As those of you who read my review of the first volume may recall, when we last left our – ahem – 'heroes', Gokudo had somehow stumbled into a three-man race with the prize being the Parmettian Empire. Summoning Princess Coco to help him solve the riddle of the Sphinx, it soon becomes obvious (even to someone as thick as Gokudo) that she knows more than she's letting on. She finally spills that Parmette, whose biggest tourist pull and source of income is its wealth of exotic monsters, is in serious trouble ever since the kingdom's magical energy mysteriously started draining away. Apparently the Goddess has disappeared, and the way Coco tells it, Gokudo's destined to be the one that brings her back and saves the empire. As you might imagine, both the audience and Gokudo himself have cause to be sceptical in the light of such an outrageous claim... but when the demon Ikkyu returns just in time with moondrop demanded by the Sphinx, the entire party is granted permission to enter the roya