My father, Naoki Ishirogi, is alive. He made it look as though he had died in a plane crash, all the while scheming away in the shadows.
Let’s look back at the incident a year ago, when Ayano was kidnapped.
Under normal circumstances, the whole thing should have been quite simple: Herbert performed a ritual to summon an evil god in order to prove his strength to Phyllis. That was all there was to it. But then my old man stuck his nose into the business. As a result, freelance exorcists nearly got killed, Herbert himself ended up being offered as a sacrifice, and… well, the whole affair became a hell of a lot more complicated than it needed to be.
I had a feeling this time was following the same pattern.
The Takasu faction. The Asaki faction. The Byakuya faction.
The exorcist world was locked in a three-way standoff, with Shizuku’s engagement hanging in the balance.
Had my old man brought Reona close to the Takasu faction so he could interfere in all this?
If so, there was no guarantee that Reona was the only piece he had in play. Another, as-yet-unseen piece might emerge—either to rescue Reona or to silence her along with everyone else who knew too much.
That was why I’d made preparations.
—That’s Shizuku.
While Reona and I were fighting, Shizuku hadn’t just been standing around doing nothing. I’d asked her to keep watch over the surrounding area and intercept any new enemies who showed up.
However—
“—《Flame Spell》: 《My Flames Shall, For Now, Purge and Scorch with Purifying Blows, a Crushing Iron Hammer of Destruction—Now Be Good and Behave》!”
With less than twenty seconds remaining before my transformation wore off, the moment had finally come. Just as I was about to unleash my finishing blow, it slithered out from Reona’s shadow.
A cloak wrapped in raven feathers. A tengu mask. Its sheer, outrageous appearance made even Shizuku’s long coat (Hatomori’s traditional kimono), and—while we were at it—the freelance fighter’s fundoshi loincloth look positively tame by comparison.
A crow tengu. That was the only name I could think of for it.
The moment it raised the sword in its hand, it began chanting a strange incantation.
“《Accely》: 《Achilles and the Tortoise.》”
The mismatch between its traditional Japanese costume and the katakana spell was strange enough, but the real problem lay in the spell itself. Its structure was remarkably similar to the magic I used. It belonged to a magical system originating not in this world, but in another.
And I couldn’t help feeling a twinge of jealousy at how unnaturally flawless its English pronunciation was…
But that was beside the point.
The crow tengu vanished. In the blink of an eye, it closed the distance and lunged at Shizuku with its sword.
“…Eek?!”
The ambush had come so suddenly that she barely had time to react. Perhaps it was because she lacked real combat experience, but Shizuku could do nothing more than stand frozen in place.
“Get back, Shizuku!”
The fact that I made it in time was nothing short of a miracle.
I threw myself between the crow tengu and Shizuku, activating the spell I had originally intended to unleash on Reona: 《Purifying Flower—Blazing Annihilation: That Iron Bunker-Like Hammer Thing》.
My fist, heated to an extreme temperature, smashed into the oncoming blade, melting it as it shattered into pieces.
However, that was probably exactly what the crow tengu had intended me to do.
“…《Mūlamantr》: 《Oṃ kṣipasvāhāoṃ pakṣisvāhāāvarana-trayacatovāro-mārāh vajra》.”
In the brief opening created by my intervention, my opponent had already begun weaving together the spell it had truly intended to cast.
＊ ＊ ＊
Judging from the flow of magical energy, the spell seemed to be designed to drag its target into an alternate dimension.
There were two main ways to interrupt a spell of this kind.
1.《Dispel》
2. Knock the caster unconscious—or kill them.
Since dispelling magic wasn’t exactly my forte, I didn’t hesitate to choose the second option. I unleashed about five offensive spells at the crow tengu while simultaneously activating 【Appraisal】.
The results were as follows.
| [Name] Ajiro Miya [Gender] Female [Race] Unknown [Age] 34 [Titles] 【Tengu’s Handiwork】, 【88th Generation “Ayatachi no Karasu” (Ransai Bird)】 [Attributes] ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Level: 96 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Attack: 84 (+30) (+30) ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Defense: 70 (+30) (-30) ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Vitality: 71 ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Magic Power: 175 (+30) ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Mental Strength: 74 (-20) (-10) ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙Agility: 128 (+50) (+40) (+30) [Abilities] 【Crow Tengu】 The battle attire worn by the “Ransai Birds,” who serve as the shadowy operatives of the Ajiro family. To an outside observer, the wearer should look like nothing more than a suspicious weirdo. And yet, strangely enough, people hardly seem to notice them. Increases Attack, Defense, Spiritual Power, and Agility. Grants a bonus to stealth checks. “Why, though?” —Alpaca 【Blessing of Karura-ten】 Increases Agility. Grants major bonuses to stealth checks and barrier formation. 【Pride of the Ransai Bird】 Automatically guarantees a successful survival check when the user sustains a fatal injury. When activated, negates all penalties caused by the injury. Can be used approximately three times in a lifetime. Two uses have already been expended. “Ah, there goes the third one!” —Alpaca [Skills] – 【Ajiro-Style Onmyōjutsu VIII】 – 【Ajiro-Style Onmyōjutsu: Hidden Arts IX】 – 【Naoki-Style Otherworldly Magic V (Tentative Name) 】 – 【Presence Concealment IX】 – Other unknown skills [Status Ailments] Broken hearted: Abandoned by a partner she’d been with for over ten years. Give me back my youth! Give it back to me right now! Increases Attack and Agility. Reduces Defense and Mental Strength. Anxiety: It’s been so long since she acted of her own free will that she’s feeling a little bewildered. Reduces Mental Strength. Near Death: Suffering injuries severe enough that death would normally be inevitable. The effects are being negated by 【Pride of the Ransai Bird】. |
Ajiro Miya.
I knew that name. She was one of my old man’s mistresses. But, uh… there was something rather unsettling about her status ailments.
What was with those labels, Broken hearted and Anxiety?
Had she and my old man broken up, leaving her to act independently?
There were a few other things that caught my attention, but I didn’t have the luxury of examining them at leisure. Thanks to 【Pride of the Ransai Bird】, I hadn’t managed to finish Ajiro Miya off.
I would’ve liked to hit her with at least one more offensive spell, but I had run out of time. My transformation wore off, and my consciousness began to fade. As a last-ditch effort, I deliberately let 《Wind Spirit Spell》 run wild. How much of an effect it would have, though, remained to be seen.
At the very least, I’d managed to blow the freelancers away to a safe distance…
Or so I hoped.
That was where my memories ended.
And then—
“…Master! Master! Please wake up!”
Shake, shake.
Shake, shake.
Someone was shaking me awake. The ground beneath my back felt strangely hard. It was rough and uneven, almost as if I were lying on asphalt.
“Shizuku-nyan, I have a brilliant idea!”
The voices I could hear belonged to Shizuku and Reona.
“Switching the traditional gender roles is all the rage these days, right? So I was thinking, why not give our prince a wake-up kiss?”
“K-K-Kiss?! B-But… so suddenly…”
“Oh my, what’s wrong, Shizuku-nyan? Just a little while ago, you were making all sorts of suggestive remarks like, ‘I’d like to experience being undressed by Master, too\~.’ Was that all talk after all? Well, at least you have a mouth, and that’s all you need for a kiss! So, come on. Let’s give it a try!”
“U-Uhm…”
What the heck is this rom-com development?
My consciousness was returning, but I was just as curious about what would happen next. I cautiously cracked open my eyes and caught sight of Shizuku, looking utterly embarrassed…
But then—
“—When it comes to things like this, the early bird gets the worm.”
Delicate fingers came to rest against both my cheeks. The presence drawing closer belonged to Reona. A sweet fragrance wafted toward me, and before I knew it, I had opened my eyes completely.
Our eyes met.
“Fufu.”
Reona smiled, wearing an expression far more mature than usual.
Her cherry-pink lips drew closer—
And then I felt something soft and moist against my right ear.
A kiss. Her lips lingered there as she slowly traced the edge of my earlobe with her tongue.
“…Ah.”
An involuntary, rather embarrassing breath escaped my lips.
“Oh? So you can make such adorable little sounds, too.”
Reona whispered into my ear. Her voice was so bewitchingly seductive that it felt as though the sound itself were melting my eardrum.
“Let’s save the rest for another time, shall we? Next time, we’ll take it nice and slow.”
Reona’s body gradually pulled away. And, strangely enough, I found myself wishing she hadn’t.
“W-W-Wha…?!”
As for Shizuku, she had completely lost her composure.
My own heart was racing pretty wildly, too, but watching Shizuku’s flustered reaction helped me calm down a little. Well, it was only my ear, after all. It wasn’t as though we’d been making out or anything…
Even so, I found it strangely difficult to look Reona in the face.
“My, my. Shizuku-nyan, you’re such a coward.”
I heard Reona sigh in disappointment.
“I was hoping you’d at least put on a little bluff and make things more interesting. But, well, I’ll let it slide for Yoshito’s sake. I’ll deem it yo~shi~to.”
She placed a rather peculiar emphasis on those last words.
Was that supposed to be a pun?
“Terrible. I’ve bombed. There’s nothing left for me but ritual suicide.”
With astonishing decisiveness, Reona drew her sword. Then, without warning, she slashed straight at my stomach.
“Whoa?!”
“Your reflexes are truly impressive. I’m swooning.”
“Hey, that’s seriously dangerous! And shouldn’t you be cutting your own stomach?!”
“I’m a woman who refuses to be bound by common sense.”
I really wished she’d follow common sense just a little more often. That sweet, fluttery feeling I’d been experiencing moments ago had now vanished without a trace.
“By the way, Yoshito-kun, do you have any idea what’s going on?”
“…Nope. Not a clue.”
I looked around. Beneath an endless expanse of overcast sky stretched a townscape that retained the atmosphere of old Japan. There wasn’t a single sign of human presence, though. The entire place was eerily silent.
“This place looks a lot like Kyoto, but where exactly are we?”
“Kyoto.”
“Kyoto, huh?”
“Yes.”
And that was the end of our conversation.
“No, no! Could you give me a little more explanation? Kyoto’s supposed to be bustling with tourists wandering around everywhere, isn’t it?”
“Oh, my! You noticed that? How perceptive of you. I’ll award you some Super Reona-chan Points. Cha-ching!”
“Don’t make the sound effect yourself…”
At this rate, she’d turn into that twenty-eight-year-old unmarried maid from the Magetsu family.
Oh, wait. Wasn’t she twenty-nine now?
“Incidentally, every time you collect five points, I get to pounce on you! In the carnally inclined sense of the word, of course.”
“Please don’t.”
Actually, I didn’t want any Super Reona-chan Points in the first place.
“Throwing them away would be a terrible mistake! You’ll be cursed, you know?”
“If I can’t even throw them away, doesn’t that mean I’m already cursed…?”
“Anyway, that’s the situation. This Kyoto is a fake.”
Elegantly ignoring my lament, Reona abruptly switched to a serious tone.
“It’s a barrier modeled after Kyoto. No, considering its scale, another world would be a more appropriate description. 《Mūlamantr》: 《Oṃ kṣipasvāhāoṃ pakṣisvāhāāvarana-trayacatovāro-mārāh vajra》. It’s one of the secret techniques passed down through the Ajiro family—a terrifying spell that traps troublesome enemies in an inescapable space.”
“…I see. So, an enemy.”
“Yes. An enemy.”
Now, here’s a little question for you.
Me, Shizuku, and Reona. One of us doesn’t belong with the other two. Can you guess who?
“I was hoping to spend at least six months playing the role of the mysterious beautiful swordswoman whose allegiance remained a mystery. You know, the whole ‘Friend or Foe?!’ routine. But it seems I got cut down before I could even get started. Ahaha!”
Well, that made sense. No matter how skilled a fighter might be, nobody wanted an uncontrollable pawn. Getting disposed of was only natural, in a way.
“Wuu… Wuu…”
For some inexplicable reason, Reona suddenly started making noises like an abandoned puppy.
“Ahhh, I wonder if there’s a five-year-old out there who’d take in a stray Reona-chan. I have a weakness for adorable faces paired with ruthless personalities, or prodigies whose abilities put adults to shame. Come on, come on! I’m a versatile little beauty who doesn’t die easily or age much, and I can serve as either a human shield or a flesh-and-blood slave. And right now, I’m offering a fantastic bundle deal that comes with four Super Reona-chan Points! Don’t you think I’m an absolute bargain?”
Four points on top of the one she’d awarded me earlier. That made five in total.
Wasn’t this the part where she suddenly pounced on me?!
What an absolutely catastrophic deal. She was practically a walking disaster!
“Shizuku, let’s look for a way out of here first.”
“Y-Yes… But what about Reona-chan? Are you really going to leave her here?”
“I’m sure she’ll find a good owner eventually.”
Praying for Reona’s good fortune, I turned and walked away.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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