Part 2 of 8
Honestly, I was surprised they were aggressive enough to gun for it the very same day.
They’ve got guts; I’ll give ’em that.
But they’re dead now, so a fat lot of good that did them.
Anyway, I wiped out those would-be intruders, but I still haven’t dealt with the source of the problem.
There are still several people in the hideout.
And one of them seems to have Clairvoyance, too.
The moment the intruders dropped dead, he went and reported it to a boss-looking fellow.
I don’t understand the language here, so of course I don’t know what he said, but I’m sure he was reporting that the crew of intruders kicked the bucket.
Then the boss guy in the important-looking robe used Telepathy to get in touch with someone or other.
I kind of intercepted the message with Professor Wisdom or something, but it’s not like I understood it anyway.
The person he was talking to was a really stuck-up-sounding guy. Maybe he was the robe guy’s boss?
That would mean that the organization that’s targeting the lord has more branches outside this town.
If I take out all the schemers here, they might just send reinforcements from another branch.
So it makes no sense for me to kill the ones in this town.
It’s not my job to go up against some fancy anti-lord organization, okay?
That’s why I left the corpses there to let the lord know that someone’s after his family.
If he knows he’s being targeted, he can probably figure out the culprit by ID’ing the intruders or whatever.
After that, it’s up to him to defend his family somehow.
That’s about the best I can do for ya, kid.
Even if we do technically know each other from our previous lives, I’d say it’s pretty darn nice of me to save your life twice.
So that’s all well and good.
If a person’s about to be killed by a monster or thieves or whatever right before my eyes, sure, I’ll save them.
I certainly have the power to do so, so to look the other way would just make me feel guilty.
It’s sorta like when you see trash lying on the ground, and the trash can is right there, so you just throw it out.
You get a little bit of self-satisfaction for doing your good deed of the day.
But I’m not gonna go so far as to stick my nose into places I can’t see.
If someone dies when I’m not looking, well, that’s not my fault.
I mean, what do you do if you see trash on the ground, but there’s no trash can anywhere nearby?
You most likely leave it as is ’cause it’s too much of a pain.
So even if the baby bloodsucker’s family is being targeted, I’m not about to go crush the whole enemy organization.
That’s way too much work.
So I’ll help as long as it’s somewhere I can see, but I think I’ll let them handle the rest down the line.
I’m not so softhearted that I’m willing to devote a bunch of my time and energy to someone else for free.
Going all out just to help some rando isn’t worth the effort.
I’m willing to work my hardest only when it directly benefits me.
At least, that was the plan.
But as soon as the guy in the robe takes off his hood, everything changes.
[An elf…] [An elf…] [An elf…] [An elf…] [An elf…] [An elf…]
The man’s ears are long and pointed.
Aw yeah, now that’s a classic fantasy race!
But I’m the only one who gets excited.
The other Parallel Minds all just mutter [An elf] in perfect unison.
This isn’t just disinterest; it’s…anger? Hostility? Hatred?
What in the world?
I don’t understand why my Parallel Minds are so tense.
Why would their feelings suddenly shift like that?
Do they hate elves that much?
I have no idea why that would be the case.
But the Parallel Minds aren’t questioning those feelings. Their attitude toward the elf is practically murderous.
[If the elves are involved, we can’t just ignore it.]
[Agreed!] [No complaints here.] [Let’s do it!]
And now it seems like they’re ignoring my confusion and making a decision without even consulting me.
I just don’t get it.
But it sorta seems like they’re all gonna turn on me if I object.
The Demon Lord is far away in the Bottom Stratum, meaning we do have a little while before she chases us down.
Besides, now that I’ve expanded my horizons and found more places I can escape to, I can just teleport away as soon as the Demon Lord starts to get close.
As long as I don’t let my guard down, I’m pretty sure the Demon Lord’s not gonna catch me.
So it’s not really a problem if I stay here for a bit.
But still, it’s scary that I don’t know what my own Parallel Minds are thinking.
It’s almost like a part of me is turning into someone else entirely…
I’m pretty freaked out by the whole thing, honestly.
Still, I don’t think I’m going to oppose them.
Because I have a bad feeling about what might happen if I do.
And so, for whatever reason, I decide to stay near this town for a while.
THE CONSPIRATORS: CHIEF OF THE ELVES
“A failure?”
“Yes, my lord.”
Even through Telepathy, his voice is trembling.
He must be afraid I will blame him for this loss. Why does he think I would waste my time on such worthless things?
There is nothing to be gained from complaining every time a disposable thing is wasted.
The only distinction between those lesser elves is whether they are mass-produced, low-cost inferior items or high-cost, slightly useful custom-made items.
The failure of the former is already factored into my plans.
Even for the custom-made items, I do not have overly high expectations.
No matter which might fail, I will not be surprised, let alone become angry enough to dole out punishment.
Although I suppose there is one irregularity among my custom-made items that was rather unexpected.
“Was it Oka…?”
“I am sorry we were unable to meet Lady Oka’s expectations.”
The mass-produced object babbles something, misinterpreting my aside.
Oka: the custom-made item that was created as my child.
I was certainly surprised she turned out to be a reincarnation of a human from another world.
But I am grateful to Oka.
Because of her, I was able to find out very quickly about the existence of the irregulars known as reincarnations.
That is why I have bestowed upon her the privilege of being my daughter.
As she requested, I am prioritizing the protection of the reincarnations.
Depending on her future achievements, I may even consider granting her a position close to mine in both name and status, though she will never be my equal, of course.
She has proven herself most indispensable.
Simply by being a reincarnation and having the accompanying knowledge, she has proven more valuable than any other custom-made item at my disposal.
And furthermore, she has that skill.
The skill called Student Roster.
It is as though she were sent to me by a god, no?
And I do mean a genuine god, not some foolish being like an administrator.
To think that the day would come that I would be grateful to a god.
But this is truly the ultimate gift.
It would be impolite not to exploit it as much as possible.
As she is but a sapling, Oka can only deal in information, but I intend to put her to work as soon as she is ripe of age.
No doubt she’ll be more than willing if I say it is for the sake of her precious students.
If I protect the reincarnations as she wishes and continue to soak up the nectar of her knowledge, she will surely carry on even if she has slight suspicions.
Just imagining such a comical sight improves my mood greatly.
Yes, Oka is a very devoted daughter indeed.
And I shall have her dance for me.
“Heh-heh-heh.”
“Y-you seem to be in a good mood, my lord…”
Yes, I suppose I am.
Impressive that a worthless throwaway can perceive my emotions.
For that much I will credit him.
However, he did fail to kidnap Keren’s daughter, and that is unacceptable.
“Let us return to the matter at hand. So you say that you attempted two separate strategies, and both of them failed?”
“Yes, my lord. The first time, as I reported, we were hindered by a spider monster.”
I think back on the contents of his earlier report.
He carried out a plan to kidnap Keren’s daughter, a reincarnation, but failed.
Twice, no less.
The first time, they had robbers attack the carriage carrying the mother and child.
The second time, they attempted to break in to the mansion in a direct attempt to steal the child.
However, a spider monster foiled the first attempt, and during the second, the parties involved met with an abrupt and mysterious death.
The throwaway reports that they believe these deaths may be related to the spider monster from the first attempt, and I am inclined to agree.
It cannot simply be a coincidence.
I must assume that our interloper was aware of our plans and arranged to interfere with them in advance.
Damn you, Ariel, how did you sniff us out?
If a spider monster was involved, it can be only her doing.
One would think that utilizing the various slave-trade and human-trafficking channels to mask which children were our real targets should have thrown her off the trail.
Although that was originally intended as a countermeasure against a different man, not her.
I never expected that Ariel would interfere, since she wasn’t already keeping a lookout for such things.
But if word of our movements has leaked to Ariel, I must assume that man knows, too.
At worst, I may even need to take on Ariel and that man at the same time.
Ariel is a powerful individual, but that man—Dustin, the pontiff of the Word of God sect—has the might of a massive organization behind him.
It is difficult to say which is worse, but it would be unwise to make an enemy of either.
I do not know whether Dustin is aware of the reincarnations yet, but he is very inconveniently located.
Keren County in Sariella is exactly where he has been setting up his little schemes.
Whether he is aware of them or not, if we take any more noticeable actions, we are sure to catch his eye.
If we must do battle with Ariel and Dustin at the same time, I will require a warrior with both the power to keep Ariel in check and the adaptability to outwit Dustin’s plans on the spot.
I do not have such a thing, even among my custom-made items.
In which case, I am left with only one option.
“How do you wish me to proceed next, my lord?”
“I will take care of it personally.”
The throwaway is silent, evidently stunned by my response.
“Be sure to keep close watch on that spider. If there is any development, report to me at once,” I order, then pause for a moment.
“Are you listening? Whoever you are, I shall deal with you directly. If you plan to attack me, you had best be prepared.”
This last part is a message for anyone who might be listening in.
The mass-produced throwaway will surely not understand any of that, so I cut off our telepathic connection.
He may be taken out before my arrival, but the loss of any number of mass-produced objects is of no consequence to me.
Now it is time to take action of my own.
My goal is to capture the Keren girl, the reincarnation.
Disposing of Ariel’s offspring is my secondary objective, or if Ariel herself should appear, I shall dispose of her, too, if I am able.
This will be a perfect opportunity to test out the new Gloria type-A model.
THE DAY BEFORE THE BATTLE
The day after going to see the barrier, we all gather to discuss countermeasures against the approaching imperial army.
“First of all, if we assume they can’t destroy the barrier, then they’ll most likely target the teleport points, like the little lady said yesterday. Given our own experience teleporting here, I’d like to think the security is pretty solid, but we can’t be sure.”
Hyrince takes the lead, voicing his concerns.
Just as Katia told the elves before, if the imperial army has no means to break the barrier, they must intend to invade using a teleport point.
According to Ms. Oka, due to the special properties of this village’s barrier, it’s impossible to get inside without using a teleport point.
As long as the imperial army can’t destroy the barrier, all we need to do is protect the teleport points to ensure that we avoid any needless battle with them.
The easiest way to do this would be to temporarily disable the teleport points, but the elves’ attitudes yesterday made it clear they would do no such thing.
“Why would they be so stubborn about taking our advice?”
“It’s probably their stupid elf pride. Although they might have just been hiding the fact that they can’t disable the teleport points.”
Hyrince looks disinterested, but that sounds like a pretty important theory to me.
“They can’t disable them?”
“Chances are they can’t. At the very least, normal teleport points can’t be disabled from only one side. You need someone operating on both ends to deactivate them. And once you do that, it takes some time and effort to reactivate them. On top of that, the teleport points here are special, since they have to cross that powerful barrier we all saw yesterday. Maybe they were so snippy about it because it’s too difficult to stop and restart them?”
I see. That makes sense.
“Do you know anything about this, Anna?”
“Regretfully, I do not. There is no hope of a half elf such as myself being privy to that sort of information. My apologies.”
Anna looks terribly morose, and I realize it was foolish of me to ask her.
If I had thought about it for a moment, I would have realized that someone who was persecuted like Anna was wouldn’t have access to such confidential information.
I stupidly reopened old wounds, and on top of that, she told me she was sorry about it? I’m the one who should apologize.
“No, I’m sorry for asking you such a stupid question.”
“Not at all, Master Schlain. You need not apologize for anything. It is I who disappointed you with my incompetence.”
“No, no…” We’re starting to get into an endless loop of apologies, so Hyrince raises a hand to stop us.
“Let’s move on. By my reckoning, we can’t stop the teleport points. Therefore, I believe our best course of action would be to help defend them here. What do you all think?”
“But in that case, what do we do if it turns out that any of the elves have been brainwashed?” I ask.
There could be an elf in the village who’s been brainwashed by Hugo.
If so, they would most likely try to deal with it internally.
“Shun, there’s nothing we can do about that,” Hyrince responds bluntly.
“It’s just as Mr. Hyrince says. Surely we cannot Appraise every elf in this entire village, correct? After all that boasting yesterday, they’ll likely try to keep a situation like that among themselves. If they think they can resist being brainwashed, I’d love to see them try.”
Katia smiles mirthlessly.
She must be still angry about the elves claiming to be immune to brainwashing, since she’s been brainwashed herself.
Her sarcastic tone makes her irritation crystal clear.
“I mean, I know we have no way of finding brainwashed elves if there are any, but should we really just forget about it entirely ’cause of that? If there are, couldn’t they wreak havoc in here or assassinate key people or something?”
“Kunihiko’s right. Besides, we don’t really know for sure that the barrier can’t be broken, do we? In the worst-case scenario, an army of intruders could come in through the teleport points, while brainwashed elves raise a commotion in the village at the same time. What if the barrier does get broken on top of all that?”
Kushitani takes her partner’s hypothetical scenario to its logical conclusion.
“That certainly would be the worst…,” I murmur.
The atmosphere in the room grows heavy.
“I hate to say it, but…that’s not really the worst-case scenario yet, is it?”
Fei opens her mouth and brings the mood down even further.
“You remember, don’t you? There’s someone even worse out there than stupid Natsume.”
At Fei’s words, it all comes back to me.
No, that’s not the right expression.
Those memories haven’t left my mind once.
The person who canceled out my magic with a wave of her hand, who defeated Ms. Oka as easily as if she was twisting the arm of a baby, who Fei took one look at and deemed a “monstrosity.”
“Shouko Negishi.” Fei’s voice is grave.
The reincarnation Shouko Negishi.
Her name in this world is Sophia Keren.
She’s overwhelmingly powerful and seems to be working with Hugo.
And according to Ms. Oka, she’s also one of the reincarnations who’s sided with the “administrators.”
“Negishi? You mean that Negishi?” Tagawa asks uncertainly.
In our previous lives, Shouko Negishi definitely stood out.
So Tagawa and Kushitani seem to remember her, too.
“Oh, it’s her, all right,” Fei confirms, then looks to me.
At her prompting, I explain the incident with Hugo in the capital and what our encounter with Sophia was like.
“Is she really that strong?”
“I took one look at her and knew I couldn’t win that fight—I’ll tell you that much.”
Fei is the strongest of all of us, so her words carry serious weight.
That means no one in this group has any hope of beating Sophia alone.
Incidentally, I got Tagawa’s and Kushitani’s permission to Appraise them earlier.
Both have stats just below mine, higher than Katia’s.
That means they’ll be strong allies, but that also means they’re still weaker than Fei.
If Fei can’t beat Sophia, they won’t stand a chance.
“A power that can cancel out magic, hmm…?”
Tagawa furrows his brow.
“Would that ability work on the barrier?”
Hearing that, I can’t help but gasp.
Clearly, Sophia has some kind of skill that can cancel out magic.
What if she can cancel out the barrier, too?
“I don’t know,” I respond honestly.
I don’t know how strong Sophia’s magic-canceling ability is or what its limits are, and I don’t know how thoroughly the barrier will be able to resist it, either.
But if the barrier can’t stand up to Sophia’s ability, then we can no longer assume it’s impenetrable.
“Uh-oh. So now what? We keep an eye out for the barrier breaking, keep an eye out for intruders from the teleport points, keep an eye out for brainwashed elves running wild, and keep an eye out for some monstrosity who none of us can beat? Give me a break already.”
At Tagawa’s words, the somber mood sinks even further.
“Not to mention, we can’t be sure that Negishi is the only reincarnation with them,” Katia adds, as if to strike the finishing blow.
Is now really the time to say that…?
No, I suppose we have to confront all the possible problems.
Still, I can’t deny that I’ve been avoiding that particular topic.
“We know there are at least three reincarnations against us: Natsume, Negishi, and Hasebe, who’s brainwashed. And according to the information I’ve gathered, there are still two reincarnations whose whereabouts are unknown: Shinobu Kusama and Kyouya Sasajima.”
As soon as those two names come up, especially Kyouya’s, my heart sinks even further.
In our old world, Katia, Kyouya, and I were best friends.
And now, it’s possible that Kyouya has become our enemy.
Just thinking about it puts a pit in my stomach.
“Shinobu and Kyouya, huh? What do you think the odds are that they’ll be with Hugo’s army, Kanata?”
“I’m all but certain that at least one of them will be. It could very well be both, but I can’t say for sure.”
Katia’s words strike home a grim reality.
Judging by what Ms. Oka has said so far, there are almost certainly other reincarnations who have taken the side of the administrators.
Which means that out of the two who are unaccounted for, at least one of them is most likely our enemy now.
And considering that Ms. Oka has stopped searching for the reincarnations, I’m assuming that means she knows where all of them are.
If she knows where they are but can’t bring them back and won’t tell us about it, that hints they’re not on our side.
Like Katia said, we can’t know for sure, but it’s entirely possible that both of them have allied with the enemy.
At the same time, something feels off about it.
Would Kyouya really join up with those mysterious administrators?
Kyouya had a gentle, kind personality.
He was a quiet person who avoided standing out or conflicting with others, but deep down I think he held a strong sense of justice.
When Katia—Kanata—took a joke too far, Kyouya was always there with a firm scolding.
Could that same Kyouya really forgive all the awful things Hugo has done?
“Hey, Katia. Do you really think Kyouya is our enemy now?”
I decide to voice my honest concerns to Katia.
The Kyouya I remember would have never accepted Hugo’s actions.
He was always deeply disgusted by evil deeds.
So actions like forcing a brainwashed Sue to kill her own father or brainwashing Katia into fighting me would go against everything he stood for.
“I couldn’t say. If you only consider the old Kyouya, it would be unnatural for him to support Hugo.”
“Then why…?”
“Because we can’t base our assumptions on our old lives, Shun. Just as we’ve been living different lives in this world, Kyouya has been walking his own path for equally as long. It’s possible he’s become a completely different person in that time.”
She’s right, of course.
We’ve been here plenty long enough for someone to change.
Katia herself has asserted that she’s essentially a different person.
Yuri became obsessed with religion in a way that would’ve been unthinkable for her old self.
And even Hugo didn’t do such insane things back then.
Everyone has changed.
From other people’s perspectives, I might have changed, too, even if I haven’t noticed it myself.
My stubborn belief that Kyouya hasn’t changed is probably just me selfishly clinging to memories of our old lives.
“Yeah…you’re right, huh? I guess it’s possible Kyouya’s changed…”
“Is anyone going to talk about Kusama or what?”
Just as I start to sink into despair, Kushitani cuts in with some perfectly timed dry humor.
“Sorry, Kusama. I guess we all forgot about you.”
Tagawa follows suit, clasping his hands in mock apology to our absent classmate.
Everyone laughs a little, releasing some of the tension in the room.
Kushitani must have said that to lighten the mood for everyone.
Honestly, I don’t know how someone so quiet and thoughtful can spend all her time with the likes of Tagawa.
“Kusama, hmm? I have to admit, I can’t picture that dork joining up with the side of evil, either.”
If Natsume was the leader of the class, Kusama was the class clown.
“I dunno,” Fei drawls. “I bet Shino would hop on board to do odd jobs without any idea what they’re plotting behind the scenes.”
None of us reincarnations can argue with that.
Kusama was definitely the kind of person who would happily run errands for anybody.
Fei would know, since she was always getting him to do stuff for her back then.
“So it is possible that both of them are with the enemy now…”
I don’t want to believe it, but we have to be prepared for the worst.
“So on top of Negishi, who’s stronger than anyone here, we might have to deal with two more reincarnations of unknown strength, too. Like we didn’t have enough problems? Gimme a break already.”
Tagawa’s complaints hit the nail on the head.
We can’t deal with all this alone.
“Yeah, it’ll be tough. But we still have to do it.”
Otherwise, the risks we took to get this far would all be for nothing.
After my resolute declaration, Hyrince steps in.
“Right. Sorry to interrupt while you’re getting all worked up here, but remember, this is ultimately a battle between the empire and the elves, got it? We’re only here to provide backup.”
He pauses for a moment to let that sink in.
“All of us are extras in this battle. It’s not a fight we have to win no matter what. Don’t forget that.”
“But if we lose, the elves—”
“That’s war in a nutshell. Besides, I hate to say it, but I have no obligation to defend the elves. If we can defeat Prince Hugo in this battle, I’ll certainly be thrilled, but honestly, the rest doesn’t really matter to me.”
Hearing this from Hyrince stuns me into silence.
“Listen. Don’t get your priorities mixed up, okay? All you have to do in this battle is protect the reincarnations who live here. And that includes yourselves. After that, your secondary goal is to defeat Prince Hugo. There’s no point worrying about who wins between the elves and the empire. That’s for the elves to handle, not us.”
I can’t help but wonder if he’s saying this because he’s bitter about how rude the elves were yesterday.
But Hyrince is a mature adult, and he’s not done speaking.
“Of course, since we are here to aid the elves, I fully intend to do everything in my power to help them win. But the last thing I want is for any one of you to die for that cause. So if it gets to that point, remember that you can always retreat. Got it? Good.”
Hyrince’s tone doesn’t leave room for anyone to object.
But I can’t bring myself to agree, either.
The rational part of me knows that he’s right, but the rest of me doesn’t want to accept it.
“Shun. I know your history with Prince Hugo. And I know how much this battle means to you. But still, please make sure you put your survival first. I can’t watch another person I care about die right in front of me. Please.”
That’s not fair.
If you put it like that, you know there’s no way I can object.
Hyrince lost Julius and the rest of his friends right before his own eyes.
I can’t refuse a request like that.
“All right. I understand.”
Hyrince breathes a sigh of relief at my answer.
“Personally, I’d prefer that you form a group with all the other reincarnations and stay on the defensive, but you wouldn’t be satisfied with that, right?”
Hyrince looks at me searchingly.
It’s true that based on everything he’s said, it would be safer and more in line with our goals for me to stay with the reincarnations who can’t fight and be prepared to run away if necessary.
But I want to settle things with Hugo, too.
No, that’s not quite right.
To be more accurate, I want to make sure Hugo doesn’t hurt anyone else.
The more he plunges the human world into chaos, the easier it is for demons to take advantage and attack.
My brother Julius gave his life to defend the human race, and now Hugo is threatening to destroy them anyway.
That’s more unforgivable to me than any personal grudge I have against Hugo.
I aim to stop him with this battle.
And when I say I don’t want Hugo to hurt anyone else, that includes the elves.
They haven’t exactly been friendly toward us, but that doesn’t mean I want to see anything terrible happen to them.
I don’t think I have it in me to stand idly by and watch as an entire race gets dragged into war.
So I can’t just stay in a safe place with the other reincarnations and wait.
I have to do whatever I can to protect everyone.
Otherwise, there was no point coming to the village in the first place.
A single glance at my troubled expression told Hyrince all he needed to know.
“Yeah, I figured. So forget that plan. Let’s do as much as we can to help the elves win, then. That way we might get a chance to approach Prince Hugo.”
I’m grateful that he’s so worried about us, but we can’t just leave everything to the hands of others.
“Thank you. And I’m sorry, everyone. I know it’s selfish of me, but I really need to settle things with Hugo. I don’t want to drag all of you into it, though.”
“Oh, don’t apologize. I have a score to settle with Hugo myself, after all.”
“Yeah, hiding out in a safe place sounds lame anyway. I’ll go with you.”
Katia and Tagawa have my back immediately.
While looking at the latter, Kushitani’s expression says that she can’t help but go along with him.
Anna doesn’t say anything, but it looks like she’s quietly steeling her resolve.
Fei, for once, is silent.
I can’t tell what she’s thinking.
“Fei?”
“Mm. Huh? What is it?”
“Well, you seem worried about something…”
“Oh, sorry. Don’t worry about it; it’s no big deal.”
“Is that so…?”
Her tone isn’t very convincing, but since she says not to worry, I have no choice but to trust her.
“So, like we were saying earlier, I think our best bet is to help guard the teleport points. Assuming the barrier can’t be destroyed, that’ll be the most likely target. Even if the barrier is destroyed or if brainwashed elves start working from the inside, all we can do is deal with that when it happens. So it makes the most sense to protect something that we know for sure needs to be protected. If the enemy does ignore the teleport points and starts causing trouble elsewhere, we’ll just have to run over to them then. If that does happen, we’ll probably need your help, Miss Fei. Is that all right?”
“Yes, that’s fine,” Fei answers lightly.
“So basically, we’ll have to play it by ear. Let’s just do what we can, as best we can.”
Hearing those words, a light goes on in my mind.
I recall the words of Basgath, our old labyrinth guide.
“Everyone has things they can do and things they can’t. Trying to do the impossible anyway won’t change a thing. Just stick to what yeh can do.”
He was exactly right.
Maybe I’ve just been too greedy all this time.
I saw the situation as impossible because I was assuming we would deal with everything ourselves.
But all we can do is try our best.
Thinking of it that way, the burden on my shoulders feels a little lighter.
It’s simple. I’ll do what I can do with all my might.
And then I will do my best to fulfill my duties as the hero.
That’s right. I lost sight of what really matters.
Settling things with Hugo is important, but there’s something bigger than that at stake.
Protection. That’s what comes first.
Julius’s main goal as the hero was to protect everyone’s peace.
If I really have to, I can wait to settle things with Hugo in order to put that first.
Because as long as the barrier stays unbroken and we manage to protect the teleport points and any brainwashed elves are dealt with, Hugo won’t be able to lay a hand on the village.
Which means that we won’t be able to lay a hand on Hugo, either.
But that’s all right.
What matters most isn’t settling the score with Hugo.
It’s protecting people from senseless violence.
Doing everything I can to create a better future.
That’s what’s most important.
Right, Julius?
“Yes, I agree with Hyrince’s plan.”
Our goals have been decided. All that’s left to do now is wait.
THE WYRM AND THE HALF ELF
The strategy meeting’s over.
Ugh, my shoulders are stiff.
I flap the wings on my back a few times and stretch.
Man, I’m sleepy, too.
Whether it’s class or a meeting, I guess that kind of thing still makes me sleepy.
I mean, I know that was a really important conversation, all right?
Doesn’t mean I’m not gonna get sleepy, though. I’m just saying.
Sure, it was technically a strategy meeting, but nothing particularly important got decided.
We’re just going to be on standby near the teleport points, really.
I mean, we did get to tell Kuni and Kushitani about Negishi and all, so I guess it wasn’t a total waste of time, but still.
Negishi… Hmm.
Does Shun seriously think he can beat her or what?
I guess it wouldn’t be the first time he’s pushed himself too far.
Hyrince knows that, too, which is probably why he was trying to stop him, but I don’t know if that did any good.
Hopefully, Katia can hold him back, but she doesn’t understand how scary Negishi is, so she might end up wanting to believe that Shun can beat her, too.
Love is blind, after all.
She has a ridiculous amount of faith in Shun, meaning I probably can’t count on her very much.
Ugh…
I’m actually pretty unlucky, aren’t I?
Same for Hyrince, too.
I returned to my assigned room after the meeting, but now my stomach hurts too much to sleep, for some reason.
Maybe I’ll go out for a little walk.
As soon as I open the door and step outside, two elf men are there, as if they were waiting for me.
I barely manage to suppress a scowl.
Instead, I ignore them and keep walking, and the two men silently follow me.
Leave me alone, will ya?
Sooo annoying.
What’s up with these guys anyway?
We’re not criminals, you know.
I don’t get why they have to watch us at all times.
As I wander around irritably, I find a crowd gathering nearby.
It sounds like they’re laughing, too.
That’s odd.
In the time we’ve spent here in the elf village, I’ve never once seen an elf laugh.
They don’t even smile; they just grimace all the time.
But everyone in the group in front of me is laughing aloud.
Is there something funny going on?
I take a casual little peek, not expecting much.
There I see Anna cowering, her cheek swollen and red.
Huh?
Wait, what? What’s going on here?
Is that mark on Anna’s cheek from a punch?
Did somebody hit her?
And these guys are laughing at that?
“Hey, you! What do you all think you’re doing?!”
Right away, I start shouting at them.
The elves stop laughing immediately and turn to stare blankly at me.
Their mechanical expressions make me even angrier.
“This is an issue among us elves. Strangers shouldn’t stick their noses where they don’t belong,” one of the elves says curtly.
He seems to be the leader of this little group.
“Well, let me make something clear, then. Anna is our friend. That means I’m not a stranger, so I’m free to stick my nose in, correct?”
I step up to him and grab him by the collar.
“Or should I stick my fist in instead?”
I ball my free hand into a fist and draw it back.
I would love to pummel the smug elf’s face right now, but I force myself to hold back.
The two guards who were following me have drawn their weapons behind me.
Oh, come on!
I’m trying to stay calm here, so why do you have to go and start things?
“You sure you want to be pointing your weapons at me? I am a member of the real hero’s party, you know. Do you really want to make an enemy of the hero?”
I address all the elves present, not just the two behind me.
The elf whose shirt I’m holding shakes loose from my grip.
“Let’s go.”
The elves all turn their backs and start to walk away.
“Wait right there.”
I grab the ringleader’s shoulder and stop him.
“Apologize.”
“No need.”
“Maybe not for you, but we don’t see it that way. Apologize. Now.”
The elf leader tries to shake me off again.
I dig my fingers into his shoulder just strongly enough to keep him in place.
The elf’s face contorts with pain.
“Do you really think your actions will go unpunished, girl?”
“You’re the one who laid a hand on Anna first, aren’t you? I’ll let you go as soon as you apologize. Go on.”
He still doesn’t give in.
I shrug and start putting more pressure on his shoulder.
Before long, it reaches the point where I might start breaking things if I press any harder.
“All right, all right! Sorry!”
Finally, he apologizes.
When I let go, he glares at me wrathfully but leaves without saying anything else.
Soon, the only people who remain are Anna, the four elves guarding us, and me.
The two who are guarding Anna must have been there when the violence started.
If they just stood there and watched without helping her, what are they even guarding us for in the first place?
“Thank you. I apologize for the trouble.”
“Don’t worry about it. Only a useless moron would stand by without doing anything to help,” I respond, looking pointedly at the guards.
Their eyebrows twitch slightly, suggesting that my barb got through to them.
“Still, what about you, Anna? You’re normally a terror when you’re training us. Why wouldn’t you just give those clowns a beatdown?”
I’m verrry familiar with Anna’s intensity.
She’s the one who helped me level up when I was younger, after all.
I’ll never forget the hellish training she put me through back then.
That’s all well and good, but she also believed the superstition that consuming the flesh of a strong monster would make you that much stronger, so she always used to force me to choke the nasty stuff down.
As the memories bubble to the surface, I let out a pained chuckle.
“If I could do such a thing, I would not have struggled so.”
Anna glances at the four remaining elves.
Ahh.
Even if she wanted to complain, she can’t because these guys are here.
“I can’t believe they’d gang up on one girl, though! For having such long lives, elves sure do behave like children. Even human kids these days wouldn’t do something so immature.”
Since Anna can’t voice her concerns, I decide to complain for her.
…Not that I’m really one to talk, since I was a bully myself in my previous life.
“Are elves aaalways like that? I guess they still haven’t grown up, then. Why else would they do something that even a child knows is wrong? I’m sure that particular group of elves must just be extremely stupid.”
Oof, that one hit home!
I’m sorry, okay?! I get it! I was extremely stupid and childish myself in my past life!
“But I’m sure it’ll be fine from now on! These guys will totally protect you if it happens again, after all. They must’ve just been so shocked that their fellow elves would do something so vulgar that they couldn’t move, right, guys?”
I turn a bright smile toward the two elves who were guarding Anna, and their faces twitch.
They’re picking up on the heavy sarcasm I’m laying down here, then.
But they know that if they argue back, they’ll just be acknowledging that all elves are actually that vulgar.
That’s the setup I was aiming for, anyway.
See, I want to believe that the elves aren’t actually that stupid.
That they know what they’re doing is socially unacceptable.
But it turns out elves are ludicrously prideful.
No matter how much I make fun of them, they’re never going to admit that, yes, they are that stupid.
So all they can really do here is agree, if you ask me.
“Very well. We shall inform the other elves not to sully the dignity of our race.”
I can practically see the veins popping in their foreheads, but they still gave in.
Hey, I did it!
Even if I had to stab myself in the heart a few times in the process.
In my previous life, I bullied a certain girl a lot.
Although I guess I don’t know if you could quite call it bullying.
Her name was Hiiro Wakaba.
That vixen who bewitched the guy I liked with her ridiculously good looks.
Just remembering it makes me mad.
I worked up all my courage to confess to that upperclassman. Imagine how I felt when he said, “Sorry, I like Wakaba”!
I know it’s not really her fault, but at the time, I couldn’t help it.
When I went to her in tears to complain, she did nothing but stare me down with those cold eyes.
I think something inside me snapped at that moment.
Ever since then, I began to view Hiiro Wakaba as my mortal enemy, and I would pick on her whenever I got the chance.
I regularly insulted her to her face.
I hid or destroyed her stuff.
I put a razor blade in her desk.
You know, all the clichés.
But no matter what I did, she just ignored it with a cool expression.
That just pissed me off even more, and it might have escalated if my friends hadn’t stopped me.
“Wakaba’s scary, you know. You better not push her much further.”
Ai and Himi both told me this very seriously, and my other friends said the same.
I knew something was up with her, too, but I just couldn’t stop myself.
Whenever Wakaba looked at me with those eyes that seemed to stare right through me, I couldn’t help getting angry.
Those eyes said I wasn’t even a blip on her radar.
At some point, it stopped being about the guy I liked. I just couldn’t stomach the look in her eyes.
It’s not like I was going out with that guy anyway, and Wakaba didn’t seem to like him back, either, so she never really took him from me in the first place.
Maybe I’m being punished for doing stuff like that.
I thought about that for a while inside my egg.
To be honest, I don’t remember much about being in the egg.
It sort of feels like a dream now, y’know?
But I do remember being trapped somewhere dark and cramped.
And when I finally broke out of that awful place, I was a wyrm.
First I think I died without even realizing it, and then I was reborn as someone’s pet dragon thing.
That’s got to be divine punishment, right?
When I learned that all my other classmates were in this world, too, I made up my mind to apologize to Hiiro Wakaba when I saw her again.
To say sorry for doing all that stupid stuff.
But then I learned that Hiiro Wakaba was already dead.
Which means I’ll be stuck feeling guilty like this for the rest of my life.
Maybe that’s my real punishment.
“Anna, you knew something like this would happen, right? Why would you come all the way here with Shun knowing they were gonna give you a hard time?”
I finally ask something that I’ve been wondering for a while.
I always knew that Anna was pushing herself too far by coming with us.
But I couldn’t figure out why she would stubbornly insist on coming anyway.
Especially now.
She knew that elves hated half elves, and she must have known that she would suffer if she came here.
“I have sworn my fealty to the Analeit royal family. If I were to stay behind for my own sake, it would betray that oath.”
I can’t tell how much of her answer is how she really feels and how much is merely formality.
Personally, I think she has special feelings toward Shun that have nothing to do with that oath.
I don’t think it’s romantic or anything, though.
Maybe it’s more like a maternal instinct?
Yeah, that almost makes too much sense.
Anna sees Shun as her child, I think.
It’s natural for a mother to want to protect her child.
She’s trying to protect Shun from any suffering, no matter how hard it is on her.
It’s not simple loyalty. She probably wants to help Shun no matter what because she has maternal feelings toward him, right?
Thinking about it that way, I feel much better.
Anna is like a foster parent to Shun.
Lucky you, Katia.
I guess this person isn’t your rival after all.
In a sense, though, this bond might be even more powerful.
Motherly love is pretty strong.
It might even manifest more intensely than romantic love.
Shun tends to push himself already, but if he ends up in danger, Anna will probably protect him even if it comes at the cost of her life.
They’re not related by blood, but they’re still basically family.
That means one more person who might throw themselves headfirst into danger.
Man, I’d really like to just let Hyrince handle all this…
I guess I’ll step in if I have to, though.
If that’s what it takes to make sure everyone survives.
THE BATTLE OF THE ELF VILLAGE BEGINS
Right now, we’re waiting by the tree that houses the teleport points.
According to the elves, the imperial army has already arrived at the outer perimeter of the barrier.
Whether they try to break the barrier, attempt to use the teleport points to invade, or cause some kind of chaos with brainwashed elves, I’m definitely expecting them to act today.
It looks like I’m not the only one who feels that way, since the rest of our group is sporting equally tense expressions.
And then it happens.
Suddenly, there’s a loud clamor from the direction of the teleport points.
Something’s going on in there.
And, as we predicted, it’s something bad.
“Let’s go!”
I shout to everyone and run inside the tree to the teleport points.
All the teleport points connected to the elf village lead into this tree.
Like most of the buildings in the elf village, it’s a room hollowed out from one of the giant trees that grow in the forest, not a man-made building.
As we enter the tree’s dome-shaped interior, we find a young man surrounded by elf guards.
“Hey!” he yells. “Nobody told me I’d be surrounded as soon as I teleported here!”
The elf security all thrust their spears at the boy at once, but he suddenly disappears before they pierce him.
What just happened?
“Hey, careful! I could’ve died, y’know! Are you trying to kill me or what?! Oh, I guess you are, huh?”
The boy’s hyperactive voice bounces off the walls, seeming very out of place.
Something about it gives me déjà vu.
I’ve never seen this boy before, but somehow I feel like I know him.
Which can mean only one thing.
“Kusama?”
At my doubtful call, the boy turns to face me.
“Oh, hey! If it isn’t Shun, Kanata, and Kuniyan! Long time no see! And Shinohara and Kushitani, too. S’up?”
The young man greets us cheerfully, as if oblivious to the angry elves who just tried to kill him.
He’s a reincarnation: Shinobu Kusama.
Kusama was always a hyperactive guy in our old world, and clearly that hasn’t changed in this one.
In fact, he’s so unchanged that it’s a little creepy.
“Kusama, if you know who we are, does that mean you’re fine with being enemies?”
Katia speaks to Kusama in Japanese.
That’s right.
Kusama recognized us.
If he was able to tell who we are without being introduced, that means he already knew about us beforehand.
And he used the teleport point to infiltrate the village.
That means he’s knowingly become our enemy.
“R-riiight. Yeah, I guess you could say we’re enemies, huh?”
His tone is reluctant, but still, his answer is clear.
“All right, then! We’ll do our best not to kill ya!”
“Yeeek! No way I can take on all of you at once!”
Kusama shrieks, obviously flustered.
When I Appraise his status, I know he’s not bluffing.
Yes, Kusama’s stats are high.
But they’re about on the same level as Tagawa’s.
He’s not overpowered like Sophia.
My one concern is the Ninja skill, which I’ve never seen before.
It definitely looks like a unique reincarnation skill.
But doesn’t giving him the unique skill Ninja because he has the ninja-esque name Shinobu seem a little too on the nose?
Elf spears strike out toward Kusama again.
They jab right through Kusama’s body—or so it seems, except Kusama is no longer there.
It’s happened again.
Just like the first time, it looked like Kusama was hit, but the space is actually empty.
This must be the effect of the Ninja skill.
I push past the elves who are trying to kill Kusama and stand directly in front of him.
The elves definitely aren’t going to be able to handle this.
I lunge forward, making it look as if I’m about to swing my sword down at him, then instead take another step as I go for a body slam.
“Huh?!”
My body passes right through Kusama without touching him.
Then I see the real Kusama in front of me.
So his mysterious power of evasion is actually the power of illusion.
It’s no ordinary illusion, though.
It’s almost like he’s making copies of himself that disappear when they’re attacked.
It’s duplication jutsu, one of the effects of the Ninja skill.
The Kusama in front of me now is the real Kusama.
I try to hit him with the butt of my sword.
Kusama dodges it by hopping backward.
However, Katia and Fei are already behind him.
Katia’s rapier and Fei’s fist close in on him from either side.
“!”
“Whaaa…?”
Their attacks pierce nothing but air.
He must have used duplication jutsu to dodge again.
The annoying thing about this technique is that he can switch places with the duplicates he creates.
It basically gives him the ability to mimic Short-Range Teleport, making him very hard to capture.
“You trying to kill me?!”
Kusama reappears a short distance from Katia and Fei.
Then Kushitani’s Wind Magic chases him down.
“Gwuh?!”
Looks like it hit him this time.
The mass of compressed air smacks him square in the stomach, and Kusama tumbles to the floor with a strange exclamation.
Tagawa and I close in to catch him.
But then Kusama’s fallen figure disappears.
He’s swapped places with a duplicate again.
What an annoying ability.
I quickly look around, searching for Kusama.
There!
He’s standing on one of the teleport points.
Beneath him, the circle starts to glow.
He’s trying to use the teleport point to escape!
“You’re not getting away!”
Tagawa charges after Kusama.
“Dammit! Wasn’t this supposed to be an easy job where I just sneak in here for a minute?! Stupid geezer!”
Kusama curses.
He brandishes the sword in his hand.
As soon as I see the sword, my instincts scream that there’s danger.
I rush over to stop Tagawa from charging toward him, then Appraise the sword.
“All right, I’m outta here. You guys better run, too.”
Kusama throws the sword.
It flies through the air, much higher than necessary.
“Everyone, get outside now!”
Right as I cry out, the teleport point glows, and Kusama disappears.
After it’s been used once, it takes a short while before a teleport point can be activated again.
If we want to chase Kusama, we’ll have to wait until the teleport point is usable again. By then, he’ll have already gotten far away.
But I can’t worry about that right now.
Starting with Katia, the rest of my group runs outside, perhaps sensing the desperation in my voice.
The elves, on the other hand, react more slowly.
I open my mouth to warn them again, but before I can speak, my body is forcibly pulled back.
“Mr. Hyrince!”
Hyrince sprints toward the door, carrying me along with him.
“It’s no use. Forget them.”
His clipped words effectively summarize the current situation.
The sword that Kusama threw pierces the ground.
Then it explodes with an intense flash of light.
Hyrince turns to face it, bracing against the coming impact with his shield.
He and I are blown away by the shock wave, and we tumble out of the teleport-point tree.
The explosion inside the tree tears it up by its roots.
“The teleport points…,” someone whispers.
Standing up and looking around, I see that everyone in our group is safe.
But the elves who were inside the tree when it exploded are not.
The sword that Kusama threw was a magic sword with a self-destruct effect.
Part 2 of 8