“I think . . . she probably is,” Glass responded. “Kizuna can’t attack people directly herself, and she’s been considerably weakened by the curse. If they kill her, we could summon a new group of four holy heroes, so they are likely keeping her alive.” If Kizuna died, it would be possible to summon a new group of four holy heroes. There had been issues with summoning heroes when it came to me, but it worked well for everyone else. The spirits of the holy weapons wouldn’t respond to a summons from people who didn’t have the best interests of the world at heart. That meant Glass and her allies, fighting for the sake of the world in order to stop the waves, had a clear advantage.

If a situation like this had been explained to us upon our own arrival, we might well have listened. If a group that was happy to use their game knowledge to fight some battles in another world were summoned, we would probably be able to convince them to join the cause too. The enemy wasn’t going to risk increasing the forces arrayed against them so drastically. Rather, if they just kept the weakened Kizuna alive but imprisoned, they could push Glass and her allies further into the corner.

“So she’s alive, but we don’t know what’s being done to her. One wrong move and Raphtalia could have ended up in the same position,” I said.

“Tell me about it,” Raphtalia agreed. I just hoped Kizuna was okay.

“Anyway, we’ve dealt with the traitors now. We need to send out a unit and secure Kizuna’s safety as quickly as possible,” L’Arc said.

“Agreed. As quickly as possible,” I responded. Something stirred in the back of my mind. My otaku background made me think of those nasty games that involved rape. I thought we should also consider how terrible people could be. We should probably prepare some memory-wiping medicine to take care of serious mental issues Kizuna might face after the rescue. We weren’t in some made-up story, and those who had been captured would definitely be tortured. “Still, I do wonder . . . why are these vanguards of the waves all so selfish? How can they put themselves ahead of the needs of the world like this?” I pondered aloud. They were little different from the video game-playing otaku summoned as heroes—no sense of peril attached to their actions.

How to turn this all around, then?

“I split an ofuda with Kizuna that summons Chris, but for some reason Chris isn’t able to locate her. I want to leave as quickly as possible,” Glass said.

“Calm it, Glass. I know it’s hard. I’ll make sure we can leave today. Don’t worry,” L’Arc assured her. Glass gripped her fan tightly. Then she took out an ofuda and summoned her penguin familiar Chris.

“Pen!” Chris said.