Volume 2
Chapter 4 Part
2
Days Go By,
Conspiring to Sleep 2
Translator : PolterGlast
"―Hibaridzuki!!"
Along with a flash of
light, the flaming strike unleashed by Akira was sucked into the belly of the
Shōjō.
It was the fastest
strike that took a sufficient distance for acceleration after invoking
[Aragamioroshi].
It was supposed to be
a blow that would be difficult to avoid.
―But,
The spear of flame,
released with godlike speed, pierced the void, and Akira's eyes, which had been
convinced of victory, opened wide in bewilderment.
His thoughts as well
as his actions almost came to a halt, but he threw himself forward, trusting
his sixth sense, which shouted at him to do everything in his power to evade.
―Shi, shi, shi~i~i~i~i~!!
A screeching, mocking
voice came crashing down from above his head.
―Bo~om~!!
A thunderous boom.
The Shōjō leaped
higher than Akira could see, and using its miasma and the strength of its demon
muscles, slammed its arms into the spot where Akira was standing.
A rigid wind mixed
with miasma danced and blew toward Akira with the same momentum as the Shōjō's
swinging arms.
Ducking and rolling
under its flanks, Akira desperately tried to escape from the Shōjō's attack
range.
―Meaningless, foolish!
Perhaps seeing Akira
as a weakling, a miasma-cloaked fist was thrown along with a cry mixed with a
hint of mockery.
―Die!
Feeling that it was
dangerous, Akira half-twisted his body, and the thrown fist brushed past him,
narrowly grazing his forehead.
Akira desperately fought
back against the storm of follow-up attacks from the Shōjō, and aligned his
Rakuyō Zakuro with the oncoming fists.
The divine power
contained in the Rakuyō Zakuro and the miasma that the Shōjō cloaked in sparked
and mutually shaved each other down.
At that moment,
Akira's gaze, shaken by the fear of death, and Shōjō's murky glare distorted
with contempt, were reflected back by the sparks and disappeared,
―A fire-type offensive talisman that Akira had hidden
in his hand left his fingers and danced in front of the Shōjō.
With one motion of his
wrist, he cut the spiritual thread with a hand sign of a sword finger, and with
a thunderous sound, an explosion of flame expanded and the flame sealed in the
talisman was released.
---Shi ~i~i~i~i~i~!
Even if it was merely
a blow from a single talisman, the purifying flames were something to be
avoided.
Whether it was because
it was a demon or out of fear of having its face scorched, the Shōjō let out a
cry that resembled a desperate scream.
Akira, who was in a
rolling motion while the Shōjō writhed down with its hands on his face,
readjusted his stance and readied the Rakuyō Zakuro.
...... Yes, it's back
to square one.
Shōjō is a low-ranking
demon, and although cowardly, its nature is tenacious and extremely
troublesome.
If left unchecked, it
might descend deep into human settlements and wreak havoc.
Moreover, Akira has
his own circumstances.
Shōjō, which has
usurped human knowledge and is very similar in stature, naturally its fighting
style followed.
This meant that it
posed the greatest threat possible as a potential enemy for interpersonal
combat, even for protectors.
Akira regulated his
breathing, albeit crudely, and invoked [Aragamioroshi].
―In interpersonal combat, a blow from the shinai is
faster than a blow from spirit techniques.
When it comes to a
game of skill, speed is the deciding factor.
At last, Akira
understood one of Genji's teachings, which came back to him in this
life-threatening situation.
Fallen leaves
scattered as if bursting under his feet and he accelerated at a speed that even
the rushing tornado winds could not keep up with.
Entrusting himself to
[Aragamioroshi], he cleaved Rakuyō Zakuro, which was filled with spiritual
power, horizontally.
Vermilion-gold
spiritual lights carved a trajectory in the void, and the unleashed horizontal
strike accurately hit Shōjō's left arm.
*Clash*
―Naive!
Dense miasma condensed
in Shōjō's arms, and the blades of Rakuyō Zakuro, which possessed the power of
purification and destruction, devoured against each other.
The confrontation only
lasted for a moment. The miasma condensed in Shōjō's left arm burst out, and at
the same time, its arm swung forth and knocked Akira's body away.
Certainly, a mere
sword technique would be faster than a spirit technique.
But it is also true
that it lacks decisive power. Akira's [Aragamioroshi] is not so superior that
it can overcome Shōjō's brute force.
After all, to get a
decisive blow against the defiled beasts, one has to use spirit techniques to
break through their defenses.
"―Tch~, I'm not
done yet!!"
Akira was frustrated
at how easily his body flung through the air, but his mind was still drawn to the
fact that Shōjō's flanks showed a huge opening after it had knocked him away.
In his heart, the wolf
cub cried out fiercely.
―I can still stand, I can still overcome this, I can
still fight back!
Roar!!
The roar of the wolf
cub's fury drove him to stomp his hands and feet on the ground, forcing him to
endure the inertia.
A cloud of dust
billowed up. The proof that he was able to overcome Shōjō's physical strength
was engraved on the ground surface in the form of four trails of gashes,
Kihoin-style
Spirit Technique, Shoden-!
"―Enga!!"
Relying on the immense
spiritual power he possessed, he unleashed a fiery slash.
A blazing blow tore
apart the night air as it flung itself toward the Shōjō,
―Shi, shi!
With a sneer as if to
say, "That's not going to work", it leaped to avoid it.
......Indeed, that's
true. There would be no way Akira could deliver such a straightforward blow to
this Shōjō.
The only way to seize
this Shōjō's head is not to wait for an opening to arise.
And It is out of the
question to find an opening.
―So, there is only one thing he can do,
Leaping high, the
Shōjō caught sight of a puny weakling with a burning blade waiting for it far
below, at its landing spot.
―Death!?
Sharply crossed gazes.
The fact that Akira's fighting spirit showed no sign of abating sent an
indescribable shiver down Shōjō's spine.
Its vigilance cried
out for evasion, and it desperately sought a way out, but there was no such
thing in the air.
There was no way out.
With its poor judgment, it decided to make split-second preparations.
It covered its entire
body with as much miasma as it could muster. Although its opponent's blow would
be painful, the previous confrontation has already proven that it could be
blocked by its high-density miasma.
After that, it would
flee. Spreading miasma as much as it can while breaking free through the thick,
dense miasma.
Although it felt a
pity to lose the herd that had grown this large, as long as it was safe, there
would always be a next time.
―I will remember your face.
―Next time. It's this Shōjō's turn to hunt you down!!
Deep within the
thickening miasma, laughter thicker than the miasma, the Shōjō basked in
anticipation of its upcoming victory.
However, it was
unaware that, behind the miasma, Akira calmly poised his Rakuyō Zakuro.
Whether it was a
blessing or misfortune, neither Akira nor Shōjō could tell.
Kihoin-style
Spirit Technique, Shoden―
"Kyūshou―"
From top to bottom. A
torrent of shockwaves surged forward, engulfing the Shōjō just before it
landed.
With each surging
shockwave, the divine power of vermillion gold swept away all of the miasma
that protected the Shōjō, revealing its exposed abdomen to the dark night.
Yes. Shōjō won't allow
any opening to be found.
So the only thing
Akira could do was to forcefully create the opening himself.
With Akira's current
ability, that was his limit.
―That is how it is.
Kihoin-style
Spirit Technique, Consecutive Technique―
"―Shigure
Ryuugo!!"
The swirling vortex of
flame that billowed along the tip of the Rakuyō Zakuro increased its momentum,
and with an explosive impact, it sliced deep into the belly of the Shōjō.
The Shōjō, with its
abdomen severed in half and its internal organs scattered, fell to the ground
with a damp thud.
―Dead.............
The tip of Rakuyō
Zakuro penetrated deeply into Shōjō's nape, which was gasping for its last
breath, while Akira let out a deep exhale.
Having lost their
leader, the herd of monkeys had visibly turned disorganized.
Unable to do anything
but run for their lives, they were all slaughtered in less than 30 minutes.
While the protectors
of the garrison wielded their spirit vessels, Akira, who had just eliminated
the Shōjō, was forced to take a rest alone.
"―Well done,
Akira-kun."
".......Thanks."
Saki, who had roughly
done her job of cleaning up the surrounding area, offered a hand towel to
Akira.
Akira expressed his
gratitude for the gesture in a short but honest manner, although he was rather
exhausted.
The two stood shoulder
to shoulder, and a moment of silence fell between them.
The cleaning up of the
monkeys was still underway, with the occasional sound of chasing and howling.
"……Shouldn't I
join them?"
"Are you
dissatisfied?"
"No, it's not
that I'm dissatisfied."
Akira's mouth
tightened in dismay. Just a month ago, Akira participated in the cleanup
operation as a soldier, risking his life in the process.
It was not that he was
bored, but rather that he felt he had not done what he needed to do, and a
sense of frustration was pressing down on his back.
"I kind of
understand how you feel, but Akira-kun, you need to rest.
You just fought
against a Shōjō that was so similar to a human so the burden imposed upon you
must be much greater than you realized.
You are in fact quite
exhausted, but you are not even aware of it.
If you act on your
emotions, your exhausted nerves will fray and you'll be worn out before you
know it."
"......Yes."
With a subtle
expression as though something was caught between his teeth, he responded with
a tentative nod of affirmation.
Although he accepted
Saki's suggestion, he was far from convinced.
......Well, that's
fine. Sooner or later, he will notice it himself.
Because mental
exhaustion is manifested mostly through actions that one is unaware of.
Saki had already
experienced this through her own experience.
Fighting against a
human is completely different from fighting against a defiled beast.
Dealing with creatures
that can devise tactics is too much of a burden on one's mind.
And there was another
reason.
...... No, this is
perhaps the real reason.
However, until Akira's
emotions had calmed down, this was something she couldn't tell him about.
―A~a, it's awful.
She could taste
something bitter in her mouth.
Humans are born to
feel a strong aversion to killing other humans.
It is a natural
instinct for creatures that establish a society.
By paralyzing that
instinct, humans can become accustomed to destroying creatures that resemble
human beings. This is the real reason why she forced Akira to eliminate the
Shōjō with his own hands.
Although many of
today's protectors have not experienced this, it is an experience that one must
go through if one is a guardian.
......And it is a
process that Saki went through once herself. It's awful, but as long as one is
a guardian, even Akira can't be an exception.
"You wouldn't
feel at ease if you stayed here, would you? How about-......,
What's wrong?"
When she looked at
Akira to ask him to retreat, she saw him turning his head toward the opposite
direction.
She looked in the same
direction, but all she could see was a small mountain in the distance.
"Hmm......"
"If you have
something on your mind, just tell me. I'll send a scout to check it out."
"No, it's
nothing.
I just had a feeling
someone was watching me."
Once again she looked
in the direction in which Akira was looking.
As expected, all she could
see was an ordinary night view of a mountainous landscape.
She couldn't feel
anything unusual. Saki tilted her head for the exact opposite reason to
Akira's.
"......I didn't
sense anything though, isn't it just in your imagination?
If you're that concerned,
I'll have someone investigate it."
"There's no need
to go that far, my apologies.
―Looks like I am exhausted after all, I'll retreat for
the time being."
Akira shook his head
in a panic as he felt that his words were about to trigger a major situation.
Without waiting for
Saki's reaction, he turned his feet toward the simple tent set up in the back.
"A~a, ......
gosh."
"Saki-sama"
Saki shrugged and gave
up on calling out to Akira, who disappeared toward the tent, only to be called
out by Nonoka from the other side.
She wanted to have
various conversations with him while Kuga's surveillance was distracted, but it
all came to a complete mess.
"Good work,
Nonoka-san.
―Are you done cleaning up the monkey herd?"
"Roughly, yes.
So far, no sign of a
breach in the encirclement."
"Good."
The female monkeys in
the herd where the Shōjō reign is basically the Shōjō's property.
While the male monkeys
are merely expendable, the females are the most important parts of the herd, as
they are the ones who will produce the next generation.
If a female monkey who
was pregnant by a Shōjō was allowed to escape, a new Shōjō would emerge from
its womb and lead a new troop of Shōjō to take revenge on the human village.
They could not allow
that to happen. That was why the ironclad rule in killing the Shōjō was to
exterminate the whole herd.
In this hunt, no trace
of survivors was spared. Saki was relieved to hear this report.
―However, the expression on Nonoka's face when she
presented the report was a little stiff and she seemed to have some other
concerns.
"What's
wrong?"
"......There is
one thing I would like to ask you, Saki-sama,
―Who exactly is Akira-san?"
"........................"
The topic was so sudden
that Saki's reaction was unintentionally delayed by a second.
She was unable to
respond smoothly to the abrupt and penetrating question.
"One month ago,
he made a great achievement in the Hyakki Yagyo, so he was promoted by
Kihoin-sama to the position of a protector, even though he is a shrine
parishioner.
I have seen firsthand
his performance, so there is no doubt about his latent ability."
"If it's just
that, I've heard it as well.
What I would like to
ask you is Akira-san's way of fighting."
The public recognition
of Akira, which Saki was speaking of, was something Nonoka was already aware
of, so she shook her head and did not stop pursuing the matter.
"To be honest, I
didn't expect that Akira-san would be able to kill the Shōjō.
Saki-sama, you surely
are aware of its troublesome nature, and it is not a feat that a person who has
only been a protector for a month or so can accomplish on his own."
Shōjō is ranked low
among the demons.
But this demon, which
merely devoured human wisdom, was marked as a troublesome creature that could
not be measured by simple military strength.
"Yes, normally
that would be the case.
But Akira-kun's
ability is guaranteed by Kihouin-sama's recommendation.
Moreover, to teach him
spirit techniques, he has personally received guidance from Asogi Genji, one of
the ten renowned martial arts masters in Shumon Province.
―Since it has been a month since Asogi was appointed as
his instructor, how can he not be able to fight against a mere Shōjō?"
Saki tried to defuse Nonoka's
pursuit with a series of ridiculous arguments that were hard to believe.
Perhaps she still felt
it was too unreasonable, but Nonoka's expression did not clear up.
Despite receiving a
skeptical stare, Saki did her best to avoid this topic.
"More importantly,
I heard that we are planning to visit the aforementioned abandoned village next
week, how is the situation there?"
"......The
reports are not good.
The [Holy Church of
Guidance] has indeed taken the initiative in rebuilding the village, but it
seems that the man who calls himself [Father] is exercising his authority over
the village."
The topic was then
forcibly shifted to the most recent issue, and Nonoka reluctantly conceded.
"Father, huh? Is
that his real name?"
If so, "Father of
God" is quite an arrogant title.
"No, it is not
his real name.
According to him, it
is an official title, meaning [Father who guides the servants of God]."
"Is he pretending
to be a spokesperson for the Divine Pillars in place of the Four Sovereigns?
The religions of the Western Tomoe Continent sure are so complacent."
Nonoka couldn't help
but smile when she heard Saki's tone of voice, which seemed to be expressing
her dismay.
Because she herself
did not have detailed information about the local situation.
The only thing that
she could be sure of from what she had heard from the reports was very limited.
To begin with, the
circumstances that led to the abandonment of the village were completely
unknown.
The first event that
was discovered was that one morning the village chief noticed that the
villagers had moved away.
Thereafter, the
followers of the [Holy Church of Guidance] infiltrated the site in a
surprisingly natural manner, while the reasons for the abandonment of the
village by the original villagers remained unclear.
Although there was a
request issued by the village chief to the Kuga family, but the delay in
responding just to invite Saki was incomprehensible even for Nonoka to
understand.
―Kuga Houri is definitely not that incompetent.
In other words, the
reason for the delay was something other than simply inviting Saki.
That much they were
convinced of.
However, they could
not determine the reason.
Now that they couldn't
even guess the reason, time and a feeling of dismay slowly restricted their
actions.
――――――――――――――――
"――!!"
Involuntarily stifling
her breathing, Benedetta took her eyes off the telescope in her hand.
*Shakori*. The
telescope was folded to fit in her palm, making a light sound as she tucked it
into her pocket and then she ducked away to hide in the rear where she would be
shielded from view from the plains.
"What's wrong,
Benedetta?"
"......Let's get
out of here, he knows we're here."
"That's
impossible. How many kilometers do you think it is from the plains to here?"
Salvatore, who was
also looking through the telescope, gave Benedetta a dubious look.
There was a strong
tinge of doubt in his expression, but he still did not narrowly dismiss her
words and acted following Benedetta's lead.
"......I didn't
detect any large-scale barrier, so I guess he felt our eyes on him."
"We weren't using
clairvoyance, we were just using physical enhancements.
It is physically
impossible for anyone to detect our eyes at this distance."
The distance from the
hill where Benedetta and the others were hiding to the plain where Akira and
the others were located was about six kilometers.
In order to ignore
this distance and to make one's vision travel far, the existence of a holy art
called clairvoyance would have been indispensable.
Although it is a very
useful holy art, it has the disadvantage that the traces of its use are easily
exposed to the targets for whom it is used.
Because of this
disadvantage, Benedetta and the others secretly brought a telescope that had
just recently been developed in Vansuir.
At first glance, the
telescope, composed of a high-strength optical lens and a mirror that enables
high optical saturation, appears to be a small telescope that fits in the hand,
but in reality, it is a telescope with ultra-long-range specifications that can
be used by church knights with physical enhancements to demonstrate its full
potential.
It is not an art, but
an enhancement of eyesight by a device. It was supposed to be a crystallization
of modern technology that was beyond the imagination of the people of
Takamagahara, which was still in the process of civilization and development.
"In the port town
of Qingdao, I once heard that one technique of Taoism involves tracing one's
line of sight. As I recall, Takamagahara's sorcery was based on Taoism, wasn't
it? It wouldn't be surprising if there is a similar technique."
She turned around
while answering Salvatore's question.
Sensing the presence
of Salvatore following hurriedly behind her, Benedetta quickened her steps to
descend the mountain.
Benedetta was certain
that it was no coincidence that Akira's gaze caught Benedetta's through the
telescope.
Even if it was a
coincidence, Benedetta's intuition was telling her that it would be better to
leave this place.
Benedetta's intuition
was correct. There was no reason not to follow it.
Besides, she already
saw what she wanted to see.
The level of skill of
the garrison, the equipment, and the number of personnel in each unit.
―And the ability of those whom the Divine Pillar of Shumon
Province had given blessings to.
"As I thought,
Akira-san will stand in our way."
"That boy, huh?
He fought in a very crude manner though."
"But the strength
of his divine protection is extraordinary.
If he were that
strong, I am sure that everything in the land would be on his side."
She recalled the
battle earlier.
Rough tactics, poor
technique. As Salvatore pointed out, it was a messy battle.
However, what he wore
was a dense divine protection that seemed to paint over the world.
The demon that he was
fighting was a decent opponent, but against that divine protection, there was
not the slightest chance of victory.
"As for me, I was
surprised to see that pistols were not widely used.
I didn't even see
anyone holding a rifle.
―Well, it's convenient for us."
".......That's
true. Once battle breaks out, Salvatore, go and show them what that thing's
really made of."
Benedetta has always
been saved by Salvatore's vivaciousness and his ability to make her laugh off
her lingering worries.
―The same is true this time.
And she could only
hope that it would continue to be that way.
With a smile filled
with gratitude that could not be expressed in words, Benedetta sped on her way
back to the church where her base was located.
――――――――――――――――
TIPS: About the
telescope
The telescope
Benedetta was carrying was the latest telescope developed in Vansuir.
It may look like a
simple foldable telescope, but it is composed of a highly refractive lens and
is designed for extremely long-distance use.
However, when an
ordinary person looks through it, he or she will only see a distorted vision,
and it is designed to be used by a person who has used a physical enhancement
technique.
Although it was
developed for military use, it was so fragile that the inventor was reluctant
to give it to the military personnel of his home country.
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