Mass-produced knife magic devices. In the game, mass-produced products are one of the products sold in the shop. Since the cost (the number of devices that can be equipped differs by the total amount of magic power one has) required to equip it is very low, it is often equipped in the extra slot.
Mass-produced devices rarely drop in dungeons, and most of them are dropped from human-type small-fries. The more you defeat them, the more such devices are dropped, so it is used to earn some coins by selling those devices in the shop. Of course, their performance is not high.
For example, the knife-shaped magic device that I am currently using has only one slot, which means I can only equip one console. Just to activate Light spell, I have to synchronize it with the other one on the waist by creating Light (light ball) with 『Attribute: Light』, 『Generation: Ball』, replace the device with the other one, and shoot the ball with 『Control: Shoot』 console.
By the way, since Ojou’s 『Ophelia’s Indulgence』 is a necklace-type, it is not suitable for close combat. Moreover, it only has 1 slot, so it was often said to be less powerful than even a mass-produced magic device. Because of that, that device is called 『An order-made device that is made to be inferior to mass-produced devices』, 『A holy relic that only the person with the weakest title (Ophelia) can have』, 『A magic device that is used by the Underdog to do her underdog-ness』, and 『The Craftsman: “I attached a slot in that device by mistake… It’s fine, I guess ^_^”』 by Esco fans.
At any rate, what I wanted to say is that leaving aside exceptions, mass-produced magic devices are weak.
If it was Kuki Masamune, the magic activation would have been made it in time– however, now, probably because this magic device’s conductivity of magic power is low, the activation of the magic is delayed by a few more seconds than usual–
“Shit!!”
An arrow struck in the palm of my hand. And after a delay, Light (Light ball) activated.
In no time, the dazzling ball of light exploded, making the elves groan while covering their eyes with one hand.
After pulling the arrow out of my hand, I picked up Lapis and started to flee.
“Hiiro…”
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With tears flowing from her eyes, Lapis buried her face in my chest.
“I’m glad… you are alive… I am really glad… I… I don’t know what I should do if Hiiro is gone… I… I am…”
“I am not someone who quits while I am ahead, after all.”
I smiled at her.
“Whether in the world of the dead or this world, I’ll be by your side until our matter is settled.”
As if delirious with a high fever, with her cheeks dyed red, she stared at me, nodding.
Dangerous, dangerous… for the time being, Lapis and I have returned to our rival relationship… because although I came to save her while being prepared to have my true identity revealed since it is an emergency… it would surely be something irreparable if her favorability toward me increased any further.
While thinking like that, I ran up the stairs, until–
“This is as far as you go!!”
With bows in their hands, the elves pointed the tip of their arrow toward me.
“To think you tried to kidnap our Princess in the middle of the ceremony… you imbecile… to think a mere man dared to use his dirty hands to touch the Princess of the Lumet Royal Family… you should be prepared…”
“You bastards are the ones who should be prepared.”
With anger, I glared at them.
“If it’s the man that Lapis loves, then I wouldn’t complain… because I’m not going to impose Yuri toward someone… because it would be meaningless if this girl isn’t happy… However, you bastards pushed an undesired future toward this girl for something shitty such as the balance between the clans or something… in that case, I will bring myself to get sandwiched between you bastards and this girl…”
“I don’t know what you are talking about. However, are you going to risk your life for such foolish pride?”
“If it wasn’t for this foolish pride that you said, this girl would cry!! That’s why, this pride is!! Something that is worth risking my life for!!”
Pressured, the elf gradually retreated.
“Get lost. I am risking my life here, while none of you are risking something here. You bastards are not my match.”
As I took a step, the elf girl retreated– and I shouted.
“If you don’t have the courage to risk your life for this girl, GET LOST!!”
“Gu… ugh…!”
At that moment, I heard the sounds of rotating wheels and laughed– bam– the granny’s bike charged from the top of the stairs, sending the elves flying, and the reinforced front wheels dug into the wall.
Heine, with her gray hair fluttering, brought her right fist under her chin and glared at me.
“I came by bicycle.”
She stared at me, seemingly dissatisfied with something, with her cheeks pouting.
“I’ve been waiting above, but you never came. Get on quickly, Founder. We came by bicycle and will also return by bicycle.”
“Make sense. Nice timing, Heine. Lapis, Heine will be pedaling the bicycle, so get on behind her. Our cool pickup has arrived.”
“No, why a bicycle?!”
To the surprised Lapis, I nodded.
“It’s a deep culture peculiar to Japan. Riding a bicycle with a girl in our youth is recommended by the Constitution of Japan.”
“Ah, I think Hiiro is the first one in history to come to Alfheim by bicycle…. r-really, why did you come by bicycle…?”
I brought my fist under my chin alongside Heine and said.
“”We came by bicycle.””
“No, that’s not an answer.”
While I took Lapis to the back seat, Heine was hitting the elves with the radishes in the basket.
“How about I ride the bicycle while Hiiro gets behind me…? Hiiro is injured, after all… you can even lean on my back… how is it…?”
“I will run. That seems to be more convenient in many ways.”
“But… your injuries…”
“Don’t worry, it just scratches. Rather than that, let’s put escaping before anything else.”
Softly, Lapis grabbed the hem of my clothes and looked up at me with moistened eyes.
“You will… be by my side, right…?”
“Aa, I will be by your side.”
I will always watch the Yuri that you weave by your side (refreshing smile).
Then, with an exquisite handle technique, the granny’s bike bringing a bride runs up the stairs, and I followed it from behind.
“Kya! It’s shaking!”
“Hang on. Founder’s bride is also my bride. So I will take good care of it.”
“Who is the Founder…? Or rather, what kind of relationship do you have with Hiiro? Friends? Y-you aren’t going out with him, right? Kya!”
“You will bite your tongue. Be silent and hang on.”
“T-thank you…”
Two girls who have just met for the first time are riding on a granny’s bike with their bodies touching each other. And I, who followed them closely from behind, was running while grinning.
Wonderful… Heine x Lapis, doable… really GOOD…. the picture in front of me is kinda pure… or should I say, riding a granny’s bike together is just kind of romantic… Did Arshariya-sensei prepare a granny’s bike for this… if that’s the case, sensei is really a genius… still, I hope she dies…
Next to me who was running, Arshariya suddenly popped up.
“Why are you running while laughing with your body drenched with blood….?”
“Because I am happy.”
Hearing that, Arshariya’s smile stiffened.
“I think you already know this, but you can’t use the dimension gate you used when you came here. Unless you can fly in the sky.”
“I know. It has fallen, after all. I have an idea of another escape route, so don’t worry.”
Recalling the map in the game, we turned around the corridor lined with red carpet– and saw a green robe in front of us.
“Heine, stop!!”
*Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii*
Heine, who got off the bicycle, put on the brakes with both of her feet while sliding.
Robes with magic lines embed in them like veins of a leaf… the Alfs (Lapis’s Shadow) who appeared one after another from every corner of the corridor filled the corridor with the dark fog that was generated from the inside of their robes.
Subsequently, lightning of magic power began to swell up.
“…”
From the other side of the fog, green eyes are staring at us.
Lens (Far sight spell)– the magic used for precision shooting had already been activated as their eyes were covered with magic circles for magic operators.
The six Alfs then gently take out their magic devices. At the next moment, the fog gathered in their hands and took the shape of a bow without sound.
This is bad. With cold sweat dripping from my back, I stared at the six elites selected from each clan.
All of them are stronger than the current me… even for Heine, it is impossible to deal with six well-prepared Alfs… if we can’t go through here, we won’t be able to reach the room used for ceremonies… the dimension gate in Alfheim…
With my right hand wet with sweat, I gripped the knife behind my waist.
The other elves are chasing us from behind… which means, we can’t go back… we have no choice but go through the gap… all or nothing, we have to charge…!
“Heine, I’ll attract them!! Go!!”
As soon as I said that, I lowered my posture and pulled out my sword–trying to charge toward them, until–
“Hiiro-sa~n, it’s been a while~! Please go through~!”
One of them stopped me with an idiotic voice. She is the leader of the Alfs. She, who had golden frizzy hair, called me with a relaxed voice.
“Why are you spacing out? You can go through immediately, you know?”
“… is it okay?”
“Of course.”
Nervously, I took the bicycle and passed by their side. When I looked back, except for some dissatisfied Alfs, most of them gave me a friendly smile.
“Because what we protect isn’t just the life of our Princess.”
The leader of the Alfs bent the corner of her mouth.
“Princess’s heart is also something we had to protect… Well then, Hiiro-san. See you. Leave the rest to us.”
“Mira!! I am sorry!!”
With a bitter smile, the frizzy-haired girl stroked Lapis’s head.
“It’s not ‘sorry’, but ‘thank you’, right…? Well then, goodbye. From now on, after stopping them, we will have to face the sermon course, after all.”
“… you won’t be killed, right?”
The leader of the Alfs– Mira Ahat Schatten bent the corner of her mouth with her eyes shining.
“There is no one who can kill us, so there is no way we will get killed.”
Then, as the large number of elves arrived and saw Alfs standing in their way, they yelled.
“Are you betraying us, Alfs?!”
“Betraying you?”
Mira and the other five smiled and melted into the fog.
“Don’t get me wrong, you bastard.”
Along with a loud laughter, Mira’s voice echoed.
“From the beginning– this is our job.”
A deafening shooting sound echoed, and at the same time, we jumped into the ritual room, as if oppressed by the sound.
The room was full of green. We can even hear the sound of birds singing peacefully. At the back of the hall, which was colored with greenery and flowers, there was a huge mossy rock… and in the center of that rock, there was a shimmering colorless cavity.
Near the rock, six Alfs are waiting for us. They wore transparent white dresses, lined up in pairs, forming a pseudo-passage leading to the giant rock. With their eyes closed, they continued to chant while being surrounded by pale light. Fragments of chanting are rising from their skin, and the letters are visible to our eyes. Those black character strings are scattered in the air before becoming one with the atmosphere.
“Hiiro, the gate is not stable because there are only six chanters!! We have to go now!! Get on!!”
Lapis extended her hand. And as I grabbed that hand, Heine, who was standing pedaling, rotated the wheels with all her might– and as the gate was about to close– we rushed into the gate at once.
*Gooonggg*
The granny’s bike that plunged into the road is obviously destroyed, throwing us to the road. But perhaps because our physical ability were different–
“YES, landing successful, perfect score of 10.”
–different from us who are spinning around, Heine landed beautifully on the ground.
I, who was thrown away from the bike, embraced Lapis in a hurry before rolling on the road.
“That hurts… Lapis, are you okay…?”
I tried to ask, but Lapis, whose face was red, didn’t move even the slightest with her eyes wide open.
“Lapis… oi… are you okay…?”
“Un…”
Lapis slowly closed her eyes and embraced me.
“I am fine…”
“No, if you are fine, I’d like you to separate yourself from me, though… hello… are you listening… hello…?”
To be honest, I can’t put any strength in my limbs. So, without being able to do so, I looked up at the full moon and left it to relief and smiled.
“Still, you sure got it rough. To think you were about to get married to a man you didn’t even like. But now, it’s already fine. Don’t worry. You now can marry a girl of your choice–”
“Eh? What do you mean by getting married?”
“…. ha?”
The smile disappeared from my face.
On my chest, Lapis tilted her head, as if confused.
“… your fiance is a man, right?”
“No, it’s a girl. Besides, I’ve already broken my engagement.”
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“… You were about to get forced to get married in order to balance the power of the clans, right?”
“Are you talking about the cleansing ritual? Did that look like a wedding ceremony from a human’s perspective?”
“… at that time, the elf you were facing was a man, right?”
“No, it was a girl. There is no way it was a man. After that, we have to hug each other lightly, after all. There is no way someone from the Lumet Royal Family such as me can hug a man.”
“… B-but, there were tear marks on Lapis’s face, right?”
“That was because Hiiro suddenly disappeared… I was crying every night… Besides, even though I decided to go back to Japan to look for Hiiro, my grandmother didn’t let me go… So, when Hiiro came to pick me up, I was very happy…”
Trembling, I stared at the demon standing under the night sky. Cigarette smoke danced in the darkness. And behind that smoke, the demon Arshariya was laughing happily.
“As expected, this is my long-cherished desire. When it comes to putting a man between Yuri, the plan went well from one to ten. Hiiro, you’re really stupid to believe such a half-assed lie. I should have done this from the beginning. Right, Hiiro-kun?”
With her eyes closed, Arshariya whispered with an emotional expression while illuminated by the light of the full moon.
“Your despaired face… is truly beautiful.”
Arshariya bent the corner of her mouth, just like a crescent moon.
“How does it feel to hold a beautiful girl, whom you risked your life for in order to significantly raise her favorability, in your chest?”
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“A… a… ah….!”
And I– screamed.
“HOW DARE YOU DECEIVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! HOW DARE YOU DECEIVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!”
While crying, I writhe in agony.
“I will never forgive you… Arshariya… I-I will… never forgive you….!! Aa…!! A-a…!!”
I covered my face with both hands and screamed.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
“Hiiro?! Does the wound hurt?! Are you okay?!”
My scream went into the night sky. It stretched into the endless darkness… and after being nursed by Lapis and the others who were worried, I finally returned to the academy.