Chapter 49: Retaking Hawaii!
Having finished an authentic American hamburger and feeling satisfied, Kazuma asked Stephen about the current time in Hawaii.
“Is it morning in Hawaii yet?”
“Yeah. It’s probably around dawn.”
“Think it’s alright if I go now?”
“If you don’t mind it being dark, then it’s fine, but are you going already?”
“I want to get it over with quickly. Reconstruction and stuff will take time, right?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
With Kazuma’s power, there was no need to rush that much.
However, Kazuma right now seemed to be inexplicably impatient.
Stephen wondered why he was in such a hurry to liberate Hawaii.
“Is there really a need to rush so much?”
“I told you, didn’t I? I want to use it for a training camp.”
“When is that?”
“First, I decide the destination, then the teachers have a meeting, and finally, they notify each academy, so it was around before Valentine’s Day, I think.”
“I think that’s still a ways off, but more importantly, don’t Japanese schools usually have classes around that time?”
“Apparently, it’s an annual event, and student council members get preferential treatment.”
“Oh really? Is that how it is?”
“I don’t know the details either, but well, it might be a privilege of the strong.”
“I see. But even if you liberate Hawaii now, won’t the reconstruction not be finished in time for the training camp?”
“That part’s not a problem. I’ll use my magic to restore just the area we’ll use for the camp.”
“Magic can do something like that…?”
“It’s ’cause it’s me, ya know!”
“…I see.”
Stephen, who had no knowledge of magic, stopped thinking too deeply about it.
Incidentally, what Kazuma was saying was true; even in the other world, only the Sage and the Demon Lord were users of the same caliber.
He didn’t know how things were now, but when Kazuma returned from the other world to this one, besides the deceased Demon Lord and Sage, no other omnipotent magic users existed.
“Alright, if it seems okay to go now, guess I’ll wrap this up quickly.”
Watching Kazuma crack his neck koki koki and start his warm-up exercises, Stephen suddenly asked something he was wondering about.
“…Do you know the location?”
“…Navigation, please.”
“Understood.”
Stephen was half-exasperated, but as he was beginning to understand Kazuma’s personality to some extent, he was also half-smiling.
“You just need to fly straight in this direction according to the map app, but will you be able to tell which one is Hawaii?”
“If I see a large island with building wreckage and stuff scattered around, that’s probably it, right?”
“That’s right. It was destroyed by Ibinom, but there’s an airport and such, so I think you’ll recognize it quickly.”
“For now, navigate me with GPS or something. I’ll fly straight, theoretically, but I’m not confident I’ll reach Hawaii.”
“Well, flying straight along the horizon is difficult. You can stray off course even when you think you’re going straight. It can’t be helped.”
“Alright then, I’m counting on you.”
“Wait.”
Stephen grabbed the collar of Kazuma, who was about to take off, and stopped him.
Kazuma turned back with a look that said, “Why are you stopping me?”
“Why’d you stop me? Could it be you’re against liberating Hawaii?”
“Mr. Satsuki. Try to recall what you’re wearing right now…”
At his words, Kazuma looked down at himself, but it wasn’t like his pants zipper was open or anything.
Kazuma looked at Stephen with a puzzled expression, wondering if there was something to be concerned about.
“…Do you really not understand at all?”
“Um… yeah.”
“Haaah… If you fly in the sky dressed like that, it’ll cause a huge uproar.”
Kazuma was currently in his everyday clothes, not in his Crimson Knight form.
Just as Stephen said, if Kazuma took off for Hawaii as he was, passersby would be in an uproar, and they’d likely take photos and videos with their phones and post them on social media.
If that happened, Kazuma would no longer be able to hide the fact that he was the Crimson Knight.
“Let’s, uh, change locations!”
“I can clearly see why your identity as the Crimson Knight was exposed so quickly…”
If Kazuma had been smarter, the Crimson Knight might still have been a figure shrouded in mystery, but thanks to his carelessness, they were able to form this connection and receive various benefits.
Although his feelings were complicated, Stephen was grateful for Kazuma’s personality.
After that, Kazuma followed Stephen’s advice, moved to a deserted place for a moment, and after confirming no one was around, transformed into the Crimson Knight.
Stephen would take care of any surveillance cameras and the like, so Kazuma could take off from there without worry and head straight for Hawaii.
Leaving America behind, Kazuma flew straight through the space between the sky and sea, but he began to deviate slightly from his course.
Stephen, who was checking Kazuma’s position in real-time on his phone, quickly noticed that he was gradually straying from his course.
“Mr. Satsuki. Can you hear me?”
Stephen spoke to Kazuma through the communicator.
“‘Yeah. I can hear you. Was I, by any chance, off course?'”
Kazuma replied to Stephen’s voice coming from the communicator built into his Powered Suit.
“You’re drifting off, little by little. Correct a bit to your left.”
“‘Aye, aye.'”
Following Stephen’s instructions, Kazuma headed for Hawaii.
Before long, Kazuma arrived in Hawaii and landed in what looked like the ruins of an airport.
“Is this the right place?”
“‘Yeah. That’s it. This whole area is Hawaii, so feel free to go wild. You’re going to fix everything up anyway, right?'”
“Hehe, you’ve started to understand me quite well, haven’t you? It’s easier to do various things later if I level it once! I’ll do as I please!”
“‘Just don’t sink the island…'”
Ignoring Stephen’s worries, Kazuma began to wipe out the Ibinom, from large to small, that had settled in the ruins.
They swarmed out of their nests one after another like ants, but they posed no threat whatsoever to Kazuma.
He single-handedly stormed the Ibinom’s den, pulverized an Ibinom that was trying to evolve, and took down the queen-type Ibinom, which seemed to be commanding them, in a single blow.
“Hmm. I wonder if that one just now was a new species…?”
Since there was no point in dwelling on it, Kazuma collected the carcass of the queen-type Ibinom, which he suspected was a new species, and completely buried the nest using earth magic.
While he was at it, all the Ibinom nests on the island had been destroyed, and the island was returning to its original state.
“Next up is the sea, huh~”
The sea is the troublesome part.
More than half of the Earth is seawater, and the Ibinom in the sea are still thriving.
Sea travel isn’t impossible, but it’s fraught with danger and can only be undertaken if accompanied by powerful Gifted.
Even so, it’s like risking one’s life; if dragged into the sea, even Gifted like Kings or Overlords would not survive.
Therefore, no one had been able to deal with the Ibinom in the sea.
“For now, I guess I’ll liberate the waters near Hawaii and protect them with a Magic Circle.”
However, this was irrelevant to Kazuma, who could move underwater without any problems.
His Powered Suit and magic enabled him to breathe underwater and nullify water pressure.
A shark-type Ibinom attacked Kazuma as he plunged into the depths.
The Ibinom opened its large mouth, attempting to swallow Kazuma whole, but it was instantly torn to pieces and became refuse of the sea.
He was about to leave the dismembered Ibinom carcass and proceed, but Kazuma somehow remembered that Ibinom were creatures that led to environmental contamination, so he hurriedly went back to collect it.
Having to eliminate them down to the last drop of blood was extremely troublesome, but if even a single drop remained, a new Ibinom might be born from it. That being the case, not even a single drop of blood could be overlooked. They truly were troublesome creatures.
“(Mysterious creatures that flew in from space. Why did such things come from space…? Still no answers, huh.)”
Kazuma exterminated every last Ibinom lurking in the sea, ensuring complete safety, while carving Magic Circles into the seabed to prevent the threat of Ibinom from entering Hawaiian waters.
In a matter of hours, the entire process was completed, and the complete liberation of Hawaii was achieved by the Crimson Knight.