Chapter 17.2

TL : Cnine

ED/PF : akshaythedon, Timberlord

But, maybe the true hero is Reiji-kun. And not me.

When Reiji-kun almost died in the previous battle, I received a shock.

Before I noticed that, I considered Reiji-kun as the legendary hero who won’t lose to anyone.

But, I noticed that I was wrong when I saw Reiji-kun wounded till he was on the verge of his death.

I noticed of that fact when he lost to Diehart.

Sahoko-san became desperate at that time. She was desperately trying to heal Reiji-kun.

For Sahoko-san, Reiji-kun was a special existence.

Just like Kuroki for me.

Kuroki is definitely worried about me.

That’s why I have to go back.

I’m going back to our world with Chiyuki-san so that Kuroki will be at ease.

You’ll be worried if someone important to you is injured.

I can’t stop worrying about that when looking at Sahoko-san.

Thus, I rushed out.

It’s my duty to fight when Reiji-kun is injured.

I went to the altar room and defeated two spartoi.

When I entered the room, Diehart was pointing his sword toward Rena.

Seeing that, I lost my cool.

Reiji-kun will never turn his sword toward unarmed woman.

And this guy actually did that.

「DEYAAAAH！ ！ ！ 」

I draw my sword as I faced against Diehart.

「PREPARE YOURSELF, DIEHART！ ！ ！ 」

I parry Shirone who’s attacking while saying those words.

Why did things turn out like this.

Moreover, speaking of Diehart, isn’t this just like the continuation of my and Shirone’s role playing hero long time ago?

I must tell the truth of the matter to Shirone. But, I can’t reveal my identity. That’s why things had turned into this.

I think about that while crossing swords with Shirone.

Shirone is swinging her sword with killing intent.

I am glad that Shirone’s pattern is easy to read. That’s why it’s easy to defend against her.

I noticed this during my match with Shirone.

The reason I was able to notice it is because I was defeated by Reiji at that time. So, I had questioned myself why Reiji had won against me.

The first time I fought him, I couldn’t read his pattern at all.

Thus I lost, and it was a devastating lost. I wouldn’t have been defeated just because I wore a heavier protector than my opponent.

And then, I couldn’t find the reason for my defeat. Anyhow, I couldn’t see my opponent’s sword. Thus, I was confused and couldn’t shake off my fear.

When I fought against him for the second time, somehow I could see his movement pattern. Thus, I won.

And then, I noticed it again when I’m fighting against Shirone.

Shirone’s pattern is based on the foundational basics of swordsmanship. That’s why I can understand the logic behind it.

Opposite of that, Reiji’s pattern isn’t a pattern of someone who had properly learned swordsmanship – it was a complete mess. That’s why I feared him, since I couldn’t understand the logic behind Reiji’s movement when I fought him a long time ago.

If I have to speaking frankly, it’s not a bad pattern to use in a brawl, but it wasn’t a movement pattern of someone who learns martial arts.

But, Reiji has extraordinary physical abilities. The way he fought was that of a beast which relies on its brute strength.

That might be the reason why the people who learnt martial arts in the school couldn’t win against him.

Because martial arts are originally skills to fight against humans. That’s why those guys were puzzled with the beast-like movement patterns of Reiji.

Naturally, the same applied to me in our first match. Since one couldn’t do such haphazard movements in kendo.

But when we fought for the second time, Reiji’s movement pattern didn’t change at all. That’s why I could read his movement pattern, and win against him.

And then, when facing against Shirone, I noticed that Reiji’s movement pattern is similar to that of a beast.

I can win against Reiji as long as I think that the one I’m facing against is not a human but a savage beast.

I definitely would’ve missed this fact if I had rejected Modes’s request at that time.

Even now, Reiji is a beast-like man.

A savage beast who is faithful to his own desires. Normally, you can’t live as freely as him by his way of living. That’s why the women are yearning for him, and the men are jealous of him.

I can’t live as freely as him. Could it be that Shirone was also charmed by his way of living？

Maybe I can’t win against Reiji in this aspect even if I can defeat him with my sword, or so I thought.

Shirone is brandishing her sword against me.

It’s been a long time since I had a sword match against Shirone. Could it be that Shirone has got weaker due to that？

I feel that the former her was stronger. Or else did I become so strong？

I must finist this lukewarm match.

I have to tell Shirone about the truth. For that reason, I have to make her listen to my story.

Maybe she won’t listen to me as Diehart.

But before doing that, I must disarm Shirone.

In fact, I can’t win against Shirone. It doesn’t mean that I’m going easy on her, it’s just that for some reason, I can’t hit her. That’s why I still lost in the end.

And then, currently in my hand was a real sword, not a wooden sword. That’s more reason for why I can’t hit her. Since I know that I’m bound to injure Shirone when I attack her.

And I can’t end this fight without injuring her.

Well, what should I do then？

Strong. My sword can’t reach him.

I think so while looking at the enemy in front of me, Diehart.

He’s easily parrying against all my attacks.

My movements have been completely seen through.

My opponent is dodging my attack with paper thin margins.

As far as I know, there’s only one person who can do that gliding movements on the ground.

And that person is the uncle who came for training to my home’s dojo.

The uncle who came to train frequently was an acquaintance of my father.

My father once said that the uncle was a sword genius.

Sometimes, I saw the match between my father and that uncle. That strong father of mine was defeated without even touching that uncle.

Diehart’s movements are similar to that uncle’s movement. I’m sure that Diehart might be as strong as that uncle.

But, even that strong uncle didn’t have the eyes to judge people.

I mean he said that Kuroki had talent. Even though Kuroki never won even once against me. [TL : Uhm, must I put a retort for this line?]

That uncle taught so many things to Kuroki.

I would have been happy as long as I could learn some swordsmanship from that uncle.

As for why I couldn’t learn from him, it was because the guidance of that uncle was strict and made me giving up right away.

Now, I’m starting to regret my decision.

If I had learned from him for a bit longer, I might have been able to fight against Diehart.

I’m almost crying. Properly speaking, the match has been decided a long time ago.

The reason why my battle against Diehart’s dragging out for a long time is because my opponent is not attacking.

He’s toying with me, or so I thought.

I’m vexed. My opponent is a coward who’s turning his sword toward unarmed woman. I’m annoyed since I can’t win against this kind of opponent.

But, I couldn’t do anything but swinging my sword.

And then, after who knows how many times.

My hands feel lighter along with a “kin” sound.

I’m looking at my own hands. The sword that should be in hands is no more.

My sword had fallen to the side.

I’m dumbfounded when I noticed what my opponent did to me.

I was attacked during my weak moment.

Normally, I loosen the grip on my sword and only put strength to my hand when swinging my sword.

The empty moment is when I loosen the grip on my sword.

The full moment is when I grip strongly on my sword.

Diehart attacked right before I strengthen the grip on my sword to brandish my sword.

My sword was struck down by Diehart’s when it was still loose and flew away from my hands.

I can’t believe what I see. To think that there’s someone who can do such god-like feat.

He is a monster, was what I thought as I look at Diehart.

I’m dumbfounded. But, Diehart didn’t do anything.

Maybe I wasn’t even a threat to him.

「I couldn’t become a hero…」

Before I noticed, tears were coming out from my eyes.

「DON’T THINK THAT YOU WIN WITH JUST THIS！ ！ ！ 」

I’m glaring at Diehart while crying like that.

It went well, or so I thought.

I managed to land an attack when she was unguarded.

This skill isn’t a skill that can be used on a rookie who always put more strength on their sword.

The reason why I can use this skill on Shirone is because she had learned swordsmanship and my experience of our past matches.

Shirone lost her sword and can’t fight anymore. Next is just how to make her listen to me.

I approach Shirone.

「I couldn’t become a hero….」

Shirone is muttering those words with her head hanging down.

My feet stopped up on hearing her words.

「DON’T THINK THAT YOU HAVE WON WITH JUST THIS！ ！ ！ 」

Shirone is shouting those words while glaring at me.

She was crying.

I can’t say anything when I’m looking at her tear-stained face.

「SOONER OR LATER, REIJI-KUN WILL BEAT YOU！！！」

And then, she catches her breath and says these words with a louder voice.

「BECAUSE REJI-KUN IS MORE HANDSOME THAN HUNDREDS OF YOU！ ！ ！ 」

Those words pierced deeply into my heart.

Honestly, it’s too painful.

Then I remember her saying the same thing in the past.

It’s just like when I quarreled with Shirone about Reiji.

That time was an extremely painful moment, too.

The thorn that pierced my heart at that time is still painful even now.

Yeah, I couldn’t win. Even if I win in swordsmanship, I can’t win against Reiji.

After shouting loudly, Shirone sat down on the ground and started weeping loudly.

I’m at a loss in what to do when I look at the crying Shirone.

I made her cry. Aren’t I the real bad guy in this case?

I can feel my mood sinking even further.

Though I have to tell the truth to her, I’m at a loss as to how to tell her.

The summoning tools are destroyed, so at least Shirone won’t be in any danger for now.

Even though Rena said that she won’t do anything but still.

「Are you alright, SHIRONE！！！」

「SHIRONE-SAN！！！」

Reiji’s voice came when I’m still pondering about such things.

「R-REIJI-KUN….？ 」

Shirone is sobering a little and smiling as she saw Reiji.

Seeing that, now I’m the one who wants to cry.

「YOU―！！STAY AWAY FROM SHIRONE！！！」

Reiji is preparing to draw his sword.

His figure completely resembles a hero coming to save a princess.

If that was the case, the evil me had no choice but to disappear.

I sheathe my sword and then walk toward the opposite direction of Reiji and Shirone.

I don’t care about Reiji’s bewildered voice behind me.

As I walk, a black flame appeared on my hand.

It’s as if this black flame is something that’s gushing out from the bottom of my heart.

I fire that black flame toward the ceiling of the temple. It melts the ceiling and creates a hole without even leaving a speck of dust.

And just like that, my figure leaped from the top of the temple with flight magic and returned toward Nargol.

That dark land might be suitable for me.

I don’t care even if the gods from Elios find me while I am using flight magic.

My lonely figure was flying under the moonlight.

(~’.’)~To Be Continue To Chapter 18 Part 1~(‘.’~)