Chapter 41
"He's after me!!"
I couldn't help being grateful I'd put on the mask at that moment.
Because right then, beneath the mask, I was utterly unable to process what was happening—and wearing a spectacularly stupid expression.
"There's still time! Run! Get out of here!!!!"
"………………Huh? Oh, right."
She seemed to be panicking, urging me to hurry up and go.
Wait, I thought.
Iris, the main heroine, really was strong.
In the original, she starts out looking down on the protagonist, but after Zeke-kun awakens a glimpse of his true talent and defeats her, she falls for him—a classic tsundere heroine.
Because of that, she was already pretty strong from a young age, and one of the reliable members in combat.
By the way, Carla-san was by far the strongest of the heroines, but perhaps the story decided she was too powerful with her otherworld magic. Whenever she joined the party, it was usually when she'd taken some medicine and was feeling unwell—in other words, she was basically nerfed.
Poor thing.
But...
—Dread.
Who could make her this panicked?
I turned my gaze toward the other man.
Across from us, a pale-skinned man stood swaying slightly, his expression like a Noh mask. His eyes were utterly devoid of emotion.
"Oh?" the man murmured.
"…That's an unusual interruption. I sensed a familiar magic from the village—the magic of an 【Oni】—but... who are you?"
The man asked in a tone as devoid of emotion as ever.
【Oni】??
What the hell is he talking about?
But before I could even reply,
"Run! Right now!!!" Iris cried out, her voice almost a scream.
Huh? Wait, what? I was about to ask, when the man did something unbelievable.
"Well, it doesn't matter either way."
As he spoke, the man brought the sword he was holding closer to his mouth.
"As long as you can satisfy me."
A sense of foreboding.
I had a bad feeling about this.
"……!!!"
Shock was the only thing I felt.
No way, don't do it—those words almost escaped my mouth.
The man slowly brought the blade toward his lips.
Don't do it—or rather, anything but that!
Unable to hold back, I
"………………Hey!!!!" I shouted.
—But ignoring my warning, the man did something unbelievable.
He brought the sword up to his face and then, unbelievably, gave it a lick.
"……………………"
Then he said,
"Heh heh heh. The taste of blood is irresistible. Are you the next one to face me?"
"—You've got to be kidding me."
My dry voice echoed through the area.
◆
No, I've seen that before, I wanted to say.
You know, the kind of character who's a little battle-crazed and licks a blade in manga or anime.
Saying stuff like, "Heh heh heh, my blood is boiling."
—Yeah, I've seen it before, but...
Are there really people who do that?
Do people like this really exist nowadays? This ridiculously clichéd stuff?
At the same time, I suddenly understood why this event battle had been cut from the original.
This is too much...
It's just so surreal.
"You can feel it too, can't you? His strength."
Iris said, still not even turning around.
"……………Yeah, sure. I-I guess so."
Strength?
I wasn't sure about that, but I'd definitely figured out he was... something else.
No, I'd heard of this.
Like how wine experts eat dirt to taste it, or something.
But I had one thought.
You don't do that with a blade!
"That's why," Iris continued.
"Run! Right now!!! You can't win. There's absolutely no way you can beat him!!!!"
Iris screamed as though she were leaving me behind.
"His name is Baldo, the 【Shadowless】!!!! A monster who once fought on equal terms with that 【Oni】 Enrique!!!!"
The man didn't react in the slightest. He neither confirmed nor denied it; he just looked at us.
But his reaction spoke louder than anything.
It meant Iris was telling the truth.
And I was just as shocked by that.
"Y-You mean... 【Oddball】 Enrique...???"
In that instant, I recalled the dictionary definition of "oddball."
'Oddball.'
A person whose personality, speech, or actions are unusual; an eccentric.
"……………………"
What a horrible epithet.
Even in Lasaka, there were cooler epithets all over the place.
For example, Carla-san, who wielded ice-based otherworld magic, was called 【Frost】 or 【Arbiter】.
And yet... and yet... 【Oddball】 Enrique???
What in the world.
Apparently, everyone in the Guild had already figured out that Enrique was an eccentric who acted like a big shot despite being mediocre at best.
Still, I thought, that was a vicious insult.
—But then again.
The next moment, I realized something even more horrifying.
What on earth had Iris just said?!
—A monster who had stood shoulder to shoulder with Enrique.
A chill ran down my spine.
Everything was falling into place.
Her saying he had stood shoulder to shoulder with Enrique.
And that unhygienic, chuunibyo-esque act of licking the blade over and over.
All the pieces were coming together.
Sure enough.
I'd stumbled upon the truth.
He's one of those chuunibyo types too?!
"I see. So he's on Enrique's level."
"Yes, exactly. So hurry—"
And then I understood.
Why Iris was so exhausted.
Basically, after being kidnapped and brought here, Iris had barely managed to escape her restraints and tried to fight this man, but she was outmatched—and his incredible chuunibyo antics had worn her nerves down even further.
I figured that was probably it.
Honestly, even I, who was used to Enrique, got goosebumps seeing someone lick a blade right in front of their enemy.
—There was only one thing left to do.
"So hurry up and go somewhere—"
"You did well."
Saying that, I gently patted Iris on the shoulder and stepped in front of her.
"Huh?"
Her face looked utterly stunned.
I thought as much.
Some completely inexplicable guy in a mask had suddenly shown up and was comforting her.
But I continued without worrying about that.
I told her it would be all right.
"…I don't know who you are, but... are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"No. I'm not planning on dying."
Iris stood there in a daze.
"But there's no benefit in saving me here... I'm the daughter of a concubine..."
"This isn't about benefits."
"But, I mean, that man is... a wielder of otherworld magic, magic beyond human understanding..."
"Oh, is that so?"
Having his own unique otherworld magic was incredibly rare. Why was someone like that involved in kidnapping minors out here?
...Well, whatever.
"That doesn't matter at all."
I heard Iris murmur behind me, her voice faint, asking why.
There were all sorts of reasons.
But it would be uncouth to go into all that here.
"—Because you looked like you were asking for help."
"……!!!"
A breathless gasp.
...Was that too cheesy?
Maybe it was because I'd been thinking about the psychology of love earlier, but I'd said something incredibly cheesy, completely out of character.
Well, whatever.
I nearly cringed from embarrassment, but when I thought about it calmly, it wasn't me who'd said that—it was Genesis, the mysterious masked man.
That's right.
So even if, afterward, she said, "Ew, this guy named Genesis showed up, and he's so gross☆," that wouldn't have been me. Not at all.
That's right... definitely not.
◆
In a faintly awkward atmosphere,
I confirmed Iris had fallen silent and shifted my attention from her to the man.
"Well then. It's my turn now. You don't mind, do you?"
I said, raising my sword.
"Hmph. You had a chance to run, and you threw it away. How foolish."
The man, Baldo, wore a cold smile. He raised his sword as well.
"Is it foolish valor, because you can't understand the gap between us, or are you driven by some sense of duty?"
In an instant, his magic power boiled over, and the man charged.
"Let me teach you something, masked brat!!! On the battlefield, the first to die are those who act for others—what's the point of engaging in a fight with nothing to gain!!!!"
An overwhelming burst of speed.
A slash empowered by magic to strengthen his body.
It was certainly fast and powerful.
As opening attacks went, it was perfect.
But...
—I can see it perfectly.
I'd seen plenty of slashes like that myself.
Through training with other chuunibyo sufferers.
Clang!
The high-pitched sound of our swords colliding rang out.
—The next moment, the man and I were locked in a blade clash.
"Oh? You blocked that strike," the man said, sounding impressed.
I smiled at him. "Then that's a relief."
"What?!"
Unfortunately for him,
"—I've been doing everything, from start to finish, solely for my own sake."