Chapter 19

Interlude – Then, shall we try raising the degree of difficulty?

A building which was quietly on a plot of land of the royal capital .
That place was one of Shion’s above ground bases .
That the building was a sage’s base was kept secret . It was because there were also those who opposed the sages . There wasn’t something like a person who could oppose the sages, but on the other hand, receiving attacks would be a troubling story .
Inside of that house . Shion was relaxing in the extravagant living room .
She was lying untidily on the sofa .
In front of the sofa, Yōichi—a follower of the sages—was standing

“The sage candidate’s capture of hell has reached the sixth layer . If it’s this trend, it’s probably just a matter of time before they reach the seventh layer . ” (Yōichi)

“Is that right . It being too easy is troublesome . ” (Shion)

It didn’t mean that Shion was saying ‘capture hell and kill the Devil’ or something like that, it was to obstruct the Empire’s invasion while thinking ‘for the sake of humanity’ .
That was difficult, and it was appointed only because achieving it was close to impossible . Just achieving it had no meaning .
Even though they had the nature as a sage, their ability still had some way to go . They had to suffer more, be cornered, and awaken it .

“Then, shall we try raising the degree of difficulty? Let’s try to hinder them a little . ” (Shion)

“No, killing the Devil itself shouldn’t be easy……” (Yōichi)

Yōichi knit his brows . He probably thought ‘I’m thinking about something worthless’ .

“And, a deceased appeared in the sage candidates . The death itself isn’t very unusual, but the circumstances are strange . ” (Yōichi)

“And, what was said?” (Shion)

“He was killed inside of the city . Apparently, someone seems to be aiming at them . It’s said that the student called Ayaka Shinozaki is the culprit, but this is a student who was left on the bus . ” (Yōichi)

They who were left on the bus were those who failed to install the system .
She induced him to do so, and Shion confirmed it was like that .

“Among the four people who were left on the bus, three were alive, huh . If that’s the case, the fourth person is a point of concern . ” (Shion)

“Aah . We went to look at the bus . The corpse of the male student was left inside of the bus . We collected it just to be sure, and disposed of the bus as well . ” (Yōichi)

“Is that so . We should be cautious towards the ones who fail to install it from now on . ” (Shion)

Fundamentally, an installation failure was only a problem of affinity, and it occurred on several people each time . There hadn’t been any problems in particular so far, but if problems caused by the failures occurred in succession, vigilance would become necessary .

“Don’t we need to deal with that guy?” (Yōichi)

“If she is moving towards her classmates with the goal of revenge, we should leave her alone . It’s perfect if the difficulty level goes up because of her . ” (Shion)

“So, what will you do with that boy after all?” (Yōichi)

“That’s right . I’m hesitating still……” (Shion)

Yogiri Takatou’s whereabouts were known, and she roughly heard about his ability from Hanakawa as well .
She was thinking about several countermeasures, and she should be able to get rid of him with them, but she couldn’t sweep away the fragments of eerieness .
If there were no problems in particular, she also thought ‘maybe I shouldn’t make a move on him poorly’ .

“Sage killing is an obvious problem, is it not? I think we can’t leave him alone . ” (Yōichi)

“But, it also can be said that ‘if they seem to be killed, they were that extent’ . There’s no problem if ability wasn’t brought with it . Besides, if it’s ‘killing sages’, then we need to deal with hedgehog as well . ” (Shion)

In the first place, the origin was hedgehog . A completely black atypically, and blades were growing on its entire body . The sages decreased due to that, so they summoned sage candidates to replenish the sages .
Almost everything about hedgehog was a mystery, and they would have to advance the investigation regarding it as well . While she was thinking such things, there was a knocking noise from the door .

“What kind of thing is it?” (Yōichi)

Yōichi was suspicious . It was because the other side of the door was a bedroom, so there shouldn’t be anyone in there .

“I see . It’s the transporter’s door to door . ” (Shion)

Shion prompted Yōichi to open the door .
What came into view, was a boy wearing a uniform .

“It’s Haruto Ōtori, a sage candidate . ” (Yōichi)

Yōichi supplemented . It was because Shion didn’t remember such things as the names of the sage candidates unless it was necessary .

“Certainly, you can come to here if you use door-to-door, but how did you find this place?” (Shion)

It was a skill which connected between buildings freely, but you needed to know both buildings to use it . However, this place was a secret refuge, and those who knew of its existence were limited .

“Oh yeah . A small troubling problem appeared, so I tried using the problem solving skill . ” (Haruto)

Haruto responded to Shion’s question carelessly .

“I see . The consultant’s problem solving skill can do feats of that degree if it is about rank four . It’s very nice while having the touch of a cheat . ” (Shion)

Even if she didn’t remember the names, she could know the class of the person before her eyes through the system .
As its name suggested, the problem solving skill was a skill that could understand the way to solve a problem .
The general also had a similar skill, but it was limited to tactics . The problem solving skill could understand answers more broadly .
Shion installed the system, but she didn’t know what kind of classes would manifest . The potential of the class ‘consultant’ was also unknown .
But, Sage candidates had to be like this . It was because if they could only do things within range of expectations, they wouldn’t attain ‘sage’ or anything like that .

“So, what do you have to tell me?” (Shion)

“Saying it frankly, there isn’t enough time . Please, may you extend the deadline?” (Haruto)

The time Shion offered was one month . She said to become a sage during that time .

“That’s right . It’s for pushing the deadline back, so if everyone doing their to aim at being a sage, there aren’t any problems in particular . ” (Shion)

What she wanted to avoid was everyone living sluggishly and irresponsibly in the parallel world .
If they had the hope of becoming a sage, then their real motive wasn’t to mark off everything and finish it all by the deadline .

“Then . ” (Haruto)

“But, just extending the deadline isn’t interesting . That you seem to be able to change the requirements so simply is also a problem……oh yeah . Then, how about we do it like this . Why don’t you deal with Yogiri Takatou-san?” (Shion)

“With Takatou, you say?” (Haruto)

He probably thought it surprising . Haruto’s face, which had been calm the whole time so far, became doubtful .

“Will you say something like ‘I cannot betray my classmates’?” (Shion)

“No, it was someone discarded once . He isn’t anyone all that useful, and I will do so once more . ” (Haruto)

“Then, it seems like the deadline extension might be allowed with such a simple thing, right?” (Shion)

“I agree . ” (Haruto)

“But, it isn’t something so simple . ” (Shion)

Shion conveyed everything she knew about Yogiri Takatou .

“I see . He can’t be killed with normal means, and I’ll have the tables turned on me . ” (Haruto)

“Can you do it?” (Shion)

No matter what would happen, they should look at the situation they’d do it in for now .
What Shion anticipated was his problem solving ability . So, she thought he’d think of a way to deal with Yogiri .

“I understand . I’ll do it . ” (Haruto)

Haruto accepted .
He didn’t look like he was afraid of Yogiri . Apparently, it seemed that he’d already acquired a way to solve it .