CH 176

Close call

***---***

When I stepped into Klaus-san's office, Beatriche approached me with a trot and hugged me with an unusual passion.

Reese-san was looking at it with a smile.

I see, she must have been teased.

Just like that, Beatriche held my right arm in her arms, and took a stance that she wouldn't let go, no matter what.

"Good morning, father-in-law."

"Kent, have you finished bringing in the iron?"

Klaus-san's words were even more thorny than usual.

"Yes, I had Tevez-san present and put all of them in the warehouse."

"It seems like you've been flirting with a big-breasted woman since early morning."

I see, he also heard from Reese-san.

"Huh? Aah, you're talking about Muell-san. Since Gilik-san is resting, I just lent my genus to guard her when she went out to gather."

"Hou, does that Gilik ever rest."

"Somehow, it seems that he's being used as a toy by his elder sisters."

"Hmm, that Gilik, is it ... Maa, putting that story aside, you're pretty quick at working, aren't you."

Klaus-san, who erased the wrinkles between his eyebrows along with the suspicion of cheating, smiled this time.

"Perhaps, are you talking about the land?"

"There's no perhaps about it, it's about the land."

"I'm sorry, I heard about it from Reinhardt, but I haven't seen it yet."

"A guy from the garrison came to tell me that the forest was gone."

"I, I'm sorry, everyone is kind of enthusiastic ..."

"No, there's no need to apologize. I'm not going to complain about how quickly the work was done. Even so ... in one night, the trees in the forest turned into lumber and the land was cleared ... I'll leave it to you guys. If you keep it up, won't you be able to clear the entire forest?"

"Haa ... It's hard for me to deny it ... But, if the domestic problems in Resenburg are settled, I'll do something like widening the road through the Devil's Forest."

"Is that so ... That's a story for the future. The Devil's Forest is a troublesome existence, but it also plays a role in preventing the invasion from Resenburg. It would be a problem at this point if it suddenly disappeared."

Klaus-san's words were based on the fact that Resenburg and Landshelt had different ways of establishing their countries.

Resenburg was established as a country under one King, but Landshelt had a parliamentary system with seven Feudal Lords.

If Resenburg attacked, Volzard would have to defend on its own at the beginning and wait for reinforcements from other regions, creating a military disadvantage.

Because of the existence of the Devil's Forest and the fact that the logistics were always in danger, there was little worry of being attacked, but if the forest disappeared, there was a danger of being attacked by a large army all at once.

"If you think about it in terms of trade, it would be better if the forest weren't there, but in case of an invasion, it would be necessary to have it to play the role as a natural fortress. What to consider will be after Resenburg stabilizes."

"That's right. As for Resenburg, I think I'll wait and see for a while."

"Hmm, weren't you going to let Camilla Resenburg take power and proceed with talks about reparations?"

"That's right, but if I, an outsider, interfered and Camilla became King, I thought that Camilla would be seen as a puppet and lose her authority."

"I see, it's important to get power, but what's more important is what happens after that, you're properly thinking about it."

Klaus-san nodded several times when listening to the story and agreed.

"Yes, right now, the current King and the Prime Minister in the royal castle, if Havre Calvine does something ... it's come to a situation like that. For the time being, I'm able to be contacted at any time, so I'm going to wait and see unless something serious happens."

"Are you going to proceed with the return while you are watching Resenburg?"

"Yes, that's my intention. If possible, I plan to have one of them return today, and another one within this week."

"Alright, just keep going. Don't worry about the land negotiations with Japan."

"Thank you very much. Well then, I'm going to the garrison's quarters. Riche, I'm counting on you."

"Yes, as you wish, Kent-sama."

I bowed to Reese-san and the others and dove into the shadows.

The destination was the garrison's temporary dormitory, and I asked the chairman yesterday to tell them to prepare to return someone.

"Good morning, Katou-sensei."

"Good morning. I'll be counting on you, Kokubu."

"Sensei, have you completed the selection?"

"Yeah, it was a wind attribute or water attribute girl. They should be preparing at the training ground."

"Then, shall we go."

It seemed that Nakagawa-sensei and Furudate-sensei were out to act as interpreters for Miura-san and the others from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Honestly, I think it's necessary for Japan, but I'm worried that our job as teachers seems to be neglected. It's been more than a month since we came to Volzard, but I can't help but feel that everyone has become lax about the whole situation."

Katou-sensei's concern, as symbolized by the actions of Tayama and Mita, was that since they were able to escape from life-threatening danger, they could live without working or studying in particular, it seemed that the number of my classmates who were acting carelessly and becoming lethargic was increasing, probably because the radio waves of mobile phones and TVs had started to reach them and the information environment close to Japan had begun to be established.

Some of my classmates seemed to be glued to their smartphones all day long near the solar panels, and even if the teachers drove them away, they would go right back, and it was like a cat-and-mouse game.

"Speaking of which, I heard that Takayama is having a child ..."

"It seems so. I also heard from Takayama, but I don't think this world knows how many months it's been."

"I guess ... I mean, is he okay? Will he be able to feed his wife and child properly?"

"Well ... I'm not Takayama, so I don't know the contents of Takayama's wallet, but if it doesn't look like it's going to work, I'll help him. I'm responsible for bringing Celia-san and Flosche-san here."

"I see, well, please help to the extent that Takayama doesn't become dependent on you."

"Understood."

At the garrison training ground, there were several female students, Senzaki-sensei, Ayako-sensei, the chairman, Manon, and Takagi-san.

As we approached, Takagi-san walked up to us with a determined look on his face, but Katou-sensei stepped forward to block his way.

"Takagi-kun, what do you want."

"To Kokubu for a moment ..."

"At this moment, Kokubu is going to send one of the students home. I want to avoid upsetting him before that, so if possible, I would like you to do it on another day ..."

Katou-sensei's words were polite, but his tone showed a firm refusal.

"I understand. That's why I'm thinking of apologizing for what I've done so far and wipe away his worries in the future."

Katou-sensei stared at Takagi-san's face for a while with an expression of not letting Takagi-san even take one step, and then turned to me.

"How about it, Kokubu."

"If we can finish it quickly, I think I can listen to his story first ..."

"Understood ... Takagi-kun, it's fine. I'll ask you to be quick."

"I understand. Umm, is it okay if I you lend me Kokubu-kun for a moment so it's just the two of us?"

Katou-sensei asked me with his eyes, so I nodded and conveyed my intention of affirmation.

"Well then, I'm going first, so please be very quick."

"Understood ..."

Katou-sensei accepted Takagi-san's nod and walked to where the girls were.

The chairman looked at me with a worried look on her face, so I nodded to her as well.

"Kokubu-kun, I'm worry for taking up your time before your important work. And I would like to apologize for the many rude attitudes I've had up until now. I'm sorry."

Takagi-san deeply bowed his head.

"No, I heard a little about it from Klaus-san, but Takagi-san has his own thoughts, so I guess it can't be helped ..."

"That's right. To be honest, I'm not completely convinced about that, but what we should do in the current situation is to return the students who want to return to Japan as soon as possible."

"Yes, I think you're right."

Takagi-san also nodded strongly and then continued talking.

"For that to happen, Kokubu-kun, your power is essential. So, I'm sure you'll think it's a really selfish phrase, but I'm going to put aside all the harem stuff and give you my full support."

"Give me your support?"

"That's right, if you ask me, besides returning the students, you seem to have taken on the troubles of Volzard and the neighboring country of Resenburg."

"Haa ... Maa, I'm thinking of gradually reducing that, but ..."

"I see. I would appreciate it if you could do that, but it is normal for people with power to have troubles. And, such troubles almost always involve human emotions. So, I would like to use my experience as a counselor to give you advice as a profiler, so to speak.

"I see ..."

Certainly, as Takagi-san said, human greed and vanity were intertwined with the chaos of Resenburg.

I felt that the advice of Takagi-san, who had experience as a counselor, would be especially useful in deciphering the psychology of troublesome opponents like Havre Calvine.

"Is that so. It would be helpful if you could do that."

"Seriously, I'm happy to hear that. I'm looking forward to working with you from now on."

"To you too, my best regards."

Takagi-san bowed his head deeply again, and I bowed my head in the same way.

As I lowered my head, Takagi-san's hands flashed like a magician in my vision, and a faint glow seemed to pass in front of me.

The next moment, a burning pain ran through my neck, and when I looked up, I could see Takagi-san's face with cold eyes and a faint smile, a shiver ran down my back as if cold water had been poured on me.

However, in the next moment, Takagi-san's devilish smile changed into a startled expression.

Fred came out of the shadows and slashed his twin swords, slashing Takagi-san's arms from the elbows down.

Fred held me as I fell down, and removed the weapon from my neck.

I tried to scream when I felt something like a string being pulled out from deep in my neck, but the air leaked out of my throat and I couldn't make a sound.

As I tried to stabilize my wobbly head with both hands on my neck, I could see blood gushing out from between my fingers.

[ Kent-sama, heal yourself, please heal yourself with all your might! ]

Following Reinhardt's voice, which resounded loudly in my head, I frantically tried to heal myself, but my head became dizzy and my consciousness faded.

"Kento, Kent, stay strong!"

"Kent, Kent, Kent."

[ Kent-sama, get a grip, Kent-sama! Heal yourself! Heal yourself! ]

While listening to the screaming voices of the chairman, Manon, and Reinhardt, I continued to heal myself, but suddenly I became faint and let go of my consciousness while being supported by Fred.

I lost consciousness, but it probably wasn't for that long.

"Kento, come back. Kento, Kento."

"Kent, don't die, Kent, open your eyes, Kent, Kent."

"Aah ... Uuh ..."

"Kento! Kento, be strong, Kento!"

"Kent, do your best, Kent, Kent!"

In my blurred vision, I could see the crying faces of the chairman and Manon.

I still didn't understand what happened, but I was pretty sure that Takagi-san almost killed me.

[ Kent-sama, are you okay? ]

"Yeah ... somehow ..."

"Kento! I'm so glad, I'm so glaaaad ..."

"Kent, Kent, Uuuuu ..."

The chairman and Manon were clinging to me and crying.

[ Reinhardt, what happened? ]

[ It seems that Takagi tried to cut off Kent-sama's head using a wire as thin as a thread. ]

[ Why, why did Takagi-san ... ]

[ I don't know about that, but Takagi took poison and killed himself. ]

[ Eeehhh ... ]

"Kento? Wait, don't force yourself."

When I tried to get up in surprise, the chairman stopped me.

"But, Takagi-san ..."

"It looks like he vomited blood and died ..."

It seemed that Takagi-san had fallen a little away from me, and the guards who had rushed over were gathering around him.

Kartz-san was among them.

"Kartz-san ... Kartz-san ..."

When I called out, Kartz-san came running over.

"Have you regained consciousness, Kent, it's better not to overdo it yet."

"Takagi-san ..."

"He's dead, he committed suicide by taking poison ... He probably had a poison capsule in his teeth."

Kartz-san's point of view was almost the same as Reinhardt's.

"Is that a secret weapon of Kent's world? A terrifyingly thin, terribly pliant, and terribly strong wire."

"I think it's used as the string for musical instruments."

Perhaps what seemed to flash for a moment was something like a piano wire.

I remembered the moment it bit into my neck, and my body trembled.

"If you weren't Kento, you would have died. What is that, why would Kento be targeted?"

"I don't know, either. It would have been dangerous if Fred weren't being cautious."

The wound on my neck seemed to have healed between my self healing and the chairman's healing magic, but I lost a lot of blood and my head felt dizzy.

I felt like I had a lot of things to do, but I couldn't come up with anything.

Besides, a fierce chill was hitting me.

"Yuika ... I'm cold ..."

"Wait, I'll find something to wear ..."

"Asakawa, we should take him to the infirmary. I'll carry him on my back, so go ahead and make preparations."

"Yes, please."

The warmth of Katou-sensei, who carried me on his back, seemed to seep into my body.

"Sensei, I'm sorry. The return ..."

"Idiot. You don't have to worry about that now. Take a good rest."

"Yes, I'm sorry ..."

The vibrations of Katou-sensei walking invited drowsiness.

Before we got to the infirmary, I lost consciousness again.

The next time I woke up, it was the middle of the night and I was on a bed.

Beside me on the bed, the chairman, Manon, and Beatriche were lying there sleeping.

Mart and the others were hiding in the futon and warming us up.

[ Reinhardt ... ]

[ Did you call me? ]

[ Sorry, that jug over there ... ]

[ Wait a moment. ]

Reinhardt poured from the jug of water into a cup and gently helped me up.

The cold water quenched my dry throat and made me feel refreshed.

I thought my head was starting to work somewhat.

[ That was a very dangerous situation. ]

[ Really, when I think about it, it makes me shudder. My neck was wide open, right? ]

[ Probably, it was only connected by the neck bone and a few muscles ... ]

[ Whoa, rather, I heard the sound of air leaking from my throat. If I hadn't used healing magic, I would have died. ]

[ Are you okay, Kent-sama? ]

[ Hmm ... I'm still far from my normal condition because I'm still sluggish, but I think I'll be fine if I take it easy for a couple of days. ]

[ Is that right. Is your heart okay? ]

[ How can I say it. But, this is the third time I've been nearly killed, and the shock is a shock, but well, somehow ... ]

[ It would be better if you could take a little rest instead of pushing yourself too hard. ]

[ I agreed. I feel like I don't have enough blood. ]

Come to think of it, I fell asleep without changing clothes, so they were clotted with blood and I looked like a mess.

I wanted to take a bath and wash my body, but I felt like I would wake up the chairman and the others, and I didn't have the energy to get up in the first place.

[ Come to think of it, Takagi-san didn't make any footsteps. ]

[ As expected of Kent-sama ... He wasn't walking normally ... ]

[ I noticed later that I heard Katou-sensei's footsteps moving away, but I didn't hear Takagi-san's approaching footsteps. ]

The garrison's training ground was unpaved soil, but fine sand or gravel was scattered on the surface.

If you walked normally, you should hear a crunching sound, but Takagi-san didn't make a sound as he approached.

In the Feudal Lord's mansion, the corridors were also carpeted, so there were no footsteps, but Fred felt uncomfortable about Takagi-san's footsteps.

[ As expected, he must have had some sort of training. If you examine the luggage he brought from Japan, you may find some clues, but ... since he tried to kill Kent-sama, he must have been prepared not to return from the beginning. ]

[ Then, it might be difficult to find any traces even if we examine the luggage. ]

[That's right, he may have disposed of the things that could serve as evidence. ]

There was one thing that really bothered me, so I asked Reinhardt.

[ Hey, Reinhardt, did Takagi-san really have a daughter? ]

[ Well, what do you think. ]

[ If being so obsessed with showing those pictures was all acting ... I think I might not be able to trust anyone. ]

[ That's right. Or maybe that girl was a real girl, held captive as a hostage. He was threatened that she would be killed if he disobeyed ... I can't say that it isn't like that. ]

[ I see ... A hostage, huh ... ]

Even if I tried to imagine it in my head, I couldn't think of a reason how to make sense of it.

[ Now, Kent-sama, there is still time before dawn. Even if you can't sleep, close your eyes and rest. ]

[ Alright. Anyway, I'm going to focus on getting back into shape for now. ]

I slept so disconnectedly that I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep until dawn, but as soon as I closed my eyes, I fell asleep.