“I’ve found you, Kenya.”

Road looked straight at Kenya.

“Me?”

“Yeah. Your piloting skills surpass even the Holy Knight Captain back home. I’ve never seen a knight as strong as you. To think you’d crush a hundred-to-one fight like that. Hey, Zeke.”

“Yes, Mikazuki is already one of the world’s strongest… On par with the Asia Union’s White Lotus or the EU’s Thor. No different from those hailed as the top today. Of course, that’s leagues beyond Jilian or me, even after my retirement—the true Holy Knight Captains. No, he’s even more than the Three Heroes.”

“Exactly… so Kenya.”

Road stood up and extended his right hand to Kenya.

“Won’t you become my knight? And help me become emperor. To make the world a better place.

You have the will for it, and the power to make it happen. So, won’t you take this hand again?”

Road’s invitation.

He’d decided it from the moment they met at the academy.

From that day he watched the match, Road had resolved to bring Kenya in.

And today, he’d seen him fighting as a resistance member.

His goal was for Japan, and he’d seen the lofty will that let him stake his life on it. No one else would do.

Kenya’s resolve to risk his life for a cause—that was the rarest talent of all.

Kenya stared at that right hand.

He couldn’t take it right away.

“Will that hand really make the world better?”

“I swear it. I’ll bring peace to the world.”

Kenya looked into his eyes.

Road met them squarely.

Why? He felt like believing him.

Those burning eyes held a strong, fervent will.

“Bloodstained hands, huh? Heavy.”

The hand Road had called bloodstained that day.

Kenya understood what it meant now.

Taking this hand meant joining the fight to decide the ruler of the world’s largest nation.

The blood that would flow was unimaginable.

Maybe far more than today’s.

It was a battle for the pinnacle of this world, after all.

“Promise me one thing.”

“Name it.”

Kenya stood.

Then he looked at Reina.

“Reina, and Kaguya, who’s fighting with the resistance. Promise me a world where both can live happily. Swear that, and I’ll take your hand.”

“Heh, I see. Those two… That’s your reason to fight, huh? I get you a little better now. Alright. I promise. As the 100th Emperor of the Earthguard Empire. I’ll stake my life on it.”

Hearing that, Kenya gripped his hand firmly.

“Betray me, and I’ll kill you.”

“Yeah. Then you kill me.”

“Heh. You’re a weird one, for royalty.”

“Ha. Don’t want to hear that from you, Irregular.”

The two laughed, their hands clasped tight.

Kenya and Road joined hands.

The two geniuses who’d clashed on the battlefield today.

Tactics and strategy. Macro and micro.

The strongest pair to reach those peaks allied.

Road’s goal: to become emperor.

To change the world.

Why he wanted it so badly, Kenya didn’t know.

But somehow, he believed Road’s words without question.

And Kenya’s goal: to protect his two heroines.

Road promised a world where they could be happy, on the condition he became emperor.

Then he’d stop the world war—or maybe prevent it altogether.

So.

“Contract complete, Road. You and I are equal allies.”

“Yeah, of course. We’re equal contractors, Kenya.”

Kenya formed an equal bond with Road.

Calling each other by name like friends, they were truly equals.

“And you, Zeke? Reina? And Issei Tanaka, right? What about you all? Will you join us?”

“I… owe you for saving me in the EU. And no one’s more fit to be emperor than you. Please, no more blood shed in this world…”

Zeke knelt and bowed his head.

That meant.

“Thank you, Zeke.”

Zeke sided with Road.

“I… don’t fully understand Lord Odin either. But if Papa chooses that path. And…”

Reina looked straight at Kenya.

“When I thought I might lose you today, it terrified me. I don’t really get why. So I want to know. By your side.”

“Reina…”

Reina joined the camp too.

And the last one.

The developer of Kenya’s machine, Takemikazuchi.

A world authority in that field, able to provide technical support.

All eyes turned to Issei Tanaka.

“Personally, I’m all for it. I’d love to support you, Kenya. But for us Japanese to cooperate, there’s one thing. Just one thing we must achieve.”

“I want your support for that machine, and your expertise. So join us by all means. What is it?”

“What we want hasn’t changed since long ago. What we once tried to protect, and now seek to reclaim—it’s all the same.”

Tanaka looked Road dead in the eye and declared it.

“Give us back Japan… this stolen nation. Return it to us!”

Tanaka’s wish was singular. That’s why he joined the resistance.

The war that took his one beloved.

Without reclaiming what that war stole, his flame of vengeance would never die.

The vengeful fire in every Japanese heart wouldn’t fade.

So Tanaka’s demand stood alone.

Japan’s independence.

“…”

Road pondered, calculating obstacles in his head.

But Kenya spoke.

“To make Kaguya happy, that’s a condition too, right? No pros or cons.”

Hearing that, Road raised his hands with a sigh.

“Looks like I agreed to some tough terms. Fine. When I become emperor, I’ll recognize this nation’s independence.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah. I swear it on my life.”

“Got it. Then we’ll cooperate.”

Tanaka and Road joined hands.

“So, we five here—Road Earthguard, Kenya Mikazuki, Zeke Silfield, Reina Silfield, and Issei Tanaka—declare our alliance.

How about Nichia Alliance? Nichi from Japan, A from Earthguard. It’s straightforward, but that’s alliances for you.”

Thus, the Nichia Alliance was formed.

No papers, no witnesses. A midnight pact that would change the world.

“We’ll hash out the details tomorrow. It’s past midnight now. Even I’m sleepy—if I’m tired after just watching, you battlefield vets must be worse. Can’t think straight like this.”

And the gathering ended for the night.

“Oh, and Kenya, Tanaka.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve declared you both dead, so play along.”

“What?!”

“No choice. Tanaka’s name leaked, and Kenya’s becoming my knight from here on.”

“Tanaka makes sense, but why me?”

Kenya pressed Road, not getting it.

“Sigh. Think harder, Kenya. If your brain only works on the battlefield, you’ll get tripped up.”

“You’ve got a foul mouth all of a sudden.”

“Haha, this is my true self. Proof I trust you. That’s what equals means.”

(Feels off somehow…)

Road had no one he could call a friend, thanks to his status and isolation.

Kenya had been a loner in his old world too, unfamiliar with friendship.

He’d had friends in elementary school, maybe.

Neither really understood friends.

But why? Maybe because they’d tried to kill each other.

No reservations, no walls between them.

Like old pals, blunt words flowed freely.

“First off, from today, you’ll operate as an Earthguard citizen. Easier for my knight.”

“…Got it.”

“For that, you’re officially dead from the military. Could just vanish, but dead’s simpler to fake. And other reasons…”

“I see… If you handle the paperwork, no issue.”

“Yeah. Oh, Zeke—one favor?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Make Kenya your illegitimate son.”

“Huh?”