/
Great Sage 7 – Fall to the Ground
“I’ll leave the rest to you, Dragon King”
I pat it’s head and it responds with a small roar.
“W- Wait, what are you doing!”
As I try to jump off, Maya-chan grabs the end of my robe.
“Don’t worry, protective formations have been set up around the Dragon King so attacks won’t reach here and you won’t fall of either”
I pat Maya-chan’s head as well before jumping off the Dragon King’s back.
“You’ll die, idioooot!”
Maya-chan’s screams rang out but at this height they shouldn’t be able to hear from the ground.
I analyse the enemies fighting strength as I descend.
The shopping district is enclosed in some kind of barrier magic and in front of the clothes store, a minivan and a black luxury car is parked.
At the north and south each, there is someone maintaining the barrier.
In the cars before the store, there’s five armed ordinary people and one person wrapped in defense magic.
“No, there’s one more hiding themselves”
After calculating the abilities of the nine attackers and their positioning, I throw out some pieces.
“Set knight to standby inside the shop, set rooks to the barrier mages in the north and south, pawns continue on automatic defense”
This should be more than enough combat strength but I’m still concerned about the one I can’t see.
After dwelling on it a while, I pull out the queen too.
Using suspension magic to decelerate, I drop before the armed men,
“Are you some bodyguard hired by the kitsune?”
The middle aged man with a pot belly, wearing a black suit and sunglasses despite it being nighttime, pointed his gun towards me.
The results of my search magic caused some concern.
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, wig detected”
As expected, it seems I still can’t use magic in this world properly but…..
There’s no mistaking this face.
What happened to you these past 19 years, brother?
×　×　×　×　×
The first time I defeated a monster, I was troubled by the graphic sensation that remained in my hands. Perhaps because it understood human speech and walked on two legs even though it was a pig-like monster that slaughtered even women and children.
“If orcs kill humans in order to survive, then was what I did good or was it evil”
When I asked, master scratched her curly reddish brown hair,
“That might be the case, evil from the orcs point of view and good from the villagers point of view perhaps”
She looked at me uninterestedly.
My master, Great Sage Kate Monblanchet, was always wearing a gaudy dress.
Her physical appearance was around that of a 12 year old human but her almond shaped eyes and facial features were like precisely sculpted glass, almost like an expensive bisque doll.
“Then, what should I do……”
“To the rabbit you ate for breakfast today, there’s no difference between humans and orcs is there. All living beings compete with their lives to survive. Whether for food or to dispute, it is a deed necessary to live. If you don’t like that, then all you can do is to stop breathing and drop dead right now. However, that’s the cowards path”
“Is there no choice but for people to suffer as they live”
“No, in the first place there’s no need to suffer”
I tilt my head,
“Good and evil is a illusion made by man, you can’t measure things with a metric that changes with situation and perspective. However the [fear] you feel is real. And separate from the principles of man or nature, [sin] also exists”
“I don’t really follow anymore”
As I was standing there drenched in the blood of my enemy, Master gazed at me with a smile.
“In order to understand that, you must first discover [something you lack]”
While tiptoeing, she patted my head.
“Those ignorant of the [sins] separate from principles are fools, those who run from those [sins] are cowards. It is enough to teach them them the terror of sin. Then there are those who know of sin and revel in it, if that opposes your principles, then you bear those sins”
“I understand even less now”
With a bitter smile, Master hugs me gently.
“You’ll get dirty”
“Fool, clothes are unimportant. The thing I am concerned for right now is your heart”
Her feeling of her warmth and flat chest pressed against mine began to melt the cold inside my heart.
“Well to put it more simply, you should adhere to your own will”
Master gazed at me with a concerned face while hugging me tighter.
×　×　×　×　×
After that, I would always begin a fight with a question.
“Are you a fool ignorant of sin, a coward fleeing from sin, or a sin I must bear”
“What are you saying? Well whatever, within this barrier, I can shoot my gun as much as I like without getting caught, and your face reminds me exactly of the guy I hate the most”
It’s always the case, but there is no one who answers my question properly.
My younger brother Ryuuki, pulls the trigger without hesitation, producing a cheap sounding bang.
[Name: Makarov, Russian-make handgun]
Weapon analysis magic returns that result but before I can use defense magic, the bullets freeze in midair. It seems that they don’t have the power to pierce though the weak mana that clads my body.
“Tsk, as expected you’re using some strange technique. No matter, you guys, finish him!”
My brother says those small fry like lines and points to the four blond men behind me wearing the same suits.
[Name: AK-47, Russian-make automatic rifle]
As weapon analysis magic returns that result, this time the loud roar of gunshots rings out. Analysis magic works by reading the thoughts floating around the enemy so I can’t grasp it’s performance or strength.
But it seems there’s no need for defense here either.
The problem is that, slipped into the shower of bullets, another enemy took action.
From my robe, I pull out the staff I inherited from my master.
I can’t see this staff as anything but a clothesline but even through all my battles there’s not a single mark on it. Plus if you supply it with mana, you can change the length at will.
Master never said staff and always called it divine tool [Nyoi] but…..1
In reality, she did use it as a clothes line or support bar so I don’t know if it really is a divine tool.
“Extend, Nyoi!”
At my voice, Nyoi extended towards the presence mixed into the center of the bullets, however apart from the gunfire ceasing, I felt no response.
“Dammit, are you some kind of monster”
My brothers legs had given out and he was sitting on the ground, his wig had also come loose but as an older brother I ignore it.
“Interesting technique you’re using, its similar to the vajra staffs from Eizan used by anti demon warriors”2
I look up towards that voice and see a girl in shrine maiden clothing standing atop the minivan.
She holds a hand fan and her smooth black hair sways in the wind.
Under her overly short hakama, her thighs can be seen, and her straight cut bangs also look pretty good.
Two pawns on automatic defense attack her simultaneously but,
“And these are similar to the shikigami we use”
She swings her fan and the pawns lose their mana and fall to the ground.
With a strong will she glares at me with her slant eyes.
This could be pretty bad.3
A beautiful shrine maiden….. I’m so glad I came back.
I activate search magic,
“Height 158 centimeters, hip 78, waist 58, bust 80, C cup”
And such data was displayed.
It’s not related to battle but it’s valuable information so I retain it in my heart.
However, the fight just now has made it clear, there is a discrepancy in my magic.
I didn’t want to use it here but I have no choice but move that piece.
“Oh queen of night who reigns over darkness, in accordance to your oath with me….. rampage!”
As I flick the queen, a black fog envelops me,
“Darling it’s been a while, so where is this and what should I do”
Her whole body covered with chains and leather belts, a young girl with pink long hair that looks no older than seven or eight appears.
“I’ll explain in detail later, there’s a guy who’s skillfully hidden their presence, go restrain them”
“Hmmm, ah, there they are. But that guy’s pretty strong, I’ll be taking remuneration later”
The Queen(Young Girl) turned into black fog once again and disappeared.
The girl in shrine maiden clothes who was watching that scene made an incredibly disgusted face,
“A- Are you some perverted summoner? Making such a young girl wear such indecent clothes. A- As expected I must punish you here”
Her glare sharpens.
Well that’s about what I thought she would think which is why I didn’t want to use her.
My brother and the pretty girl before me are probably both decoys, the real enemy is likely using this chance to aim for Kanako-chan.
“I wanted to play with you more but it seems like that won’t be possible. I’ll settle this now”
Maya-chan, watching from the sky, is trusting in me after all. I wanted more time to fix the discrepancies but I’m feeling but the situation won’t allow it.
“What does a pervert like you think they can do!”
She kicks off the roof of the car and leaps through the sky
She dodges my Nyoi with grace and midair waves her fan to fire confetti at me.
This is probably the [shikigami] that Maya-chan and the shrine maiden girl spoke of.
I was hoping to analyse the shikigami by fighting it but,
“Storage magic, open”
I activate the reliable magic I’ve used many times before to clear the area.
“Eh, what”
I confirm that the girl, along with all her shikigami, is sucked into the subspace that I use in the place of a tent, and follow after Queen.
“Ugyaa!”
Entering the store, I hear Queen’s scream.
It came from the back of the dining room where I ate earlier.
I recover the young girl who had fallen over in the hallway and continue forward to see the door half open with light spilling out.
Below it, a knight had fallen with a scar that showed it had been cut by some kind of sharp tool. Even in the other world, I can only think of a few people who could evade a silmultaneous attack from Queen and a Knight.
“Not to mention this cut”
I have a bad feeling about this but right now I’m concerned about Kanako-chan.
I hurry to open the door,
“What is it Maya, so loud this late at night”
Standing there was Kanako-chan out of the bath, wrapped in a towel.
“Mhm huh, Tatsuya-kun?”
When she saw my face, her mouth opened wide and…..
Her bath towel fell to the ground.
Translator’s Notes:
1: Nyoibou is the Japanese name for Ruyi Bang, Sun Wukong’s staff from Journey to the West.
2: Vajra is a ritual weapon symbolizing the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force).
3: The word yabai means bad or dangerous but as slang also means great or cool.