Chapter 8 — I’ll Even Be Your Slave! I Definitely Won’t Disobey!
“So...basically, you three defeated the Demon Lord and were sent back to our world,” Yogiri summed up, drastically simplifying the embellished tale that Hanakawa had given them.
“Please refrain from describing my Alternate World Cheat Adventure in such a grossly childish manner!”
“I didn’t much care while I was listening, but I guess there was some useful information in there. How did you guys get back to our world?”
While the current priority was to find a way to adapt and survive in this world, their ultimate goal would of course be to return home. Worst-case scenario, he hoped to at least be able to send Tomochika back.
“Ah, yes. In our previous adventure, we were summoned by the Magi of the Kingdom of Iman in order to defeat the Demon Lord, and once the task was accomplished, we were instantly returned. Unfortunately, I am unaware of how we would accomplish the goal of returning home this time...”
Yogiri turned to Tomochika. “I didn’t know any of these guys before, but were they gone for that long?”
“Not that I remember. No more than missing a day here and there for being sick, at least.”
“Our adventure spanned the course of an entire year in this world; however, upon our return, only a few short hours had passed. Perhaps the flow of time in our individual worlds is not entirely aligned?”
That would be good news, at least. It was very possible that they would be spending some time in this world, so he hoped they could keep the time they lost back home to a minimum.
“So what exactly was this Demon Lord? If you defeated him, shouldn’t the world have become peaceful or something?”
“Kingdoms populated by the demonic are known as Demonic Kingdoms, and thus their rulers are Demon Lords. But such Demonic Kingdoms are rather plentiful. Our noble selves were called forth to dispatch the Lord of the Demonic Kingdom bordering the Kingdom of Iman. As such, I imagine the people of Iman have indeed procured some modicum of peace.”
As an aside, the grasslands they now occupied were in the territory of the Kingdom of Manii. Apparently, it was quite a distance from Iman.
“So if we kill some Demon Lord somewhere, we’ll be able to return to our own world? Well, I suppose that’s a question for the Sage that summoned us.”
Perhaps some conditions had been set for their return when they’d been summoned, but it hadn’t been explained to them. And it was hard to believe that any such conditions would be easy to accomplish. The Sage was looking for someone who could become one of her own; there was no way she would let them escape back home that easily.
“Not that I am especially concerned with the endeavor of returning home...I have my dreams of an Alternate World Cheat Harem, after all...” Hanakawa grumbled, apparently having become rather complacent with his situation.
“So why did you guys act so normal when you were back in our home world?”
With the way they’d been acting earlier, and with the power they clearly possessed, it didn’t seem like they’d have had much trouble doing whatever they pleased back home. But as far as Yogiri knew, they had done nothing that would disrupt daily life around them.
“Naturally, our first inclination was to put our powers to the test in our home world! But alas, they failed to produce results there.”
“And when you were summoned again, your powers came back just as they were before? Was there anyone else like that?”
“Apart from our three noble selves, I am unaware of any examples.”
But if there were three, it wasn’t hard to believe that there could be more. Yogiri made a mental note of that.
“Can you see the Status of others easily?”
“Under normal circumstances, such a thing would be impossible, I imagine! One must refine their skill in Discernment as I have to receive such an ability!” With a proud smile, Hanakawa began to describe how he had increased his Discernment skill, but Yogiri had stopped listening.
Even if most people couldn’t use the skill, he had to assume there were those who would be able to see his Status. It would probably be dangerous to try and bluff his way through this world by pretending that he had a Gift.
“What is the rest of the class doing right now?”
“They began their second mission. I was told they set their sights on the capital.”
Apparently, upon reaching the city visible in the north, they had cleared their first mission and were immediately saddled with a second. The objective of their new mission was to accomplish great feats worthy of a Sage.
“What do you mean by ‘great feats?’”
“Something incredible enough that they would be recognized by the general public for it. There are a number of such exploits that might qualify, but in any case, the cooperation of the royal family would be indispensable. They’ve therefore decided to make their way to the capital while they build up their own levels.”
“So the three of you just broke off and left on your own.”
“What meaning is there to us increasing our levels now? In our previous adventure, after finally defeating the Demon Lord, we had grand designs of building our own harem, yet instead we were forcibly transported away from this world! How could we not take this chance to finally do as we pleased?”
“As you pleased, huh? Well, fine. Are there any other cities nearby?”
“The closest would of course be the city to the north. There exists another to the south, but its distance would make the trek quite a challenge on foot.”
Yogiri continued his barrage of questions for some time. The world, the Gifts...he asked about anything that came to mind, until he was satisfied that he had enough information.
“Well, that sums up my questions. Anything you want to ask, Dannoura?”
“Huh? Me? Hmm... Hanakawa, you guys were pretty strong, right? Why didn’t you just fight the dragon?” Tomochika asked, giving him a bit of a resentful look.
She must have thought that if they had just killed the dragon, they wouldn’t be in their current predicament.
“That was...out of fear, I’m afraid. Perhaps we might have slain a dragon, but that Sage! Truly a terrifying individual! It was the Sage’s will that we clear that first mission of reaching the city, so there was naught we could do but comply.”
“Sure, it was scary when she was shooting stuff out of her hands, but how were you that frightened? Aren’t you guys pretty strong too?”
“A misconception that can be forgiven for you, dearest Tomochika, as you are unable to see her Status! Her level had surpassed one hundred million. And, even more terrifyingly, her level continued to rise by the second, even as we watched! There was no method by which we could stand against such a monster!”
“Well, that doesn’t really help us, does it?”
Hanakawa describing the Sage’s level as “over one hundred million” didn’t help Yogiri pin down exactly how strong she was at all.
“Sir Higashida’s level was perhaps around one thousand. My humble self is only at ninety-nine.”
“After hearing she was at a hundred million, double digits sounds kind of pathetic, doesn’t it?” Tomochika said, sparing him no compassion whatsoever.
Yogiri felt the same way.
“It is a thing beyond my control! For you see, the upper limit of a human being in this world is only ninety-nine! Without a particular skill to exceed that limit, or a class with no level limit to speak of, surpassing that number is simply impossible!”
“One more question, then. For everyone to quietly follow Yazaki like that, did he do something to them?”
“Ah, this is about Yazaki’s skills, correct? Generals possess such skills as Charisma, Command, and Tactics. Should anyone accept his plan as logical or reasonable, they will find themselves unable to stray from it. Be that as it may, its compulsive force is only moderate, and thus it is rather ineffective on those who would be disadvantaged by the strategies set forth.”
Tomochika’s gaze dropped, frustration clear on her face. She must have been remembering her friend, Romiko Jougasaki. According to Hanakawa’s explanation, that meant Romiko had accepted the plan to leave the powerless classmates behind.
“I see. I guess we’d be the epitome of ‘disadvantaged’ in a plan like his, but maybe we were just outside the scope of his skill in the first place?”
Most likely, the Command skill served to suppress unrest to a certain degree and promoted group cohesion. That meant those like Yogiri, who didn’t receive a Gift, weren’t a part of the plan in the first place.
“I imagine that would be the case.”
As the discussion came to an end, silence settled over them. It soon became clear that they had no further use for their traitorous classmate.
Yogiri raised his right hand towards Hanakawa. His power didn’t require him to speak, nor did it need any special hand motions, but it helped him to create the right image more easily, so that was how he did it.
“Wait! Please, wait! You do not perchance intend to slay me, do you? With your Eternal Force Blizzard?!”
“It doesn’t have a weird name like that, but yeah, that’s what I was going to do.”
“Why?! For what reason?!”
“I feel it could be a problem down the road if we let you live.”
“So flippant! Do you not place any value on human life?!”
“I just don’t have any issues with killing people who intend to hurt me.”
Yogiri’s gaze flickered behind Hanakawa. The proof of the truth in his words still lay there, motionless.
“I won’t! Really, I’m not going to hurt you at all! Please, please don’t kill me!” As Hanakawa fell to his hands and knees, begging, his speech suddenly snapped from his haughty, pretentious style back to normal.
Yogiri hesitated. It wasn’t like he was particularly set on the idea of killing him. He just felt like it might be a bit troublesome to leave someone alive when they knew about his power in such detail.
“I-I know! A slave!” Hanakawa suddenly blurted out a word rarely used in everyday life. “I’ll be your slave! I’ll totally do whatever you say!”
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