“Who’re you?” Chamo asked Adlet.
“Me? I’m Adlet Mayer, the strongest man in the world. I was chosen as one of the Braves of the Six Flowers, just like you.”
“‘The strongest in the world’? Isn’t that supposed to be Chamo?” she asked.
“Yeah,” said Adlet, “I hear people generally call you that, but in actuality, you’re not. I’m the strongest in the world.”
“What are you talking about?” Chamo tilted her head.
Adlet’s manner was jocular as he said, “I gotta apologize to you—I’m stealing your title of strongest in the world. Well, second in the world is still pretty amazing, so just be satisfied with that.”
“…Hweh.” Chamo made a weird sound, crossed her arms, and reflected. She pondered for a while and then clapped her hands. “Oh, Chamo gets it. This guy is brain-dead, isn’t he?”
“He’s a little strange, but he’s reliable. Don’t worry,” Nashetania reassured, cutting in from the side.
That was when Adlet noticed how Fremy, who was behind them, was acting. Though she’d been expressionless this whole time, now she was suddenly pale. Her lips were trembling very slightly.
Chamo fixed her eyes on Fremy and said, “Long time, no see, Fremy. Why’re you here?”
Adlet was about to ask, Do you know her? But Fremy was just cringing in terror.
“Well, Chamo can deal with you later. What the heck happened here?” Chamo made the foxtail in her hand sway as she gave an uncanny smile.
Adlet and Nashetania took turns filling her in on the details of what had happened up to this point. Chamo had not stopped by Private Loren’s fort, but she seemed to know a little about the Phantasmal Barrier, though she said she didn’t know how to nullify it.
As they spoke, Adlet occasionally looked over to check Fremy. She said nothing as she stood at the edge of the temple. Chamo made no move to approach Fremy, either. “Hmm, oh,” said Chamo. “This is a bit of a problem.”
What about this is just “a bit of a problem”? wondered Adlet.
“Well, whatever. For now, Chamo will just kill Fremy,” she said, as if this were the obvious course of action. Reflexively, Fremy drew her gun.
“Wait!” Adlet immediately stepped between the two of them.
Chamo gave Adlet a puzzled look. “Why are you getting in the way?”
“No, what are you thinking?” he demanded. “I just explained this to you. Fremy is one of us.”
“What a funny thing to say. You know she’s the killer who’s been after the Braves? She’s the one who activated the barrier, too.” Chamo touched the foxtail to her mouth.
Nashetania grabbed Chamo by the wrist. “Wait, please, Chamo. When the barrier was activated, Fremy was with us. She couldn’t have activated the barrier.”
“Oh, really? It doesn’t matter anyway, so let go,” Chamo replied.
“I won’t.”
Eyes brimming with quiet anger, Chamo glared at Nashetania. “Why’re you ordering me around? Are you someone important? Are you some princess or something…?”
“Yes, in fact, I am.”
“…Oh yeah, you are. What to do, then?” Chamo smiled wryly and shrugged.
“Chamo, did something happen between you and Fremy?” asked Adlet.
The one to reply was not the little girl, but Goldof, who had been watching in silence. “Chamo once fought with Fremy.”
“What do you mean?” asked Adlet.
Chamo took over from Goldof. “It was about six months ago, maybe. She was trying to gun down Chamo. It was a close call, but Chamo’s pet stopped Fremy at the last minute. She said she was Fremy, the Saint of Gunpowder. There was more fighting afterward, but she ran away. You know, it was the first time Chamo ever failed to finish off a target after deciding to kill them. It was so infuriating.” Adlet could sense the bloodlust emanating from her body. “This whole time, Chamo’s been thinking, Fremy needs to die. So, now she will, right?”
Adlet shook his head. Nashetania did not release Chamo’s wrist, either. An air of unrest hung over them.
“Chamo, please hold on,” said Nashetania. “First, we need to find a way to resolve this barrier problem.”
“You and the big guy can do something about that, Princess,” said Chamo. “While you’re busy with that, Chamo will deal with Fremy.”
“Nashetania is right,” said Adlet. “There’re five people here, so that means that someone named Mora, who got here ahead of us, is all on her own out there. We need to find a way to dispel the barrier first, for her sake, too.”
As Adlet and Nashetania continued trying to convince Chamo to stop, a comment came from the temple entrance. “If you’re concerned about me, you needn’t be.”
All present turned in the direction of the voice. A tall woman stood there. She looked to be in her late twenties and wore a serious expression, with powerful eyes. Long black hair flowed down her back, and she wore blue priestess robes. The large iron gauntlets on both her hands seemed to double as both weapon and armor. Just seeing her standing there, Adlet could tell she was strong. That was the kind of woman she was.
“What a long-awaited reunion, Princess Nashetania, Chamo,” the woman said. “And that gentleman over there is Sir Goldof, I presume?” The woman walked to the center of the temple. “I am Mora Chester, Saint of Mountains. I serve as the elder of the All Heavens Temple. It’s good to see you all.”
Nashetania had continued holding Chamo’s wrist, even after Mora’s entrance. Mora stepped between the two of them, forcing Nashetania to let go. “It looks like you have some quarrel,” said Mora. “Chamo, try not to act too selfishly.”
“Auntie Mora, this wasn’t Chamo’s fault,” protested Chamo.
“Oh? Well, you can say your piece later. For now, just settle down.” Mora mediated between the two, and Chamo reluctantly stepped down.
Adlet was privately relieved to see such a reliable-looking person arrive on the scene.
