In j.a.panese, black can mean guilty and white can mean innocent. Thanks for reading~
Although the demon king"s rampage had calmed down, the chaos in the place had still not calmed down.
"It"s dangerous, so decapitate the demon king right now!"
"Wa, wait, usually, we should have a public execution. It can serve as a restraint to the remains of the seven great demon kings."
"That"s true. Besides, he still has utility value after all."
"How easy going. If we let him live, it would be too late by the time something happens, you know?"
Their opinions are dividing.
Should they cut off his head right now and raise shouts of victory?
Or, should they perform judgement at the proper location?
Either way, it was convenient for us.
"Gyanza-sama! Please give us your opinion."
However, Gyanza isn"t saying anything.
Dumbfounded, she"s just looking at the immobile demon king and her broken sabre, with an expression that doesn"t show what she"s thinking.
Is she depressed about how she was just about to lose?
Nevertheless, it"s wasted effort to think about this woman"s thoughts anyways.
Therefore,
"Uraah!" (Velt)
I decided to not think.
"G-, Gya, Gyanza-sama!"
No one was on the lookout.
Thinking that the battle was over, they had probably relaxed. How ill-prepared.
Aiming for the dumbfounded Gyanza, I threw my baton towards the back of her head with a spin on it.
Well, I guess there"s no way it would just hit that conveniently.
"Wha-, tch-! Are there reinforcements?"
Probably by sensing the slight presence, she easily evaded it.
Well, I didn"t think it would hit, but now the whole humanity great allied forces in this place have noticed me.
"Wha, what is that youngster!"
"It, it"s not a demon! He"s a human child."
"Sonny, what are you doing in a place like this. No, do you understand what an outrageous thing you did right now!"
A human child appeared.
Why in this sort of place? On the contrary, he attacked the general.
Just as I expected, they are making a commotion. Well, the killing intent from some of them is super scary.
However, it"s something I had readied myself for.
For the trembling of my legs and the pounding sound of my heart to go unnoticed, I simply shouted as a show of courage.
"My name is Velt Jeeha! All of you a.s.sholes better separate from that demon king! I"m the one that"s going to bring him back!" (Velt)
Don"t make that blank face. Well, I expected it though.
However, it was beyond my expectations for this woman to be the very first one to react.
"Bring the demon king back? Boy, could you tell this onee-san about what you"re thinking?" (Gyanza)
Gyanza is entirely making it seem like she"s a gentle young lady that doesn"t care about a child"s pranks, but she"s still scary.
Behind her smiling face, she"s overflowing with black miasma.
I"m losing my nerve. However, it"s my loss if that happens.
"That guy"s my friend. So, even if I have to pick a fight with you a.s.sholes, I chose to help my friend." (Velt)
"Friend? Boy, what are you talking about? A human child like you is the scary, scary demon king"s friend? Lies aren"t good." (Gyanza)
"Hmm, but you don"t really care whether it"s a lie or not, right? After all, your bad eyes and regretful brain turn all inconvenient facts black, even if they"re white." (Velt)
Oh, her smile twitched a bit. Did it go to her head?
She easily reacted to a cheeky, d.a.m.n brat"s insults.
"That brat, what rude things……"
"You"re going to be killed, you know?"
"More like, saying you"re the demon king"s friend………… since you"re a child, if you"re going to tell a lie, say something like you"re the hero or something."
No, being a hero would be impossible. But I guess now I"ve become unable to escape.
"Uu………… tsu………… guh, A, Asa, kura?" (Sharkryu)
At that moment, Sharkryu moves while on the verge of death, and the second he looks at me with his eyes that look like they"re going to close at any time, the demon king unintentionally raises his voice.
"Wait, A, Asaku-, you idiot! Yo-, you, why are you here! Why didn"t you escape!" (Sharkryu)
The demon king regains his awareness and shouts.
Obviously, humanity"s great allied forces took a stance with their weapons at once.
However, apart from the soldiers that wanted to give the demon king the finishing blow, the other soldiers stopped them, as they became curious about the demon king"s strange behaviour and my exchange with him.
"Yo, are you alive, demon king-sama? It seems you haven"t gone through your second reincarnation yet." (Velt)
"Guh, id, idiot, why do you think I risked everyone"s lives for! It was because I wanted you and Ura to live…………" (Sharkryu)
"Yeah, don"t worry, since Ura escaped a long time ago. I returned here after confirming that." (Velt)
Well, that"s a lie though.
While I"m gathering attention, Ura slipped into this large hollow in the confusion, and is hiding, waiting for a chance.
"T-, that"s not it! Why didn"t you escape as well! What I asked for, is for you to let Ura escape, and then protect her from now on for me!" (Sharkryu)
"Like I said, why would I have to do something like that. I didn"t accept it even once, you know?" (Velt)
"A, Asakura…………. yo-, you!" (Sharkryu)
Ooh, he"s seriously glaring at me. As I thought, he"s angry.
"O, oi, what is this exchange?"
"Hasn"t the demon king"s personality changed?"
"Ra, rather than that, since some time ago, that youngster has been quite intimate with the demon king…… was it true that he"s his friend?"
"Who the h.e.l.l is he, this youngster!"
The dreadful demon king is a threat to humanity, and is also their old enemy.
That kind of existence is casually talking with a human child.
Would anyone be able to comprehend this scene? No one could.
"Boy, who are you? Why are you that close with the demon king?" (Gyanza)
Gyanza"s smile disappeared. Her way of speaking sounds like she"s pressing a question to a criminal.
Well, I understand why it would be on her mind, but she probably won"t believe me even if I tell her.
"Who knows. Since you know everything, can"t you just think about it yourself? Something like, I got tricked by the demon king, or although my appearance is human, I"m actually a demon, or that I"m humanity"s betrayer, anything"s fine. Feel free to stick any label you like on me. Since labels are unavoidable for delinquents, I"m used to it." (Velt)
"Wha………… t, foolish things are you" (Gyanza)
"That"s right. Like humans, demi-humans, or demons, it seems there are various races in this world, but even among them, I"m a delinquent, the most foolish and stupid race. Remember that!" (Velt)
I"m different from the day the demi-human appeared, when I lost myself and attacked it.
A life abrading fight that I experienced for the first time in my life.
I resolved myself with words and feelings, but in the end, it doesn"t change the fact that I"m scared.
With just a slight mistake, I could easily be killed.
But even so, I have to do it.
"Ura………… I"ll definitely make this guy show a weak spot………… so when I give the signal, I"m counting on you." (Velt)
While confirming my objective with a small murmur, I face forwards.
If I feel fear from dying, think like this:
I"ve already died.
"Here I come, uooooooooooooo!" (Velt)
I run. The movements of a ten year old. The speed of a ten year old. The power of a ten year old.
Look carefully. Although I"m heading towards you, be amazed enough to hesitate killing me!
"Stop that, sonny!"
"Geez, I wonder where you came in from."
"Behave yourself!"
As if obstructing my path, the soldiers try to gently stop and make me calm down without any hostility.
A wall was made in the middle of my path to Gyanza. However, that was within my expectations!
"You won"t be able to stop me with that kind of wall!" (Velt)
I jumped.
It wasn"t the jump power of a ten year old child.
I easily jumped over the adult height, and ran pa.s.sed them as if walking on air.
"Wha-, he he he he he, he flew!"
"What, what amazing jump power this brat has!"
"He isn"t an ordinary person, he must have been acting!"
Of course, I can"t jump over a crowd of people with my normal jump power.
Then, how did I pa.s.s them? The answer is simple.
"Was that flight (fly)? No, flight (fly) is a high grade spell. A child shouldn"t be able to do it. Besides, he didn"t chant either…………"
Incidentally, flight (fly) is apparently an ultra high grade magic that enables you to freely fly about in the air, but I haven"t used that sort of magic.
That is because I can only use one magic.
Only floating (levitation).
I casted levitation on my own shoes, and just floated myself while advancing forward.
These guys just misunderstood of their own accord.
"Here I come!" (Velt)
Heading diagonally down, I threw my other baton at Gyanza.
From the front, without any tricks. Well, there"s no way this would hit.
"H, how foolish! To simply throw away your weapon like that…………" (Gyanza)
My baton that was simply evaded hits the ground.
However, in that moment, it makes a violent sound and breaks the ground.
"Eh…………" (Gyanza)
Gyanza"s expression, and all of humanity"s great allied forces expressions hardened while doubting their eyes.
It"s because a normal stick that a child threw had enough destructive power, that let alone sinking into the ground, it smashed it.
"Wha, what is that power! I-, if it hit, it would have been terrible!"
"How did you do that? Are there any mechanisms in that weapon or something?"
That"s right, I"m actually an amazing guy you know? Is what I hope they"re thinking.
"Here I come, Gyanza!" (Velt)
After jumping over the wall of soldiers, I ran unarmed, in a straight line to Gyanza.
With this, there isn"t anyone that can stop us.
Now, what will you do?
"It can"t be helped." (Gyanza)
Since her weapon was broken from the battle just before, Gyanza is currently unarmed as well.
And, since there is some s.p.a.ce between us, there"s nothing we can use but magic to repulse the enemy heading towards us.
I was waiting for the moment Gyanza tries to release magic at me.
"The flame"s" (Gyanza)
"Hit!" (Velt)
"Bullet, gah!! Wha-?" (Gyanza)
The moment Gyanza tries to use magic, I release the trick I prepared.
At that moment, with her talented reactions and intuition, Gyanza cancelled her magic and jumped away from that place.
It would have hit if she was a bit later in jumping away.
All of a sudden, something fell from just above her, and made a loud noise as it pierced the ground.
That was the very first baton I threw.
"Wh, why was this weapon just above me!" (Gyanza)
"As expected of you! You can evade this as well, huh!" (Velt)
It"s reasonable for her to be surprised.
After Gyanza evaded the baton I first threw, while everyone had their attention on me from my entry and my exchange with Samejima, I floated it with floating (levitation) and left it on standby at the ceiling, right above Gyanza.
It was so that it would fall towards Gyanza after I release floating (levitation) at the right timing.
As long as it"s within a certain distance, I can float things I"ve touched once with floating (levitation).
I realised it from carrying plates over and over with floating (levitation) during my training at the ramen resturant.
This is my only way of fighting with magic that I came up with.
"There!" (Velt)
"!" (Gyanza)
And then, I hurled the shoe I was wearing towards Gyanza while she was slightly agitated.
Unlike a weapon, it"s slow.
I did this a lot in fights when I was Asakura Ryuuma too.
Throwing what you"re wearing to the opponent, and then attack them the moment they touch it.
To be frank, there wouldn"t be any damage even if I hurl a shoe. The important part is for them to turn their attention elsewhere.
However, apart from that, throwing your shoe and attacking the opponent in this world is impossible for those overly serious knight-samas.
Therefore, it would be a steal if there"s even one "?" in Gyanza"s thoughts.
During that slight time, I floated the baton I dropped before with floating (levitation) and succeeded at returning it back to my hand.
This made Gyanza and the others open their eyes widely as well.
"The weapon returned to his hand of its own accord……"
Floating (levitation).
The people in this world only use this when they need to carry heavy things.
Exactly because it"s a spell that anyone can use, they don"t try to pursue it that deeply.
However, I believe that mastering this magic will surely let me become the strongest.
I return the weapon to my hand. If I spoil the trick, I"m sure everyone here would be able to use it if they try.
However, on top of not trying it, the fact that no one thinks about it is proof that they don"t recognize floating (levitation) as a magic that can be used in a fight.
If you were to compare it to something, floating (levitation) is a pushcar used to carry heavy things.
No one would think of using a pushcar as a weapon in a fight.
This is why no one realizes it.
Furthermore, there isn’t anyone in this world that would think of working hard to master using a pushcar, when fascinating magic like lightning or fire exists.
Except for me…………
"There! Pa.s.s!" (Velt)
"Eh…………" (Gyanza)
Even if I throw a baton again, it would be reflexively dodged.
However, humans are mysterious things.
Despite reflexively evading things that were vigorously thrown, for some reason, they end up normally receiving it if it"s thrown slowly like a pa.s.s.
Gyanza is a human as well. Without understanding what"s happening, she caught that baton I pa.s.sed to her.
And so, Gyanza fell in my trap.
"H, he, heav, wha! What weight!" (Gyanza)
The moment she caught the baton, Gyanza"s back suddenly bended, and she collapsed onto her hands on the ground.
Surprised, right? The fact that the baton I was lightly swinging around is actually unreasonably heavy.
"Hah hah hah ha! As I thought, women have thin arms! Oi Gyanza-chan, you really have no power!" (Velt)
I"ll say my thanks to the old man at the weapons shop when I return.
From how it felt, the baton"s normal weight was around five hundred grams.
However, with the cooperation of the old man at the weapon shop, we remodelled it to be heavier by a hundredfold.
I was thinking about it ever since I heard that old man was one of the rare gravity magicians in this world.
In other words, unlike its appearance, each of my weapons are around fifty kilograms. In total, it"s a hundred kilograms.
This is for the sake of making up for my light body and power that I felt when I fought the demi-human.
And, my means of holding these fifty kilogram batons is the floating (levitation) magic.
So, although I"m always carrying the batons around in a holster, I"m actually carrying them with floating (levitation).
The batons slightly float in the holster.
By piling up investigations of how much mana consumption I can reduce while increasing my proficiency and accuracy of floating magic during my manual labour at the ramen restaurant, I can now live while constantly using floating (levitation) for a certain amount of time in one day.
"Remember this! This is my strategy,『Fuwa fuwa time』!" (Velt) (TL Note: Fuwafuwa – fluffy.)
This is what I gained from deciding to not learn any magic other than floating (levitation).
"I"ll smash your head! Axe kick!" (Velt)
In that slight opening, I was able to shorten the distance between Gyanza and I.
At this range, she shouldn"t have any leisure to use magic.
She doesn"t have a weapon either.
In a panic, Gyanza releases the baton and stops my axe kick just before it hits by guarding with both her hands.
However,
"Wha, ou, ch, wha, what power! A kick like this with a child"s body weight?" (Gyanza)
It was unwise of her to guard with bare hands.
Because my kicks make up some of my attacks, I asked the old man from the weapon shop to make my shoes heavy as well.
I constantly walk while using floating (levitation) on my shoes, and I use techniques like the axe kick where I bring my foot down from above by releasing floating (levitation) the moment I raise it.
All that"s left is to get the weight and my speed together, so that I can perfect an axe kick that has power manyfold than normal.
It"s simple if the trick is exposed. However, Gyanza will probably misunderstand like this.
"You, are you a gravity magician!" (Gyanza)
She misunderstood it just like I thought she would.
Well, go ahead and think that way if you want to. I"m actually a low grade magician, but I"ll stay silent.
But with this, my role has ended.
Agitation and disorder from all factors.
Furthermore, she lost her weapon, didn"t get th chance to use magic, and above all else, both her hands are sealed.
"I"ll leave the rest to you!" (Velt)
At that moment, a silver haired girl came in between Gyanza and I.
Since everyone was concentrated on our offense and defense, her existence at this place was completely unexpected.
"Yeah, this is great Velt. I"ll give you a kiss later as a reward!" (Ura)
It"s Ura.
"Prin, cess U………… ra…………?" (Gyanza)
From Ura’s unexpected entry, Gyanza"s whole body stiffened.
She’s full of weak spots.
Now I just need to leave it to the demon king’s daughter, a brat that was said to be a potential threat to the world someday.
“Take this, Gyanza! Makyokushin Karate, Demon High Kick!” (Ura)
What she was aiming for, is Gyanza’s completely defenseless chin.
Even an amateur knows about it.
If you jolt the brain, it can cause a concussion and the like to the opponent.
That’s the same for Gyanza.
Ura’s paternal high kick that was full of destructive power smashed Gyanza’s chin in an instant, and like a puppet that had its strings cut, Gyanza collapsed onto the ground immediately.
“Ah………… kaha………… ah,…………” (Gyanza)
The focus of her eyes couldn’t focus, and while not understanding what just happened to her, Gyanza was unable to stand up.
Everyone was at a loss for words from this scene, and Ura and my hearts were about to explode from agitation while looking down at the collapsed Gyanza.
“Haa, haa, haa, haa, haa, haa, haa, it………… it went,………… well…………” (Velt)
“Ye, yeah, with my………… power and your power………… that Gyanza was…………” (Ura)
“A, are you serious, cr, c.r.a.p, I feel like I’m about to fall over…………, I, I’m starting to shake now.” (Velt)
“Yeah. I, I’m scared as well.” (Ura)
I couldn’t believe it.
It was a strategy that was close to a gamble, but we succeeded at everything without a single mistake.
Gradually, not only agitation, but fear once again filled my heart. What would have happened if we failed?
“Li, like, it, it went way, to, too well………… this, this isn’t a dream right?” (Velt)
It’s pathetic, but everything that made me tensed was cut off, and my heart couldn’t settle down at all.
That was the same for Ura as well.
When I grasped Ura’s hand as a test, she was shaking as much as I was.
I was scared.
But, we overcame it.
We won.
And, that wasn’t a dream………… wait, it really isn’t a dream right?
“Velt…… um, that is, um” (Ura)
“What’s up?” (Velt)
“Um, it’s that…… you were cool! Nn.” (Ura)
“Ah? Chu………… eh?” (Velt)
Eh? For some reason, Ura blushed and restlessly mumbled something.
“Nn~~” (Ura)
Huh? Like, when I realized it………… Ura pressed her lips against my lips…………
“Puha-! …… Eh, ehehe, as I thought………… it’s not a dream!” (Ura)
“…… Yo………… you…………” (Velt)
“It’s because………… it was a promise!” (Ura)
“N, no, just because of that don’t suddenly! Like, at least do it on my cheek! Even though you’re just a brat!” (Velt)
“Muu, isn’t it fine! The kiss is my reward to you. Kissing you on the lips is a reward from me after all!” (Ura)
I ended up getting kissed by the demon king’s daughter, and my head was in too much confusion.
………… Wait, it’s good we won, but after this, how are we going to pa.s.s through the wall of humanity’s great allied forces that are surrounding us?
However, despite having something more concerning than that, we hadn’t noticed.
We won against Gyanza. We were convinced of that.
But, we still hadn’t noticed that all we did was step on the lion’s tail.