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Transported/transfered people has been changed to transferees.

Enjoy the chapter~.

TL: Thy Unsus

ED: UpsilonProgress-kun

Synopsis of the last chapter:

Eno Yuna: “Haa~, who's gossiping about me!?”

(※It was things like “She's too fast” or “She's too tough”. They more or less fit her)

Leaving Silane behind, we started tracking down Sakagami.

Miyos.h.i.+ and the other transferee survivors were acting separately along with three injured knights. They couldn't accompany us in tracking down SAkagami because their injuries were too severe to be healed immediately even with healing magic. By now, they should've been hiding in one of the fortress' rooms.

As we were currently in an area that monsters hadn't invaded into, we'd probably be safe for a little while. At least, it should've been somewhat better than running around the fortress with us.

On the other hand, Mikihiko and Kei were accompanying us with their own intentions in mind.

Mikihiko had『Aerial Knight』, and Kei could use some magic including recovery magic. They could act as an adequately strong rear guard……rather, the 20-man Knight Order probably wanted to use all the war potential they could, no matter who they were.

After separating from Miyos.h.i.+ and others, we first went to the top of the inner wall where we last saw Sakagami.

On the way, Lily found traces of Sakagami when we arrived at the staircase. Sakagami appeared to not be atop the inner wall anymore.

“He seems to be running away to the outer compartment of the fortress.” (Lily)

“Though the monsters on top of the outer wall were destroyed by Watanabe's magic, the monsters that have invaded inside the outer compartment of the fortress are still there. For him, it's a safe zone. I don't think he has anywhere else to escape to.” (Majima)

I ran after Lily, who *sun sun* snorted her nose.

“……We have to catch him fast.” (Majima)

In my mind was the figure of the elf girl we just left behind little while ago.

“Don't lose your cool, Master.” (Lily)

Lily said, looking back at me with a fleeting glance. I shook my head.

“I know……I don't plan on it.” (Majima)

I smiled bitterly. There was no way I could bluff to Lily, who I was connected to via the path.

“If at least Rose was here”……I couldn't help but think that. If she was, I could divide my war potential in two and only let Lily go on ahead. Or, if Gerbera had been here, she could've cornered Juumonji along with Silane.

While I thought about that, Asarina raised a hoa.r.s.e voice, and Ayame *lick* licked my cheek. They appeared to be worried about me as well.

I withdrew my bitter smile. Holding back the impatience in my heart, I opened my mouth.

“Leader-san.” (Majima)

I called out to the woman running parallel to me a little ways away.

“……Oh. Takahiro-dono. What is it?” (Leader)

Her answer was a beat late.

While thinking “she's probably thinking deeply about something”, I asked her:

“What Juumonji was saying…how much of it is true?” (Majima)

From what I saw, he appeared to be speaking seriously. If that was true, I wanted to confirm if it was possible.

“I've heard that we can't go back to our former world. But, is it true that you could possibly overturn that with a cheat ability?” (Majima)

“I……do not know. I don't know of a case like that. The only things we know about the grace of the hero-samas is what we were taught by the church, after all. It might be possible that a record like that was left behind in the church, but……” (Leader)

Leader slowly shook her head.

“I've also heard of what he said, that the hero-samas' souls are different from ours. However, I never thought something like this would……” (Leader)

Floating a melancholic expression, Leader's words wandered.

Even she was a resident of this world. The existence of a hero, someone they followed, did something barbaric like that; there was no way they wouldn't be shocked.

With how things were at the moment, information regarding the transferees' souls wasn't of much use.

“The people of this world have knowledge of things like『whether or not you could gain more magical power by killing a hero than a monster』”, I hadn't thought that from the beginning, so it hadn't been a problem.¹

Moreover, up until now there hadn't been many cases where there were more heroes than the one basic hero in a generation (once about every 100 years), so there was no way they would've acc.u.mulated that kind of knowledge.

However, if I were told the idea that 『you'd gain more magical power by killing a hero than by killing a monster』, I'd agree.

It was known that “the stronger a monster you defeated, the more magical power you gained”. The fact that “You could gain more magical power by killing a hero, beings that kept enormous power to themselves” was only a conclusion you could reach from that argument. Of course, the idea of aiming at powerless transferees before they became aware of their own cheat abilities was something only a brute would think of, and thinking “let's actually do it” was madness.

Even if you threw aside your ethics like that, it wouldn't be worth it even if you only considered the efficiency.

Today, the number of people Juumonji killed was currently nine. a.s.suming that Juumonji's magical power increased by about 10% like he said it did, even with simple calculations it meant that close to a hundred heroes were needed to acquire the magical power of one hero.

The magical power you acquired from killing a monster was minute. Thus even if you killed several the increase in magical power would be unnoticable, so compared to that, sure, this was overwhelmingly efficient. But that didn't negate the fact that the gain from killing a single person was small.

This was probably the reason why I hadn't noticed my increase in magical power when I killed other transferees while I was in the Sea of Trees.

So far I had killed 4 people in total: the three guys who a.s.saulted Katō-san in the mountain hut, and Kaga, who I turned the tables on. But, strictly speaking, I wasn't the one who directly dealt the killing blow.

The one who actually killed them was Lily.

Based on that, when I tried thinking back to whether there had been some kind of influence on Lily, there wasn't even a single thing that came to mind.

The Lily I came across at first was, a monster so weak that she almost died from a seriously damaged magical puppet's counterattack. Despite the fact that she'd attacked it with magic, her greatest means of attack. And yet, when the White Arachne attacked—a time where she was less than 20 days old, she had a fighting ability superior to a similar magical puppet and even Rose, a rare individual.

Up until now I had thought “maybe it's thanks to her mimicry ability”, but even if I used that justification, wasn't her growth a little too fast?

……Of course, I didn't know the truth. Just before the first two people, who should've had relatively large changes, Lily had preyed on Miho Mizus.h.i.+ma's corpse. Even if there was an effect, the person themself would miss that and not realize. If I personally killed four people at once, then the story might have been different…….

“……Hm?” (Majima)

After thinking about it that much, I raised my eyebrows.

Because I noticed something strange.

When I killed the one transferee, I hadn't noticed the increase in my magical power.

So then, how did Juumonji realize that?

I see. From what I heard in Juumonji's words, as long as you knew that beforehand, it would be possible to be aware of the 10% increase in magical power gotten from the nine sacrifices.

But, what if it was 5%?

Or better yet, what if you didn't know of it beforehand?

It'd be different if you were looking at a measuring tube in a chemistry experiment. At least, it would be impossible to notice with two or three sacrifices. So then, wouldn't you have to kill ten or twenty people at once?

But if we were to a.s.sume that, then it was strange.

Because until the first expeditionary force left the colony, which Juumonji partic.i.p.ated in, there hadn't been a situation where several people were killed at once other than when they were killed by monsters, regardless of murder or missing person.

Rather, if there was such a big problem, they wouldn't have had the leeway to form the expeditionary force.

So then, had there been an incident like that in the expeditionary force after they left the colony?

But, it was very hard to think that. All of the expeditionary force's members were cheat holders. It would be difficult, though not impossible, for Juumonji, who was only one Warrior, to murder several human beings in a short time.

Eno and even the late Watanabe should've been advancing in the Sea of Trees about this time, and they hadn't talked about an event like that.

Above all else, they, who were behaving as heroes in high spirits, hadn't even shown the tiniest bit of signs that they experienced such a sad event.

Their journey was all smooth sailing. All until Watanabe's head flew.

After I thought it through, there appeared to have not been a chance like that, even for Juumonji. It was incomprehensible.

……Then, maybe it would be more constructive to think about it from a different angle?

No facts were shared as information without one person knowing about it first.

Then, what kind of person could have noticed that fact, and in what kind of situation did they?

I needed to search for an event in which multiple transferees were killed or went missing.

The expeditionary force's departure wasn't long ago. It wasn't in the expeditionary force after they departed, either. Then just wh……

“……” (Majima)

I suddenly broke out into a cold sweat.

……There was one, wasn't there?

Just one. A big incident that fell under that.

The only thing I could think of was that.

During that, I could definitely believe that a number of people would notice an increase in their magical power. Forget several or dozens, it wouldn't have been strange if transferees were killed on a scale of hundreds.

——The colony's collapse.

On the day of that tragedy, I had no doubt that a fair number of people had noticed that fact.

But, that was after Juumonji left the colony.

It was impossible for him to know of details that came to light only after the collapse.

……Was it really impossible?

“Hey, Master?” (Lily)

“……!! Wh-what?” (Majima)

Lily's voice entered my ear, scaring me.

When I looked at her, I saw the side of a girl's severely stiffened face.

“There's one monster in front of us. We'll reach it soon. I'm going, but be careful.” (Lily)

“Y-yeah……” (Majima)

Nodding to Lily's warning, I re-gripped the handle of my sword.

My palms were wet with unpleasant sweat.

——It was possible that a human involved in the colony's collapse had told Juumonji the information they acquired then.

It sounded outrageous, but if you thought about it then it wasn't all that outrageous.

In order for this hypothesis to hold true, they needed a long distance communication method.

The convenient methods of communication we had in our world didn't exist in this one……for example, telephones.

However, if one were to say “there's no alternative, then?”, then the answer was no, there was something like that. I knew that.

The reason Silane had gone to the mountain huts in the Deep Part of the Sea of Trees and rescued the transferees was because a request for rescue had been sent using a method of communication via magic to Fortress Tilia from Fortress Ebenus, which was in the east and also was where the ‘Scouting Corps' had arrived.

Even in this world there was a method to get in touch to distant places.

The only remaining question was whether one could use it.

Among the cheat holders, there were some that could handle magic, something that the residents of this world could only use up to the third rank, up to the fifth rank. It wouldn't be strange for someone to be able to use the magic that the residents of this world could use. In fact, I myself had proven that magical links could be kept even if they were separated quite a bit when I was taken by the age-old White Arachne, Gerbera. It would be all the more possible if someone held an characteristic ability that specialized in communications like that.

And by considering that, I could answer one question.

The question of “how long had Juumonji and Sakagami been connected”.

The first step in the Transferee Killing Plan was when Sakagami produced the scene in which the Green Caterpillars were repelled just before we reached the fortress. Therefore, you could consider their collusion to have been before we arrived at Fortress Tilia.

On the other hand, considering that Sakagami had ended up coming to Fortress Tilia with the other transferees because he was found by the rescue team led by Silane, it would be weird unless their plan had been made after that.

During this period, there shouldn't have been an opportunity for Juumonji and Sakagami, two people heading towards Fortress Tilia on separate routes, to directly come face to face. Putting aside after they arrived, they hadn't been able to meet face to fact and polish their plan before that.

However, if there was an existence that connected the two, then an explanation could be given for that.

After sending the information obtained in the colony's collapse to Juumonji, the『someone』had linked him and Sakagami, and set the table for the attack on Fortress Tilia and the ma.s.s-killing of the transferees.

But, since they had a long-range communication ability, their whereabouts weren't known. They might have been at the collapsing colony, and then gone with the expeditionary force. They might have been enjoying an elegant tea time in Fortress Ebenus now.

……Since that was possible, who the『someone』could be connected to wasn't limited to Juumonji and Sakagami.

When I realized that, I couldn't help but s.h.i.+ver unconsciously.

Maybe the poison that ate into the colony and cornered it until it collapsed…was also contaminating the first expeditionary force?

If those who were so different that they were regarded as heroes in this world rampaged once again with their cheats……but this time, not in an isolated, deep forest, but the world of humans…….

……I didn't even want to imagine that. Without a doubt, it would be terrible.

We didn't plan on joining the expeditionary force down the road. So if they just destroyed themselves, we shouldn't suffer any direct damage.

But, a vague and strong anxiety had been produced in me.

Would it end just as I thought it would?

The world was connected everywhere and anywhere. Somebody and someone, no matter how small, lived and had an effect on each other. If there was an organization that had too much power, would there be a person able to be unrelated to those who rampaged…….

“Now, let's go. Master!” (Lily)

……Even if I thought about it now, it wouldn't help.

I switched over my thoughts. Now was the time to solve the problems in front of me.

I ran after Lily, who went first and killed the monster. I tried to only concentrate on that.

But, the dark shadow covering the corner of my mind didn't vanish that easily.

Naturally, the closer we got to the outer compartment of the fortress, the higher the encounter rate with the invading monsters was. We'd fought monsters several times.

I had a.s.sumed we would encounter the fortress' surviving war potential as well, but it appeared that quite the number had been done in; we had hardly seen any survivors so far.

“……Increasing our war potential is a lost cause, huh?” (Majima)

This meant that we had no choice but to manage with the just-short-of-twenty people here now.

Mikihiko called out to me, who stifled a yawn.

“But, they might point their swords at you like they did earlier, so you should probably think that it's better that the situation won't become troublesome.” (Mikihiko)

“I guess. Besides, there's also the possibility of a Doppelgänger joining us if we did find someone.” (Majima)

“Yeah, that's true.” (Mikihiko)

While we were talking, Lily turned a fleeting glance behind her.

“You don't have to worry that much about Doppelgängers. If there was one in a crowd like the one from before, it would be difficult to tell which is which, but there isn't that much war potential remaining now.” (Lily)

The conversation depressed me.

How many humans were alive in this fortress? And when we caught Sakagami, how many people could we save? There wasn't much we could do.

“Ahh. More enemies. Three this time.” (Lily)

In the corridor where the corpses of soldiers where casually scattered about, we rushed into battle for the nth time.

The one fighting was basically Lily, but that wouldn't work if there were several enemies. I called out to Leader.

“Knights, please get the Green Caterpillar! We'll get the rest!” (Majima)

“Roger!” (Leader)

Going forward, Lily gouged out the throat of the Fire Fang with her wooden spear, Ayame held back the Green Caterpillar by striking it with a fireball, and then the knights prepared their large s.h.i.+elds and thrust into it.

I set Asarina on the『Guts Gallas』, a chicken-like monster with arms that had feathers growing on them.

Asarina succeeded in biting the chicken's face.

“UOOoOOOOHH!”

Asarina contracted, and I approached the Guts Gallas at high speeds.

I avoided the fist that flew out at me along with a strange voice by bending my body, and though my balance was destroyed, I cut off the bird's legs as I pa.s.sed by it. A shriek came from heard behind me.

“UUoOAAHH!?”

I fell flat and rolled on the hard, stone floor, but I was able to stand up without killing my momentum thanks to Asarina, who stopped biting.

I ran through the pa.s.sage without doing anything else. We didn't have time to go out of our way to defeat the enemies.

I felt signs of magic behind me, and Lily soon caught up with me. It would be bad if we were chased after from behind by the monsters we pushed through, so they probably dealt light injuries to the Green Caterpillar. But, it'd be endless like this.

“Have we caught up with Sakagami yet, Lily!” (Majima)

“The smell's getting stronger, but……ah! More enemies!” (Lily)

I saw monsters gathered on the far side of the pa.s.sage. Quite a lot of them. I clicked my tongue, and Lily's voice entered my ears.

“——Found him!” (Lily)

Following her words, when I looked closer, there was Sakagami.

Perhaps he thought he was safe after he came to a place where a lot of monsters were, as he was sitting down and resting.

Noticing us approaching, Sakagami panicked and stood up.

“Let me leave, will ya!” (Sakagami)

Having found our objective, we raised our gear. But, we were still quite a ways away. In addition to that, the monsters that noticed us around the same time Sakagami did moved towards us. A lot of them.

“Do it, Lily! Don't hold back!” (Majima)

Lily invoked her magic. Wind magic, 3rd rank. Wind blades swept through the entirety of the small pa.s.sage, and the fireball Ayame spit out flew after them.

Right as we killed our momentum, we rushed in as one group.

The rest was a melee. I only thought about going through anyway. I struck them with my s.h.i.+eld, repelled the claws stuck out at me with my sword, and avoided the jaws closing at my feet by jumping.

Though there were several dangerous parts, I successfully charged through the battlefield thanks to Ayame and Asarina protecting me.

“Everyone else…..!!?” (Majima)

“Still behind.” (Lily)

When I looked back, the only one who'd been able to break through with me was Lily.

Though we'd severely wounded them with our preemptive strike, the number was a real threat. Since they were heavily armoured and because they had to protect Mikihiko and Kei, the rearguard, the knights were being slowed down.

“d.a.m.n. Lily, let's hel-……” (Majima)

“Takahiro-dono! Don't worry about us, please go on ahead now!” (Leader)

From the other side of the wall of monsters, Leader called out to us.

“Securing Sakagami Gōta is our first priority right now! Please go on ahead!” (Leader)

What Leader was saying was true.

Besides, Lily's attack from earlier had given the monsters plenty of damage. The knights were elite soldiers. It'd be fine to leave them.

“……. Got it. We'll go on ahead, so please chase after us!” (Majima)

We started running after Sakagami.

Though I was supporting my body by strengthening its abilities, my magical power and physical strength would reach their limits soon.

But, I'd endure it for a bit more.

“Be careful, Lily.” (Majima)

I called out to Lily, who was half a step ahead of me.

“If he knows that he's being chased, Sakagami might set monsters on us. …No. It's best to think that there will absolutely be a counterattack.” (Majima)

“Yeah. That's right.” (Lily)

There was a difference in physical ability between us and Sakagami. Though the distance between us had widened, we should catch up with him soon. At that time, we'd fight.

When I braced myself again, a large shadow came out into the corridor from one of the rooms up ahead. Lily quickened her pace.

“One Green Caterpillar. I'll kill it.” (Lily)

“Got it. Pay attention to your surroundings.” (Majima)

“Roger!” (Lily)

Just as the head of the large caterpillar came out from the room, Lily jumped high and grappled it. The reason why she hadn't used magic was to make it receive a counter when a counterattack was on our side.

The caterpillar tried shaking her off by swinging its head, but it wasn't enough to tear off Lily. Lily pierced it very deeply with the spear she was holding in both hands. After she did that several times, the large Green Caterpillar convulsed, and and *thud* fell over.

After quickly getting off of it, Lily looked around. When I caught up, Lily's eyebrows turned into a 八 shape after she shook off the green blood on the tip of the spear.

“……only this?” (Lily)

Lily muttered as if disappointed.

We waited for a few seconds, but there appeared to be no enemy attacks.

“Master. What should we do?” (Lily)

“We can't stop. Let's go on ahead.” (Majima)

Even if we grumbled about it here, nothing would change.

We started running again. However, a question remained.

“What does it mean?” (Majima)

“He really is ill prepared, even if it did hold us back.” (Lily)

Only one monster from the Outer Layer of the Sea of Trees at best wouldn't stop us for long. Why was he splitting his war potential into small amounts?

His numbers might have decreased quite a bit, but there should've been some monsters left still, even if you excluded the ones surrounding the fortress. There was no reason to not a.s.semble them now. It wouldn't be strange even if monsters descended upon us like an avalanche.

“Maybe's he's buying time until enough of his war potential a.s.sembles?” (Majima)

“……If he's thinking that, then maybe a line?” (Lily)²

Or maybe his real intention was to have us break through easily and let our guards down?

I became vigilant once again after I thought that, but the uncomfortable feeling remained.

Lily was able to grapple the Green Caterpillar awfully easily. It was as if it hadn't known we were coming. It even felt like we encountered it『when it happened to leave the room』instead of『when it came out to intercept us, who were chasing after Sakagami』.

But, was that possible?

Just a few minutes ago, Sakagami should have pa.s.sed through this corridor as well. And yet, he hadn't instructed the monsters here to intercept his pursuers.

Why wouldn't he try to protect himself?

Something wasn't right.

Now that I thought about it, Sakagami hadn't taken a monster from before as his guard either.

Ah, no. Before that. In that scene on top of the inner wall where we talked to Juumonji, who revealed his true colors, there shouldn't have been any reason for Sakagami to hide that he was a『Monster User』. And yet, he showed himself without even one monster. Wasn't that also strange……?

“There he is!” (Lily)

I came to my senses with Lily's voice.

Sakagami's figure, panicked after seeing us, was reflected in my field of vision. He was alone. He had no escort monsters. Honestly, I didn't know why, but an opportunity was an opportunity.

Considering the possibility of Sakagami himself luring us into a trap, it would be bad to get too far from Lily. I'd like to attack long-range, but Lily's magic—something which takes a little while to invoke—should be kept for insurance just in case he did something. a.s.suming so, now——

“——Ayame! Make him stop!” (Majima)

“Gyooww!” (Ayame)

After swelling up her body on my shoulder, Ayame spit out several fireb.a.l.l.s.

The fireb.a.l.l.s. .h.i.t the corridor's walls and ceiling, causing a small explosion. Fragments of wall materials flew around, and Sakagami screamed and held his head in his arms. His legs stopped. I stuck out my left arm which had the s.h.i.+eld

“Ma.s.s, ter!” (Asarina)

Following my intention, Asarina—the parasitic vine on my left arm—stretched out.

She pierced her sharp fangs as hard as she could into Sakagami's calf.

“GYAAaAAAAHhh, AAaaAAAH!” (Sakagami)

Knocked over, Sakagami writhed in pain. It was like having your leg torn by an innumerable number of knives. Now, he couldn't escape unless he was healed by recovery magic.

It wasn't long before we arrived next to Sakagami, who was writhing about.

I decided to have Lily continue being vigilant towards our surroundings, and after I made him face up by kicking Sakagami's body, I dropped my heel into his stomach.

“GuBah!?” (Sakagami)

“Finally caught you, Sakagami. Have the monsters in the fortress leave, right now.” (Majima)

I couldn't kill Sakagami right here. After all, even if I killed this guy—the manipulator, the situation wouldn't change at all; the monsters attacking the fortress would remain as they were now. I had to get Sakagami to manipulate the monsters and have them pull away from the fortress.

“O-Ow. Please stoopp!” (Sakagami)

“Listen up! Do it quick!” (Majima)

“GYAaAAH!?” (Sakagami)

I pierced the leg Asarina wasn't biting with my sword.

We managed to catch Sakagami like this, but we still didn't have any leeway. We were being cornered by the situation, the same as him.

“If you don't obey me quickly, Silane will die. Everyone alive in this fortress will die!” (Majima)

“G-Got it, I got it! That's why, please stop!” (Sakagami)

“Get rid of the monsters, and quick. Right now!” (Majima)

“Th-that……” (Sakagami)

Looking like he was shaken, Sakagami's eyes swam around. He hesitated to speak.

His reply came when I was thinking “maybe I should stab him with my sword again”.

“Pl-please wait a minute. I can't do it immediately.” (Sakagami)

“b.a.s.t.a.r.ddd……now you're trying to buy time!?” (Majima)

“N-No, I'm not! I'm not, I swear!” (Sakagami)

When I shouted at him, Sakagami desperately argued back.

“I'm not saying I can't! I just can't do it right away!” (Sakagami)

Sakagami shouted with a miserable voice, his face warping and wet with tears.

“Because I can only『pull monsters towards me』!” (Sakagami)

“……What?” (Majima)

I was dumbfounded.

The excuse he made on the spot was too poor.

“Don't give me a bulls.h.i.+t excuse like that!” (Majima)

“It's the truth! I'm not lying!” (Sakagami)

“So, you're saying that you can't『give instructions to the monsters』, is that it? That those monsters just closed in on us!?” (Majima)

When I pulled my sword out from his thigh, I thrust the tip wet with blood at him.

Possibly because he felt he was about to die, Sakagami p.i.s.sed himself.

And then, with a frightened expression, he returned some unexpected words.

“There's a『monster that can give instructions to monsters』! I've been giving it instructions until now. So, I can't give instructions to the monsters I've collected without him!” (Sakagami)

“……What is it?” (Majima)

“You might not believe me when I say it, but it's true. Like us humans, there's a『monster that can talk』, and it gives instructions to monsters.” (Sakagami)

I unintentionally exchanged glances with Lily.

A monster that could talk. From what I'd experienced, that was impossible. And since it was, the fact that a monster that should've been known only as a fairytale in this world had appeared now instead made Sakagami's story have a strange credibility to it.

I had the cheat ability to lead monsters, but it wasn't like I was manipulating monsters at will.

If it was said that Sakagami's Monster Tame ability was like that, then I didn't have enough material to deny it.

Furthermore, the fact that he hadn't had an escort and that he hadn't ambushed nor launched a large-scale counterattack on us would be understandable if Sakagami himself didn't have the power to directly give instructions to monsters.

I only had to check if it was true or not right now.

“Where is it right now?” (Majima)

“I-It should come out as soon as I call for it. It was always next to me, after all. ……Oh, but… After I left the mountain hut, it took some distance since it would be bad if that Silane woman found out……” (Sakagami)

“It will come out if you call it, huh? Call it now, then.” (Majima)

“O-Okay.” (Sakagami)

Sakagami appeared to not have the energy to fight me anymore. Maybe it was the first time he was knocked around like this. His heart was completely broken.

“Berta! Bertaaa!” (Sakagami)

Sakagami shouted.

“Please come out. Give the monsters the command to have them withdraww! I'll die if you don't!” (Sakagami)

Sakagami's voice, which had a touch of requesting, echoed in the pa.s.sage.

Lily and I watched the surroundings, ready for anything.

One second pa.s.sed, then two. Nothing happened.

……Even after ten-odd seconds pa.s.sed, the pa.s.sage remained dead silent.

“Eh…a……you're kidding.” (Sakagami)

Sakagami's dumbfounded voice echoed lifelessly in the pa.s.sage.

“He really did say something on the spot, huh? Or maybe there was some kind of mistake”……when I thought that, the monster showed itself on the other side of the pa.s.sage.

It ran at speeds like the wind.

“Isn't that……” (Majima)

Long, lingering white hair. White clothes.

Eyes red like blood.

The unique footsteps sprinting this way were being made by eight legs.

The girl's lovely looks, so beautiful that they charmed you, were glittering with a smile like a blooming flower on them.

“Oh, my lord! I finally found thou!” (Gerbera)

“……Gerbera?” (Majima)

My eyes opened wide.

Someone I hadn't thought I'd meet in a place like this was there.

“No way, Gerbera was the one behind the attack!”……Naturally, I didn't think that.

Gerbera's name wasn't “Berta”, Sakagami, the one who called out, was darting his eyes about with a look of confusion, and in the first place, Gerbera was my family.

“My lord! Thank G.o.d you're safe!” (Gerbera)

After she wriggled her eight spider legs and ran up to me, Gerbera hugged me from the front.

My field of vision was blocked by her white hair that rose up and gently fell, and her two arms forcefully pulled me to her and wrapped around me.

Reflexively returning the hug, I asked her beautiful face, which was very close, a question.

“Why are you here? And what happened to Rose and Katō-san?” (Majima)

“What are you saying. There were a ton of monsters swarming the fortress you were staying at? Isn't it natural for me to come to help you? ——Oh, Ayame. You were safe as well, huh? Did you properly protect my lord?” (Gerbera)

“Kuuuuuu!” (Ayame)

Gerbera gently brushed Ayame on my shoulder with her hand around my back.

She appeared to have come to help me.

I should've thanked her, but as usual, Gerbera's timing was inopportune. When I thought “Doesn't this part of her resemble me?”, I somehow felt responsible.

“But, it is true that it took some time. Sorry about that. Rose-dono was injured a bit. Aah, not like that. Her injuries weren't that bad, but I had to escort her to the cave we're temporarily staying in.” (Gerbera)

“Rose was? H-Hey. Wait a minute. Is she really okay?” (Majima)

“Yes. Right now she's repairing her body and guarding Katō-dono. Naturally, she couldn't come with me. Well, for their safety I made sure she completed the minimum amount of repairs, then I came to help thou posthaste. But, how long it took to get here was beyond my expectations. If I hadn't heard your voices, it might've taken a bit longer.” (Gerbera)

“……Hm? Didn't you know my whereabouts with the path?” (Majima)

“Actually, it went unusually poorly.” (Gerbera)

Gerbera put her fingertip to her mouth, and her beautiful face frowned.

“I don't really get it, but the path's somewhat unstable.” (Gerbera)

“It is?” (Majima)

“When I got close to here, it appeared to have stabilized.” (Gerbera)

“……is that's what happening? A power that affects the connections between us……no way.” (Sakagami)

When I dropped my gaze, Sakagami shook his head wildly with a panicked look.

“I-I'm not doing anything!” (Sakagami)

“……” (Majima)

In the sense of “manipulating monsters”, Sakagami's ability was close to mine.

I doubted him, thinking “maybe he's doing something like jamming”, but Sakagami denied it.

Sakagami wasn't someone that had the guts to endure pain and stick to lying. He was a slightly dishonest person. That was why he was scared everything would be for naught.

“Well, it's fine since we were able to join like this.” (Gerbera)

Gerbera hugged me tightly.

“Surviving must've been hard. Especially when the fortress collapsed. I thought you might have been dragged into it, my lord.” (Gerbera)

“……Gerbera.” (Majima)

“Rather, I almost died myself.” (Gerbera)

Gerbera muttered.

“Even though I finally arrived at the fortress I didn't know where you were, and when I was at a loss of what to do, suddenly I was dragged into a magic of unimaginable scale. Just what was that? My full-power evasive maneuvers made it in time so I was fine, but had I been even a little late, I would've been blown far up into the sky.” (Gerbera)

Gerbera appeared to have been dragged into the magic Watanabe fired.

Her timing really was bad……no. Maybe it wasn't. She came here like this as a result of it, after all.

“Now then, Master. It's nice that we've met up with Gerbera, but for some reason Sakagami's so-called『monster that manipulates monsters』isn't coming out. What should we do?” (Lily)

Lily asked.

Ending Gerbera's hug, I turned to Sakagami again.

“I-I'm not lying!” (Sakagami)

“Yeah. Forget it.” (Majima)

I shook my head. I looked back at my allies.

“Sakagami can't do anything about the monsters now. Let's go back to Silane soon. If Gerbera's with us, we should be able to do something.” (Majima)

“Ah. That's true. Gerbera might be able to deal with Juumonji……” (Lily)

“Hm? Who's Juumonji?” (Gerbera)

Lily and Gerbera reacted their own way.

“Gerbera. Juumonji is one of the transferees like me, and one of the ‘Scouting Corps' members I've spoken about before. He's also one of the humans that attacked this fortress.” (Majima)

“Hou.” (Gerbera)

“Right now, a woman named Silane is holding him back to let us escape. If you fight Juumonji alone, it might be a bit close, but if you and Silane fight together, then maybe……” (Majima)

As a matter of fact, since Gerbera had joined us like this, we could actually escape this fortress now.

Gerbera could easily scatter the monsters surrounding the fortress, and it would be possible for the twenty-some knights, not to mention Leader, to escape with us.

It would be fine as long as we survived.

But if we did, the soldiers remaining in the fortress would be annihilated, and more importantly, we would leave behind Silane, who should've been waiting for us to fix the encirclement of monsters.

I couldn't betray the trust she'd put on me. If I did that, I'd be no different from Juumonji and Sakagami.

“Hmm. I don't really understand the situation, but this “Silane” is fighting with her life on the line to help you, my lord? I have to help her, then.” (Gerbera)

“Yeah. I don't want to abandon that girl either. That girl believed in Master.” (Lily)

Lily and Gerbera spoke unanimously.

We just had to run now, then. We had to do it as fast as possible.

“And, before that, we have to clean up.” (Majima)

When I let loose those words, Sakagami, who had been trying to run away by crawling, shook.

“Hii, Hiiiiii! Pl-please don't kill meee!” (Sakagami)

When Sakagami changed directions and sat down on the floor, he weeped while drawing back.

How many people died…because of him?

There was no reason to let him live here.

“O-Oh, yeah. I was threatened! So, I'm not the bad guy!” (Sakagami)

“Sorry, but I don't have time to listen to you poorly beg for your life.” (Majima)

I raised my sword overhead.

“I need to go help Silane as soon as possible.” (Majima)

“If it's that, then you're too late.” (???)

It was a male's voice.

“——!!?” (Majima)

As soon as I realized who's voice that was, I rapidly turned my head to the direction of the voice

Lily and Gerbera were already in fighting stances.

What was there was the figure of a tall boy calmly walking.

He threw『something』he'd been dragging along towards us.

It wasn't an attack. The thrown something tumbled to the floor.

Their lifeless limbs stretched out.

It was Silane's bloodstained body.

Translator's Notes

¹ - Not sure about the ending of this sentence. ‘この世界の人間に『勇者を殺すとモンスターよりも多く魔力を得られるのかどうか』なんて知識があるとは、おれも最初から思ってはいなかったから、構わないといえば構わないが。' ▲

² - Confused by what she means at the end. ‘……考えられるとしたら、その線かな' ▲

RIP Silane. ?

If you guys notice anything wrong, please let me know!

-Thy Unsus