Chapter 46

Previous Summary:

Yuna Iino: "Huh, someone's talking about me!?"

(※This part is fast and stiff. It's mostly accurate.)

28

Leaving Shiran behind, we began tracking Sakagami. The surviving transferees, including the three injured knights who couldn't be healed by recovery magic and couldn't keep up, took separate action. They should be hiding in one of the fort's rooms by now.

For the time being, we are in an area where no monsters have invaded, so we should be safe for a while. At the very least, it should be better than running around the fort with us.

On the other hand, Kannon and Kai are accompanying us at their own request.

Kannon has the "Aerial Knight" ability, and Kai can use several spells, including recovery magic. As rear guards, they can be quite helpful... or rather, with the number of knights now below twenty, the truth is that we want to mobilize any available combatants.

After parting ways with Mihara and the others, we first headed to the inner wall where Sakagami was last seen.

On the way, just as we reached the stairs, Lily discovered Sakagami's trail. It seems Sakagami is no longer on the inner wall.

"It looks like he's fled to the outer perimeter of the fort."

"Even though the monsters on the outer wall were decimated by Watanabe's magic, there are still monsters that have invaded the fort's interior. For him, it's a safe zone. There's no better place to hide."

Lily sniffed the air, and I chased after her, running.

"...We need to catch him soon."

The image of the elf girl we had just parted with flashed through my mind.

"Don't rush, Master."

Lily, glancing back, said. I shook my head.

"I know... I think."

I smiled wryly. There was no point in putting on a brave face with Lily, who is connected to me through the pact.

I couldn't help but think, "If only Rose were here..." If she were, we could have split our forces and sent Lily ahead. Or, if Gerbera were here, she could have cornered Sakagami with Shiran.

As I was thinking this, Asarina let out a hoarse cry and Ayame licked my cheek. They seemed worried about me too.

I reined in my wry smile, suppressing the anxiety in my chest, and spoke.

"Captain."

I called out to the woman running alongside me a little distance away.

"...Ah. Takahiro-dono. What is it?"

Her response came a beat late.

I wondered if she was deep in thought and asked her.

"What about what Sakagami said, how much of it is true?"

From my perspective, he seemed to be speaking sincerely. I wanted to verify if it was true, if possible.

"I heard that we can't return to our original world. Is it true that even that can be overturned with cheat abilities?"

"How... could I know? I have no knowledge of such cases. What we know about the blessings of the heroes is only what we are taught by the church. Perhaps the church has records of such things..."

The captain slowly shook her head.

"I have also heard that the souls of the heroes are different from ours. However, I never imagined..."

Her expression turned gloomy, and her words wandered.

She is a resident of this world. It's impossible for her not to be shocked by the atrocities committed by the heroes they revered.

From this, it seems that asking about the facts regarding the souls of the transferees would be futile.

I didn't really expect the people of this world to have knowledge like "Can you gain more magic power by killing a hero than by killing a monster?" from the beginning, so it's not a problem.

Moreover, the situation of having multiple heroes, which is supposed to be one per generation, has been rare, so it's unlikely that such knowledge has been accumulated.

However, the idea that "killing a hero will give you more magic power than killing a common monster" makes sense when you think about it.

It is known that killing a more powerful monster gives you more magic power. Killing a hero, who possesses immense power, would naturally give you a lot of magic power. Of course, the idea of targeting powerless transferees before they realize their cheat abilities is monstrous, and actually doing it would be the act of a madman.

Putting aside the ethical aspect, even in terms of efficiency, it doesn't make sense.

Today, Sakagami has killed nine transferees. If his magic power really increased by about ten percent as he claimed, it would mean that to gain the magic power of one hero, nearly a hundred sacrifices would be needed.

The magic power gained from killing monsters is minimal. No matter how many you kill, you won't notice a significant increase in magic power, so in that sense, it is indeed more efficient. However, this is only true when strengthening a single individual. The amount of magic power gained from killing one person is still very small.

This is probably why, when I was in the forest, I didn't notice an increase in magic power despite harming other transferees.

So far, I have harmed four people: the three who were assaulting Mr. Kato in the mountain cabin and Kaga, whom I defeated. However, strictly speaking, I didn't directly harm three of them.

Lily did.

Reflecting on this, I realized there might have been some effect on Lily.

When we first met, Lily was a weak monster that was nearly killed by the counterattack of a broken Magical Puppet despite using her strongest attack. Yet, within twenty days, during the attack by the white Arachne, she displayed combat abilities that surpassed even the rare individual Rose.

Until now, I thought it was due to her mimicry ability, but perhaps this growth was too rapid to be explained by that alone?

...Of course, the truth is unknown. Especially for the first two, who had significant changes, Lily had just consumed the body of Mizuho Mijima. If there was any effect, it would have been mixed, and even Lily wouldn't have noticed. If I had harmed four people at once, it might have been different...

"...Hm?"

Thinking this far, I frowned.

I noticed something odd.

I didn't notice an increase in magic power when I harmed a single transferee.

Then, how did Sakagami notice it?

Indeed. From Sakagami's statements, if he had known in advance, he could have noticed a ten percent increase in magic power by sacrificing nine people.

But what if it was five percent?

Especially if he didn't know in advance?

It's not like looking at a graduated cylinder in a chemistry experiment. At least, he wouldn't have noticed with just two or three sacrifices. Wouldn't he need to kill ten or twenty people at once?

But if that's the case, it's strange.

Because during the time from when the first expedition team left the colony until now, there hasn't been a major incident where multiple people disappeared at once, other than being killed by monsters.

If such a big trouble had occurred, the expedition team wouldn't have had the luxury to form.

So, did such an incident occur after the expedition team left the colony?

However, that's also hard to imagine. The expedition team consists of all cheat ability holders. It would be difficult for Sakagami, who is just one warrior, to kill several people in a short time. Moreover, Iwano, who is now in the forest, and the deceased Watanabe, didn't mention any such incidents.

Most importantly, they didn't show any signs of having experienced such a gruesome event while acting as heroes.

Their journey was smooth until Watanabe's head was cut off.

Thinking about it deeply, it seems that even without Sakagami, such an opportunity didn't exist. It was puzzling.

...Then, perhaps it's more constructive to consider a different angle.

No fact can be shared as knowledge without the first person knowing it.

Under what circumstances, and who, could have noticed this fact?

I need to find an incident where multiple transferees were killed or disappeared.

It didn't happen before the expedition team left. It didn't happen after they left. So, it must have been...

"..."

I realized I was breaking out in a cold sweat.

...Is there one?

One incident that fits.

There's no other possibility.

At that time, it's certain that many people would have noticed an increase in their magic power. Because it's not just a few or a dozen, but possibly hundreds of transferees were killed.

—The collapse of the colony.

On that tragic day, many must have noticed this fact.

But that was after Sakagami left the colony.

It's impossible for him to have known what was learned there.

...Is it really?

"Hey, Master."

"...! What is it?"

Lily's voice startled me. I turned to see her stern profile.

"There's a monster ahead. We'll be engaging soon. I'll go, but be careful."

"Ah, okay..."

I nodded at Lily's warning and gripped my sword's hilt. My palm was slick with cold sweat.

—The possibility that someone involved in the colony's collapse passed on the knowledge to Sakagami.

It sounds far-fetched, but when you think about it, it's not.

For this hypothesis to hold, a long-distance communication method is needed.

In this world, there are no convenient communication methods like telephones from our world.

However, there are alternatives. I know this.

Shiran rescued the transferees in the mountain cabin deep in the forest because a rescue request was sent from the Ebenus Fort in the east, where the expedition team had arrived, to the Chiria Fort using a magical communication method.

This world has ways to communicate over long distances.

The question is whether there are people who can use these methods.

Among the cheat ability holders, there are those who can use fifth-tier magic, which the people of this world can only reach up to the third tier. It's not impossible for someone to use magic that the people of this world can handle. In fact, I have proven that I can maintain a magical connection even when far apart, as evidenced by when I was drained by Gerbera during the white Arachne incident. If there are people with specialized abilities for such communication, it's entirely possible.

Thinking about this, another question is answered.

When did Sakagami and Sakagami start working together?

The first stage of the transferee-killing plan was when Sakagami staged the defeat of the Green Caterpillar just before we reached the fort. So, their collusion must have started before we arrived at Chiria Fort.

On the other hand, Sakagami came to Chiria Fort with other transferees because he was discovered by the rescue team led by Shiran. Therefore, the plan must have been made after that.

During this period, Sakagami and Sakagami, who were moving to Chiria Fort through different routes, had no opportunity to meet directly. After arriving at the fort, they couldn't sit down and plan together.

However, if there was someone connecting them, it would explain this.

The "someone" who passed on the information from the colony's collapse to Sakagami also connected him with Sakagami to set up the attack on Chiria Fort and the massacre of transferees.

However, with long-distance communication abilities, it's impossible to know where this "someone" is. They could have been in the collapsing colony, or even in the expedition team, now enjoying a leisurely tea time at Ebenus Fort.

...Therefore, it's not limited to Sakagami and Sakagami.

When I realized this, I couldn't help but shudder.

Could the evil that corroded the colony and led to its collapse have also infected the first expedition team?

If the deviants who are praised as heroes in this world were to lose control of their god-like powers again... this time, not in a secluded deep forest, but in the human world.

...I don't even want to think about it. It would undoubtedly be terrifying.

We don't have plans to join the expedition team in the future. If they just self-destruct, we shouldn't suffer direct harm.

However, a vague but strong sense of unease was growing in me.

Would it really be that simple?

The world is interconnected. People influence each other, no matter how small the connection. If it's a group with immense power, can anyone remain unaffected when they go out of control?

"Then, I'm going, Master!"

...There's no point in thinking about it now.

I switched my thoughts. Now is the time to solve the immediate problem.

I chased after Lily, who was leading the way to fight the monster. I tried to focus solely on that.

But the dark shadow lurking in the corner of my mind wouldn't go away.

***

Naturally, the closer we got to the outer perimeter of the fort, the higher the encounter rate with invading monsters. We had engaged in battles with monsters multiple times.

We had also anticipated encountering the remaining forces of the fort, but it seems many of them had been killed, as we hardly saw any survivors.

"...There's no hope for reinforcements."

We had to make do with the less than twenty people here.

Suppressing a sigh, Kannon spoke to me.

"But, if you think about it, it could be seen as a good thing that you, who were leading the monsters, weren't targeted with swords like before."

"True. Besides, even if we had joined up, there's a possibility that a Doppleganger was mixed in."

"Ah, that's true."

As we were talking, Lily glanced back.

"About the Dopplegangers, you don't need to worry too much. If the soldiers were packed together like on the inner wall, it would be hard to tell which one is the Doppleganger, but there aren't that many soldiers left."

It was a disheartening thought.

How many people are still alive in this fort? How many can we save even if we capture Sakagami? There's not much we can do.

"Ah. More enemies. This time, three of them."

In the corridor littered with the bodies of soldiers, we entered another encounter battle, which we had experienced countless times.

Lily usually handles the enemies, but when multiple enemies appear, it's not that simple. I called out to the captain.

"Leave the Green Caterpillar to the knights! We'll handle the rest!"

"Understood!"

Lily, who was leading, skewered the Fire Fang's throat with a spear, and Ayame shot a fireball at the Green Caterpillar to keep it at bay. The knights charged in with their large shields.

I sent Asarina after the chicken-like monster with feathered arms, the Guts Gallas. Asarina successfully bit the chicken's face.

"Ughhh!"

Asarina contracted her body, and I approached the Guts Gallas at high speed.

I dodged the punch that came with a scream, stumbled, but managed to slash the bird's legs as we passed each other. A scream echoed behind me.

"Ughh!?"

I fell and rolled on the hard stone floor but, with Asarina's help, managed to get back up without losing momentum.

I ran down the corridor. I didn't have time to waste on fighting.

I sensed magic behind me, and Lily caught up quickly. To prevent the monsters we had pushed through from chasing us, she must have finished off the less injured Green Caterpillar. But this couldn't go on forever.

"Still haven't caught up to Sakagami, Lily!"

"The scent is getting stronger... Ah! More enemies!"

In the distance, I saw a group of monsters in the corridor. There were quite a few. I was about to curse when Lily's voice reached me.

"—Found it!"

Sure enough, looking closely, I saw Sakagami's figure.

He seemed to have felt relieved to be in a place with many monsters and was sitting down to rest.

When he noticed us approaching, he hurriedly stood up.

"Not letting you get away!"

With our target in sight, we increased our pace. However, we were still quite far away. Moreover, the monsters, who had noticed us almost simultaneously with Sakagami, were rushing over. There were many of them.

"Go, Lily! No holding back!"

Lily activated her magic. A third-tier wind spell. The corridor was filled with blades of wind, and fireballs from Ayame rained down, finishing off the monsters.

We charged through the weakened monsters.

It was a chaotic melee. We focused on pushing through. We struck with shields, deflected claws with swords, and jumped over snapping jaws.

Despite a few close calls, thanks to Ayame and Asarina's protection, I managed to break through the battlefield.

"The others...!?"

"Still behind."

Looking back, only Lily had managed to break through with me.

The initial attack had wounded the monsters, but their numbers were still a threat. The knights, burdened by their heavy armor and protecting