Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy
Reiji
Following the marks left by Hayato, I frantically ran through the forest.
Even though it was nighttime, the visibility wasn’t too bad, thanks to the innate night vision this body possesses, combined with the fact that this world has two moons instead of one… Still, I have to hurry and catch up with Hayato as soon as possible.
After running like that for a while, I spotted two humanoid figures from across the road, whose golden and silver hair shone brightly in the darkness… Wait, aren’t they…?!
“Aini-san! Iris!”
It was Aini-san, who was supposed to be kidnapped, came walking with Iris on her back. When she noticed me, her tense face broke into a smile.
“Reiji-san, thank goodness… I didn’t know you were this close by.”
“It’s Hayato who led me here… You can leave Iris to me now.”
Iris’ body was small and light, but still a heavy load for the average woman to carry. I thanked Aini-san for bringing her here and held Iris in my left arm.
Her body temperature, which I could feel through the fabric of her thin nightgown, had risen even higher than before. Her feverish face was constantly sweating, and her breathing sounded labored.
And… that heavy collar around her neck. I bit my lip in frustration when I saw such an uncomfortable and immoral object on her delicate body.
“…Rei…ji…san?”
“……”
Iris opened her eyes before I knew it and turned toward me.
“…Reiji-san… Reiji-san… Reiji-san…!”
Immediately, she began crying and clung onto me for dear life. The look on her face was awfully similar to that traumatic day. Despite my trembling hands, I managed to hug her closely.
“Yeah, it’s me… You’re gonna be alright, because I’m here.”
“…Thank you… I had… a terrifying dream… but yes… Reiji-san’s here…”
With glazed eyes, she spoke to me as if she was in a trance or something. Whatever happened back there must have really messed her up.
“It was just a bad dream, yes… now, sleep well, okay?”
“O…kay…”
She quickly fell asleep again, perhaps reaching the limits of her physical strength.
Even in her sleep, tears were still dripping from the corners of her eyes… but at least her expression was peaceful, which is a slight relief for me.
“Um, can I ask something? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but that was clearly the symptoms of some kind of psychological trauma. Just what happened to her?”
“…Right, I suppose I should tell you. She was captured by bandits. While we managed to save her before something irreversible happened, well, that sure left some huge mental scars on her.”
“I see… It must be painful for all of you…”
“Of course… I thought she’d get better once she gets to know and interact with more people, but now she’s like this again… Shit!”
I was concerned that she might go back to square one. After all, the current situation was similar to that time, whether we liked it or not.
“…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have let my patient become like this…”
“I don’t blame you, Aini-san. We’re at fault for dragging you into this mess… By the way, where’s Hayato?”
Despite Hayato being the one who led me here, he was still nowhere to be seen. Neither was the mayor’s private army, who should be pursuing the escaped hostages.
The stealth-class Hayato had unparalleled striking power under special circumstances, but in face-to-face combat in an exposed position, he was no better than Saul or me. What if he had to fight the mayor’s goons all by himself…?
“He remained behind so that both of us could escape… Please, save him as well…”
“Damn… Gotcha, I’ll be on my way now-”
No wonder Saul was concerned about him so much, that boy had a much bigger backbone than I gave him credit for.
It was because of him that I was able to save Iris, so I could obviously never leave him behind.
As I was about to run back the way Aini-san came, I felt a chill.
“Watch out!”
“Kyah?!”
I jumped back with Iris in tow and grabbed Aini-san with my right arm, which was still free.
A throwing knife was stuck on the ground nearby. It was clearly aimed at me.
“I missed… Such good instincts you have. I was hoping this job’s not too much of a trouble.”
One by one, black-clad figures appeared from the shadows of the trees.
There were seven of them as far as I could see. But I sensed more of them lurking nearby.
All of them wore black robes to blend into the night, complete with an unadorned black mask to hide their faces except the eyes. Armed with claws, daggers, chain scythes and other weapons, apparently those people were out for my blood.
Assassins after my ass? Great.
“Who the hell are you?”
“…Leave that girl behind. Our employers wish to see her one way or another.”
A voice came from somewhere. It sounded as if perhaps their leader or some other person was speaking on behalf of them, but, I couldn’t tell which of the black-clad people is speaking.
But more than such trivial matters… he said something that I couldn’t ignore.
“Your employers?”
“Correct. That lowly mayor is nothing compared to them. If you don’t comply, consider your life forfeit… right here.”
I felt Aini-san pulling on my sleeve. When I glanced at her, she was staring daggers into those men.
“They seem to be from the ‘Black Cheshire’, the largest underground organization of the Trade Federation on the western continent… I heard that there was a recent complication with their personnel and that many of their executives had changed…”
“Wow, how nice of them to cross continents just to see us. So they’re the real culprits enabling that pig mayor’s scheme?”
But why would they target Iris?
The way they were talking now, it was as if their employers had already known about her existence.
That brings the question of how they managed to obtain such knowledge.
“…If you still can’t make up your mind because of your pride or whatever getting in your way, perhaps this will help.”
A leather bag fell with a heavy thud to the ground in front of me.
“…What the hell are you on about?”
“There’s enough money in it for a traveler like you to live for a few years. If you still want to live, take it, leave the girl here, and get lost.”
“…Heh.”
I stooped down and picked up the leather bag.
“R-Reiji-san?”
I could hear Aini-san raising her voice in confusion. However, I repeated the action of lightly releasing the leather bag in my hand and then catching it.
“…You’re being awfully generous, you know?”
“That’s simply how much the girl’s worth. A clueless vagabond like you has no right to carry such a treasure around while knowing nothing about her true values.”
“So, what if I take the money and you guys still kill me anyway?”
“I can assure you that we’ll keep our words. Or perhaps you want even more money…?”
I’d had enough of his prattling, which was getting more and more annoying every word he spoke.
“Keh, haha… hahahahaha!”
I guess people have to laugh when things become so ridiculous that it’s beyond their tolerance.
The weight I felt in my hand made me understand that it is definitely full of gold coins.
Does it even matter, though?
“DON’T FUCK WITH ME, YOU PIECES OF SHIT!!!”
Without warning, I tossed the leather bag into the air and slashed at it in anger.
My sword caught fire the moment it came out of the scabbard, instantly turning the leather bag to ash and scattering the golden mass of its contents into a red-hot mess on the ground.
The sheer firepower caused the men in black to be alert, but it’s too late for those fuckers now, for they had poked the hornet’s nest!
“…Hey, assholes… Was that supposed to be a joke? Because that’s the shittiest joke I’d ever had the displeasure to hear!!”
Too unfunny. One hundred percent unfunny.
Every single one of these assholes would gladly hunt down and trample on Iris’ life for such a pathetic reason like money or power.
And I’m so fucking sick and tired of this shit!!
“Aini-san.”
“Y-Yes?!”
My voice came out colder than expected.
I felt bad for Aini-san behind me, whose face turned pale… but I couldn’t seem to contain this simmering feeling in my gut. I’m really sorry for scaring you, Aini-san.
“Did those guys put the collar on Iris?”
“…It was the mayor. But I’m sure they were the ones who brought him the collar in the first place.”
“So that’s how it is.”
I regulated my breathing.
Not to calm myself down, I had no intention of doing so.
I wanted to reforge my blade and sharpen my will to kill with my anger.
“Sword Saint’s special skill, ‘Form is Emptiness’.”
I raised my hand into the sky and mumbled the name of the skill and had been pouring into my mind.
Twelve translucent, shining swords manifested out of thin air.
They then swooped down and formed a circle around me and Aini-san to protect us.
“…Sorry to ask you this, Aini-san… but do not leave this circle of swords at all costs. I’m not sure if I can avoid inadvertently cutting you if you step outside.”
“O-Okay, I won’t…”
After confirming that she remained close by, I re-held Iris in my arm and prepared for battle.
“……Fool. We’ve heard about your bravery, but you’re no match for us…”
“Stop the pointless chatter and come at me already.”
I wondered which one is the bastard who spewed out that pile of crap on behalf of these assholes… Whatever, I’ll just cut them down all the same.
Each of them was quite skilled in their movements. And there were a lot of them. I’m sure they saw us fighting back in the town and brought as many as they needed… but!
“Die!”
“Fuck off!”
One claw wielder jumped in ahead of the others. I simply grabbed one of the floating “swords” and swung it at him.
As he tried to block it with his claws…
“…?!”
The “sword” cut through his defense like hot knife through butter before vertically bisecting him from head to crotch and disintegrating.
Drat, this one’s a decoy. I sense in the air more of them coming from other directions.
“Compared to Hayato, your skills is nowhere near his!”
Back in that tunnel, Hayato didn’t give the slightest sign of his presence until just before striking with “Assassinate”, which was much more deadlier!
Turning around, I grabbed another “sword” and swung it at the seemingly empty space.
Crimson blood spread out in a fan shape, and two halves of a human body fell down into the mud.
These “swords” are similar in nature to Iris’ “Solid Ray”, I thought coldly despite still seething with anger.
The difference is that instead of being used for defense, it’s specialized in sharpness and killing power.
Monomolecular cutter. I was reminded of such a thing from my old world.
It’s not a physical blade, but rather a force field formed by my fighting spirit and stretched as close to zero as possible. Therefore, it had the instantaneous and absolute strength that could enter the gap between the molecules of any material and cut them apart without pain.
Twelve swords of absolute cutting ability, each of which would fatally sever anything once before expiring.
And I still had ten of them left. That’s more than enough.
My enemies were growing agitated. Perhaps they had been expecting an easy fight because of their advantage in number, but it’s too late for them to realize their miscalculation now.
If I let even a single one get away, they’d surely come back for Iris!
One of them gave a signal for his comrade behind him, who then turned back, likely to retreat.
The sword that had received my will ran through the air, piercing his back and heart before it collapsed and disappeared, leaving only a stardust-like gleam. Nine more swords to go.
So this is another way to use these swords without having to hold it in my hand.
“Hraaah!”
One of them, sensing the danger, threw something like a dagger at me and Aini-san. It appeared to be wet with some kind of liquid, poison without a doubt.
However, it was intercepted by one of my “swords”, destroying both of them in the process.
Seven left… no, six left. Another sword took off on its own and chopped the head of the man who just threw the dagger right off.
The last thing I wanted in this fight was to burden Iris any further. To do that, I had to kill all of them as fast as possible with minimal movement.
It was a strangely straightforward objective now that I think about it.
In the extreme concentration of my thoughts, color faded from my vision and a monochrome world unfolded.
Amidst the black and white color, stitch-like red lines ran across my field of view, forming a path to my position.
I could tell that the men in black were coming at me from three directions at the same time. The timing of the attacks made it tricky for me to avoid them normally.
I pulled the sword I borrowed from Zeltis out of its sheath and threw it at the man on the right, who would be the slowest to reach me. The sword hit him squarely in the shoulder, and he reeled back in shock.
He would probably get back up and try again, but I could leave him for last.
These assholes think they can do whatever they please, and for what? Money? Power?
By now, one assailant had gotten close enough to lunge at me with his katars, I believe that’s what they’re called.
I grabbed a floating “sword” and cut him off by cleaving haphazardly from right to left. As soon as it got destroyed, I immediately held onto another “sword” that had slipped into my hand in a reverse grip, and promptly thrust it into my opponent’s now-defenseless heart.
Four swords left.
Screw you all… No one will ever take her from me… No one!
Before the splattered blood could even get to me, I kicked the body away and retreated to keep a distance from the man approaching me from the left.
Then, with my entire body, I swung a “sword” that I grabbed from behind, just a bit above Aini-san’s head, who was crouching down for cover, and slashed the claw-wielding man from his right shoulder to his left waist. The top half of his body split off and fell onto the mud while the lower half was still standing.
Without a moment of pause, I let go of the shattered “sword” and pointed my hand toward the man aiming at me with his bow from the shadow. Two “swords” floating behind me took off in pursuit.
One of them shattered the arrow he fired in a panic and disappeared into the void, while the other pierced his head, went straight through his brain and lodged itself into the tree he was hiding in.
This is the last sword…!
I’ll beat the stuffing out of anyone who dares to take her away from me!
I slammed the last remaining “sword” into the enemy on the right side, who had regained his posture after I threw Zeltis’ sword at him earlier. He was cut down without any resistance and the halves of his body slowly went their separate way.
Suddenly, I had a bad feeling running down my back.
I quickly pulled out Zeltis’ sword from the corpse’s shoulder and thrust it into the space behind me.
There was a dull, flesh piercing sensation as it connected with someone’s body.
“Ugh… who on earth are you…?”
I know this one. He was the loudmouth from earlier!
“You ain’t taking Iris anywhere… SHE’S MINE!!!”
I let go of the sword, turned around 180 degrees and grabbed it again.
“SO KEEP YOUR DIRTY HAND OUT OF MY WOMAN YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!”
With as much force as I could muster, I swung the sword across his torso, cutting it in half.
As the last enemy collapsed into the mud, the only living, breathing souls around here were me, Iris in my arm, and Aini-san, who had been following behind me the whole time.
“Is that… all of them?”
Color returned to the world. My overclocked brain became dizzy from the influx of information that ran through it.
My fighting spirit was also all but drained. I felt nauseous from fatigue and dizziness, but I held it in with my strength because I still had to hold Iris in my arms.
“Form is Emptiness”, formidable as it is, was really taxing to use, and not something I could use regularly.
I finally breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that not a drop of blood had been spilled on Iris in my arms.
“Uh, Aini-san? Sorry, I shouldn’t have shown such a gruesome sight to a woman…”
“Eh?! I don’t really mind! It was kind of a surprise, that’s all.”
Pardon?
I thought she should be really taken aback by what I just did, but for some reason her face was slightly red, and she seemed to look at me and Iris with a warm gaze.
Okay, okay, now’s not the time to think about such a thing.
“By the way…”
“I know! We still have to save Hayato! Hurry!”
With that, I started running into the darkness of the night again.
(Author’s Note)
Reiji-san’s kicking some serious ass this chapter. That last part was him yelling his desire out loud because he was carried away by the flow of combat.
About “Form is Emptiness”: It was originally meant to replicate the Sword Saint Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru’s technique (TL: I don’t get this reference), but since he only had one free arm throughout the entire fight, this is how it was used instead.
About the opponents: They were by no means weak, to the extent that Reiji-san would have to abandon Aini-san and adopt a hit-and-run tactics to pick them off one by one.
Using group tactics, some of them would hold Reiji-san back while the rest finish him off… but they wouldn’t get a chance to do that because each of them got one-shot by Reiji-san, bypassing all kinds of defense.
“Form is Emptiness” is a terrific skill indeed.
APM - Translation 