“Don’t worry about it. There are other people who need treatment too, right? I’ll heal them later. Finish your explanation of what’s going on here first,” I told him. From what we’d been told so far, I still didn’t know how Raphtalia had gotten involved or how Ethnobalt’s ship had been stolen.

“Right, okay. Back on track. It was while we were forming up a party to go save Kizuna—although my injuries made it hard for me to do anything. Glass can probably explain this a bit better,” L’Arc said, looking over at her.

“We had the rescue party ready and set out to save Kizuna while L’Arc and the others were healing up,” Glass said, picking up the story. “On the way, however, we were attacked by a group who looked to be adventurers. I’d never seen anything like them before, from the magic they incanted to the attack styles they used.” The first phrase that came to mind was “when it rains, it pours.”

“Ethnobalt, you gave me the lowdown on that, right?” I confirmed with him.

“That’s right. These new enemies also have the power to steal vassal weapons, and they were targeting Glass’s weapon and my own,” Ethnobalt replied.

“We faced unknown attacks and with inferior fighting strength. As a trump card, I used some soul-healing water and unleashed an attack, but they were highly skilled themselves. Finding ourselves in dire straits, Ethnobalt’s vassal weapon was stolen. I barely escaped with my fan.” That all matched up with what Ethnobalt had already told me. “Losing Ethnobalt meant our means of quick travel was gone, which comprised a major setback to our plans to rescue Kizuna,” Glass continued. “We also had to fight to quell another one of the waves. And then, while we were fighting off an attack from the traitors—”

“That’s when I was summoned into the middle of the crisis,” Raphtalia said. Boy, it sounded like she’d really been called into a shit storm—although, from another perspective, it might have been perfect timing. “I fought while using magical illusions, but the enemy proved most powerful. As the fighting wore on, we were losing more and more ground,” Raphtalia continued. The timelines didn’t line up exactly, but crossing worlds likely caused this kind of discrepancy. “Mr. Naofumi . . . concerning the mysterious forces that Glass was just talking about . . .” Raphtalia looked over at S’yne, who of course had also come along. I instinctively knew what she was trying to say. S’yne seemed to have worked it out too, because she had a stiff and stern look on her face. “From the descriptions of their magic and the gear they were carrying, I believe them to be the same enemies as those S’yne had faced.”