Chapter 135

Tamamushi stands in front of the barrier with a nervous look on her face.

"I'm worried about telling something to my master......Suzuhara-sama."

Nanafushi called out to Tamamushi, but when she turned her gaze away, she called out to me.

"What do you mean, you're worried? You don't have enough respect for your master!"

"Ah, yes, yes. Can you please shut up? It's a serious matter."

Tamamushi is angry and stomping on the ground, but Nanafushi, who is looking at her closely, grabbed Tamamushi's face with his right hand with a sigh.

"Mug! Mug! Mug!"

Tamamushi, who had been struck by Nanafushi's hand to the face and was struggling, slapped Nanafushi's right hand.

"Marina-chan explained it to me, but I will confirm it again."

Nanafushi looks up at me, ignoring Tamamushi who is slapping Nanafushi's hand.

"Even if it was possible to get inside a barrier and send out a signal using insects, it's a one-way communication. I can absorb master's insect energy but I can't send energy to her."

"Ou."

I answered with a nod to Nanafushi's words.

Even if Tamamushi succeed in entering a barrier and sending out a simple signal in the form of insect, it is a one-way communication.

The receiver of the signal, Nanafushi, can tell whether the signal was successfully received or not. However, Tamamushi, the one sending the signal, does not know that.

"Final confirmation. If Master enters the barrier and the insects are completely blocked, change the strategy. I'll have Rikka-chan enter the barrier and escort Suzuhara-sama and my Master. Even if Rikka-chan's presence is suspected and it leads to a battle, it can't be helped. And just to make sure, I'll have Marina-chan dispatch Kazehana-chan."

"Ou."

If possible, I would like to carry out the matter peacefully, but if it turns out that communication through insects is impossible, I have no choice but to let Rikka and Kazehana enter the barrier.

"Then, Master, please take care of me."

Nanafushi, who was strucked Tamamushi with her hand, said so and took her hand away from Tamamushi's face.

"I, I know, I know......But, you grabbed my face with all your might."

Tamamushi, with teary eyes, rubbed her face with both hands and complained.

"If I really grabbed it, Master's face would be a pomegranate."

Then Nanafushi chuckled.

I felt a chill run down my spine and my skin began to tremble.

The faint emerald glow emanating from Nanafushi's body.

The emerald light emitted from Nanafushi's skin made the air around her tense, even though she was still smiling.

After losing her previous master, Makiri, and inheriting her will, Nanafushi had lived a long, long time alone, but now she had finally found a new master. For Nanafushi, Tamamushi must be the one to protect, even at the cost of her life.

Her rough and tough attitude is her way to express her love for her.

Their personalities are complete opposites, but in the end, Nanafushi is the same kind of person as Rikka.

For the sake of her master, whom she must protect, Nanafushi will surely become a demon.

"Then, I'll go first."

I'm not sure if Nanafushi's struck broke Tamamushi tension, but Tamamushi seemed to have calmed down.

"Yeah."

I nodded, Tamamushi looked at me and nodded back, then stepped tobarriers the barrier.

She walked into the transparent glass wall as if it were nothing at all.

As she walked slowly tobarrier the front, she passed through the transparent walls one by one.

――I've lost communication with Tamamushi-chan. It seems to be a barrier that interferes with the communication ability system after all.

Marina's voice echoed in my brain.

Tamamushi walks slowly through the barrier.

Nanafushi stares silently at the back of Tamamushi. And sweat trickles run down on her cheeks.

In the tense air, a painful silence flows.

If I concentrated the effective range of my ability to a single point and extended it to the limit, the distance would be about thirty meters. And I don't know what's beyond that.

As Tamamushi advances, her back becomes smaller and smaller. Nanafushi continues to stare at the back of Tamamushi.

If it were a barrier that completely blocked the insect's energy, Nanafushi would not be able to receive it. However, the fact that she doesn't say anything means that at least for now, she is getting the insect energy.

As she continued to walk, Tamamushi passed through the four walls of the barriers and got out of the range of my ability. She stopped there, turned around and waved her hands at us.

"Here we are."

I muttered to myself.

――It seems that the signal was successfully received by Nanafushi.

Marina's voice echoed in my brain with a sigh, as if she was truly relieved.

"The insects have weakened considerably. As expected, they've put up quite a few layers of advanced barriering over time. Most of the insect energy has been blocked. But it looks like it can't be completely blocked. I can communicate with them somehow, thanks to you."

Nanafushi muttered to herself and waved her hands at Tamamushi, who was waving her hands at outside of the barrier.

It seems that the barriers are designed to keep even insect air out. However, it could not be completely blocked, and thanks to that, she seemed to be able to receive the signal.

It must have known that Nanafushi was able to communicate with Tamamushi because she waved her hands in the air. Tamamushi stopped waving her hands.

"I can communicate with her, but the situation is not so good."

Nanafushi looked up at me.

"The details of the barriers are still unclear, but Master says it's quite strong physical barriers."

It seems that the insect signals sent by Tamamushi have given us some insight into the barriers.

"Physical barrier?"

"A barrier that works as a physical barrier. You can go in, but it's impossible to get out. If you want to get out, you need to destroy the barriers. But――"

"So you're saying it's difficult to destroy the barriers because they're protected by the other barriers?

"That's right."

It's possible to enter, but impossible to leave. Well, that's to be expected.

If communication is possible and anyone can enter the barrier, I can call Rikka at any time.

When it's time to leave, it seems that Tamamushi can destroy the barriers if it takes enough time, and after Rikka knocks out the enemies, she can destroy them slowly.

But this was convenient for us, depending on how I look at it.

Thanks to the painstaking work that went into setting up the barriers, if we destroy the enemy, there will be less risk of our information leaking to the outside world.

Kukuku, I thought I had lured them into an anthill, but it turned out to be a grave with no place to escape.

"Y, you look evil......"

Nanafushi, who was looking up at me, muttered with a twitching smile.

――It's really reassuring to know that you're one of us, even though you're clever, cobarrier, scumbag, and devil.

Marina's voice, full of sarcasm, echoed in my brain.

That's right.

"Then, I'm going to go inside the barriers too."

I told Nanafushi, who was looking up at me, and looked at Rikka.

Rikka is on one knee on the ground, holding a large knife horizontally and closing her eyes.

She is probably sharpening her awareness so that she can take action at any time.

――Suzuhara-san.

I know.

Communication through the insect energy of Tamamushi is a one-way communication.

If any problem arises, I will immediately send a signal to enter. But if that signal doesn't get through to Nanafushi, there's no way for them to know about it.

So, we send the signal to enter, and if Rikka and the others don't enter, we shoot the flashbang that Tamamushi prepared for us. I don't know if it makes sense to shoot it inside the barriers, but if the light from the flashbang leaks outside the barriers, that's the signal to go in.

――If the flashbang doesn't make any signal.

I'll somehow escape until I'm in Rikka's sight.

What's more, Tamamushi won't be so easy to kill.

Tamamushi once told me that as long as the insects living in her womb don't die, she won't die either.

In fact, I once dismembered Tamamushi, but she didn't die even when I cut off her head.

If Tamamushi is incapacitated, cut off both her hands and both legs. If I cut off her hands and her feet, it will be easier to carry her around.

――You are still a person who says scary things in a smooth manner. But because you are such a person, I believe that you will do well. Please come back safely.

Yes, sir.

I replied to Marina in my mind and stepped out, looking ahead to the end of the barrier.

Passing through the four transparent walls, I reached Tamamushi.

Tamamushi, who had been looking anxious, turned her cheeks into a big smile as I stood in front of her. But she didn't raise her voice.

That's because we're in a barrier, in other words, in the enemy's territory. If I raise my voice, they might hear it, no matter how far away I am.

Marina must have warned Tamamushi about this many times before entering the barrier.

However, Tamamushi was the one who was summoned, and I was the foreign object. The enemy may already be wary of me because I have entered the barrier.

That's why I'm going to go in with some tactic.

I'm a puppet being used by Tamamushi.

If Tamamushi bringing a insect, she will stand out, so she brought a person she use as a servant as a chore.

"Fufu ♡ Servant!"

Tamamushi, who seemed to be enjoying herself, raised her voice with a big smile on her face.

She was happy to be able to treat me as her servant.

I don't mind if you treat me as you like, but please don't get carried away and mess up.

Despite my thoughts, Tamamushi grabbed my hand and smiled at me.

"Let's go, servant ♡"

And with that, Tamamushi walked off with a flowery song in her voice.

Well, I guess it's better than being nervous all the time.

I thought this as I looked down at Tamamushi with a frown, and with Tamamushi's hand in mine, I began to walk away with a sigh.

***