Chapter 136

It’s noon on the third day of Amako’s captivity.

We were waiting around Hinomoto to carry out our mission, as the completion of Towa was nearing.

For the mission, we were divided into three teams. The first was a highly mobile diversionary team, the second was a team to hold off the security guards, and the last was a team to go to Jinya-san and Amako.

I’m in the third unit, commanded by Hayate-san, while Arc-san and Blurin are in the second unit.

I’m a little worried about Blurin, but if he’s with Arc-san, he’ll be fine. …… right?　Well, I think he can take care not to cause serious injury to his opponent.

However, although it was good to be in place, as expected, the area around the entrance to Hinomoto was heavily guarded, making it difficult to enter without being detected.

“Are you nervous?”

Daitetsu-san speaks to me as I stare at the gate from a distance.

With his simple armor and large sword sheathed on his back, I nodded frankly.

“Yes, I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“I guess you’re right. To tell you the truth, it’s my first time too.”

I was almost thrown off by Daitetsu-san who said it so openly.

According to what Hayate-san told me, Daitetsu-san used to be a soldier for Hinomoto before he came to the hidden village, and he is an excellent person with plenty of experience.

“I hope this is the last time I have to do something like this.”

“…… yeah.”

He was one of the soldiers who had been protecting Hinomoto.

He is helping us to stop the war, but in his heart, he must not want to fight with the same species.

If we can, I hope we can capture Jinya-san in the shortest time possible. ……

“Captain, the diversion team is ready.”

While I was talking with Daitetsu-san, a subordinate told Hayate-san, who was a little further away, that he had received word of the diversion team waiting in front of another gate.

Hearing what was said, Hayate-san nodded, looked around at the thirty or so members of the group, including me and Daitetsu-san, and opened his mouth.

“When the signal is given from that side, we’ll enter Hinomoto too. I’m sure there will be heavily deployed guards inside, but we’ll take advantage of the confusion and get to Towa at once. And with that, I’ve asked the escort team to clear the area.”

Everyone, including me, nodded at Hayate’s words.

He instructed us to wait for his signal, made everyone sit down, and came closer to me.

Hayate-san spoke to me anxiously.

“Usato, if you have to fight Jinya, be careful not to get surrounded.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“…… Jinya is a warrior who prefers to fight without magic. The reason he doesn’t need magic is because he’s a bear beastman who is blessed with a great physique. In addition, the swordsmanship that he specializes in is from a school that was created based on the techniques of Kannagi-sama. …… No matter how strong you are, it is difficult to avoid attacks when your movements are predicted by precognitive magic.”

Kannagi-sama.

As I recall, it was a beast woman who was working with the previous hero.

There’s no way I can underestimate someone who can handle such a person’s swordsmanship. Rather, the fact that she was working with the hero makes him, in my opinion, as formidable a woman as Rose.

“I’m glad I left …… Linka behind. I couldn’t let that girl be a part of a conflict like this.”

“She did say she wanted to come. ……”

Before we left the hidden village, Linka said with a bow and arrow in her hand, “I want to come too!　I’m going to save Amako!” From a distance, it looked funny, but from Hayate-san’s point of view, it was probably not a good idea.

We’re not going out to play now. We have to go to a place where there is a risk that the other party will come at us with the intention of killing us. Hayate-san couldn’t take Linka to such a place.

And so, Linka was taken back home by Kagari-san, who strapped her to a wing. …… crying, shouting loudly to Hayate-san and why he was being bad to her.

[Father’s unworthy! You stink! You’re always hiding behind mother’s back! Ugh, you stinky stink!!! And, Usato’s, Usato’s! You scarily strong monster! You surprise of a human! You’re a monster from the neck up and a monster underneath too!]

I really felt like I was going to burst into tears.

I would’ve.

“…… Usato, do I smell that bad? …… I’ve been called stinky twice.”

“I wonder what the difference is between a monster and a monster. ……”

Let’s not even get into the fact that they’re both inhuman at this point. What’s that? Do I look like a monster, like a sphinx or a mythical creature?

Remembering her words, Hayate-san and I both feel depressed.

Remembering Linka’s abuse, something occurred to me, so I decided to ask about it.

“Hayate-san, how is your wife doing?”

“My wife has been away from here on business. It turned out to be a good thing, but I’m afraid of what’s going to happen after she comes back. …… Haha, I’m really scared. ……”

Sighing loudly, Hayate-san looks melancholy.

…… Well, I can’t help it that I was abused at this point. I can’t be in such a depressed mood when I’m about to go into battle.

Saying that and changing my mind, I notice that something shiny has been launched into the sky, something flew above Hinomoto and burst into flames with a loud noise was undoubtedly a spell cast by a member of the diversion team.

“That’s the signal. Let’s go, everyone.”

At the signal, everyone stood up and quietly headed towards the door.

The soldiers on guard were too distracted by the signal to look at us.

“Usato, can I leave it to you? I’ll cover you.”

Hayate-san checked the soldiers on guard and asked.

There are six of them …… and I can get close enough to neutralize them without them noticing.

I nodded and took out my gauntlet to make a healing magic bullet, and took off at full speed from the spot. When the soldiers heard the sound of my leap, they all turned around and immediately raised their weapons.

At that moment, the healing magic bullet that I created while running hit the soldier who was about to raise his bow and arrow and knocked him down.

“Whoa!”

“E-enemy–“

I apologize inwardly as I swing the soldier around to engulf the four soldiers who had tried to point their weapons at me.

Finally, I toss the bow and arrow at the soldier who flipped it off.

“Mo—-monst—guh!”

Was he about to say something? Well not like I care.

As far as I can see, there are no external injuries. …… I was able to stun him well. After all, healing throws are very effective in group battles. 

I placed a thumbs up towards the back while casting a healing spell on the fallen who are as donkey-headed as Hayate-san was two days ago, and Daitetsu-san who has a twitchy smile on his face, opened their mouths.

“…… Hey, hey, hey. This thing didn’t even need backup, did it?”

“Even though I asked for it, even six soldiers are too easy for him …… really tremendous.”

Surprised, Hayate-san turned back to his men and indicated the soldiers I had stunned with his hand.

“Did you see that? This is what he’s capable of. There will be no one who doubts it now. Then our job is to get him to Amako. …… Let’s go!”

At first they were confused, but Hayate-san’s words reenergized them, and they shouted in response, approaching the door I was at.

I watched them with somewhat distant eyes, and then looked up at the door towering behind me.

“Wait for me. Amako, Nea.”

I will save you.

I’ve been told that I’m a monster, but this time, I’m going to take the shortest route possible.

I don’t care how bad my reputation gets at this point. I definitely don’t want to lose the friends I’ve been traveling with.

Having made up my mind once again, I clenched my fist, which was filled with healing magic, and started to move forward.

The “Towa”. It was supposed to be made for people with precognitive magic.

By transferring precognitive magic into the magic tool itself, my mother has poured her heart and soul into creating a magic tool that will allow precognitive magicians who are forced to live in isolated spaces to live freely.

I’m sure my mother didn’t want me to lead a life of inconvenience.

A life of freedom without being bound by precognition magic.

Free from the status of not being allowed to leave the country.

She wished for such a normal life that ordinary people lead, from the bottom of her heart.

“Look, Amako. This is ‘Towa’.”

But this man messed up mother’s wish.

I was taken out of the room where I had been confined and brought to a place, surrounded by Jinya and soldiers who seemed to be my bodyguards.

I left Nea in the room, but I’m sure she’s still watching me somewhere.

The place I was brought to was a large square, which was unusual for this place.

Normally, this is a place where many people gather for festivals and other events, but today, in the center of the square, there was a square black object about one size larger than a hut, and around it were several people who looked like technicians looking at magic tools.

That was the ‘Towa’.

“You’re going to fall into a deep sleep, just like your mother. You would like that, right?”

“…… I have one final question for you, is that alright?”

“What?”

I ask the question, ignoring Jinya’s words.

The question I’m about to ask is just a confirmation. But I do have a few questions.

Until I hear them, I can’t move forward with the situation.

“Who was really supposed to be using ‘Towa’?”

“……”

Jinya’s eyes widened and he fell silent, as if the question was unexpected.

After a few seconds of silence, he looked to his men to back off.

When he was sure that his men were gone, he gave a thin smile.

“All right. I’ll tell you one last thing. As you can imagine, you were originally supposed to be on ‘Towa’.”

“I would have only lost my precognitive magic if I had been placed on the …… completed ‘Towa’. What did you do to my mother’s ‘Towa’?”

“…… You’re smart. You got that far with that little information.”

He looked surprised, but his thin smile didn’t fade.

Jinya looks at ‘Towa’ out of the corner of his eye and speaks nostalgically.

“Kanoko’s research was undoubtedly a success. But in the process of that research, I happened to learn something. That is that ‘Towa’ allows us to transfer and give magic itself from others.”

…… So that’s it.

If you can transfer precognitive magic to a magic tool, then you can transfer magic from person to person through a magic tool.

“But there’s no way mother wouldn’t have noticed that.”

“Of course, that’s what Kanoko was trying to hide from me. It was to no avail, though. When I found out about it, I bribed the researcher and instructed him to secretly rebuild the inside of the ‘Towa’.”

“Huh.”

I knew.

I knew in my head that he was the kind of person who would do such a thing, but I couldn’t control my anger and glared at Jinya.

He let out a derisive laugh, not bothering to meet my gaze.

“But hey, I’ve noticed. That woman. Kanoko, who noticed it with her precognitive magic, immediately attempted to restore the ‘Towa’ to its original function, but …… the ‘Towa’ was already fully completed to the point where it was too late.”

“……”

“In doing so, I put a watchful eye on Kanoko to prevent her from doing anything unnecessary, and I made sure that she couldn’t move ……–“

Jinya broke off there and shook his head in dismay.

“Normally, I would have given up right there, but that woman took unexpected action, and to my surprise, she got around the surveillance and tried to destroy ‘Towa’ by forcing it to run out of control. It was abominable.”

It wouldn’t be long before he could fool the watchful eye.

Mother, of all people, should have known better than to try to destroy it in such a short time.

But even so, it was for …… me that she tried to destroy it.

“It was unexpected for me to let ‘Towa’ run amok and try to destroy it. So I was in a panic at that time. But at this time, an unexpected miscalculation occurred for Kanoko.”

Jinya then pointed to his own eyes.

“Even though it was running out of control, ‘Towa’ was still properly activated. I happened to be the closest one to the runaway and Kanoko’s precognition magic came into play. I didn’t get your precognition magic, which was my original goal, but I did get what I wanted. And Kanoko, the only one who knew what I was planning, is now bedridden. That means that …… your mother’s act–“

My heart trembles.

I don’t know what it is that I’m feeling, but I know for sure that it’s…

“It’s all for nothing.”

This is an existence that must not be tolerated.

Jinya looked down at me and said that with a sneer, and then had the soldiers of the Kingsguard bring me back to the front of ‘Towa’.

“It’s you this time. With you, who has the best precognitive magic in all of time, we’ll be more powerful than ever. Wouldn’t you like that? After all, you’ll end up like Kanoko.”

With that, Jinya poked me on the back to get me inside ‘Towa’.

I go inside without saying a word.

It was a pitch-black space just like the outside, with a chair-like object that stood out among the paved, blocky interior.

On the chair was something that looked like a restraint and a ring that was placed over his head.

“Sit down.”

I was poked in the back again and hesitantly sat down in the chair.

Then, one of the researchers put the restraints on my extremities. I look down as I spend the process in silence.

I’m still scared.

No matter how hard I try to keep my mind strong, the fear comes from deep within.

I know that they will come to help me. I know that Nea is watching me somewhere, and that she is with me. But …… still, the fear of death will not disappear no matter what.

The reason why I don’t cry is because I believe that he will come to my rescue.

When I became silent and turned my head down, Jinya spoke to me as if he was chasing me.

“There’s no use in clinging to vain hopes. Your friends have fled. They left you behind.”

No, that’s not possible.

“That’s what people are like. A fragile clan that will flee as soon as they find themselves in danger.”

I know.

That person who is willing to save someone else, even risking himself.

Yeah, that’s right, isn’t it?

No matter who stopped him, no matter what kind of opponent blocked him, he always pushed forward. There’s absolutely no way that he would say ‘I’ll definitely help you’ and not come.

“…… Fufu.”

And now, I could see it.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“What?”

“I’ve finished Towa. I’ve prepared enough …… for now. I’m already saved.”

Jinya looks at me like I’m a creepy person for talking to someone who is not here.

But it’s too late to notice anything unusual.

Your plan has already failed long ago.

“Have you lost your mind? What the hell are you doing?”

“Jinya-sama!

“What the hell!”

Jinya frowned at my words, but then turned his head as a soldier came running towards him in a bloodcurdling rage.

The soldier let out a frightened scream, but began to falter in his report.

“Hii,i-it’s an attack! Hayate-sama is taking a large number of his men with him, and somehow our allies have suddenly betrayed us and the whole country is in chaos!”

“What the hell?

“Yes, and the person we captured the other day is overpowering the soldiers one after another with unbelievable movements! Is that really a human? Maybe it’s a new weapon from the human side…”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Gather the soldiers and clear it out with physical force!”

“Yeah, that’s almost there.”

Jinya changes his expression, but I notice that the researcher has taken the liberty of removing my restraints.

“You, what are you taking off without permission!”

“I’m sorry, sir. It’s an order.”

The researcher replies to Jinya’s angry words with empty eyes.

Here, he’s even more confused, sweat beading on his forehead.

“Huh, whose orders are those? The one who can give orders to you guys–“

“That’s just me, isn’t it?”

“……!”

Jinya looked up at the voice coming down from above, and before he knew it, there was a black-haired, red-eyed girl sitting on the “Towa” with her legs crossed.

When did she sit down? Moreover, the way she appeared was unnecessarily elaborate, which was probably done on purpose.

“Who are you, you’re not a beast, are you? What have you done to my men?”

“Hmm, you still think you have the upper hand, don’t you? Well then, no.”

Neh wagged her finger lightly, and one of the Kingsguard soldiers, who had his hand on the hilt of his sword behind Jinya, suddenly swung the sheathed sword at his head.

Jinya, who had noticed it with his premonition, punched the soldier away, but his expression showed no room for error.

The soldier who had attacked Jinya was seized by another soldier, but it was no longer possible to seize him as the other one struck at them with empty eyes.

“What the hell? What’s going on?

Jinya was in a state of confusion as he looked at his surroundings, which were quickly becoming divided.

In contrast to the girl, Nea, who is watching the situation in a good mood, looks at Jinya pityingly.

“Yes. Your prediction is really only that good, isn’t it? It’s only a borrowed power. So you can’t see the present or the future at all.”

“Huh, you ……!”

“I believed in you, didn’t I? I believed that this future would come to me.”

I use the shoulder of the researcher who removed all my restraints as a springboard to get on top of ‘Towa’. For a moment, I meet Nea’s gaze, but she urges me onward with an uncharacteristically kind smile.

Jinya tries to stop her, but the Kingsguard soldiers controlled by Nea hold him back.

Without even looking at it, I jumped off the top of ‘Towa’ as hard as I could. I jumped down so defenselessly that I didn’t think about the future, but there was no fear in me anymore.

Because I had already seen it.

I knew he was coming.

“What, Amako? Why are you jumping down?”

When I looked at the destination of the voice, I saw Usato holding a beastman soldier with white eyes in each hand. The soldiers were lying around, also with white eyes, and the scene could best be described as disastrous.

I opened my arms, feeling a bit spoilt, and he put the soldier down and ran to me at full speed ——- and jumped as wide as he could.

“———Ah ……”

I’m speechless.

There are so many things I want to say.

But I can’t. If I said them, I would probably cry.

In such a situation, crying without any outward appearance would annoy Usato.

But if it’s just one word ……, it’s okay.

I whispered to Usato, who embraced me with a strong hug, my voice trembling with the words I had just thought from the bottom of my heart.

“Usato.”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for being with me.”

The words were inappropriate for the occasion.

But even so, Usato smiled at me like he always does.

He wasn’t a demon or a monster, and he had a bright smile that suited his age.

I was too embarrassed to say the next few words, but I’m sure I’ll say them someday.

I’m sure I’ll be able to say it out loud someday, “Stay with me.”

TL Note: There’s no tears in my eyes, it’s you that’s having tears! 

Author’s Note:

(Oh, this is totally the position of the main heroine ……)

Jinya who only believes in precognitive magic, and Amako, who believed in the prediction of Usato’s arrival.

This difference is huge.

The next chapter will be updated tomorrow morning at six o’clock.

I wrote an activity report about the release of the first volume of the comicalization.