Master often said things that sounded like the ravings of a colossal dumbass.
They had nothing to do with teaching me or anything like that. They were more like delusions.
“Being a Hero is a real piece-of-shit business.”
Master always started with an excuse like that.
“But I was stupid ever since I was a kid, you know. I admired them. King Arthur and guys like that. Momotaro, The Lord of the Rings, whatever. Anyway, they had courage, and they fought bad guys.”
Maybe he found it horribly embarrassing, because whenever he got drunk, Master would rattle on about that kind of thing in a rush.
“Even now, I keep hoping someone like that exists somewhere. That’s why I’m still in this business.”
He was the kind of man who would never say he wanted to become one himself.
But he believed in fairy-tale crap like that. Ed Silas, Ishinoo, Joe, all of us made fun of him. When we did, Master yelled and hit us. It often turned into a brawl, and once everyone got drunk, the whole thing got blurred over.
Thinking back on it, maybe Master really was a colossal dumbass.
I perceived the situation shifting through accelerated thought.
Sera, isolated, was trying to come back this way. Indo was doing nothing but carrying out her job. She tore off the arm of a monster leaping at Sera, rolled away from the counterattack, then went straight for the next target. She fought like a hunting dog.
And Shirogamine, spilling blood onto the floor, tightened her grip on her one-handed sword. Her breathing was rough.
“I’m going. Please leave this to me, your foremost disciple.”
“You arrogant little shit.”
I wanted to grab Shirogamine by the shoulder and punch her while I was at it, but my left arm still would not move. My right hand was clenched around my bastard sword.
“You ruined the plan. Now everyone’s going to die.”
“No. We will all go home together.”
Shirogamine stood up.
“I was taught that a Hero is hope.”
Another giant was approaching from the front.
Shirogamine was not going to take down another one with spiritual platitudes. That was reality, but condemning her for it was missing the point. Fine. Shirogamine was that kind of person.
No choice.
I closed my eyes for just an instant and dragged up every last bit of willpower I had.
I would stack another dose of <E3> on top.
My injuries would probably heal in less than three seconds. I would clean up those stupid monsters.
After that—
I did not have the luxury of thinking about “after.”
Most likely, I would need my own will and a little more luck besides. When <E3> was administered in multiple doses, there were plenty of cases where the senses went wrong and stayed wrong, or where neurotransmitter secretion became abnormal and never returned to normal. The odds were about sixty percent.
Which side would I end up on?
“Shirogamine.”
I threw away my bastard sword and reached into my pocket. I had <E3>.
“Back off. Lie down. I’ll do it.”
“I am a Hero.”
Shirogamine was stubborn. With a dead-serious face, she watched the charging giant.
“If I am not, then what am I?”
How the hell should I know?
The giant came closer. I pulled out the <E3> injector and brought it toward the side of my neck.
In the instant before the tip touched me, everything changed dramatically.
It was a metallic sound, like an iron rod piercing my eardrum.
A whistle, I realized a beat late.
The sound was so sharp it felt like it had stabbed all the way into the center of my brain. Though really, I only managed to identify it in that split second because I could stretch out my perceived time and analyze it. Shirogamine, Sera, even Indo showed a more primitive reaction.
They covered their ears and crouched where they stood.
It was far more effective on the grotesque giants. New chapters come out on g.com first.
The monsters let out strange shrieks that sounded like apes and collapsed where they were. Maybe it was a whistle that delivered some special stimulus to their nerves. Their reaction was that excessive.
And then that person jumped down from the ruined second floor.
A small figure.
Something long and cylindrical hung from the figure’s neck. Probably a whistle. The whistle that had produced that horrifically grating sound a moment ago.
The figure landed on the rubble and looked down at us arrogantly.
“I wondered why the giants were taking so long in a place like this.”
The face was hidden behind a gaudy mask, the kind used in Peking opera, probably meant to look eerie. But I recognized that voice. A woman. And a hoarse voice roughened by ether burn.
She had been called Levi.
“You.”
Levi was looking straight at me.
I had been masked that night too, but if what Shirogamine said was true, this woman remembered “scents.” She must have been able to identify me as the man from that night.
“You keep causing me trouble. The giants wasted time.”
There was a faintly gloomy note in Levi’s hoarse voice.
“As expected, unsuitable base bodies are no good. Their intelligence and intellect are both far too low. I have no time to waste dealing with people like this.”
Looking around at the grotesque things, Levi gave a slight shake of her head.
“Thanks to you, this has become troublesome work. This is your fault—now, what should I do with you?”
“Master, get back. I’ll protect you.”
Shirogamine gave a low growl while pressing a hand over the left half of her face.
She really was a ridiculous disciple. She was saying it with perfect seriousness.
I ignored Shirogamine. I understood that this was the brink.
“—A deal, Levi.”
I showed her the <E3> in my hand.
“As you can see, I’m in bad shape, but I’ve got plenty of <E3> on me.”
“So you intend to use it?”
Her voice was mocking.
“If you’re lucky, perhaps you can become like me.”
Levi put her hand on the curved sword at her waist, showing the motion of drawing it. She was right. I accepted her point and nodded.
“If I’m unlucky, I might go insane and fight you until one of us dies. Do you have that much free time, to waste it fighting a first-rate Hero like me? What do you think?”
For a few seconds, Levi and I glared at each other.
Until Levi snorted and took her hand off her curved sword.
“A waste of time.”
With only that, she turned her back to me.
I had thought that was how this would go. Given the situation, her target was not me, or Sera, and certainly not Shirogamine or Indo. It could only be Lord <Storm Coffin>.
“Wait! As a Hero, I can’t just let you—”
Shirogamine started to say something very much like Shirogamine, and so worthless it made me want to die.
The sound of the whistle cut her off again.
Sharp.
Stronger than before. For an instant, I even felt pain deep inside my ears. Shirogamine clutched her head and staggered.
I somehow managed to support her.
I wanted to make some excuse for this reflexive action, but nothing came to mind.
Levi hurried away toward the back of the entrance hall. I had no idea what mechanism controlled them, but the giants slowly followed her with sluggish movements. I saw Sera and Indo coming closer while shouting something.
But through my extremely slowed perception, I saw it. Find the original chapter at g.com.
The left half of Shirogamine’s face.
Her left eyeball was recovering, twitching as it writhed. The distorted left eye looked at my face as I supported her.
“Master.”
I do not really remember what Shirogamine said then.
I only stared blankly as Shirogamine’s left eye slowly repaired itself.
I had only one thought.
With the effects of <E3>, it was absolutely impossible to restore lost limbs or lost organs.
Aki Shirogamine.
Was this girl really human?
That day, Lord <Storm Coffin> disappeared.
You could say that night was the dividing line, the point when western Tokyo turned back into the old conflict zone.
Ed Silas’s bar grew busy too, with plenty of new faces showing up. Now that Demon King activity had intensified, it was only natural that Heroes aiming to strike it rich would appear.
But as usual, Ed Silas apparently had no intention of running a proper business. He only played card games with me, Joe, and Marta. He showed almost no courtesy to the new customers, and did not seem to want to talk to them either.
That was the kind of man he was.
That night, we talked while glaring at each other across the card table.
I had a lot of things I needed to ask Ed.
“About your master?”
Ed Silas said.
“I knew him a long time, but I don’t know much either.”
“You’re lying, right?”
“He was an idiot, you know. Hey, my <Burning Cavalry> is coming through. Move those infantrymen out of the way.”
“Wait. That story about Master being married—was that true?”
“Are you stupid?”
Ed laughed through his nose.
“You think that man could get married? Hey, once those infantrymen are cleared out, you’re next, Yashiro. Hurry up and move your infantry!”
“Not happening. I still have <Silver Cheval de Frise>—that master of mine had a daughter, didn’t he?”
“How the hell should I know? That shitty <Cheval de Frise> ends here. I’m bringing out an elephant. I’ll crush your headquarters and all.”
“Shit.”
I swore and glared at Ed’s face.
“Come on, Ed. I’ll move the <Cheval de Frise>, so tell me the truth. What was my master? Wasn’t he just an idiot?”
“He was the strongest Hero I ever knew.”
Ed Silas took a long drag from his cigarette.
“He died over something stupid.”
“I know that part. Say it properly.”
“No can do. I made a promise. Well, I doubt he had any regrets.”
As he blew out smoke, Ed twisted his face.
“At the very end, he got to do what he wanted.”
I could not tell whether he was laughing or angry.
But I understood one thing.
I had something I needed to do.