Chapter 45

Starting today, there will be three consecutive updates.

I will push through to the end of the first chapter, m(__)m

Now that the flow has settled, I will also release my thoughts, m(__)m

Kurou was wearing a wicked smile.

A chuckle escaped from his throat.

Just thinking about Hayato being rejected by Akari made Kurou grin.

That night, just before the kiss, Akari whispered something in his ear. It was the fact that she would become a nun of the 'Moon Goddess' right after the judgment.

If she said such a thing in front of the envoys of various countries, the Elrodiana United Kingdom could not retract it.

It was easy to predict that Akari had aimed for this.

And it wasn't just Akari who aimed for it.

Hayato, too, was likely to aim for the church, imagining that he could carry the burden of all his classmates. He would definitely do it.

And in front of the envoys, he would show his foolish face.

Just thinking about it made the muscles in Kurou's face relax.

Akari said that she had been inspired by the joke Kurou himself had once made, "Why don't you become a nun?" and had come up with the idea.

Just knowing it was his idea made Kurou feel even more delighted.

"Kukuku, uhuhuhuhu"

Seeing Kurou laugh creepily, Yukishiro sighed and gave up.

Her partner sometimes had a bad personality.

It was something like a disease; there was nothing she could do about it.

From any angle, Kurou looked like a completely despicable villain right now.

Kurou and Yukishiro were in the vicinity of the forest campsite.

The sunset was almost gone.

"--- Well, let's go."

Kurou, who had finished laughing, called out to Yukishiro.

The darkness didn't matter much to Kurou and Yukishiro. Rather, it was convenient that they wouldn't be seen by others.

Kurou was about to leave the cave of the White Phantom in the Alerdoria Mountains and set out on a journey.

When he consulted with Yukishiro, she surprisingly didn't object much.

The forest's creatures had died out due to the monster, leaving no prey. A territory without prey had no meaning.

Or perhaps, she anticipated that people would start entering the mountain without the Great Thorned Ground Spider and found it annoying.

In any case, Yukishiro readily agreed to Kurou's proposal.

They had a dog tag as proof of being a hunter and a certificate from Ophelia.

Yukishiro could be disguised as a black panther using autonomous magic.

The conditions for setting out on a journey and finding a new home were all in place.

Just as they were about to leave the campsite, Yukishiro suddenly tensed and glared at a point in the darkness.

She growled, baring her fangs, and was already gathering strength in her hind legs.

"Troublesome, a magic beast."

A figure emerged from the darkness as if slipping out of it.

A girl in all black with black rabbit ears stood there, holding large knives in both hands.

"Wasn't that Hayato's party? What are you doing here... No need to ask, I guess."

Kurou dropped his luggage and drew his kukri knife, pulling out a notebook with his shield hand.

"Die... for Hayato."

Kurou, Yukishiro, and the black rabbit girl stood silently in the darkness, about to engage in battle.

--- Thud

A crimson lightning bolt split the darkness and struck Kurou and Yukishiro directly.

"--- Die for Hayato!"

Erika landed among the trees.

In the darkness, only the red static electricity from Erika's boots stood out.

The black rabbit girl gazed coldly at the spot where the lightning had struck.

Even if this man had no power, he was a hero.

Erika's power as a hero should not affect him.

The black rabbit girl glanced at Erika.

Erika seemed to be in a light state of excitement, her face flushed and her breathing slightly heavy.

It couldn't be helped.

She was trying to kill someone from the same world. Moreover, she wasn't used to killing. Just being able to move normally was a good sign.

Erika, who never disobeyed Hayato, had decided to act on her own for Hayato's sake, even seeking her help in battle. It was unimaginable.

Erika wasn't particularly close to her; they were only connected through Hayato.

She had been asked for help.

Thinking about it, the black rabbit girl realized she was smiling slightly.

It was four days after that day.

Since finding the girl named Akari, Hayato had been thinking deeply.

To be precise, since entering the cave with an unknown man, his eyes had become distant, as if he didn't know where he was looking.

The black rabbit girl watched Hayato intently from the shadows.

Thinking about what she could do for Hayato.

"Ku, can I talk to you for a moment?"

It was Erika who called out to her at that moment.

Ku was the name Hayato had given her first.

Ku nodded slightly and followed Erika.

"Whatever I'm about to say, you must never, ever tell anyone, okay?"

Erika said seriously to Ku.

Ku only knew Erika as the girl who was always swooning over Hayato.

Feeling a bit surprised by Erika's serious expression, Ku nodded as usual.

"Well, I think you're okay, but Hayato has been sworn to secrecy, so you really mustn't tell anyone."

Then Erika began to talk about the relationship between a certain janitor and Hayato.

Why did Erika bring this up to Ku?

When she consulted with Kaede and Fon, they said it was not her place to interfere since it was Hayato's decision.

Alice, in particular, was someone Erika couldn't trust. Erika believed Alice was a spy for Albaum.

"That's the situation. What do you think we should do?"

Ku, who had grown up in an assassination organization, knew more about human malice and the depths of the dark side than anyone else.

Erika couldn't figure out what to do. She thought Ku might have some ideas.

"… Kill him."

Erika gasped.

"That's a bit... "

Ku's red eyes didn't waver.

"… If he… tries to harm Hayato… or uses him… to frame him… even other heroes… are no exception. His existence… is a hindrance to Hayato… just by being alive."

"What do you think about Hayato stealing his power?"

"… Nothing."

"Nothing? You don't blame him for stealing it?"

"… Hayato… saved me. Not that man."

Erika thought about it.

"… That's right. When I was deceived, Hayato saved me, not that man."

"… I will do it. Erika shouldn't… do it."

Erika stared at Ku.

"… I will do it too. I will do anything for Hayato. I decided that back then."

They nodded to each other.

For Hayato, they would do any dirty work.

A kind of intoxication brought excitement, and the tension made Erika's guilt fade away.

The dust raised by the crimson lightning began to settle.

Suddenly, dust flew out of the darkness.

Erika instinctively raised her shield.

The shield almost flew off.

Not to resist, but to deflect. Erika's blessing would be better for that.

Erika remembered Hayato's words as she desperately tried to deflect the impact of the shield and kicked the ground with her crimson lightning boots.

The dust flew out, and Yukishiro, covered in earth and ice, and Erika, wearing the divine blessing of the 'Crimson Lightning Boots,' passed each other.

"Damn it!"

The shield's impact that she couldn't completely deflect sent a dull pain through Erika's shoulder.

But the shield was unharmed. Dragon bone was not for show.

Erika turned around.

Yukishiro was glaring at Erika, who had lost her balance and exposed her back.

For Yukishiro, lightning was, in a sense, an enemy.

She hadn't forgotten the scene of the day she killed her parent beast.

Every time she saw lightning, she felt a bit sad, and when she saw something controlling it, her nerves were on edge.

She wasn't angry.

Weakness led to death.

That was the world Yukishiro lived in.

If enemies were to be considered, Akari and Maximus were also enemies.

But Akari was too weak to even think about it.

Maximus was a bit different.

Just seeing him made her hair stand on end.

But she wasn't angry.

He might be as strong as the one who gave birth to her.

Thinking that, she felt she couldn't control herself.

And at that moment, she realized she couldn't win.

--- But lightning was different.

Just hearing the sound and seeing the light made her frustration grow.

Kurou noticed this and stopped using lightning, but it was overthinking. He didn't mind his partner using lightning.

He just didn't like it when the thing standing in front of him used lightning.

Yukishiro finally turned to face Erika.

--- Boom

Come on.

Yukishiro barked provocatively.

Erika, showing her anger, kicked the ground with her 'Crimson Lightning Boots' and flew at her at low altitude.

Kurou stood up at the spot where the lightning had struck.

"Wow, that's some blessing."

Kurou, who had not been injured by the lightning, seemed to be immune to the blessing.

Looking in the direction where the crackling sound was coming from, he saw that Yukishiro and Erika were already fighting.

Kurou decided to leave Erika to Yukishiro. While he would have been better suited for the fight, Yukishiro seemed to have a particular obsession with lightning. He decided to let her have her way.

What he needed to worry about now was himself.

All he could see was darkness.

Kurou's eyes saw nothing but darkness.

He tried releasing a light spirit, but it only cleared the darkness for a moment before being swallowed up by blackness.

It was a game of cat and mouse, and Kurou gave up on the light spirit magic.

It was night, after all. There were few light spirits, and they were hard to catch.

Next, he tried using a dark spirit to search.

There was no response.

It seemed his opponent was a dark spirit user.

Kurou couldn't see, but his opponent could.

Yukishiro didn't mind the darkness. Erika might be sensing the electromagnetic waves emitted by the human body. And an assassin who had blended into the darkness would naturally not be bothered by it.

"Why does it have to be this way?"

He lamented being targeted by an assassin.

But he knew the reason.

It was because of his own abilities.

What didn't work well in Japan wouldn't suddenly work well in this world.

He could become a soldier, but he couldn't handle the intrigue. He wasn't suited for that kind of thing, Kurou thought with a wry smile.

But he couldn't die here.

If not, he had to do what he could.

Kurou opened his notebook with one hand.

Without any context, a large knife was thrust into the back of Kurou's neck.

"…!"

In an instant, another knife slashed his opposite neck.

Neither of them reached Kurou.

But Kurou's consciousness felt the destruction of the physical barrier. It felt like glass breaking.

Kurou swung his kukri knife from below.

The assassin, without a word, dodged it and melted back into the darkness.

Kurou reestablished the barrier.

At that moment, he felt another blow to his thigh and armpit, and the physical barrier was broken again.

He swung his kukri knife in the direction of the impact, but it didn't even graze the target.

Kurou reestablished the barrier again.

And again, two more impacts.

Kurou swung his kukri knife, but it didn't even graze the target.

This continued for a while.

After about ten repetitions, Kuu's face appeared faintly from the darkness.

"Who are you…?"

No matter how many times the physical barrier was broken, it was instantly reestablished.

Clearly, two barriers were being destroyed.

… Two barriers?

Kuu realized something.

And it led to more questions.

"Sure. If you want to know… there's nothing. Really."

Kuu felt a moment of irritation at the condescending look but quickly suppressed it.

Just kill him. Other things are unnecessary.

If the number of attacks was insufficient, increase them.

Kurou almost fell forward from the impact of four consecutive attacks to the back of his knee, thigh, armpit, and neck.

Blood trickled down his chest. A cut had appeared on his neck.

He couldn't detect the attacks at all.

Gradually, the attacks increased, and with them, the wounds.

Though not fatal, blood was flowing from wounds all over his body.

He couldn't keep up with the healing.

While reestablishing the barrier, the next attack came.

The gaps in his armor were being targeted accurately.

Kuu, despite her many questions, continued to slash at the target.

The slashes went through, but the magical poisons had no effect.

The magical poisons Kuu used were a secret technique of the assassination organization, combining a magic array and an activation body. Their effectiveness had been confirmed.

It was unbelievable, but the target was now maintaining two physical barriers.

One was a life spirit magic barrier, and the other was an autonomous magic barrier.

It was already unbelievable to maintain two barriers during combat, but the fact that the magical poisons had no effect suggested either a physical constitution or a third barrier.

Kuu confirmed this.

She gathered the wind, compressed it into a small sphere, and launched it.

Kurou felt an invisible impact and heard the sound of the magic barrier shattering in his consciousness.

It was probably compressed air.

More