Editing Hagure Yuusha no Aesthetica:Volume 9 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 5===

"Haa, this is too much......"
 
Even while fighting, Motoharu Kaidou could not help but sigh.
 
Contrary to his easy going tone he let out, the fight itself from the beginning was not at all.
 
That was because his opponent, Uesaki Ryohei, did not let up at all.
 
"Why don't you just give up?"
 
Ryohei said while swinging his Chinese Dao (broadsword) that he materialized from his AD.
 
That blade was magically imbued with the attribute of fire, giving off a crimson red color.
 
The intense high temperature was enough to make the atmosphere boil.
 
Whenever Ryohei swung his weapon a flame would follow in its trail.
 
"Whoa, that's dangerous."
 
Because of that, Kaidou had to take a wide margin whenever he evaded so as not to be scorched.
 
In addition, because the weapon itself had an attribute it was not a magic enchantment, so even a higher-order barrier was useless.
 
After greatly retreating backwards, Kaidou swung his right hand in the air.
 
He was trying to attack Ryohei with his materialized chain from the side.
 
"-- It is useless no matter how times you try."
 
Ryohei asserted, as he slashed at the chain with his Dao.
 
There was a high-pitched 'Kyn' as the super high temperature of the Chinese Dao effortlessly cut the chain into two.
 
"Ah, that's too horrible -- you cut it again!"
 
"What's so horrible? Since its an embodied weapon you can freely change its length."
 
 Facing Kaidou's complaint, Ryohei looked back with disapproval and,
 
"And you already regenerated the chain I do not know how many times. What's the point in grumbling now?"
 
“It is about feelings! My beloved chain is being cut apart by your sword like you're cutting through tofu!"
 
"Give me a break...... That is only an ordinary chain."
 
And Ryohei said as if he seen through Kaidou.
 
"Your real conceptual ability is...... "freedom binding chain," was it not?"
 
"Haah... ... Where did you hear that?"
 
Kaidou unintentionally sighed again. Most likely, it had something to do with Miu being a ultra-higher-order life.
 
If Kyouya used her power, then there was a possibility he was aware about everything that was occurring within JPN-Babel.
 
Under such circumstances, Kaidou wanted to avoid exposing the scope of his power as much as possible.
 
...... In addition......
 
It was probably due to the fact he suffered a spiritual wave attack of Miu's as a ultra-higher-order life.
 
Since that time, Kaidou was unable to successfully launch "freedom binding chain."
 
Concept abilities were techniques that had to open a channel with a higher dimension, unlike with normal magic. However, with Miu's attack belonging to an even higher level than his, most likely caused a temporary disturbance with his concept ability.
 
And more than likely Ryohei already theorized the condition Kaidou was in.
 
...... Really a thorny opponent.
 
Kaidou re-examined Ryohei. Compared to the time he saw him fighting Akatsuki in the ranking tournament Ryohei was totally different. Could this also be due to the influence of Miu's power?
 
...... However, it doesn't seem to be that simple.
 
From Ryohei, Kaidou felt a similar atmosphere coming off him to his own.
 
In JPN-Babel, Kyouya was both severed as the president of the student council, and a member COCOON, and Haruka's distinctive upright character made them the most prominent with the school. Especially Haruka who was the most noticeable because she also concurrently served as a member of discipline committee, and exercised the authority of the student council.
 
Therefore, Ryohei had to wear the mask of being indifferent and unmotivated, and together with Minami be relegated to the shadows of the student council.
 
After all, it was not appropriate for the secretary of the council to out shine the vice president.
 
However, this was not a proper reflection of Ryohei. From simple fighting power to ability to judge, or even logical thinking Ryohei outperformed Haruka in all aspects.
 
And most importantly Ryohei understood how to deal with someone above his level.
 
The best evidence of that were how things were playing out thus far.
 
Certainly once you falter a little against such an opponent was when they will swoop.
 
Therefore, it was not possible for Kaidou to relax his guard not even a bit. Then,
 
"It is regrettable, you would have definitely won by now with your original ability."
 
While saying so, the flames around Ryohei's blade flared up.
 
"But your movements have obviously dulled... ... Well, it is understandable after your hard fight with Ousawa."
 
"If you sympathize with me, then take it easy on me."
 
"Against you? Facing an opponent the like's of you, you can't show even a little chink. In fact, you just have been pretending to be on the defensive, intending to lure me off guard, right?"
 
Kaidou's thoughts were completely read, and he couldn't help but say with a sour-face,
 
"There must be a lot of people who say your personality is bad?"
 
"The same could be said of you. You usually put up an act, and hide your true colors. Therefore, there is no reason to take what you say to heart. I try to act only when it is practical. You on the other hand are the type that enjoys to incite other people...... then watch from a far."
 
But then, Ryohei asked,
 
"Knowing full well that you temporary can't use your conceptual ability, then why continue to remain in JPN-Babel without escaping?... ...
Is it because of a sense of obligation to Ousawa?"
 
"No way. We were only using each other for convenience. In what way would I be obligated to Akki."
 
And then Kaidou said with a frown,
 
"Moreover, I no more than said to him 'If by chance the vice-president sided with Hikami Kyouya, it would be troublesome for information to leak' in the end he unexpectedly threaten to kill me. Isn't that cruel?"
 
"Is that so? But then again, if what you said was actually happened, you would not have hesitated to take Haruka's life, right?"
 
"Well, most likely."
 
When Kaidou easily told it straight out, Ryohei bitterly smiled at that "immediate response" and,
 
"But...... yet you stepped in to helped Haruka. You could have waited until the battle was over to launch a sneak attack when our guard was down. It would have been easy to beat us."
 
"I've already told you. If Akki learns that I didn't help, it would be scary."
 
The reason was simple.
 
"That girl Hikami kidnapped has a grasp on everything that is happening in JPN-Babel right now. And her there's no guarantee she won't tell him later."
 
"From the way you talk, it sounds like you know what is happening, but......"
 
And Ryohei sighed,
 
"You rally think that Ousawa is capable of defeating Kyouya?"
 
"Well -- it might be impossible as it is now"
 
Kaidou answered and,
 
"None the less, letting Kyouya continue to do whatever he pleases will only make things more troublesome later. Therefore, it's best to beat him here."
 
But for that, there was something that had to be done first.
 
Therefore, Motoharu Kaidou decided to tell the reasons he was still here.
 
"At the time Akki came to JPN-Babel -- or to be exact it should be just before that, nine staff members had been attacked by some unknown person. That was not my doing, and I can't imagine Hikami Kyouya would take the time to handle such a tiny matter with his own hands. However, it would still require quite a skilled person to do so. Therefore, I can safety assume..... that you two were ambushers from Kyouya's side."
 
And Kaidou smiled,
 
"In order to beat Hikami Kyouya, you must first deal with those troublesome ambushers."