Daigo departed immediately with the guards and the map with the ingredient notes, while Takeshi remained by Enrico's side, both in silence. Then Takeshi called the servants and asked them to prepare the best dishes. He wasn't sure if he could trust the boy one hundred percent, even with his ability, because the boy spoke so well as if he already knew them—perhaps due to that ability or an item that allowed him to see the future.
"Solcren-dono, I would like to ask if you saw anything else in those futures?"
"Like your ability, Lord Takeshi?"
This boy never stopped surprising him. He simply said everything directly, which made Takeshi think he was too innocent.
"If you think I'm innocent, don't worry—it was exactly because of your ability that I decided to simply tell the truth. And besides, I could save a life, so why lie?"
It was incredible how this boy knew exactly how he thought. Now Takeshi truly believed that somehow this boy knew him in the future, which made him wonder if it was an item that sent him back in time and maybe they were friends—or perhaps he had been his student.
'He must be really confused.'
Enrico's plan had worked so far. He also asked everyone to keep all information about him a secret, and he was sure they would, due to Daigo's orders—and especially once their emperor woke up, because Enrico knew everyone present. The only one who would know afterward would be the emperor himself.
'I can't use this all the time or my plan for the Infernal Academy arc could go wrong.'
He couldn't risk things straying too far from the original, but since he needed to save the emperor, who was a ninth-circle mage, for the battle against the evil gods, he had to come up with something. He planned to use this trick again—but not for the important arcs he wanted to happen.
"If everything goes well, I can save the students and get stronger too..."
Of course, things had already changed a lot from the original story, such as the three stooges and Serenya still being at the academy, and many other changes, but the most important ones hadn't changed yet. The door opened, and the servants entered with the dishes, calmly placing them in front of him.
"So these are the dishes from Tsuyokuni. Can you tell me what this is?"
"Dobin Mushi, young master."
Enrico flinched a bit at the "young master." Daigo must have told the servants something. The servant then continued explaining the other dishes, and Enrico paid close attention because he wanted to make this dish someday. Among the cuisines from different countries he had prepared, he had never eaten Japanese food, which made his curiosity grow even more. Takeshi just watched the boy seeming excited to try something new, and with that, the day passed quickly.
In a room, a man in his forties lay pale on the bed. Beside him were three women and eight children who appeared to be his. This man was Akirama no Renzou, Emperor of Tsuyokuni and leader of the Akirama Clan.
"There are only four days left. We have to find a cure soon."
The one speaking was Akirama Raizen, the family's eldest son at nineteen. Beside him was Akirama Yuujin, his twin brother.
"From what the guards said, someone arrived yesterday claiming he could help. Should we trust him?"
"If something happens, then we'll take his head."
Everyone flinched upon hearing a fifteen-year-old girl speak. It was Akirama Rina, the clan's prodigy. She was someone close to reaching the second circle.
"I should've gone to see him yesterday, but they said he was sleeping, so I didn't want to interrupt someone who might be able to help."
The woman speaking seriously was the first wife,Akirama Himeya. The children and the other two wives fell silent for a while until a guard knocked on the door and knelt.
"Sir, we have news from Lord Daigo. It seems the young man who came was telling the truth about the dungeon."
Everyone looked at the guard, who began to explain that Daigo, upon discovering the dungeon from Enrico's information, after opening it the first time and not completing it, found that it would only reopen in two years. So he gathered the best available and entered the dungeon to retrieve the ingredients. The first goal was to save the emperor, and they decided that once he recovered, he would enter the dungeon with them, because based on the energy felt inside, only the emperor could handle the Ranvil that seemed to be sealed.
Daigo followed the map's instructions to avoid running into any Ranvil-level Nartheis and obtained the ingredients. The last message was that he encountered a Ranvil near the final ingredient, so he entered combat.
"So now we're waiting for news from Lord Daigo."
Everyone wanted to enter that dungeon now. The first to move was Raizen, who grabbed his staff and rushed out.
"Raizen-sama, Lord Daigo asked you to stay on guard in case of an attack and said to trust him and wait."
Raizen stopped and tightened his grip on the staff.
"You want me to wait? I need to help my father."
"You should trust your second strongest more, Lord Raizen."
Everyone turned to see a boy with golden hair in a kimono.
"You're the boy who arrived yesterday, aren't you?"
A feminine voice—it was Airi, the fifth daughter of the Akirama family. She looked at him curiously, and Raizen gave a small bow.
"So you're Enrico-dono? If what you said is true, then we're off to a good start."
"I appreciate your kindness, sir."
"You don't have to call me sir—you can just call me Raizen if you like."
"Well, if you insist."
Rina, who had stood up, approached and stared at Enrico, searching for something.
"You seem weak."
Raizen slapped her on the head and told her to apologize, which she did sincerely. After a few minutes of waiting, Daigo returned, injured but with all the ingredients.
"See, boy? I managed to bring them."
Daigo was being healed by a servant with some kind of herb magic.
"I'm really surprised, sir, that you defeated a level-three Ranvil from the dungeon. But there are still stronger ones in there."
Daigo laughed loudly as Enrico began mixing the ingredients in a large bowl—first, a griffin wing from which he crushed the feathers, then a level-one Ranvil core with water magic that he broke into small pieces. After that, he took a jar containing golden dust and added a third of it, and finally, he poured in the liquid from the bridge in that dungeon, which had a purple appearance.
After waiting for thirty agonizing minutes for most of the people there, Enrico took the liquid and placed it in a bowl containing fresh herbs.
"Done. Now just give this to the emperor and he'll recover in forty minutes."
Everyone stared at the bowl, and taking responsibility, Daigo grabbed it, knelt beside the emperor, and gave him the liquid, which passed down his throat. And so, the wait began—with Rina already at Enrico's side, katana drawn, ready to cut off his head if anything went wrong.