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Chapter 20 — Keep Me Entertained as Long as You Can. I’ll Keep You Alive as Long as You’re Still Bawling

“That’s not a nice way to greet someone, is it?” Yoshifumi stepped down from his throne, walking up to Hanakawa.

“Huh? Umm. I thought we had just walked into the capital?”

“I was waiting for you guys, but you were so slow, I just brought you straight here.”

“Err, my apologies!”

Hanakawa decided to get on his hands and knees for now. He had no idea what was going on, but he felt it was best to assume Yoshifumi was upset. Planting his face on the floor, he apologized with everything he had. Even if he was angry, acting subservient should help to quell the emperor’s rage, and he wouldn’t be likely to attack someone who was totally defenseless. There was no guarantee that would save him, but it was a much better chance than just standing around like an idiot.

“Who are you?” Alice asked, nerves clear in her voice.

“I guess I can’t say I expected to fool you.”

The Sage’s tone of voice changed, making him sound like a totally different person. Hanakawa looked up to see Shigeto Mitadera standing in front of him.

“Huh? What is going on?”

Shigeto should have been with Yoshifumi in the Elven Forest. Hanakawa had been teleported to Yogiri’s side, and when he’d met up with Yoshifumi again, Shigeto was gone. He had assumed Yoshifumi had killed him at some point along the way.

“A lot happened. I have the Omega Blade now.”

Err, that’s the World Sword or whatever that goofy sounding weapon was, isn’t it?!

Hanakawa decided not to voice the thought out loud. Something about Shigeto gave the impression of a ruler with absolute power. He instinctively understood that speaking out of turn here would be a bad idea.

“How did you take Sir Yoshifumi’s form? I thought your power was only to create an unreliable Book of Prophecy?”

“The Omega Blade is an omnipotent sword. I’ve been trying out all the things it can do.”

“If you’re omnipotent, why are you waiting around here?” Alice was clearly suspicious. If he was really omnipotent, he was using rather roundabout methods.

“No reason, really. I just thought I might be able to surprise you.”

“So...is that red sky your doing too?” Hanakawa asked.

“I wanted to see if I could change the sky’s color.”

“And the city being rebuilt?”

“I wanted to see if I could copy Luna’s power.”

“And the fact that people are living ordinary lives in the city again?”

“I made it so that the monster never attacked. For now, I just created people similar to the ones who lived here before and set them about their lives.”

“And all this gold as well?”

“I wanted to see if I could do alchemy.”

“That is absurd!”

Shigeto could teleport others at will, change his form, change the color of the sky, create a city with people living in it, and conjure gold from thin air. It all seemed like a game to him, and that casual flexing of his power was what scared Hanakawa most.

“You wanted Yoshifumi’s help, huh?” Shigeto asked, turning back to Alice. “That’s too bad.”

“Are you an idiot or something? What do you want?” She was clearly bluffing. The Sage was obviously afraid, but didn’t back down an inch.

“I’ve wondered the same thing myself, to be honest. But you know, by messing around with this omnipotent power, I’ve found that being able to do anything you want isn’t all that fun in itself. So I’ve been trying a lot of things to see what’s fun.”

Uhh...what am I supposed to do now?

Hanakawa tried to think of a way out. If Shigeto was really omnipotent, there was nothing Hanakawa could do against him. Disobeying him was impossible. In that case, he needed to find the best way to suck up to him.

“Ahh. Umm. I am not your enemy, so...we are classmates, correct? I will refrain from going so far as saying we got along well, but we were in the same class, so...”

“I didn’t forget, Hanakawa.”

“Huh? Forget about what?”

“You really don’t remember, do you?” Shigeto sighed.

Huh? Can he possibly read my mind?

“I can’t read the minds of people from other worlds, but I can read Hanakawa’s. Why is that?” Shigeto asked no one in particular.

A small girl suddenly appeared at his side. Hanakawa remembered her as the manifestation of the Book of Prophecy.


“You can still read the minds of those with particularly low mental resistance. So even if from another world, you should be able to read the minds of an ordinary human.”

Seeing Navi, Hanakawa remembered his last meeting with Shigeto in the capital.

“Ah, umm...”

“You made me beg on my hands and knees, remember?”

That was right. At their first meeting in the capital, Shigeto had begged Hanakawa to help Rei Kushima, and Hanakawa had gotten carried away.

“No, that was no more than a playful jest.”

“I seem to remember you breaking my nose as well.”

“That was Miss Navi stomping on the back of your head. I was the one who healed you afterwards!” I got far too carried away! I should have thought ahead!

“You really did go too far. Thinking back on it is enough to make me laugh.” Despite his words, Shigeto’s face was deathly serious.

“Yes, well, I thought that was my chance to—my humblest apologies!” Hanakawa slammed his face back into the floor. At this point, his best bet was to break his own nose and hope for pity.

“The Omega Blade has made me omnipotent, but it can’t heal mental scars. That was a humiliating experience. It really taught me what it means to be boiling with anger. I always thought that once I saved Rei, I’d have to kill you someday.”

Hanakawa squealed in fear. “Please, have mercy! At least spare my life!” He pushed his face harder into the floor.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you. Well, maybe I will, but I’ll bring you back to life after.”

“Uhh...you mean like a living hell...?”

“Keep me entertained as long as you can. I’ll keep you alive as long as you’re still bawling.”

Hanakawa began to sob exaggeratedly. For now, all he needed to do was survive. He’d do anything, he decided.

“So, how about you, Sage Alice? I thought you might try something, but you’ve just been standing there doing nothing. I’m pretty sure I’ve given you plenty of openings to attack.”

Alice had done nothing but glare at Shigeto. But that was to be expected. There was nothing she could do.

“What happened to Another Kingdom? Try it again. Don’t give up hope yet. There’s still a chance you could beat me.” Shigeto tried to egg her on, but Alice just bit her lip in frustration. “Did she already give up?” he asked Navi.

“The Sage Alice no longer possesses her Philosopher’s Stone. Her supply of magical energy is exhausted, so she is unable to use her powers,” the girl answered.

“I never took her stone, did I?”

“Shortly after she teleported away from us, a god named Hiruko stole it from her.”

“Oh, a god, huh? That sounds interesting, but what do I do about Alice? I wasn’t expecting this...”

Shigeto sank into thought. He might have been able to escape, but Hanakawa decided it was best not to try. His best bet was to do everything possible to avoid upsetting his classmate.

“Okay then, I’ll give you another one.”

As he spoke, something dropped to the floor in front of Alice. It was a round, transparent stone. Two more followed soon after.

“Huh?” Alice was in shock, never having expected her stone to be returned to her.

“There you go. With three, you should be three times stronger, right? Why don’t you try something now?”

“How... How did you get these?” she whispered.

“Who knows? I just told the Omega Blade to get me some. It could have grabbed them from anywhere.”

Alice gave a hollow laugh. “Are you serious?”

Shigeto’s actions only served to push her further into despair. The Philosopher’s Stones were the source of power for the Sages. How could she fight someone who was capable of snapping his fingers and having them appear in front of him? Hanakawa felt like even if he were a Sage, he would have no hope against Shigeto.

“Why don’t you give it a shot anyway? Maybe a miracle will happen. If you don’t want to, then how about this? I’ll pair you up with Hanakawa. I’ll keep the two of you as pets for breeding.”

Alice immediately grabbed the Philosopher’s Stones at her feet.

“Oh, come on! Am I truly so repulsive—what?!”

The stones transformed as she picked them up, merging together and turning into a single pink mass. Both Alice and Shigeto seemed confused by the development. As they stared in shock at the mass in Alice’s hands, it transformed into a baby and began wailing.

No one had expected that. But of everyone present, Hanakawa was the only one with a clue as to what had happened. It was Luu. The baby Luu had turned into a three-year-old child once given Yoshifumi’s Philosopher’s Stone, and then into a six-year-old when given Alice’s. The Philosopher’s Stones were parts of her body.

“Just what is going on here?” he mumbled.

As everyone was staring dumbly at the baby in confusion, there was an explosion beside them. A hole opened in one of the golden walls, and a number of people streamed through.

“Oh, look, it’s Hanakawa. See? I told you he’d be fine.”

Yogiri, Tomochika, Mokomoko, Hiruko, and Luu had burst through the wall of the throne room.

“Sir Takatou?! Did you perchance come to rescue me?!” Hanakawa looked up at Yogiri with desperate eyes.



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