Shinka no Mi

Chapter 58 – The gears begin to turn

I――Louise?Baruze、cut down the demon……『Don?Horn』, which looked like an elephant with a large horn, with a single strike。

The cut body splits and falls to the ground, making a loud thud sound.

「Fuu……That should be about it」

As I looked around, mountains of demon corpses filled my vision.

The demon I had just defeated seemed to be the last one, as I was unable to see the figure of any more live demons.

It seems, that we were able to safely stop the demon’s invasion.

『It is valorous yond we we’re able to finish this task off safely. 』

(It is good that we were able to finish this task off safely.)

Suddenly、a black suit of armour emitting an intimidating aura appeared beside me。It was my colleague, the Black Paladin。

「Yes。……And so、did any of the nearby villages suffer any damage?」

『W’rry not。not a single one hast been harmed。It is the same f’r our soldi’rs。Th’re is not a single casualty』

(Worry not。Not a single one has been harmed。It is the same for our soldiers。There is not a single casualty)

「I see。That’s good」

『……But still、your combat ability is as stout as ev’r。During this invasion、i estimat’d the demons numb’r’d ov’r 5000 but、yee high-lone hadst defeat roughly a third of them』

(……But still、your combat ability is as strong as ever。During this Invasion、I estimated the demons numbered over 5000 but、you alone had defeat roughly a third of them)

「Is that really so?」

Even though the Black Paladin said that, it really did not feel as though I had did that much

But, what is certain, is that during my training with Shishou, I was able to acquire new power.

While I could not expect a sudden rise in my combat ability, the long time I spent training with Shishou has allowed me to ingrain fighting techniques into my body.

In order to endure the long training, I had to cut away all my useless movements. When avoiding attacks, I only moved the bare minimum distance. When attacking, I used my fastest and most powerful strikes, to pursue the enemy.

If the past me were to, like today, continually face off against this many demons in combat, then I would likely not have it as easy as it is right now.

Thinking about it that way, makes my lack of feeling just now seem more logical.

「Well、if everything is fine then it should be alright。I’ll lead the【Swords Saints of the Holy Maiden Valkyrie】、and head back to the capital」

『Nu?　Could thee waiteth f’r a dram while?　Th’re art still some posteth combat things to beest ――――』

(Nu?　Could you wait for a little while?　There are still some post combat things to be ――――)

「Shishou is waiting on me, so….」

『W’re thee at each moment this kind of p’rson!?　No、see……us【black c’rp of the hell – abyss?schwarz】alone shall has’t a hard timeth gath’ring the loot from the demonic being, ‘r how shouldst I sayeth this……』

(Were you always this kind of person!?　No、See……Us【Black Corp of the Hell – Abyss?Schwarz】alone will have a hard time gathering the loot from the Demonic Beings, or how should I say this……)

「Everyone、After a 30 minute break or so、we shall be heading back to the Imperial Capital」

『Listen to what I has’t to say!』

(Listen to what I have to say!)

Ignoring the Black Paladin who was making some kind of fuss behind me, I randomly picked a spot and settled down.

I heard from the reports that a wave of demons was heading towards the Imperial Capital, but since Shishou is there, it should be alright.

Immediately after I thought that, a voice that I had not heard in a long while ever since I hit level 500, echoed in my head.

『You have levelled up』

……Somehow、It seems I have become one of the『Ascendents』、like Barnabas-sama。

If it were the me from before, then I would have certainly been puzzled by this, but right now, I am Shishou’s disciple. Something of this extent will not surprise me.

Even though I finally being an『Ascendent』with much effort、being completely unsurprised、I decided not to tell anyone until I returned to the Imperial Capital、and rested up。

Ah…… I should tell Shishou first thing when I return.

I――Kannadzuki Karen、was currently with the other the other students at Barbador Academy、having a lecture on Magic and Fighting against Demons。

It hasn’t even been one week since we’ve come to the academy, and while we have experienced battling against demons, even though we were killing them, it had no effect on our mental state at all.

And it’s not like all the students were mentally tough, in fact the number of cowardly students was not few, but yet no one was worried about the fact that we were killing demons.

In fact, there were many who were excited by the fact that their combat ability (stats) rose after levelling up from killing demons.

It is likely, that when we were summoned by the Kaizer Empire, our mental structure was changed, or at least that is what i’ve theorised after coming to this academy and learning magic.

And so, right now, my status is … …

?Kannadzuki Karen?

Race : Human

Gender : Female

Job : Magic Knight

Age : 18

Level : 20

Magical Power : 1000

Attack : 500

Defense : 500

Agility : 500

Magic Attack : 500

Magic Defense : 500

Luck : 500

Charm : Immeasurable

?Equipment?

High-quality Shirt. High-quality Skirt. High-quality Blazer. High-quality Undergarments. High-quality Black Tights. High-quality Leather Shoes. Bracelet (Of Slavery). Iron Sword. Paladin Sword (On Stand-by)

?Skill?

Judgement. Double Jump.

?Magic?

Fire Attribute Magic : Middle Tier. Water Attribute Magic : Middle Tier. Wind Attribute Magic : Upper Tier. Light Attribute Magic : Upper Tier.

【Unique Magic】Paladin Attribute Magic:Max。

?Arts?

New Moon Strike

?Martial Arts?

Kannadzuki Single Sword Style : Initiate

?Title?

Hero. Conglomerate Boss’s Daughter. Leader

?Money Carried?

Is this.

It seems that as we were Heroes, compared to this world’s humans, the increase in status we get during level ups in much higher, and on top of that, besides the unique Paladin Attribute Magic that all the Heroes possess, each of us have at least 3 attributes … … We have power in our bodies that completely overturn this world’s standard of magic.

…… Because of that, there’s no helping the fact that most of the students are growing arrogant, but even though there’s no helping it……。

「But still、I can’t get used to these stares……」

「I agree……」

Shouta Takamiya, the junior from my club walking beside me, answered my mutterings.

Even though we were just walking through the hallways of Barbador Academy, gazes of fear, contempt, and everything that was the opposite of friendly, were being directed at us.

From where the stares were coming from, I noticed 3 people walking towards us.

Leading the group was a Blond European-looking male, who lightly bowed as he walked.

……Roberto?Iroas?Winberg。

Even though Shouta was quite handsome, the man walking besides Roberto had a face even beyond that, and his mannerisms and movements were so elegant to the extent that even I, who has met many of the leading figures on earth, admire.

「Why Hero-Dono。This mood……is not very elegant is it」

Roberto said, when he got near us.

However, those words held no irony or anything like it, it was purely vocalising what he felt when he saw me and Shouta.

「Oi、Big Bro。If ya stand there talkin’、then we’ll be late for the next class ya know?　The ‘cher for the next class is Dorga-Sensei ya know?」

「……Jonas。Can you not do something about the way you speak?」

「AhーNo way No way。I ain’t as smart as Big Bro。As if I could use stiff words like ‘em」

「As Royalty、You have to properly……」

「Daaaah!　Once Big Bro is King、y’all gonna handle all the negotiation and stuff right!?　I’mma more suited to swingin’ swords!　Big Bro’ll be King、and I’m ya General!　See、No probs at all!」

「Like I said、That’s not the problem……」

Both Shouta and I are stunned by the argument that suddenly developed.

The person Roberto was quarreling with, was his younger brother, Jonas?Guardian?Winberg。

Robert had smooth blonde hair and an atmosphere about him that really showed that he was a child of noble blood. In contrast, Jonas had messed up his uniform, and had the same blonde hair as Robert only in a messier hair cut, which really gave off a rough impression.

The remaining person who had thus far remained silent finally spoke up to them.

「Roberto Nii-sama、Jonas Nii-sama……how about dropping the subject there?　If not……」

He had waist long hair that was golden like Roberto、Strong-willed Blue eyes、and hidden in his Noble aura、I could feel a strength in him.。

In spite of her face being doll-like, but she gave off a feeling like she was a human, rather than being artificial, and she was Roberto’s little sister Latis?Dia?Winberg

Latis showed off her left hand clench in a fist, and covered with purple lightning.

「Do you intend to force your little sister’s hand?」

「N、No……That is not the case at all。That……Jonas、just said a little too much。My apologies」

「Ah、No、It’s my fault……I’ll、mind my speech」

(Note : Instant switch to formal speech though. 0.0)

With Latis’ words and fist, the two looked as though they were panicking, and obediently apologised.

To me, who was unable to follow the situation in front of my eyes anymore, Latis said apologetically.

「My deepest apologies、for these foolish older brothers of mine……」

「Latis。Is that not too exaggerated?」

「Yeah Yeah!　Ain’t ya da one with the foulest-mouth here!」

「And what part of that is the problem?」

Latis, with an attitude a dimension apart compared to before, replied to Robert and Jonas.

「Well, that is fine。……Hero-sama。Because we have class right now、as impolite as it might be we’ll have to excuse ourselves。Then……」

「O, oi! Mah bad, We’re gonna go meet up with our little sister now. Laters」

「Latis is just as always……Well then、Hero-dono。As for this, we’ll be excusing ourselves now……」

Jonas and Roberto said to us, before leaving in pursuit of Latis

「……What a strange bunch」

「……I think so too。They were also of the few who were not hostile to us in this academy……」

That’s right, in this academy, the people who could treat as like a normal person were precious and few.

Just that, Roberto’s group must know what the other Heroes have been doing but, in spite of that being able to interact with us normally, they must be very good at reading people.

「Now that I think about it、they’re royalty after all。If I remember correctly、it should be a name from the Winberg Kingdom but……」

「Ah、now that you say it、I recall we learnt this in Geography。They’re a country who’s had a 100 years without wars, a peaceful country fairly far away from this Kaizer Empire we were summoned to……Is that right?」

「……Yes。It’s a Kingdom where people like them are the Kings。Compared to the Kaizer Empire we were summoned to, it must be a much better Kingdom」

It felt as though the atmosphere had become a little depressing, but Shouta suddenly cried out.

「Nn?　……A-re、it’s Seto?」

When I turned to see where Shouta’s gaze was directed at, I saw one of the girls who were providing suggestions to the King, when we first had an audience with him.

If i’m not mistaken…… It was Seto Airi right?

Seto was restlessly looking around the area, and just by looking I could figure out that she was looking for something.

I approached her, and asked her what she was doing.

「Is something the matter?」

「Ah、Student Council President-san!　Nn?　And Shou-Chi too?　What’s up?」

「No、you just looked like you were looking for something so……」

「Seto、what happened to Nojima and the others?　Recently, they’ve been so quiet that I haven’t seen them at all……」

Hearing my question, and what Shouta was wondering about, Seto laughed.

「Ah, Yuka’s group?　Though ya might misunderstand from her atmosphere, Yuka isn’t really that obedient ya know?　Even on earth, she got into lots’a fights ‘cause she stuck her head into trouble……。Well、now she’s just taking classes normally with everyone else ya know?」

The person Seto was talking about, was a member of an infamous group, Nojima Yuka…… If I remember correctly, she was the leader of Ladies right?

Anyways, if it’s like what Seto said, then if there wasn’t any reason for them to go on a rampage, then they would have normally just be a group of harmless girls.

「I see。And so?　I’ve already heard about what you know but……」

「Ah、that’s right!　Student Council President-san and Shou-chi、do ya happen to know of any『Sei-chan』?」

「「Sei-chan?」」

Shouta and I both tilted our heads in puzzlement

「Yeah。I-yaa、ever since I came to this world、i’ve been looking for ‘em ……」

「……E-to、Is that a thing?　Or 、a human?」

「Sei-chan is a human you know?　Whatcha saying!」

Saying so, Seto laughed carefreely。No, if you were to suddenly say Sei-chan to me, I wouldn’t even understand what that was but……

I pulled myself together, and cleared my throat once as I tried to ask for more details.

「Nn!　And so?　Was this Sei-chan person, also summoned to this world like the rest of us?」

「We’re in the same school so、it’s probs the case、or so I thought but……」

「Then, could you tell me his full name?　That way, it’d be much easier to understand……」

「Full name?　E-to……A-re?　What’s it again?　Student Council President-san」

「No don’t look at me、I have no clue either」

「Then、Shou-Chi?」

「What do you mean『Then』!?　If Seto doesn’t know it、then there’s no way I could!」

「That’s strange……I thought Shou-Chi would know it though……」

「……I’d very much like to hear the basis from which you formed that idea……」

Shouta replied wearily。

「Fumu……You said that you’ve been looking for this Sei-chan for forever since we were summoned to this world right?」

「Yeap。Our school has a lot of people, so I thought I missed him somewhere or something like that……」

Certainly, as Seto said, the number of summoned being is high, so even if the whole school was to be gather up right now, it would be hard to find that specific person from the crowd.

In addition, because the students are almost never together, it just adds on to the difficulty of finding them.

But still, over half a year has passed, so I doubt that they wouldn’t have been found by now but……

「Why、are you looking for this Sei-chan?」

「Because Sei-chan doesn’t have many friends……So I thought that he might be troubled in this time。Besides、in the past、he saved me before……see、so……this is returning the favour!」

As Seto said that, for some reason she started to blush.

……I wonder why。Right now、Inside me, I felt as though a powerful enemy has just appeared……。

「Well that’s fine。I’ll keeping on looking around。Student Council President too, if ya ever see Sei-chan、tell him『Airin』is looking for him kay~」

「Ai、Airin?」

「Then 、that’s it for me!」

Saying that, Seto once again resumed her search.

「……How should I say this、she’s energetic huh。That girl……」

「……Yeah……Right……」

Because Shouta had given such a strangely awkward answer, I approached him, only to hear him muttering something under his breath, with an expression like he was absorbed in thought.

「……It couldn’t possibly be about that guy could it……No、but……」

I couldn’t quite understand it, but it seemed that Shouta had an idea who this Sei-chan person was.

Along with Shouta who was still thinking about that, I went off to the next class.

――――And so、I never even dreamed that I would be reunited with『Him』in the not-so far off future。

「How about it!?」

I……Seiichi Hiiragi、was troubled because I didn’t know what to do、when faced by Barna-san who was breathing heavily in front of my eyes。

The contents of Barna-san’s request was as follows : I was to be invited to Barbador Magic Academy, where I would act as a teacher.

「A-no……Why me?」

First of all, that was the matter of utmost concern to me.

In terms of magic, Barna-san was an amazing person to the point where, he was called the 【Saint of Magic】after all……

However, Barna-san had a blank expression on his face, as though the question I just asked was absurd or something.

「What on earth might you be saying、Seiichi-kun。Just moments before、the magic used to annihilate the demons、was your own Original Magic was it not?　With magic that powerful and precise, and on top of that it’s your own Original Magic, you are clearly an Ascendant far beyond me.」

How do I answer。

Apparently I、was something that went beyond a『Ascendant』。At this point、what would that even be called?　『Ascended-Ascendant』?

「Well、I get what Barna-san is trying to say……」

「If so then、will you come over as a teacher!?」

「Ho-Hold on a moment!　I still haven’t made up my mind about that!」

「Why?　If it’s about the money、I’ll pay well you know?」

No, to be honest I couldn’t care less about the money but, right now there’s a reason why I absolutely cannot leave this place.

「First of all, I already promised Louise that I wouldn’t leave the Imperial Capital until she gets back. So, at the very least …… you’ll have to wait 1 week before I can leave the Imperial Capital」

「Muu……I see、so you made this promise with Louise……Because she believed in your strength, that Louise who would never leave His Majesty’s side、decided to go to where the 『Black Paladin』was……」

That’s right, Louise left the protection of the capital to me.

…… Well, the perverts of this capital were strong enough to make me think “The Capital doesn’t really need my protection does it?”, but that was one thing, and this is another. Louise left this capital to me because she trusted me, that’s why, in order to answer the trust she placed in me, it’s only right that I remain until she gets back.

「Also, I don’t want to be separated from Saria and the others who are here」

Yes, the biggest reason that I didn’t want to go to the academy as a teacher, was that I didn’t want to separate from Saria and the others.

To be honest, I was interested about how Shouta and the others were doing, and I did want to go to the academy, but I don’t have the choice of leaving Saria and the others.

But, the only one who was invited was me, so there’s no way I could bring Saria and the other…… 。

「So that’s how it is。Then、Saria-kun… …can I call you that?　Saria-kun can be a student。Those adventurer girls ……From what I saw in the battle just now, they are perfectly capable of teaching combat in my academy, just like Seiichi-kun。For these ladies who can take down demons, they would be accepted as students, and even as teachers。My academy, is always looking for talented people。So at this point, adding a few more students or teachers would not matter much」

Saria and the others had their eyes wide open, shocked at what Barna-san had proposed.

Except……

「A-no……This child……How about Olga-chan?」

「Muu……that one is too young but……speaking of her、before we defeated the demons, I had asked Ranze but, didn’t this girl try to assassinate Ranze earlier?」

「E-to……That’s right」

「Fumu……The skills to slip past Louise’s protection、and assassinate someone huh……。Then, it’ll be fine to have you as Seiichi’s helper. How about that?」

「E-to……if you’re willing to go that extent、that I don’t really have any problems with it……」

Suddenly hearing talking behind me, I turned around to see Saria and the others.

「I’m completely OKAY!　School seems to be interesting after all!」

「I’m also not particularly against it。……Well、where Seiichi belongs、is also where I belong, or something like that……」

「I’ve been Master’s Knight from the start。No matter where you go, I shall follow」

「……Nn。If Seiichi-oniichan is going、I’ll go too」

「It’s decided then!　As Seiichi said, I intend to depart when Louise gets back. Will that be alright?

「Yes、that’s fine」

Somehow, it ended up with Saria and the others being able to go the academy too, and we were going to leave when Louise returned.

But, Barna-san is Barna-san after all, and Ranze-san seemed like he was busy, so I doubt we’ll be able to leave as soon as Louise returned like we said.

I’ll have to make various preparations before I can leave too.

Because, I have to at least say farewell to those who took care of us while we were here

「Alright、well then、I should go forth and collect my reward」

Barna-san, walked towards the Imperial Castle, with a gleeful smile on his face

…… The opportunity to meet Shouta and the others came in an unexpected form.

The Kaizer empire, seems to be making some sort threatening move, so I wanted to make sure of Shouta and the other’s safety with my own eyes.

Besides that, even though it’s through being a teacher, I was also interested in what this school life has been for this past half a year.

Saria and the others were also the same, though I think that it’s probably a more fulfilling school life than the one I had on earth.

While I was thinking of those things, we headed towards the Imperial Castle, in order to collect our rewards.