Jinseigyakuten Uwakisare Enzai wo Kiserareta Orega Gakuenichi no Bisyoujo ni Natsukareru [LN] Bahasa Indonesia

 

Chapter Three: The Reclamation Strategy and the Kingdom's Mightiest Sword

"Higure-kun, I will wash your back...!"

Early in the morning.

As he was taking a bath, Maihime burst in.

Though she clutched a towel as a token gesture, she was completely naked. Beautiful white hair, modest breasts, a smooth, touchable-looking stomach, and slender limbs.

His gaze was stolen by her angelic body, and a few moments later, he came to his senses.

"Wh-Hey—?! Don't just come in here!"

Higure covered his private parts like a little girl and shrieked.

"I heard that boys are happy about this sort of thing."

"From who?! No need to ask!"

"Lili told me."

"That perverted Vampire! What has she been teaching you, Maihime?!"

"But I am relieved that you seem happy."

Maihime crouched down and stared at Higure's groin.

"Gyaaaaa—!"

Higure frantically turned his back to her.

Her sense of personal space was off. Everything was off. Was this normal in this world? Or were Maihime and Lilitia the strange ones? On his third day in this other world, Higure still couldn't tell.

"I heard that when a boy is happy, this part reacts."

"That's Lilitia's knowledge too, isn't it?!"

"Yes."

"That perverted Vampire—!"

What was she teaching an innocent girl?

It was not good to leave that walking R-18 rating near Maihime.

He couldn't bear it, with Maihime staring at him with her untainted eyes, tilting her head.

"It is true that I want to please you, Higure-kun, but I also thought you would not be able to use the converter."

"Converter...?"

Maihime stood on her tiptoes and touched a square, box-like object attached to the ceiling. He could see a magic stone inside. This must be a magic tool as well.

Following Maihime's "Try turning on the water," he turned the lever.

And then.

"Whoa! I thought this world was decent just for having running water, but it has hot water too!"

He looked up at the pouring hot water in admiration.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call this a shower.

Whether it was food or daily life like bathing, he had expected to struggle more, but wasn't it surprisingly comfortable? It was all thanks to magic. He could see why mana was so important. He secretly resolved to become proficient enough to at least pour mana into magic tools soon.

He remembered Maihime's presence and froze again.

"Hey, Maihime. If you want to take a shower, I'll get out first..."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm making a perfectly reasonable suggestion."

"I said I came to wash your back."

He felt a slight heat and a soft sensation on his back. A ticklish breath.

Maihime's small hands wrapped around his chest, and their bodies pressed together.

"Or do you dislike small breasts?"

The sound of the water hitting the floor was strangely clear.

At the same time, his consciousness was inevitably drawn to the soft sensation against his back.

Maihime's modest but definitely present breasts. Maihime changed her position, pressing them against him, rubbing them.

"Uh..."

There was no way he disliked them. There was no boy in any world who disliked breasts. But he understood that this was not a situation where he could honestly say that.

"You... dislike them."

As Higure hesitated, Maihime's voice trailed off.

In that case, Higure had no choice but to speak his mind, at least a little.

"I don't dislike them! There's no way I dislike them."

"Then you like them? You are happy?"

"U-Umm... well, how should I put it..."

"So you really do think that anything other than big breasts are not breasts."

"That's not it, but—!"

Higure clutched his head, wondering what to do. He had seen similar situations in anime and manga several times, but come to think of it, he had never learned how to deal with them. Was it that all boys were equally powerless before breasts?

Just then.

The door flew open, and a girl burst in.

"I sensed a lewd aura and came!! It's Lili-chan!"

It was Lilitia, her pink hair swaying, also completely naked.

An outstanding figure and ample bust.

A toned yet soft-looking body.

Lilitia stood there, hands on her hips, as if she had nothing to be ashamed of.

"Wh-Hey... you..."

And then, she spread her arms wide and hugged Higure and Maihime with all her might.

"Noo, it's mean to leave me out! Let's all have fun washing each other's bodies!"

"Washing each other... that has a nice ring to it!"

"Hey, get off me, you perverted Vampire!"

"Perverted Vampire at your service! So, let's do something lewd! Come on, come on...!"

Her crimson eyes shone brightly. Saliva dripped from her mouth, and her hands twitched. Lilitia was truly terrifying. At this rate, he would be eaten. In more ways than one.

"Hey, seriously, let go for a second... whoa, you're strong?!"

He tried to pull her off by force, but she didn't budge.

"Fuffehheh, just give up, Higure-san♡"

Lilitia's ample bust was pressed against him, and Higure's Higure was also reaching its limit.

Pressed by the dangerous-looking Lilitia, Maihime also closed the distance. He tried to escape, but it was impossible for him to overpower the two of them.

With Lilitia's intrusion, the situation had descended into chaos.

Rising steam. Soft sensations, heat, sweet voices, reason, and pleasure.

Heaven and hell were separated by a thin line.

"Just leave me alone—!"

Crushed between Lilitia and Maihime, Higure used his last bit of strength to open the door—and then collapsed.

◇

—The Royal Capital of the Belia Kingdom, Liliarre.

Currently, Higure was out shopping in the capital with Lilitia and Maihime.

The girl's mana gluttony was almost cured, but they were buying more medicine just in case, as well as other groceries and supplies for their journey.

"That was mean... you didn't have to hit me, did you?!"

Lilitia complained, holding her head.

Higure had taught her a lesson for bursting into the bathroom that morning and making a mess of things.

"That was your fault. Wouldn't you feel the same if the roles were reversed?"

"...You're so lewd, Higure-san♡"

Lilitia said, blushing, striking a pose as if to cover her chest.

Contrary to her words, she didn't seem to mind at all. It even looked like she was inviting him.

"...Was one hit not enough?"

"Wah! I'm kidding! I'll restrain myself a little! But, but, why only me?! Is it okay for Maihime-chan?!"

Lilitia pointed at Maihime, who was walking hand-in-hand with Higure.

Maihime peeked at Higure's face and made a mysterious peace sign.

"Well, it's kind of Lilitia's fault to begin with."

Maihime was a victim of Lilitia's twisted sex education.

And when Maihime looked at him with those small-animal-like eyes, he couldn't say anything. In addition, with Lilitia, he felt a strong desire from her. He also felt a sense of danger. To put it simply, she was a little scary.

"That's unreasonable! And why are you two holding hands?"

"So he do not get lost."

"...That's why."

"Aren't you being too soft on Maihime-chan, Higure-san?!"

Lilitia took the opportunity to quickly grab his free right hand. Lilitia looked satisfied, and there was no point in getting worked up over something like this. Getting lost was scary...

And so, they walked with Higure in the middle, holding hands.

With Lilitia and Maihime's guidance, they quickly finished shopping for necessities.

After that, they stopped by the Adventurer's Guild because they had forgotten to process a continuing request.

They also took the opportunity to register Higure as an adventurer. They only asked for his name and race, and the process was completed in about five minutes.

"Whoa...! This is an adventurer's card! This is so exciting!"

Higure held up a thin, obsidian-like plate and exclaimed.

There were some characters carved on the card, but Higure couldn't read them.

It was said to record his name, race, rank, party registration, and completed requests.

"The ranks, from top to bottom, are S, A, B, C, and D. You're starting at D rank, Higure-san. Requests are also ranked in the same way, and you can basically only accept requests of your rank or lower."

Lilitia added that if they were in a party, the highest rank of the party members would apply.

"I have registered you in our party, Higure-kun."

"By the way, what are your ranks?"

"We're both B."

I see. He didn't know how amazing S or A rank was, or the criteria for ranking up in the first place, but with their skills, they were B rank. Even with the problem of running out of mana, he thought they were quite strong, but was that about average in this world?

"Ah, you just thought that was lower than you expected, didn't you?"

"...Well, a little."

"We can't stand out too much. Besides, our goal isn't to become famous adventurers. As long as we can earn enough to not hinder our activities, that's fine."

Lilitia and the others' goal was the revival of the Rare Species.

To that end, they were protecting children, gathering allies, and building up their strength. He had heard that he was summoned as part of that.

He didn't know how useful a normie with a little more mana could be... but he was positive about cooperating with them.

In fact, he was the one who would be in trouble if they abandoned him.

This was another world. The difficulty was not on the level of being abandoned in a foreign country.

"First, we're taking the children to a hidden village near the border with the Republic, right?"

"Mm. This shopping trip is also in preparation for that. We plan to leave in a week."

"That's sudden."

"We can't go through the city gates. We'll use the underground waterways, but there are guards there too. The best time to slip through is exactly one week from now."

The underground waterways were apparently used for the capital's water supply and drainage, but the sanitary conditions were poor, and a small number of magical beasts roamed there. The magic knights were more focused on monster subjugation than guarding. There was some danger, but it was much easier than trying to get through a checkpoint, Lilitia explained.

They left the Adventurer's Guild and headed home.

A boy with animal ears, an old man with long ears. They carried swords and bows as a matter of course, and their attire was something he had only ever seen on a screen.

So much had happened that it didn't feel like it, but it had only been three days since he came to this world.

Every now and then, it would hit him. Ah, this really is another world.

The dry air, the slowly drifting clouds—they were no different from Earth.

Maihime's fluffy white tail, Lilitia's crimson eyes—they had only been products of his imagination.

He could never have imagined that the heat flowing through his body would be called mana.

As he walked, lost in thought.

"...Huh, what?"

A quiet residential area, away from the main street.

A cold wind. Tumbleweeds. There was no one around, and the distant howl of a dog only amplified the loneliness.

He realized that Lilitia and Maihime were gone.

"Eh... am I lost?"

Come to think of it, he hadn't been holding hands with Maihime since they left the Adventurer's Guild.

He wasn't a child anymore. He had been overconfident, thinking he wouldn't get separated even without holding hands. He had let Maihime lead him around reluctantly... but to get lost the moment he let go was not a funny situation.

—It is not difficult to kidnap someone with magic. You could be stripped of everything and sold to a noble with peculiar tastes. You could be sent through back channels and used for human experiments. You could be forced to fight magical beasts unarmed for the entertainment of nobles.

Maihime's words echoed in his mind.

"Ugh... that's terrifying."

He frantically looked around, but the scenery was all the same, which was a problem. Wooden houses with no distinguishing features. No, they could be inns, or even shops.

"This is bad... am I screwed?"

A cold sweat trickled down Higure's back.

If he were caught by some rough adventurers now, it would be too lame. Too scary. Too much of a burden. It was not a funny situation.

"Hey! Lilitia! Maihime! Are you guys lost?! You helpless fools!"

As if shot, he shouted and started running.

He ran through the back alleys, using the royal castle that pierced the heavens as a landmark. He came out onto the main street. But he still couldn't find them. Or rather, there were too many people to see clearly.

In the first place, should he have moved around so carelessly? With that thought, he entered a back alley again and proceeded through a maze-like street with few people—and in the corner of his vision, he saw rose-pink and lustrous white.

There was no mistake, it was Lilitia and Maihime.

Higure let out a sigh of relief and was about to call out to them and run over.

"Liliti—"

He slammed on the brakes.

Looking closely, they were being cornered against a wall by two men.

It was Lilitia and the others who were being harassed by rough adventurers.

A Human and a Beast-person man, wearing armor stained with blood and grease. They were muscular, and old scars, probably from magical beasts, were prominent on their bodies. They looked so intimidating that the yakuza would seem cute in comparison.

But it was nothing to worry about.

He knew Lilitia and Maihime's strength well.

The one Maihime had faced the other day was a member of the kingdom's special magic unit, Nine Number. He didn't know how strong Nine Number was, but to be called a special unit, they must be some of the most skilled in the kingdom.

There was no way Maihime and the others, who had defeated them, would struggle against such thugs.

But Lilitia and the others showed no signs of resisting.

Wait... can't they resist? Because it would reveal that they're Rare Species.

The reason Maihime was discovered by Luilui the other day was because she had unleashed magic in the middle of the city.

They were wearing perception-hindering robes, so it should be difficult to identify them by appearance, but magic was a different story.

"You've got nice faces. How about we make you our mistresses? Gahaha!"

"There's nothing to hesitate about, right? Come with us, we'll show you a good time."

If he strained his ears, he could hear the men's vulgar voices.

Even as he watched, the men were closing the distance between them. They had lewd smiles on their faces and looked like they were about to grab them.

Could Higure do anything by intervening? In the first place, was it a bad idea to get into a fight?

If there was anything he could do...

"...Aargh, whatever happens, happens!"

Higure shook off his useless thoughts and ran.

He slipped into a position to protect the two of them and shouted.

"Um! These girls are with me, so could you please leave...?"

His voice came out less forceful than he had imagined, but he thought he did his best.

"What, you? We're busy right now."

"You wanna get killed? Huh?"

The men's violent gazes pierced him, and he froze.

Their bodies were a size larger than his. His eyes were drawn to the weapons on their backs.

They were like a pair of cannon fodder, but sadly, Higure was currently so weak he couldn't even touch that cannon fodder.

"Higure-san! Where have you been... wait, this isn't the time for that."

"Higure-kun, we are fine, so..."

He heard their anxious voices from behind him.

Did they think he couldn't do anything? Maybe they were afraid of causing a scene and attracting attention.

But Higure understood that much. He had no intention of making a scene.

If Lilitia and the others could use their power, it would be easy to get rid of the men. But if it was revealed that they were Rare Species, it would all be for nothing. All their efforts would be wasted.

"They don't want to, so let's just be civil about this."

Higure put on a clumsy, friendly smile and spoke.

A similar thing had happened at the Adventurer's Guild the other day.

That time, he couldn't handle his mana properly, got beaten up, and had a terrible time, but he couldn't make the same mistake this time. It wasn't like he had just rushed in without thinking.

The problem was that their Rare Species powers would be revealed, so if Higure, a Human, could defeat the men, that would be best. But it was obvious he had no chance of winning.

Then, there was only one option—run!

"Huh? You just butt in, and now you're talking about being civil?"

"Please, just this once...!"

Higure put his hands together and bowed his head.

Escaping itself would be easy with Maihime's teleportation magic.

The fact that she wasn't using magic probably meant she was out of mana. The mana she had used in yesterday's flashy battle hadn't recovered yet. In that case, Higure had no choice but to transfer mana to her with a kiss.

I don't want to use mana transfer too much since I don't know my own mana limit... but I have no choice.

Somehow, he had to find an opening and give mana to Maihime. It wasn't good for her teleportation magic to be seen either, but he could just use his robe to block the men's view.

With that thought, he looked up.

"Buguh—!"

A man's rock-like fist was closing in on his face.

He didn't have the reflexes to dodge the sudden attack, and it hit him directly.

His brain rattled, and a dull pain spread across his face. He held his aching nose and staggered. When he took his hand away, it was covered in blood.

"Gahaha! So weak! You can't even dodge that?!"

"Trying to act cool in front of girls and this is what you get? Pathetic."

His vision swam.

"Get on the ground and apologize! Then we'll let you go!"

He couldn't even talk back, let alone stand up straight.

He had made a plan that relied on Maihime's power, using his own powerlessness as an excuse, and failed.

He hadn't accomplished a single thing since coming to this world—useless.

This man was right.

I'm so pathetic...

Lilitia wrapped her arms around Higure's staggering body to support him.

A slight heat emanated from her arms, and her fists were clenched tightly.

Ah... this is probably bad.

Imagining what would happen next, a cold sweat broke out on Higure's back.

He had intervened to avoid making a scene, and tried to resolve it. At this rate, everything would backfire. He might have really done something unnecessary.

"Um... maybe we should run..."

He said, holding his still-bleeding nose.

"Huh? What are you talking about? You mean, 'Please let us go!' right?!"

But his warning didn't reach the two men, who were enjoying looking down on him. They had faces that said they were sure they could have their way with Lilitia and Maihime.

"We might have let it go if it was just us. But you laid a hand on Higure-san, didn't you?"

"The punishment is death. I cannot forgive you."

A cold tone, the likes of which he had never heard from Lilitia and Maihime before, leaked out.

Tension ran through the air. At the same time, he felt a pang of sympathy for the men in front of him.

"Huh? I don't get it."

"And if you hang out with a loser like this, your own value will drop, you know? Come here, I'll make you my woman."

A thin, sharp metallic sound. By the time he realized it, Maihime had drawn her black blade.

No, the moment he thought she had drawn her sword, it had already been swung.

"Let me correct you. Higure-kun is neither weak nor pathetic."

The man's arm was cleanly severed from his shoulder.

"...Huh?"

Thud. A dull sound, and a right arm fell to the ground. The man's eyes went wide. Blood gushed out like a geyser. The man frantically held his arm and crouched down.

"Gyaaaaaaaaa—! My arm, my arm!"

The man picked up his right arm and tried to press it against the wound, but blood just kept pouring out. His face was a mess of tears and snot, a pitiful sight.

"A punishment for the bad arm that hit Higure-kun."

Maihime flicked the blood off her black blade and sheathed it.

She turned her sharp gaze to the man next to him.

"H-Hey, it was just a joke. We'll go home quietly, okay?"

Seeing his partner's arm cut off, the man's face twitched. His earlier bravado was gone. His expression was twisted with regret and fear, and his legs were trembling like a fawn's.

Higure was starting to feel a little guilty. If he hadn't intervened so poorly, things might have been resolved more peacefully. Of course, there was a good chance they would have lost their patience and attacked anyway.

"We said 'let us go' at the beginning, didn't we? You didn't listen, did you?"

"W-Wait a second...!"

"I can't wait♡"

Lilitia smiled brightly.

She raised her arm and cast a fire spell.

""Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!""

The man crouching on the ground was swallowed by the scorching flames.

"Filthy. We should have done this from the beginning."

"Yeees! If we erase them, it doesn't matter if we're seen!"

Lilitia and Maihime seemed to have lost interest in the men and turned their backs to walk away. They looked refreshed, talking cheerfully. Was this an everyday occurrence for them?

As for Higure, he was sandwiched between Lilitia and Maihime, their hands holding his tightly. A strong force was put into their grip, as if they would never let go.

"We really do have to hold hands properly!"

"Mm. It is dangerous if we do not hold hands."

"For the other person...? The other person is in danger, right?"

As he thought, the two of them were probably some of the strongest in this world.

For his own safety and the safety of those around him, Higure vowed in his heart not to get separated from them.

"First of all, thank you both! For getting angry for me! But, you know, maybe you should refrain from making such a big scene?"

In the end, Higure hadn't saved them; he had been saved.

Using their power must have come with the risk of being exposed as Rare Species. He felt a sense of recklessness from the two of them, who had used their power without regard for that, but he was also genuinely happy. And pathetic. In fact, he was quite depressed.

I haven't done a single cool thing since coming to this other world...

"It is fine. I did not use magic, and Lili's was a general-purpose spell. We had our perception-hindering robes, so we should not have been identified as Rare Species."

"Is that really the problem...?"

"I have carved fear into their bodies, so it is fine."

"Hearing that doesn't make me think, 'Oh, then it's fine'!"

When he said that, Maihime made a peace sign with her other hand.

Did she understand? It was not a peaceful solution at all.

Then, a sticky sensation ran down his left hand.

"Ha, nn... chupu."

His body trembled. A shiver ran down his spine at the unsettling sensation.

He slowly lowered his gaze to see Lilitia sucking on his finger.

She was sucking on his finger, chupa chupa, and running her tongue over the back of his hand. "Fuffehheh," she let out an ecstatic smile.

"Ugyaaaa—! Huh?! What are you doing?!"

He frantically pulled his hand away, and Lilitia looked at him regretfully.

Apparently, she had been licking the blood on his hand.

It was the nosebleed from when the man had hit him. It hadn't stopped for a while, and his hand was bright red... had Lilitia been aiming for it all along?

"Fuffehheh. It would be a waste."

"Are you crazy?!"

"Higure-san, it's not good to waste food!"

"My blood is not food!"

Lilitia tilted her head as if to say, "What a strange thing to say."

She was still staring at his mouth, which was still stained with blood.

A little drool was trickling from her mouth.

He could hear a slurp.

Her ruby eyes were shining brightly.

"A-Absolutely not!"

"Aww, you're so mean."

When Higure covered his nose with both hands, Lilitia pouted in dissatisfaction.

◇

Higure and the others, holding hands, headed home.

The streets around the ruined church were a maze, and the public order was worse than near the main street. If he glanced to the side, he could see a beggar with stick-like arms. He had the impression that the capital was a relatively wealthy city, but there was a definite gap between the rich and the poor.

Just a moment ago, if it had been Higure who was harassed instead of Lilitia and Maihime, it would not have been a laughing matter. As Maihime had said, there might have been a future where he was sold into human trafficking or used for human experiments.

Lilitia and Maihime must have lived their lives facing the harsh realities of this world. Was their occasional playful attitude a way of being considerate to him... or was he overthinking it?

In any case, he felt once again that this was a harsh world.

Just then.

"—No, let go!"

A scream from the back of an alley cut through his thoughts.

Higure's gaze, which had shot up as if struck, met the girl's.

"Hey! Behave! It's useless to resist!"

The situation was like a supplement to his thoughts.

The girl had two bat-wing-like organs on her head. A feature not found in the Four Great Races. She was probably a Rare Species. Shackles were on both her hands, connected by a chain.

The one holding the chain was a chubby, nouveau riche-looking old man.

If he looked closely, he could see a carriage parked at the back of the alley, with a cage attached to the back.

—She was captured by a slave trader until recently, and her master was a Human... I think she has some trauma.

He remembered Maihime's words at the safe house. So, this was a slave trader. Had that girl also been shackled and imprisoned in a cage?

The girl's eyes burned with hatred as she looked at Higure, and he was confronted with the fact that he was on that side.

"Higure-kun, let's go."

Maihime pulled on Higure's arm, who had stopped without realizing it.

Maihime was biting her lip in pain. The hand that held Higure's was trembling slightly. Lilitia, her eyes downcast, clenched her fists in frustration.

"For now... I am sorry. We do not have the power to help everyone we see, as we please."

"..."

Led by Maihime and Lilitia, Higure started walking again.

In the heavy atmosphere, Higure couldn't say anything and just followed them.

After a while, they entered a crowded alley. Passing by a broken glass window, they took the path he was most familiar with in this world. Higure, carrying the groceries and other things they had bought, followed behind them.

"We don't want to destroy the Four Great Races or anything. We just want to live a normal life. We want the right to live normally. For that, we have to build up our strength. If we're weak, we can't even get a seat at the negotiating table."

Lilitia, her rose-pink hair swaying in front of him, began to speak eloquently.

Her tone was not her usual playful one, but one filled with a definite will and heat.

"For that, we need two things. One is an icon to lead everyone."

Lilitia glanced at Maihime walking beside her.

"That is me, the last survivor of the royal family of the Lunarl."

"...Survivor."

"Mm. Among the Rare Species, most of those with a bloodline strong enough to lead everyone have been executed. I am the last hope."

"And the second is—"

Lilitia stopped and turned around.

"An overwhelming amount of mana—in other words, power."

She pointed a finger at Higure's nose and smiled sadly.

Higure's face twitched at Lilitia's heated gaze.

She seemed to think his mana was infinite.

She seemed to think a great, hidden power was sleeping within him.

She seemed to think he would solve all their problems.

"Higure-kun, I believe in you...!"

"We can only rely on you now, Higure-san...!"

They were looking at him as if he were a hero or something.

Even though he was just fodder. Even though Lilitia had called him fodder. Even though she had summoned him as fodder, she looked at him with such a passionate gaze, as if she had forgotten all about it.

So, Higure had no choice but to say this.

"...Yeah, leave it to me."

◇

The timing was as if to mock Higure's words.

Despair, it seems, strikes without any warning.

The children had been kidnapped.

The first to notice something was wrong was Lilitia.

The floor of the ruined church. The door to the underground passage that led to their safe house was wide open. It would have been fine if someone had simply forgotten to close it... but everyone who lived here knew how important that door was.

Sweat beaded on Lilitia’s brow as she practically tumbled down the stairs.

She didn’t even bother lighting the magestone lamps, just bolted back to the room at top speed and threw the door open—or rather, she would have, but it was already open.

An overturned chair, shattered dishes, a torn tablecloth. A dented floor and a broken vase. It was an unmitigated disaster. Something had clearly happened here.

Lilitia and Maihime called out the children’s names, searching every corner of the room.

But just as the awful premonition that had struck her the moment she entered had suggested, the children were nowhere to be found. No voices answered. Not a trace of them remained.

They checked each room in sequence.

After confirming the last one, a spare guest room, was empty, Lilitia collapsed to the floor.

“Why… This is a joke, right?”

Maihime knelt beside her, gently stroking her back, but her own hand was trembling slightly.

And then.

“I’m… sorry…”

A faint voice came from under the bed.

A blanket that had slid off the bed rustled, and a single girl peeked her head out.

“Noemi-chan—!”

It was Noemi, a black-haired girl with two bat-like wings on her head.

Lilitia pulled her out from under the bed and hugged her tight.

This was the girl Lilitia had rescued from a Human slave trader.

Noemi had been suffering from mana hyperphagia and was recuperating in this guest room. That stroke of luck must have been what saved her.

“I’m sorry…! They took everyone. Someone from Nine Number, a Werecat… It happened so fast. Everyone tried to protect me… Uuu, hic…”

Noemi sobbed into Lilitia’s chest.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re safe, Noemi.”

“They… they were asking where Maihime-oneechan was. But nobody told them…! They believed that if they had Princess Maihime of the Lunarls, the Rare Species could make a comeback… so… nobody said a word.”

Lilitia said nothing, just gently rubbed the trembling girl’s back.

“So they were after me after all… That poison pouch was for marking me,” Maihime murmured.

Her face was as expressionless as ever, but her fists were clenched tight, and a flicker of anxiety troubled her crimson eyes.

“Why does this always happen to us?! We haven’t done anything wrong…! All we want is to live in peace! We’re already forced to live in the shadows… can’t they even allow us that?”

No one could answer Noemi’s anguished cry.

Their lives had been so hard. Just when they were finally able to look forward, even that tiny glimmer of hope was snatched away. Crying wouldn’t change their situation, but they couldn’t help but lament the injustice of it all.

Silence. A heavy, oppressive atmosphere filled the room.

This was something Higure could never have imagined in his daily life.

To be hunted just for the crime of being born a certain race.

To worry about your next meal, to be unable to even bask freely in the sun.

Noemi was right; they hadn’t done a single thing wrong.

On the contrary, they had endured so much, working hard without a single complaint.

I don’t think I have the power to change anything. But still, if they’re putting even a little bit of faith in me—

Higure clenched his fists and looked up.

“All right! Let’s come up with a plan to rescue the kids!”

His cry, so out of place in the grim atmosphere, made the three girls look up.

“They went to the trouble of kidnapping them, which means they’re still alive, right?! So our only option is to go save them! Or are you just gonna abandon them? C’mon, cheer up! You’ve got me on your side now! A little rescue mission is nothing!”

Silence fell once more. The three girls stared at him, each with a different expression.

They looked somewhere between dumbfounded and bewildered.

Higure froze, his hands still planted on his hips.

He wasn’t entirely without a sliver of regret. But if he, with no power or wisdom to his name, just wallowed in despair with them, then there was no point in him having come to this world at all.

The silence stretched on, and his sliver of regret began to grow into a mountain.

It was Noemi who finally broke the silence.

“…Really?”

She stood up, walked right in front of Higure, and looked up at him.

Her eyes were different from the terrified gaze she’d had when they first met. Now, they held a clear glimmer of hope. She wasn’t afraid of him, a Human. She was looking at him with something that resembled trust.

If that was the case, he had to answer, even if he had no basis for his confidence.

“Yeah.”

“…Even though you’re just bait.”

“I’m not bait. I’m a hero from another world!”

As he said it, Higure met Noemi’s gaze and placed a hand on her head.

“When things get tough, you gotta look forward. It’ll work out! Or rather, I’ll make it work out!”

Noemi stared at him, looking puzzled, then let out a small giggle. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she said, a smile gracing her lips. He noticed that her trembling had stopped.

“You’re right… Just as you said, Higure-san, if they wanted to kill them, they would have done it here,” Lilitia said, coming to stand beside Noemi and placing a reassuring hand on her head.

Then, as if to shake off the gloomy mood, she spoke in a deliberately cheerful voice.

“It’s too early to give up. Let’s do this! Let’s get those kids back!”

“Yeah, that’s the spirit!”

Higure and Lilitia clasped hands firmly.

Behind them, however, Maihime was biting her lip, her head bowed. Her voice trembled as she spoke of the irreversible mistake she’d made.

“It’s me. It’s my fault everyone…!”

She gripped her black katana tightly and, as if struck by a sudden thought, broke into a run.

She slammed the door open, dashed through the living room, and headed for the stairs leading to the surface.

Higure scrambled after her. He shoved the door aside, vaulted over a table, and ignored the sharp pain of something scraping his arm as he took the shortest path through the wrecked room.

“Hey, Maihime!”

He finally caught up to her on the stairs and grabbed her arm.

But she tried to yank her arm free with surprising strength.

“Let go!”

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

“To save everyone! I’m going to save them!”

He desperately held on as she tried to pull away, clinging to her with both hands. She probably didn’t truly want to hurt him. If she had, he would have been thrown off long ago.

“Let go, just let me go…!”

“No way! I’m not letting go!”

They struggled like that for a while.

Perhaps she realized it was pointless.

Or maybe, deep down, she wanted him to listen.

Maihime finally gave in, her words tumbling out in short bursts.

“Nine Number was after me, a royal. I didn’t even notice the mark Luilui left and came right back to the safe house… I’m a failure as a princess!”

“If we’re talking about that, I didn’t notice Luilui’s trick either!”

“There’s no way you could have! You just got to this world, Higure-kun!”

“Besides, if I hadn’t been there holding you back, you could have easily escaped.”

“That has nothing to do with it… Still, I should have been the one to notice.”

Maihime’s tail drooped as she seemed to recall the devastation in the room and Noemi’s face.

Then, she looked up, her eyes holding a dangerously reckless light.

“That’s why… if we’re going to save them, I’m going alone. That’s a princess’s duty!”

“No! That’s exactly what the enemy wants!”

“But then… what else am I supposed to do…?”

“You said you believed in me, didn’t you, Maihime?!”

Maybe she’d only said it to fire him up.

Maybe it held no deeper meaning, no real expectation.

But he just couldn’t believe that Maihime was the kind of person who would say something like that as a lie.

Nor could he believe she was the kind of person who wouldn’t take responsibility for her own words.

“Was that a lie?”

“Th-that’s… ah…”

She looked up, hesitating, and after a moment of inner conflict, tears welled in the corners of her eyes.

The instant she tried to say something, her foot slipped.

Her body swayed, and she fell forward, collapsing on top of Higure.

“—?! Guh!”

The problem was, they were at the top of a steep staircase.

Higure and Maihime tumbled down the stairs in a spinning heap.

On pure instinct, Higure wrapped his arms around Maihime, bracing himself for the dull impacts. He couldn’t tell which way was up as irregular shocks jolted his body. Eventually, they came to a stop, but he couldn’t quite grasp the situation. All he could feel was pain all over his body.

“Ah… ow…”

As his swimming vision stabilized, Maihime’s worried face filled his view. It seemed he’d been slammed onto the ground with her on top of him.

“S-Sor… Higure-kun, are you okay?”

Fortunately, Maihime didn’t seem to be hurt.

“Yeah. This is nothing compared to everything you’ve been through, Maihime.”

Higure wiped his mouth, putting on the bravest face he could manage.

“…That’s not…”

Maihime was hesitating.

Deep down, she probably knew what she ought to do.

But the shackles of self-blame were too heavy for her.

So, it was a gamble, and he really didn’t want to do it, but Higure knew he had to speak his mind.

Trying to win her over with cool-sounding, feel-good words wouldn’t work on the Maihime of right now.

“I get it. It’s not easy to trust some random guy from another world you know nothing about. I haven’t been much help, and even though I was talking big earlier, saying it’d be a piece of cake, you’re probably wondering who the hell I think I am.”

Higure had no track record to convince Maihime.

Maybe Maihime felt indebted to him for summoning him, but that was pity, a far cry from trust.

“I think I’m weak. I can’t even properly grasp the power I have, and I’m sure I’ll just keep causing you trouble. It’s frustrating, but I know that no matter what I say, you’ll probably just think I’m all talk…”

Higure squeezed Maihime’s hand, his voice pleading.

He looked her straight in the eye, conveying every ounce of feeling he could muster.

“But is rushing into enemy territory alone, without listening to your comrades, really a princess’s duty?”

Maihime’s eyes shot open.

A tear traced a path down her cheek, and a small, trembling voice escaped her lips.

“…I don’t think so.”

She slumped forward as if collapsing, resting her forehead against his chest.

Sniffling, her voice still shaking, she managed to speak.

“I’m a princess… so I wanted everyone to believe in me, because that gives me strength… But before that, I should have been the one to believe in them. I should have known that…”

He could tell she was trying to move forward, trying to convey that, trying to form the words.

“I… I don’t think you’re unreliable, Higure-kun. But trying to charge into enemy territory alone… I can’t blame you for thinking that. I’m the one who’s all talk.”

As if to punish herself, Maihime slapped both her cheeks.

The look on her face now was truly one befitting a princess.

“I’m sorry I showed you such a pathetic side of me. I am a princess. So, follow me, Higure-kun.”

Maihime wiped her tears and stood up.

She reached a hand down to the fallen Higure and pulled him up forcefully.

“Yeah!”

“Thank you… I’ll do my best.”

With that, Maihime gently leaned her weight against Higure’s chest.

Just then, “Ahem.”

A deliberately loud cough came from behind them.

She must have been listening to their conversation. Pouting slightly, she looked at Maihime.

“Of course, I’ll be helping too, you know? ♡ Don’t be so distant. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Then, Lilitia launched into a long-winded complaint. “It’s good to have a strong sense of responsibility, but you always, always try to carry everything on your own. I may be a teensy bit of a pervert and a little unreliable, but—” It seemed she was quite upset about not being relied upon.

Maihime must have found this incredibly funny, because she let out a small laugh.

“Yes… I’m sorry. Let’s all do our best, Lili.”

And so, the three of them decided to work together to rescue the children.

◇

Higure, Lilitia, and Maihime sat around a table with solemn expressions.

They had put Noemi to bed in the guest room, which had suffered relatively little damage. Her mana hyperphagia was almost completely cured, but the psychological trauma seemed more severe, and she had fallen asleep immediately.

Noemi had said a Werecat from Nine Number had come.

That information pointed to one person. The girl who had attacked Maihime and Higure the other day—.

“Luilui Iren. I was so careless… That last pouch, I thought it was poison, but I was wrong.”

Just before Maihime teleported her away, Luilui had thrown a small sack of purple powder. Deceived by its ominous color, they now realized it was a marking agent, a type of tracking device.

Their assessment of the kidnapped children’s situation was largely the same as what Higure had stated earlier.

If the goal was to kill them, they would have been killed on the spot. The fact that they were taken meant they had some use.

Considering the enemy was after Maihime, they were likely being held as hostages to lure her out.

“But we have you with us, Higure-san! This’ll be a piece of cake!”

“That’s right. He was fired up enough to get us going, so I’m sure he’ll figure something out.”

“Exactly! Still, I never thought you cared about us that much, Higure-san!”

“Yes. I was moved as well.”

Lilitia and Maihime were now fully motivated.

It was good that they were being positive, but the basis for their confidence was hardly welcome.

“Um, about earlier, I might have gotten a little carried away. I’m just some useless bait, so please don’t have such high expectations, okay? I mean, it’s better than being negative, but…?”

“What are you talking about?! Your speech was electrifying, Higure-san!”

“It wasn’t much of a speech… I’m really sorry for getting carried away. I was trying way too hard to act cool.”

As Higure muttered his anxieties, Lilitia flashed her fangs in a grin. “Oh, come on now.”

“You must have some kind of hidden power, Higure-san! You’ve had some signs of an awakening, right? Is that where your confidence comes from?”

“Whoa, hold on… a lot of things are wrong here.”

“Eh? Are you still keeping it a secret from us? ♡ Don’t be such a tease, you, you…!”

He glanced at Maihime for help, but she just gave him a cheerful double peace sign. It was no use. Her thinking was probably aligned with Lilitia’s.

He had no idea how to explain it anymore. He really didn’t want to go back to that gloomy atmosphere, so with a wry smile, Higure decided it was best to just move the conversation forward.

First, they decided to grab their valuables and move to a new base.

Now that the enemy knew their location, they couldn’t stay long. As they moved, they paid close attention to any signs of people or magic. With Lilitia’s magic to aid their caution, they should be fine.

The new safe house was an inn near the central plaza of the royal capital.

From the outside, it looked like a perfectly normal inn, but its true nature was slightly different. It was a semi-legal lodging that primarily catered to those with special circumstances, like Lilitia and her group. He wondered just how “semi-legal” it really was. Weren’t they stepping way over the line?

They passed a handsome, wealthy-looking nobleman, but they merely exchanged nods. It seemed non-interference was the rule among the guests of this establishment.

They were assigned a section on the third floor. Looking out the window, he could see the fountain in the plaza. Being right in the heart of the city made him uneasy, but perhaps this was a case of hiding a tree in the forest.

After telling Noemi to watch the place, the three of them left the inn.

“Whether they plan to enslave them or use them as hostages for negotiations, the place where they hold captured Rare Species should be the same. First, let’s go get some details on that.”

“Get details? From who?”

“There’s an excellent information broker.”

“She’s a little… eccentric, but she’s basically a nice person.”

Higure looked at Lilitia and Maihime on either side of him and tilted his head. He wondered what these two, who were far more than just a little eccentric, were talking about.

At this point, he was confident he could handle whatever came his way with a simple, It’s another world. Even a talking slime wouldn’t faze him.

And so, Higure was brought to a magic tool shop.

Tools of unknown purpose were arranged with meticulous care. There were crystal ball-like stones, cauldrons that looked like they belonged in an alchemist’s lab, and items that seemed to be nothing more than accessories. To think that all of these were magic tools was astonishing.

“Let me introduce you. By day, she’s the beautiful owner of this magic tool shop! But in reality, she’s a valuable information broker with connections to the Rare Species! This is the Elf, Misty Fromage-chan!”

She had beautiful, light-green hair that flowed down to her waist and the pointed ears characteristic of Elves. With her shapely, downturned eyebrows and jade-green eyes, she gave off a gentle, big-sisterly impression.

Higure couldn’t see what was so eccentric about her yet, but he raised his voice for a different reason.

“Ah! You’re—!”

“Eh, ah… from the Adventurer’s Guild…!”

Higure and Misty pointed at each other, their eyes wide with surprise.

There was no mistake. This was the woman who was being cornered by that Lycanthrope.

The pathetic memory came flooding back: he had jumped in, intending to make a grand rescue, but couldn't even pour mana into a magic tool, got punched, and ended up crouching on the ground. To top it off, the very woman he was trying to save had to worry about him.

“You two know each other?”

Maihime’s question made him break out in a cold sweat.

As far as Higure was concerned, this was a memory he’d rather leave buried.

“Well, we’re not exactly acquaintances—”

However, oblivious to his anxiety, Misty began to recount the events at the Adventurer’s Guild.

He was on edge, thinking his embarrassing failure would be exposed, but as he listened, he realized there was a discrepancy between Misty’s perception of the event and his own. A discrepancy that, for some reason, painted him in a good light.

“—and that’s what happened. He saved me when I was in trouble! While everyone else just looked the other way, he stood in front of that man to protect me. I wanted to thank him properly, but he left without even giving his name. I’m so glad we could meet again like this.”

Higure felt incredibly awkward as Misty looked at him with a rapturous expression.

“That’s our Higure-san! I’m sure you had your hands full just arriving in this world, but to try and help a complete stranger, that’s wonderful! I knew my judgment wasn’t wrong!”

“Higure-kun, you’ve gone up in my estimation.”

Listening to Misty’s story, Lilitia and Maihime also looked at Higure with sparkling eyes.

“Wait a minute… that’s been heavily embellished, hasn’t it?”

“Not at all! You were so cool!”

“I’m pretty sure I just got punched and couldn’t do anything…”

“You took the punch on purpose to prevent things from escalating, right? Instead of just lashing out in anger, you were able to think about the people around you. I think that’s amazing.”

“Hold on…?”

She had interpreted it in the most ridiculously positive way possible.

What kind of thought process led to that conclusion? Higure was a less-than-average Human in this world, with no significant strength, combat experience, or magic to speak of. He was just a regular guy from Earth who might have a bit more mana than usual.

But Misty was looking at him with the same adoration one might reserve for a prince.

“Anyway, I heard about you from Hime-chan, but to think it was you. Meeting again like this must be fate, don’t you think?”

Misty’s cheeks flushed red as she firmly grasped Higure’s hands.

“My fated… Otouto-kun.”

---

T/N: Otouto is used for referring to Otouto-kun in Japanese

---

Her eyes held an bewitching sway. A beautiful, captivating jade-green.

They shone with a soft light, as if nothing else in the world existed but Higure.

Taken out of context, the atmosphere could have been seen as sweet and sour, but the incomprehensible word made Higure’s mind freeze for a second.

“Um… Otouto-kun?”

The word came out stilted.

He looked at Lilitia and Maihime, who were holding their heads in their hands as if to say, Oh, brother. They wouldn’t meet his gaze. Without looking at him, they placed their hands on his shoulders as if telling him to just accept his fate.

“Uh, what’s going on…? This is creepy!”

In contrast, Misty was still staring at Higure, completely entranced.

“You can call me Onee-chan, okay?”

“What exactly… is going on here?”

Higure found himself slipping into polite speech.

He could feel his mind overheating from this encounter with the unknown.

“You see, I’ve always wanted a Otouto-kun. I wanted to spend my life spoiling a cool, cute Otouto-kun. So, I’ve spent my whole life dreaming of the day my fated Otouto-kun would appear.”

“That doesn’t explain anything! What’s a ‘fated Otouto-kun’?! I’ve never heard of that before!”

“It’s perfectly normal for Elves, you know? We form a sibling pact with our fated person ♡.”

“It is?!”

What a bizarre custom. Well, he supposed such things could exist in another world.

But Lilitia and Maihime both shook their heads.

“I have never heard of such a custom.”

“The world may be wide, but I think you’re the only one with such a crazy idea, Misty-chan.”

She was being called crazy by the crazy Lilitia.

He could certainly see why they’d described her as eccentric. He was just bewildered that the direction of her eccentricity was so far off from what he’d expected.

“You’re totally trying to trick me! Just ’cause I’m from another world!”

“Don’t call me ‘you’ like we’re strangers. I’m your Onee-chan. O-nee-chan!”

“Like hell I’m calling you that!”

“Fufu, you’re just shy. Is it that time of your life?”

“No, no, no, this isn’t about being shy! Calling you ‘Onee-chan’ out of the blue is just too weird!”

“Hmph. Otouto-kun, your Onee-chan doesn’t approve of you dismissing customs different from your own as ‘weird.’”

“W-Well… maybe you have a point—no, I’m not falling for it! This isn’t a custom, it’s just what you want!”

Hearing that, Misty paused for a moment. Then, with a smile that said she’d just had a brilliant idea, she pulled Higure into a hug with a cheerful “There! ♡”

“Fuguu—!”

A pathetic sound escaped his lips at the suddenness of it all.

His face was pressed against a pair of soft, magnificent mounds. They yielded and reshaped themselves, threatening to drown him.

“I may not look it, but I’m a good cook, my magic tool shop is doing well so I have lots of money, I’ll sleep with you every night, and I’ll take care of you from morning till night.”

Her syrupy, sweet voice tickled his ear.

“See? I’ll make you happy. Won’t you become my Otouto-kun?”

The sweet, refreshing scent made his head spin.

He couldn’t properly muster any strength in his body; he couldn’t resist. Or perhaps, was his instinct telling him it didn’t want to resist? He felt his thoughts melting away.

“What do you say? Want to try living here with your Onee-chan?”

Huh? Maybe that’s not so bad…

The moment he thought that, a strong pull on his arm freed him from the alluring mounds.

Maihime, her expression annoyed, and Lilitia, her cheeks puffed out, had pulled him away. They were gripping both his arms tightly, so tightly he yelped, “Ow, ow, ow—!” and wouldn’t let go.

“You can’t. Higure-kun has an important mission.”

“That’s right! And besides, don’t try to be a more risqué character than me!”

“Indeed. If you are more risqué than Lili and have larger breasts, Lili will lose her identity.”

“Huh? Maihime-chan? Aren’t you aiming at the wrong target?”

“I have differentiated myself.”

Maihime’s fox ears twitched as she proudly puffed out her flat chest.

For some reason, sparks began to fly between Lilitia and Maihime as well.

“Sorry, Lili-chan, Hime-chan. But I have a duty to make my Otouto-kun happy!”

Misty wrapped her arms around Higure’s waist, trying to pull him back.

“As a princess, I cannot overlook that!”

Maihime pulled on his arm.

“Higure-san is going to live a lewd and debauched life with me!”

Lilitia tried to drag him over with a headlock.

He had no idea what was going on anymore. The four of them were in a complete tangle.

“Just give me a break—!”

Higure’s scream echoed through the shop.

After some time to cool down, the four of them moved to the residential space on the second floor of the shop.

Lilitia, Maihime, and Misty were seated in chairs at a table.

Higure, meanwhile, was sitting seiza-style on the floor.

This was the result of them arguing over who would sit next to him.

Sitting on the floor, Higure looked up at the three women in their wooden chairs. They all smiled back at him, but he felt an indescribable pressure.

“How did it come to this…”

And in this state, they transitioned into a serious discussion.

They had come to Misty to rescue the kidnapped children.

Maihime briefly explained everything, from their battle with Luilui to the children’s abduction and their move to a new base. By the time she finished, Higure’s legs were completely numb.

“—so, could you please tell us where the children are?”

“Misty should know where they would be taken first in a situation like this.”

After hearing them out, Misty crossed her arms and nodded deeply.

“I see. I understand the situation. Of course, I consider myself one of your allies, Hime-chan, so I’ll help. That’s what an info broker is for.”

Hearing that, Lilitia’s face lit up.

“However, there’s just one thing I want to say,” Misty added, as if driving a nail home.

She shot a dissatisfied look at Higure, who was still sitting on the floor.

“If my Otouto-kun really wants to rely on his Onee-chan, then I think I can give it my all.”

“O-Oh…?”

“Otouto-kun, you have to properly depend on me, okay?”

“Um…?”

Seeing his confusion, Maihime whispered to him, “She wants you to ask for her cooperation, Higure-kun.”

He didn’t quite get Misty’s intention or the flow of the conversation, but it was true that he was grateful, and they had come to the magic tool shop counting on her in the first place.

“We’re counting on you, Misty. Will you help us?”

He said, expressing his gratitude to Misty despite his confusion.

“Hmph.”

Misty just turned her head away.

“Um, Misty-san?”

“Hmph!”

He didn’t get it, but she was clearly unhappy about something.

She wasn’t genuinely angry, as she kept glancing over at him, but he really had no idea what was going on.

Then, Lilitia stood up and whispered in his ear.

“Mumble mumble mumble—so please, Higure-san.”

“Seriously…?”

Higure couldn’t help but look exasperated at Lilitia’s advice.

Maihime gave him a thumbs-up, as if to say, I’m counting on you.

Was it just his imagination, or was he being treated like a total toy—being called bait, treated like a child by a child, and now this whole Otouto-kun thing…

I mean, they’re all good people, and I know they’re desperate, but…

This was a weirdly different vector from the isekai transfer he had imagined.

It wasn’t a matter of good or bad, just… off. He couldn’t tell if Lilitia and the others were the strange ones, or if this whole world was just messed up.

Higure cleared his throat with a “Hhm-hmm!” and looked at Misty.

Unable to completely hide his slight embarrassment and bewilderment, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

“We need you to help us… um, O-Onee-chan.”

He felt like his face was about to burst into flames.

He was so embarrassed he couldn’t look at anyone.

“Gueh—!”

A sudden impact.

From the soft sensation and sweet scent, he realized Misty was hugging him.

“Of course! Leave it to your Onee-chan!”

She squeezed her arms tight, rubbing her cheek against his affectionately.

He could feel the warmth and softness of Misty’s body all over. He struggled to resist, but her grip was too strong to escape. He felt like a stuffed animal.

“Fufufu, what a cute Otouto-kun you are. For you, Otouto-kun, I’d even destroy the world. If you ever want it destroyed, just let me know, okay? ♡”

She said it with the same casualness as offering to make breakfast every day, which was troubling. It would be troubling even if she were serious; it was a terrifying proposal either way. What was she saying so casually?

“M-Misty, let go…”

“Hmph.”

The stuffed animal drowning in soft mounds pleaded for help.

Misty didn’t loosen her grip, just turned her head away. It seemed she was determined not to respond if he just used her name.

“Onee-chan… let go.”

“No way. Onee-chans and Otouto-kun are always together. We must never be apart for a moment.”

“The result is the same either way!”

◇

The afterglow of the sunset vanished behind the western ridge, and stars began to dot the sky, asserting their presence.

As if in response, the streetlights began to flicker on. When he stared at them curiously, Misty explained that they were a type of magic tool, and that mechanics periodically refilled them with mana.

They headed in the opposite direction of the royal castle in the north, passing through the main street and into the slums.

They must have walked for several hours. Night had completely fallen, and the distant howls of wolf-like beasts began to echo. The journey had flown by as he received a lesson about this world, but Higure’s out-of-shape body was feeling a definite fatigue.

They arrived at their destination.

He stopped and looked up at the building.

“…Looks like some kind of mansion.”

Misty had led them to a detention center exclusively for Rare Species.

Apparently, any captured Rare Species were first brought to this building. From there, they were interrogated and then sent to other facilities depending on their use—sold to slave traders, used in experiments for magic or magic tools, and so on.

The lawn and garden trees had clearly been neglected for a long time. Statues of giant winged creatures stood imposingly, and at their center sat a long, brick mansion. From the window placement, it looked to be three stories tall. Though adorned with intricate carvings, it was poorly maintained, with ivy creeping up the walls in several places.

Higure had imagined a prison-like place when he heard “detention center,” so he was a little underwhelmed.

“Actually, it seems a noble used to live here.”

“There are rumors he was executed for having ties to the Rare Species… but that’s a convenient rumor, so who knows if it’s true.”

Misty’s words sparked a question in Higure’s mind.

“By the way, Misty, you’re an Elf, right? Is this okay?”

“…………”

“…Onee-chan, you’re an Elf, right? Are you sure it’s okay for you to be with Rare Species?”

“Oh, my! Is my Otouto-kun worried about me? Are you interested in me?”

“Well, I am curious.”

“That makes your Onee-chan so happy! But this is enemy territory. I’ll tell you all about me later, when we’re alone.”

Misty’s desires were peeking through, but she was right, this wasn’t the time or place for that conversation.

“For now, just know that I’m on your side.”

Higure, who hadn’t doubted her from the start, nodded.

Their ideal scenario was to rescue the children from this mansion and escape the capital.

The guards at the underground waterway would be gone in about a week. Their time was limited.

They immediately entered the mansion grounds and hid near the main entrance.

Should he top off Lilitia’s and Maihime’s mana before they charged in?

Lilitia’s fight with Haran. Maihime’s fight with Luilui. If what they said about natural mana recovery was true, their mana levels shouldn’t be full yet.

No, I don’t know my own total mana capacity. I shouldn’t be transferring it around carelessly…

Having reached that conclusion, Higure focused his attention on the mansion.

Two guards stood in front of the main entrance.

The four of them donned the robe-like magic items Misty had given them, Cloaks of the Hermit. The cloaks’ effect was to reduce the wearer’s mana signature to almost zero, essentially making them invisible to mana detection.

Maihime quickly teleported behind the guards. A single strike from her black katana easily knocked them unconscious.

With Maihime in the lead and Misty bringing up the rear, they entered the mansion.

In contrast to its grand exterior, the inside of the mansion was simple, seemingly designed for functionality alone.

There were no particular decorations, and the area in front of the door looked like a waiting room. They checked the rooms one by one, but they were reception rooms and offices; there was no sign of anyone being held captive.

After a thorough search, they headed to the second floor.

The second floor was similarly simple in design. A long corridor stretched straight ahead, with numerous doors on the right side. Magestone lamps were placed at regular intervals along the corridor, casting a dim light.

They would have to check these rooms one by one as well.

They opened the nearest door and stepped inside—to a room at least forty square meters in size, lined with numerous cells. The only light came from a few magestone lamps, leaving the room dim.

There were many cells, but only one was occupied.

“Everyone—!”

In the innermost cell, the three children were locked up.

Lilitia was the first to run, clinging to the iron bars.

They seemed to have been given food; empty plates and cups were visible inside the cell. But their faces were pale, and their eyelids were red and swollen from crying.

“You did so well! We’ll get you out right away.”

Lilitia peered at the padlock and fiddled with it.

The children, perhaps unable to believe that Higure and the others had really come, or perhaps still unable to shake off their terror, were in a daze. Their gazes weren’t on Lilitia, but on Higure—no, further back.

The moment Higure felt something was wrong and turned to look at the entrance, a child cried out.

“Lilitia-oneechan—run!”

In front of the door.

A small girl’s silhouette was cast by the light of a magestone lamp.

The instant that shadow raised its arm—lances of ice erupted, racing across the floor.

◇

A violent crash.

Simultaneously, a burst of steam erupted.

His vision went white. Higure instinctively covered his face with his arm, replaying the split-second event in his mind.

The girl standing in the doorway had cast a spell.

It was ice, so sharp and beautiful it could be mistaken for crystal. A wave of ice surged toward them, freezing the ground and thrusting up lances of ice as it advanced. Lilitia’s quick-thinking magic had blocked it.

A wall of crimson flame had met the icy assault—a narrow escape from death.

“U-Um, are you okay? Are you alive? It would be a huge problem if the one named Maihime Hiiragi died… uuh.”

As the steam gradually cleared, the girl who had unleashed the ice was revealed.

Her blue topaz hair, cut to her shoulders, swayed as her crystal eyes glinted ominously. Her frame was so delicate it looked like it would break with a tight hug. The dragon-like horns on her head and the treasured sword at her hip were strikingly incongruous.

And yet, his instincts screamed—.

“…She’s no ordinary girl.”

Higure belatedly realized his own body was trembling.

She looked like a normal girl, but he felt an overwhelming pressure he had never experienced before. A tingling, numbing mana. A suffocating feeling, as if he were underwater.

A glance at Lilitia and the others’ faces confirmed that his instinctual fear was not mistaken.

They, too, were trembling just like him, their faces twisted in despair.

“The Dragon-Slaying Princess—Lulun Linknova.”

Maihime murmured the name.

“The strongest sword of the Belia Kingdom, said to have single-handedly taken down one of the Five Great Dragons. What is she doing here…?”

Even the usually unflappable Maihime had a hint of panic in her expression.

When she faced Luilui, she had been completely at ease. From what he’d heard, Luilui was a formidable fighter within the kingdom, but was the gap between them really that vast?

“Five Great Dragons…?”

“They are the progenitors of all magical beasts. Each one has enough power to destroy a nation… Of them, the only one ever defeated was the Ice Dragon she slew.”

“The Ice Dragon Balafrylis. The malevolent dragon said to have plunged the northern lands into eternal permafrost. Humanity tried to subjugate it for hundreds of years and failed, but she defeated it all by herself. Even I didn’t believe it when I first heard the story,… but seeing those horns and that sword, well.”

As Lilitia wiped the sweat from her brow, Misty added the explanation with a bitter expression.

“I-I’m not that amazing, you know. I didn’t mean to destroy it, or rather… um, Balafrylis is alive inside me.”

Lulun stroked her treasured sword and gave an awkward smile. “Ehehe.”

Her appearance and demeanor gave no hint of her being the kingdom’s strongest, but even now, an overwhelming amount of mana, so immense that even Higure could feel it, flowed from her body.

“The Dragon-Slaying Sword Laevateinn—the Ice Dragon it was forged from is still alive. There were rumors that it grants power in exchange for siphoning life force, so it was true after all.”

“Th-that’s not…! It’s not siphoning my life force, it’s different.”

Lulun fidgeted, poking her index fingers together in distress.

Then, as if remembering something, her face lit up.

“Ahehe…”

She looked at Lilitia and the others and gave a self-deprecating laugh, then thrust her hands forward. As if a switch had been flipped, her eyes turned cold.

“Th-This is bad. If I talk to Rare Species, I’ll be tainted. I have to kill them, they’re a forbidden existence… Even the angels say the Rare Species must be destroyed.”

A visible chill emanated from Lulun’s feet.

The treasured sword, said to be made from dragon materials, exuded a refined sharpness and a sinister aura even while sheathed. It pulsed faintly, thump, thump, as if asserting that it was a part of Lulun’s body.

“Um, the one named Maihime, please raise your hand. I’ll kill everyone else.”

Higure’s gaze shifted slightly at the name Maihime.

That was likely enough for Lulun.

She fixed her icy stare on Maihime. A smirk played on her lips.

“Ehehe… well then, goodbye to everyone but the white-haired girl.”

“Higure-san, get back—!” “Otouto-kun, get down—!”

Lilitia and Misty shouted at the same time.

He felt the temperature in the room plummet.

Freezing mana. In an instant, it froze the ceiling, the floor, the walls, and from them, chunks of ice twisted and shot out. They swirled and surged toward Higure and the others, cornering them—.

“【Explosion Vortex】—!”

“【Earthen Wall Ventiere】—!”

Lilitia and Misty unleashed their magic.

A raging vortex of flame, as if to bring back the lost warmth.

An earthen wall that shook the ground, rising to protect them.

The clash of ice chunks tearing through the air and the roaring vortex of flame.

Again, a deafening roar was accompanied by a blast of steam.

But this time, it couldn’t completely extinguish Lulun’s ice. A fierce blast wave and a volley of ice chunks that hadn’t been destroyed. What blocked their advance was—Misty’s earthen wall. It took the dull impacts and shattered, but it had served its purpose as a shield, protecting them.

The earthen wall crumbled. Rubble and clods of dirt scattered.

And beyond them—silken white hair danced.

“【Talaria】—Got you.”

Maihime had teleported behind Lulun.

She dropped into a low stance, her hand on the hilt of her black katana. Her crimson eyes widened, and she unleashed a brilliant flash of her blade—only to be blocked by a hastily formed wall of ice.

“Kuh—?!”

From then on, a fierce battle unfolded that Higure’s mind couldn’t keep up with.

Lulun used her ice magic to attack over a wide area and defend simultaneously. Lilitia fought back with flashy fire-attribute attack magic, while Misty skillfully provided support. Maihime aimed for Lulun, weaving through the gaps with a combination of teleportation magic and swordsmanship.

It was a fierce exchange of magic that could have ended at any moment.

The cells were twisted, the ceiling collapsed, and the walls crumbled, opening up into the next room. A flying piece of debris tore Higure’s robe. He was buffeted by the blast waves, and sharp pain shot through him as rubble struck him.

The only reason Higure was unharmed was because Misty was using her magic to protect him.

Otherwise, the aftershocks alone would have been more than enough to finish him.

“Otouto-kun, are you okay?! Are you hurt? Are you scared?”

“I’m fine… More importantly, please support Lilitia and the others.”

Three against one.

In terms of numbers and the variety of magic used, Lilitia’s side should have had the overwhelming advantage, yet he couldn’t see any path to victory.

Lilitia and Maihime, in particular, were heavily exhausted.

Cold sweat beaded on their foreheads, and they were breathing heavily. Maihime, who had been spamming teleportation magic at first, was now fighting almost exclusively with her katana.

The flaw of the Rare Species—their low natural mana recovery rate—was proving to be their undoing once again.

He had hesitated to transfer mana because he didn’t know his own maximum capacity. It was a foolish decision. He should have fully restored their mana before they came here.

He’d heard that because of the Spirit Collapse Disaster, it took about ten days for a Rare Species like Lilitia to fully recover her empty mana pool. That’s why they weren’t suited for prolonged battles and couldn’t win against the more numerous Four Great Races.

But conversely, in a single, all-out battle, the Rare Species should have been stronger.

Especially in a one-on-one fight, they shouldn’t have been able to lose.

If only Lilitia and the others’ mana had been completely full—no, was that really true?

“Why isn’t Lulun even out of breath?! There’s no way a Human can cast magic on that scale over and over again!”

Lulun was putting on a grand performance against the three of them.

She had been relentlessly using large-scale ice magic for both offense and defense from the start.

And yet, she showed no signs of fatigue. In terms of mana consumed, she was by far the highest of the four. A normal Human would have run out of mana ten times over by now.

“You can’t think of her as a normal Human. This is one of the reasons Lulun Linknova is called the strongest—an overwhelming amount of mana that she can store. That thing is seriously insane.”

Lilitia said, pointing to the Dragon-Slaying Sword Laevateinn.

So that treasured sword also served as a mana tank. Just from hearing about it, he could tell that a dragon’s mana would be incomparable to a human’s. The mana stored in that sword, forged from a dragon, was undoubtedly beyond human comprehension.

“Still, she’s not drawing that sword. Does it not have any function as an actual sword?”

“I-I’ll draw it if I have to…?”

Lulun tilted her head, looking puzzled.

“But, but, it’s hard to hold back… and if I don’t even leave a corpse, the cleanup… Haran-san will get mad at me… uuh.”

She was implicitly saying they weren’t worthy of her drawing Laevateinn. That they weren’t enough of a threat to be taken seriously. Taken seriously? Or was the reality that there was no need to even be cautious?

Lulun didn’t have a single scratch on her, nor was her breathing even disturbed.

“She’s completely looking down on us. Not that I can say anything back in this state…”

Lilitia wiped her mouth, looking frustrated.

“Ah, Higure-san, Higure-san. Could you let me have a little sip of your blood?”

“If it’ll help us get out of this situation… I guess I have no choice.”

“Nope, this is my last supper.”

“Don’t give up! I mean, it might be annoying coming from a useless burden like me… but seriously, don’t give up!”

He couldn’t help but retort to Lilitia, who was licking her lips and showing her fangs, forgetting the tension of the situation.

Lilitia, unrepentant, had a sloppy grin on her face and let out a “Fuffehheh.” She was definitely not thinking about anything decent. To be specific, her brain was probably pure pink.

“…Since it’s the end, maybe I can make a more extreme request?”

“I told you to stop saying it’s the end!”

This was a situation where it didn’t sound like a joke at all.

This girl’s surprisingly calm… he thought for a moment, but seeing her ragged breathing and exhausted state, he couldn’t be so optimistic. Perhaps this was her way of trying to maintain some semblance of composure.

“Hime-chan. Our goal isn’t to defeat the kingdom’s strongest. If we can just rescue the children, that’s enough. Can you do it with your magic?”

Misty and Maihime huddled together, whispering.

“I don’t have enough mana left to teleport all the children… I can’t, not without a refill.”

“Got it. Then, Onee-chan and Lili-chan will draw Lulun’s attention, so I want you to get the transfer done and get the children out first.”

Maihime nodded and looked at Higure.

Higure met her gaze and gave a silent nod in return.

That’s right. There was no need to defeat this ridiculously powerful Lulun head-on. The fact that they couldn’t beat her in a straight fight wasn’t the issue. And the only thing Higure could do from the start was one thing—transfer his mana.

Misty stepped forward to draw Lulun’s attention.

Just then.

“U-Um, excuse me?”

Lulun timidly raised her hand.

“S-Sorry! I wasn’t reading the room, was I? But, but, there was something I was wondering about… Is there any point in going this far to save just three Rare Species…?”

“What do you mean?”

“W-Well… there are plenty of other Rare Species who have become slaves. There’s no need to take such a risk to save just three of them, is there…? L-Look, I heard that Maihime Hiiragi-san is the last survivor of a Rare Species royal family, a really valuable existence… so this time, I was waiting in ambush just in case, but I didn’t think you’d actually come… You’re very kind. Ehehe.”

Her explanation was rambling, but he understood what she was trying to say.

Maihime’s goal was the revival of the Rare Species. As a symbol for that cause, Maihime played a crucial role. Looking at the bigger picture, saving three children was a negligible gain.

But—.

“My country was destroyed. I lost my father and my mother. Most of my kin are gone as well. But still—I am a princess.”

Maihime spoke as if there was no room for doubt.

“It was our own arrogance that led us to take these children by the hand. I cannot abandon them for the ridiculous reason that it is too risky. To help someone, I believe, is to take on that much responsibility.”

Her small back exuded a royal dignity and a kind of majesty.

The will to call herself a princess, and the resolve to be a symbol.

A definite strength hidden within her small frame.

Higure was unfamiliar with nobles and royalty, but there was no doubt—she, Maihime Hiiragi, was a princess.

“If I cannot even take responsibility for the children I once reached out to, then I could never become the ruler of a nation—I want to create a country for the Rare Species.”

Maihime’s powerful declaration sent a shiver through his soul.

It was a dream she had revealed, at least in front of Higure, for the first time.

The revival of the Rare Species. How concrete was her vision? Was it a fantasy, or an ideal she could one day grasp? At the very least, Maihime was serious.

“We will not yield, even if our opponent is the strongest in the kingdom.”

She lowered her stance, her hand on her black katana.

“Lili—!”

She called out the name of her comrade behind her.

“Phew—! Sorry, couldn’t wait my turn! ♡”

Lilitia pulled her mouth away from Higure and licked her lips with gusto.

The heat coursing through his body, the sensation of her soft lips, the pleasure that filled Lilitia—the transfer was complete.

During their conversation, the vessel of the Vampire, Lilitia Scarlet, had been filled to about half capacity.

A wave of heat rose from Lilitia’s feet.

She raised her palm high and declared—.

“Stay down, now! Scorch and fester—【Inferno】!”

It was the first magic Higure had seen since coming to this world.

An inferno so intense it felt like his lungs would rot if he took a deep breath.

A mass of heat that threatened to burn his retinas—a veritable sun.

The crimson lotus flame warped the iron bars with its heat, broke through the ceiling, and roared as it burned.

“Awu, awa, uuu… I-I have no choice.”

Meeting the attack was the strongest sword of the Belia Kingdom.

An exhalation of cold air and enough mana to shake the floor.

“Heat, be stolen—【Cocytus】.”

Lulun raised both hands to the heavens as if in a dance and chanted.

A blizzard. Freezing. In an instant.

—The world froze.

He couldn’t comprehend it.

But there was no other way to describe it.

Everything here, except for the people including Lulun, had frozen.

The floor, the walls, the cells, the ceiling, even the sun Lilitia had created—everything in sight was frozen solid. All movement in his field of vision had ceased. The breath of life, the motion inherent in everything that existed in this area, was silent.

A pale blue ice, like crystal.

Cruelly cold, sharp, and yet, beautiful.

“Wha, huh…?”

Whose voice was that?

It didn’t matter. Everyone but Lulun felt the same.

Cleanly, only the people present in this place had not been frozen.

It was a declaration that she could turn them into ice just as easily at any time.

Maihime’s strong-willed resistance, Lilitia’s all-out magic—Lulun brushed them aside as if they were nothing, swallowing everything whole. This was a different level of strength from your run-of-the-mill powerhouse.

The Dragon-Slaying Princess.

The only one to have ever slain a dragon, the strongest sword of the Belia Kingdom—her depths were unfathomable.

“S-Sorry… my body has Balafrylis’s blood mixed in it, and my hearing is really good… I heard your whole conversation just now… uuh. I-I can’t let you take the children.”

The perpetrator, Lulun, began to speak nonchalantly, as if this result were a matter of course.

“Um, isn’t it disgusting that Rare Species are living normally…? If dragons are bad, then I think Rare Species are bad too. P-Please stop with the sad faces.”

Everyone but Lulun was trembling.

From the cold? From fear? Or both?

“…Monster.”

In an instant, the scenery had changed. The air had changed.

Freezing all ambiguous things like momentum and feelings, the strongest one smiled vacantly.

It was a hopeless situation, clear at a glance. Their future, their dreams, their lives—Lulun held them all in her hands. Everything would end with a single whim of hers.

At the very least, it seemed impossible to outwit her with violence or intellect.

They had just been shown that in no uncertain terms.

“I’m serious, you know. I can’t stand the fact that Rare Species are alive. I destroyed a village of Aengels the other day. I turned a lot of them into ice. They all begged me not to kill the children. It’s just like humans, it makes me want to puke.”

Lulun’s cold eyes wavered as she spoke with the same ease as if chatting with a friend.

“B-But… I didn’t kill the children. Haran-san told me to, so I made them slaves. The Aengel adults were cruel, weren’t they? I think it would be easier to die than to become a slave… but they told me not to kill them, so I had no choice. Ehehe.”

Lulun laughed, looking troubled, as if she didn’t know what was so funny.

Anger and fear. He could hear Lilitia grinding her teeth.

He wanted to just punch her with all his might. But this battle had made it clear that she wasn’t an opponent who could be beaten that way. Lulun was a nasty piece of work, too. Showing off her overwhelming power difference before taunting them like this.

“That’s enough. I understand.”

The first to move amidst the chaos was Maihime.

“—Take me.”

She stepped forward onto the frozen floor.

She dropped her black katana and raised her hands in surrender.

There was no strength in her voice, and her tail hung limply.

“Wait, Maihime-chan…? What are you saying?”

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about since before we came here.”

“I didn’t hear anything about this!”

“I was the target from the beginning. The children were taken because of me. So, take me, okay? In exchange, I want you to leave everyone else alone.”

Maihime said it dispassionately, as if reading from a prepared script.

Lulun hesitated for a moment. Then, she gave a small nod.

“Hmm… okay. I don’t think Haran-san will get mad at me for that… uuh.”

She accepted Maihime’s proposal.

Lulun clapped her hands, and the frozen cell shattered with a crash. The children, who had been huddled together and trembling, were freed. However, seeing the situation, they couldn’t rejoice freely, and they looked back and forth between Lilitia and Maihime, trying to read their expressions.

“I can’t let you take Maihime-chan! In that case, I’ll—!”

“You’re not allowed. You have no value.”

Lilitia’s voice shot out, but she was cut down with a single sharp retort.

“Kuh… ugh.”

Lilitia bit her lip in frustration.

Maihime turned to her and smiled gently.

“There’s no other way, is there? Or are you going to sacrifice the children?”

“Th-that’s…!”

“It’s okay. Trust me.”

Misty, who had been watching the events unfold, had a sad expression on her face. She didn’t deny Maihime’s decision. Or perhaps she knew it was futile.

“Hime-chan, are you really okay with this?”

“Mm.”

Maihime nodded without hesitation at Misty’s question.

There was no trace of doubt in her actions. She must have truly been prepared for this outcome since before they arrived. Maihime turned back to Lulun and slowly opened her mouth.

“I’ll send the children with my magic. Is that all right?”

“Fine, but… if you try to escape.”

“I know. A princess wouldn’t do something like that.”

Then, Maihime stood in front of Higure and smiled faintly.

He was bewildered by her crimson eyes. Did her expression show resignation, or expectation? After only knowing her for about three days, it was difficult to guess her true feelings, and Higure could only stand there with his mouth agape, at a loss for words.

“Take care of Lili for me. I think you have talent, Higure-kun.”

She cupped Higure’s cheeks with both hands.

“Hey, Maihime—”

As if to cut off his words, she gently kissed him.

“—Nn, mmu.”

The sensation of her soft lips. The heat that coursed through their bodies connected Higure and Maihime.

Thump, thump. His heart pulsed as if sending out mana, and a tingling pleasure ran through his body. And he felt his own heat gradually filling Maihime’s vessel.

When enough mana had been transferred, Maihime slowly pulled her lips away.

Her body was slick with sweat, and she was breathing heavily, as if terribly exhausted. It was as if her own life energy had been drained from her.

However, as if not to worry Higure, she put on a brave face.

“I’m sorry. In the end, this was the only thing I could think of. Higure-kun, ————.”

And finally, she whispered something in Higure’s ear.

Higure’s eyes widened in surprise at what she said.

The sorrowful expression he saw on Maihime’s face now felt like it had a completely different meaning.

Maihime quickly broke her gaze from Higure and went to the children.

She met their eyes and held their hands. Mana stirred, and Maihime’s white hair billowed up.

“Maihime-oneechan…”

“It’s all right. I will protect you.”

She didn’t say much. She hugged the children reassuringly, and a white magic circle unfolded. In the frozen room, Maihime’s magic glowed faintly—and before he knew it, the children were gone.

After safely teleporting the children away, Maihime went to Lulun’s side as if to surrender.

“Maihime-chan…? Are you serious?”

Higure and Misty were speechless.

Lilitia, however, shook her head in denial and followed Maihime. Her steps were unsteady, like a drunkard’s, and the anguish in her trembling voice was palpable.

“W-Wait a minute! Wait, Maihime-chan!”

And the moment Lilitia, fed up with Maihime’s silence, started to run—a high-pitched ringing in his ears. Lulun swung her arm, and a wall of ice appeared.

It materialized without a single gap, blocking Lilitia from Maihime.

The ice was thick and cold, and he couldn’t see through it.

Only the faint shadows of two figures allowed him to barely sense Maihime’s presence.

“Maihime-chan…! I can’t do this without you, Maihime-chan! You know? Hey, this is wrong, don’t go…”

A desperate Lilitia unleashed her fire magic. The somewhat unreliable, unstable flame hit the ice wall and dissipated. She tried again, but the result was the same. The wall didn’t crack or melt; it remained.

After she tried a few more times—even the two shadows disappeared.

“Why? Why, like this… Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!”

Lilitia’s scream echoed through the frozen mansion.

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