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Chapter 20
Chapter 1, Childhood Friend And I — Episode 20 : Demonic Being
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
The monster we’ve encountered…
That was a golem. But it’s not the size of a slightly larger than human being. A giant… no, it’s so big that it’s not too much to say a robot. That would be as big as the White Devil in Odaiba, Yokohama, and Fukuoka.
「This thing, it’s moving!」
The calm Shirakaba-san shouted impatiently. Even the mighty Self-Defense Forces personnel in the film probably had never dealt with such a ridiculously large object in the flesh.
But no matter how distracted I was by the Kobolds, if such a huge thing was advancing, I would have noticed it earlier. And it wasn’t just me, the Shirakaba-san and others were completely unaware of it.
Does that mean they suddenly sent us here in some way? Concealment, summon, disguise, and many other things were considered, but now it’s more…
Is it metal? Or perhaps stone? The golem, made of a material that I am not sure of, tries to overrun us. If we were stepped on its foot like that, I’m pretty sure it would flatten us out like a piece of paper.
「Birch-san, how can we…」
Still, the movement of this big thing is strange.
The monster comes after our healer. Marielle told me that she didn’t see any indication that she was being targeted.
And although it stomps on us, it doesn’t have anything that looks like a weapon, nor does it feel like it’s built in. We can never be too careful, though.
「I don’t expect to fight someone this big. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a way.」
「Really? My ex-boyfriend collected all that stuff and then cheated on me so I threw it all away to spite him! Don’t be so lenient, I’m going to destroy this one!」
Rina-san was kind enough to throw in some great information, but I somehow knew what Shirakaba-san was going to do, so I said…
「It’s the feet, isn’t it!」
「Yes, the Battle of Hydaspes!」
The Great King vs. the Elephant.
I don’t know much about it either, but I remember it because it was such a power word fight.
「Rina-san, rain clouds please!」
「Ahh, err, okay!」
Rina was a little puzzled, but Shirakaba-san nodded her head, so it seemed that I was right. Both Shirakaba-san and I load the scroll-enclosed gund into the launcher and wait for the rain clouds to arrive.
【Catastrophe】（Heaven’s Calling）
Is it the fluorescent bagua effect when Rina-san waves her wand widely toward the heavens? I thought I saw something like a hologram floating in the sky, and then rain clouds began to gather in the clear, cloudless blue sky, and it became dark all at once.
When I first accompanied Rina-san, we both got soaking wet, but I guess we got used to handling it, and the water pressure is so tremendous that even a guerrilla downpour is pouring down on just the golem with pinpoint accuracy, making it run away barefoot.
「Don’t lick the weather lady♡」
Rina-san flicks out her tongue and winks… It’s like she’s cosplaying in private, and it’s so cute.
No, now is not the time for that!
The rainwater that hit the golem collected and soaked our ankles, but even that thing couldn’t move easily with that water pressure.
「That’s enough.」
Shirakaba-san made eye contact with Rina-san and Rina-san deactivated her unique skill. Then, a light was shining through a break in the clouds.
「Kirishima-kun! Aim for the left leg!」
「Okay!」
「I’m going to the left leg as well.」
Ehh!?
Aren’t we supposed to separate from each other and go for both legs in a situation like this? Such a question came to my mind, but when it comes to fighting, Shirakaba-san is more professional. I honestly followed the instructions and exercised the effect of a small piece of scroll stuck to the bottom of the gund.
Then, with great momentum, the gund flew out from the launchers of both me and Shirakaba-san, each other, toward the golem’s knees, and solidified the knees.
A blue can…
The gand we released was colored blue. Thanks to Shirakaba-san’s color-coding, I could tell at a glance what type of magical attribute it was.
The icy magic that the royal mages had painstakingly carved into the scroll had encased the golem’s right leg in solid ice.
But the golem flaps its moving limbs without regard. But if it does so, it will lose its balance…
「I got you!」
Rina-san shouted at us and said…
【Catastrophe】（Geography）
Unlike the time of the rain cloud, Rina thrust her staff into the earth with both hands, and this time a bagua formation appeared on the muddy, not yet dry earth, shaking the ground.
The ground around the golem cracked as if it was shaking, and a fault line formed in the hardened golem’s sole, causing the huge body to lean heavily…
Rustle, rustle, rustle, crack, snap…
Booooooooommmm———!!!
The huge body fell on its back in a thick forest of trees, causing a roar and a cloud of dust to scatter around the area.
It was as if the giant Goliath had fallen!
I’ve never seen anything like it, but…
Shirakaba-san walked up to Rina-san and told her with admiration.
「Amazing… Kashiwagi-san’s unique skills are…」
「Ehhem, I guess that’s what I get when I put my mind to it. Just kidding! If it weren’t for the instructions of Shirakaba-san and the others, we would have been trampled down without knowing what was going on.」
We both smiled at the fact that we had turned the golem over, but Shirakaba-san remained vigilant, never releasing the air that had been tense the whole time to see if there was any movement from the fallen golem.
「Alexander the Great used to chop off elephant legs with an axe, but that doesn’t seem necessary.」
Shirakaba-san looks a little disappointed when he sees the huge golem, which has collapsed in a splendidly large heap and is not moving an inch. I guess there’s still some kind of aesthetics to defeating them?
「Do you want to cut it off now?」
Rina-san suggests with a smile. She really wanted to break it… I wonder how much Rina-san’s ex-boyfriend resented her. No, it doesn’t matter. I don’t think so. If Golem’s legs break off, like my arms…
Combinable Item【Golem’s Leg】
And you’re not going to get an alert, are you? No, indeed, that’s not going to happen. But you never know unless you try. It was when I was about to ask Rina-san to do something scary for me.
「Stop!!!」
A funny voice sounded, even though the golem spoke.
The four of us looked around, but could not find anyone who seemed to be the owner of the voice. But slowly, the golem’s chest opened up like that white robot.
The four of us felt a tense tension. Both Shirakaba and I had loaded our launchers with gund, and both Rina-san and Marielle were bracing themselves.
What wobbled and crawled out of what looked like a hatch. When we thought its entire body had appeared in the golem’s abdomen, they lost its balance and was about to fall from a height of two or three meters with about the size of a child.
「Be careful!」
I ran as fast as I could, my legs threatening to hang off. But I could run as if I were exhausted from the morning training and the battle with the Kobolds.
The person who fell from above was held firmly in my arms, but the momentum was so strong that me and the recipient fell as they were.
「Aww–aww–aww…」
Maybe I was too good-natured to save someone who was riding a monster that had attacked us. But if it had fallen that way, I have no doubt it would have been seriously injured.
But how did this happen?
I fell down, and the crotch of a girl, who looked like a little girl, was against my mouth. Through the cloth, of course…
「Wha–wha–wha!? What kind of a rude man you are!」
I can’t get rid of her because she goes wild in my mouth.
「What kind of a gesture is that to someone that just saved you!」
Marielle got angry at the young girl for her bad attitude. She is always gentle, but she is able to act with firm indignation against unreasonableness. I thought she was wonderful.
The little girl scooted up from my chest and brushed off her black mantle, flapping it in the wind as she came forward.
「Let me tell you in person, you lamebrains! I am Lilith, Princess of Asotharos Empire. All of you, heads held high!」
「You’re not tall, you’re just short, and you call yourself Lilith.」
「Wha—!?」
The little girl was surprised by my words.
I usually try to treat others with respect. But that is only if they have the same feelings toward me.
I’m angry at Yurielle, but if I had been placed in the midst of the fumes and cinders… and even pyroclastic flows, I would have died. Besides… I thought of the lovely Marielle next to me. Having incompetence is useful sometimes.
The young girl, perhaps annoyed by the clear statement, was getting her jaws stuck in the ground. A very pompous girl, younger than a low teenager, appeared in front of us. However, no matter how I looked at her, I couldn’t believe she was human.
She had goat-like horns on her head, purple hair, and was dressed strangely in a bunny suit with a skirt-like cloth over it.
「Marielle, do you know this girl?」
「No, totally.」
When I asked Marielle, who seemed to know a lot about the royal families of other countries, she shook her head and wondered who that girl was. She wondered like a “what if” kind of person.
「What!? You don’t know who I am… how ridiculous…」
I nodded my head and I didn’t want to push her, but I asked her what I had to ask her for security reasons.
「You’re not human, are you?」
「N–No, I am not. I’m a human being.」
「Humans don’t grow horns.」
「This is an accessory.」
「Ohh～ That’s a cute tiara.」
When I praised her, the little brat smiled.
「Ohh, do you understand the cuteness of me!」
「Of course not!」
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Do you think I really believed such a blatant lie? I thought it wasn’t very mature to deal with a little girl, but I made sure to let her understand what it means to be an adult. Marielle, who was looking at us, opened her mouth.
「It kind of reminds me of the old demon tribe that used to be in harmony with humans. What can I say now? Anyway, she is so belligerent that I can’t even have a calm conversation with her like this.」
I see, I didn’t realize that…
「You know, didn’t your father or mother ever tell you not to play with strange toys without asking? Kids should go home early and play there.」
「Hnn～ Hnn～! How far you dare to mock me! I may look like this, but I’m over a hundred years old.」
She put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest like a big man. She’s so annoying with every single move she makes!
「You’re very childish for that. Especially the breasts.」
「You are the one who is the strongman, while the others seem to have a certain air of strength about them… What is it about you that gives off the stench of a son-of-a-bitch?」
She puts her hand over her mouth while chuckling, squints her eyes, and mocks me. I’m weak for sure! But I don’t want to sound condescending, but I never know with this brat!
「In another hundred years, I’m going to be a busty bitch that you’ll want.」
「Sorry but, bitches ain’t my cup of tea, and besides, I’ll be dead in a hundred years.」
「Wha—!? Human beings are so fragile… especially you.」
She folds her arms, grunts, and then points her index finger at me with a snap.
「That’s right, human life is fleeting and short, so shut up!」
Lilith is so agitated by this and that, that I’m getting impatient.
That’s when it happened.
Suddenly, there was a strong wind…
————Hyahn!
A cute voice, uncharacteristic of the demon tribe, rose up. A gust of wind flipped her shabby bunny suit down around her bosom. I’m losing… I’m losing out to ×× from elementary school. I can’t even reach the hills, not the mountains.
The female brat hurriedly hides her exposed washboard.
Rina-san, who was inspecting the golem with Shirakaba-san, smiled evilly. It seems that she couldn’t stand the sight of me and gave me a “sigh” look.
「Unforgivable… this is unforgivable… I’m not forgiving you…!」
「Force majeure, forgive me.」
Marielle opened her heavy mouth as we were having the same level of specious bickering.
「If you mean the demon tribe, I have to hand you over to the Morality Play Committee…」
「「Eh!!?」」
What the heck is this Morality Play Committee that came out of her mouth? No, that’s part of it, but Lilith… who is this girl really?
＊　＊　＊
————At the Class-2’s Room.
「Something weird is going on there…」
「Yeah…」
I waited until Kagetsu-san went to pick flowers and whispered in Hanayama’s ear.
「Actually, I… impregnated Lilith.」
「What!? The hell…」
Hanayama stood up and suddenly grabbed me by the chest and pulled me up from the chair.
「What the hell! Out of nowhere. That hurt!」
「Sorry! I got a little overexcited. Not Marielle?」
「Yeah, I didn’t see that one coming either.」
This time Hanayama gives me an earful.
「Don’t tell Yoshino. We’ll talk later at a family restaurant.」
「Eh!?」
「I’ll buy you a drink bar of whatever you want.」
So cheap…
And it doesn’t matter what I choose, the price is the same no matter which one I drink or how much I drink. I felt something like a gaze that kept staring at us… or was that just my imagination?
Thus, Hanayama and I were meeting at a family restaurant after leaving school.