When Louise boarded the large airship, it was Serge who greeted her. With a frown, he looked at Louise’s figure.

“It’s a very lively costume for a sacrifice.”

Louise’s costume was a pure white dress as an offering to the Sacred Tree.

Depending on how you look at it, this looked more like a wedding dress.

-… Why are you here?

What surprised Louise was not that Serge greeted her, but that Serge was aboard the large aircraft.

It was strange that Serge, the heir, was here, as he could be involved if something went wrong.

Serge, spear in hand, was dressed as if he were about to go into battle.”I’m just trying to make sure you don’t escape.”

“You’re a real jerk. Do you think I’d come in here and then run away?” “You won’t since you’re going to see your favorite brother, right?”

Louise raised her right hand in response to Serge’s ridiculous attitude, but Fernand grabbed her arm to stop her.

“You two stop. Serge, you are being very rude.”

With Fernand’s intervention, Louise ignored Serge and walked away. The guards followed her, and Fernand was relieved to see them.

“I’ll be watching from the rear. If something happens, I’ll come running.”

As Fernand walked away, Serge spoke meaningfully to him.”Prepare to fight. Fernand, the Kingdom is coming.” Fernand looked back as he stopped.

“You seem to think he’s coming too.” “Yes, he will come.”

With all of that said, Serge also moved. And then he muttered to himself.

“Come on, I’m ready for you. I know your weakness.”

◇

When the large aircraft departed, a military air battleship later departed to escort it. In the rear, the fleet led by Fernand could be seen.

The airships ascended towards the top of the Sacred Tree, the treetops.

Near the room where Louise was, Serge and the representatives of the six families were waiting for her.

Serge was sitting in his chair, checking his weapons. Those were the weapons Ideal had prepared.

Hugh was watching with interest.

“It is a very unusual weapon. Where did you find it?” Everyone here knew that Serge was an adventurer. So he thought that Serge had found a lost object.

Narcisse came over, too, and looked at the weapons on the table. Serge gave him permission to hold the spear.

“Is it so light !? Is it the same size and weight?” “Light but robust.”

The tip of the spear was shaped to cut, and the shape of the pistol Serge was holding was unusual.

Those were the weapons that Ideal had prepared.

“I’ve also prepared some for you. Use them as you wish.”

Hugh took one of the weapons, but his fear of Leon and the others had not disappeared.

“Are you sure you can defeat him with these weapons? Sh*t! Why is that guy coming? Normally he shouldn’t come!”

As a noble, Hugh didn’t really understand it, as there was no reason for Leon to force himself to rescue Louise.

Narcisse didn’t grab the gun.

“I went into a dungeon with them once and they were amazing kids. It was scary not knowing what they were going to do. They really were wild.”

Narcisse had explored with Leon before, and remembering that moment made him think of all that.

“I think they are excellent. I think they are good as adventurers and as gentlemen.” When Hugh heard that and was scared, but he was strong.

“But we are powerless before the blessing of the Holy Tree. The only person we have to be careful of is Count Baltfault. Don’t you agree, Loic?

Because you understand it better than anyone.”

Hugh kept his pistol in its holster as he expressed his disgust towards Loic, who was defeated by Leon.

With the sword he had taken from his parents’ home, Loic did not take the weapon Serge had prepared for him.

-Yes.

Emile warned the four, who believed they should just be careful with Leon, to get ready.

“Count Baltfault has the guardian crest.” It’s not a good idea for us to get distracted. We have to take care of each other.

Narcisse agreed, and like the greatest of all, organized the place.

-Yes. But he is unlikely to attack us. After all, they won’t benefit at all by rescuing Louise.

All eyes around gathered to look at Serge.

Serge, who leaned his body on the back of a chair, assured that he would definitely come.

-He will come. I’ll take care of him when he gets here. Those statements made Hugh even more uncomfortable.

“Although I wish he didn’t come. Damn, why does he have to get involved in something so unnecessary? Louise is none of his business.”

Serge was relieved to see that Hugh knew how terrifying Leon was.

-Do not be afraid. The only things that make him strong are his aircraft and his armed unit. Fist to fist, he’s a normal guy. I’m stronger than anyone here. Isn’t that right, Loic?

Loic lost to Leon, but Serge was confident that he could beat him.

That’s partly because Serge exercises regularly, but also because he’s so proud of himself.

He didn’t want to be compared to Leon, who died a long time ago, so he did the best he could.

But no one recognized him, he became stubborn and remained an adventurer.

He trained even if he vomited blood, and he continued to challenge the dungeon even when he was about to die.

As much as he went to the adventurer’s house, he had no intention of losing.

Louise’s room has no windows. If you can’t identify where it is, you’ll have to go in and find it in person, right? — Come on, come and show yourself.

The ship’s defenses, which were set up by Ideal, prevented Luxon from interfering with Louise’s location.

So the only way for Leon and his team to help Louise was by boarding the large airship.

If that happened, he would not be able to use his armed unit. They would fight hand to hand.

The same entity with the same name and shape … the right person appeared here to kill you.

Hugh looked at Serge, who was smiling grimly, with a scared look. Emile complained about Serge because of that.

“You seem to think you can win if you fight him face to face, but you underestimate him.”

-What did you say?

“Pierre and Loic, they all had a hard time with him. Serge, how can you say that you are the only one who will not have the same thing?”

—You are a small fish that cannot do anything, do not play the with those…!!

Serge pushed him off of his feet and Emile fell to the ground.

Narcisse stopped him and blamed Serge for his actions.”Serge, stop!”

“It’s irritating to look at that thing. I can’t stand guys like him. Lelia is not going to be happy with someone like you.I’d better get out of here.”

When Lelia’s name was mentioned, Emile gritted his teeth and looked down. As Serge tried to clear himself, a siren sounded.

?“Enemy attack! The enemy is attacking us! Above the sky, a pirate aircraft is approaching! Everyone on deck.”

The aircraft shuddered as soon as it heard a burst of voices from the bridge. Narcisse and Hugh fell, Serge ducked.

Loic looked out the window.

-What happened? And, air pirates? How is it possible that in a place so close to the Sacred Tree there are aerial pirates?

The area around the Sacred Tree is usually guarded by the military and no pirate from the sky could approach it.

It was strange that there is one in this place. And what was heard was …

?”Dear friends of the Republic ?I’m here to play.”

… a voice that was cheerful at first, but low at the end. It was Leon’s voice.

Hugh looked terrified.

“Noooooo! He already caaaaaaame!!!!!”

Hugh wasn’t the only one who was upset when he heard Leon’s voice. Even the knights and soldiers aboard the aircraft were confused with fear. Leon’s voice was heard even more.

?“You are probably wondering why we are here. I’m sure you say that it’s none of our business. So I’ll tell you why. Actually, Serge beat me up a while ago. It was supposed to be about the story of Louise’s sacrifice … but recently I was thinking about it and it made me angry, so I came to beat the crap out of him.”

Narcisse broke out in a cold sweat as Leon said something outrageous.

-Are you crazy. Is that why you are here !?

As if he had heard Narcisse’s voice, Leon continued speaking.

?”Is that why you’re here… You might think that. If someone else told me that, I would surely make fun of them too. But, you know … I can’t sleep with my pillow up if I don’t pop him a few good ones to feel better! So …

let’s play.”

The broadcast was cut short.

◇

The story goes back a few days.

The person who visited me with the idea of rescuing Louise was the one who was sent to organize negotiations with the Republic.

I ran into a man at the door of Marie’s mansion and my voice shook with excitement.”Mentoooooorrrrr!”

“It’s been a long time, Leon-sama. I hear you have been very active.”

?W-What is he doing here? Ah, forget it, come in! Come in!!

I took my mentor to a room, made the special tea leaves and prepared it carefully.

My Mentor is currently the headmaster of a school in the Kingdom of Holfault.

He is not the type of person who is in the Republic because he is on vacation. But this time he has been sent to the Republic as a negotiator.

“But, Mentor. Why are you here?”

“I just wanted to see your face before I go, Mr. Leon.”

He goes by taking the trouble to stop here for my sake, although I really should be the one to go say hi.

My Mentor looked at us across the room and smiled at us.”I’m so relieved to see you all looking so good.”

I shrugged, looking at the five idiots.

“But they have a lot of energy. I just want them to calm down a little.” When I said that, everyone glared at me.

Putting that topic aside, I talked about my Mentor’s work.

“Mentor, I heard you’ve made a good deal with the Republic. It was spectacular!”

“I’ve managed to find a way to make it work according to your wishes.” Letting out a sigh, Anjie asked my Mentor.

“It is not natural for a school principal to be a negotiator.”

“I guess there aren’t many of us available. Originally, someone else would have been sent for this.”

My Mentor finished a great job. But I felt sorry for him.

“Mentor, I’m afraid I’m going to have to annoy you a bit about that … no, I’m sure I will have to.

“Is there a problem?”

I decided to tell my Mentor what was happening.

-The thing is…

When I mentioned that I wanted to rescue Louise, my Mentor looked at me with a serious expression.”Mr. Leon, do you understand what you’re trying to do?”

If I save Louise, I’m sure we’re in big trouble.

She herself would not want to be saved and I am sure she would resent me.

If I want to give any more reasons, it is to prevent Alberg-sama from despairing and becoming the final boss after losing Louise.

And this is the most important.

… Because I want to save Louise.

-I get it. I’m sure this will be a problem for you, though.

“I don’t think it makes sense to tell you what to do, Leon-sama. If you say you’re going to do it, you will.”

My Mentor nodded, and Julian, who had been listening to the conversation, interrupted our conversation.

Hey? Why are you interrupting a conversation between the Mentor and me?

“Director, are you sure? If Baltfault takes action, all the negotiations that have been done so far will be spoiled. Or worse, a war could occur.”

My Mentor was strong and imposing.

-No problem. It was Leon-sama’s decision in the first place. I can’t stop it. I don’t have the strength to do it.

-Mentor.

It hurts to upset my Mentor. — Roland? I don’t care how much trouble I want to give that guy, I want to give him as much trouble as I can.

“But to save the young woman who was chosen to be sacrificed? That’s the scene I long for as a gentleman.”

Anjie crossed her arms and was appalled by what my Mentor said.

“It’s like something out of a fairy tale, but reality is always cruel. The problem is after you save her. Director, still won’t you stop Leon?”

“I was originally sent here to deal with what happened in the Republic.

… Also, it is the duty of a teacher to help his students if they are in trouble.”

T-That was great. My Mentor is great!

When I was shocked, my Mentor pushed me back.

“Can you do it with as little damage as possible, Leon-san?”

-I will do everything I can.

-All right. Then I’ll take care of the rest of the negotiations.

-Thanks a lot!

While I thought that all the problems were over, Noelle, who had been listening to me, raised her hand.

Noelle spoke as everyone in the room looked at her.

“I-I’m going with you too.” “Noelle? Not you—”

“I want to complain to Louise!”

While everyone was surprised by what he was saying, my Mentor was stroking his chin.”Hmm, sounds like you have some kind of history with her.”

“It’s not that much. Louise has put me through a lot of trouble. But I owe her a debt of gratitude. So I’m going to save her and complain about it.”

If you want to save Louise, be honest and say so.”Noelle, you are not very honest.”

I spilled those words, and Luxon looked at me in surprise. That’s not something you should say, Master

-Hey? …huh?

Everyone in the room was looking at me as if to say: “You are the most dishonest.”

Although I don’t think anyone is as honest as me…

◇

… That is why we sold the Republic a carefree fight. This time, Einhorn waved the flag of the Sky Pirates. In other words, we are now pirates of the sky.

Einhorn charged directly at the large airship.

I was giving instructions as I got on the Arroganz.”Guys, make it exciting!”

Flying around Einhorn were the armed units Luxon had hastily put together.

Julian and the other idiots were the ones inside them. Each was a distinctive unit.

The one who put on the white knight armor was Julian.

?”I never imagined that you would kidnap a princess as a Sky Pirate.” The green-colored armor carried a large rifle.

It was Jilk who was aboard it.

?”Count Baltfault looks too good in the role of a sky pirate.” He’s a real jerk.

The purple pointy hat armor was the armor Brad was riding on. He was surprised by the performance of that armed unit.

?“Is this armed unit really that quick to make? It is more powerful than the armed unit it was in. You couldn’t win with an ordinary unit against this one. If Arroganz has this kind of performance, they shouldn’t be able to win.”

In the cockpit, Luxon was explaining the situation in a way that was like saying “oh dear.”

Arroganz is an armed unit that I specially prepared for Master. The performance is different from that of a hastily built armed unit… But please be careful with them, even if they are random machines. I won’t forgive you if you break them.

All armed units are larger than average. Although they are smaller than Arroganz.

Greg climbed into the red armor and prepared to board the large battleship as it approached.

?”Hey guys, I think it’s time.”

A blue airship with a great sword pierced through an armed Republic unit that came ahead.

-“We will enter.”

The last two sounded relatively decent, but, in fact, they were almost naked in the cockpit.

One was only wearing a speedo and the other a loincloth.

I want you to understand how I feel when I see men showing their upper body naked in the cabin.

Master, we can’t locate Louise. We are being interfered with by Ideal’s Defense Network.

“Let’s go in and get her out. I want you to come with me.” I’ll take care of it. I will be in touch.

“Everyone, let’s go!”

We climbed into the armed units and rammed the large aircraft.

The side of Einhorn’s body hit the large airship enough to prevent it from sinking.

The two aircraft collided, and the unpleasant sound of metal scraping against metal could be heard.

The collision caused sparks to erupt. Then the great airship stopped moving.”They’re not going anywhere!”

I jumped out of Arroganz’s cockpit with the machine gun in hand.

I landed on the deck of the aircraft and looked for the entrance.

-There it is.

Originally this was a luxury cruise. The deck is large, but there is a lot of room because it was not built to fight.

Pointing to the entrance to enter, the armed soldiers came from there.”Y-They’re coming!”

“Shoot to kill!”

As the two soldiers fired at me, I fired a non-lethal rubber bullet, a bullet that would be absurdly painful if it hit its target.

The two fallen men were fighting, but we ignored them and moved on. Master, I’m done here.

-Go ahead.

I saw Luxon fly away as I got into the ship.

◇

Einhorn struck the large airship with his body. Fernand was watching from afar.

He was surprised to see the scene from the bridge of the battleship.”N-It can’t be!” How can it be here! Why are you coming here?”

As a noble, Fernand couldn’t understand it.

His subordinates were asking for instructions, but his expression was clearly altered.

They were all afraid to learn that they were dealing with Leon, who had terrorized the Republic so many times.

“Master Fernand! What should we do!?” “W-What to do? We have to protect her!”

To protect the sacrifice, Louise, he ordered an attack on Einhorn. But his men were too scared to move.

“B-But … The enemy is the Devil Knight! W-We can’t compete with them. Also, he has the Guardian Crest!”

Morale was visibly low, and even Fernand couldn’t help it. Then a communication came from Leon.

?”Eeeh? I wonder if the Republicans are going to attack us! I am waving the flag of the air pirates and I am going to go ahead with it…

Could it be that they are scared !? ” Fernand yelled at his men.

“Cut the communication.”

“T-They’re hacking the comms!! There is nothing we can do about it!” “Are you mocking us?!!!”

Leon laughed as Fernand’s handsome face twisted.

-“What? I thought it would be more difficult, but it’s actually quite easy.

Well, it’s a country that would sacrifice just one girl for it, and I honestly didn’t expect much.”

Occasional shots were heard.

Leon was apparently making his way aboard the ship.

“Do you understand what’s going on !? If you do this, you won’t be able to…

“Master Fernand, he can’t hear you.”

-Sh*t!

He can’t hear voices from here, only the other party’s voice was transmitted.

It was difficult for him to give orders to the other aircraft, he even had trouble getting the communications to work.

Unlike before, Leon began to be serious.

-“—I will tell them. I don’t like them and I came to crush them. If you don’t like it, try to beat me. If they can, of course.”

Fernand shook his fist on the desk and faced Leon with his anger.

“Do you think we like to offer sacrifices?” The reason for this is because you have put us against the wall.

In a normal republic, Louise’s sacrifice would have been more carefully discussed.

However, after being shown the foreign threat that Leon is, the Republic would be destroyed if it is abandoned even by the Sacred Tree.

That is why it was offered as a sacrifice without discussion. Leon’s presence had a lot to do with Louise’s sacrifice.

◇

It happened while Leon and the others started fighting. On land, Lelia was shocked to receive a report from Ideal.

She was in the middle of lunch, but the spoon she was holding dropped.”Oh, did they really go in to save Louise?”

Yes. One of them is your sister, Lelia-sama.

“Did he take my sister too? What the hell does he think he’s doing !?”

That’s not good. I don’t care about Louise, but if something happens to my sister … no, wait … That’s it. There will no longer be a need to depend on the Sacred Tree now.

Lelia’s eyes were on Ideal.

With Ideal, my safety is assured. He could even rebuild a Republic with him if he wanted to. No, we could even build a new one.

Aside from Luxon, she didn’t believe there was a force that could defeat Ideal.

She could form an alliance with Leon and his friends and maintain non- interference between them.

Lelia changed her mind and went back to eating with her new spoon, regaining her composure. Oh? You seem to have suddenly calmed down.

“I just realized, I don’t need to worry anymore about the Sacred Tree.” … What do you mean by that?

“With you, Ideal, there is no need for the Sacred Tree. Right?” Ideal nodded and the conversation ended.

Or so Lelia thought, but Ideal’s reaction was strange.

That is not acceptable. The Sacred Tree is a defense item. It is indispensable for the future of the Republic.

“Yes, but …

First of all, the Republic only exists because of the Sacred Tree. If we lose it, we’ll be in big trouble.

“I-If I have you …

I won’t deny it, but losing the Sacred Tree is a great loss. I hope he doesn’t take it so easily.

Lelia couldn’t contradict him when it was said in a stronger tone than usual.”I-Okay.”

Thanks for your understanding.

As Lelia ate again, she thought about the future.

In the end, things will continue to progress around my sister in the future. Well, she is the protagonist of this world, so it can’t be helped. By the way, will Serge be okay? … His odds are too low…

“Ideal … if Serge was in danger, could you save him?” Of course yes. But are you sure?

-What?

I was curious as to why Young Emile’s name was not mentioned.

Lelia noticed that Serge had become a more important part of her life than Emile.”… You can save Emile too.”

It is understood.

Then Lelia looked at the ceiling.

I will have to think ahead when everyone else returns. In the meantime, I think I’ll cancel my engagement to Emile.

◇

On the other hand.

The three people who remained at Marie’s mansion were the Headmaster, Cordelia… and Yumeria.

While the Headmaster was enjoying his tea, Cordelia spoke to him.

“Director, is this a good time?”

-What does it mean?

“I’m sure you noticed. If Master Leon takes action against the Republic, it will be a big problem. In the worst case, he will be executed.”

Taking the freedom to fight another country and worsening relations with them will put Leon in a bad position.

But the Director was looking out the window.”He’s a curious young man.”

-Director?

Cordelia was confused as to what the Headmaster said.”What I’m trying to say is …

“You’re worried about him, aren’t you? … Leon-sama is very dear.”

“N-It’s not like that! He brought Anjelica-Sama to the battlefield too, you know! I am angry! If he is the person chosen by Anjelica-Sama, it is natural that I want him to act more carefully.”

“I suppose it would be for the best. But it may not be the right thing to do.”

“Better but not correct?”

“It’s okay to save Louise as a person here, but it’s wrong as a noble. Leon has no right to interfere in the affairs of other countries.” Essentially, they can only observe.

“It is an act of chivalry. But I’m not saying that as a compliment.

Sometimes it seems to me that Leon-sama sees things that we do not see, that’s what I think.”

“Do you see things that we don’t?”

“Leon-sama has a different perspective than we do. I’m not saying it’s the right thing to do, but it has solved a problem that has been building up for a long time.”

“The old Principality of Fanoss, isn’t it? I also think he has achieved great things as a hero, but his normal behavior is too careless.”

“No, no, that’s not all. The kingdom has been saved by him many times.

So helping him is like an atonement. No, it is better to say that I am indebted to him.”

As Cordelia closed her mouth, the Headmaster smiled at her.

“I’ve said a lot of things, but at the end of the day, maybe I just want to see what will happen to Leon-sama in the future.”

Seeing the Headmaster laughing at that, Cordelia felt uncomfortable.”You need to take it more seriously.”