I am Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes.

The above is a conversation that took place this morning when Jill was making broth and Fu Hua was making wontons.

"Okay, I win."

"...Aaaaaaah! I'm completely crushed!" Kusanagi collapsed in front of the chessboard, his face turning ashen.

Jill glanced at the expectant figure; the difference in the number of seeds between Kusanagi and Fu Hua was about five times...

As expected, despite his good learning ability, Kusanagi is still no match for such advanced games...

Jill smirked. Unless he used the Omniscient Star to play with those things from China, he'd probably be getting bullied by those old Chinese monsters every day.

"Alright, you guys have fun here. As your teacher and captain, I need to get to work."

Jill took off her coat and tossed it onto a chair. "I'm leaving now. I'll go ask about the engineering department's plans. Theresa, I'll leave the negotiations regarding the building materials to you—"

"Okay, okay, wait for me..."

Theresa immediately jumped down and followed Jill's footsteps with her short legs.

……

the other side.

"Phew, we've arrived, Sky City." At Sky City Airport, the black-haired girl was dressed in simple, plain clothes. "Hmm, as Master said, we should go find the people from [Azure Dragon]."

The girl next to her, with long, dark hair and twilight-colored eyes, covered her mouth and chuckled. "Actually, there must be another meaning behind it, right?"

“Master usually does things either in a simple and direct way, or with a deep and intricate plan…” Lian said, carrying her bag. “Let’s go find the place Master mentioned… Let me see, the map… Hmm… it’s here.”

"Let's go find the administrators of Sky Dome City."

……

Time flies, and before we knew it, it was afternoon.

"Drink!"

Even without a sparring partner, Kusanagi continued to train using his armor.

Exercising requires consistent effort.

If you want to develop a strong enough body, you can't skip physical exercise. Once you miss a day of exercise, your body will unconsciously become lazy. Unless you have a strong will, you will probably have the idea of ​​stopping exercising.

"what!"

Kusanagi kicked the sea surface with all his might, and purple energy overflowed, creating countless splashes on the water.

"Huff... Huff..." Kusanagi pulled the bottle off the driver, and the purple armor turned into energy and disappeared. He stretched his body. "Persistent training really does have its benefits."

"Indeed, exercising like this, if done consistently, will definitely have benefits."

Fu Hua, dressed in the blue Valkyrie uniform, sat on the beach and spoke.

"...So, class president, why are you here?"

“Just passing by, don’t mind me. Kusanagi-kun, would you like to have a spar?” Fu Hua stood up and equipped his wrist with a gauntlet.

"A sparring match?" Kusanagi's expression changed, but—

"Okay, okay, let's go!"

Kusanagi threw away the towel he was using to wipe his sweat, and at the same time, he pulled out a short sword from somewhere and held it in his hand.

Fu Hua looked at Kusanagi with a scrutinizing gaze.

There seems to be something wrong with this boy.

The last time I saw him, his eyes had turned an icy blue, and I felt a strong chill...

what is that?

Fu Hua narrowed his eyes and assumed the starting stance of the Inch Heart Fist Technique. "Come on, attack me."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony, class monitor!" Kusanagi slowed his pace, simultaneously channeling his magic into a massive gust of wind that sent him flying—

"Soul Flash - Shadow Assassin!"

Chapter 157 [Azure Dragon] and [Undying Blade]

Sky City.

With the map in hand, Lian arrived at the Azure Dragon's temporary encampment without any trouble.

Although the map Jill provided was hand-drawn, its level of detail was absolutely reliable.

However, this hand-drawn map was drawn two years ago. Fortunately, although Sky Dome City has undergone a lot of renovations, its general layout has not changed. Otherwise, Lian really wouldn't have been able to get here so smoothly.

"Young lady, this is not a place for minors. Go away, stay away from here."

The stronghold of the Azure Dragon is an ordinary-looking bar, and since it is daytime, it looks even more deserted.

Standing at the bar entrance, a burly young man with short black hair and wearing a white T-shirt saw Lian and walked up with a somewhat helpless expression, speaking to her in a slightly impatient tone.

"I'm here to deliver a message," Lian said.

The young man looked Lian up and down, then glanced around before saying, "Wait a moment, I'll go inside for a bit."

He opened the bar door, glanced back at Lian, and then closed the door.

"...They are soldiers that Master has instructed..." Lian glanced at the other party's behavior and whispered to Restia beside her.

"...?? You only met him once, how can you be so sure?" Restia asked in a low voice.

“Intuition—and if it wasn’t a soldier personally instructed by my master, that murderous aura on their body couldn’t possibly be that strong unless they were a veteran,” Lian said with absolute certainty. “Furthermore, that person has definitely seen blood, whether it’s from humans, Honkai Beasts, or suicide soldiers…”

“They are soldiers who died on their first battlefield.” The door was pushed open, and the young man stood there. “Please come in.”

……

The bar has a very old-fashioned decor, giving it a retro feel.

Lian looked up at the chandelier and the bar counter, "This decor is really nice..."

"It was arranged by the President himself. Although the President is a bit difficult to get along with, his taste is indeed very good."

As the young man spoke, he went behind the bar and called out, "Commander-in-Chief, the boss's messenger—"

"Why are you calling me that in broad daylight?! Call me Big Brother!"

A young man with fiery red hair opened the door and shouted at the other man.

"Yes, Commander!"

"...Tsk, completely ignoring me!" the red-haired youth cursed. "Go away, get out of here and change shifts!"

"Yes, Commander!"

The young man grinned wickedly and ran out.

"...Ahem, please excuse my poor appearance."

The red-haired youth cleared his throat. "I am Randolph Granster. Miss Lian, you can just call me Randolph."

Lian nodded, not surprised that the other party had directly mentioned her name.

"Did Master already tell you this beforehand?" Lian asked.

"Haha, although I said I would inform you in advance, you actually arrived only about ten minutes after we finished our call."

Randolph smiled and then took out bottles and jars from under the bar. "Miss Lian, would you like something to drink? Although we don't sell alcohol here during the day, we do have low-alcohol beverages."

"Hmm... Do you have any juice? I guess I still don't really like alcohol..." A subtle expression appeared on Lian's face. The white-haired nun's headbutt and Judas's face-riding last night left a slightly deep impression on her.

“After all, she’s a girl… So, Miss Restia, would you like something to drink?” Randolph asked.

“Then give me a glass of juice just like the one Lotus has,” Restia said.

"Okay, just a moment." Randolph turned around and took out a juicer and some fresh fruit from under the bar.

Seeing the strange look in Lian's eyes, Randolph explained, "Although this place is a bar, it doesn't necessarily only sell alcohol. It's like how there's no wife in a wife cake."

"...The term 'subtle feeling' doesn't seem quite right..." Lian said, narrowing her eyes.

"Don't worry about it, don't worry about it. If you take it seriously, you lose." Randolph filled two glasses with juice, inserted straws, and said, "Special blend juice, please enjoy."

Lian took the cup. "Thank you..."

“Well, after all, it was the King’s order,” Randolph said. “During this time, you must do everything you can to persuade me to let you return with the Azure Dragon—that letter is useless to me, this is the King’s command.”

"What—" Lian's eyes widened, and then she took out the letter.

She tore open the envelope, and then—

……

Uthu Lian Ashbell:

This time, I sent you to Sky City to bring back the Azure Dragon, but it wasn't actually to bring them back using this letter—

You need to gain their approval, or at least Randolph Grünster's approval, and they will come back.

I'll probably contact them about ten minutes before you arrive—you'll have a maximum of three days, and I'll give you an extra bonus if you bring them back after that.

P.S.: This is also part of the training. If my apprentice fails to bring back the Azure Dragon, I might give him a small punishment.

PS2: By the way, if you don't bring back all the members of [Azure Dragon], you won't get the reward.

Gilgamesh.

……

Then, the lotus let out a mournful cry—

"No!"

"Haha, don't worry, our king would never assign you anything you can't do." Randolph chuckled. "Don't worry, I have enough rooms here. The brothers can accommodate you for three days. Don't worry."

Lian composed herself, sighed, and then looked at Randolph. "Mr. Randolph, I have a question for you—"

“Ask away,” Randolph replied, placing his hands on the table.

“I remember my master once said that he controlled six forces: the Gate of Babylon, the Shadow, the Blade, the Apocalypse, the Dragon Fang, and now the Azure Dragon. I would like to know your responsibilities,” Lian said.

“Ah, this… [Babylon's Gate] is a research institute, [Shadow] is an intelligence agency, [Apocalypse] can be understood as an organization of strategists, and the remaining three organizations, including our [Azure Dragon], are all combat organizations. However, in terms of combat strength, our [Azure Dragon] is definitely the strongest of the three organizations.” Randolph explained, “We are the only force that defeated [The Undying Blade].

"【The Undying Blade】?" Lian heard another term she didn't recognize.