“Hey, hey, I was momentarily rattled to see Himusumi here, but the moment I realized that and a blade was thrust at my throat, my brain cleared. I calmly acted to wrench the threat away from my neck.”
“My stance is unstable, so I can’t cut through the opponent’s sword, but I can certainly deflect it.”
“But what’s up with Himusumi?”
“The old Himusumi would have preached about justice endlessly and chipped away at my mental fortitude, but he’s showing no mercy at all.”
“It’s strange that he doesn’t react at all when he sees my face.”
“Knowing him, if my actions were wrong, he’d be criticizing me for it while attacking.”
“It seems something’s been done to him, hey.”
“Instead of doing that, he’s silently trying to kill me.”
“For Himusumi, who can’t completely discard Japanese common sense and is a typical hero-minded person, to move this mechanically, something must be the trigger.”
“For now, let’s put killing him on hold.”
“Thanks to Takemikazuchi, I have no support, so I can fight with plenty of room.”
“Be prepared to lose an arm or two. Don’t worry, I’ll reattach them later.”
“My brain instantly gives me instructions on what to do: neutralize Himusumi and have clear guidelines.”
“It’s fine if the hostage is killed in this situation. Rather, I’ll neutralize him at the moment he tries to kill the hostage.”
“I might be able to neutralize him more easily if I called Valse-san, but my intuition tells me it’s better not to summon him now.”
“There’s something going on.”
“I won’t use my trump card until I figure out what it is.”
“I need to conserve my magic power too.”
“You’ve gotten quite strong! Was your disappearance actually a journey of training!?”
“I try to incapacitate him by swinging my Ore Tree while cracking jokes, but this guy knows my slashes are dangerous.”
“My attacks, which have the concept of ‘cutting’ attached to all my slashes, are basically defenseless against defense.”
“There are exceptions, but it’s still an incredibly powerful ability.”
“However, Himusumi shouldn’t know about this ability.”
“Even before he was taken away, he could use something that seemed like this ability, but I never told him about it.”
“Or perhaps he found out through someone else?”
“Restricted in his defensive actions during the exchange, Himusumi seems to be struggling to move.”
“That movement suggests he knows about my ability.”
“If so, could he also know Valse-san’s ability as a high-ranking spirit and know how to defend against it?”
“Is that why I have a bad feeling?”
“To confirm that, I need to summon him.”
“If you weigh the risk against the benefit of breaking the current situation, it’s natural that the latter has a lower priority.”
“Then, should I decide the outcome with a simple battle?”
“Also, just in case, I’ll send an emergency signal to Suella.”
“Since I see no point in fighting this battle honorably, I’ll prioritize practical benefits and activate the bracelet-type magic tool I’ve been hiding.”
“This is a magic tool for sending a rescue request, and its counterpart catches three types of signals and transmits them to the other party.”
“Thanks to the Giants, who have refined its simple structure, it’s an excellent item that can transmit signals even deep within a dungeon.”
“The drawback is that it can only send simple signals, but there’s no problem if the signal patterns are decided beforehand.”
“You can choose from three patterns: blue, yellow, and red. I didn’t hesitate and chose red.”
“Now Suella will take action.”
“With that, I have no further worries.”
“Hey, hey, ignoring me like this is lonely! We were master and apprentice for a while, weren’t we!?”
“Now I just need to concentrate on fighting.”
“The more I learn combat techniques in this world, the more I realize that even the weakest beings can cause upsets.”
“There are ways to break through, like me almost dying from my magic aptitude, or gaining enough power to temporarily stop the Demon Lord by burning my soul. If sacrifice is assumed, anything is possible.”
“Currently, Himusumi’s power has grown abnormally, and his physical abilities have increased enough to fight me head-on.”
“His technique still has some clumsy parts.”
“But he has enough technique to control his body.”
“Even that alone is abnormal enough.”
“He can fight me, who is considered one of the strongest in the Demon Lord’s Army, head-on.”
“If this isn’t an abnormal situation, then what is?”
“There must be a reason for him to catch up in just a few months.”
“Did he adapt the technology used to create heroes?”
“I can’t gather any information because he won’t open his mouth at all.”
“Himusumi maintains a completely expressionless face, as if his facial muscles have died, to my provocations.”
“During that time, my armor continues to regenerate.”
“The helmet I cut off is also starting to regenerate.”
“My face is gradually being covered.”
“If that happens, I won’t be able to get information from his expressions.”
“Is there anything else?”
“I can’t rely on sight to catch the opponent’s movements.”
“Smell can detect the scent of blood, but not other subtle information.”
“Hearing can pick up attack sounds, but not other movements.”
“Touch continuously conveys the strain on my body as I move around at high speed.”
“The information I can gather through my five senses doesn’t provide conclusive data.”
“Since I lost support, Himusumi has been on the defensive.”
“Except for occasional counterattacks that don’t push me back, his attacks have almost ceased.”
“In response, I’m swinging my Ore Tree while being wary of the occasional slashes and magic attacks that fly my way.”
“Do you remember this technique!?”
“…”
“Whenever I showcase a technique I used in training, Himusumi indeed reacts to the movements.”
“Is his body remembering? Or is he truly understanding me and acting this way?”
“Should I try to shake him up a bit?”
“You’ve become so quiet! What would ‘Kitamiya’ think if he saw you now!?”
“!”
“As I attack while yelling, Himusumi reacts slightly to the name Kitamiya.”
“He widened his eyes at the moment when his regeneration was almost complete near his left eye, and his entire face was about to be covered.”
“Ka…ren.”
“And then, he uttered the name Kitamiya.”
“This reaction, could it be?”
“Have you lost your memory?”
“It was one of the possibilities I considered, but his action of instinctively uttering the name Kitamiya… could it be?”
“He doesn’t know who he is.”
“Was he exploited for that?”
“No, it’s too early to be sure.”
“…”
“Silent again.”
“But given Himusumi’s gullible nature, the possibility of him being manipulated is very high.”
“He’s prone to making assumptions, so it’s plausible that if he hears a convenient story at first, he’ll believe it.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll help you regain your voice.”
“And he’s stubborn. Once he believes something, he’ll stubbornly refuse to believe it until he’s shown definitive proof.”
“To do something about him in that state, I need to cool his head physically.”
“I’ve been fighting cautiously, but as I attacked, I realized this.”
“His swordsmanship has various modifications, but it certainly has fundamental aspects.”
“Those are undoubtedly the basic areas he honed at the company.”
“Although there have been various corrections, that remains unchanged.”
“The more we clash, the more the underlying parts become visible.”
“Once those underlying parts are revealed.”
“!”
“Your hands are unguarded.”
“I struck deep into the gauntlet of his left hand during the moment of hesitation in his sword choice, which I didn’t hesitate in doing.”
“Blood dripped, and I could feel the grip in one hand failing.”
“He seems to be trying to maintain the speed of his slashes, but the force when we clashed has decreased.”
“With this.”
“I can break him.”
“He’s trying to regain his stance using magic, but can his impromptu magic break through my barrier?”
“I close the distance with a lunge towards Himusumi, who is trying to create distance, and push him into my range.”
“I also cut his right gauntlet, which was unharmed.”
“Now both his hands are incapacitated.”
“As I watch his sword fall to the ground, I prepare to slash his left leg with the returning blade.”
“He seems to be trying to evade it, but my attack extends one more step.”
“My magic blade slashes Himusumi’s leg as he tries to evade by pulling his foot back, also robbing him of his mobility.”
“With this.”
“It’s over. Stay still.”
“I thrust the tip of my Ore Tree before Himusumi, who falls to his knees and collapses to the ground.”
“I wondered if something was wrong, but it was a needless worry, as the battle ended with surprising ease.”
“Given the difference in physical ability, he was an opponent I could have defeated while still having plenty of strength left.”
“That’s precisely why this battle, which felt off, left me with a lingering sense of unease.”
“Himusumi looks up at me through his fully repaired helmet.”
“The old Himusumi would have likely hurled a torrent of insults at me, but he just looks up quietly.”
“The sense of unease is strong.”
“Himusumi was always confident and never doubted his own justice, so his current apathetic attitude makes him seem like a different person.”
“Could he really be a complete stranger?”
“If so, then I’ve been talking to a stranger all along, like a pathetic person.”
“Thinking about it, my stomach starts to ache.”
“Well, I guess I’ll take off the helmet and look at his face again.”
“The more I think about it, the more anxious I become.”
“Then, I suddenly remembered the saying that there are three people with similar faces in the world.”
“If this theory holds, there are three such people in each world. Thus, I can assume there are three in each otherworld.”
“Then, maybe this person is an Himusumi-like being from another world.”
“No, I’m completely anxious and thinking foolish things. However, ignoring things that pique my curiosity is not good.”
“I only saw it during the battle, so it’s better to confirm it properly now.”
“He’s learned all the basic magic, so I can remove the helmet’s fasteners with an application of levitation magic.”
“However.”
“Huh? Is it designed so you can’t remove it yourself?”
“The fastener has a strange structure.”
“A sealing formula and a physical lock.”
“There was a connecting part between the helmet and body armor, on the back of the neck.”
“Being connected narrows the neck’s range of motion, which isn’t ideal.”
“So, chin straps are usually used for fixation, but this helmet has its collar area on the back modified to ensure the helmet’s range of motion.”
“Or perhaps, from inside the helmet, one can see the outside freely.”
“In any case, it’s certain that the helmet is not easily removable.”
“…”
“I guess I’ll have to forcibly remove it.”
“I have knowledge of magic, but I can’t remove the sealing formula through the proper procedure.”
“I know how to remove it by force, but if I do that while not completely restraining him, I’ll expose an opening, which is quite dangerous.”
“In that case, it would be more efficient to cut the connecting part with my Ore Tree at the hairline, just short of cutting his neck.”
“Then I’ll do it.”
“As I swing up my Ore Tree and bring it down.”
“You can’t expect me to forgive you for that, can you?”
“A bad premonition runs down my spine. I instinctively leap to the side, and a menacing spear pierces where I was.”
“Chaos Magic!?”
“Recognizing its nature, that spear possesses the same properties as Instructor Fushio’s signature trump card magic.”
“As proof, the spot where I was standing just moments ago has transformed into something dark and viscous.”
“Taking that head-on would be beyond dangerous; it would be fatal.”
“And standing next to Himusumi, there was a robed man who hadn’t been there until now.”
“Well then, my objective has been achieved, so I’ll be taking my leave. I dislike overtime, you see.”
“He left using Teleportation Magic after leaving behind those oddly relatable words.”
Thank you for your continued feedback and for pointing out any typos.
If you find it interesting, please leave reviews, ratings, and bookmarks.
Currently, I am serializing another work:
Pandora Pandemic Panic – Pandora’s Box has been opened again, but we’re fighting back with various things in our secret base!
Please check that one out as well!
