The Sealed Insert in the Hero's Highest-Difficulty Art of War Manual

"Let's light the bonbori lanterns~"

'I thought you were busy with DIY, but now you're setting up a hina doll display?'

"Yes, it's Hina Matsuri today."

'Hina Matsuri is an event to pray for girls to grow up healthy. I see—you're mocking me for needing to grow.'

"That's quite a leap. I'm Japanese, so I just want to join in on famous traditions and savor their wabi-sabi."

'I have my doubts about that, but you're a man, aren't you?'

"It's not as if men are forbidden from celebrating, and there's no harm in enjoying it."

'If I punished you, every father in a household celebrating Hina Matsuri would be condemned.'

"I've prepared shirozake and chirashi sushi, so you can enjoy them too, Goddess-sama."

'Hmm, chirashi sushi while looking at the hina display does have a certain wabi-sabi to it.'

"Though there's no wasabi in it."

'Quiet. Oh, it seems the Emperor and Empress dolls aren't here.'

※The ones at the very top.

"Ah, I'm about to set them up. First, the empress doll."

'The quality is surprisingly... That's me, isn't it?'

"You were the only woman nearby I could use as a reference."

'The details are pointlessly precise. But I do look good in a kimono.'

"And of course, the emperor doll is me."

'Whoops, the salmon roe on my chopsticks slipped.'

"The roe went straight through the emperor doll's face. How terrifying."

'There can be no one sitting beside me, so this works out perfectly.'

"In a way, it's like one of those photo panels at tourist attractions. I have a few spare heads ready, so I'll swap one in."

'Why do you have spares? Line them up; we're going to play shooting gallery.'

"Don't waste food."

'Quite right. The salmon roe is innocent, after all. I'll take one grain for what I used.'

"You could just get seconds. Come to think of it, most of the ingredients we order into this space are from Earth, aren't they?"

'That's because you're from Earth. If I wanted, I could order things from other worlds, too.'

"I've reincarnated in other worlds so many times that I'm starting to lose the sense that I'm from Earth."

'In that case, we might be able to summon food from worlds you've reincarnated in before.'

"Then, as a test, how about a piece of Master Red Salmon's body...?"

'If you can, then avoid things that would make you reluctant to eat them.'

"Because it's salmon?"

'Quiet. Well, is it about time for your otherworldly reincarnation?'

"Let's do this one at high speed for once—whoosh, whoosh! From Renjin-san: 'The sealed insert in the highest-difficulty art of war manual read by the Hero.'"

'I've always wondered: why do people twist the prompt before they even submit it?'

"Who knows? We'd have to ask the person who submitted it."

'If the reincarnation is this narrowly specific, won't it just be a one-joke gag and limit what you can do, leaving no room for a story?'

"It'll be peaceful if we assume the people who submit prompts aren't trying to be funny, but are giving me trials to overcome."

'It certainly depends on what you do... Well, if you say it's no problem, I suppose that's fine.'

"This one's relatively reasonable, isn't it? It doesn't feel as much like the prompt is trying to get a laugh."

'If you make a joke with the prompt and it falls flat, it'll be hard to recover.'

"That's where my skill comes in."

'There are only so many reincarnation destinations where you can put your skills to use, though.'

◇

'A twelve-layered kimono is truly difficult to wear. And heavy, too.'

"I'm back—whoa."

'Oh, you're back.'

"You're dressed like a hina doll. You look beautiful."

'Thank you. I thought it might be nice to get into the spirit of the occasion for once, but it's terribly hard to move in this.'

"It's not an outfit meant for someone who needs to move."

'I prefer to lounge around without moving, but even then, a tracksuit would be better.'

"Still, I'd like to see you in a tracksuit, Goddess-sama."

'So, you were the sealed insert in the highest-difficulty art of war manual the Hero reads?'

"Yes. I went to a fantasy world where individual power hardly ever escalated, and strategy was a stronger weapon than martial prowess."

'I see. That would make it an ideal setting for a Hero to read a book on the art of war.'

"The Hero's name was Kuryaku. He was an intellectual type of protagonist."

'Sounds like the name of someone who'd come up with strategies.'

"Kuryaku was clever. He'd wiped out over ten thousand enemy soldiers with just five hundred troops."

'Repelling a force nearly twenty times your size in a world where individual combat ability doesn't differ much? That doesn't sound like something you could accomplish with simple battlefield formations. For reference, how did he do it?'

"First, he bought up terminal patients suffering from an endemic disease in a remote region."

'That's something the Hero's side really shouldn't be doing.'

"Well, he did do a fair number of things against humanitarian principles, but it was all to quell the civil war in the world and ultimately prevent the imminent invasion of the Demon Realm."

'War chronicles can get pretty grim.'

"And just relying on unusual stratagems could leave you at a disadvantage in the long run, so Kuryaku studied the basics of warfare by reading strategy manuals, too."

'Winning through an unexpected stratagem is exciting, but you still need to know the basics. Strategy only works when you have the fundamentals to back it up.'

"And what Kuryaku acquired was the highest-difficulty art of war manual written by Hannibas, who was called a god of war throughout history."

'That name sounds like "Omnibus."'

"The title was The Silence of the Goats."

'I don't think he was a god of war.'

"It contained every kind of advanced military strategy, and its contents were still useful even in Kuryaku's era, hundreds of years later."

'So he was a god of war after all.'

"It also went on and on about various ways to mentally corner enemy strategists, including profiling—highly novel techniques in a fantasy world."

'He really wasn't a god of war, that Omnibus.'

"And I was the sealed insert in the strategy manual Hannibas left behind."

'I don't see why a book on the art of war would need a sealed insert.'

"But think about it: if you got your hands on a strategy manual left behind by the greatest god of war in history, and it had a sealed insert... wouldn't you be curious?"

'Well, I suppose I would.'

"One day, while Kuryaku was reading the manual, he noticed me."

'I would've thought he'd notice you on the first day. Was he the sort who starts reading from the beginning?'

"Yes, he was diligent about that sort of thing."

'By the way, was anything written on the outside of the sealed insert about what was inside?'

"Yes. It said, 'Hannibas's killer techniques to make any woman fall for you!'"

'For a book on the art of war, that sounds like a teen magazine.'

"After thoroughly making sure no one was around, Kuryaku swallowed hard and took out a knife."

'That's the behavior of an adolescent boy. Even a Hero is human.'

"But the sealed insert wouldn't open. There was no way a mere knife could leave so much as a scratch on me."

'I expected there to be some kind of trick.'

"Kuryaku tried all sorts of things, but he couldn't put a scratch on me. Even with a dotted line, I wasn't so easy to cut out."

'If there was a dotted line, why not let him cut along it?'

"Kuryaku tried desperately to peek inside by slipping his fingers in, but some mysterious power kept him from seeing what was inside."

'Some people do that. You were well prepared.'

"I poured every option I had into becoming the ultimate sealed insert."

'What does "the ultimate sealed insert" even mean?'

"Kuryaku hung his head, but then a voice suddenly echoed in his mind. Well, it was me."

'I would've wondered what was going on if it had been anyone else.'

"I told him, 'This sealed insert is protected by the strongest defense in the world. To open it, you'll need the strongest sword in the world, wielded by the Demon King.'"

'Making someone bring out the world's strongest sword just to open a sealed insert... Otherworldly reincarnators really do nothing but cause trouble.'

"But when Kuryaku heard that, he studied the strategy manual even more seriously, learning nonstop so he could defeat the Demon King as soon as possible."

'Adolescence.'

"Kuryaku skillfully wielded the high-difficulty tactics in the manual, and before long, he had brought the human realm, which had been rife with civil wars, under control. Then, at last, the war began against the Demon King's army from the Demon Realm."

'We skipped straight over it in the summary, but were the civil wars really not that bad?'

"They were mostly pretty standard. The only thing that felt a little unusual was when the northern king's naked dance made the southern army defect."

'Why don't you look up the meaning of "a little" in the dictionary?'

"Would you like to hear the details?"

'I suppose I should.'

"The northern king's daily desk work and lack of exercise had given him a magnificent, fatty three-tiered belly—"

'Let's skip that after all.'

"Kuryaku had been practically invincible in the human realm, but the Demon Realm army was enormous and had unique monster-based troop types, so he struggled greatly."

'Flying or giant monsters would certainly be troublesome.'

"Kuryaku was forced into a difficult battle and on the verge of giving up when suddenly a voice echoed in his mind."

'Was it your advice again?'

"No, it was Tanaka-san."

'Where did he come from?'

※See Chapters Five, Twenty-One, Twenty-Five, and others.

"It turned out Tanaka-san had reincarnated in another world as 'the person who gives a divine revelation when the Hero is in a pinch.'"

'That person is pretty much cut from the same cloth as you. The fact that he hasn't moved on is similar, too.'

"I asked him, and apparently he's going to keep reincarnating in other worlds until he meets his destined woman."

'He doesn't seem to know how to compromise.'

"I have you, Goddess-sama, so I'm in the better position."

'Considering our respective positions, you're the one at a disadvantage. Go on.'

"Tanaka-san said, 'The stuff inside that sealed insert was wild.'"

'How does he know what's inside?'

"Because it was written by Hannibas, the previous Hero."

'So he was a former Hero, that Omnibus.'

"But that made Kuryaku's nearly extinguished motivation flare up like a blaze."

'Isn't the strategist-type Hero a little too easy to sway?'

"Kuryaku realized that what was written in the strategy manual wasn't enough; he had to come up with new schemes of his own. He strained his mind as if it were costing him his life, devising one winning strategy after another."

'Since this was a war between the human realm and the Demon Realm, risking his life was fine, but his motivation was impure.'

"At last, Kuryaku defeated the Demon Realm army, led the human army in conquering the Demon King's castle, and defeated the Demon King."

'It's surprisingly rare for an army of soldiers to march all the way to the Demon King's castle.'

"Kuryaku got his long-awaited strongest sword in the world and tried to open me somewhere secluded."

'He still hadn't outgrown adolescence.'

"To be honest, I'd poured so many options into my defenses that even that sword couldn't open me, but after Tanaka-san persuaded me, I decided to open willingly."

'Two people being kind to an adolescent boy... There's barely anything moving about it.'

"What was written inside was a message from Hannibas to the future Hero who would obtain the manual: 'When you open this sealed insert, you will have grown enough to understand and make use of the highest-difficulty strategy manual. Your heroic efforts in using the power of this book to bring an end to an age of war are the greatest technique for capturing any woman's heart.'"

'That's a clever turn of phrase. But hadn't you made it so you couldn't tear it open yourself?'

"It seems Tanaka-san had put the seal on it at Hannibas's request."

'Then your existence was almost entirely pointless.'

"Well, I did raise the stakes."

'He didn't just understand the contents and master them; he developed them further.'

"Afterward, Kuryaku was hailed as the hero who saved the world and became the center of attention for many women."

'He put in a fair amount of effort, too, so I suppose a harem ending would've been acceptable.'

"No, in the end, Kuryaku married one of the women who served under him."

'Oh, that's a little unexpected.'

"That woman had watched Kuryaku's struggle from beginning to end. In a sense, she was the one who'd been made to fall for him the hardest."

'I imagine the fact that he was driven by adolescent urges was kept from her.'

"Who knows? Kuryaku was clever, but he wasn't good at keeping secrets."

'—Hmm. In that case, the Hero must have ended up with a good woman.'

"Well, once I was opened, I had nothing left to enjoy and was out of a job."

'What did you think you could enjoy with a sealed insert that had put all its options into defense?'

"By the way, as a souvenir, I brought back the strategy manual, The Silence of the Goats."

'Isn't that a pretty valuable book?'

"It's fine. There'll be Heroes in later generations who leave behind even more difficult strategy manuals."

'That's true. But there's all sorts of stuff in here... Oh, another sealed insert.'

"Huh, there was another one? I didn't notice."

'Since it hasn't been opened, either the Hero didn't notice it or he wasn't interested in what was inside.'

"Let's see. 'Hannibas's sure-kill techniques to make any man fall for you.' I see. No wonder Kuryaku wasn't interested."

'Was Omnibus into both men and women? Since we're here, let's open it. This one is written rather seriously... Hmm, I see. I'll confiscate this.'

"I wonder what you're planning to do with that. I would've liked to know at least a little of what's inside."

'Techniques to instantly kill even a hulking man with a single fingertip, for example.'

"So that's what you mean by 'sure-kill'..."