HOT NOVEL UPDATES



Hint: To Play after pausing the player, use this button

The Japanese People of the Parallel World 

Satou here. Once, I was talking to my middle-school-age cousin, and she didn’t understand the phrase parallel worlds. I was so shocked that I ended up gazing at the spines of the SF masterpieces on my bookshelf and wallowing in nostalgia. 

Two days after the baptism, Princess Menea visited the mansion. 

“I simply couldn’t wait for your invitation any longer, Sir Satou.” 

The princess was smiling, but I sensed a wave of irritation behind it. 

Oh, right. I’d promised after the black dragon incident that I would go sightseeing with her in the old capital. 

I was having so much fun with the workshop tours and Magic Sword–crafting that I forgot all about her. 

“Hey, Your Highness, how much longer do we have to be quiet?” 

Slouching in her seat beside Princess Menea was a young brown-haired girl. 

“Yui!” the black-haired child next to her whispered, but the brown-haired girl didn’t seem interested in behaving. 

These two children were accompanying Princess Menea today, along with her escort knight. 

“I apologize for her poor manners, Sir Satou. I’m looking after these two children, you see. You two, introduce yourself to Sir Satou.” 

Princess Menea apologized, then looked at them persuasively. 

“Mm’kay! The name’s Yui Akasaki. I used to be an idol. Do you recognize me, mister?” 

The skinny young girl named Yui had dark eyes and shoulder-length brown hair and was less than five feet tall. 

According to the additional information in her AR display, she was thirteen years old, level 2, and her only skill was “Acting.” 

She called herself an idol, but I didn’t remember seeing her on TV or in magazines in my old world. She was definitely cute but not earth-shatteringly so. 

Noticing that the movements of her mouth didn’t seem to match her words, I used my “Lip Reading” skill and discovered that she was speaking Japanese. 

Since what was coming out was Shigan, she was probably using a magic tool with a translation function. 

“Yui, don’t be rude to Sir Satou. Speak like a proper young woman.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” 

Yui didn’t look particularly fazed by Menea’s scolding. 

Next, the other child spoke. 

“I’m Aoi Haruka.” 

“He might not look it, but Aoi is a boy, y’know.” 

For a boy, the timid-looking Aoi had slightly long hair and rather large black eyes. 

Just as Yui said, I definitely would’ve mistaken him for a girl. 

His AR information indicated that he was ten years old, level 1, with the skill “Arithmetic.” 

Now, as their names implied, both the children were Japanese. 

They must have been summoned in Princess Menea’s kingdom. 

In keeping with the hero’s party’s explanation of a “summoning without a god’s blessing,” neither of them had any Unique Skills. In fact, they didn’t even have the Self-Status Check ability that Arisa had said all reincarnations and transmigrations held. 

“So which Japan are you from?” 

Yui hopped up and pointed at me. 

“Are you from the Great Island Empire Japan, like Aoi? Or maybe the Southern Japan Federation, like me? Wait, you’re not from the People’s Republic of Northern Japan, are you?” 

…What? 

Great Island Empire? Southern Japan Federation? 

Yui’s unexpected questions sent doubts racing through my mind. 

It was only the “Poker Face” skill that stopped the distress from showing on my face. 

Calm down, Satou. Let’s see what that obscenely high INT stat can do. 

In less than a few seconds, I managed to calm myself down. 

Once I wasn’t panicking, I was able to guess at what Yui’s words meant. 

Those “what-if” alternate-history worlds were common in fiction. 

They must have been summoned from a parallel-universe Japan. 

Since Arisa and Hayato simply said “Japan,” I’d just assumed that everyone was summoned from the same world. 

“C’mon, which one?” 

“None of the above. According to records, my ancestors are from the country of Japan.” 

I answered Yui’s question with the same fake backstory I told Miss Ringrande. 

“Aw, man, you’re a native? Here I thought you might be the eighth person.” 

Yui flopped back into her seat, looking disappointed. 

At least I managed to get through it without raising suspicion. 

As always, I owed it all to the “Poker Face” skill. 

“Too bad, Your Highness. You seemed pretty excited when you thought you might’ve found the eighth person.” 

Princess Menea was silent, looking troubled. 

“By the ‘eighth person,’ do you mean one of the Japanese people who was summoned to your kingdom, Your Highness?” 

“I-indeed. They’re missing, you see.” 

“Yeah, ’cause a demon got ’em.” 

“Y-Yui!” 

Princess Menea hurriedly silenced the careless Yui. 

“What does that mean?” 

“Th-the truth is…” 

Princess Menea seemed reluctant to tell me, but she had no reason to keep it a secret, so she began to explain in a quiet tone. 

“When the final summoning rite took place, a black greater demon attacked the royal castle. The demon destroyed the altar used for summoning, along with much of the castle, and carried off the person who’d just been summoned.” 

The people performing the summoning all got trapped under the debris, so no one was able to help. 

According to witnesses, the eighth person had short black hair and was likely a young boy. No one had been able to see their face, though, so it was possible it was a girl. 

The story seemed somehow familiar. Searching my memories, what came to mind was Arisa. 

It occurred to me that her kingdom’s royal castle had been attacked by a greater demon, too. 

A black demon, though… Could that have anything to do with the “Great I” guy who had appeared in Seiryuu City? 

“When did this incident occur?” 

“A little over two months ago. Do you remember when countless meteors fell in the northern sky? It was the day before that.” 

This kidnapped eighth person isn’t me, right? Right? 

I was dying to ask that out loud, but even if I did, they’d have no way of knowing the answer. 

I definitely shared some commonalities with this eighth person, but if the disposable Meteor Shower spell that destroyed the dragon god was given to me by a greater demon, why bother using me as an intermediary? 

Besides, according to the hero’s party, none of the others summoned in the Lumork Kingdom had Unique Skills, unlike me. 

It’s possible that I might be this eighth person, but let’s not jump to conclusions. 

I’d just make a note of myself as one of the possible candidates in the “important information” part of my networking tab’s memo pad. 

“Too bad you’re not the eighth guy, though.” 

“Why is that?” 

“Well, it’d be pretty cool if a normal person from Japan managed to become some big-shot noble, right? It’d give the rest of us hope that we can make something of ourselves here, too.” 

Yui seemed to have pretty big dreams. 

“Wouldn’t it be faster for you to just marry rich, Yui?” Aoi asked. 

“Eh, I dunno, all the nobles here have sorta European features. I like Japanese guys, like Satou here. Oh, I know! Satou, if you become a high-class noble, wanna get married?” 

Boy, this girl moves fast. 

It was a generous offer, but I wasn’t interested in marrying a girl who was barely into her teens. 

“…Yui. If you want to marry a nobleman, you’ll have to learn some etiquette, at the very least.” 

Menea gave Yui a cold look. 

“Ohhh, my bad. You’ve already got your sights on this one, right, Your Highness?” 

“Y-Yui! …Sir Satou, I must apologize again for Yui’s rudeness.” 

I wish she would’ve denied that she was going after me, at least. 

“But Your Highness, don’t you need to nab a high-ranking noble of the Shiga Kingdom ’cause your fiancé got killed?” 

“Yui, can’t you put things a bit more delicately?” 

“C’mon, forget about some stupid prince whose kingdom got wrecked by the Weaselman Empire. You gotta live in the moment and find someone new! You said you hardly even knew the guy, right?” 

Aoi’s chiding wasn’t enough to stop Yui’s comments. 

However… 

“Yui, that’s quite enough.” 

“R-right.” 

Princess Menea’s deathly quiet voice was enough to make her stop talking and straighten in her seat. 

An upper noble, though, huh? That should put a bottom-rung noble like me far out of the running. 

At the reception the other day, there was some talk about a viceroy, but I was pretty sure the chances of me marrying Miss Karina and becoming a viceroy were about a million to one, so I wasn’t too worried about it. 

After that, I guided the conversation away from matters of the heart and back to the other summoned Japanese people. 

Princess Menea and company told me about the other summons besides the eighth. 

The first two started screaming strangely and charged at the royals, so they were executed by guards. 

I felt bad, since it was possible they were just speaking Japanese and trying to get a handle on their situation. 

The third was a young man in his late teens. They gave him a translation ring, but he fled the castle that same day and was devoured by monsters in the forest. 

By the time soldiers caught up, all that remained of him was the left hand wearing the ring. 

If this were a shonen manga, the lack of a corpse would be a telltale sign that this guy actually survived. According to Princess Menea, though, the large amount of blood found in the area made that highly doubtful. 

The fourth person was a man in his thirties. In the midst of his battle training, he attempted to attack a noble who’d come to observe him and was executed. 

Coming from peaceful Japan, it was no surprise that undergoing horrifically intense battle training every day without any cheat-like advantage would drive him to desperation. 

As I pictured myself in their shoes, a chill ran down my spine. 

If I’d been dropped in that wasteland without any Unique Skills, I probably would have met with a similar fate. 

The fifth person was a woman in her late twenties. After they gave her the translation ring and explained the situation, she committed suicide that same night. 

“Suicide? Why?” 

“The late king told her that we had no way of sending her home.” 

“Really? Couldn’t the summoning rune simply be changed to return someone home?” 

“Lady Yuriko’s power, which was used to summon people from Nippon, is very unstable. Even with the help of the weaselfolk’s summoning-rite device, she was never able to connect to the same world twice.” 

Apparently, this reincarnation named Yuriko had a Unique Skill called World Connection, which was able to indicate whether it was the same world. 

“Finally, the sixth person is Aoi, and the seventh is Yui.” 

Menea fell silent. 

In other words, aside from Yui and Aoi here, all the other Japanese people had died or been otherwise lost. 

No wonder the hero and his friends got angry when they heard the name of the Lumork Kingdom. 

I didn’t exactly feel warmly toward the Lumork Kingdom myself, but it wouldn’t be fair to take that out on Princess Menea, who wasn’t directly involved in the summonings at all. 

More importantly, as the kids’ senior of close-but-not-quite-the-same nationality, there was something I had to ask. 

If they didn’t have anywhere to go, I was willing to take Yui and Aoi with me. 

“So how is the Lumork Kingdom going to look after these two children from now on?” 

“They won’t be left to the kingdom at all—I’m going to be studying abroad at the royal academy in the Shiga Kingdom, so I intend to bring them with me as my attendants.” 

I guess she did say she was looking after them. 

Just then, there was a knock at the door. 

“Sir Knight, Sir Hero is here to see you.” 

“Ohhh, really? Awesome! I wanna ask that guy something.” 

Yui hopped up excitedly at the butler’s words. 

“Please show him in.” 

“Right away, sir.” 

Princess Menea scolded Yui in the background as I spoke to the butler. 

“Yo, Satou! Sorry to show up out of nowhere.” 

“Whoa! He’s a total hottie!” 

Yui leaped for the hero immediately, but Ringrande promptly intercepted her. 

Today, Miss Ringrande, Princess Meriest, and Priestess Loleiya accompanied Hayato. 

“Hmm? Who is this improper child? She looks a bit like Hayato and Satou…” 

“That’s correct. They’re from a Japan slightly different from Sir Hayato’s.” 

“Ooh, so you’re victims of the Lumork Kingdom…” 

The hero frowned and patted Yui’s head gently. 

“Hey, don’t treat me like a kid! I was a pretty popular idol back in the day, you know!” 

“Oh yeah? I’m sorry.” 

“No worries. Anyway, there’s something I gotta ask you, Hero. Is it possible for us to get back to Japan?” 

Yui asked this as brightly and casually as she could, but Hayato’s glum expression gave her the answer before his words. 

“…Meri, Rin, Loleiya. Do you know anything about it?” 

“No, I’m afraid it’s not been passed down in the Saga Empire.” 

“As far as I know, there’s no method in the Shiga Kingdom, either. We could try investigating the forbidden books in the royal castle, but they’re off-limits to anyone but the king or the Lady of the Forbidden Archives, the sixth princess, Sistina.” 

“The Parion Temple of the Saga Empire has no information, either. Perhaps the Parion Province in the west would know more, but I believe it would be best not to get one’s hopes too high.” 

…Really? 

I didn’t think I’d be told that getting home was basically hopeless before I even got the chance to investigate it myself. 

“Gotcha. No dice, huh?” 

“So we can’t go back… I won’t get to see my grandpa or my grandma or my friends from school…ever again…” 

Yui looked fairly neutral, but Aoi started crying, so Princess Menea embraced him. 

After watching Aoi for a moment, Yui slapped her own cheeks lightly. 

“All right! The sulking ends now! From here on, I’m aiming to be the best idol in this world or maybe the queen of some kingdom!” 

Yui raised her fist toward the sky to show her resolve. 

Her positivity could give Arisa a run for her money. 

“C’mon, Aoi. You’re pretty smart, so I bet you could be the best inventor in the world or something!” 

“Leave me alone, Yui. I could never be the best at anything.” 

“Oh, don’t give up before you even try. We’re still kids, so we’re supposed to just run forward as fast as we can, even if we fall on our faces!” 

“…But what if I do fall?” 

“Don’t be stupid. The important thing is that you keep running! That’s just how we are.” 

“You mean that’s how you are, Yui…” 

Still, a small smile returned to Aoi’s face at Yui’s encouragement. 

If these kids could be optimistic, then an adult like me had no right to be discouraged. 

I was already pretty used to life in this world, and with my absurd powers and riches, I could probably lead a better life here than I ever would back in Japan. 

Still, I’d at least like to send a letter to the family, friends, and coworkers I left behind. 

Upper-level Space Magic could open gates to “neighboring worlds,” so maybe I could use that to develop a spell to send an e-mail to all of the infinite parallel worlds at once. 

Even if I couldn’t send humans, I could probably at least send a signal of a few hundred bytes. I bet the cost would be pretty cheap, too. 

Besides, I still planned to investigate the “forbidden archives” Ringrande had mentioned and Loleiya’s Parion Province eventually. 

“Sorry I couldn’t give you better news.” 

“Nah, it’s not your fault.” 

“All right. Sorry, Princess Menea, but can I borrow Satou for a bit?” 

“Y-yes, of course. My business is by no means urgent, so I will excuse myself.” 

At the hero’s prompting, Princess Menea bowed out, and I called Arisa to the parlor at his request. 

For some reason, as Arisa entered, everyone but the hero left. 

On the desk was a strangely shaped magic tool that Meriest had put in place. It was an anti-eavesdropping measure called a Saga Empire Type-A Counterintelligence Device Mark III. 

“Now no one should be able to listen in.” 

I tested it out with skills like “Clairvoyance” and “Clairaudience,” but everything was blurred out with white noise. This was clearly a high-performance device. 

“Princess Arisa, will you not join me?” 

Huh. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t Hayato attempting to solicit Arisa over to his party. 

“I’m terribly sorry, Sir Hero. But I wish to stay with Sir Satou.” 

“…You really mean that?” 

“Very much.” 

Arisa answered without hesitation. 

“I see… So I’ve been rejected.” 

Hayato shook his head jokingly. 

“Still, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.” 

“Whatever about?” 

Arisa frowned, looking confused. 

“Satou told me everything.” 

Arisa shot me a look that screamed, What did you say?! but I had no idea what he was talking about. 

“I figured he was Japanese, but I had no idea he was a reincarnation with Unique Skills.” 

“Geh! You told hi—” 

“Arisa…!” 

I tried to cut Arisa off, but it was too late. 

If anything, my warning her was probably evidence enough on its own. 

“So my hunch was right… I knew something seemed off when we sparred that night after fighting the dragon.” 

So he’d been suspicious all this time… 

“It’s got to be an imitation-based Unique Skill, right?” 

Nope. That was just a normal skill. 

“No one improves that quickly, no matter how much natural talent they have. I know because I have unusual abilities as well.” 

“Sir Hero, could I ask why you’re bringing this up?” 

He didn’t seem to suspect me of being Nanashi. Was he trying to get me to become an agent of the Saga Empire or something? 

But something was strange here. If he was going to try to negotiate or coerce me, I would think he would send someone like Princess Meriest instead of approaching me directly. 

“Sorry, Satou. I didn’t mean to alarm you. I actually just want to teach you my secret techniques.” 

“…What do you mean?” 

Now I was really unsure of his intentions. 

“Satou, I think you know this, but this world’s difficulty curve is ridiculously broken. I’m fine, since I was level fifty when I was first summoned, but for the average person, it’s basically impossible to survive outside of a well-protected city.” 

I absolutely agreed with that. 

Without the advantage of being level 310, I would’ve probably been eaten by a wyvern before I made it from the Valley of Dragons to Seiryuu City. 

“So I want to teach you the special moves and techniques I’ve learned. Especially so that you can protect Princess Arisa.” 

…Maybe he actually had 100 percent good intentions? 

If it were anyone else, I’d suspect the whole thing was an act. But given Hayato’s behavior patterns so far, I felt confident that he was being genuine. 

“You’re a very tenderhearted person, Sir Hayato.” 

People often said that sort of thing to me, but this was the first time I’d said it to someone else since coming to this parallel world. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. So you’ll accept my offer?” 

“Yes, if you’ll allow me to presume upon your kindness.” 

Unlike Hayato, I didn’t have a lot of battle-related skills. 

“Do you know of a place where we won’t be seen?” 

“Yes, I do indeed.” 

I suggested the labyrinth ruins under the old capital. 

We told Hayato’s party that we were going to have a contest over Arisa, and we went to the ruins without them. 

Since the duke had operatives watching Hayato, we took the silver ship to the entrance of the underground tunnels. 

I’d gotten rid of the smell of the tunnels with a deodorant I made using “Transmutation.” 

While we were on the move, I saw a suspicious shadow. I thought it might be a spy, but it turned out to be an orc woman. 

I didn’t know what she was up to, but she ran away like a frightened rabbit as soon as our eyes met. 

She was probably an employee of the downtown alchemy shop I’d seen on my map before. 

I didn’t want anyone to witness my sparring with Hayato, so I put a marker on her just in case. 

“First, we’ll start with the basics. Gather magic power at your feet, then release it as you step forward!” 

Hayato demonstrated the skill as he explained it. 

The explosive acceleration sent him running about a hundred feet. 

I’d explained that I could imitate the techniques, not the skills themselves, and that I wasn’t able to pick skills off a skill list like Hayato and Arisa. Thus, we ended up with this kind of skill-acquiring lecture. 

“This is ‘Blink.’ It’s indispensable for fighting monsters and demons with lots of long-distance attacks.” 

“Is it anything like ‘Warp’?” 

“No, that skill sucks. Sure, it takes zero movement time. But the distance is way too short to be useful.” 

Huh? I think over three hundred feet is pretty good… 

I silently questioned Hayato’s explanation. 

“It can go a few feet if you get it up to level five, but the amount of skill points it takes to get there is totally not worth it. With that amount of points, you could raise ‘Blink’ to level nine, which is way more useful in combat.” 

Aah. Well, that made it painfully clear just how unfair it was that I could raise a skill to the max with only ten skill points. 

“So yeah, you should learn ‘Blink’ instead. For now, just try doing it how I showed you. It should be easy if you use an amount of MP around your DEX or your AGI stat.” 

I appreciated the advice, but since the stat display only went up to ninety-nine, I didn’t actually know what the exact numbers were. 

The amount of MP varied by the individual, too, so I decided to try about the same amount that “Warp” used. 

Concentrate the magic power on my feet and step forward… 

> Skill Acquired: “Express” 

> Skill Acquired: “Blink” 

> Skill Acquired: “Body Strengthening” 

> Title Acquired: Skanda 

I got a whole bunch of skills, so I slowed to a stop after dashing about fifty feet. 

It didn’t honestly seem much faster than running, but that might be because I didn’t do it at my full speed. 

“Pretty good, Satou. If you practice that every day, you should get the ‘Blink’ skill next time you level up.” 

I thanked Hayato and recorded in my memo tab the practice method he’d told me. 

I didn’t actually need it myself, but it might be useful training for the beastfolk girls, as physical attackers. 

“Next, ‘Body Strengthening.’ You basically circulate magic power throughout your blood vessels.” 

Again, Hayato demonstrated as he spoke. With my “Magic Vision” skill, I was able to see the magic coursing though his body. 

> Skill Acquired: “Magic Power Vision” 

“This one uses magic power to strengthen your bones and muscles. There are lesser skills, like ‘Strength’ and ‘Endurance Enhancement,’ but ‘Body Strengthening’ is way more convenient. Skills like ‘Defense Shell’ and ‘Iron Skin’ concentrate magic power in your skin, but it makes it hard to move, so I don’t think it’d work well for a light speedster like you. Anyway, just try circulating the magic power for now.” 

I obediently gave it a shot. Though I’d just gotten the “Body Strengthening” skill, I was interested in the other skills, too. 

I used the minimal amount of magic power to try enhancing various parts of my body. 

> Skill Acquired: “Strength” 

> Skill Acquired: “Endurance Enhancement” 

> Skill Acquired: “Muscle Enhancement” 

> Skill Acquired: “Iron Skin” 

> Skill Acquired: “Defense Shell” 

> Skill Acquired: “Magic Power Armor” 

I got the feeling I could get more if I kept going, but that was probably enough for the time being. 

“No wonder Wee said you were good at magic manipulation. Circulating magic power is hard, but you did it on your first try! ‘Blink’ works great in combination with ‘Body Strengthening,’ so you should try practicing both at once.” 

“I will—thank you.” 

“Body Strengthening” would be useful for the rear guard as well as the vanguard, so I should probably add it to all of their daily training routines. 

“Now pull out your sword. First, put some magic power into it.” 

“All right.” 

I didn’t want my fairy sword to get damaged, so I decided to use one of the Magic Swords I’d made myself. 

“A Magic Sword? It’s got pretty good power flow, too… Well anyway, try to extend the magic power past the edge of the sword and sharpen it. If you keep practicing, you should be able to learn Spellblade.” 

That was actually very useful. Now I could use that explanation to teach it to Pochi and Tama. 

“Okay, let’s get into the good stuff now. Try learning my techniques by sparring with me. I’ll try to hold back, of course, but don’t get distracted or you might die, got it?” 

Hayato’s expression was serious as he pulled out the Holy Sword Arondight. 

“Ready?” 

“…Ready.” 

As soon as I nodded, Hayato’s figure blurred, and in the next instant, he was directly in front of me. 

I brought up my power-infused Magic Sword to block the Holy Sword that swung down at me. 

Blue and red sparks illuminated the rock walls around us, and a high-pitched clang echoed through the ruins. 

The Holy Sword danced to the left and right without pause. 

As my focus was directed to the Holy Sword, he attacked me with the Holy Shield instead. 

The attack came from the blind spot created by my radar and log window. He must have learned from our last mock battle. 

I mentally manipulated the menu to turn off the displays. 

Now my field of vision was incredibly wide. 

I could sense the movement of his eyes. 

The position of his center of gravity. 

A slight shift in his outline indicating his muscle movement. 

Even his breathing. 

I was able to predict the trajectory of Hayato’s sword before it even started to move. 

The Holy Sword came toward me with six rapid thrusts, but I managed to bat it away easily with my Magic Sword. 

“Damn, that movement! Are you really level thirty?” 

Honestly, I was even more surprised by my own movements than Hayato was. 

My body felt lighter than usual, and information seemed to come to me with startling clarity. It was as if a switch had been flipped. 

Hayato made another volley of attacks with the Holy Sword, but I was able to predict their timing and aim. 

I was familiar with Hayato’s quirks after sparring and seeing him in battle several times, but that didn’t explain how quickly I was able to predict his moves, like I could see the future. 

Testing out this theory, I matched my sword with Hayato’s. 

I avoided his sideways swing with a short leap away. 

It came back toward me at remarkable speed, so I blocked it with the wrist guard on the hand that wasn’t holding my sword. 

Hayato used this moment to swing a kick at me. 

I kept predicting, analyzing, and occasionally deliberately taking a hit to throw off his balance. 

It was like squaring off with a really strong player in a fighting game. I wanted to battle Elder Dohal of the dwarf village again now. This time, I should be able to hold my own a little more. 

Come on, more! 

From the slight wavering of the sword tip before a swing to the subtle shift of his grip on the handle, information was everywhere. 

It was as if I could even feel the flow of the air and the vibration of the ground. 

I was able to analyze and imitate all his moves, even the trickiest feints and stance changes meant to lure me in. 

I absorbed my battle with Hayato in every inch of my body and made the information my own. 

It seemed like it was over far too soon. 

Time flies when you’re having fun. 

> Skill Acquired: “Foresight: Versus Human” 

> Skill Acquired: “Field Control” 

> Skill Acquired: “Sixfold Rapid Attack” 

> Skill Acquired: “Gap Attack” 

> Skill Acquired: “Gap Defense” 

> Skill Acquired: “Saga Emperor Sword Style” 

> Title Acquired: Sword Dancer 

 

“I never thought anyone would land a clean hit on me like that.” 

Slumped against the wall of the ruins, Hayato pulled himself to his feet and grinned. 

“Masterrrrrr!” 

Arisa came half running, half tumbling at top speed from a corner of the hall, having broken through the barrier with Space Magic. 

“Aaaah! Are you hurt? No? Your clothes are in tatters! You! How were you planning on taking responsibility if you seriously injured my master with those full-blown attacks?! I don’t want to be widowed before we can even get married!” 

Arisa poked and prodded at me while complaining to Hayato. 

At first I let her do it, since it was cute to see her so worked up, but I had to stop her once she realized I was all right and started trying to cop a feel instead. 

“Sorry, Princess Arisa. I got carried away because Satou here was so good at learning my moves…” 

Hayato rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. 

It certainly did surprise me when Hayato busted out “Shining Slash,” the same attack he’d used to deflect the “Dragon Breath.” 

He didn’t use any attack-based Unique Skills or supply his Holy Sword with magic, so it was a lot weaker this time, but it probably still would’ve severely injured anyone but me. 

“Satou, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but are you the eighth person the Lumork Kingdom summoned?” 

“I’m not sure.” 

I answered Hayato’s question honestly. 

“…What do you mean?” 

“You see, I don’t actually know how I was brought to this world…” 

I gave him a short summary of my time here, leaving out certain details like the Meteor Shower and my Unique Skills. 

I also didn’t mention that I was Nanashi the Hero, of course. 

Hayato seemed like an honest guy, but if that information reached the Saga Empire, it might end up causing me some serious trouble. 

“You took a nap and woke up in a wasteland, huh? And then got attacked by lizardfolk, no less… Boy, you’ve had it rough.” 

Hayato patted my shoulders as if to comfort me. 

“By the way, Satou, do you know Nanashi the Hero?” 

“Yes, I’ve heard tell of him. It seems he saved Lady Karina in the incident a few days ago.” 

I’d been expecting this question, so I was able to respond without even needing the help of my “Poker Face” skill. 

“D’you think he’s a hero summoned by the Shiga Kingdom, maybe? I wouldn’t be surprised if Yamato the Hero—I mean, Yamato the ancestral king—passed down the art of Hero Summoning to future generations.” 

That did sound like a possibility. 

Maybe that information was hidden in the forbidden archives Miss Ringrande had mentioned before. 

“But Nanashi was strong enough to beat that yellow demon without breaking a sweat. Maybe he’s actually the real ancestral king Yamato?” 

Hayato’s expression was grave as he posed his extremely incorrect theory. 

“I couldn’t say, myself.” 

Hey, I didn’t say that I didn’t know. 

“If that whole Dreamcrystal Mausoleum from the legends Rin was talking about is the real deal, maybe he was in some magical cryogenic sleep and somehow got revived…” 

Hayato’s theory was getting more and more outlandish. 

He seemed to be just as bad at solving these kinds of mysteries as I was. 

Somehow, this strengthened my affinity for him. 

“Since he has purple hair, perhaps he’s a reincarnation like me?” 

“Oh yeah, that could make sense, too…” 

Arisa offered another suggestion besides Hayato’s delusions. 

Taking the opportunity to change the subject, I decided to offer him something as a thank-you gift. 

“Anyway, Sir Hayato, please take these.” 

“What are they? Bronze bullets?” 

I handed Hayato ten Holy Bullets with screw-shaped holes. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any arrow shafts. 

I didn’t give him the Holy Arrows, because the arrowheads were made with meteorites from the Meteor Shower. 

“Try putting some magic power into one.” 

“Whoa… What?! These are Holy Weapons?!” 

“Yes, I received them from a masked alchemist known as Trismegistus. If you make shafts, you can use them as arrows, I’m told.” 

Hayato gazed at the Holy Bullets in his palm. 

Most likely, he was using the “Analyze” skill to investigate. 

“…I see. Satou, is there any way I could meet this alchemist?” 

I shook my head in response. He was fictional, after all. 

My guess was that, since the name of the creator was blank, he was thinking of Nanashi, which means nameless in Japanese. 

“Still, disposable Holy Weapons must be really rare…” 

Hayato tried to return the bullets to me, but I gently pushed his hand back. 

“Please use them, Sir Hayato. I would prefer you to have them.” 

“You sure?” 

I nodded firmly. 

I had plenty of materials, so I could spare ten or so for Hayato without a problem. 

I fervently hoped that no more demon lords would show up until the next Season of the Demon Lord, but the ominous words of the head priestess weighed on the back of my mind. Besides, they might come in handy if he ran into any more powerful foes like the yellow demon. 

“All right. Thanks a lot.” 

Hayato reverently placed the bullets in his inventory. 

We went back aboveground, and Hayato used his talisman to contact his party. Before long, the dimensional submarine Jules Verne emerged from subspace. 

“We have to go check out the other sites where the demon lord resurrection was predicted.” 

“You’re leaving already?” 

“Yes, that’s right. First, we’re checking the Labyrinth City Celivera in the Shiga Kingdom and the Yowork Kingdom, then heading to Parion Province.” 

Unlike in games, being a real hero sounded like a lot of hard work. 

“Princess Arisa, please take care until we meet again.” 

“I shall pray that fortune is on your side, Sir Hayato.” 

Arisa took Hayato’s hand and smiled, and the hero’s face turned red. 

This guy was a genuine lolicon, all right. 

Hayato hid his embarrassment by heading up the ramp of the silver ship, then turned back to call out to me. 

“Don’t you dare laugh, Satou! Listen, make sure you don’t lose control because of Arisa’s cuteness, got it? Always adhere to the law of ‘Yes, Lolita! No touching!’” 

I acknowledged his frantic warning with a wry smile, just as Arisa pinched my bottom. 

Hayato and his friends waved good-bye from the door of the silver ship, so I gave a big wave in return. 

With that, the ship turned west and soared away toward the setting sun. 

“Well, there he goes.” 

“Yeah.” 

Arisa watched the ship until it disappeared. 

I didn’t know when we would meet again, but I decided to support him in any way I could if he ever needed my help. 

I owed him a favor for teaching me all those skills, but more importantly, he was my friend. 





COMMENTS

No Comments Yet

Post a new comment

Register or Login