeling that any mistake could get someone killed, including me. I was only fourteen when they summoned me. It's not like I agreed to any of this."
Satoru already knew how old Hayato had been when he was summoned, but hearing him speak about it that way left a different impression.
"You seem comfortable here now."
"After all this time, it'd be pretty worrying if I still got lost every time I went outside."
Satoru acknowledged the joke without abandoning the subject.
"Do you consider this world your home?"
Hayato took a moment to answer.
"It's part of my life, but that's not really the same thing."
"You are thinking about returning to Japan."
"Yeah."
The answer came immediately.
Hayato watched the water for several seconds before continuing.
"I'd like to go back someday. Not tomorrow or next week. I don't even know when I'll be able to. But yeah, I still want to go home."
"Can you?"
"Yeah. I was told that once I finish my mission and defeat a Demon King, I'll be able to return."
Satoru considered Hayato's position. He was recognized throughout an entire Empire, had access to wealth and authority, and was surrounded by people willing to follow him. Choosing to leave all of that behind was difficult for Satoru to understand.
"Why would you choose to leave all of this?"
Hayato gave a quiet laugh.
"I knew you'd ask that."
"I do not understand why you would make that choice."
"Because Japan is my home. I can have titles, money, power, fame, whatever, but none of that changes where I came from."
Satoru remained silent.
Hayato glanced at him from the side.
"I'm not saying I'm going to throw everything away and disappear. I've got responsibilities here, and there are people I care about. I'm just saying being the hero isn't everything I am."
Satoru looked back toward the canal.
"I understand."
That was not entirely true, but he understood the idea better than he would have a few months earlier. A position could matter without encompassing a person's entire identity.
The thought came too close to matters he had not yet finished sorting through, so he did not pursue it any further.
Instead, he asked another question.
"What do you miss most?"
Hayato looked surprised.
"About Japan?"
"Yes."
"The baths."
Satoru turned toward him.
Hayato kept a completely straight face for two seconds before laughing.
"I'm serious. The baths, some of the food, and being able to walk into a store at midnight and find almost anything."
"That was not the answer I expected."
"A historic achievement!"
Satoru was not entirely sure why, but the conversation continued for quite some time after that.
Hayato smiled as they resumed walking.
The sun had begun to set by the time they returned to the busier streets. Satoru had stopped keeping track of how long he had been in the capital. Nothing urgent had come from Muno, and although he could check the time and leave whenever he wished, he found no particular reason to do so before Hayato decided their walk was over.
Hayato was explaining why Satoru should never allow Rusus and Fifi to choose a place to eat together when a sharp sound interrupted the conversation.
It did not come from the street.
Hayato stopped immediately.
His relaxed expression vanished as he reached for one of his group's communication devices. He activated it and listened in silence.
Satoru did not need to ask whether it was important.
"Understood. Keep the evacuation routes open and don't try to contain it with regular troops."
Hayato ended the communication, but for a moment he did nothing else. Surprise crossed his face before his expression turned serious again.
"What happened?"
"Seiryuu is under attack. The alert says a Demon King has appeared."
*****
Author's Note
Thank you very much for reading.
It looks like things are finally starting to move again. The heavier parts of the arc are still waiting a little further ahead, but an important moment is coming very soon.
As for this chapter, I especially enjoyed writing the interactions between Satoru and Hayato. I also think this might be the first time I have written more directly about the kind of charisma I want Satoru to have.
That actually connects to something I have been thinking about regarding the Kingdom Building tag. I know that, so far, there has not been that much traditional kingdom building in the story. But what interests me most is not simply having Satoru become powerful enough to call himself a king.
I want to explore someone who sees power more as a duty than a right.
What I want from Satoru is someone who can eventually feel like a king not only because of his strength, but because of the way he thinks, leads, teaches, and takes responsibility for what belongs to him. Ideally, I want his future kingdom to feel like something that works because of him, because of what he has learned and because of what he passes on to the people beneath him.
I have read quite a few stories where the protagonist becomes a king, but never really rules. Other people handle everything while he simply follows his own desires, takes whatever he wants, or kills anyone who displeases him.
That is not what I want for Satoru.
He is still a monster, and I am not going to pretend otherwise. There will be moments in the future when he does genuinely terrible things. At the same time, there will also be moments when he shows very real affection, loyalty, and love. What I want is for those sides of him not to feel contradictory, but like different results of the same character: a monster who is guided by something more substantial than simple impulse or personal whim.
Maybe these words will come back to haunt me someday, but that is at least the feeling I want to build toward.
After all, the five arcs I currently have planned after this introductory arc are, in many ways, about the journey and evolution of that king. Even once Satoru begins to act like one and eventually accepts the name for himself after Death March, that does not mean he will already know everything it means to be one.
Life will still have a great deal left to teach him.
But that is all I have to add for now.
***
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***
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