Chapter 110: Agaia

I sighed heavily.

“Haah…”

The enemy had likely waited for me to defeat the whip before escaping via transfer. Even if I’d gone after them immediately, I couldn’t have caught them.

Though I understood this logically, the nagging thought of “what if” refused to leave my mind, drawing out another sigh.

“Are you going to keep moping like that?” Jessica asked.

“Ah, shut up and leave me alone,” I grumbled.

With the wizard from Ganryu’s group gone, there was no need to hurry, so we took a brief rest leaning against nearby trees.

Seeing me like this, Jessica fussed about how we should quickly go to the temple for treatment, but the wound on my side had already mostly healed, and the side effects had completely worn off.

Even if we returned to the academy, there was no need to go to the temple for treatment.

Moreover, I didn’t want to ungratefully ignore my master’s words and listen to that complete stranger with the rolled hair, riding on the back of that ungrateful horse-head.

“Jessica, lend me your ear for a second,” I said.

“Huh? My ear?”

As Jessica tilted her head but obediently brought her ear close, I pointed at Silence and whispered:

“Ask him if he thinks he can survive after betraying his master.”

“What childish nonsense are you saying? You’re not a kid anymore.”

“Childish? I’m being deadly serious right now. If that traitorous bastard hadn’t mastered energy manipulation, I’d butcher him right-“

As I was about to unleash my deep anger towards Silence, a familiar voice transmitted directly into my mind without passing through my ears.

[Ian! Are you safe?! Is Jessica alright?!]

“Ah… We’re fine. I rescued Jessica too. We’re just resting a bit before heading back, so you don’t need to send anyone this way.”

Marina agreed with an inwardly relieved voice, likely unable to spare manpower in this direction due to the commotion at the academy.

“Was that the headmaster?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah, she said there were no casualties, but since we fought so spectacularly in the skies above the academy, they’ll have their hands full for a while.”

Thanks to the wizards and guards stationed throughout the academy, not only were there no casualties, but property damage was also minimal.

However, since we fought so flashily that it could be seen even from this distance, it would be impossible to cover up this incident.

‘Well, even worse things happened in the original story without anyone getting fired, so we’ll probably get through this somehow.’

Thinking that, I slowly got up from my seat when I sensed a faint demonic energy creeping up not far away.

‘How little…’

Though it was barely 1/10th the amount of Wolffang’s, it wasn’t so little that I could ignore it entirely.

Heaving a deep sigh, I turned my head to find an unexpected face.

“Why aren’t you running away? What are you doing here?” I asked.

The demon sword Agaia, who had kidnapped Jessica, approached us silently, limping on one leg.

Her leg wasn’t the only injured part. Her left arm, waist, and various other places were bleeding, making her look so precarious that it seemed she might collapse at the slightest breath.

“The match isn’t over yet,” she said weakly.

“No, it’s already over. You think I can’t take you down just because I bled a little?”

“Shut up and come…!!”

Saying “come,” Agaia rushed at me, but she tripped over her own feet or a stone and fell forward before even reaching me.

Though an enemy, she looked so pitiful and miserable that I felt sympathy rather than any desire to kill her.

Removing my hand from Wolffang’s hilt, I slowly approached Agaia and spoke in the gentlest tone I could muster:

“If you promise never to appear before me again, I’ll let you go.”

“……”

“I’m not even asking you to stop that nonsense about demon sword liberation movements or whatever. Just don’t show your face to me again, and I don’t care if you continue or not. So answer quickly. Will you go? Or will you die?”

“Were we wrong?” she asked weakly.

“What?”

“Very few demon swords can take human form. Structurally, other demon swords are bound to be subjugated by humans… So we wanted to liberate those swords from the shackles of humanity. Was it so wrong to say that…?”

“I don’t know what bullshit you’re spouting, but I didn’t kill you guys because you were villains. I just killed you because I wanted to draw my sword. Whether you’re right or wrong is none of my business.”

Objectively speaking, I was just a madman who picked fights with random people because I wanted to draw my sword. How could someone like me judge others?

Of course, changing the messenger doesn’t change the message, but even so, it was ridiculous for someone like me to judge who was evil.

“So what will you do? Will you just leave, or will you follow your comrades here?”

“……”

Agaia slowly rose and took a stance, pointing her sword at me, but she looked like she didn’t even have the strength left to swing it.

Heaving a deep sigh, I placed my hand on Wolffang’s hilt. As Agaia closed her eyes as if resigning herself to everything, I drew my sword towards her neck to ensure she wouldn’t feel pain.

With a dull sound, her head fell off, and her body slowly began to glow before transforming into a broken sword that fell limply to the ground.

No demonic energy or energy manipulation could be felt from the broken sword. It was just an ordinary broken sword.

“What was she trying to accomplish?” Jessica asked. “There’s no way a world where demon swords rule over humans could ever come to be…”

It was impossible for demon swords, whose numbers were absolutely inferior to humans, to dominate the world.

Even the Sword Demon Society, which was far more threatening than the Demon Sword Society, was defeated by just the protagonist and the prince in the original story.

“Well… I guess she was just dreaming,” I replied.

Using the power of the ley lines, I split the ground and threw Agaia’s blade and hilt into the crevice.

It might have seemed a bit silly to bury a sword, but this way she could rest beside her comrades, so I was sure she’d appreciate it.

Like closing a coffin lid, I used the ley line power to close the split, then set up a small gravestone using a nearby rock.

“In your next life, be born as a katana,” I muttered.

Rest in peace, you poor swords who couldn’t be born as katanas.

After finishing the funeral for the obsolete demon swords, we had rested enough and climbed onto Silence’s back to return to the academy.

“Well then, shall we head back…” I started to say.

As I mounted Silence with Jessica, I suddenly remembered Jessica’s flushed face when she had appeared earlier.

“By the way, Jessica, why were you angry earlier?” I asked.

“Earlier…? I had forgotten for a moment, but how dare you do such a thing to me!”

“Such a thing? I can’t think of anything specific… What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb!! I’m talking about how you swung me around while I was tied to a tree!!”

“Ah!! You mean our first joint Baldo?”

Strange. I’d let her experience Baldo with her whole body, so why was she so angry?

Unable to understand the reason, I looked at Jessica, who latched onto a strange part of it.

“J-Joint…!! Don’t say things that could be misunderstood if someone overheard…”

I had simply used the word “joint” because we literally drew swords together, but Jessica, whose mind was full of lewd thoughts, seemed to have interpreted it in an obscene way.

“Even if I did something wrong, I saved your life, so couldn’t you just let it slide… Come to think of it, when I saved you before, you let me touch your hair, right?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right…?”

“Then what will you let me touch this time? It was a bit tough this time, so at least your chest…”

Saying that, I glanced at Jessica’s ample bosom, then noticed her wearing a stuffy dress that didn’t show even a hint of skin, unlike the dress she had shown me before, and asked her:

“This is different from the dress you showed me, isn’t it? The one you wore before was more low-cut.”

“There’s no way I’d wear such an indecent outfit in front of other people,” she replied indignantly.

—Raei  Translations—

Perhaps because considerable time had passed since the wizard’s appearance, the academy was peaceful, contrary to my expectations.

If I had to point out one difference from before we left, it was that white snow was piled high on the roofs and roads as if winter had come.

“It’s a bit cold…” Jessica said.

As she blew on her hands, white steam rose like in winter.

I had read descriptions of the climate changing due to an Archwizard’s magic several times in the original novel, but seeing it directly like this, I couldn’t hide my surprise.

“It’s quiet for having been attacked…” Jessica observed. “Apart from the snow, not much has changed.”

“Everyone’s probably hiding in their homes or shelters out of fear. If we destroy a house here, they’ll all come running out in surprise, right?”

“People would run out even if it wasn’t this kind of situation if a house collapsed. More importantly, over there…”

Jessica pointed to the sky, so I looked up wondering what it was, and saw Marina flying towards us through the snow.

“Headmaster,” I greeted.

“Ian… And Jessica, I’m glad you’re safe,” Marina said.

“Can you really say that looking at my current state?” I asked.

“You spilled blood dramatically, but as we discussed earlier, apart from the minor wound on your side, you have no external injuries. Isn’t that right?”

I had planned to tease her a bit by pretending to be seriously injured, but I was immediately caught.

“By the way, Headmaster, do you know where Hori is?” I asked.

“No… Their goal probably wasn’t Hori, so if she’s not here, she’s likely in the dormitory or shelter. But why Hori…?”

“I have something to discuss with her.”

—