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Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou:Volume 4 Chapter 1

2021-11-22T03:02:13Z

1.32.66.248: /* Part 2 */

==Chapter 1 – To the End of the Peaceful Day==

===Part 1===

“Kazuki, between the sparklingly cute and feminine me, or the cool, conservative and adult me, which one do you like?”

…Please talk in Japanese, that was what clearly expressed in Kazuki’s bewildered expression.

Mio leaned her body forward even though they were in the middle of a meal, and waited for his reply while her eyes were shining in expectation. She was still in the cute maid uniform that she wore when they prepared the meal.

The dining table of the Witch’s Manor became quiet.

“What an extremely narcissistic way of talking isn’t it?”

When Koyuki ridiculed her while chewing (hamuhamu<ref>SFX of chewing</ref>) her toast, Mio denied it with her red face.

“It’s not like that! Not the uniform or the Magic Dress or the maid uniform, but it’s just when I’m wearing my casual clothes, I’m concerned about what I should wear and what Kazuki thought!”

“It feels like Mio has an obsession in stylish fashion, huh?”

“It’s not to the degree of an obsession but…if they're a girl then of course they'll be concerned, right?”

When Mio said that self-conciously, Koyuki slightly hung her head down.

It appears that Koyuki was disinterested in that kind of thing.

“No, about that there are various kinds of girls, isn’t it fine?”

“Then for Kazuki it doesn’t really matter what kind of appearance the girl has? Even though you like the maid uniform so much.”

“That is, if the girl dressed herself up when she comes to meet me then I’ll be happy, thinking she is cute.”

Hoshikaze-senpai was laughing “ahaha” after she snapped a sausage (mogumogu<ref>Another chewing SFX</ref>) with her mouth.

“No, that is strange for senpai, right!? Please behave yourself like a girl properly!”

“But you see, in my situation, I'm happy when I wear men’s clothes. Moreover, could you imagine if I wore a skirt as part of my casual clothes? I'd look funny, wouldn’t I?”

“It wouldn’t", I said. "I want to see senpai in that kind of getup.”

“I'd look scary like that y'know, like when a boy is participating in a crossdressing beauty contest in a cultural festival of a boys’ school.”

You’ve got to be kidding, Kazuki was stricken with grief with all his words repelled back like he was standing in front of a wall of steel.

“Hayashizaki-kun, next time let’s go check out some clothes together. Occasionally doing shopping as bonding between men is cool right?”

“And I just said senpai isn't a man already…”

“All people in Japan are stylish desu. In Norse Mythology, being ostentatious felt like a sin. Though gods that were fashion-crazy like Freia-sama also exist desu.”

Lotte said so while sipping the miso soup. On top of the antique-style wooden table, two kinds of breakfast in Japanese and Western style were arranged. Of course the one who made all of it was Kazuki and Mio.

In addition to Lotte, with Leme there were seven people in the Witch’s Manor. Each of them had their own preference in food.

“Even though there seems to be that kind of Diva, I feel that Leme is someone who prefers practicality more than aesthetic.”

When Kazuki said that, Leme nodded saying “Unyuu” while chewing nattou in her mouth.

When Kazuki tried to wipe up Leme’s mouth from the side, Leme grew restive and struggled while saying “Sto-op”.

“Mio-chan is stylish, and your trademark twintails are cute too. That kind of style doesn’t suit me so I’m jealous.”

Kaguya-senpai who sat beside Mio lightly tugged her twintails repeatedly.

“I-I-I-I looked a little childish like this, that’s what I think tho-tho-tho-though.”

To the right, to the left, having her twintails pulled to the left and right alternately like operating a handle, Mio’s face and voice shook (kakukaku<ref>SFX of when something is moving up and down repeatedly</ref>) around.

“…I-i-i-if I did my hair in the same style like when we were in the orphanage, I thought that when I reunited with Kazu-nii he would immediately notice me-me-me-me…”

“That, sorry I didn’t notice it.”

“It’s fine already. So, which kind of me does Kazuki prefer!?”

After shaking off Kaguya-senpai who fooled around cheerfully, Mio once again leaned her body forward to him.

“Errr, in short this is about which one is good between [cute group] and [cool group], right?”

Mio was a really girlish girl, but when she fights proudly and awe-inspiringly she also looked very much like a woman. Both [cute] and [cool], suited this girl.

“I think either of the two suits you.”

“What’s with that~, that crude reply.” Mio pouted her finely shaped lips.

“I thought that both sides of you looked good when I try to picture it in my mind. Because Mio has both cuteness and coolness in you.”

“I, is that so? As I thought, it’s like that? Ehehe.”

“But why are you suddenly asking that?”

Toward Mio who showed a bashful expression in great delight, Kazuki stopped his chopsticks and asked, Mio suddenly stood up from the dining table. Then she abruptly grabbed Kazuki by the scruff of the neck and pulled him up to stand.

“Come with me a little.”

“What’s with you so suddenly, we're still in the middle of a meal! Wait a little, I’m just starting to eat the grilled fish after all the difficulties I had in thoroughly removing the bones from it, you know!?”

“Otouto-kun, thank you for removing all the bones! I will eat it with deep gratitude inside! Wow, even the Japanese cuisine is very delicious~, that’s what I think.”

“Please stop Kaguya-senpai-! My grilled fish-!!”

“…Escort.”

Mio led Kazuki into the corridor and said that one word.

“Eh?” When Kazuki blinked, Mio suddenly opened the chest part of the maid uniform. His sight was absorbed into it against his better judgment but, a ruby silver necklace was shining at the girl’s shaking breast. The shining combination of gold and crimson was the girl’s trademark.

“Kazuki also has one of the pair, right? Are you wearing it?”

“Aah, it’s not visible in the uniform but I’m always wearing it.”

“When I gave that to you as a present, Kazuki, I said that as thanks for that you will give me a [princess escort] again!”

Kazuki finally recalled it in a flash. What she called princess escort was Mio’s alias for date.

“Aah! When we were going to date before, as the excuse for the next one…”

“It’s not a date! It’s because Kazuki said that he wanted to thank me no matter what, that’s why!”

Mio made a ruckus in embarrassment at this late hour while denying the word date.

“Tomorrow! The Sunday tomorrow! Wait in front of the station at noon!”

Mio thrust her index finger sharply at Kazuki.

Then without waiting for the reply, she returned to the dining room with her twintails trailing her.

“How one sided, though I don’t mind at all. …Somehow, it’s a really peaceful talk,”

A Saturday morning where there was nothing urgent.

If he had to say what worried him, it was something at the level of wondering whether the grilled fish was still there.

Speaking of the matter from before…The various regulations of the [Chief Student Council Election] would be decided in the staff meeting this weekend, it looked like it would be announced to the students at the beginning of the next week.

Because Kazuki had been chosen as one of the candidates too, next week he would start activities for the election.

The day where he could enjoy the peaceful days was only until the end of this week.

…Towards that end, he could have a pleasurable schedule.

===Part 2===

Mio chose their meeting place to be at the front of the station. Not to mention everyone in the Witch’s Manor, this was so anyone in the academy also wouldn’t see them going out on a date.

Kazuki had confirmed that Mio was still preparing this and that when he came out from the manor, so the result was that he would have to wait for a while.

Suddenly, someone covered his eyes from behind while talking in a mischievous voice.

“Guess~ who♥”

It was not Mio’s voice. A voice that was forcefully high-pitched, a made-up voice like it was mimicking an anime character in an extremely clumsy effort, it made him unable to guess at all the owner of the voice.

“…Someone who would do something like this, Kaguya-senpai?”

Considering all that, there was no soft sensation at all hitting his back though.

Then might this be Hoshikaze-senpai that noticed the date and came to play a prank?

While he was hesitating, the palms that blocked his eyes opened to the left and right suddenly.

When Kazuki turned back to confirm the other party, there was Beatrix behind him.

Wearing the Einherjar’s black knight uniform on her body, Beatrix was standing there.

A cold sweat droopingly ran through his back.

It felt like there was a thick darkened wall of steel towering right in front of his eyes.

“Did you think it was a cute girl? How unfortunate! It’s Beatrix-chan!!”

Beatrix puffed her chest proudly as if to say ‘how do you like that?’.

“U…UOWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?”

Kazuki screamed out loud while stepping back and put his hand on the katana at his hips.

Why did he bring a katana despite this being a date, that was because in the middle of the date with Mio before he had an experience of being attacked by a [Stigmata Hunter]. For knights, and conforming to that, the knight candidates were permitted to possess swords freely.

“Fufufu, what are you panicking for? I’m not especially here to fight with you, you know?”

While Beatrix laughed with a broad grin, she chided Kazuki who was taking a battle stance.

“Also I’m quite happy that you showed me how you lost your cool befitting with your age. You get like that just from noticing me and my greeting. Though I should say, how unfortunate, I became completely unable to fight Kazuki anymore.”

“…What did you say?”

Finally Kazuki separated his hand from the handle of his katana. However, in front of his rival who he had fought a bitter fight three times already, he couldn’t shake the nervousness that burdened the bottom of his stomach.

“This country's suddenly changing its policy. Hayashizaki Kazuki should be in protective custody, or Charlotte Liebenfrau should be taken into humane consideration, things like that. To change their policy so suddenly like this, I don’t know anymore for what reason we came to this country.”

Beatrix complained mixed with a deep sigh and an astonished expression.

The government’s sudden change in its policy was probably because of Headmaster Otonashi’s research that had veered off course from the path of humans came to light, resulting in many of the politicians that were related with that to lose their standing.

The large faction of politicians that were favoring the Magica Stigma had completely become powerless.

“But the period of cooperation between the Einherjar and the Knight Order of Japan that is being done in the surface is still going to continue for a while. On the surface, the reason is that Loki still hasn’t been captured, we cannot break off the promise of cooperation this late in the game. That’s why there also might be some occasions where Kazuki is going to cooperate with us when you challenge a quest. Fufufu, this time there might come an occasion when you and I join hands together to defeat Loki, don’t you think?”

“…You’re really going to withdraw your hand from Lotte that easily?”

“My own country of Germany is lodging a protest to the government of Japan, but I don’t know myself what will happen.”

If she said that she wouldn’t do anything to Lotte…then there was no reason anymore to be antagonistic to Beatrix. She was an opponent that he had fought a few times, but from the beginning he didn’t have a definite relation of hostility with her.

However even so, he couldn’t even begin to imagine doing something like joining hands together with this person.

“Now I’m just cooperating in patrolling together with Japan’s Knight Order. For some reason with the lack of personnel, there is no one to go around the area of this academy’s surroundings. And then I happened upon Kazuki, like this…I’m playing a prank peacefully that was different until now. Wasn’t it amusing?”

“It’s so amusing that I though my heart was going to stop.”

“Fuffuffu. …But you were really careless huh? The man that is going to become this country’s King is just going to loiter around in town without even bringing any guard. If the one from before was not [Guess~ who?] but [Thor – Lightning Double Finger Attack] then your life would be gone.”

“If you approached with killing intent then I will notice it. No wait, what kind of technique did you say just now?”

The cheeks of Beatrix that talked jokingly with a good mood was faintly showing red, he could see that she was purely having fun in her exchanges with him.

However to even say something like King…at most he was just a lone high school student, something like guards for him was too much.

“Well, if it’s a swordsman at the level of Kazuki can you do something like that? I had heard a legend before that the swordsmen of the orient could somehow sense an attack immediately even if they are asleep and counter-attack.”

“That’s not a legend…well, it’s an area of a master that had brought their Iaijutsu to the extreme though.”

In the past it might be a state that was nothing more than a legend, but now it was not something impossible. Because in this era there was the magic technique <Trance> that was able to control the subconscious mind.

At that time, panicked sounds of footsteps could be heard coming from the direction of the academy.

“Kazuki-! Sorry to make you wai…teEEAAAAAAAAAHH~? Be, Beatrix!?”

Mio who came dashing here, as expected she too was screaming.

“So you are waiting for a woman alone huh, I’m jealous. Today you are wearing casual clothes that looked quite mature aren't you, magician of the fire bird. It’s {{furigana|niedlich|cute}} even looking from me who is a woman..”

“I got commented on by a weird guy from the very beginning even though I’m dressing up for Kazuki!?”

GA―N! Mio received a big shock. Then Beatrix turned back abruptly toward Kazuki.

“Kazuki. The you right now looks completely like a normal boy don't you? I’m feeling attracted even when this is the case but…let me give you one piece of advice.”

Suddenly the smile was gone completely from Beatrix’s face and she turned completely serious.

“You had already lost your [usual ordinary days] and the like. If added with your strength, one or two countries aiming for your life will surely appear. Germany is a moderate country so that’s why that kind of dangerous direction still hasn’t come yet. Though it’s unfortunate for me.”

“…Thank you for the warning.” Kazuki finally replied with a tone of cynicism.

Other countries…did that kind of matter really exist?

Right now a country that had normal diplomatic relations with Japan didn’t exist anywhere in the world. Kazuki too was raised until now without even imagining what was out there beyond the sea. For other countries to aim at his life was a story that really exceeded his imagination.

“You're welcome. After all, I will be troubled if you got killed by someone other than me. Fufufu, actually the truth is, since I crossed swords with you, I keep thinking about you even when I'm asleep or awake.”

Beatrix suddenly said something strange, her sharp eyes looked like they were in a world of her own.

“Although just talking with you is interesting, but facing you like this, I can’t stand it, I want to immediately pull out my sword and come swinging at you. Completely like an animal that cannot stay calm in its mating season. I want to kill you, even right now I want to cut your neck and make it my distinguished achievement.”

…Kazuki and Mio were becoming speechless together.

“Looks like somehow I've grown to like you! I am in love with you!”

Leaving behind the two that were drawing away because of her speech, Beatrix put even more heat into her voice and yelled.

“That’s why someday again without fail…let’s try to kill each other once more! Farewell!!”

After declaring that one-sidedly, Beatrix turned her back.

That back was going far away with leisurely steps, but maybe because she felt embarrassed with her own actions gradually, she abruptly changed into a fierce dash and was gone from their sight in a flash.

“Kazuki, to be confessed by another girl while I’m not here, you’re heartless!”

“…No, that kind of approach also makes me troubled, such a thrill-seeking confession.”

“There is that, isn’t it?”

After putting his feelings in order, Kazuki turned back to Mio.

Mio was dressing her slender body stylishly with a dungaree shirt that had a dry texture.

Her hairstyle was also not the twintails but a ponytail, changing the impression of her altogether in a big way.

“You are dressing yourself in the cool group huh. But on the contrary, the childish part of Mio is emphasized.”

She wore a miniskirt softly below the shirt and carrying a girlish bag in her hand, so there was no boyish impression on her. She had probably calculated everything to take that kind of balance.

“Really!? Ehehe, just as planned.”

Mio came flying at Kazuki’s arm excitedly. Her breast that was protruding from the shirt changed its shape (muni-) when it pressed into Kazuki’s arm. The inside of his head that had been poisoned by Beatrix brightened like a blooming flower.

Escorting is something like this right, while trying to remember, Kazuki embraced Mio’s slender hips tightly. Mio leaned coquettishly against Kazuki’s neck. A sweet smell was floating around.

“Well then, what kind of date shall we have? Where to?”

“I said, this isn't a date! First is eating lunch, after that a place to play with the both of us is fine! Not something like a movie theater, something like sports center or game center where we can compete. Otherwise something like in a park where we can chat for a long time-!”

===Part 3===

The two went to the sports center, first they were playing sports like tennis, bowling and ping-pong from start to finish in succession. Kazuki had an edge in movement reflexes, but Mio was quite familiar with the games in general excepting the kenjutsu.

It became quite an even contest, making both of them mutually frustrated and fired up.

Next they went to a race-swimsuit rental and decided that they would determine the conclusion at the indoor pool.

However while they were swimming, the contest became vague, when they noticed they had ran to the water and played around.

“Even though this is a sports facility, why is there a water slide here?”

“It’s really full to the brim with the mood of playing around isn’t it, this uselessly extravagant equipment.”

Once in the period of chaos when magic was born into this world, right after that Tokyo was destroyed at the hands of illegal magicians.

And then for the sake of the revival of the empty space, the land was used extravagantly and large scale public facilities were increased. This sports center was also one of the products of that revival effort.

The Knight Academy that Kazuki attended too, it was constructed on top of a vast plot of land with similar beginnings.

When both of them climbed the water slide with height reaching several tens of meters, Mio got near Kazuki and hugged his arm tightly. “But, it’s scary here.” She said that but she laughed with a face that had no fear at all.

Both of them plunged into the pipe course with the posture of hugging each other, then they were sliding down sharply.

Meandering left and right, and then at the end they were thrown out to the pool (BASHAN!) and the crash sprayed water everywhere grandly.

Even so Mio didn’t release her hug to Kazuki and made it hard for Kazuki to stand up.

“This makes it hard to move you know, move a little.”

“But, after clinging once like this, it made me reluctant to separate you know?”

“What’s with that…. I mean you're going to cling all over the man with that kind of posture!”

Kazuki had only just become aware of the girl’s swimsuit this late in the game. Because of the red high-leg race-swimsuit that displayed the finely-shaped legs, the feel of the thin texture that clung snugly to her skin was bewitching.

“Hehehe-, Kazu-nii’s face is turning red!”

It seems her switch that made her want to flirt was turned on, Mio entwined both of her arms around Kazuki’s neck, she even entangled both of her legs inside the water closely to Kazuki’s lower body. She glued on to him using her entire body.

“Even your face is turning red too! Your face looks like it had been baked in a microwave oven!”

Kazuki also made his opposition and hugged Mio back. Mio’s breasts were smashed (munyun) against Kazuki’s chest.

Mio was “goronya~” making a sweet voice, a large heart mark came flying to him.

His body felt hot from both Mio’s cuteness and also his embarrassment, the cold water of the pool felt good against the heat.

―The various fun they enjoyed made the time pass in the blink of an eye. Being together with a girl like Mio made it hard to spend the time in boredom, Kazuki thought.

By the time they walked home, the outside had become completely dark.

When magic was born into this world, the number of big companies went down due to the alchemists, the workshops could make their presence felt. The workshops everywhere were managed by private management so the time they closed their shops were early, the street was turning dark before they could even say ‘ah’.

[The age of magic reinstated the power of the night], such things could be said as well.

Because the sports center Kazuki and Mio were at was an establishment that opened until relatively late, when they came outside after playing their hearts out thoroughly, the street had began to fall asleep.

Japan’s electricity was generated by Alchimedes System in the artificial island at the southern tip territory, over there the <Etherlight Rechargeable Battery> was recharged and then providing the distribution and substitution of the battery to every household and facility. Due to that, the scenery of electric poles and electric cables had disappeared from the street.

The night sky was boundlessly spreading without anything blocking it, the light of the stars were silently shining.

Kazuki and Mio were walking in that kind of street tonight.

When they walked like this to return home on the previous date, there was that incident when they were attacked by the Stigmata Hunter wasn’t it….

―You should have already lost your usual ordinary days.

For some reason Beatrix’s words were coming to mind.

“…Kazuki, is something wrong?”

Towards Kazuki who unconsciously tightened his expression, Mio inquired him anxiously.

“It’s nothing.” When Kazuki said that, as usual he did the [princess escort] and encircled his hand around Mio’s hips while walking. Entering strength into his arms, he tightened the embrace and made Mio glued onto him even closer.

“Hey. Kazuki, the truth is that you don’t actually like me at all―there is no way you actually feel something like that right?”

“What in the world are you saying? There is no reason something like that is going on, don’t you agree?”

“Th, that’s right isn’t it?”

Mio was looking down, her walking feet were suddenly stopping. Kazuki too matched her and stopped.

“But Kazuki is surrounded by various girls see, from now on in the future too for a long time always like today, where I can monopolize Kazuki like a lover, I won’t be able to do things like that, won’t I?”

That was not a word of idea that she thought just now, there was no doubt that what she spoke out was a thought that she continued to harbor inside her chest for a long time.

With a serious expression, Kazuki turned to look face-to-face with Mio.

“Kazuki must get even stronger, also if Lotte is not with Kazuki then her life will be in danger…with everyone else it’s like that too. Before I knew it, everyone cannot be separated from Kazuki anymore. Kazuki acted believing that it was the right thing to do, from there your relationship with us, with everyone, became like that.”

Mio talked with a dejected voice, like the girl that was having fun throughout this whole day was just a lie.

That expression made Kazuki’s heart hurt.

“But that is fine with me! I, I don’t particularly hate it! But occasionally I want a time with just the two of us alone. And then I want to flirt around like a lover with Kazuki. Because when I’m not with Kazuki I get anxious whether you really like me properly…. Did Kazuki care about me just because you wanted Phoenix’s magic so it can’t be helped, sometimes thoughts like that just came and it made me want to cry…”

Tears started floating in Mio’s eyes.

“That kind of thing is not true! Today I had a lot of fun, there is no way I only aimed for your magic!”

“Then, kiss me. The whole time today, even though I keep wanting to do that but you never did it…”

Mio pressed her body even tighter to Kazuki and looked upward with blurred eyes.

Offering her all completely to Kazuki, that kind of pure eyes were looking at him.

…It’s only me that understands everyone’s positivity level, yet everyone doesn’t know my feelings.

Kazuki once again realized the unfair relationship that he had with everyone.

I must express my feelings even more, with my mouth, with my actions.

Kazuki hugged Mio tightly with a lot of strength. Inside Kazuki’s chest, Mio twitched in nervousness.

On Mio’s lovely lips that would make even a flower feel shame, Kazuki pressed his own lips.

Mio too immediately pushed back to his lips strongly. So that their lips could touch each other even more sweetly, both of them changed the angle of their faces many times and keep kissing each other. The lips that were in contact with each other made ‘chuu chuu’ sounds.

In truth, he had wanted to do this since they were embracing in the pool.

A large heart mark came flying, the positivity level had reached the number of 145.

“Nnn…” Because Mio leaked out a painful voice, Kazuki separated their lips.

[[image:Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou Vol 04 015.jpeg|thumb]]

“Puhaa! …My, my breath was…I’m happy but, my breath…!”

Mio was gasping for breath with teary eyes from excitement and suffocation.

“No, it’s fine if you breathe through the nose isn’t it?”

“But! Breathing through the nose on Kazuki’s face is too embarrassing!”

“No, I was breathing normally through the nose though,”

“Not fair-! One more time!”

With a bewitching red face, this time Mio was the one that started the kiss.

Bird kiss―like pecking each other, they repeatedly ‘chuu chuu’ touching each other's lips who knew how many times.

“N, lhove, I lhove you sho mhuch…” from the gap between the lips, Mio leaked a whispering voice.

Hearing those whispers, under the vast night sky, it felt like the world had become a place for only the two of them. From the kiss that they repeated so many times, their insides had became vaguely heated, he became unable to think of anything other than Mio. Mio too surely without a doubt was in a similar condition with him. At the point of contact where the hot breaths and soft lips smashed against each other, Kazuki’s heart was melting together with Mio. Both of them became one, ascertaining their mutual feelings against each other―

―Right there Kazuki felt a [killing intent].

Kazuki was a human who was able to notice such a thing.

Inside his deep subconscious, he sensed hostility-filled magic power with his Extra Sense, Kazuki threw off the lingering affection of the kiss to the winds and separated their lips.

“Eh…over already..?” Mio was bewildered from the abrupt end. “More…”

Kazuki carried Mio who was like that in a princess-carry, he quickly dodged his body from the magic power that came approaching.

Something passed through the place where Kazuki and Mio were located before with terrific speed.

“It was avoided…had you sensed me!?”

A voice of an unknown enemy. What passed through was not a magic, but the owner of the voice itself.

This someone killed all the traces of their presence, and like a comet it approached to deal a direct attack.

Kazuki let Mio down after taking some distance and then he faced that opponent.

“Who are you…?”

Kazuki put vigilance into his voice and asked.

Surely a [shadow] was standing right over there. They were clad in black from head to toe complete with a black veil on his face. He hid his face but, from the slender body build it looked like the person was probably a girl. From her impression if he had to express it in one word―an assassin.

“My presence should have been already erased and my magic power was at the minimum already…how could you notice me?”

While facing Kazuki’s direction, the assassin’s whole body was moving languidly without power. That body wasn’t strained at all, a really natural body stance. …Is it a similar old style martial arts like the Hayashizaki-style, Kazuki wondered.

Old style martial arts that prized a languid stance and breathing in their school were many.

“Kazuki, so you were not concentrating at the kiss with me then!? Then after this one more time!!”

Mio lost her temper. How thoughtless were you?

“So you planned to hide your magic power huh? It’s no use, you got found out after all.”

Kazuki talked provocatively with a tone that was out of character for him. There was no information at all about his opponent. At least if he could shake the opponent’s heart, he thought.

The shoulder of the assassin shook with a start, like her pride was completely provoked.

The next moment, that figure shook and vanished like a heat haze.

The black shadow became a hurricane gust and approached Kazuki.

Kazuki tried to grasp that movement―she concentrated her Enchant Aura at only the soles of her feet and created an acceleration with the minimum magic power. Evidently it was the movement of an assassin.

Without any preliminary motion, also with little emission of magic power, it was hard to Foresight.

However that was the story if the one that stood here was just a run-of-the-mill person. Kazuki, who had shown that he could even handle Beatrix’s fierce attack evaded the opponent’s charge like a matador. The assassin’s hand cut the empty space where Kazuki’s body was positioned before.

The wind pressure flapped Kazuki’s clothes with a thud. A punch…no, a palm strike?

Was this person unable to use Summoning Magic?

Or else she was cautious her contracted Diva would be revealed so she didn’t use it?

However to attack bare handed rather than using a sword with higher power, was there any meaning to it?

However this assassin assaulted him with the intention of a surprise attack, then she revealed an agitation when it was dodged.

In other words, [everything is going to be over with that one attack], she had such an aim of certain death.

What kind of attack could make that happen? ―Kazuki harbored both vigilance and curiosity at the same time.

Even if he drove her away normally, he wouldn’t get any information. …Then, should he test it once, letting himself get hit with that attack?

Kazuki turned his head behind to glance at Mio. Mio had already took some distance from Kazuki, her clothes had already transformed into her Magic Dress. If his partner was Mio, it might be okay even if he did something a little unreasonable.

His decision only took a few seconds. When he thought of it calmly, as expected it might be an unreasonable decision. However Kazuki instinctively chose the risk.

Kazuki drew his sword with an inviting manner and slashed it.

A sweeping sideways slash. The assassin sank her body with a jerk and slip through it.

And then the assassin stepped ahead quickly and slipped toward Kazuki’s bosom. A super close-quarters combat range!

Kazuki ventured to receive the opponent into his own bosom, he didn’t even try to dodge, instead he poured all his concentration to observe the opponent’s attack.

To draw near until this close, even if she swung her fist it wouldn’t exhibit a decent power. What in the world was this person going to do coming in at this range?

―What was unleashed, was a palm strike. With a slap, the assassin’s palm hit Kazuki’s chest. There was no impact. The assassin’s palm was just coming into contact lightly with the surface of Kazuki’s defensive magic power.

At that instant, a curious magic power was emitted from the assassin’s palm.

That magic power which possessed a curious wavelength repulsed Kazuki’s defensive magic power. With the assassin’s palm as the center, a ripple was spreading out energetically, Kazuki’s defensive magic power was expanding thinly.

…The defensive’s magic power was nullified!?

But how could it be done with an attack at this range….

―Almost at the same time, the assassin’s one leg where she put her center of gravity stepped (DON!) the ground strongly.

The recoil impact that was created from that action was, just like absorbing the energy from the earth itself, absorbed into the assassin’s body.

The assassin’s whole body was operating in succession as if not to let the produced impact escape. The energy earned from stepping the ground was passing through the knee into the hips, the hips were rotating in a circle making the energy tinged with a spiraling property while passing through the spine into the shoulder, the shoulder was twisted in a circle making the spiraling force accelerate even further while moving to the arm―

As if the whole body was depicting a spiral and turned into a screw.

Seeing that characteristic movement, Kazuki was being reminded of one thing―{{furigana|Shintoukei|浸透勁}}.<ref>http://kenichi.wikia.com/wiki/Shintoukei</ref>

With the absence of diplomatic relations with foreign countries, the user of this foreign technique also had become very rare, this technique was also called {{furigana|Hakkei|発勁}}<ref>Release internal power</ref>. This kenpo technique <ref>Chinese art of self-defense</ref> circulates the <Ki of Yin and Yang> through the body and amplified it through the use of unique breathing, that Ki-filled blow was transmitted through the spiraling movement when attacking, making the target self-destruct from the inside.

That technique converted the ground stepping power into destructive power.

When compared with a normal impact, the spiraling movement brought about ten times the piercing power mechanically.

Therefore, for the person who had already mastered this principle, range was not needed. The spiral penetrated the muscle and destroyed the internal organs, consequently it was one hit certain death. Just from touching, the opponent was murdered from the inside, a hakkei of certain death, that was called Shintoukei.

This person’s technique is…Chinese Kenpo! So that means this person is, China’s….

The moment he reached this conclusion, the defensive magic was nullified and that special move was driven (DON!) into Kazuki’s chest. What was hit was not the chest, but the sternum. No, passing through even the sternum, toward the heart….

What depicted the spiral was not only the body’s movement, but the magic power’s aura too. It was as if a large truck was plunging into the inside of his body completely, like his heart was splattered.

This might be bad…Kazuki thought momentarily. This was not a dimension where he could say that this was just a little test.

His thoughts were blacking out.

That one blow halted Kazuki’s heart.

―However Kazuki immediately woke up. When he woke up, Kazuki was lying down on the road with his head sleeping on Mio’s lap. The assassin was not there anymore.

The moon in the sky hadn’t changed for even a little, the time hadn’t progressed much.

“Kazuki!? You awake!?”

“…You used {{furigana|Anti-Aging|Life Circulation Fire}} didn't you, thank you.”

Kazuki released a breath in relief towards Mio’s actions that were according to his expectations.

Mio, who was contracted with Phoenix, was a user of <Healing Magic> that was rare even among Summoning Magic.

The human race at this time, as long as they didn’t use up their magic power, the case where they bore a wound in their flesh was mostly none. Because of that, the chances where healing magic could serve its purpose rarely appeared, it became an unusual rare magic to that extent.

From how the assassin came challenging him in close-quarters combat with only the minimum magic power, Kazuki had seen through that the assassin owned some sort of method to pierce through defensive magic and destroy the body.

Because there was the same kind of technique in the Hayashizaki-style, that was not something to be surprised about.

Even if by some chance he had to bear direct damage to the flesh, he thought he would be healed anyway if there was Mio, so Kazuki purposely got hit by the enemy’s technique to obtain information about the enemy.

Though he had never even begun to imagine that he would be forced into [cardiac arrest].

…Kazuki was shivering in his back because of his own dangerous decision at this late hour.

Nevertheless since the opponent was bare-handed, the possibility that he would be wounded to the degree that it couldn’t be treated by [Anti-aging] was zero. Although he fell into cardiac arrest, it was just his heart that stopped functioning temporarily because of a strong impact. The degree of his injury could be said to be light.

Of course if his heart was halted for a while and the treatment was late, then the blood wouldn’t circulate to the brain and the brain cells would suffer necrosis, even with healing magic, if treatment became late then….

Although there was the possibility of side effects remaining because of brain damage….

As if to clear away his dread, Kazuki asked “What happened to that person?”

“[There is no worth in killing you] she escaped after leaving those words to me. That person appeared to be confident that Kazuki couldn’t be saved anymore, so after waiting until that person left I used [Anti-aging].”

Mio talked with a low tone of voice. That voice was as if she was concealing her own emotions.

…As I thought, the enemy seems to not expect that Mio was able to use healing magic.

The medical treatment for cardiac arrest was a fight against time, but with the benefit of defensive magic power, Japan’s emergency medical assistance system was conversely regressing. Even if they called an ambulance in this time of holiday, they wouldn’t make it in time.

Therefore the assassin judged that Kazuki was beyond saving and took flight to avoid a needless fight. Mio who waited for a moment before healing made the best decision. With that the enemy [wouldn’t know about Kazuki’s survival]. Kazuki recovered feeling in his body and stood up.

“Don’t tell me it’s just like what Beatrix said, an assassin really came here…. That assassin’s technique was Chinese kenpo. So that means, this attack was instigated by China?”

“Kazuki? Don’t tell me…you got hit by that on purpose? Even though it’s Kazuki you should've been able to dodge it, I was wondering how that could happen instead.”

“But that’s because I thought that Mio would save me.”

What happened just now was horrifying but, the gain was considerable because they could find out the enemy’s technique and origin.

“IDIOT!”

Mio slapped Kazuki’s cheek weakly with a snap. Kazuki was staring in puzzlement.

“Why did you do something so dangerous? That was your heart that got stopped, what if something happens!”

“No, I never even thought that my heart would get stopped but…to be able to know the enemy’s technique with just that is good, isn’t it? If I get hit by that technique when Mio isn't there, it'd be more serious compared to now.”

“That's no good! I was worried! I was really, really worried!”

Mio’s eyes were wet with tears.

“…Are you maybe thinking, that just like in the past, [It’s fine whatever happens to someone like me]? Just like when our friends at the orphanage were made fun of, you just challenged the opponent even though they were an older delinquent…”

“Certainly, that kind of thing had happened before but. …That was a story of a long time ago right?”

“No, even now I still remembered. If the kindness of Kazuki who gave maximum priority to other people was probably rooted from your own uncaring of what would happen to you, I have that kind of feeling…”

That might be so. Even though he always repeated to Koyuki not to disparage herself, but a similar emotion might be ingrained deeply inside him as well.

“But I’m an orphan after all…, no one needs me anyhow…stop that kind of thinking already! Because I like Kazu-nii very much! Because it made me sad if you are just ignoring my feelings like that! Because it’s not just me, surely everyone else also thinks so too!”

Mio’s words pierced through Kazuki’s chest, as if his own heart was gouged out.

…The feeling was not only a one-way street, so not only the life of his important person but he also had to treasure his own life.

“It was my bad. That was too rash of me. …Thank you, Mio.”

Kazuki hugged Mio who was crying her heart out tightly. He felt that irreplaceable warmth from her.

{It was just like what Amasaki Mio said. You are the King, so Leme’ll be troubled if you treat your own life so lightly.}

Leme too conveyed her scolding through the Astrum into Kazuki’s mind.

“Gusu-<ref>SFX of sobbing</ref>. Kazu-nii, kiss me to remove this bad taste.”

“What are you saying, removing a bad taste?”

===Part 4===

At around that same time, an emergency staff meeting was conducted at the conference room of the Knight Academy.

The main objective of this meeting was to decide the various regulations of the [Chief Student Council President Election], but during this weekend there had been three incidents already where students were attacked by a suspicious person inside the school grounds. The talk about how to deal with these incidents took almost all of meeting's time.

The assaulted students were safe, but the suspicious person wore a veil and his figure was not caught by the security cameras. The penetration route also couldn’t be deduced. All of it happened in the blind spot of the security cameras.

For the time being they considered to add more security cameras, called for caution toward the students, and then a human support in outline―that means increasing the patrolling, nothing else could be done other than drawing such simple measures.

From thereon they finally began the centerpiece topic of discussion.

“I think an election decided by all the students of the Magic Division and the Sword Division is fine.”

The new Headmaster Amasaki proclaimed with a strong tone that didn’t allow any objection.

Headmaster Amasaki was thinking that the man his step-daughter fell in love with at first sight was suitable as the Chief Student Council President. For that, he was scheming to decide election rules that were advantageous for him.

Now that former headmaster Otonashi had lost his standing, there was no one left that would go against him. That was supposed to be the case at least.

However “I have an objection”, that man raised an objection.

―There was a [new Board Chairman] that was dispatched by the government.

His name was Takasugi Takayoshi, a thin man wearing glasses that seemed to be high strung.

“Until now there was no common ground between the Magic Division and the Sword Division, don’t you agree? The Magic Division doesn’t know about the Sword Division’s students. The Sword Division doesn’t know about the Magic Division’s students. Even if an election is to be held with that situation, I wonder if it wouldn’t be unproductive.”

He was an extremely common middle-aged man when seen at a glance, but a strong core could be felt from his tone.

“I don’t think it can be said as unproductive. For example, there is the student called Hayashizaki Kazuki that has popularity in both the Magic Division and the Sword Division. That kind of student also exists. If a student like him is chosen to be the Chief Student Council President, I think it would be suitable for the new Knight Academy.”

Liz Liza Westwood-sensei, who couldn’t be seen as anything but a child at first glance objected without a moment’s delay.

For the sake of appointing Hayashizaki Kazuki as the Chief Student Council President, Liz Liza was colluding with Headmaster Amasaki.

“He has popularity in both the Magic Division and the Sword Division due to his special background of enrolling at the Magic Division despite being a swordsman, right? I wonder if the rule is not too blatantly advantageous for a student like him. As a matter of fact, it’s something like the teachers are appointing the student council one sidedly.”

That was a really surprising sound argument that even made Liz Liza silent.

In the first place, the board chairman was a position for the sake of monitoring the headmaster. But Headmaster Amasaki was thinking something like, ‘there is no way that they would appoint someone that would go against the current me right from the front, that was not supposed to happen’, and the like and made light of his opposition.

A guy like this that ignored the faction with strong connections and cast a sound argument was beyond his expectation….

Who is this guy? What kind of backing does he have that he could be appointed to come into this academy…

In the previous discussion about the serial assaults, he didn’t make any proposals at all…

Board Chairman Takasugi made an intellectual gesture by pushing up the silver frame of his glasses.

“Certainly, Hayashizaki Kazuki might be a suitable person as the Chief Student Council President. From the story I had heard, he is one of the most prominent candidates. However there might be other students that are more qualified. I think a method like a unification election wouldn’t be able to find that undiscovered possibility.”

“Then what should we do? Say it clearly, clearly.”

Toward the skinny man who made the sound argument, Headmaster Amasaki grilled him with a question that revealed his irritation.

“The abilities that are demanded from someone who will stand on top of the knights, it goes without saying that the first is fighting strength, and next is his ability as the one to command his comrades depending on the battle's progression. For the sake of testing those abilities…how about performing a tournament battle with teams formed from a mix of the Sword Division and the Magic Division…by means of [Team Election]<ref>The naming is a bit more complicated in Japanese, the kanji is read as Team Election, but the kanji for team is using 連座制, which means (n) system of guilt by association (especially that of Japanese election law, which stipulates that an elected official may lose his position if someone in his campaign commits a crime). While the kanji for the election is using 戦挙. In Japanese, election is usually using the kanji 選挙 which is read as senkyo. But the author made a play on words and replaced the 選 with 戦(battle). The reading is still senkyo, but here means battle election.</ref>, the students will decide the Chief Student Council President, is this idea fine?”

Board Chairman Takasugi stood up and wrote out <Battle Election> in large words at the whiteboard.

All the teachers made a commotion.

<noinclude>

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

{{SimpleNav}}
</noinclude>

Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou:Volume 3 Chapter 3

2021-11-21T15:08:49Z

1.32.66.248: /* Part 3 */

==Chapter 3 – The Silver Girl and the Plan of Darkness==

===Part 1===

A scene of two people in a sharp fall. However, Kazuki didn’t regret it at all.

…If he didn’t do this, Koyuki, who currently couldn’t use magic would simply die for sure.

But as long as the defensive magic power worked, a pure physical impact wouldn’t be a problem. The impact of the landing would be eradicated in its entirety due to the defensive magic’s reality distortion.

That was why setting aside his own safety, he embraced Koyuki strongly.

He had to turn himself to be the one that was pinned on the bottom side of this free fall without fail.

And then after they continued to fall for several seconds―Kazuki and Koyuki crashed into the bottom of the hole.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Large blue magic power shined, but the lack of pain that he felt was a normal matter.

The defensive magic power was unperturbed against a mere physical impact that didn’t itself contain magical power. Without a doubt, this was the reason conventional weapons of this era were powerless.

“Hiakari-san, are you okay?”

Kazuki had embraced Koyuki so tightly that he couldn’t feel his own arms.

“H, here is…?”

Koyuki leaked out a frail voice inside Kazuki’s arms.

“I’ll say it from the start, but this is not heaven.”

Koyuki’s awareness had flown away due to the impact, she was blinking her eyes in wonder.

“Hell…?”

“Hiakari-san is not the kind of person who will fall into hell.”

Koyuki’s pupils were regaining their focus gradually, she was staring fixedly at Kazuki. And then perhaps from finally feeling that her life had been saved for real, she gripped Kazuki’s clothes in his chest tightly.

“…Was Kazuki the one who saved me…?”

While confirming nervously with an upward glance, a heart mark flew from her chest.

Kazuki continued to embrace Koyuki tightly just like that. They fell into silence together with their bodies laying against each other.

“U, uhmm, I’m fine already so can you release me?”

“I also want to do that, but…because I hugged you too tightly before, my arms are numb and can't be moved.”

Though of course he didn’t use Enchant Aura, so he didn’t embrace her so strongly that her delicate body would be crushed. But because he felt a strong nervousness in their fall, his muscles had stiffened too much.

“Eh? …Eeeeehh!?”

Koyuki’s face turned bright red while being embraced tightly against his chest like a doll as it were.

“P, please loosen your tension quickly, this makes me troubled!”

“That’s, when I think that I am hugging Hiakari-san so tightly, it makes my heart beat too much, perhaps I should say my body totally cannot calm down, how troubling.”

“Stupid! Being excited by something like me, what kind of lies are you saying!”

“It’s not a lie. Hiakari-san is cute, so no matter what kind of man it is, when embracing Hiakari-san because of an act of god like this, of course he would get excited without fail.”

“What kind of stupid things are you saying with a serious face like that!? Anyway, can you just loosen your arm already!?”

Koyuki said with a troubled face, so Kazuki felt a little mischievous.

“If Hiakari-san chanted a spell like [Throb throb fly away~, chichin pui-pui nya nya nya nya~n☆] while patting my head gently, I think the strength could be drained from my entire body.”

“Wh, what, that spell sounds so stupid…”

It was the influence of a certain idiot little sister. Because he always set out together with Kanae and messed around.

“Because it sounds so stupid that it could drain the entire strength from the body! Now, hurry!”

Kazuki said strongly making Koyuki’s flustered gaze wander around.

“E, errr I’m sorry, how did you say it again?”

“[Throb throb fly away~, chichin pui-pui nya nya nya nya~n☆] while Hiakari-san also pats my head gently.”

“Thr, Throb throb fly away~, chichin pui-pui nya nya nya nya~n…”

Her small hand was going pat pat on Kazuki’s head with utmost effort, and Koyuki chanted the spell with a blushing red face.

“Uwa―, how calming―”

Kazuki said in monotone while unfastening his hands.

The truth was that his nervousness had already faded a while ago.

While Koyuki raised her body slowly, she watched Kazuki resentfully with some heat still left behind on her cheeks.

“…Recently, you have had no hesitation about toying around with me, haven’t you? For that reason you are telling lies without even batting an eye. Are you misunderstanding me as a certain fumbling character?”

“I want to see Hiakari-san’s various faces even against my better judgment.”

“It’s fine for my face to stay just like this. I don’t want to expose any kind of strange face.”

Koyuki turned her face to the side with a ‘puih’. But an angry face like that was also very cute.

“Hiakari-san, there is dirt on you.”

When Kazuki wiped the dust on her white cheek softly, Koyuki’s face turned red again and she looked down.

“…Well then, rather than that kind of thing, this situation is more important. Hiakari-san, by some chance, are you unable to use magic now?”

After joking around a little, they returned to reality once again.

Koyuki’s expression clouded gloomily.

“…Yes. Somehow I cannot knead strong magic power very well right now. I can barely perform Access, but standard magic and chanting Summoning Magic are…”

When he watched her carefully, her Magic Dress was also different than the usual.

Originally the Diva’s contractor was decorated with appropriate majestic appearance, but her appearance now was lacking in one part, it only looked like a mere white school swimsuit.

Even that minimum part that was covering her body, at times it was wavering like a disordered mirage.

“Since when you were like this?”

“I think it was from when I woke up from the magic intoxication.”

When he thought about it, as expected, perhaps the origin was from that time. Magic intoxication induced a change in the state of the heart. After collapsing for two days from magic intoxication, it wasn't strange that there was some kind of after-effect that was still left behind.

Everything would be fine if this was only temporary like someone who was just half awake, but….

“Even when I cleaned my body, I couldn’t use magic skillfully, at that time I noticed the abnormality, but….”

“If you noticed it, why were you accompanying us until now then?”

Kazuki didn’t intend to criticize her, but Koyuki’s shoulders jolted in shock, her gaze turned away like she was trying to find an escape.

―There was no way to escape.

She recognized her own careless action, and that she couldn’t avoid facing Kazuki.

“…I cannot, I, who is an elf couldn’t, couldn’t come to believe that I could not use magic. I, whose only worth was just my magic…to not be able to use magic and become useless in battle, that….”

Koyuki who talked while straining her voice continued with “I’m sorry.”

Kazuki thought that he could understand that feeling as well. He also relied on his pride of his kenjutsu. If he lost it out of nowhere, there was no doubt that he would want to run from reality with [I don’t want to believe it]. Then if such an escape became a source of trouble for someone else, for certain he would receive a shock that he could never recover from.

That was why he mustn’t condemn Koyuki.
(I must protect her till the end!)

“It’s okay Hiakari-san. If this is because of magic intoxication’s influence, then surely this is just temporary. A person’s heart is formless after all, it’s not like the physical body that cannot be healed once it got hurt and wrecked. It only depends on one’s frame of mind, after a little bit of some kind of impetus, it should return back to normal for sure.”

“…You are not angry?”

Koyuki watched Kazuki intently with eyes that looked a bit scared.

“No such thing, I’m not angry. Just thinking that Hiakari-san wanted to help me, just that feeling of yours is enough to make me extremely happy.”

Her sad appearance because of being in the way of others was the proof that she cared about Kazuki. Even more than something like the number of her positivity level, such a nonchalant act and appearance made him far happier.

“…Although, we must find some way to escape from here safely somehow.”

Kazuki said while looking around.

They were in the bottom of the trap hole. But the space where they were at was not a closed room, the walls and floor that were made from concrete were organized forming the whole level, a road was continuing ahead in their path.

Even the electric lamp was turned on properly.

When they looked over their head, there was one hole that was opened up in the ceiling from where they fell. If they could ascend through this hole, it looks like they would be able to return to the former level.

The exit and entrance to the surface ground was only located at the upper level, that’s why first they thought about going through this hole rather than advancing forward down the path.

“Couldn’t Kazuki use Blazing Wings to fly through this hole?”

“The hole is too narrow. If there is no space to even flap the wings, we won’t be able to use wings to fly.”

Even for the firebird Phoenix, if he couldn’t flap his wings then he wouldn’t be able to do anything.

Kazuki didn’t only have Mio’s magic, he could also use Lotte’s magic up to level 5.

There was still no chance to use it until now, but Lotte’s level 5 magic made it possible to fly to the sky. But that magic equipped the user with a large armament, so it wouldn’t be able to slip through the width of this hole.

The hole became narrower the deeper it went, it was easy to fall and hard to climb. They could feel the wickedness of this clever disposition from the person who prepared this trap.

It seems it was impossible to escape through this hole with the current magic Kazuki had in hand.

“…If only I can use magic,”

Koyuki whispered in a subdued tone.

“If I summon a tsunami here and manipulate it…no, the amount of water might not be enough for this depth…”

Filling this space with ocean water and swimming inside it to rise to the surface, was that what she meant?

“What if I use the same magic and the amount of the water is doubled?”

“Now that you mention it, the ability of Kazuki’s Diva is to copy magic right? However it looks like you are unable to copy my magic. Is there a condition to that ability?”

It was not exactly copying actually, but he explained it to Koyuki like that before this.

“The condition so I can copy magic is to raise the positivity level of the girl.”

“…Ha? You are lying again, are you planning to toy around with my reaction?”

“No, this is the truth. That’s why I can use Mio’s magic the most, and the next is Lotte, Kaguya-senpai’s magic can also be used a little.”

Kazuki was the strongest at using Mio’s magic in the first place was because Mio’s positivity level was plainly the highest. Koyuki was flustered at feeling the persuasiveness of that fact.

“Is, is that really true? That kind of stupid ability…”

“It’s the truth. What do you mean by stupid, it’s not stupid.”

At Kazuki’s side, the one who bestowed the aforementioned stupid ability, Leme appeared and talked.

“You have heard the story between Leme and Futsunushi no Kami, didn’t you? The story that you haven’t been told is something quite hard to swallow but, Leme is the King of Solomon's 72 Pillars. In the same way Leme is accompanied by 72 Pillars, if Kazuki also makes the contractor of the 72 Pillars accompany him then he would be able to use that ability skillfully.”

“Accompanied…by that you mean positivity level?”

“That’s right, if the King couldn’t get a hold of humans' hearts in his hand, then he wouldn’t be able to use that authority.”

Koyuki comprehended the explanation with a complicated expression. Kazuki asked Koyuki once again.

“…If we could climb the hole, could Vepar’s magic smash the ceiling? That ceiling was not made from adamantite, but only made from concrete after all.”

While in the middle of falling down, Kazuki had confirmed that the trap hole had been blocked once more.

Not only climbing up the hole, but they also had to smash the ceiling apart to escape.

However Mio and Lotte’s magic were not suited for physical destruction.

If they tried to melt the ceiling with magic flame, the large amount of melted concrete from the heat of the magical power wouldn’t have any place to escape and it would pour down on them, washing them away again to the bottom of the hole.

“If we could climb the hole, we could pulverize something like concrete with Ice Buster.”

“Using ice to destroy concrete, could it be done? It feels somehow absurd trying to imagine it though.”

“Concrete’s hardness diverged depending on the material used, but it’s around 4 until 5. This unit to measure hardness is called the Mohs’ hardness scale. The hardness of ice at 0 °C is around 1.5, but the more the temperature is lowered, the hardness will increase along with its transparency, at minus 100 °C, the hardness will become more than six times.”

“...Ice is really awesome.”

“O Our King, this kind of knowledge that will be useful in battle should be learned more habitually you know.”

Thereupon, it means things like this.

“If Hiakari-san’s power of magic returned, on top of that if I raise Hiakari-san’s positivity level, then we will be able to return to the former level!”

“...A, are you serious? Raising positivity level in this kind of dungeon?”

Until now he had to raise positivity level in order to defeat a strong enemy.

However this time, he had to raise positivity level in order to escape from this closed space!

“Raising positivity level in this kind of situation, moreover while both of us are being aware of each other, even for me, I don’t really know what is a good way to do that, but…well, for the time being let’s just follow down this path.”

But I’m also worried about Mio and Lotte…

Though it was a silver lining in the dark cloud that those two could make a compatible combination with Lotte as the vanguard and Mio as the rearguard.

{Kazuki, I don’t want Hiakari Koyuki to know about this so I’m telling you through telepathy, but if it’s some way to confirm the safety of Amasaki Mio and the others then you have it.}

…Really?

{The first is obvious, but you could check it from the positivity level. The appearance of their name and number are proof that the link between your minds are still preserved.}

Kazuki charged his ring with magic power and it displayed the positivity levels.

Amasaki Mio―134 Lotte―110 Hiakari Koyuki―59

I see, when Leme said it, it’s really obvious. A dead person’s positivity level wouldn’t be displayed.

{Next there is one more…because you also conquered Lotte, Leme has grown considerably, Leme has recovered one more of her powers.}

…Which reminds him, before Leme said that [My ability is by no means only this much]. Does she mean that one part of her power had been liberated?

{Kazuki, charge the Solomon Ring with magic power while thinking about Mio and Lotte strongly, try to grasp their hearts and see.}

Just as he was told, Kazuki held the ring with his hand and pray silently about perceiving Mio and Lotte.

Thereupon…he felt a sensation like his heart was connected with Mio and Lotte’s heart by a line.

About how long the line was and which direction it was going to, he could perceive that line spatially.

A new vision floated up in front of Kazuki’s eyes. This time it was not a graph of the positivity level.

{If until now it was a positivity level of galge, this time it is an action selection map stage. When you see this map, you will understand in a glance who you could meet at where you are going to, see?}

The vision that was floating in front of Kazuki’s eyes was a three dimensional map.

Three lights were blinking on top of that three dimensional coordinates. One is himself. Then on the fairly above direction was two lights that were in moving. There was no doubt that these were Mio and Lotte.

It was not a map of the path of these underground passages. Rather than a map, there were three lights floating inside a cube where he could make a distinction of their position and distance, something like a three dimensional radar.

{By the way, this light will only appear when the other party are latently wishing for Kazuki. For example if Amasaki Mio enter a toilet, her state of mind will latently work that she doesn’t want Kazuki to perceive her whereabouts, the link of magic power will be cut off and you will become unable to know where she is. Solomon's 72 Pillars had even taken into consideration the privacy of our contractor, aren’t we really friendly Divas?}

After informing him up to that point, Leme cut off the telepathy.

“…Kazuki, why did you suddenly become quiet?”

Koyuki asked dishearteningly towards Kazuki who had gone quiet for awhile.

“No, it’s nothing. Leme was telling me various things inside my head. We will go back above for sure, so let’s advance to uncover the secrets of this place!”

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Kazuki stood in front of Koyuki, he advanced ahead while looking around with deep caution.

The current Koyuki who couldn’t use magic power was an extremely brittle existence. With only one attack reaching her, she wouldn’t even fall into magic intoxication and might lose her life instantly instead.

The passages of this level were also long and narrow, it was the most suitable place to protect Koyuki while fighting.

“…Somehow it feels suffocating here.”

Damp moisture and moldy smells mixed in the air, the air conditioning was not working at all making the air hot and humid. Kazuki glanced back for a second.

“What is it?”

“No, Hiakari-san’s atmosphere is refreshing, so.”

Just by seeing the girl in a glance, his chest felt like it became less crowded. A cooling sight.

“…Kazuki, I have a request though.”

“What kind of request?”

“When we are in a real emergency, please abandon me here. The me right now is just baggage. Someone who cannot be useful in battle has no value whatsoever in being protected.”

…Why is she proposing such a self-torturing thing like that for? (self-destructive?)

“What kind of stupid thing are you saying? I’m not deciding a person’s worth only by how useful they are. Even though Hiakari-san cannot fight, you are still very valuable. I will protect Hiakari-san’s life!”

Koyuki made a wondering face from Kazuki’s words.

“Please stop it. You are just thinking to raise my positivity level by saying that. Why can’t you focus on your own survival, stupid.”

On the contrary of those dishonest words, relief was mixing inside Koyuki’s tone of voice.

Perhaps she wanted to hear the words of [I will absolutely protect you], maybe that’s why she proposed this kind of thing. Surely she was feeling uneasy with the current situation, it couldn’t be helped.

“…Are you really, planning to raise my positivity level from now on?”

Again, Koyuki asked him with a nervous feeling.

“Regarding that, it’s also not good to put yourself on guard too much, let’s just do it naturally. Rather than that, what’s important is to protect Hiakari-san first.”

After we kept walking for a while, the passage divided in two.

Kazuki peeked out his face from the turning point and examined the situation in the left and right. At that moment, a black shadow leaped out from the corner of passage in an ambush.

Enemy attack!

Kazuki immediately took a back step while a beam of light streaked from the mouth of his sheath. The principle of Iai was originally a counter attack technique in an instant of time. Kazuki’s first and second slash carved up the black shadow roughly into pieces.

‘beshari’, with a wet sound, the thing that was cut by Kazuki fell on the floor.

“…What is this?”

Kazuki spontaneously groaned when he saw the dead body of the thing that attacked him.

The thing that was ceasing to function there was a grotesque organism that was hard to describe.

He couldn’t possibly believe that this kind of organism existed in the ecosystem of earth.

If he expressed it strongly, this organism was a lot of tentacles that were bundled together like a bouquet of flowers. It resembled an octopus. The tentacles were attached with countless suction pads for the sake of capturing its prey. The root of this thing was a bloodshot eyeball, rough breaths were released painfully from its tusked lips.

It resembled an octopus, but it looks slimy in pink color, its size was around the size of one person. It was a disgusting organism that made him feel like he would lose his sanity just by looking at it.

The sliced organism was wriggling about for a while, and then it disappeared by turning into the blue light of magical power.

It was a Demon Beast.

“…What kind of Mythology had that kind of Demon Beast, what bad taste. Come out here, the Diva that’s in charge.”

The things called Demon Beasts came in a large variety, they could discover the source of the Demon Beasts among the numerous Mythologies out there.

But he didn’t know about the existence of such an eerie organism like this in the scope of the Mythologies he had learned.

“Cthulhu Mythos…?”

Koyuki whispered in a low tone.

“Cthu…what?”

“Cthulhu Mythos…there is a Mythology that is called that. A monster that grows tentacles is a monster of this Mythology…Or perhaps I should say, it’s thought to be the feature of the evil god.”

“But I never heard about that kind of Mythology.”

“As far as my investigation go, there shouldn’t be any confirmation of the sighting of Demon Beasts and Divas that are derived from the Cthulhu Mythos until now.”

“…In short, this place is an extremely rare Haunted Ground?”

“…Strictly speaking, Cthulhu Mythos is an [original setting] that was created by an author named Lovecraft for the purpose of spinning a story. Lovecraft’s fellow authors also shared this and wrote their work using this setting, the world view of this work was developed rapidly, finally it turned into a large scale systematic world that was fitting to be called a Mythology. However in the end it was supposed to be nothing more than a setting for the purpose of literary creation. It’s rare, or, how should I put it…is this kind of thing even possible?”

“A story setting? That’s different from a Mythology, right? No, maybe Mythology too is something that looks like a story.”

Kazuki didn’t understand how to measure the line between a story and Mythology.

In the first place, the concept of Mythology was still not well-understood. The relation of Demon Beasts and Divas with Mythologies still hadn’t come out of the realm of human’s own convenient hypothesis despite all the research that had been done.

In this world that had transformed into a place that overturned science, mankind was living while groping around in the dark, being led around by the nose by grand beings of unknown nature.

While they were talking, ‘zururi’, ‘zururi’, they could hear disgusting sounds from both passages that were diverging to the left and right.

When they turned their heads to the sounds, the eerie tentacle Demon Beasts were forming a group and crawling their way.

It was excessively disgusting how the Demon Beasts crawled nearing them in strangely fast movements despite their size.

“Hiakari-san, fall back!”

While removing Koyuki to the back, Kazuki started to chant his spell.

===Part 2===

“I’m going to melt this concrete floor with Phoenix’s flame! Lotte, step back!!”

After Kazuki fell into the trap hole, Mio insisted in a great panic.

Toward Mio’s insistence, Lotte made an objection carefully.

“But, this concrete floor is quite thick. If this floor is melted and a hole is made, then a large amount of melted concrete will fall desu. Concrete that is melted with magic will be wrapped in the heat of magic power. If the end of this trap hole is a closed space then…”

“…If it’s Kazuki then he'll do something or another using defensive magic. Though now that you said it, it certainly will be really scary for a large amount of concrete wrapped in magic power to come falling down.”

“It was only for just an instant, but the moment when Koyuki-oneesan fell into the trap hole, she was in a state that couldn’t use magic desu. I think there will be quite a risk if this floor is melted and fell.”

“Mu―. …Rather than taking an imprudent risk, we should be going forward collecting information of this dungeon?”

“It’s really lonely that Kazuki-oniisan is not here desu, but let’s do that. I’ll be the vanguard desu.”

“…Thank you. I’ll also raise the speed of my chant with all my strength, I’ll protect you from behind.”

“Yes, let’s do our best!”

Lotte grasped Mio’s hand tightly. “Ehehe” she laughed.

“We are close friends aren't we desu?”

Lotte sensed Mio’s discouragement through telepathy. That’s why she behaved cheerfully to encourage Mio.

“Stop it already, it’s awkward. Let’s go right away!”

Although her mouth said that, Mio walked forward without releasing Lotte’s hand.

Without knowing what was lurking in their path, they faced toward the darkness of the labyrinth….

===Part 3===

Several numbers of tentacle Demon Beasts were creeping near from the left and right paths.

The worst case was if they were attacked from both sides and he couldn’t protect Hiakari-san. With that thought, Kazuki returned to the previous path, for a moment the Demon Beasts converged into one group.

“Hiakari-san, fall back just a little for now.”

It became a fight of one against many, but the disadvantage of numbers in this narrow passage was not that much of a concern.

Kazuki managed to draw away the Demon Beasts near enough, so he invoked his magic.

“Fire Wall!”

The foremost leading pack of the Demon Beasts that came rushing were swallowed in one go by the flame wall that burst forth from the ground. The blue light that was released when the Demon Beast vanished from this world was flickering in countless numbers inside the flame.

When the flame wall was extinguished, Kazuki carved up the following Demon Beast group that was still left.

However all the Demon Beasts were not looking at Kazuki, but at Koyuki.

They had completely seen through the opponent that couldn’t fight back instinctively.

One Demon Beast that Kazuki had let slip tried to make its way from his side.

Even in the worst case, he mustn’t allow an attack to hit Koyuki.

Kazuki threw his body in front of the Demon Beast and covered for Koyuki. The Demon Beast immediately captured Kazuki with its tentacles, then it opened its big mouth with tusks lining inside it against him that whose movement had been sealed. However, at that instant―.

“This hand, reach out to the height of Babel, now this hand grasped the thunder of god! In accordance with my life, O lightning, whirl at my command! Collider Field!!”

He broke out a barrier of electricity barely in time. All the Demon Beasts around Kazuki were baked from the inside through the electric shock, their nerves paralyzed.

Kazuki slipped out from the restraint of the tentacles and cut away all the paralyzed Demon Beasts at once.

The Demon Beasts still hadn’t stopped coming in waves to attack.

“Roar! Civilization, grant humans destruction! The howl of wisdom scorches thy body, break, shut all dignity under the rubble!! Mitrailleuse!”

Kazuki used the gatling gun to stop the advance of the Demon Beasts, then,

“Fire Wall!”

The place where all the Demon Beasts had gathered was burned away in a flame wall once again.

“…So it’s really true that you can use other people’s magic skillfully. There is even a remarkable difference in chanting speed compared to the time when you had a duel with Amasaki-san…”

Koyuki’s eyes became wide open seeing Kazuki using Mio and Lotte’s magic so well.

“Fuu, anyway first the wave had been settled…”

“Are you okay, Kazuki? You got hit with an attack because of me just now.”

“The damage isn't really significant, see? Rather than that, which way should we go, left or right?”

“…Kazuki, the spirit here, feel it, this way.”

“Eh? Spirit you say?”

<Spirit>. The existence with many mysteries, it was said that only elves with their altered magic power could sense their existence. They had no physical body, and are beings of a different dimension.

Kazuki couldn’t sense their existence. As expected, it seems elves had a different sensory organs from a normal person. Though they became the target of discrimination as a consequence of that difference….

“Kazuki too is different from normal, that’s why I thought maybe you too could…as expected, you can’t sense them.”

Koyuki dropped her shoulders in loneliness. She felt a considerable disappointment.

“Sorry…spirits, what kind of existence are they?”

Spirit couldn’t be sensed except by elves, because those elves had received discriminatory treatment for a long time, research and investigation of spirits was not done at all.

Spirits were shrouded in more mystery, even compared to Divas and Demon Beasts.

“Spirit’s existence could be sensed in the Haunted Ground, there are many cases like that, but it is different with Demon Beasts in that it doesn’t bring harm to people. They don't have that much influence in this world. They exist in Astrum, at times they come to talk with us elves using telepathy. They are just a whispering existence.”

The aspect where they were residents of Astrum who didn’t have physical bodies in this world was the same as Divas. But in contrast with Divas who was an existence with great power, will and its own objectives, spirits were a really small existence.

“Even though I was saying that they talked to me, the language that they uttered to me was not clear. What they transmitted to me was only vague feelings. If the strength of the telepathy is increased then I could sense more detail, they might explain something.”

“The spirits that are in this place right now, are they telling Hiakari-san anything?”

“Yes. I think they are giving us a warning that it’s better not to follow this path.”

Koyuki quietly pointed to the right path of the diverging route.

“But the thing that we are looking for is located ahead in this path, that’s what I think they are saying.”

“Then we can't follow their warning after all. Looks like Spirit-san can't guess too far, that we don’t have any place to go back to from here.”

“…That’s true. Though it makes the situation a little uneasy.”

Kazuki took Koyuki’s hand gently.

“Wh, what is it…?”

“No, because it is quite uneasy, I thought we can walk while holding hands.”

“Are you stupid? Intentionally blocking one of your own hands, what are you going to do if an enemy comes suddenly?”

“There is that, but before this we had defeated a fair number of them, so wouldn’t it be fine for a while I wonder―, that’s what I thought.”

“Then, only until the next corner.”

…Eh, she unexpectedly folded easily?

Koyuki whose face was looking down, her small hand clutched his hand back tightly.

A heart mark was flying to him. It’s only a trivial thing, but it made her happy.

“Which reminds me, I have been thinking of this for a long time but, is it okay for me to call Hiakari-san by your given name?”

Kazuki asked that while feeling her warmth from one hand. When he called Mio and Kaguya-senpai by their first names, he had a feeling that the distance between them shrunk a lot. If he wants to suggest this, then now is the chance, that was the feeling he got.

“It doesn’t really matter, isn’t it fine to call me whatever you like? As for me about the matter of Kazuki, I have called you Kazuki near from the start.”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true isn’t it? Since when did it become that Hiakari-san was calling me by my first name again…?”

At first she called Kazuki [Rank-E person].

“…You were looked down by everyone in the class, but didn’t you duel with Amasaki-san to protect the honor of your important kenjutsu? Since then, I reconsidered my opinion of you a little…”

Koyuki answered him with some difficulty. For some reason even this side also became feeling a little itchy.

“I see, Hiakari-san had recognized me properly as a human from a long time ago.”

“Not really, I don’t care whatever happened to you anyway…”

While murmuring such a thing, Koyuki’s hand that was connected with his hand became a little hot.

“Thank you, then without reservation, Koyuki. This is quite awkward for some reason. Koyuki. Koyuki.”

“I don’t really care if you call me by my name, but please don’t call me repeatedly without any meaning!”

Koyuki got angry while pulling Kazuki’s hand strongly.

“Something trivial like a name, it’s all the same however way you are using to call me. You are only doing stupid things in this kind of situation.”

From the chest of Koyuki who was saying such things with a sullen face―a key that was shining with light was floating up.

That key was absorbed into Solomon’s ring which was Kazuki’s Magic Dress.

The key that was received from Koyuki, the proof that her positivity level had gone over 65….

The proof that a definite link was formed between their hearts.

Perhaps he ought to call her by her given name much earlier than this.

“Just now, I became able to use Koyuki’s magic you know?”

“…!?” With a jerk, Koyuki suddenly stopped walking.

It seems she received a terrible shock from the fact that was apparent in the meaning of those words. She hung her head down looking like she was trying to desperately suppress the feeling that was seething inside her heart, she shut her eyes tightly.

She separated their connected hands forcefully.

“Even though…even though I had decided not to get involved with anyone already. Even though I planned not to fall in love with anyone. Why are you getting inside me like this…slithering inside…”

“Koyuki…”

An obstinate solo player. But inside her heart, for a long time she felt the crushing loneliness, this girl named Koyuki.

―She was imposing some kind of restriction against herself, binding her own heart tightly.

―She was bearing a feeling of guilt towards herself who was thinking that she wanted to get along well with someone.

Kazuki could see all of that from her.

“Why Koyuki, you are trying to continue isolating yourself inside the loneliness of your own making, don’t you see? It’s regrettable that you went through a lot of painful things in the past, but like this you will only reject other people.”

Why was she doing this kind of foolish thing, when he was confronting her like this, he could feel her indignation from her way of life.

“It’s fine already for Koyuki to not live in such a lonely way anymore. Even though something happened in the past, it’s okay to not fear anymore. Because I’m thinking of Koyuki as someone absolutely important to me. It’s fine to forget all the painful things.”

“Forgetting…?”

Koyuki stared at Kazuki with eyes that looked completely like the eyes of a lost child.

When Kazuki thought how frail of an existence this girl was, he hugged her tightly.

Can he become an existence that brought her peace of mind?

Koyuki’s body stiffened and she was trembling. She was so small that he was afraid he would break her if he hugged her with all his strength. Kazuki embraced like he was wrapping her up inside his hands, he stroked her back that was bare by the design of the magic dress.

“Until Koyuki calmed down, let’s take a rest from walking to the next corner for a while, okay?”

Koyuki returned his embrace tightly while keeping her quiet.

He felt that she finally accepted him. An affectionate feeling was welling up inside him.

“…Kazuki. please call my name one more time.”

“Koyuki.”

“Except for you and Kaguya-senpai, there was nobody else that had called me by my name in these past 13 years <ref>I think she forget about Lotte</ref>.”

“13 years ago, that was still a time when Koyuki was a little child wasn’t it?”

The preposterous period before this, this girl was supposed to be still [an existence that had a need to be called by her name and to be loved].

“…Why! Why didn’t I get called by my name!?”

Suddenly Koyuki raised her voice and she pushed her face into Kazuki’s chest. In that chest of his, he gradually felt the tears that soaked his uniform.

The one who was in front of Koyuki right now was not Kazuki, she was facing someone else and cried.

“Papa…, Mama…! Why, why didn’t you look at me!? Why…just because I became an elf!!”

Koyuki clung to Kazuki strongly because of her pain that couldn’t be protected by any defensive magic power. Raising her voice to the limit, Koyuki’s thin arms turned white from all the strength that she pushed into it.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

Koyuki wept.

She decided in her heart that she would live alone, no matter how many tears she had to endure inside her whole life until now.

All those things she bore inside obstinately for a long time, Kazuki accepted all of those silently in his chest.

But she finally stopped holding all of it alone. He finally became a partner that this girl could spill her heart to, that was what he thought.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

The time passed like that for a while, ‘guzu’ Koyuki sounded her nose.

“…I’m sorry to expose my disgraceful figure so suddenly. But, just a little more like this…”

Koyuki finally started to recover her calm. However….

“Koyuki, something with magic power is approaching here.”

“…!”

The feeling of nervousness from being inside a Haunted Ground returned and her whole body stiffened.

“I want to be like this together with Koyuki for a long time and I don’t want to ever arrive to the next corner, but looks like it won’t come true.”

Koyuki separated her body from Kazuki with reluctance. Kazuki too, while feeling the lingering affection toward the fading warmth, he concentrated his consciousness toward the magical power that was approaching.

The reaction for the magic power was unusual. It was different from the weak waves of magic power that Demon Beasts emitted just by existing.

It felt completely like a magician that was chanting magic, a complex whirlpool that swirled around.

It couldn’t be, that was not a Demon Beast, but a human that was approaching…?

Kazuki walked to the passage corner. Even if a Demon Beast came attacking suddenly, possibly even magic could come flying, that would be fine, he chose a defensive magic and prepared to chant the spell.

He finally arrived at the passage corner, there he faced a body in the middle of the path.

―What the hell is this guy!

Something that was even more strange than the Demon Beasts from before was standing there.

A living thing that looked like a flesh-colored muddy slime.

Its size was around the size of an adult human, ash colored hair was growing everywhere on it.

There were no eyes and nose, but large lips were protruding, it was wriggling around like it was trying to mumble something, leaking out a moan that was impossible to decipher.

It looks completely like a human that was melting into an undefined muddy form….

“unu, guruo…ugo, ugo, urugua…”

What the large lips were mumbling was a spell. The skin-colored monster that looked like sticky flesh mud was shining with the light of magic power, beside it an avatar of a Diva was floating.

…Summoning Magic!?

“URUGUO!”

At the same time with the monster’s voice, a large globe of flame was created and flew at Kazuki.

If he evaded it Koyuki will be hit!

“Fire Wall!”

Kazuki astutely invoked his prepared magic.

The globe of flame was swallowed inside the flame wall and was negated.

“Mitrailleuse!”

Kazuki equipped the gatling gun and poured on a storm of bullets.

“IGI!? IGI! IGI!”

Even while being protected from the bullets by blue defensive magic power, the monster’s body was distorted like jelly ‘gunyagunya’ from the shock of its smashed magic, it raised an eerie scream that he couldn’t bear to hear.

Just from looking at it, just from listening to it, he felt like it would harm his sanity.

Kazuki held a shirking feeling, that he didn’t want to challenge this opponent in close-quarters combat.

“Barrett!”

He shot the monster with a flame bullet. The defensive magic power of the monster was used up, the flame bullet was sinking into the mud-like body. The flame bullet that sank inside its body burned its insides to a crisp.

While the monster writhed around in agony, it….,

“Th, thank…”

After spinning a sound that sounds like a word with its lips for the last time, it stopped moving with a twitch,

…Thank you, is that what it tried to say?

It chilled Kazuki’s spine with its mysterious eeriness.

But even though this thing was so eerie, the monster didn’t disappear and scatter into the light of magical power even though its life was already snuffed out.

The skin-colored dead body was clinging to the ground with a splat, it continued to remain in that place.

…It didn’t become a light and disappeared, does this mean this thing was not a Demon Beast…?

No wait, if it wasn't a Demon Beast, than what in the world was this organism!?

Koyuki who chased him until the passage corner was giving the dead body of the monster a glance, then she came to cling at Kazuki’s arm with a tight squeeze. He thought whether she was scared by the grotesqueness of the monster, but―that was not the case.

“Kazuki...please look.”

She noticed an even more terrifying matter.

“This living thing’s 'ears'…”

In that dead body that ceased to function on the floor with a splat, he overlooked it in the middle of the fight but, it had ears attached even though it didn’t have any eyes and nose. Those ears were, 'pointed ears that lengthened sharply'.

“This is…no, she is, an elf. A thing that was an elf before.”

===Part 4===

“Barrett!”

Mio released a bullet of flame against the monster that was approaching.

But…the force of the flame was weak. ‘zee zee’ Mio’s breath was becoming rough.

(Why can’t I defeat this small fry with one attack!?)

…The oxygen was thinning.

The place called the underground was not an airtight place. But just as she understood from the damp and humid air that this place, by no means, have good ventilation.

For a flame to burn fiercely it needed oxygen. The more Mio used her flame magic in this place, the more her neck felt choked.

“Mio-oneesan, please don’t force yourself!”

Lotte stood in front of Mio where she served as the vanguard.

While firing a volley of gatling bullets, she chanted even more spells.

“I reached out my hand toward the height of Babel, becoming the ruler of people! In accordance with my life, O thunder, swirled into spiral in my hand! {{furigana|Blitzkrieg|Electromagnetic Assault Spear}}!!”

That was a magic that was used for the first time in a real battle, Prometheus’ level 4 magic.

Lotte’s left hand was already equipped with an electromagnetic iron gauntlet that was created from her level 3 magic, [Collider Field]. That iron gauntlet was enveloped with light, and she called even more supplement units to equip on her body.

It was a long lance that was almost twice as tall as Lotte.

“Prometheus… {{furigana|Angriff|Charge}}!!”

Having her lance ready, Lotte charged into the group of monsters.

The electric current that was produced by the gauntlet was flowing into the lance, Lotte transformed into a meteor of lightning.

Everything that was standing in the way was pierced in one go, electrocuted, and turned into ash.

Lotte rushed in a straight line, she arrived up to the backside of the monsters' swarm after a struggle.

“Prometheus, {{furigana|Klinge|Blade}}!”

When Lotte commanded, the spearhead part transformed, and a blade was formed.

Transforming from a [lance] to [naginata] , Lotte swung it from the back of the monsters' swarm.

The storm of the electric blade blew violently, sweeping up the swarm of monsters.

Lotte, who was armed with the extensive ranged attack from the new magic she learned, was a demon of annihilation.

“…Sorry Lotte, I keep holding you back.”

Mio was hanging her head down while her breath hadn't recoverd yet.

“It’s only because I am perfectly suited to purge away the small fry enemies desu. Moreover, this place’s environment is not suited for flame magic after all desu….”

Lotte’s encouragement was accurate, but Mio was not comforted with that and she kept her head hung down with no sign of looking up. Mio was still hung up from the fight with Beatrix, where she was not useful.

“…Even though I also want to be useful for Kazu-nii, I only keep holding all of you back…”

Through the telepathy magic, Lotte could perceive Mio's feelings.

An uneasy feeling was enveloping the surface of Mio’s heart, like a dark sea.

Because of the feelings of powerlessness against herself, a cold wind of self-loathing was blowing inside her.

“It’s scary…I keep exposing such a disgraceful sight in front of Kazu-nii like this…”

Mio, who was usually full of confidence in herself, was whispering weakly.

The small-statured Lotte tiptoed lightly and hugged Mio while patting Mio’s back lightly.

“Kazuki-oniisan is not a calculating person, who will decide to like, or hate you, based on if you are useful in battle or not, right desu? We are not supposed to be people that Kazuki-oniisan gathered for the purpose of creating a strong party desu. We are connected with Kazuki-oniisan by a Bond, people who gathered because we love each other desu. That’s why we can become a strong party desu.”

“…I know, that's obvious. I have been together with Kazu-nii for a long time. But… exposing an unsightly appearance, when I want to show my good points, still made me uneasy…”

“We are comrades who help each other. So let’s do this with the right person in the right place. I'll kick around all the small fry. Mio-oneesan should preserve her strength. Please launch a large barrage at the Boss. Come on, please cheer up. Please cheer up~”

Against Mio, who talked with a sulking tone, Lotte put on a joking air and patted Mio’s back.

“…Uuu, don’t get cheeky even though you're younger than me.”

Mio, who had a sulky expression, pulled on Lotte’s cheeks with a ‘munyu’.

“Please stop~”

Even with her cheeks pulled, Lotte still raised a happy voice.

“Lotte, thank you. … About Lotte, I like you somewhat.”

“I love Mio-oneesan so much desu! Then if Mio-oneesan has already collected her feelings, let’s go forward desu!”

“There are Demon Beasts. This place is being turned into a Haunted Ground isn’t it? But if that’s true, then I wonder why this Haunted Ground is not spreading.”

Both of them were heading forward, while slipping through traps at times. Mio suddenly felt doubt.

“Haunted Grounds are something that spread rapidly. That’s why, if left alone, it would encroach onto the Magic Division’s ground, isn’t that right? But the border line of these Haunted Grounds is located perfectly in the middle of the stairs descending to basement.”

“If Mio-oneesan says it, that’s true isn’t it desu?”

“It is controlled by someone. … The Haunted Grounds are not spreading fruther than this. These Haunted Grounds are maintained at ths size. In other words, the Demon Beasts extermination is being carried out periodically. I wonder. Seeing it carefully, the concrete walls and floors are worn-out, but it doesn’t feel old and decaying. Instead, it tells the frequency of the fights, that were carried out here…”

There were a great number of cracks and signs of destruction on the pulsing concrete surroundings, which were turned into the Haunted Grounds. Those signs were almost not found at all in the vicinity of the entrance, but as they advanced, the more they increased.

“To do such troublesome things this far... There must be a reason to preserve this place as Haunted Grounds. What in the world are they doing here?”

“…That answer, we don’t know if it might exist beyond this point desu.”

At the end of the corridor, Mio and Lotte discovered a door. Thinking about how many traps there were, starting from the trap hole, there was no doubt, that a big secret was hidden beyond this door.

“This is not an adamantite door, is it desu?”

It seems it would be very hard to carry super heavy adamantite this far underground.

Then it would be simple to break this door? Lotte materialized a lance in her left hand, then she rammed the spearhead into the keyhole ― she exerted her strength. The keyhole was easily broken, the door opened with a thud.

There was a computer inside the room. As well as a lot of monitors.

In this fairly cramped room, the only notable thing around was that computer. In here, all the things that were performed in remote places were displayed and regulated using the displays. It seems this was the control room of this whole underground facility.

No doubt. That computer was a clue.

Though, that was only if they could boot it up.

“…Sage of Civilization Prometheus. If it’s you, you should be able to do something about this?”

Toward Lotte’s call, the avatar of the young boy Prometheus appeared, “Ho-ho-, I say, I say”, he wandered around the computer with interest.

“This is a computer right? Vast electric signals are being inputted, calculated, outputted… Hmm, hmm, I see. This is what is called a computer huh. Awesome. How revolutionary this is.”

“Prometheus, use my body, try to operate it please.”

Lotte sat down at the computer desk. Prometheus’s avatar disappeared.

And then Lotte’s arms moved by themselves. Lotte, who was being possessed by Prometheus, had handed over partial control of her physical body.

The computer powered on. The boot sequence was displayed on the connected displays, but what was displayed on the monitor was something Mio had never seen before. It was not an OS which saw widespread use. The OS seemed to be based on encryption, encrypting everthing on the internal drive.

In short, even if they destroyed this computer and carried out only its storage device, it would be difficult to decrypt the encrypted data. They had to break through the security measures within this very room.

Both of Lotte’s arms became the arms of Prometheus. Her fingers were running along the keyboard. It was their first time operating a keyboard, as shown Prometheus’ rather clumsy keyboard strokes.

However, his inputs were accurate.

“Prometheus, you can hack a computer?”

Towards the sage, who was born in this world with the concept of civilization, Mio was being struck with admiration once again.

A Diva was hacking a computer… This situation is ridiculous.

“Well, somehow I’m using my intuition, or maybe you my sixth sense. Pop that lock. And it’s gone.”

Toward the curious OS, that was demanding a password, Prometheus had easily defeated the security measures taken.

“Oh ho, there's a game here. Minesweeper huh. Is it fine to try it a little? The record time of this computer’s owner is 57 seconds. I want to surpass it without fail.”

“You must not desu, please hurry.”

Lotte scolded Prometheus. Because their conversation wascarried out using only Lotte’s mouth and voice, it looked completely like a soliloquy.

“Not only booting it up, but accesing the encrpyted data… Oh hoh, looks like it was protected with double layer password protection. Hahhahha, how impertinent. And, it's gone.”

While the sage of the Greek Mythology laughed loudly, he operated the keyboard with his index fingers poking repeatedly.

His movements were those of a beginner, but he broke through the solid security mercilessly.

“Hmmmm, furthermore, to read this data thoroughly it seems we need something like a decryption application. That application is not saved on this computer. Looks like it's carried portable storage media. Yosh, how about I create that application starting from now?”

“…I don’t get what you are doing at all, but looks like nothing's impossible for you huh?”

“I cannot create that app from nothing you know? I’m only comprehending the surface of the data and reverse-engineering the application.”

While Mio was being amazed at this sight, Prometheus completed the improvised application with his clumsy typing.

“But I cannot understand why it only asked for authentication in form of a password and an application, without using biometric confirmation. If it asked for that, then it’s all over even for me. … By any chance, perhaps the owner of this computer even has a plan to reconstruct his own body. It’s only a wild guess though, but I don’t know if there is any other reason.”

Reconstructing the body?

Was that kind of thing possible? If it was possible, then for what reason?

Suddenly, Mio was reminded of the moment when Kaya was hijacked by Loki and she shivered.

Surely, at that time Kaya’s body was reconstructed.

“Oh ho, I found an interesting thing.”

Prometheus punched the enter-key with noticeable strength ‘pachin’.

The monitors that were covering one part of the room’s wall surface were lighting up all at once.

It looks like the countless monitors were projecting various places in this underground labyrinth.

A certain terminal screen was showing a room where things that looked like culture fluid were lining up in great numbers, another screen was projecting a large hall that was spreading circularly like an arena.

[[image:Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou Vol.03 145.jpg|thumb]]

―Inside that circular hall, were Kazuki and Koyuki!

“Prometheus! Can we reach that place!?”

Mio was shaking Prometheus (Lotte)’s shoulders.

“I didn’t find any map of this underground labyrinth on this computer. It seems the owner of this computer memorized all the structures of this underground labyrinth, so he didn’t need a map. To not have any necessity to share the information, it shows that the ones who use this underground labyrinth is most likely only one person. However, I found a data file of [experiment results]. Looking at the content, the accomplishments of the experiments were carried out at that place that looks like an arena. It seems the tests were using the Demon Beasts as the opponent.”

“Experiments? What kind of experiments? Perhaps we can understand it if we look at the data?”

The terminal screen was changing constantly because of Prometheus’ operating. Mio’s eyes couldn’t follow at all, but Prometheus should be able to naturally read those contents at high speed.

Prometheus’ words became cloudy at Mio’s question.

“That is…how should I say it, it’s an experiment that cannot be described using words at all.”

When Prometheus pushed the enter-key, an URD was ejected from the computer’s disk drive.

All the data of the computer was duplicated onto this high capacity storage device.

===Part 5===

Kazuki and Koyuki were advancing through the passage while slaughtering who knew how many Demon Beasts.

Luckily they didn’t encounter any more [skin-colored, mud-like enemies] from before.

Koyuki said that ‘that thing’ could have possibly been a former elf.

If they encountered it again, was it a good thing to point his sword at it….

“The spirits say that defeating that thing that was an elf before is a comfort for it, you’re not wrong to kill it.”

Koyuki received a big shock just now, even now she kept talking listlessly.

Her face that was white even during the best of times had become even paler, like her blood had completely drained from it.

Now that she mentioned it, Kazuki too had a feeling that the monster was saying a word of gratitude immediately after its defeat.

He didn’t kill that thing, merely liberating it from that condition… was such a thought merely just a convenient means of escape for him?

Even so, were the spirits speaking as the proxies for that monster’s feelings?

“Spirits, what kind of existence are they?”

“I don’t know… just, I always heard their voices in the Haunted Ground when I was in dangerous situations. They gave me advice, and always gave me some help. That’s why right now too, I think it’s okay to follow their words accordingly.”

“The Spirits' protection that is only bestowed to elves, is it? So Koyuki even has that kind of secret that lets you able to be a solo player.”

“…Actually just before the trap hole, they told me not to advance forward, but…I didn’t listen to them.”

After advancing through the passage, they finally arrived at an open circular space. Although there were no guest seats, its shape reminded him of an arena. The walls and floor were made from the same blunt concrete as the passages up until this point, but this place was worn-out with small scratches and damage.

“What on earth is this underground area being used for?”

“Perhaps, and this is only my guess, but…”

Koyuki began to talk nervously while Kazuki was observing the surroundings cautiously.

“There was a barrier raised at the entrance of this place, but that security was by no means secure. Nobody but Magica Stigma could enter, but conversely it’s easy for Magica Stigma to enter here, rather I have a feeling that they would even welcome it.”

Certainly it looks that way. With the stigmata confirmation devices, the security had the function to specify the intruder that entered, but it was not a security system that could reject the intruders itself.

This underground area also rejected the students of the Sword Division, but didn’t reject the students of the Magic Division.

“And then the thing we encountered not long ago, it was an elf who had inherently strong magic power but [its form was changed]. The major clues are only these two facts. Only these two facts but, if we put them together…”

Koyuki cut her words off there like she was hesitating to place the too repulsive imagination in her mouth.

She clutched Kazuki’s hand strongly and finally talked.

“Elves and Magica Stigma are suited as experiment material. I wonder if this place is not the place where they processed people’s hearts, a human experiment site for the sake of strengthening human’s magic power artificially?”

Intruders were welcomed here―as the material for experimentation.

“―A correct answer. Welcome, O King of this country and his young lady attendant.”

If this circular space was an arena, from the direction of the passage on the other side where the battle opponent usually came out, a reply that substantiated Koyuki’s frightening guess came.

‘kan’, ‘kan’, ‘kan’, the well mannered footsteps of leather shoes could be heard approaching.

Kazuki and Koyuki caught their breath, they fixed their eyes on the man that came.

The figure that appeared was a gentleman in his prime wearing a refined suit.

It was Otonashi Tsukikurou. The headmaster of the knight academy.

“I welcome the arrival of all of you here from the bottom of my heart. I met some unexpected difficulties in order to capture you and Charlotte with certainty, but all of you came here in this place by yourselves. With this…there is no more need for hesitation to assault the uprising elements from the Sword Division.”

“Are you, the owner of this underground labyrinth?”

Kazuki once again confirmed the obvious. He couldn’t help but ask that.

The opponent was the headmaster of this academy. And then―the father of Kaguya-senpai.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

That gentlemenly figure that even exuded a sense of reliability as an adult nodded his head calmly. There was not an ounce of shame that appeared on him.

“The thing called magical power is the power of the mind. If this power of the mind could be reinforced artificially, then we could create even stronger magicians. For the sake of this country called Japan to acquire the power to overwhelm other countries, that is something indispensable. This is something that other Magic Advanced Countries absolutely cannot achieve seeing as they were forced to be faithful by the Divas. This is the attempt of what we could do with our country’s biggest advantage.”

Regarding those Mythologies that enforced their faith, there were not few of them that saw science and technology that was too advanced as the symbol of human’s arrogance.

Something like an experiment on living humans was certainly absurd.

“Even if I said human experiments, the perspective of the government at first was that these experiments should be successful even without paying it in something like considerable numbers of human sacrifices. The mind of a human in the end is only something that is created by the brain. The works of brain cells had been elucidated since a long time ago. What kind of organ it is, what kind of electric signals it uses, what kind of changes magic power causes to the brain. If we could discover and manufacture it ourselves...it was supposed to be a simpe matter.”

Headmaster Otonashi kept talking while pushing his index finger to massage his forehead.

“But the problem is not that simple. The Philosopher's Stone that was invented by that alchemist, Basileus Basileon, was creating an area in the human brain that cannot be elucidated by science. Operations that were thought to be correct theoretically failed one after another and the ego of the test subjects all collapsed. The collapsed mind made their magical power run wild, that magic power…with power that distorted reality, their own flesh was also distorted and transformed into appropriate meat clay. What a result that makes the hair of your whole body stand on its end. With their minds collapsing, their physical bodies were also collapsing. Influenced strongly by the magic power. This thing was something that science cannot even hope to anticipate!”

The finger that Headmaster Otonashi used to massage his forehead was pointing at Koyuki this time, and he said.

“The few resulting successes of these experiments, were the elves, did you know?”

…What did he say?

Koyuki clutched at Kazuki’s hand with all her strength. Her face's complexion had gone straight past white and turned blue.

“…Are you saying that elves were created artificially? That they were not something that resulted naturally?”

“This project was started not long after the birth of magic. Random samples were selected from babies that were born in Japan as test subjects, the processing was performed secretly inside hospitals. They were mostly failures, turning into something that was buried in the darkness and known as Infant Sudden Death Syndrome to the masses. The success rate was too low, so in the end this elf project was discontinued. Even the biggest success example of the few successes we had, Hiakari Koyuki, when compared to the child prodigy of the same generation…Amasaki Mio, was only on par with her. The experiment’s cost versus return was too poor.”

“Cost…?” Koyuki’s expression changed toward the words that she couldn’t ignore.

“You’re calling the people that failed…cost…!?”

This man, why, how could he talk about such things so unemotionally and indifferently?

Kazuki was terribly angry, at the same time he also felt a shiver in his whole body from fear.

“It was all for the country’s prosperity. By paying with the sacrifice of the extreme minority, we could welcome certain prosperity, Hayashizaki Kazuki. Yet, that time when a king like you decided to protect Charlotte, I felt disappointment.”

“Even without that strength that was earned by paying with sacrifices, Solomon's 72 Pillars had already granted us strength isn’t that right!?”

“Stigmata huh. When the elf project ended in failure, what we had our eyes on next was Stigmata. There are two problems in the Summoning Magic from the stigmata. The first problem is that this power is a power that is controlled by mysterious wills with a secretive doctrine, Solomon's 72 Pillars. For the country’s greatest military power to be dependent on something that is outside the country’s sovereignty, something like that is unacceptable.”

“Solomon's 72 Pillars are testing us, whether we would use that power justly or not.”

“That is something to be said by the ones who stand above. We, [mankind], cannot be tested by anyone. If it’s not like that, then it’s impossible to stand as an independent country.”

At that time, Leme materialized at Kazuki’s side.

“That objection of yours…we are not even tying you with the binding of faith, we bestowed strength freely to this country, and this is the outcome?”

“Well, well, the King of Solomon's 72 Pillars, Lemegeton-sama.”

“…Leme loves the humans. I love each human one by one. However, our story is extremely unpleasant. Tell me, by you…no, by this country’s government, how many people had been sacrificed for the sake of the country’s prosperity?”

The King of Solomon's 72 Pillars, Lemegeton asked with her distrust bared. It was a terrifying situation to provoke Leme’s displeasure, but Headmaster Otonashi didn’t even pay any mind to it and played dumb by answering “Who knows?”.

“For all that, compared to the number of the victims, the number of the people who had become happy must be far greater yes?”

“…Why, why does your way of thinking assume right from the start that there will be sacrifices?”

Kazuki spontaneously interjected. That time with Lotte was like that too.

Certainly, there might be a time when they had to sacrifice something no matter what.

However, without even exerting his utmost effort to the limit, calmly throwing away other people as sacrifices, he absolutely didn’t want to recognize that kind of method. If I am to be a King…!

“There is no problem that had already started right!? The figure of the enemy isn’t even visible yet, how could you say that sacrifices are needed!? Why didn’t you dare to even try to fight without sacrificing anything to win our prosperity!? You were choosing the method that created sacrifices easily and abandoned any effort and struggle while you yourself were always in a safe place wielding that authority! However that kind of method won’t earn you any trust, whether from your comrades, or from Solomon's 72 Pillars. If I am said to be a King….then I will become a king that fights together with everyone.”

“Just like Kazuki said. Seeing you, Leme only feels sadness.”

Across the monitor, Mio and Lotte, and also Prometheus too were listening to that conversation.

Prometheus was murmuring dejectedly.

“Just like what that man says, the other Mythologies won’t recognize this kind of experiment that strengthened magic power through science. It is surely an advantage that only this country can use. That is so, however…using science for this kind of thing is…”

The sage that bestowed and taught the fire of civilization in order for men to protect each other was stricken with grief.

“Strange. Why do you not agree with my logic? This is why, humans with their own ego are so…”

Headmaster Otonashi tilted his head while still keeping his expression blank like a doll.

“Well, let’s continue the story. I was beyond redemption if it is not like this. The research of the stigmata bestowed by Solomon's 72 Pillars had become my focus. The first thing that I understood was that there is a strong compelling force in the contract. Regarding Solomon's 72 Pillars, even if their powers are used in a way they are unwilling to, Solomon's 72 Pillars are not able to refuse lending their power. Yes, that too can be understood from the scroll recording the Myth. The majority of Solomon's 72 Pillars were people that were considered as demons by the teachings of Christ. The existence called Demon is an existence that is compliant to the contract. If we turn the tables in regard of the contract, then we should be able to use the demons skillfully.”

Certainly the Summoning Magic of Kaguya-senpai’s Asmodeus mercilessly bared its fangs to Kazuki who was the contractor of Lemegeton. There was a compelling force where they couldn’t say any consent or refusal there.

“Solomon's 72 Pillars are obligated to their contractor and their position is to be enslaved by Magica Stigma. Moreover, they couldn’t annul this contract in the middle. But, we cannot say that we are in a superior position against Solomon's 72 Pillars because of that. Because Solomon's 72 Pillars can choose to not bestow anymore stigmata to the next generation. Humanity's magic power will decline after their peak at twenty years of age. Magica Stigma’s period of active duty is short. Only a few years. In the end, our country became dependent to Solomon's 72 Pillars.”

“Certainly it is like that, but…you are so distrusting of Leme and the others that much?”

Leme made an unpleasant face towards such consideration that was so scrupulous towards every corner.

“After that, what I researched next was stigmata transplantation operations. If we could transfer the stigmata from the declining person to a still young person, then even without having Solomon's 72 Pillars renewing their contract with another person then there wouldn’t be any problem at all. Using the inherited stigmata, we could draw out the power of the 72 Pillars forcefully. We will be independent from Solomon's 72 Pillars, able to rule them. Well, it could be said as being a parasite too.”

What he said made even Lemegeton turn pale.

“…Wh, what do you think Leme and the others of Solomon's 72 Pillars are!? The contract that Leme and the others tied in accordance of our trust…you are planning to make us Divas into simple tools (power source) like slaves!”

“But the problem is that the stigmata is connected tightly with the mind. By extracting the stigmata from the knights and the students of the knight academy that had fallen into severe magic intoxication and cannot regain their consciousness, I performed countless human experiments of stigmata transplantations using a great amount of the failed elves that I preserved and cultivated.”

In the period of one year, there were dozens of knights and knight academy students that fell into magic intoxication and went missing in the Haunted Ground. However, for some of those victims…to be treated as experiment materials in here!

“The experiment results were…a wretched thing. No matter how many times I repeated it, the mind of the elves that were planted with a stigmata had collapsed with near certainty. You two had seen it on the way here, that lump of meat that used magic. That was an experiment result just so you know. I sent only one body to you two partly for introductions however.”

That being which looked like skin-colored meat clay…the moment when Kazuki delivered the finishing blow, its lips were saying “Thank you” slightly.

Kazuki’s blood stops flowing and his consciousness felt like flying far away.

“…You’re insane.”

“That’s not true. I am sane. When the result of mind collapse with near certainty came out, the government handed down the decision to cancel this research of stigmata transplantation. However my thinking was different. …There is no need for something like ego in a soldier. Something like ego is unnecessary. Something like a face is unnecessary. Even names are unnecessary. Even will, too, is unnecessary. When the research has ended, I was given a new appointment as the headmaster of the knight academy, but I secretly continued the research. And then I named this research, {{furigana|Project - Caryatid|Human Pillar Project}}<ref>The kanji for human pillar can also mean human sacrifice. As for Caryatid, it’s a pillar that was sculpted as a female statue that functioned as architectural support. You can find this mainly in Greek temples.</ref>.”

“The name of this academy is…!”

The Knight Academy <Caryatid>, that was the name of this academy!

“Of course I entered a different formal meaning on the surface. I named this academy Caryatid in respect for the girls who are contracted with Solomon's 72 Pillars as [the pillar that supported this society]. However…I think the true nature of my naming of this academy is really fitting. This academy is my research site for the sake of obtaining the glorious future! All the students, are the {{furigana|human pillars|human sacrifices}}…!”

Underground…. The enjoyable days Kazuki spent in the Witch's Manor, in its underground was―.

“The experiment is doing well. Now it's become possible to extract stigmata with comparatively high purity. Then if that stigmata is transferred to [humans with diluted egos], an ideal Magica Stigma that maintained its shape as a human as it is and will fight in accordance with the orders given to it is born. This me will change the Knight Order of this country. With these strongest magicians that I created as its banner. That is…the King of this country is…”

Headmaster Otonashi pointed at Kazuki while still keeping his expressionless face.

“It is not you. It’s my daughter―Kaguya.”

He planned to perform the operation on his own daughter, that was what this man proclaimed.

…Just hearing this man's story made Kazuki felt like his own sanity was cracking.

Was this guy really Kaguya-senpai’s father?

“I gave the most optimal education to Kaguya. As raw material, that child is an inferior normal human compared to Hiakari Koyuki. However I incited the growth of her latent magic power by my imprinted education and hypnotism. I imprinted the sense of duty that [She must be the strongest magician] from the time of her infancy, that sense of duty became the greatest priority in her life. A strong will incites the growth of magic power. When I gave her the seat of the student council president, I imprinted the suggestion of [carry out your responsibility as the strongest magician] even further. I told her to push aside all emotion with logical judgment, hypnotized her that she must carry out her responsibility as the strongest magician without fail.”

He raised his daughter as a robot, Kazuki couldn’t listen to what he said as anything other than that.

Of course the unpainted face of Kaguya-senpai was a really humane and kind person.

However…certainly senpai had some moments when she forced herself to death to do unreasonable things. The senpai at that time, changed into the machine personality that this man constructed.

“When Kaguya received my suggestion, she immediately abandoned her ego. There I will transplant [the King’s stigmata] that will be extracted from you. The collapse of the mind could be curbed to the lowest degree, don’t you see? My daughter is going to be the new King. That child is able to stand at the highest summit. If it is for that reason, then I don’t mind matter how dirty my hands become. Someone like me is inconsequential. Yes, someone like me.”

Right there, Headmaster Otonashi, who was expressionless until now, was looking like he suddenly lost the balance of his mind.

“Someone like me, someone like me…” He began saying repeatedly.

Suddenly Kazuki was wrapped with doubt at this late hour.

The human in front of his eyes, was he really sane? Was he normal?

“Headmaster Otonashi…are you an illegal magician?”

His personality was eroded and already he experienced some disorder, wasn’t that what was going on?

“I am…I am…illegal? This me? What are you saying?”

“To enter the entrance to this underground, the person must have a stigmata. You must have a connection to someone. And then that someone, is the one that is driving you mad, isn’t that right?”

“Someone? I did all of this by my own free will. I’m not mad or anything. That’s right, I decided everything myself. But, someone like me is inconsequential. Eh? …I see, so it’s like that huh?”

Suddenly Headmaster Otonashi covered his face with both hands.

“That’s right, I had thrown away my ego a long time ago. But, then who am I? Whoever I am doesn’t matter. I don’t need something like a face. That’s right, something like a face is unneeded.”

Headmaster Otonashi suddenly buried his nails, he started to tear off his own face.

“Unneeded, unneeded, unneeded…”

While murmuring like a broken record, with fingers that were filled with abnormal strength, ‘michi’, ‘buchi’, the muscle fibers were torn off. He screwed his fingers into the torn flesh and pulled apart the flesh even further from there, the white of the bone was exposed along with the blood spray.

Kazuki and Koyuki reflexively took a step back seeing his abrupt insane behavior.

Eyeballs fell at Headmaster Otonashi’s feet with a plop. Headmaster Otonashi’s face was scraped over from all its undulations right now, turning into a flat surface.

From there, Headmaster Otonashi started to knead the slight meat that was still clinging on his face like clay. Like a stain that was spreading, the kneaded meat was rapidly blackening and spreading out.

“Something like a face is unneeded…I am the Faceless God…”

Headmaster Otonashi took down his hands from his face.

That face was changed into a flat featureless jet black face.

Without even eyes and nose, only the lips were floating a smile, hanging on the jet black face.

“That’s right, before I knew it I had thrown away my own ego, never realizing it until the end. I was already turning into me. My encroachment was already reaching completion. That’s right…I am Nyarlatoteph. The Diva of Cthulhu Mythos.”

“Nyarla…Cthulhu Mythos? I have never heard it.”

In front of the monitors, the Greek Mythology’s Prometheus was whispering while looking suspicious.

Mio too was the same. Despite already learning the outline of all the Mythologies in the Mythology class, her ears never heard of such a Diva with that name that sounds random and hard to pronounce.

“I know this Diva desu. I saw it in an anime.”

Lotte said.

“Anime…? Not a Mythology but an anime?”

“Yes. Though he was called Nyarlathotep in that anime.”

“Well, something like a name is just a series of meaningless sounds. There are also other pronunciation like Nyarlatoteph or Nyarlathotep. People try to be aware of me with fleeting effort and gave me various names. However even names, even this form, is nothing more than a torn off part of the ever changing infinite dreams. After all humans are not able to recognize our true essence correctly. Thus the current me is tied to the <human recognition>, however that is an annoying matter. …Rather than hearing my story, let’s talk about Tsukikurou’s story.”

The flat black faced man, while nudging around the torn off pieces of meat and eyeballs that were still scattered about at his feet, started to talk with loquacity.

“…You know, this man never realized it until the very end that he was being encroached. He became unable to make a distinction between my wish and his own wish. He thought that my whispering voice was his own inner voice. And then because he didn’t want to take a straight look at his own sins, he even stopped to reflect on himself. And then he lost his own self. O King of humans, it seems Loki too boasted his own skill to you, but if we are talking about the brilliance of skill, I wonder if my skill is not the one that is several levels above don’t you agree? Because in regards to driving humans mad, there is none more superior than we of the Cthulhu Mythos.”

Nyarlatoteph turned his jet-black face to Kazuki and wriggled his lips.

Kazuki felt a cold sweat of revulsion running down his spine.

For a materialized Diva to await in this place, something like this…!

He had anticipated that an illegal magician was connected with the ominous magic power that came from this underground labyrinth.

But he had the wrong impression that the physical body of the illegal magician hadn’t been taken over yet because no incident had happened until now and he was staying in hiding.

But, for the Diva to easily finish hijacking the body like this…!

“This man is such a pitiful thing. Receiving the appointment from the government for the duty of human experiment research, at first he was holding an extreme feeling of guilt. That’s why he persuaded himself that this experiment was absolutely needed for the sake of this country, And then he started to dream of making his own daughter reign as the ruler of this country. For the sake of the country, for the sake of his daughter…that sounds really good when put into words don’t you agree? He was intoxicated with the idea that it didn’t matter how dirty his hands became if it was for the sake of that goal, so that he could justify himself. Thus he continued the experiments heartlessly. He was already mad by that time. Really mad. But he himself didn’t even think that he was mad for even a bit. You guys know that the only madness he didn’t have was to go on a rampage carelessly like an illegal magician, but that’s it, that’s the only thing he was not mad of. At that time I had already finished encroaching inside him. Brilliant right?”

Against the fitting suits that Nyarlatoteph wore, “What suffocating clothes” he loosened the bottom of his neck with unconstrained gesture.

From the gap of the shirts, “ZOWA-!” countless tentacles were spilling out.

“My own wish, before, this Headmaster Otonashi had said it right? What kind of thing is it, do you know?”

Even with all he had done, Headmaster Otonashi had talked righteously that all of this was for [making the Knight Order of Japan strong].

However the Diva in front of his eyes, by no means his objective was going to make Japan prosperous.

The process they both took were the same but, this Diva must have a totally different objective.

“Is it the turn for my story? You see, I plan to make effective use of Otonashi Tsukikurou’s research. His long standing desire of a [New Knight Order]…was to gather artificial magicians that could parasitize the power of Solomon's 72 Pillars, but that plan will be commandeered by this me. Then the strongest magician that Tsukikurou painstakingly raised…Otonashi Kaguya, I will receive her as my new host body. Because with Otonashi Tsukikurou whose magic power was already weakening as my base, my current power is not enough. Tsukikurou had also already finished all the preliminary arrangements to make Otonashi Kaguya forfeit her ego, so it will be easy for me to plunder her body with my characteristic magic next. However everything of those is only after plundering your stigmata. Thus I will obtain the strongest body and the strongest Knight Order―the Game will be my victory.”

“…Game?”

Against those astounding words, Kazuki asked back.

The objective of the Divas that were making appearances in the world, even now it was still shrouded in mystery. But this Nyarlatoteph’s own objective was made obvious.

The objective of Nyaarlatoteph was a [Game]?

When Kazuki took a stab at arousing his interest, Nyarlatoteph suddenly revealed his fury.

“That’s right, this world’s Mythologies’…annoying Game! Our Cthulhu Mythos is not recognized as a genuine Mythology by this world, our weakening is unavoidable!! What a joke!! The great us that are not even taken notice of by the awareness of humanity, losing our essence as the Cosmic Horror, many of the evil gods were completely sealed! Only me, the <Azathoth able-bodied Messenger> that can obtain divinity! But the influence of a Mythology that has nothing but one Diva…what in the hell am I going to do with that huh!! This world is centered on humans too excessively. The soul of the world is shaped by the magnified human’s mind, only Divas whose existence could possibly be interpreted by humans are allowed to exist. Cthulhu Mythos, whose true essence are [impossible to be understood by humans] was distorted. …So we of the Cthulhu Mythos can win through the game, I'm alone running around, taking secret maneuvers, I had to exhaust myself so we could be victorious against other Mythologies. By making the best use of the fruit of Tsukikurou’s research, leading the Knight Order of artificial magicians, and utilizing the power of Solomon's 72 Pillars, I will win through the Game. And then with this hand I will usurp the {{furigana|Astrum|World’s Soul}} that every Mythologies always dreamed of. The Astrum will be dyed with our color and drive humanity into madness, carrying out the revival of <the universe’s mist of crawling chaos>, Azathoth!”

Astrum…? Governing the world of human’s mind, {{furigana|Astrum|The Distorted World}} in their control was the objective of all Divas? But what was the meaning in doing that?

However Nyarlatoteph didn’t answer Kazuki’s doubt beyond that.

“It’s convenient for you all to come this far. Then without reservation, I can ruin the Sword Division who goes against ‘my Magic Division’. …Let me introduce you all to one of the fruits of Tsukikurou’s blasphemous researches. Come…{{furigana|Quad-core Magica|Four Marks Magicians}}!!”

In response to Nyarlatoteph’s command, countless footsteps could be heard from the passage at the opposite side. It was the sound of footsteps that were walking staggeringly in unsteady posture like a sleep-walking person. The number was twelve.

What appeared was twelve silver-haired girls covered in masks―they were elves. Black leather binding tools were worn on their bodies, and large number of stigmata were carved on their slender arms and legs.

“The byproduct of the Elf Project that the government once pushed forward, and Tsukikurou’s Project – Caryatid. The disposed elves that were in relatively good condition were transplanted with four extracted stigmatas that had relatively high purity each. Come on, four stigmata combined with an elf's magic power? Lovely right? Of course their personalities had collapsed and they are only barely retaining their human shapes. Tsukikurou’s ideal knight is still far off, but…these children can be summed as the soldiers of the current me. At any rate there is no one other than me in the Cthulhu Mythos anyway. I’ll leave the dealing with you all to one of the body among these. After all I still have things I have to do.”

Nyarlatoteph was suddenly looking at one corner of the ceiling―his jet-black face smiled complacently to the lens of the monitor camera hidden there.

[[image:Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou Vol.03 163.jpg|thumb]]

“The humans that know this secret absolutely cannot be allowed to escape after all. The people who got lost in this taboo place and knew too much are driven mad in front of the disgusting truth….it’s so lovely following that theory isn’t it? No matter how many bodies there are, it’s still not enough you know? …Well then O still inexperienced King of Humans, I’m wishing for you to have a good fight. Although there is no way in hell for you all to survive here and escape from this underground labyrinth.”

Nyarlatoteph turned on his heel.

“Do it.”

After leaving a short command to one of the Quad-core Magica, the jet-black Diva’s figure disappeared in the darkness of the passage at the other side along with the eleven others he led.

The stigmata of the one Quad-core Magica left behind began to emit the light of magical power without even saying any declaration of fight!

“Koyuki, step back! …Koyuki?”

When Kazuki turned back, Koyuki was unable to move, like her body and heart were paralyzed, she was trembling.

“Kazuki…I am…”

Those eyes were dyed in despair like a human that was wishing for her own death.

Right now, in this situation this girl was not drowning in terror of a degree like [confronting a terrifying enemy]. From some time ago, there were too many terribly shocking truths regarding this elf girl to process.

“I…now…understood the true identity of the spirits.”

“What did you say? …Spirits?”

The existence full of mysteries even more than the Demon Beasts, spirits. An abstract intelligent being that was said to only be perceivable by elves….

Why was that name the one that came out in this kind of situation?

“Those girls' true identity is…the destroyed personalities of the elves whose magic power were enlarged beyond an ordinary person's and left behind in Astrum, a residual thought.”

…The ghosts of the elves she said!?

“Their emotions are flowing inside me…”

Worn out, Koyuki’s tears started to spill out.

“Wh…why…only me...living like this…”

With a trembling voice, Koyuki let her penitence leak out. But, don’t say that it is bad for Koyuki to live!

“Koyuki, even though you yourself can't agree that you still should live, I will absolutely not let Koyuki die! I will protect you to the very end!”

“airuaokagurma!!”<ref>Cthulhu runes, if it only appears as a normal letter in your computer, then install cthulhu runes in your computer and type the letters here using the Cthulhu font to see the runes.</ref>

From the other side of the Quad-core Magica’s mask, a scream of meaningless human speech could be heard.

For that girl whose lost personality was integrated already to her core, that meaningless scream was a spell.

What was invoked―was one of Solomon's 72 Pillars' Summoning Magics!

This girl was supposed to use the Summoning Magic of four different Divas. To fight this kind of opponent he needed to Foresight what kind of magic the opponent was going to use, observing the element of the magic, and deal with the magic.

The one who taught him the importance of observing the opponent was Koyuki.

…From the flow of the magic power, Foresight the detail of the magic that the opponent was going to use!

Kazuki attempted to sense what kind of magic phenomenon the Quad-core Magica requested to the Diva from the flow of the whirling magical power. He somehow sensed it―a physical attack.

“uoamuaoma!”

The magic was invoked. Around the Quad-core Magica, countless giant nails were raising up.

“O wisdom accumulating through human history, protect my body with layers of armor! Heavily, thickly, reject all the brutality! Seusenhofer!!”

Kazuki covered his body with armor using Prometheus’ magic.

The countless nails came flying like a line of spears. Kazuki came out to the front to cover Koyuki. He couldn’t evade. If he moved then Koyuki would be hit. She wouldn’t even fall into magic intoxication, it was going to be an instant death.

Koyuki was making a face like she was going to accept that kind of fate obediently!

Kazuki blocked the countless nails with his fully-armored body. The armor was crumbling just from one hit, but the nails were dispersing before reaching Kazuki’s defensive magic power. The defense was a success!

However, the Quad-core Magician chanted a different spell almost at the same time―a fire element!

“anfkjanfascs!!”

“Self Burning!”

Barely matching the magic invocation of the opponent, Kazuki somehow made it in time. Because the defensive magic’s target was his own body, he didn’t need to go through the Targeting part and the chanting time was short.

Kazuki supplemented the worn-out armor with flame armor on top of it.

The flame bullet came flying with the speed of rifle bullet. That was a magic that Kazuki also knew well, it was Barrett. The flame armor and the flame bullet were offsetting each other and both were extinguished.

“fsdfsdvkdseoda!!”

The Quad-core Magician was not stopping! Even more magic came flying!

Kazuki failed his Foresight from the overwhelming speed that he couldn’t follow. From the underfoot of the Quad-core Magician, one lump of the concrete floor became unstuck and floated up, then it flew in Kazuki’s direction. The worn-out Seusenhofer was smashed, inflicting a wound in Kazuki’s defensive magic power.

…More still coming. This enemy was firing magic like an automatic weapon at him!

“cvcmiedflaowfd!!”

The fourth magic was invoked slightly later than the previous three, it was a magic of even an even higher level compared to the magic until now.

A pure black thunder cloud was created on top of Kazuki’s head. Offense energy of snapping electricity was generated from there, and then huge lightning was falling at Kazuki!

“Flash! Raikiri!!”

Drawing an Iai slash with the Sacred Treasure that was fortunately at hand, Kazuki slashed apart that lightning. For him to possess Raikiri when the enemy was using a lightning element magic was a paper-thin fortune.

…The cycle of the offense magic was too fast!

The opponent was splitting her consciousness four ways to the four stigmata and chanting the spells at the same time!

Defensive magic wouldn’t make it in time. Much less defending with the best of his ability, he couldn’t even defend.

The Quad-core Magician was just standing straight in that spot and firing the Summoning Magic in rapid succession like a machine. Kazuki was standing guard in front of Koyuki, he didn’t even have any allowance whether it was to chant attack magic or entering close-quarters combat.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

“a…aa…”

Koyuki leaked out a moaning voice looking at the scene in front of her.

Kazuki was continuously getting struck by magic to protect her.

Why? Even though she herself wanted to just die…yet why was he still trying to protect her by volunteering his own body?

She hated herself for a long time. Moreover, she herself had confirmed that she was born from an experiment that made one want to hold nausea in their stomach, that she was born due to the countless sacrifices of others.

As I thought, I am a monster!

Furthermore, I am even more filthy than even I had imagined, a blasphemous existence.

Even the strong magic power that I thought as the sole meaning of my existence, was something originating from rotten trash.

I who is like that, right now…is just holding Kazuki back.

Why is he doing that kind of action this far? Why for something like me….

Koyuki suddenly imagined the moment when he finally abandoned her. Kazuki stopped covering herself and the attack magic pierced her. The flesh of her body was destroyed without even leaving her original form intact.

I don’t want that. …It’s scary.

To die itself was not scary. But if she kept dragging Kazuki’s feet like this and he turned to hate her completely was a scary prospect! That’s why she didn’t want to get along well with anyone, despite that…!

“Please, stop it already…”

Koyuki begged to Kazuki’s back. It was scary to be betrayed, so she begged from herself that he stopped protecting her. To die from having her own wish listened to was far more comfortable compared to die while being loathed by Kazuki.

“Stop it already…”

But his back didn’t listen at all to Koyuki’s thin voice.

Koyuki was inside the loneliness called being protected.

{…Don’t throw yourself in self-abandonment.}

Suddenly, there was a woman’s voice coming from Telepathy.

{We are not telling you of our true identity in this place for the sake of hurting you.}

Was it because she had understood their true identity, right now their voices were resounding even clearer than ever, she was able to understand the voice of the spirits. Now at last the voice of the spirits was not a vague feeling, the voice was transmitted as true words.

{For the sake of protecting him, stand up.}

Hearing the words of the spirits, Koyuki raised up her bowed head and watched Kazuki’s back once more.

Why…?

{We have kept watching over the surviving elves for a long time.}

{Everyone was isolated. They were lonely. All of that were conveyed to us.}

{But you were able to make important people, right? Even now we could feel that.}

{We are not envying your life or anything. The important people that we couldn’t obtain, please, we want you to protect them.}

Protect…not being protected, but she herself to him….

{Fight.}

{And then defeat the Quad-core Magic with your strength.}

{Her ego had collapsed, but even so she kept being abused for her magic…that is a really painful thing.}

But…the current her didn’t know how to fight. Even though she prayed, even though she thought hard, she still couldn’t knead the magic power. The magic power that she had long thought as the worth of her existence was….

“Do you still not understand the reason why you cannot use magic?”

“…Vepar?”

At Koyuki’s side, an avatar of a mermaid was floating.

“Inside you, the routine of the magic power invocation had changed. For a long time until now, you invoked the magic power only for the sake of proving your own power. The thought of [proving my own power] had become your key for kneading your magic power. That was your routine until now. But the feeling of the current you right now was not like that anymore. At that time when you fell into magic intoxication and faced yourself. Please remember your feelings at that time.”

―I don’t want to give up. I want to be able to live and have an intimate relationship with someone, I don’t want to give up!

The me at that time begged for that!

“Using that feeling, you will be able to invoke magic, please notice that. That is a way of chanting magic that you have never experienced. I like you who was so lonely. I am the mermaid princess. So I can understand your loneliness. That’s why I want to give you a push on the back. Go―change yourself right now.”

Vepar’s avatar vanished after leaving behind those words.

Koyuki faced her own feelings. She had already found the most intense thought she had ever felt throughout the period of this twelve years she had lived.

Kazuki had protected her from countless nails, flame bullets, lumps of earth, and lightning without even moving a step.

I understand. I see it. The thing I want to do from the bottom of my heart. The path for the sake of that.

Obtain a different state of heart than before!

“I…I will redefine myself! My strength is not only for the sake of fighting…it changes into the strength for protecting my important people!!”

{We will lend you strength, Koyuki.}

{Whether we are a filthy existence or not, depends on ourselves.}

{Now, you are able to bless your own existence, right?}

{If you could accomplish a meaningful life, then that will become the elves’ new meaning of existence.}

The residual thoughts left behind in the Astrum, the spirits, their form changed into pure magic power and flowed into Koyuki.

Enormous magic power was swirling inside Koyuki. Her incomplete Magic Dress recovered its majestic appearance like a blooming flower bud. She became able to chant the spell with incomparable speed than before.

“…Sinking hundreds of ships, O menace of the sea lurking in the ocean depths! Led by my singing voice, surface…show that full story!”

“…Koyuki?”

Kazuki turned back to look at her with eyes that were dyed in shock.

He was looking at her, she felt happiness just from that small thing.

“Stab your fang! Ice―”

She could feel that she had filled this one shot of magic with a never yet seen destructive power until now.

For protecting Kazuki, and that…pitiful Quad-core Magica, to liberate her from her torment!

“―Buster!!”

Their eardrums were deafened with the thunderous roar of the whole world smashed up.

The next moment, the space underfoot of the Quad-core Magica distorted, a colossal ice mountain burst forth from there. The sharp point of the ice mountain lunged at the Quad-core Magica, piercing her. Not only from underfoot, the space was distorting even further from all directions one after another, ice mountains were lunging from all of those points.

From every direction, ice mountains that really could be called ice mountains crashed into the Quad-core Magica.

When the Ice mountain crashed into the ice mountain, scattering ice fragments everywhere, a new ice mountain was immediately created pulverizing the Quad-core Magica even further.

The total number of the ice mountains Koyuki had summoned using this magic was six. But―

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA―!”

While Koyuki screamed as if to show the proof of her existence, she produced the ice mountains over and over with numbers of almost double than earlier, ten ice mountains. The Quad-core Magica was pierced continuously who knew how many times. Ice was smashed everywhere, reflecting transparent lights irregularly.

When all the ice mountains finished attacking, the Quad-core Magica fell to the floor like a scrapped rag.

“…Koyuki, you can use magic again? On the contrary, the power just now…”

“Kazuki! She is an elf…it’s still not over with just that!”

Toward Kazuki who was staring in wonder, Koyuki scolded him vigilantly.

Just as Koyuki said, the Quad-core Magica got up. Her defensive magic power still hadn’t been used up.

“Kazuki, I am going to liberate that child. That’s why you…please protect me as the vanguard!”

“…Leave it to me!”

While thinking that the recovered Koyuki was reliable, Kazuki faced the Quad-core Magica.

“famfswa!”

The same as ever, just defending from the opponent’s consecutive magic was the best he could do. But this side’s preparedness was different from before. As long as he could just defend, Koyuki would decide it from the back!

“Ice Buster!”

The once again invoked level 6 magic. The ice mountains hit the Quad-core Magica firmly one after another―finally all her defensive magic power was cut off.

The Quad-core Magica was collapsing face up, the lips of the elf girl was shaking.

Was it because the magic power barely holding the life preservation of the remodeled body, at the same time the elf girl’s magic power dried up, she closed her eyes from having used up all her strength, her breath was shut eternally.

In front of the gruesome victim, Kazuki stood stock still from the unbearable feeling.

“Nyarlatoteph has to be defeated, without fail.”

Koyuki’s whisper was filled with strong emotion. Kazuki nodded back hearing that.

<noinclude>

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

{{SimpleNav}}
</noinclude>

Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou:Volume 3 Chapter 2

2021-11-21T13:26:41Z

1.32.66.248: /* Part 2 */

==Chapter 2 – Legend of Sword==

===Part 1===

Feeling a mysterious warmth, Kazuki opened his eyes. It feels like he was being embraced completely by someone…he felt a sweet scent and humidity.

When he opened his eyes, there was the sleeping face of Koyuki in front of his eyes.

(This was…that Hiakari-san was hugging me while half asleep!?)

Kazuki fell into a light panic. However if he moved unskillfully he would wake her up. The outside of the window was still dark. Kazuki’s morning was early because of his habit as a swordsman to practice.

Suddenly the rabbit plush doll that was placed on top of the bed in Koyuki’s room crossed his mind. The girl might have completely mistook Kazuki as her plush doll.

“…zu, ki…”

In front of him, the girl’s lips moved slightly. Was she calling his name just now?

Koyuki was circling her hands around Kazuki’s neck, even now the distance between their lips were in almost touching range. Both of her legs were touching Kazuki’s body, she used her whole body in her embrace.

Across the thin pajamas, the undulation of Koyuki’s body and the sense of touch, everything was transmitted to him.

Kazuki’s right arm was thrust inside the triangle that was drawn from Koyuki’s thighs and nether region, there was a squishy feeling of ‘punipuni’ in his palm.

He noticed that his hand was in contact with a place that he really should not come in contact with.

He never even imagined that she would do this kind of thing. Just as he thought, she might be really lonely somewhere in her heart living in isolation.

Kazuki felt the incredible loveliness of this girl who fawned on him unconsciously, his left hand that was not being embraced moved and stroked her head.

The silver hair that was cut short felt silky in his hand each time he stroke her hairs apart, it felt very good.

“Nn…” With the small voice she leaked out, a smile floated on Koyuki’s face filled with relief.

Her white cheeks were soft and full with her smile, this time he poked those cheeks with his finger. The sleeping Koyuki was nuzzling her cheek against the poking finger. Somehow she looked so cute.

Next Kazuki pushed her nose. The girl’s noble face was warped slightly along with a strange “funya” voice that she leaked out. This girl was also really cute when she was this defenseless.

A heart mark flew out from her chest. She might have felt something about Kazuki inside her subconsciousness. Then her sleep talk before, just as he thought, perhaps she was calling his name.

When Kazuki’s finger was drifting around wondering about where he was going to poke next, Koyuki’s face that was supposed to be sleeping was reacting mysteriously, ‘paku’ in a snap the tip of the finger was held inside her lips.

While Kazuki was startled somewhere else, Koyuki sucked out ‘chuu’ Kazuki’s index finger just like a child who was sucking a pacifier.

(Uwaa…Hiakari-san’s lips, so soft…)

Feeling fretful because there was nothing coming out from Kazuki’s fingertip, Koyuki started to lick Kazuki’s fingertip.

The tip of her tongue made out watery sounds ‘kuchukuchu’. It was strangely lewd somehow….

There, Koyuki’s eyes opened.

“Kajuki?” She whispered in a half asleep voice. Her mouth was gaping open absentmindedly and the finger that was covered in her saliva was dropped from her mouth.

She started to comprehend the situation little by little, then in the blink of an eye her expression was colored with shock and shame.

However when she noticed that the ones that embraced Kazuki strongly were her own arms and legs, she could express neither her complaint nor her disparagement, only tremble in silence. She turned her back and shrank in embarrassment.

“I saw a strange dream and clung to you like that. ...Forgive me.”

What kind of dream did she see? In any case, this wasn't something she needed to apologize for.

“Liar, like this…I only did embarrassing things since yesterday…”

“That’s not true Hiakari-san…rather if I had to say, you were really cute so it’s fine.”

Kazuki said so with the intention to follow up, but with a tiny voice the girl was,

“…I don’t understand what you see from me that's fine or cute, Idiot.” She whispered.

After a while, Lotte also opened her eyes. Kazuki had long-waited for that.

Kazuki spoke his mind frankly to Lotte who was coming back from washing her face in the washroom.

“Lotte, can you teach me Telepathy magic?”

Kazuki recalled Kaguya-senpai’s scent in his mind. His yearning feeling for senpai urged a determination from Kazuki for the whole time since last night. …He had to win against Kaguya-senpai.

Lotte blinked her eyes in surprise toward Kazuki’s words.

“You could reduce the hallucination of agony by using Telepathy magic to enter a Trance right?”

Senpai used a magic that assigned her opponent a hallucination of agony.

When he saw senpai fight for the first time, he couldn’t do a thing. That magic was something he absolutely needed a countermeasure for.

“Yes. I never expected that kind of magic before, so my mind was consumed and thrown out of order completely into a wreck, but―if beforehand I could enter a state of Trance and [resolve] myself, I should be able to endure to a certain degree desu.”

Resolve…if it’s resolve, he has it.

Trance was a state where he controlled every nook and corner of his mind, including the subconscious area. A mental magic skill where [one's self] was completely in control of one’s own emotions and senses.

“Lotte, I ask you to consent to something unreasonable. I want to Trace Lotte’s method of Trance. For that I want you to remove your wall of heart for me.”

Hoshikaze-senpai had once before aligned her mind with Kazuki and Traced the way Kazuki’s body moved, with that she learned the kata<ref>Standard form of a movement, posture, etc. in martial arts, sport, etc.</ref> of Kazuki’s sword style. That great efficiency was something one should be surprised at.

Lotte learned Japanese language by aligning her mind with the surrounding humans’ minds and Traced their emotion and the interrelation of their vocal chords’ movements. The time that she spent to learn the Japanese language was a mere period of three days.

Kazuki thought that he could learn the technique to manipulate his sense of pain with the state of Trance by aligning his mind with Lotte, in the same way Lotte learned language.

But it was difficult to Trace the depth of the mind. Because if his mind trespassed the {{furigana|bottom of the mind of other people|Mind Hack}}, he would be repelled by the defense mechanism called <Wall of the Heart>.

Thus, Kazuki proposed for Lotte to remove the wall of her heart beforehand and let him Trace her completely defenseless mind.

…Normally that was a request that absolutely couldn’t be asked. For the wall of the heart to be removed, it was an action of nothing less than surrendering every nook and cranny of her own heart to other people.

Every secret of her heart would be exposed, there was even the risk of her will being hypnotized by the other party.

Even so, for the sake of victory against Kaguya-senpai, that was an absolutely needed step.

If for example he requested this from Mio, she would reject him for sure in embarrassment of getting all her shame exposed to Kazuki. That was not a problem of the high and low of the positivity level, but a problem of personality. However if it was Lotte―

“I don’t mind at all. Because I don’t have any feelings that I want to hide from Onii-san, none at all desu.”

She said so quite indifferently as though that request had nothing to do with her.

“But, if we are going to do it then let’s do it where no one can bother us.”

Lotte smiled in mischief and she pulled Kazuki inside the toilet.

“We are going to do it in this kind of place?”

Kazuki, who was the one that asked for it in the first place was bewildered.

“Kazuki-oniisan, please sit down there.”

Lotte brought down the cover of the toilet seat as she was talking and sat Kazuki there. Then she sat on top of Kazuki’s knees with her legs out to the side, only her head was facing toward Kazuki. Both their eyes drew near each other.

“By all means, go on.” Lotte closed her eyes and readily cleared her wall of the heart.

“Thank you, Lotte.”

Kazuki also closed his eyes, he poured all his concentration to synchronize with Lotte’s heart.

Several blue strings of magical light were extending from Kazuki. They enveloped Lotte completely.

Kazuki perceived all the ripples that were produced from Lotte’s heart.

{Well then, how I use the Telepathy, I’ll show Onii-san the way I control my mind, please perceive it.}

Lotte’s heart informed him so. At the same time countless idle thoughts outside of the control method also rose out in her heart.

{I like Kazuki-oniisan} {I believe you so there is no problem} {I’m so happy that Kazuki-oniisan is entering me} {Feel me more} {Only now I can monopolize Kazuki-oniisan} {This is something that Mio-oneesan cannot do} {I love you}

Lotte’s each and every thought poured into Kazuki like fierce surging waves.

Lotte’s positivity level was 106. But all these thoughts were the real contents of that number.

Her good will spontaneously grew, at the same time the heart mark that symbolizes the increase of positivity level also flew over.

{Thank you Lotte}

Kazuki accepted every one of those thoughts and conveyed his gratitude.

This was a training method that absolutely couldn’t come into existence without a partner like Lotte. He felt Lotte’s heart and Traced all the performance of Lotte’s mind’s movements.

―A little after an hour passed, Kazuki could somehow get the hang of the trick.

When the Telepathy was over, Lotte laughed “ehehe” and came flying, hugging Kazuki tightly.

“Let’s try it in practice. Please cancel Onii-san’s defensive magic power desu.”

Kazuki strongly thought of nonresistance, then his defensive magic power was cancelled.

Lotte pulled Kazuki’s cheek strongly. Sense of pain was primarily the work of the subconscious mind. But he seized it with the Trance and controlled it.

The pain was softly abating like being enveloped in silk floss.

He still couldn’t shut out the pain completely. However he had to reach the level where he could shut out the brutal agony of Kaguya-senpai’s magic and persevere through it.

“If Onii-san couldn’t deal with unexpected and sudden pain, than all this would also be in vain desu.”

When Lotte said that, she suddenly drew near Kazuki’s face and bit Kazuki’s ear in a snap.

Kazuki could even deal with that kind of sudden movement and quickly the pain was abating. Finally the pain vanished and what was left was only the sensation of Lotte’s mouth caressing his earlobe. Rather her mouth felt pleasant.

“Thank you Lotte.”

Kazuki hugged Lotte who was biting his earlobe like she was fawning at him.

“Right now I can sense Onii-san’s feelings, this is somehow enjoyable desu.”

“…How dare you pull my cheek and bite my ear huh.”

With a joking tone, Kazuki pinched Lotte’s cheek that felt like touching a smooth silk.

“Plese don’t pull my cheek~. Ehehe, Onii-san is not going to bite my ear desu?”

Lotte was happily coming to pursue a skinship with Kazuki.

===Part 2===

“Oi Mio, wake up already. Kohaku is going to come after this you know?”

With her twintails untied slovenly when she slept, the slightly amorous Mio was “Nn…I can't wake up if there is no kiss from the prince….”, then she stuck out her shapely lips.

Her way of thinking was on the same level as Kanae….

“You, you just want to say that and are only pretending to be asleep aren’t you…”

It was not like what she asked was something Kazuki disliked, rather he was tempted to just kiss her for real, but he became aware of Koyuki’s chilly gaze so he shook Mio’s shoulder with more strength.

―It was 7 o’clock in the morning.

Kohaku showed her face at this time when the SHR would be started soon. She came here a few times a day to pass Kazuki and the others food and the like.

But this time she was a bit late.

“From today onward, it’s fine to go out from this room limited inside the grounds of the Sword Division as long as someone accompanies you.”

Suddenly Kohaku informed them of the change in the situation.

“Why is that? Isn’t it bad if Kanae and the others from the Sword Division student council found out our whereabouts?”

“The Sword Division student council that Kazuki knows doesn‘t exist anymore.”

“What did you say? Did something happen to Kanae?”

“Kanae-dono judged this one one-sidedly and came to attack and was defeated. The school tradition of the Sword Division is based on real strength doctrine, even more compared to the Magic Division. Because of that, the moment the student council president is defeated by someone, she would lose all credibility.”

“Then Kohaku won against Kanae!?”

Kazuki was struck with admiration from the bottom of his heart.

“Although you have seven Sacred Treasures, to properly win against that girl…”

“You have said enough. This one heard before that when Kazuki and Kanae crossed swords, Kazuki was the stronger one.”

Certainly he had more wins than losses with the score of 139 victories and 118 defeats. However those were not real battles.

“Because Kanae’s disposition is to fight using her instinct, she cannot make a serious effort in a contest of strength that was half playing around. If she gets really serious, in just swordsmanship she is much, much stronger than me. …I see, so you really won nicely against her.”

Kazuki displayed his heartfelt admiration, but Kohaku’s expression didn’t brighten at all.

“…Anyway this one is taking over the authority of the student council president, Kanae-dono and the others were suspended from school and underwent their penitence in their own rooms because of their crime in assaulting other students. At the same time, the Magic Division is forbidden from entering the Sword Division, all the students will enter states of high alert after school. In other words our preparations are in good order. The next time the Magic Division would appear in this ground is the moment when they come to attack right from the front in order to seriously recapture Kazuki and Lotte.”

Kaguya-senpai and the others will come to attack the Sword Division…that was the situation that he wanted to avoid the most.

“Kohaku, I have said this many times, but the Magic Division and the Sword Division shouldn’t antagonize each other. To prepare for bigger threats, the Swordsmen and the Magica Stigma have to join their strength. This is not the time to squabble with each other. Even though you won against Kanae with the use of Sacred Treasures, opponents that you wouldn’t be able to defeat without the cooperation of the Magic Division will surely appear in the future.”

This was an argument that he kept repeating each time Kohaku came to the room until now. If she wouldn’t lend her ear this time then―Kazuki intended to use all his strength to escape from this room.

He couldn’t just sit around and wait anymore.

Despite laughing off Kazuki’s argument with full confidence until now, for some reason this time Kohaku was looking down with doubt residing inside her eyes.

“…This one really doesn’t understand why Kazuki is always advocating such a claim. If we let the Magic Division do as they please, you realize that you are only going to be judged as an illegal magician right?”

“I never did anything like causing harm to any knight and trying to steal a Sacred Treasure. Those are false accusations. Inside the Magic Division, there is someone who attempted to trick me into something. Liz Liza-sensei should already tell you that there is some strange distortion going on. If this distortion is not set right, the Knight Academy’s situation will turn dire.”

“A dire situation?”

For Kazuki to claim that there was [someone who tricked him into something] by himself was a fairly lame thing to do. But it looks like Kohaku had undergone some change in her mental state, she lent her ear to Kazuki seriously.

“My contracted Diva, Lemegeton, is the Demon King that unifies Solomon's 72 Pillars. I have to become an appropriate King for her. If the situation keeps like this, all of Solomon's 72 Pillars will be disappointed in us. If Solomon's 72 Pillars wash their hands from Japan’s government, that would be the end of this country.”

I am a King. It couldn’t be helped even if he made thoughtless and outrageous remarks, however this was most likely the truth.

If he didn’t resolve himself and take action, the situation would turn dire.

“Unify Solomon's 72 Pillars, Demon King…?”

Mio who watched over the two was dumbfounded. However she knew about Kazuki’s ability. If she included that fact, what Kazuki said was not so out of the realm of possibility.

“What this guy said is the truth.”

Leme materialized besides Kazuki. Now that he thought about it, since they were confined in this room, she never appeared at all, was it because of her discretion of the other girls?

“…You, haven’t you grown a little more since the last time?”

“Are you an uncle that meets his nephew after a long time? This is the fruit of Lotte’s positivity level increase.”

Leme showed a sullen face, was she being awkward?

Leme’s figure had turned into a girl around the age of a first year middle school student. Although there was still some innocence left in her look with that squishy cheek of hers, inside her well-ordered face and figure was a hint of the budding charm of a woman.

If she kept growing like a human with this rate, she might grow into a beautiful girl that couldn’t be ignored by anyone.

“This girl is not a bad Diva. See, she doesn’t look like a bad guy at all.”

“Shop hith~, dhon’ fhull fhy sheeck~ (Stop~, don’t pull my cheek~)”

While pulling Leme’s cheeks widely, Kazuki appealed that Leme was a harmless existence. Was this a success, Kohaku was looking down and thinking for a while.

“…This matter might be something this one cannot decide. Kazuki, this one had someone this one wants you to meet.”

“A person you want me to meet?”

“This one and the other also have a power broker behind us.”

After a long time, Kazuki and the others could finally get outside led by Kohaku. The group traversed the Sword Division’s grounds. They could feel the awfully bright sunlight along with the morning air and fresh cold wind.

Different from the Magic Division, the Sword Division had a Japanese atmosphere. Gentle undulations at the ground made from the artificial hill, a long stretching road filled with lines of stepping stones, stone lanterns and pine trees were attracting their eyes.

“This one fought with Kanae-dono here.”

Kohaku said so with a sigh in the immediate area of the clubroom building. Her face seen from the side looked quite uncertain that was so unlike how she usually acted, this place gave a true account of what kind of fight had unfolded here.

Even though Kohaku owned several Sacred Treasures, she shouldn’t be able to defeat Kanae so easily.

But no matter what had actually happened in the fight, it wouldn’t be able to shake the fact of the outcome.

Even Kanae wouldn’t act like a child by insisting in protest against her defeat.

“The person you want me to meet is not in the student dormitory but inside this kind of place?”

The time was still before the start of the school class. Despite that, why would that person be here in the clubroom building and not in his room at the student dormitory?

“There is a special circumstance, she is a Sword Division student, but she spends a lot of her time secretly outside the dormitory.”

Kohaku ascended the exterior stairs of the clubroom building while talking, then she knocked on the door of the clubroom with a dirty plate that was hanged on it with the writing of [Pingpong Club]. Looking from its outward appearance, the clubroom looks abandoned already.

“<Mikohime>-sama<ref>Princess shrine maiden</ref>, this is Kohaku. Coming in.”

“…I told you already, don’t call me Mikohime-sama! Someone that calls me something like Mikohime cannot come in, idiot―!”

Boos were returned from the other side of the door.

Kohaku was stunned for only a moment, then she opened the door with a key while saying “Entering.”

Peeking at the other side of the door, Kazuki’s eyes suddenly became round.

The inside of the clubroom was not a conventional high school clubroom, but it had been turned into an altar of Shinto ceremony.

The whole surface was colored brightly with vermilion and gold colors, while there was a large altar in the inside. There was not even a shadow or shape of anything ping-pong club like inside. In the middle of the room, there was a girl clad in the Sword Division’s uniform.

“Kohakuu―, I have said this so many times, but a title like miko or hime is not appropriate for me. I’m just one girl that had decided to reach success in life by the sword, a swordswoman! So stop elevating me to a weird position!”

A girl with a short-cut hair in shaggy-style that made her look energetic. With an imposing countenance that really suited a swordsman, she was sulking at Kohaku in dissatisfaction childishly.

When that girl noticed Kazuki, she thrust her index finger to him and raised a loud voice.

“A young man in the Magic Division uniform…I heard about it before, this guy is the enemy of women, Hayashizaki Kazuki! Kohaku, what is this about? Why will you take this kind of guy to this altar? Have you been corrupted by him!? En-gacho<ref>Crossed fingers and word said to call someone to be avoided as 'dirty'</ref>!”

(…Wait a second there, what does she mean by "enemy of women"!?)

“Mikohime-sama, first please let me introduce them. …Kazuki, in this side is Tsukahara Kazuha-sama. A senpai in the Sword Division.”

“You said Tsukahara, so she is that teacher’s…?”

“Correct, she is his daughter.”

“Stop calling me Tsukahara, I’m going to be compared with that good-for-nothing glasses father. Then Kohaku too, stop that stiff tone of yours when talking to me already. You’re my important friend after all.”

“Before you are this one’s friend, Kazuha-senpai is the mikohime of the sword.”

“I told you to quit it haven’t I―! I’m angry here, otherwise I’m going to cry!?”

Kazuha-senpai waved her arms about energetically. The long sleeves of the Sword Division’s uniform were flapping around.

“Then Mikohime-sama, these are those who were chased by the aforementioned Magic Division, Hayashizaki Kazuki and Charlotte Liebenfrau, and the additional two that were dragged into that strife.”

“Wait there, what’s with that mention of ‘additional’ you said! I’m the one with the number one charisma you know!?”

Though the mention about getting dragged into this was true, Mio was still angry because she was introduced lightly.

“I understand their problems when I see them. But why would you take them to this place?”

“I wish for Mikohime-sama and Sword God-sama to hear their story.”

“I told you…don’t call me Mikohime…”

Kazuha-senpai was being fed up with how Kohaku keep calling her Mikohime.

(…Mikohime, Sword God…?)

“Kazuki, Kazuha-senpai is being contracted with a Diva outside of Solomon's 72 Pillars, she is the same as Kazuki, an illegal magician in the eyes of the law. Because of this one and my comrade’s encounter with Senpai here, we started to get really serious about overthrowing the Magic Division.”

Kazuki spontaneously faced Kazuha-senpai with shocked eyes.

“Wait, is it okay for you to reveal me as an illegal magician so lightly? Of course it’s not okay you know!”

Kazuha-senpai glowered at Kohaku. Looking at her abundance of emotion that she showed, it seems there was no unnaturalness at all in her like a person that was having their heart encroached. She was overflowing with energetic vitality, a very open and bold woman.

“Well, indeed I am an illegal magician. But my Diva is by no means an evil existence. I’ll show you the proof right now, you’ll see.”

Kazuha-senpai chanted a spell, her body was enveloped with vermillion light of magic power.

“Mine bare hands grasp the red hot ore. Ridges on the sky, blade on the earth, merge in a flash namely as the only sword. Thy inscription is <Futsunushi no Kami>! Oh god of iron and fire, show thy forge!”

Kazuha-senpai’s hands were both swallowed in burning flame.

Inside that flame, a hot red iron [sword] was created.

That sword was not a Japanese katana. It was an ancient double edged sword that was used in the era far before even the katana.

A human’s face was carved like a relief in the part of the hilt,

The avatar that was born from the spell was floating away lightly from Kazuha-senpai’s hand.

“…Mine name is Futsunushi no Kami! One of the pillar gods that had watched over the children of Yamato<ref>Ancient name of Japan</ref> from ancient times!”

The rough human face that was carved into the hilt opened its eyes suddenly and widely and proclaimed to Kazuki and the others.

“Mikohime-sama is contracted with Futsunushi no Kami-sama, but she hid this matter and went through the Sword Division. …So to speak, [the Magica Stigma of Sword Division].”

In contrast with Kazuki who was the swordsman of the Magic Division…Kazuha-senpai was the Magica Stigma of the Sword Division!

“Is there no danger? If you are possessed and your mind gets hijacked then…”

Kazuha-senpai turned indignant toward Kazuki’s apprehension.

“What are you saying, you enemy of women! You’re going to be cursed by all the god-sama that had been in Japan since ancient times! I had associated with Futsunushi no Kami since I was born! If he had any intention to hijack my mind than he would have already done it a long time ago!”

“Guwahhahha!” Futsunushi no Kami laughed.

“That’s correct, I don’t have any such intention like stealing human’s flesh body. I’m also not interested in human’s faith. So to speak, I am the same as Solomon's 72 Pillars. I bind a contract only to grant strength to this frail young girl!”

“Don’t call me frail, idiot!”
“Guwahhahha! Hooww cute!”

The human-faced sword―Futsunushi no Kami was laughing heartily. The expressive features of the carving in the hilt felt like a good natured uncle, Kazuki couldn’t see any lie at all from him.

There was no reason to think that just because he is a Diva, he wanted to steal human’s body from anyone. Lotte’s Prometheus was also like that.

Each Diva’s objective were different. The current law that grouped all the Diva that were not among Solomon's 72 Pillars as something to be wary of and classified those Diva’s contractor as illegal magicians might be too rough and broad. Though thinking of the risk of those Divas with evil intentions, that kind of law probably couldn’t be helped, but….

Now that he thought about it, the illegal magicians that were captured by the Knight Order was when their mind was encroached, thus losing their sanity and turning violent. Supposing that the Diva was not encroaching their mind, as long as they didn’t use their power and hid their stigmata, they could pass off as normal humans and keep living normally.

By some chance, perhaps there was a lot of [Hidden Illegal Magicians] contracted secretly with Divas from various mythologies that stay under the radar in this country outside of Kazuha-senpai.

“…Japan Mythology’s Diva!?”

Leme materialized at Kazuki’s side.

[[image:Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou Vol.03 077.jpg|thumb]]

“Oooh, little girl! Are you one of Solomon's 72 Pillars?”

Futsunushi no Kami asked to Leme.

“Leme is the King of Solomon's 72 Pillars, Lemegeton. Right now most of my strength and memory are lost. This guy is the master of Leme’s contract, if he grows to become an appropriate King, Leme will also recover her strength and memory.”

Leme spoke rudely while pointing at Kazuki.

“But the government and the adults in this academy don’t trust Leme and Kazuki, they gave us designations as illegal and pursued us. On top of all that, they even created some suspicious plot by giving us false charges and treated us like criminals…”

“I see. How pitiful, even though you are just a little girl. But won’t it be okay if you just explain it through the 72 Pillars?”

Futsunushi no Kami who was floating around in the air buoyantly slanted his body and asked Leme.

Was that gesture something like someone tilting his neck in wonder?

Certainly, if a Diva like Asmodeus or Phoenix just explained to the people that [Lemegeton is our King] , all the issues would be resolved neatly.

“That’s no good. Solomon's 72 Pillars had decided not to intervene in the actions and decisions of the people in this country. We granted power freely to this country without the rule of faith so we can see with our own eyes what they will use that power for. Right now is still the stage where they need to be aware of what had awoken in this world, isn’t that right? If they make a move like eliminating the King, who are Leme and Kazuki, for their own selfish interest then…Solomon's 72 Pillars are going to forsake Japan and move to a different place.”

Leme answered with some cruelty spreading into her sentiment.

“…Eh, what’s with that! Isn’t that bad!?”

Mio who listened carefully in that place couldn’t help but raise her voice.

“In which case, in the current situation, all of you are currently in the process of running out of patience toward the government of Japan then, guhaha.”

“The situation is just like you said. In the meantime, this guy…our King, what is he going to show to us, Leme is looking forward to it in anticipation. …And then, what is the stance that Japan's Mythology is taking? I thought that Japan's Mythology didn’t plan to concern themselves with the humans proactively.”

This time Leme was the one that asked Futsunushi no Kami. Distinct color of wariness was floating in Leme’s expression towards Japan's Mythology. Suddenly Futsunushi no Kami’s face turned serious and he answered.

“True. Frankly speaking, I don’t have any trust in any of you from Solomon's 72 Pillars.”

The Diva of sword with strangely deep character, Futsunushi no Kami started his story with grave expression.

“We, the Divas of <Japan's Mythology> are a mythology that doesn’t particularly demand faith from humans. We don’t have any intention to aim for a monotheism where the gods are absolute and things like subduing the humans and basking ourselves in self-satisfaction. Having an altar built for me and also an interesting person like Kazuha as a partner for playing around with is more than enough. We are the native friends of the children of Yamato, the local friend, think of us as the localee.”<ref>There are joke using word play of the kanji here, but it got lost in the translation</ref>

“Localee…is that vocabulary that is used by god-sama?”

“Guwahhahha, I’m happy that you can insert the tsukkomi<ref>Japan’s two-person comedy style, where one act as an idiot and the other act as the straight-man that give the retort(tsukkomi)</ref> there! When I’m the idiot someone is going to tsukkomi, just having someone accompanying me for that is enough to satisfy me! The same goes with my other comrades. But if we are neglected and become sulky, then we will go wild and bring forth calamity!!”

Harming the mood of the god-sama would cause a great disaster, that was the standard pattern for Japan’s folklore. Are they friendly or vicious….

“By the way, usually I put some offering on the altar here, chatting with Futsunushi no Kami about what happened today at school, playing some games, or other things. We are close friends see!”

Kazuha-senpai’s expression broke open slightly and she puffed up with pride.

“Mikohime-sama doesn’t have any friends in class after all”

“Kazuha doesn’t have any friends except me after all, guwahhahha!”

“Do, don’t say that I don’t have any friends! …It can’t be helped that I cannot make any friends…No wait, Kohaku is my friend right? That’s why don’t call me Mikohime-sama…”

“Bu, but senpai is the one that is contracted with Sword God-sama so no matter what it’s too auguste…”

Kohaku was flustered. When she started to call Kazuki informally before this she was also hesitating very much, it seems she had quite a reserved character against someone established as her senior.

Kazuha-senpai dropped her shoulders in dejection hearing Kohaku’s reply.

“…<Nature’s Worship> isn’t it? Even in Europe, similar mythologies that believed in spirits are not few.”

This time Prometheus’ form also appeared at Lotte’s side.

“However nature’s worship at Europe was distorted in the present era because of the censure in the middle ages that demarked them as demon’s beliefs. Japan's Mythology can be said to be a rare case because they are a primitive faith that is still continuing into the present era, don’t you agree.”

Prometheus' original form and strength had returned for a time in the middle of the fight with Beatrix.

But it seems it was nothing more than a temporary recovery using Leme’s power, he immediately returned back to the form of a young boy afterwards.

Looks like he still had to reside inside Lotte to recover his divinity from now on too.

“Hou, looks like this time a youngster came out. Are you that one, the Diva who is said to be contracted with the heretic magician Charlotte Liebenfrau…?

“Correct, Prometheus of the Greek Mythology, best regards.”

Prometheus presented his hand for a handshake, but when Futsunushi no Kami presented his sword body suddenly he drew back his hand in shock. What are they doing, these Divas?

The situation developed into a gathering of three Divas, each from a different Mythology.

Solomon's 72 Pillars also had a secrecy doctrine, so this was an exceedingly rare scene.

“We of the Japanese Mythology were not particularly concerned when Solomon's 72 Pillars started to get along with the people of Japan. Thereupon there is this feeling of us being treated lightly in recent times that make us irritated!”

Futsunushi no Kami talked with a lively tone. It seems he was irritated.

“The consensus opinion of the whole body of the Japanese Mythology is that whatever other Mythology attempts to do in Japan is inconsequential…but for me personally, recently I was entertaining doubt about whether it is okay or not to leave the people of Japan, who are my friends, to Solomon's 72 Pillars.”

“Mu, so Futsunushi no Kami has something he is unsatisfied with Leme and the others. I’ll accept your challenge then.”

Leme faced Futsunushi no Kami and took a fighting pose.

“To start with number one, the current Japan make light of the swordsman too much. I am the Sword God that was worshipped by the lineage of Tsukahara for generations, this tendency to make light of swordsman is not something pleasant for me as the Sword God.”

“Precisely, exactly like that.” Kohaku raised a voice of approval.

“That, even Leme and the others of Solomon's 72 Pillars can say we are troubled by that too. The Japanese government is the one that gives favorable treatment to the Magica Stigma on their own accord. …Well, though it might turn out differently if Solomon's 72 Pillars' magic handling are more focused on reinforcement magic like Thor of the Norse Mythology from the other day…”

“And then one more thing, the matter of the ominous ceremony that is performed in the underground of this academy. That ceremony is eerie no matter how you see it, it makes Solomon's 72 Pillars look all the more dubious.”

“Ominous ceremony? What are you talking about?”

Leme’s eyes turned perfectly round. It seems somehow she really had no knowledge of the mentioned ceremony.

“The swordsmen continue to be discriminated unjustly, and then an ominous presence can be felt from the underground of this academy. From these two primary factors, I harbor a considerable distrust toward Solomon's 72 Pillars. In that occasion, the humans of the Sword Division elevated Kazuha and I and raised a plan to aim for the restoration of the swordsman’s rights, we too were cooperating with them in this plan. Though even if I say cooperation, but it will become a problem if Kazuha fights in the center stage extensively and get the designation of illegal magician, that’s why there is nothing I can do except to bestow the <Divine Protection> indirectly to those swordsmen.”

“By earning the Divine Protection of Futsunushi no Kami-sama, we become able to draw out <Battou Kaikon> from Sacred Treasures that possessed element of <Sword>.”

“Battou Kaikon?”

After hearing that unfamiliar words from Kohaku, Kazuki interposed a question to her.

“Kazuki is still not accustomed to using Sacred Treasures right? What is called Battou Kaikon is to make a path between the mind and the Sacred Treasure, a skill to draw out the essence of strength that Sacred Treasures possess.”

Now that she mentioned it, the first time he used <Raikiri>, there was the sensation from Raikiri that tried to address him. By coming to a mutual understanding with the Sacred Treasure like that, it seems they would be able to pull out some kind of special move.

Kohaku’s group of comrades were swordsmen that each possessed special moves of Battou Kaikon. Certainly their group was fairly strong with that kind of ace. He could see how Kohaku could be so full of confidence.

“…It’s dangerous to only rely on just one sword. If these swordsmen could use the Sacred Treasures skillfully, there wouldn’t be any need for Japan’s government to depend solely on Solomon's 72 Pillars for all of its military power.”

“…By no means are we doing this for our own personal grudge against the Magic Division and the Magica Stigma.”

Kohaku whispered with a sigh.

“Leme understands in general about the matter with Futsunushi no Kami. But…what is that you mean about the ominous ceremony!?”

Leme was in the condition of taking offense. Leme didn’t have any knowledge about the [ominous ceremony] that was the crux of the matter mentioned not long ago, she looked very reluctant to be doubted because of that.

“Hmmm, sometimes there are outbreaks of ominous magic power from the underground of this academy. It made my {{furigana|radar|sword body}} reacting, like ‘binbinbin’. And also, about this ominous ceremony, there is no doubt that it is related with a Diva. This stinks. Absolutely suspicious.”

“Ominous magic power…but I have never felt anything like that since I came to this academy. Maybe we cannot feel it because Leme-sama and my power haven’t returned completely.”

The young boy Prometheus tilted his head in curiosity. His power was still not insufficient after all.

On the other side, Leme was being angry in a huff.

“Wait right there, Leme has amnesia so she is not really clear with the situation, but Solomon's 72 Pillars are undoubtedly the ally of this country! If there is any ominous presence, then that is a separate case from Leme and the others!”

“But, in fact I really feel it.”

Futsunushi no Kami talked back with a particularly stern face.

A Young boy - a Young girl – a Sword, these three Divas that were glaring at each other made for a zlightly foolish appearance.

Was it because the Divas that gathered here were only human-friendly Divas, but there was really no dignity at all that could be seen from them.

“That is the matter at hand, but Futsunushi no Kami-sama…”

Kohaku interposed herself between the Divas.

“It seems Kazuki is being accused with groundless charges by someone in the academy’s inner circle. Someone that would trap Kazuki who is the King of Solomon…if that is the origin of the ominous magical power then…the true opponent that we ought to fight might not be the Magica Stigma.”

“…Hmmm, so that is Kohaku’s real intention of bringing these people to my location. After all Kohaku is prudent unlike with Kazuha. I’ll believe you, guwahhahha!”

“Hey wait Futsunushi no Kami, why do you put out my name there for the comparison!?”

…The one that led Kazuki into these predicaments and the ominous magic power from the academy’s underground.

Were these two event not originated from the same root?

Thanks to Kohaku lending her ear to Kazuki’s words, Kazuki could become aware about such significant facts. If they could solve this puzzle, then it might be possible for all of these problems to be resolved.

“Moreover, this one had lost confidence. This one had the conviction to defeat Otonashi Kaguya and slay the owner of the ominous magical power just because this one owned Sacred Treasures. However…”

“…The fight last night made you waver in your path. You too are an expert, but your opponent last night is also a magnificent and praiseworthy swordsman. To bear a sense of defeat against that kind of opponent is not a shameful thing.”

The swordsman that Futsunushi no Kami praised so, there was no doubt that he referred to Kanae.

“This one is still too immature to realize the ideal of Futsunushi no Kami-sama.”

Kohaku dropped her shoulders and hung her head dejectedly.

“Gahaha, there, there.” Futsunushi no Kami used his sword body and tapped Kohaku’s head lightly.

…He seems to try to comfort her, but it sure didn’t look like it….

“As I thought, this is not the situation where the Sword Division and the Magic Division can waste their time fighting each other.”

Kazuki asserted once again toward Futsunushi no Kami.

“Hmm. If Kohaku also says that much, then it seems there is a need to also take your words into consideration. Then let’s do this. Your group alone will head toward the underground of the academy and make clear about the true identity of the ominous magical power. If in the end you can prove that Solomon's 72 Pillars are unrelated with that, I will also believe in you.”

“…Do you know where the exact location of that magical power is, and also the route?”

“I do. But the entrance to the underground is locked with barrier and stigmata authentication. The barrier can be torn off by my power, but the lock of stigmata authentication can only be passed by owners of Stigmata, my cute kids from the Sword Division couldn’t even investigate that place.”

I see, if there was unknown magical power produced from a place that couldn’t be passed except by owners of stigmata, then it was not unreasonable to suspect the Magic Division and Solomon's 72 Pillars.

But owners of stigmata were not limited to just the contractors of Solomon's 72 Pillars.

Stigmata was the proof of the connection that had been tied with a Diva. Stigmata had the role of the code to allow Divas to pass through to the heart of the contractor, even in the case of possession contracts there would still be a small stigmata emerged in the body.

Wasn’t the possibility that the perpetrator who was passing through that exit and entrance was an illegal magician quite high?

“Wait a second, wait a second, is it really okay to just trust these guys that easily?”

Kazuha-senpai, who had kept quiet for a long time opened her mouth with an astonished expression.

“Mikohime-sama, Kazuki is a person that is worthy of trust.”

“I told you, don’t call me Mikohime! …After all isn’t he a happy guy who makes who knows how many women serve him? I don’t want to side with that kind of shameless guy no matter what.”

“……That’s…certainly, this one too feels deep inside that Kazuki is surrounded by a little too many girls and is quite astonished.”

(Hey wait, so Kohaku also thought like that!?)

“That’s a fair argument. …Kazuki really has no integrity against various girls. To even call someone like me cute, cute…also having bizarre obsession for maids…”

Even Koyuki also murmured her approval.

Wait a second you all, we have all come up to this point and yet the situation would change because of this kind of matter!?

“It’s hard to understand for Leme why a Harem King doesn’t have any more credence from the humans. It’s a different case don’t you agree? Harem Banzai. O Our King, more Harem is a must.”

Leme started talking about a topic that provoked even more animosity from the girls. You should just keep your mouth shut.

“Kazuki is not a shameless guy at all! He absolutely doesn’t do anything that I hate at all!”

“That’s right desu, Kazuki-oniisan is a perfect gentleman desu! Rather I’d welcome it if he do anything like that desu!”

Mio and Lotte came in Kazuki’s defense vehemently.

“Hee…they really put their faith on you huh. I’m reluctant to give in but even if the matter about the harem and so on is not included, we still don’t understand whether these guys’ strength are reliable or not. If they invaded the underground and yet they just collapse and die in a ditch without even any results to show for it, won’t it just make the situation even worse?”

“Mikohime-sama, Kazuki and the others' strength are the real thing. Besides, other than Kazuki and his friends, there is no one else that can enter that place. We don’t have stigmata.”

“That’s why there is me. After all I’m the owner of Futsunushi no Kami’s stigmata. Rather than making these kind of guys go there, I’ll go!”

“It’s dangerous to go alone Mikohime-sama!”

“That’s foolhardy Kazuha. I don’t want to lose my cute contractor, also I don’t want to expose you to danger, that’s why I made a proposal so these guys are the ones that'll go to that place you know?”

Kohaku and Futsunushi no Kami cut in while panicking to stop Kazuha-senpai who was chattering in high spirits.

“You two, don’t make that face like you are my parents! Compared to these guys, I am more…Futsunushi no Kami, give me the Magic Dress!”

“…Haahhh, what a hopeless girl.”

While breathing a long sigh, Futsunushi no Kami suddenly changed into a lump of red flame. That flame enveloped Kazuha-senpai―The uniform of the Sword Division disintegrated into Prima Material and transformed into the Magic Dress.

Her Magic Dress was resembling the white and red miko uniform, he could feel the spirit of Japan seeing it.

At the same time, Kazuha-senpai’s hair was lengthening with a thud. A majestic appearance suitable for a Magica Stigma of Japan's Mythology, then Kazuha-senpai drew a katana from her back smoothly.

“Duel with me, Hayashizaki harem-guy! A weakling with no integrity like you, there is no way you have any character that could be relied on or any real strength!! If I win, then your harem party will be dissolved at once and I’ll be the one to lead those girls over there to search the underground!!”

“Eh, I don’t want to do that kind of thing!” “Wie bitte!? That’s tyranny desu!”

Mio and Lotte were booing from the side, but Kazuha-senpai didn’t even turn to look.

“…Don’t joke with me.” As expected, Kazuki was fed up with that proposal.

“You are going to hinder us in this kind of place with that kind of trivial reason! You have shot your mouth harshly as you please from a while ago, things like enemy of woman…Mio, and Lotte, I have decided that I’m going to protect them with my own hand! I will absolutely not do anything like entrusting them to any other person!!”

“Then…show to me the suitable strength to protect a woman―!”

Now she said it…Bring it on!!!

“…The only one suitable to become my knight is no one other than Kazuki. Get her Kazu-nii!”

“I am Kazuki-oniisan’s property desu. Onii-san, please do your best!”

For some reason the female camp were roused up in happiness.

“Somehow, you my King and even the girls are starting to get accustomed with the harem situation huh―”

Leme secretly whispered inside Kazuki’s mind using telepathy.

But…I’m not particularly saying that I want to do something shameless together with the girls like what Kazuha-senpai said.

“That duel challenge, I accept!”

{Yosh, Our King. Make this girl submit too just like in the duel with Amasaki Mio! And then make Futsunushi no Kami obey Leme together with inserting her as a member of the harem for sure―!”

Wahaha―, Leme’s loud laughter was resounding inside Kazuki’s mind.

===Part 3===

The place that was chosen for the duel was the Sword Division’s gymnasium.

Kazuha-senpai’s illegal magic was by no means something that could be shown to other people. For that reason, Kohaku used her authority as the student council president to secure the gymnasium.

The Sword Division had a complete facility for exercise, and there was even a martial arts stadium. This gymnasium also had the space for three fields of basketball court. This place was sufficient to perform a duel.

According to the rules for duels at the academy, Kazuki and Kazuha-senpai were separated with 50 meters between them while facing each other.

“Well then, both sides have finished their preparations.”

The one who wound up becoming the referee was Koyuki. Among them Koyuki was the one with the most experience in refereeing.

Mio tried to be the referee, but he was worried that she would make some strange miss, so he was relieved if it was Hiakari-san…Kazuki had that kind of feeling. There was some worry about unfairness with the referee coming from Kazuki’s side, but Kohaku didn’t particularly mind and accepted the referee. Looks like Kohaku was quite poor at being a referee.

“Well, I don’t have any reason to make a judgment that is partial to Kazuki. Then…begin!”

Koyuki announced the opening of the duel. It was a rare chance to hear her loud voice.

…First is to challenge her at close-quarters!

Kazuki dashed toward Kazuha-senpai while taking the Iai stance with full alert.

The Magica Stigma of the Sword Division…there was no doubt that she could use both sword skills and summoning magic skillfully.

(Then first I have to challenge her in the field I am specialized at!
I won’t be defeated from any kind of opponent in sword skills!)

Kazuha-senpai chanted her spell and attacked.

“O unparalleled sword master, reshow from beyond the dream! Together with the flame of training, the sealed memory in the silver mirror is liberated right here!! {{furigana|Kenki Tensei|Devilish Swordsman Reincarnation}}!!”

A globe of fire burned into existence in Kazuha-senpai’s side and floated in place. From within the flame, a Japanese Katana was born. The phantom of a person was floating faintly overlapping with the katana.

“Thy name is…Yagyuu Nyounsai! Go!!”

A silhouette with grandiose physique like cumulonimbus cloud in the mid-summer. That phantom took hold of the katana in its hand and he stood in Kazuki’s way following Kazuha’s command.

(…Yagyuu Nyounsai she said!?)

Kazuki was planning to not be defeated in sword skill no matter who his opponent was, but his expression cramped.

Yagyuu clan. Chosen to be the instructor in the art of war for the Tokugawa Clan, the noble house said to have the best swordsmanship under heaven.

Even among that clan, if talked about Yagyuu Nyounsai, he was born not from the main branch of the Yagyuu in Edo but from the branch family that was called Owari Yagyuu and thus he was surrounded in obscurity. Still, his ability in the sword was said to be the best in the history of the Yagyuu, a man of high honor.

(She said this phantom was…that one Yagyuu Nyounsai!?)

There was no free time to leisurely wallow in surprise. The phantom of Yagyuu Nyounsai was immediately closing in upon Kazuki, the sword of Yagyuu that was famous in the history of swordsmanship was swung downward on him.

…He could tell just from his step-in that his skill was uncommon!

Kazuki responded with his Iai draw. Both of their katana clashed with sharp sounds, ‘GIIN!’, and their blades were locked against each other.

Kazuki read his opponent and attempted to redirect him with his <Instant Positioning>.

However the phantom of Yagyuu Nyounsai attempted the same positioning at the same time. Kazuki and Nyounsai Foresighted each other's moves respectively , katana and katana connected with each other flexibly.

Sword locking between fellow masters was not decided by the clash between power and power.

Foresighting an opponent's movements was the specialty of Kazuki, but…they were even in reading each other.

This was endless. Kazuki and Nyounsai mutually leapt back at the same time.

With the distance opened between them, Kazuki calmly surmised the strength of his opponent.

He was at an advantage in physical ability. Even though Kazuki was just a high school student, he could reinforce his body using Enchant Aura. No matter how much of a master swordsman Nyounsai was, he was still a swordsman from an era where there was no magic. His movement was the natural movement unaided by reinforcement magic.

But Nyounsai’s ability was unusual as expected. There was nothing wasted in his movements, no preliminary movements, not even mistakes in judgment. Even though Kazuki used Foresight, it was still hard to read his movements.

As expected, this famed swordsman surpassed him in pure sword skill….

“…Kenki Tensei! Thy name is…Togakure Daisuke!!”

While Kazuki was in the middle of glaring with Nyounsai, Kazuha-senpai summoned another phantom.

The katana that was born along with the flame, this time it was a somewhat straight short sword―it was a ninja sword. The phantom that picked it up in reverse grip had a small build―the founder of Togakure-style ninjutsu<ref>Ninja skill</ref>, Togakure Daisuke! Kazuki was once again doubting his own ears.

It looked like the magic that Kazuha-senpai chanted was a magic to summon swordsman from the past.

But certainly the last one could be called an expert in the sword, even so….this guy was a ninja right!?

“Go!"

Following Kazuha-senpai’s command, the ninja – Togakure Daisuke dashed fiercely like a gale.

The ninjato<ref>Ninja’s sword</ref> that was held in reverse grip slashed at Kazuki horizontally.

His movement was not as sharp as Nyounsai's. Kazuki blocked the slash with his katana and warded the blow.

Daisuke Togakure’s posture was broken violently when his sword was warded off―that was what Kazuki thought.

...But that was a ninja’s <Trick Movement>.

Kazuki, who was tricked by the acting, couldn’t Foresight the next movement. Togakure Daisuke’s body posture that made him thought it was disordered, was standing still like an acrobat. That body was like an unshakeable trunk.

And then from that unnatural posture, his hand that was not holding the sword was turning to Kazuki and swung with a jerk.

Something was flying from that hand―sand!

Kazuki was perfectly taken by surprise, blue light was flickering in Kazuki’s field of vision. The light was produced by the defensive magic power that protected the eyes from the foreign substances from entering. But Kazuki’s eyes were dazzled by that very light.

Despite that here was the gymnasium…where would he get the blinding sand from!?

Ninja hid various arms and hidden weapons in their hand armor and outfit, they improved their skills with the premise of using those very tools. Even the blinding sand was included as part of his kenjutsu<ref>Sword skill</ref>.

Most likely, this magic was a magic to reproduce the exact kenjutsu of swordsman from the past in this world. That’s why even the gadgets that became the prerequisite for the kenjutsu was also summoned.

Togakure Daisuke returned his blade and aimed at Kazuki whose eyes were dazzled for a thrust of certain death.

It was evidently a ninja’s kenjutsu that was full of trickery and wiles, but it was brought back to the present era in this gymnasium.

But Kazuki missed nothing of the current thrust.

Their body was a phantom that was created from magic. Therefore if he sensed the magic power using Extra Sense, even with his eyes closed he could perceive all their movements.

Rather, his senses became even more sensitive with his eyes closed.

That response was something that Togakure Daisuke couldn’t even predict.

Kazuki avoided the thrust with a paper-thin difference, conversely he stabbed his katana at Togakure Daisuke’s chest. He intended to stab Kazuki in surprise but he was outsmarted and the tables turned on him, the phantom of the ninja and the ninja sword vanished. …First was one!

Yagyuu Nyounsai observed that exchange of offense and defense like he was a human with personality.

“Kenki Tensei! Thy name is…Hattori Takeo!!”

Kazuha-senpai summoned yet another swordsman.

Kazuki was not surprised anymore. He was not surprised, but…that name was enough to make him shudder.

Hattori Takeo…although he was a betrayer of the Shinsengumi, he was said to be the Shinsengumi’s strongest, a two-sword style swordsman.

His real strength was said to have surpassed even the famous Okita Souji!

Masters who left behind their brilliant name in the history of sword blocked Kazuki’s path one after another. If at all possible, he wanted to challenge them using only kenjutsu, but…this wouldn’t end if he didn’t use the power of magic.

There was no doubt that Kazuha-senpai’s aim was to buy time with the phantoms to chant her high-level magic.

―Nyounsai moved. Yagyuu’s kenjutsu was not a defensive style. Observing the opponent’s interaction even while preparing one’s own response, then responding with the divergence of nine secret swords, that was the innermost secret of <{{furigana|Tengushou|Tengu’s Excerpt}}><ref>Observing the enemy, than choosing the most appropriate move from the nine moves that they have</ref>.

Kazuki tried to see through every movement, but to respond with that Foresight, Nyounsai’s movement too shifted with ever-changing appearance. The result, a simple clash between physical ability and skill.

It once again became the locking between swords. Hattori Takeo used that chance to attack.

The Shinsengumi's signature move was a group strategy with good efficiency. First they designated the turn of death to each member, then the sacrificial pawn started the assault, from there the regimental soldiers attacked one after another in a continuous ring of attacks, it was <{{furigana|Soukouken|Weed Attack Sword}}><ref> a cowardly attack, but a very effective one. They assign each person a turn, the first turn is the sacrificial pawn where he attracts the attention of the enemy, which means he got the highest chance to die, while the rest surrounded the enemy and taking turns attacking him, the tactic is called Weed because this tactic is pretty low.</ref>.

Hattori Takeo made use of Nyounsai as the sacrificial pawn, he showed the reproduction of that tactic again in this world.

But while pouring his nerve in the sword-locking, he awaited with the chanting of a spell.

“O calling voice of the ruler of flame, liberate the rage in the bottom of the earth! The creation of my rampart is here…towered in heaven and earth, isolate the impurity! Fire Wall!!”

A magic of surprise attack by raising a wall of flame from underfoot. A swordsman from the Bakumatsu period <ref>The closing days of the Tokugawa Shogunate.</ref> wouldn’t be able to predict it, he didn’t even have time to swing his sword at Kazuki before he was swallowed by the flames. The burning Hattori Takeo let loose a single bisecting stroke at Kazuki. With the second one, the phantom scattered as blue magical power.

On the other hand, Nyounsai was not dragged into the flame, he leapt back in a flash.

(…Do you think I’ll let you get away!)

“Scattering sparks of dancing wings. Drifting spiral wind, become the life piercing bullet! Flap and shoot! Barrett!!”

He aimed at Nyounsai who was taking distance and released the flame bullet. However―the flying bullet that was as fast as an average rifle was nimbly evaded by Nyounsai, like he was already seeing through the bullet path completely.

(…Impossible!)

Although it was a feat that even he could do, Kazuki was dumbstruck.

A swordsman from the Edo era like Nyounsai shouldn’t be able to Foresight magical power.

But a swordsmaster at Nyounsai’s level, presence and killing intent, wild instinct…the sixth sense that couldn’t be clarified by science, using that to sense the danger of incoming magic might be possible.

Nyounsai slashed in once more. Its destructive power couldn’t be compared to Beatrix’s sword, but its swordsmanship stabbed Kazuki’s gap with delicateness in the extreme, he was trying to buy time.

During that time…Kazuha-senpai chanted another spell.

This time the magic had even longer aria than before. High level magic was coming!

“O forging of artisans, scattering the flower of night performance, fill the tip of the sword with the heaven’s weave! Listen to the battle cry of the phantoms, become a thunderstorm and rain down! {{furigana|Tenkuu Battou Rengehou|The Heavens Drawn Sword Lotus Cannon}}!”

On the ceiling of the gymnasium, a giant wind of flame was going wild. From the billowing vortex of flame, katana were born one after another. Packed endlessly above Kazuha-senpai’s head were katana, katana, and more katana….

“All bullet firing!”

―On the basis of Kazuha-senpai’s order, a hail of katana came flying to Kazuki.

Each of those katana were not just a normal katana. Those katana that were flying and cutting the sky were each clad in flame, or clad in electricity, or drawing irregular trajectories, they all had various special qualities.

This was a fusillade of Battou Kaikon!

“O undying bird soaring from dusk to dawn, grant those wings of hope on my back! Destruction for the sake of rebirth, right here…! Blazing Wings!”

Kazuki finished his spell chanting in a close call. Kazuki flew away to the air leaving behind Nyounsai on the floor. He evaded and brushed off the flying Sacred Treasures that were coming one after another with the wings of flame.

The feeling changed kind of like from a one-on-one fighting game into a shooting game.

On the other side, Nyounsai was not just watching over the flying Kazuki silently.

Aiming for the gap where Kazuki swung the wings of flame completely, Nyounsai kicked the floor and leapt off.

This time Kazuki was tangling with a swordsmaster in the air.

But this time, Nyounsai’s swordsmanship suddenly became disarrayed.

It stood to reason, even though he had polished the kenjutsu of Yagyuu to the extreme, a technique with the assumption of facing an enemy that was flying in the sky didn’t exist in it. Yagyuu Nyounsai required an improvised sword technique, that was why useless movement, preliminary motion, and a slight mistake in judgment were exposed. …Kazuki saw everything!

“Yagyuu Nyounsai, be defeated!”

Nyounsai’s single stroke slashed at empty space, Kazuki cut his way through that paper-thin difference.

Nyounsai’s phantom was bisected in two, he became like moths of light and fluttered away in the sky.

“Oou…splendid! Though you are a swordsman of the modern era, that technique was peerless in the past and present!!”

Futsunushi no Kami’s avatar was appearing and raising an enthusiastic praise.

“What are you doing, praising the enemy in the middle of a duel, Futsunushi no Kami! Cooperate properly with me!”

“Guwahhahha! A splendid thing is splendid even if he is the enemy!! Guwahhahha, how delightful!

“Don’t laugh! Don’t laugh so hard in the middle of the fight!!”

Kazuki evaded all the Sacred Treasures that came flying, finally he turned to Kazuha-senpai and took a nose-dive.

“So you have come, but from now on is the real performance of the swordsmen’s duel! I’m going to judge you with a direct clash of blades! …I become the miko of sword. Stone cleaved, root torn, sin cut through, right now in this hand that virtuous sword of crushing evil! Draw sword, {{furigana|Futsu no Mitama|Soul of Cutting Through}}!!”

Both of Kazuha-senpai’s hands were swallowed in flame and an ancient double-edged blade was formed inside both of those hands. It was a sword that was the spitting image of Futsunushi no Kami’s avatar.

Sacred Treasures Creation Summoning Magic―what kind of power that sword had, Kazuki was on guard.

And then above all…how skilled was her kenjutsu as the [The Magica Stigma of the Sword Division] !?

Kazuha-senpai swung the sword right from the front.

Toward that attack―Kazuki felt a huge let-down. That attack was something like, ‘henyaa’<ref>Like when those brat characters in samurai anime or manga foolishly challenged the protagonist by running right from the front with the sword held overhead.</ref>

Kazuki evaded leisurely so as not to touch the Sacred Treasures whose abilities were unknown to him. And then he poured on a counter of a single stroke of katana. Blue light was scattered from Kazuha-senpai while she was blown off.

“O, only this much…not yet!”

She stood up immediately and Kazuha-senpai slashed at Kazuki once again.

But that step was shoddy as expected. Kazuki evaded with composure and returned a counter attack.

Kazuki visited a series of slashes to Kazuha-senpai. Kazuha-senpai was prevented from chanting her spell from the shock of smashed magic, naturally her sword was also blocked, she kept getting slashed one-sidedly.

“Uwaa…this sandbag situation, somehow I feel déjà vu, my trauma is…”

Mio who was watching the duel was trembling.

“That’s enough!”

When Kazuha-senpai fell onto her backside, Koyuki proclaimed the end of the duel.

“I, I can still fight, I still have magic left! Why do you stop it!”

“…Even if you fight, more than this is useless don’t you see?”

Koyuki told her straight out coldly. Beside Kazuha-senpai whose lip and shoulder was trembling all over in vexation, Futsunushi no Kami’s avatar was floating.

“…Kazuha, it’s okay for you to retreat from something like close-quarters combat. If you kept running away desperately while using my long-range type summoning magic, you still had some chance to win you know?”

“Sh, shut up! A swordsman like me cannot fight in such pathetic way!”

Kazuha-senpai raised her voice in response to her contracted Diva’s finding fault.

Kohaku, who was observing the battle, walked near Kazuki’s position.

“…Kazuki, truthfully Mikohime-sama…her sword skills are utterly hopeless. The matter about how she can use Summoning Magic is a secret except from this one and our other comrades, so she is being made fun by her classmates, because of that she became overly fixated on becoming strong as a swordsman more than ever…”

“Do, don’t say that I’m utterly hopeless! My heart is going to break you know! I mean, don’t expose even the matter of the class! There is no need for that to come out in this place right―!?”

“Guwahhahha, that’s because Kazuha is so weak in swordsmanship despite loving it so much right! Guwahhahha!”

“Don’t laugh! Don’t make fun of me!”

“But despite doing nothing but sword training, she can use Summoning Magic so skillfully to that extent, you can understand what a frightening genius she is in magic from that. If she didn’t make a contract with Futsunushi no Kami when she was little and an enigma appeared on her normally, I think she would become a rank A in the Magic Division.”

“True, even if it turned out like that I would still make a contract with Kazuha. A person who is this good in magic yet loved the sword is rare. Her kenjutsu is a totally different matter though…Guwahhahha!”

“Damn, I don’t need something like talent in magic! I wanted sword talent!!”

With her Magic Dress of miko uniform so disheveled, Kazuha-senpai made a fuss while still on her back on the ground.

This was…the Magica Stigma of the Sword Division…?

“Mikohime-sama is mortified with Kazuki who, despite being a student of the Magic Division, is also first class as a swordsman, this one thinks that’s why she challenged Kazuki to a duel intentionally. Forgive this one for going along with it Kazuki.”

“Gahaha, sorry for going along with Kazuha’s selfishness, Hayashizaki Kazuki. The new kenjutsu of the age of magic, I received some enjoyment from it. The spirit that made you oppose them with only kenjutsu until the midway is also fine.”

Both Kohaku and Futsunushi no Kami said so while giving a nod with their head (and sword body).

“You, you two, don’t act like you are my parents―!”

Kazuha-senpai was very vexed like ‘muki―’ and then she glowered at Kazuki with tearful eyes.

“Someone that can use both sword and magic so skillfully, being waited upon by lots of girls…I loathe people like you who have no fidelity so much! Don’t think I will yield even if you had won! It’s vexing but you are strong. Not only magic but also kenjutsu… Hmph, a promise is a promise so, the entrance to the underground where the magic power is occurring…I’ll guide you there properly. Follow me.”

===Part 4===

“Kazuha-senpai, so the entrance to that suspicious underground is located inside the site of the Magic Division?”

“Correct. You are being pursued by the Magic Division right? Don’t make unnecessary noises and advance with care.”

Kazuha-senpai said so while taking the lead. All present crossed over from the Sword Division to the site of the Magic Division.

“I’m not good at being stealthy you know…somehow I let out a uselessly loud voice before I realized it.”

When Mio whispered as such, Kohaku was nodding her head and said “I can understand that.”

“I lived my life continuously in secret before desu.” Lotte puffed her chest proudly.

The time was 9 o’clock in the morning. This is the period of time when SHR was conducted. Even though they must be careful, there were no human presences in the outdoors of the Magic Division.

“This way…is the way to the Witch's Manor.”

All present stepped into the area that was dense with thick greenery. The same direction was just a coincidence, but the Witch's Manor was also beyond these trees.

Nonetheless, the residents of the Witch's Manor―the senpais were supposed to have already left for school by this time.

“…What are you all doing in this kind of place!? This is already time for morning assembly to start you know!”

A sharp voice that was unexpected in their carelessness rang out.

They were too easy-going in their vigilance. When they turned around, a shadow of someone was running from the direction of the Witch's Manor.

The moment both sides could see each other clearly, voices were raised at the same time.

“Hoshikaze-senpai!”
“Hayashizaki-kun, you guys!”

Kazuki and the others were frozen in place involuntarily. Should they run, what should they do?

But Hoshikaze-senpai could chant [Ride Lightning], so even if they tried to escape this was not an opponent they could escape from.

“{{furigana|I know thy true name|Shem-ha Mephorash}}…thy true name is Baalzebul, all evil was born in the Middle Ages. O corrupted god of good harvest, in accordance with my life regain that radiance!”

Hoshikaze-senpai performed Access while facing Kazuki and opening the range between them.

Her body was wrapped in a gallant Magic Dress like a knight, senpai took the posture of preparing for action.

“Hayashizaki-kun, why are you in this place!?”

“Senpai as well…what about SHR?”

“Kuu…I overslept!”

Hoshikaze-senpai’s cheek was slightly red as she replied in embarrassment.

(That serious Hoshikaze-senpai overslept!?)

“It can’t be helped okay!? It already became a custom to wake up early for sword training with you, but you weren't here so even if I woke up early I had nothing to do, finally I went back to sleep for the second time! It’s your fault my daily routine became tattered like this!”

“That kind of reason!? I mean, that’s not my fault right!?”

“A, anyway! …I have to arrest you!”

Hoshikaze-senpai pushed her way through the trees and the thickets, she was dashing towards Kazuki and the others.

“Freeze and lock, <Murasame>! Battou Kaikon―Kirisame Ranbu!!”

The one who immediately and without any hesitation intercepted was Kohaku. She liberated the power of the Sacred Treasure and pointed the blade of cold wave toward Hoshikaze-senpai.

“Howl! Civilization granted destruction to humans! The roar of wisdom burns thy body, break, shut every dignity under the rubble!! Mitrailleuse!”

Following Kohaku, Lotte too chanted her spell quickly which was the strong point of {{furigana|Possession Summoning|Drive}}, she spread a barrage of bullets to try to stop Hoshikaze-senpai’s movements.

“O stream of atmosphere, converge in this body, become the storm of rejection against the people I resent! The eye of the typhoon is my throne! {{furigana|Storm Fort|Wind Encampment Barrier}}!”

Hoshikaze-senpai chanted a wind defensive magic. A storm blew violently with senpai as the center.

The storm also functioned as a protective wind. Even the blades of ice and the bullets of a gatling gun were blown off by the wind and scattered to another direction. ―There was something called [affinity] in offensive and defensive magic. Both Kohaku’s Battou Kaikon and Lotte’s bullets had bad affinity against defensive wind magic.

Hoshikaze-senpai drew near becoming like the running typhoon itself. Kazuki came out in front to cover everyone. Closing in upon Kazuki, Hoshikaze-senpai converged the barrier of wind and drew out an Iai.

What was on her waist was Kazuki’s beloved katana, Doufuu, that he left behind in the Witch's Manor!

(Senpai didn’t wish for a clash of magic but crossing swords against each other!?)

“…Everyone, don’t interfere, it’s okay!”

Kazuki too drew his Iai and intercepted Hoshikaze-senpai’s katana. Blade and blade clashed and they entered a locking of swords.

Kazuki immediately flicked off Hoshikaze-senpai’s katana.

Senpai’s stance became disordered and full of openings. But right at that moment―she invoked her spell.

“Throw down the lightning on my body and grant me lightning fast wit and speed of god…call the sleeping lion and wake up! Ride Lightning!”

Senpai’s movement accelerated! Her disordered stance burst with sparks and she righted her body fiercely.

And then she came flying with lightning speed with the consecutive attacks that Kazuki taught her.

BUN! BUN! BUN! The god speed sword came flying along with terrific sounds of slicing wind.

Kazuki Foresighted the timing and the trajectory of the attacks, ‘GIIN!’ the sound of clashing swords rang out and the attack was repelled.

A sound that was unthinkable that it came from a fight between fellow humans echoed inside the forest.

“Hey…this is a joke right, how can this kind of offense and defense happen in a fight between fellow Magic Division students…”

Kazuha-senpai leaked out an astonished voice. Not to mention the swordsman of the Sword Division, even Kazuki was undoubtedly gazing at Hoshikaze-senpai’s magic sword in wonderment.

But as expected from Kazuki, he could read Hoshikaze-senpai’s movements. That was because her form was exactly like what he taught her himself.

His blade met the god speed swordsmanship, both of their swords were once again locked against each other. Kazuki concentrated his Enchant Aura in one instant and repelled Hoshikaze-senpai’s katana with all his strength. It was the end with that.

Doufuu flew away from Hoshikaze-senpai’s hand and stabbed the nearby earth straightly.

“Senpai, why didn’t you use any magic…?”

Kazuki asked the now unarmed Hoshikaze-senpai.

Hoshikaze-senpai was the Number 2 Magica Stigma in the Magic Division after all. If she turned the fight into an exchange of long-range Summoning Magic, the result would be uncertain even if she was fighting against five people.

“I…I wanted to learn more swordsmanship from you.”

Slowly, tears were flowing from Hoshikaze-senpai’s long-slitted eyes.

“You are the first male friend that I was able to make. The training every morning was fun. Even so…why did you do something that made you be pursued by the student council of the Magic Division!? I…as I thought, I don’t want to fight against you ! I am not as harsh as Kaguya after all…”

The fighting spirit had gone from senpai, her Magic Dress also changed back to her uniform.

Her shoulders sagged down making her look pitiful.

“Senpai, I am being falsely accused.”

“Even if you say that, my position doesn’t allow me to believe you.”

Hoshikaze-senpai glared with teary eyes. That was natural. However…

“That’s why, from here I plan to go look for proof. After that I will come to the Magic Division.”

“Proof? …You will find that kind of thing?”

“Senpai, there is something in the underground of the Magic Division, do you have some knowledge of it?”

“The underground, below the Magic Division?”

Hoshikaze-senpai tilted her head in wonderment. Seeing that look, Kazuki was relieved.

Hoshikaze-senpai was not connected with the [underground ceremony that released the ominous magical power].

“There is something that even all of you senpai don’t know about below this Magic Division. Something that Solomon's 72 Pillars also have nothing to do with, it is someone’s…by chance, maybe it is filled with the ill will of a different Mythology. If the situation keeps going like this, the relation between the Magic Division and the Knight Order with Solomon's 72 Pillars will be threatened. From here I am going to go investigate that location.”

“…So you are really accused with false charges? And to prove that, can you do it…?”

Hoshikaze-senpai blinked her eyes that were wet with tears.

Even in this kind of situation, she was still lending her ears to the voice of this side, she was really an honestly kind prince.

“Yes. I will definitely return to the Witch's Manor. Until then, please look after my soul as a swordsman.”

Kazuki picked up Doufuu that had fallen on the ground and handed it over to Hoshikaze-senpai.

Senpai brought this katana around because she felt that it was the symbol of her bond with Kazuki.

Once again, Kazuki entrusted his beloved katana to Hoshikaze-senpai.

“Understood, I’ll overlook you for today.”

Hoshikaze-senpai sheathed Doufuu, then she wiped her teary eyes repeatedly with the sleeve of her uniform.

“I’ll overlook you for now, but I won’t wait for you too long, okay? If you don’t return soon, there won’t be a next time!”

Senpai said her piece with a pampering tone.

“…Thank you very much, senpai.”

Senpai forced herself a little to make a smile.

“Yeah, I’m glad. This is finished with no need to doubt my friend and cute junior any further. You said that I can trust you, I’m really glad. …Well then, work hard you all.”

Senpai turned on her heel. A small heart mark flew here from her back.

‘This feeling too, I absolutely must not betray it’, Kazuki thought.

There was nothing in that place at a glance.

But for an entrance to the underground that even Hoshikaze-senpai didn’t know anything about, that was only natural.

“It was hidden by a Diva’s magic power. Looks like a seal and concealment are applied at the same time.”

The avatar of Futsunushi no Kami said.

It was in the remote place of the Magic Division’s garden where trees were growing densely. There was nothing that stood out there, but that normalcy itself was unnatural. Despite the hardship of walking about because of the abundance of trees and thickets in their surroundings, only that two or three meters of space that had its soil exposed and turned into wasteland.

“This location is the only spot where reality is distorted. Even someone like me can see it, right now, we are going to sever that seal.”

“…I become the miko of sword. Stone cleaved, root torn, sin cut through, right now in this hand that virtuous sword of crushing evil! Draw sword, Futsunushi no Kami!!”

Kazuha-senpai chanted the Summoning Magic of Futsunushi no Kami. The power of that Sacred Treasure hadn’t been shown by even a portion in the previous duel, this time for sure she held aloft the sword gallantly.

“This sword possesses the power to sever the flow of magical power and seals!”

A flash. Releasing light, Futsunushi no Kami released a beam of light in the air with its slash, a crack was running in that space where there was nothing. It resembled the moment where Cancer was appearing.

The space was smashed up into bits from where the crack formed.

―And then from down there, a totally different scene was appearing.

In the space where there was nothing until just now, a cube made from metal became visible.

Its size was not really considerable, even compared to a single house it was small, a gate was installed in its entrance. At the side of the gate, there was a lens protruding out that looks like some kind of mechanism.

“This is an instrument device to confirm the stigmata. If it confirms the owner of the stigmata, then the gate will be opened. Just once, we tested it with my stigmata on Kazuha and it confirmed and opened.”

When Futsunuhi no Kami said so, Mio who didn’t have any cowardly character at all touched the gate repeatedly.

“This gate is…Adamantite. It’s impossible to break it apart even with Summoning Magic huh. It looks like there is no other way than to make the device confirm our stigmata.”

Adamantite was a new type of steel that was produced by alchemy. It boasted a hardness unthinkable by current science, but its creation needed an advanced magic technique.

The present alchemy couldn’t form anything other than a single simple sheet of metal, moreover because of the ultra weight it boasted, it couldn’t be made into material for weapons, armor, or vehicles. The merit of its utility was small.

“Fabricating a stigmata cannot be done, so from here on only Magica Stigma can enter.”

The present era’s security technique, because of the development of alchemy, new kinds of problems were exposed.

Once <living body confirmation security> like using finger print or retina had the most reliability, but in recent years, various risks of magic forgery were identified.

Copying finger print and retina using magic was not impossible as long as someone was making an effort for it.

In the level of common households, a system using keys and alarms developed using complicated refining alchemy was enough, but the security for the level of insuring the secrets that corporations and the country had was viewed as a problem.

Security using stigmata as confirmation was solid because currently at this point it was impossible to be faked, but it was still an imperfect technique because it couldn’t be used except by Magica Stigma. Perhaps before long a system that would be using the difference of magic power wavelength between each individual would be born, but…

“This device, does it also have an arrangement to record the shape of the confirmed stigmata into some storage?”

“Hmm, it probably does. When it confirmed my stigmata, it didn’t have any knowledge of it so there was no problem at all. But it’s a different story with the stigmata of Solomon's 72 Pillars that you all have. You will be specially considered as intruders the moment you opened the gate. There is a risk, so your confidence is going to be tested here.”

Futsunushi no Kami said with a serious face and tone.

“…However Amasaki Mio, it looks like you are only getting dragged into this, is it really okay for you?”

“N―. According to what all of you said, there is a possibility that the top brass of the Knight Order and the Knight Academy are connected to this gate, so we couldn’t report this to the Knight Order and the Knight Academy right? Then the only fighting power in Japan that can deal with the thing beyond this gate, right now in this place, are the four of us.”

From Kazuki and Lotte, Mio also glanced at Koyuki, then she said four people.

“There is no mistake something rotten is being performed behind this gate. We can't possibly do something like overlooking this. We have to prove Kazuki’s innocence too.”

“…Guwahhahha! You are really a bold girl with a sense of justice!! I've come to think that it’s fine to trust you all unconditionally even without testing you like this!”

Toward Mio who said bluntly without hesitation, Futsunushi no Kami was laughing admiringly.

“…It was unexpected for Amasaki-san to also count me in.”

Koyuki whispered absent-mindedly.

“You are at least as strong as me, after all, so it’s a fact that you can be relied on.”

Relied―Koyuki’s eyes turned wide slightly hearing those words.

But she was embarrassed after all, immediately she averted her sight from Mio and faced aside.

“Is Hiakari-san coming too?”

“…I have already come this far so is that something you need to ask? Things like Kazuki’s innocence is inconsequential for me, but for there to be something like this so near to the Witch's Manor, it cannot just be left alone like this.”

“Thank you, Hiakari-san.”

“Even though I have said that whatever happened to you is inconsequential, why are you still saying thanks?”

“Eh, because you are actually worried about us right?”

“Please listen carefully to what someone is saying.”

This exchange looks like a promise.

“Kazuki, this one cannot accompany you because of the lack of stigmata. But this one’s heart will always be together with you. That’s why when you return safely, marry this one.”

“That’s why I told you I don’t want to marry for the sake of kenjutsu.”

“N, no Kazuki, this one, that is not all…”

“…Don’t just keep making a stir in front of the gate, how about you all just go quickly?”

Kazuha-senpai forcefully slipped between Kazuki and Kohaku.

“If the SHR is over, the Magic Division’s students will come outside for class. Then it will become hard for us to return to the Sword Division, don’t you know? Hush!” She waved her hand with a spiteful gaze.

“…In the case that we haven’t returned after half a day, it’s probably pointless but report it to the Knight Order. The fact is, the only ones who could do anything about what is beyond this gate is only all of you. I’m counting on you somehow.”

Futsunushi no Kami gave those words for the last time.

“Yosh, then let’s go everyone!”

The stigmata confirmation system itself looked like the entrance of the Haunted Ground.

The essential was the same with that time, Kazuki made the back of his hand emit the light of magic power and held it aloft before the device.

―The adamantite door opened with a grave sound. Behind it was stairs that continued underground.

“From the cross-section of that door also functioned as the construction to read the light of the magic power. If you don’t go through it one by one, it will close on its own accord. It will close the moment you go through, you couldn’t try to be sneaky.”

Kazuha-senpai explained how the opening of this door worked.

When Kazuki went through the door, the door closed immediately just like what Kazuha-senpai said.

Even with the door closed, the surrounding was bright. It was a stairway continuing to the underground, but the electric lights in the ceiling emitted bright light.

This side of the door also had the stigmata confirmation device. It looks like they could return when they came back here.

Before long, Mio, Lotte, and Koyuki came through the door in turn after going through the same procedure.

“Hiakari-san, are you nervous by any chance?”

Kazuki noticed that Koyuki’s expression was stiff. It was quite unexpected. The one that was the most accustomed with this among them should be her who often performs solo quests.

“…Nothing, I'm fine. All of us are here already, so let’s advance.”

After they had descended underground for about two floors, they finally reached a corridor that was level.

The walls and the floor were made from concrete, but the more they advanced, the state of their vicinity changed. The hard concrete wall was, ‘dokun’, starting to pulse weakly.

Like entering the inside of a living thing which had its own will….

Even the light of the electric lamp that should be made of inorganic matter turned pale, transitioning into a suspicious tint.

“It looks like Haunted Ground transformation doesn’t it? Even something like Demon Beasts might also come out. Perhaps there are also traps prepared by the owner of this place. In every sense, we really don’t understand what is going on here.”

Mio performed Access, she talked while her body was wrapped in the Magic Dress while also keeping her vigilance.

Next Lotte also changed her clothes into her Magic Dress.

“Kazuki-oniisan, this is something I understood just now desu, but it looks like I can use my magic until level 5 desu. I think it was the influence from Prometheus remembering his own name.”

“Level 3 to level 5…Lotte’s chant is fast, so it is quite a considerable power up.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best!”

When Kazuki was patting Lotte’s head who was grinning happily, Koyuki also replaced her clothes with her Magic Dress. …Somehow her expression was stiff.

“Hiakari-san, perhaps your physical condition is bad?”

“Ah, no…please don’t mind me. Let’s keep advancing forward.”

Her condition weighed a little on his mind, but Koyuki was a solo player with an abundance of experience that Kazuki couldn’t compare with.

That fact made him hesitate to meddle and ask her.

“Then I’ll stand as the vanguard. Mio and Hiakari-san are the rearguard, while Lotte who can fight flexibly shall move to the middle.”

Mio and Koyuki didn’t have any objection, Lotte too replied “Okay, desu” and accepted the special role obediently.

The width of the corridor was around three people standing side by side. When Kazuki who went as the vanguard saw this, he could say that the terrain made it easy for him to protect the back. It made his role as the vanguard even more important.

But, at that time…a rift entered the path of the corridor smoothly.

(Rift?)

And then ‘GAKUN!’, their footing shook. The floor where Kazuki and the others stood started to slide off diagonally, the rift was widening like a big mouth opening wide.

“TRAP!?” Mio yelled.
“Everyone, jump!” Kazuki raised his voice.

The floor didn’t fall and opening a hole immediately, the dull concrete where they stood tilted vertically little by little. In that slight time, jumping to the other side of the rift was not a hard thing to do for the magician of this era because they could use Enchant Aura.

Kazuki, Mio, and also Lotte made blue light shine on their feet simultaneously and leapt to the other side of the rift. However―for some reason only Koyuki was still remaining at that spot.

Koyuki was standing stock still on that spot with an uncertain expression. Strangely, there was no flow of magic power that could be sensed from her body. Koyuki’s body was stiff and her face was white as a sheet.

“Hiakari-san!?”

He didn’t understand what her reason was, but right now she couldn’t use magic.

And then the floor tilted rapidly. It went towards the hole where its bottom couldn’t be seen.

Kazuki immediately leapt back to the tilting floor. And then his arms caught Koyuki’s body that was sliding down in the nick of time. And now―they were falling down together.

“Kazuki!?” He could hear Mio’s scream.

―With their postures as it was, there was no method to return to where Mio and Lotte were. The floor had already finished tilting down, there was no more place he could kick off with his foot. He couldn’t do anything other than to just let his body fall down.

Their bodies were falling down…Mio and Lotte’s figures were becoming farther rapidly….

‘zuzuzu’, The floor started to move once again after dropping off Kazuki and Koyuki, the dropping hole started to get blocked.

“Kazu, ki…”

Inside Kazuki’s arms, a scared moan of Koyuki’s voice was leaking out.

The two keep falling down just like that toward the unknown depth.

[[image:Magika No Kenshi To Shoukan Maou Vol.03 113.jpg|thumb]]

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==Translator's Notes and References==
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