Ch.187The NPC’s Sister and Santa Riding Practice (3)

The Non-Existent Son of Minister Salber, Kesart Salber. After sharing everything about that child with everyone, I woke up early and called Gor separately.

[What’s the matter? This is unusually early for you, Ragni.]

“I kept thinking until I went to bed last night. If that child is my tracker, what they want is either my life or to kidnap me.”

[…Do you really think that child will come after you?]

Even I found it absurd, but I nodded at Gor’s words.

[In that case, wouldn’t you be able to handle it yourself?]

“Yes, if they’re only after me, I can manage somehow. It’s just a child’s actions. An ambush when I let my guard down, or perhaps assassination using poison.”

[The part about ‘if they’re only after you’ sounds ominous.]

“What if the assassins Jack dealt with… if the Emperor and Minister didn’t give up after hearing the information they passed on, how would they approach?”

[…With the master gone, I would be reported as the next most dangerous, so they’d separate me. But I haven’t been with Ragni for very long.]

“Exactly. So their target would be…”

[…Ira, the youngest and weakest in our group? This is unforgivable.]

Gor clenches her fist and turns her gaze toward the room where Rey and Ira are still sleeping.

“And just yesterday, someone approached as if measuring the distance you can detect. Whether it was Kesart Salber himself or someone associated with him, I don’t know. But probably…”

[They were trying to determine the range when Ira is practicing, when either of us would be separated?]

“Yes, exactly.”

[Then, since we shouldn’t make Ira anxious, I’ll wait below as planned. I’ll inform Rey, and you and the Dean can focus on protecting Ira…]

“No, we can’t do that. The opponent would notice. If that happens, they might escalate the situation to divert the Dean’s attention or mine. We wouldn’t know when they might approach again.”

[For Ira’s safety, I don’t think escalation is a problem? And if you’ve thought that far, we could attack right now…]

“Isn’t protecting Ira’s academy life, as Jack wanted, important too?”

[……]

I’d like to just barge in and put a gun to their head, but there might be other enemies besides Kesart. Until we know how they’ll act, one wrong move could completely destroy academy life. Especially…

“This is an enemy capable of evading your detection. If Kesart is just bait and the real enemy is elsewhere, Ira’s increased danger won’t be the end of it—other children would be in danger too.”

[…So what do you want to do?]

Seeing Gor’s eyebrow twitch in slight irritation, I can’t help but smile. When it comes to Jack or Ira, she shows quite human-like reactions. I wonder if she realizes it herself.

“I’ll explain now. First, we won’t tell Rey. We’ll end this quietly without Ira knowing. The signal will be…”

I don’t mind being targeted, but since they’ve set their sights on Ira in the process, I have no intention of quietly forgiving them. With that resolve, I shared my plan with Gor.

[…This is quite dangerous for you, isn’t it?]

“Ha! This happened because of me. Don’t worry about that.”

[…Understood. Let’s hope your prediction is wrong.]

After hearing my explanation, Gor shook her head as if it was absurd, but she properly accepted the plan.

*

This is completely off.

“Student Kesart. Is there something wrong with your body?”

“…No. Why do you suddenly ask…”

“When you enrolled, you must have taken the entrance exam related to spirit arts, but all the way to the beech tree, you stayed in the rear and only used a sword. As a teaching assistant, I’m checking if you have health issues or problems connecting with spirits.”

“……”

Looking at Kesart Salber, who frowns as if he doesn’t understand what I’m saying, I think:

‘…This is a completely different child from the one who sparred with Ira in the entrance exam.’

It’s not about appearance. I’m not particularly good at sensing magical power, so it’s not about that either.

The gaze, gestures, speech, and every single behavior when dealing with others—these aren’t what I would expect from the boy who blushed in front of a girl during the sparring with Ira.

What’s going on? Was the child switched? A twin? Could there be an identical child like this?

…No, that’s not what’s important right now.

“Excuse me, Student Kesart. Please answer? If there’s a problem, I’ll stop the practice and have you descend the mountain.”

“…No. There’s no problem. I’ll continue the practice.”

I positioned myself as a safety assistant for the first-grade elementary division and specifically marked the class where Kesart Salber was.

In the process, I confirmed two strange things about this child.

One is the behavior and speech I mentioned earlier, and the fact that he doesn’t use spirits. And the other…

“Then, would you show me your spirit arts? If I can confirm there’s no problem, I’ll permit you to continue.”

“……”

His pupils rotate for just a moment, his eyebrows twitch slightly, and the muscles near his ears move. Very small movements that wouldn’t be noticeable unless you were paying close attention.

I know these movements.

‘Basic reflexive behaviors humans show when thinking while conversing with someone.’

Since he’s talking to me now, one might think such behavior isn’t strange. But that’s not it.

If he were looking at his conversation partner, his pupils or eyebrows might move, but there’s no reason for the muscles near his ears to move after the other person finishes speaking.

Since climbing this mountain, this child has shown this behavior while talking to others more than 10 times.

‘How? Who is he talking to? I don’t see any communication crystal…’

“…How annoying.”

“Huh?”

“K-Kesart?!”

The teaching assistant who came as a guide shouts in surprise, and the rest of the children widen their eyes.

It seems I didn’t mishear, and they’re not involved.

“Too much unnecessary caution just to capture one human. I’ll just catch this guy now and be done with it.”

[…Tch!]

-Flinch!!

A heavy voice unlike what should come from a young boy’s body. And a clicking tongue sound from a completely different place. I immediately drew the gun attached to my waist…

-Grooowl.

“Eek?!!”

“Kyaa?!”

“W-what?!”

“E-everyone!! Gather around me!!!”

The teaching assistant who was with his group tries to gather the children after hearing the sudden sound and seeing the sky turn black. Naturally, Kesart didn’t move…

“Assistant!! Take the children and descend immediately!!”

“What?! Ah, yes!! K-Kesa…!”

“Are you an idiot?! Go right now!!!”

“Ah? Y-yes!!”

I blocked the boy and let them escape. Sorry, but that group’s practice… will get quite a severe deduction this time.

“Foolish human. Didn’t you understand from our conversation just now that my target was you all along?”

“Human, human… since you’re singing about humans, you’re not human yourself? What exactly are you? Something not human sent by the Empire to catch me.”

“…I see, you noticed but acted that way. However, that detestable composure of yours will only last until now.”

-Crack! Crunch!!

The body that was once a boy begins to make bone-breaking sounds, gradually swelling, and eventually growing larger than me. Horns on the head, wings on the back. And eyes turning blood-red—this appearance reminds me of some evil being I know.

…A demon. The Empire sent a demon to catch me? This is insane…

-Boom!

“If you come along obediently, I’ll only break your arms and legs before taking you.”

“Ha! And if I refuse?”

“Then I’ll kill every human who entered this mountain, and tear off your limbs before taking you.”

The creature has grown to about 3 meters tall, and its skin has turned a murky purple. Just placing its gorilla-like arms on the ground makes a loud noise—it seems quite strong.

But you know what? Judging by its expression and the situation, it seems like it plans to kill everyone regardless of whether I surrender or not.

As I quietly look up, the sky doesn’t just turn black but begins to cover the mountain with another barrier beneath the existing boundary.

“That’s clearly meant to cut off the outside, right? If you weren’t planning to kill all the kids after catching me, there’d be no reason for that.”

“…How annoying. I’ll just tear off your limbs…”

-Bang!!!

“Argh?!!”

As if confirming my suspicion, when the creature moves its arm with a grimace, I shoot a hole through its eye.

“Hey, our child is practicing right now. Could you lower your voice? And since the weather is nice today, could you clear up the sky too? Make it refreshing like your eye socket.”

“You damn human…!”

-Bang bang bang!!!

“Argh?!!”

“Amazing. I just blew it up, but it’s recovering immediately. Are all demons like you?”

Both eyes, and one shot to the solar plexus. When I fire more magic bullets, the creature writhes in pain. I then fire four shots toward the dark, empty sky. The magic bullets hit the barrier that has formed in the sky and disappear, making me frown slightly. And then…

-Boom!!

“Oh my. I thought so, but another one?”

Another demon falls from a direction unrelated to where I fired my bullets. This demon looks quite similar to a human. If not for the wings, horns, and blood-red eyes, it could be mistaken for a human.

“Tch. This is why I hate those of the Wrath hierarchy. Foolish one, go find the weakness as soon as your eyes recover. That’s all.”

“Grr!! Don’t give me that! I’ll kill this human myself…!!”

“Can’t you hear me telling you to go? I’ll handle this human.”

“…Urgh!!”

Weakness? Ah, so that’s what they’re calling our Ira.

-Click.

“Let me ask one thing. Which of you two was looking at our Ira yesterday?”

“Haa. I suspected as much, but you noticed.”

When I point my gun at both of them and ask, the demon resembling a human sighs and shakes its head.

So it was you?

-Bang bang bang bang!!! Clang!!

“Urgh?!!”

“Huh?”

“Don’t treat me like this muscle-headed fool, and stop resisting. I already know your movements, fighting style, and capabilities.”

The demon creates a black barrier with just a hand movement, blocking my magic bullets. I see, so that barrier in the sky was created by this one.

And incidentally, I aimed once more at the eyes of the Wrath demon that were recovering, but it’s a bit absurd that the other one didn’t protect it. Aren’t they comrades?

“My, my. I wonder who you were disguised as? There weren’t many humans who could have seen me fight.”

“Only this fool would be incompetent enough to need to transform into a human to assess the situation.”

…So, there are no more demons disguised near me? If it says it saw me fighting, it would have been during Jack’s test. This means I’ve been watched for quite some time.

And that means that for such a long time, neither Gor, nor Jack, nor the Dean noticed. Which means…

“You’re superior demons, aren’t you?”

“…I heard from the Minister that you were intelligent, and indeed you are. Yes, we are superior demons. Now that you know that much, obediently…”

“Pfft!”

“…?”

Ah, this is ridiculous. The incompetence of not being able to observe closely is only with that Wrath superior demon? Is that statement serious? I can’t help but laugh.

When I read in books that superior demons deceive people with intelligence higher than humans and sweet words… either the person who wrote that book met a special demon, or that person themselves wasn’t very bright.

“Hey, what’s your hierarchy? That gorilla over there is Wrath, what about you?”

“…I am of the Pride hierarchy, my name is…?!”

-Bang! Clang!!

“Ah, never mind. No need to tell me your name. I just wanted to know.”

“You insolent human…!!!”

After cutting off the demon’s words with a magic bullet, I holster one of my guns. And then…

-Shing.

“You said you saw us fighting, right? You know what? At the point where you’ve said that much and don’t realize what your actions might reveal to your opponent, don’t you think you’re also incompetent and foolish?”

“…What did you say?”

When I draw the sword I wouldn’t normally carry from my waist and point both gun and sword at it, the demon frowns as if something is strange. Yes, since it said it saw me fight, it probably hasn’t seen me use a sword before.

Well, I’m using it for the first time today.

“Argh!! This ends now!! I’ll just kill that human!!!”

“What?! You fool!! I told you to get the weakness…!!!”

-Thud thud thud thud thud!!!

As the Wrath demon with one recovered eye charges forward noisily, covering its face with one hand and shouting, I can’t help but smile.

Is it doing that because I shot its eyes too much? Really, simple enemies are fun to deal with.

“Id~iot. You can’t see to the side like that, you know?”

“Argh!! As if this body would fall for such words…!!!”

-Wham!!!

“Ack?!!”

[I’ll handle this monkey.]

“Okay~”

“W-what?! How did that golem get through my barrier?!!”

Gor, who springs out from the side, punches the charging Wrath demon away, then points a finger at me to indicate she’ll take care of it. I think everything is going according to plan.

Great. With this, we can end both the practice and Ira’s academy life as if nothing happened!

“So, I’ll leave the rest to you. Dean.”

“…What?!”

“Tch. Did you plan to have me not just face a demon who dared to enter my domain, but only clean up afterward?”

“!!!”

The Dean appears in the sky behind Gor, and the superior demon widens its eyes in surprise. That’s amusing. But…

-Bang!! Clang!

“Don’t worry. I’ll be your opponent, since the Dean has other things to do.”

“T-this, this can’t be…!!”

-Whoosh!!

The ominous black sky covering the mountain returns to clear blue with the Dean’s magic. The barrier doesn’t seem to have disappeared completely, but well, with its creator right in front of us, that’s hardly an issue.

“…H-how is this possible?! H-how?! The plan was perfect! The barrier didn’t even break…!!!”

“Ahahahaha!! What’s that? That’s really stupid. Oh right, what did you say earlier? Who’s the weakness, who’s foolish, and what’s ending?”

-Step, step, step.

The demon’s bewildered shouting is amusing and I’d like to watch more, but there’s not enough reason to drag this out. Besides, Ira’s group is climbing quickly, so they’ll be down soon at this rate.

“Damn it, if I could just take you…!!”

-Clang!!

“?!!”

“Ahahahaha!!! You know my capabilities? You know my fighting style~? Foolish demon. Do you still think you know?”

-Clang!! Clang!!

“W-what?!! Y-you clearly use your fists and that ranged weapon…!”

“It’s funny how you call yourself Pride when you’re at this level.”

-Clang!!

“Urgh?!!”

“Ahahahahahaha!!!”

After easily pushing back the demon who was frantically swinging black barriers and fists in panic using “Rey’s swordsmanship,” I laughed loudly.

Oh, what should I do? I seem to have this side of the wall too.

“Superior demon of Pride~ Little demon whose name I don’t need to know~ I’ll give you two choices.”

Facing the demon who seems too shocked by my movements to charge again, I smile and speak like my beloved. Of course…

“One, speak quickly now and die cleanly. Two, resist to the end, get torn apart miserably, beg for your life, tell us everything, and then die. So~ which will it be?”

No gentle options like Jack would give.

My body feels so heated it’s funny, and I smile as I bring down the grip of my gun on its head without even listening to its response.