"The content of the War Game is this: starting from the city, the destination is the great plain on the other side of the Beio Mountain Range — in other words, you have to cross over that great mountain range."
"The content itself is simple. The goddesses will drive the carriages provided by the Guild, and the two sides will set out from the city together."
"Besides competing on the speed of each carriage, in the course of it, either side may also apply for a [Duel] — up to seven times — with each side sending out one Familia member to remain on the spot and fight."
"Whoever loses the duel has to keep their carriage stopped on the spot for ten minutes. That's roughly the gist of it."
Late at night.
In the Garden of Stars, Isagi was explaining the particulars of the upcoming War Game to the girls at his side.
The so-called [Sprint and Skirmish] was exactly that sort of thing.
"Is the route the carriages take fixed?"
"It's not fixed. You can do whatever you like."
"But we don't really have any experience crossing the Beio Mountain Range..."
"Fortunately, Goddess Demeter sent us a map."
"——"
Demeter Familia had hidden granaries in the Beio Mountain Range to the north of the city — and for the past thousand years, whenever a crisis befell the city, Demeter Familia had likewise been the ones responsible for quietly bringing in all manner of supplies and grain from abroad, making use of the winding, convoluted terrain of the Beio Mountain Range and the cover the great mountains provided.
Orario was the center of the world.
Because of that, merchant caravans from every corner of the world also flocked there — and aside from the sea route running through Melen, the overland trade roads were also quite numerous.
Within that great mountain range.
The various small paths were tangled together as densely as a spider's web.
And Goddess Demeter's map was extraordinarily detailed, which meant that Isagi and the girls would no longer have to seek out the city's various merchant guilds to ask after the state of the roads through the Beio Mountain Range.
This War Game.
Winning the duels was certainly important, but what was more important still was how to get the carriage to the other side of the mountain range as quickly as possible.
The Guild had a rule: adventurers were not permitted to intervene in the carriage's progress in any way — the gods themselves had to do the driving.
Which made the choice of which path to take all the more critical.
"Seven duels — do we even have that many people?"
"Mmm——"
Isagi looked around at them all.
Himself, Ryuu-senpai, Cecil, Tiona, Lefiya, Haruhime... and Ais and Heith were both there as well.
Of course, at present, the situation wasn't quite the same as with Tiona.
Ais and Heith had not yet joined Astrea Familia.
But it was precisely because his side simply didn't have enough people that the Guild had granted permission to seek outside help — and neither Loki nor Goddess Freya had moved to prevent the two girls from coming over to lend a hand.
So then.
If he didn't count the little jellyfish Saika, the head count was still just about sufficient.
But only just.
Because the opposing lineup was something anyone could guess.
Seven duels in total — which meant the ones the other side would send out had to be Loki Familia's three giants, along with Freya Familia's Allen Fromel, Hedin, Hogni, and Ottar.
The opponents were, at the very minimum, Lv.6.
His own side's combat strength, by contrast, was not nearly so abundant.
Take Lefiya, for instance — would she really be all right going one-on-one?
The elf girl herself was brimming with confidence, but her solo combat strength still gave one cause for concern — and even so, it still wouldn't be enough.
"Myself, Ryuu-senpai, Tiona, Ais, Lefiya——"
The ones capable of fighting numbered only five.
It was a little awkward to put it this way, but no matter which member of the opposing side one set up as a hypothetical opponent for Miss Heith, she simply could not win. And as for Haruhime and Saika — those went without saying!
Which was to say.
"Two of the [Duels] are guaranteed losses."
"Mmm..."
"That's not necessarily a bad thing, though."
They could play Tian Ji's horses!!
That was what Isagi thought, the moment the words were spoken — and what was most important of all.
"As long as we win the other five, we're fine."
Right?
As an optimist of a strategist, Isagi's plan was simply this——
——
On the day the War Game began, the snow was still falling, soft and unceasing.
The winter morning was an ashen, dreary gray.
The light of the sky was extremely dull, but the residents of the city were possessed of a furiously soaring enthusiasm.
Beyond the traditional "Colosseum," the Guild had also set up venues in every spot where the crowds gathered thickest — including Central Park, the Golden Continent (the casino) on South Main Street, and the Grand Theater, as well as the headquarters of many of the large Familias, public parks, taverns, and so on.
In all of these places, the Guild had set up "Divine Mirrors."
The viewership for this War Game was on an unprecedentedly enormous scale — it was said that even the port city of Melen was tuning in to watch.
Alfia did not care for crowded places.
And so she simply went up onto the city walls and, without any Divine Mirror, gazed out at the distant battlefield directly.
At this moment.
Two carriages already stood ready before the city gates.
The goddesses, draped in thick cloaks, sat at the reins, while the seven adventurer members chosen for the [Duels] had each climbed into the interior of their own Familia's carriage.
By all rights.
The victor of this War Game was, beyond all doubt, going to be Loki Familia and Freya Familia.
Everywhere in the city.
From small things like the adventurers in the taverns to grand ones like the assemblies of gods gathered in the various casinos, busybodies everywhere had begun rallying those around them to take sides on "which one to bet on to win."
Those backing Astrea Familia were not many.
After all, even though the Goddess of Justice had made a name for herself in the city in such a short span of time, and had raised up so many first-tier adventurers as she had,
the gap in level was real and undeniable.
On the Loki and Freya side, it was six Lv.6's and one Lv.7.
And on Astrea's side?
At the very most, they could scrape together five Lv.6's; the rest could basically not be counted as combat strength.
This sort of inborn disadvantage was something anyone could see plainly.
But to Alfia.
The thing about this War Game that was truly worth looking forward to was still the battle between the boy and the strongest combatant in the city as it now stood.
Isagi VS Ottar.
That night, suffused with the venomous mists of the Land's King, once more rose to the surface of Alfia's mind.
Zard had lost to the boy now before her eyes.
And from what she had observed over these past few days, this person was nothing at all like the kind of adventurer she had thought she knew.
Including the entirety of Astrea Familia.
For some reason.
Alfia had a feeling — and it was this: the winner of this War Game would, without fail, be the Goddess of Justice's Familia.
Because.
The [Hero] cannot lose.
If one was going to be the hero who saved the world, then one had to possess the strongest power, and defeat every last challenger.
It simply had to be done.
Because a [Hero] was inevitably the strongest of them all.
Without any delay.
As the time struck nine in the morning sharp, the referee of the Guild and the gods — still that ever-shouting God Ganesha — gave the command, and the War Game began. Almost simultaneously, the lofty, soaring voices of Ganesha Familia's officers acting as the broadcasters rang out throughout the city.
The two carriages tore off almost in unison toward the distant Beio Mountain Range.
Astrea's expression at this moment was likewise of unparalleled gravity.
As the driver.
The goddess knew that this War Game was not merely her children's battle — it was her battle as well.
So.
Since it had already begun, then she had no choice but to win.
Because justice cannot lose!
____
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