Episode 20: Apparently, She’s Mizuha’s Benefactor
Long, wavy golden hair. Blue eyes. A beautiful girl reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. Of course, she’s nowhere near Mizuha’s level, but she’s still in the category of a beautiful girl.
Her appearance evokes a desire to protect rather than be wary.
Her attire looks like a school uniform at first glance.
However, it also contains many military-like elements.
There’s a hidden thorniness that can’t be completely concealed by her lovely facade.
And the magical power she emits is dangerous, making it impossible to let my guard down even for a moment. Not that I even feel like doing so.
—She might be stronger than Mizuha, the Saintess.
The thought made me break out in a cold sweat.
“Who are you? Did you create this pseudo-world? Why are you attacking me?”
“Kukuku. I cannot reveal the reason. But you will fight me, won’t you? Be prepared to retaliate. Or else… you’ll end up like that Saintess you’re searching for, won’t you?”
Saintess.
The moment I heard that word, I felt like my brain cells were boiling.
“…Did you do something to Mizuha?”
“Kuku, that’s a good expression. Worth fighting for. If you defeat me and escape this pseudo-world, you might find out what happened to the Saintess, you know? It would be a shame if you were to meet her corpse. Well, if you become a corpse too, you can just sleep together peacefully under the grave.”
Is it a bluff? Or is she serious?
I’ll stop thinking about it. I’ll kill her as quickly as possible. If I kill the one who created the pseudo-world, I should be able to return to the original place. I’ll go back and confirm it.
All the Evil Spirits… no, Mizuha told me. They were villains in their past lives, but now they are pitiful dead souls. Just spirits. My spirits. I’ll treat them as valuable tools.
Lend me your power. We’ll kill her.
“Nuh!?”
I materialize skeletons around the girl.
They completely surround her, but they’re just decoys. I also materialized skeletons underground. If your ankles are suddenly grabbed by arms emerging from the ground, even a master would be slow to react.
After stopping her movement like that, I detonated all the spirits at once.
The impact was so great that the windowpanes dozens of meters away shattered.
“To manipulate the dead is a rare skill…! I was completely caught off guard. I only intended to see a little of your abilities, but I enjoyed it more than I imagined. I’ll let you off with this much—”
I won’t let her finish her theatrical lines.
She’s acting like she has the upper hand, but I can see that her defensive barrier is wavering from the explosion.
It’s time for a follow-up attack. I’ll kill her for sure.
“W-wait, I said it’s over already!”
No questions asked.
I close the distance in an instant. I create a black knife with my magical power and press it against the enemy’s throat.
The blade is blocked by the defensive barrier. But I’m pushing it in little by little. I’ll be able to pierce her neck soon.
A clear look of fear appeared on the face of the girl who had been so composed. She seems desperate not to die, concentrating her magical power on the barrier around her throat.
That’s a lot of magical power. I’m impressed. I can’t break through it. But she’s concentrating too much, and the other parts are sloppy.
I sweep her feet out from under her, making her fall on her back, then I straddle her. Next, I’ll aim for her heart, which is now defenseless, instead of her throat.
“Gah!”
The moment I stab her, red blood leaks from the girl’s mouth.
I push it in further.
“Just die already. Return me to my original world. I’m looking for Mizuha. I don’t have time to deal with the likes of you. The moment you hinted at Mizuha’s death, I decided to kill you.”
I pierce her heart. The knife pierces all the way to the ground.
In an instant, the scenery changed.
I was standing in the park, in the same position I was in before being swallowed by the pseudo-world.
“Good grief. What a dangerous fellow. But you care about Mizuha that much, huh? It was my fault. I didn’t want to hint at her death either… but I thought it would be the quickest way to test your abilities.”
The voice of the girl from before comes from behind me.
I destroyed her heart, so how is she still alive?
It’s not just the girl who’s unharmed.
I also suffered several burns in that battle, but they’ve disappeared.
Did she set it up beforehand so that all the injuries sustained in the pseudo-world would disappear after escaping it?
No matter what the outcome, both I and the girl would end up unharmed. In other words, this girl never intended to harm me from the beginning.
Even so—.
“Using Mizuha as bait is something I can’t forgive.”
I won’t be satisfied until I punch her once in the real world.
“Fwah!? I said it was my fault and I apologized!”
“If you think it was your fault, then let me punch you once.”
I walk towards the girl.
At that moment.
“Akito-kun, no! You can’t fight with that person! Rosette-san is my savior!”
Mizuha, who jumped in from the side, hugs me, stopping me in my tracks.
If the Saintess uses her full power, it would be difficult for me to resist.
More than that, there’s no way I can punch Mizuha’s savior. I’d rather punch myself than do something so ungrateful. No, I can’t forgive myself for even thinking about punching her.
I brought my raised fist down on my own cheek.
“Guh!”
“Eh, wh-what are you doing, Akito-kun!?”
“What is he really doing… it’s better than punching me, but…”
“Rosette-san, don’t look so dumbfounded, apologize to Akito-kun! Explain why you swallowed him into the pseudo-world! I found Akito-kun… I followed him, and he suddenly disappeared in the park, and then Akito-kun and Rosette-san appeared together… depending on the reason, I’m going to be seriously angry too!”
“C-calm down, Mizuha. I’ll explain, so calm down. Don’t gather too much magical power! It’ll shorten your lifespan!”
“It’s okay. Akito-kun has dispelled all the curses, and he’ll keep dispelling them every day, so I can use as much magical power as I want!”
“…What?”
The girl called Rosette looks at me.
She had a sharpness within her lovely appearance, but now she’s frozen with wide eyes like a small child, just as she looks.