CH 167

Synopsis of the last chapter



Flowered Treant (・`д・´): “Leaf shurikens!”



Kazuto (੭ु‾ ω‾ )੭ु⁾⁾: “Here, a fire barrier~”



Flowered Treant (;・`д・´): “I’ll whip you with my roots then!”



Kazuto ⁽⁽ଘ( ‾ ω‾ )ଓ⁾⁾: “And I jump to the air~”



Flowered Treant (´;ω;｀): “Fuee…”



_______________________________________________________



Igarashi Touka was watching the fight unfold besides a ruined building which was more than a hundred meters away from where Kazuto was fighting the Flowered Treant.



(W-what kind of a…monster…is that…!?)



It was an unbelievable sight.



She was surprised upon knowing that the huge trees were in fact monsters, but it shocked her even more when she saw that a lone man was overwhelming such a monster.



Who is this person?



In reality, she already knew this man’s name and identity.



“If I’m not mistaken, he should be Kudou Kazuto-san…”



Touka’s impression of Kazuto was that he was a dull-looking young man that belonged to Nishino-kun’s group.



Ever since he had arrived at the City Hall, he hadn’t been very active.



Adding to the fact that he didn’t have a strong presence, it was no wonder that Igarashi wasn’t conscious of him.



(Never in a hundred years would I have expected this … why have I never heard of anything about him?)



With how strong he was, it wouldn’t have been strange for him to be at the center of the City Hall’s attention.



In reality, however, far from being a hot issue, there wasn’t a single rumor about him.



Why?



Touka arrived at an answer after a moment of thinking.



(I see… Nishino-kun is behind this….)



She was right.



Ever since their match against Alpha and Titan, Nishino had thoroughly concealed information about Kazuto’s abilities.



Kazuto was a force that Nishino could no longer let go of.



In addition, Nishino knew that if Kazuto were to leave, Ichinose, his party member, would leave with him, which would put Rikka in a sad mood again.



He didn’t want to let go of Kazuto, and he didn’t wish to see Rikka depressed.



For those reasons, Nishino did not dare hold anything back.



He first issued a gag order to the small minority that knew about the situation. This included the mayor, Fujita, Shimizu, and Nijou.



Afterwards, he put in a tremendous amount of effort to ensure that Kazuto remained as inconspicuous as possible to the refugees entering the City Hall.



The mayor and Fujita went along with Nishino as they did not want Kazuto, a force to be reckoned with, to leave the City Hall.



Fortunately, not a lot of people had witnessed Kazuto’s battles.



Those that sought refuge in the City Hall only knew that “the City Hall has the power to repel monsters like Titan and the Dragon”.



They were oblivious as to who exactly had such strength and were not able to connect the dots back to Kazuto.



(You’ve gone and done it…)



It wasn’t only her that was moving stealthily behind the curtains.



No, it would be more accurate to say that Nishino acted cautiously because she was there.



(I tried not to use “Enchantment” too much, but that has backfired…)



Although “Enchantment” was a powerful skill, it was also a double-edged sword considering the risk of getting caught red-handed.



That was why she refrained from using “Enchantment” ever since she entered the City Hall.



Had she used “Enchantment” on the mayor or her father, Fujita, she would have been notified about the existence of Kazuto and his powers.



However, she wasn’t someone that would go that far.



(I can also interpret this as a blessing in disguise…)



It would be great if she could figure out the extent of Kudou Kazuto’s abilities through this occasion.



Back when they were at the school, her ploy fell through due to an irregularity known as Katsuragi.



Nevertheless, she had not given up.



She vowed to succeed this time.



(Fufu, to think I’d encounter such a big game while “Treasure Hunting”.)



Originally, she had left the “Safety Zone” for another purpose, but she decided to modify her plans.



Information gathering is of essence. Before anything, let’s check on the status of the Tree Monster and Kazuto.



“I’ll ‘Appraise’ the Tree Monster first…”



*****



Flower Treant



Level 9



HP: 80/200



MP: 20/44



Strength: 70



Endurance: 290



Agility: 21



Dexterity: 90



Magic: 0



Magic Resistance: 280



SP: 36



Skill



Cognitive Inhibition LV6, Memory Wipe LV5, Existence Absorption LV4, Tracking Obstruction LV2, Detection Obstruction LV1, Terrain Assimilation LV5, Leaf Shuriken LV4, Root Whip LV5, Movement LV3, Pollination LV3, Parent Tree LV8, Foreign World Displacement LV10



*****



(What a status…)



The monster was strong, with both its Endurance and Magic Resistance exceeding 200.



Its status was by far one of the best that she had seen from the monsters that she had encountered.



(“Memory Wipe” and “Cognitive Inhibition”…? I wonder if this is somehow related to what the member of the Self Defense Force said…)



She was reminded of the strange remark from the SDF member regarding not remembering anything.



That wasn’t all.



There were many parts about its status that had relations to what she and Nishino had said about the abnormal population.



Could it be? Could it really?



Her brain began connecting the patches of information.



(…The residents of this town have been preyed on by these “trees”. Their existence has been plundered along with people’s memories of them. This explains everything. What a terrifying truth…)



These “trees” were nasty, troublesome monsters.



The monsters in the neighboring town were probably of the same species.



Treants.



Treants was the answer to her questions.



(It also has a number of skills that interest me. Especially that last one…I should also “Appraise” the effects of each individual skill…Huh? It’s already defeated…?)



Kazuto had finished off the Flower Treant as she was thinking of “Appraising” the skills.



That was too fast. Couldn’t you have taken your time?



(I can’t appraise its skills now…)



A monster had to be alive for her to “Appraise” its status and skills.



Once it became a magic stone, she could only choose to “Appraise” the stone itself.



(Also, I think I heard a dog’s bark just before the Treant was defeated… Could it be that the dog that follows around Nishino-kun and his friends possess skills..?)



That meant the Shiba Inu wasn’t simply a cute and fluffy dog.



How many more surprises will they bring me?



At the same time, her expectations grew.



With how powerful he is, I wonder what his status looks like.



It would be wonderful indeed if I can control him and have him under me.



(Fufu, just the thought is making me excited…)



Her biggest flaw was probably her overconfidence in her skills.



With a certain “trick”, she had acquired four occupations, which were “Student Council President”, “Summoner”, “Magician”, and “Leader”.



These occupations brought along 20 powerful skills such as “Enchantment” and “Spirit Summoning”, boosting her confidence greatly.



(Now, show me what kind of status you have.)



She activated “Appraisal” and directed it towards Kazuto—



“Appraisal has failed.”



“…Hah?”



An announcement resonated within her head.



Immediately afterwards—Kazuto’s eyes turned toward her.



“—Is someone there?”



“…!?”



Did he notice…at this distance?



A fluke?



No, he’s certain that I’m here.



Impossible. What kind of skill does he have?



(N-no… it’s still okay. He hasn’t seen my face yet. If it’s now, I can run away.)



That’s right, there’s a considerable distance between us.



Although she wasn’t as fit as Rikka, her status was higher than Nishino.



She decided to flee first and collect information about Kazuto another time.



Just as she thought so—



Kazuto appeared in front of her eyes.



“…………………………What?”



Eh? Huh? Why?



Weren’t you somewhere else a millisecond ago?



Why are you here?



Did you sprint here?



Nonono, that’s absurd.



What kind of bs physical status would that require?



(Eh, no…Eh?)



It was hopelessly outside her range of understanding.



That’s why she panicked.



On a fundamental level, the individual known as Igarashi Touka was obscenely cautious.



She prepared carefully for anything that might occur and never neglected to collect information before taking action.



She believed that 70% of any results were decided upon during the “setup” stage.



For that reason, she was terrible at dealing with the unexpected.



She was unbelievably weak against unforeseen blows.



“W-wait! Please spare me!”



Curiosity kills the cat.



That saying was very befitting of the situation as she begged for her life.



“…Pardon?”



Kazuto was extremely confused.