Chapter 98
Settings + Bonus
● Characters
※ These stats are purely for flavor.
※ For Strength and Agility, an average adult male is rated '10,' a military special-forces soldier '15,' and a world-record holder or Olympic gold medalist '20.' However, the larger the numbers become, the greater the difference represented by a single point.
'Yahiro Kota'
Race: Half-Human, Quarter-Elf, Quarter-Oni
Spirit Rank (LV): 32
Strength: 68
Endurance: 68
Agility: 68
Magic: 68
Abilities: Scroll Creation, Demon Eye of Foresight, Mistletoe Arrow
Unique Ability: Blood of Rejuvenation
Remarks
The protagonist of this work. His father is a half-elf and his mother is a half-oni. He is commonly called a 'mongrel.'
His talents apart from his abilities are ordinary, but he is absurdly talented when it comes to abilities. Perhaps for that reason, his stats are high compared with others in the same level range, and he grows quickly as well.
He is a rather complicated existence: a production-type class that looks like a mage capable of close combat, but is actually more like a healer, and whose abilities are not specialized in any one area. He is also the sort of person you can always add to a party when you are having trouble deciding on its composition.
His level grew rapidly during the battle at Tatsumin Land. For ability users, 'LV: 30' can be considered one of the major walls, so perhaps this has expanded the range of things he can do.
After returning from the training camp, his parents were extremely worried about him, but he could not stop wondering whether he had gained a younger brother or sister.
'Takanashi Miyu'
Race: Human
LV: 16
Strength: 28
Endurance: 31
Agility: 38
Magic: 27
Ability: Guts
Remarks
The first heroine? of this work. A soldier from the future, one hundred years from now.
Though it is called the future, it is a parallel world, so whatever she does in this world has no effect on the world she came from.
Her talent as an ability user is catastrophically poor, but she is gifted in many areas outside of that. In particular, her skill as a pilot of humanoid weapons is good enough to call her an ace without reservation.
However, because she has piloted in a brain-in-a-can state since the age of seven in a world on the verge of human extinction, she is extremely unfamiliar with common sense. Only recently has she become able to get through daily life with barely any problems.
She is a 'K' in a certain respect that shall remain unspecified. She is probably the largest among the people in the story.
She is planning to make the Yahiro Kota of this world wear the outfit of a social-game character based on her favorite future hero, Yahiro Kota, after he was gender-swapped. Her motive is a disastrous gacha pull. Future social games have no pity system.
'Inoue Riko'
Race: Dark Elf
LV: 26
Strength: 58
Endurance: 49
Agility: 61
Magic: 66
Abilities: Enchantment Magic, Lightning Magic, Curse Poison Magic
Unique Ability: Unknown (It is only known to steal vitality and magic from its targets.)
Remarks
The self-proclaimed 'gal who is kind to otaku,' and the heroine? of this work. Others call her 'an otaku girl pretending to be a gal.'
After awakening as a dark elf on the 'Day of Regression,' she inexplicably began calling herself a gal. She is a strange person.
She has considerable talent as an ability user, but she is also talented in other areas. Apart from calling herself a gal, she is an accomplished and attractive person with both brains and athletic ability. As an otaku, she is the cheerful type.
She is particularly confident in her programming and cooking skills. The former are above average for a student, while the latter are better than those of an incompetent professional. However, outside café food, her cooking is only barely good enough to call professional.
Regarding her Unique Ability, she says, 'Anyone who sees it is sure to be horrified,' and she does not want to use it except in emergencies.
She is an 'E leaning toward F' in a certain respect that shall remain unspecified. Since her physical age is currently fourteen after becoming a dark elf, she may still develop.
'Ishiyama Iwako, Soul Name: Rosso Vendetta'
Race: Dhampir
LV: 28
Strength: 60; Night: 64
Endurance: 55; Night: 59
Agility: 62; Night: 66
Magic: 62; Night: 66
Abilities: Superhuman Strength, Acceleration, Increased Regeneration Speed
Unique Ability: Unknown
Remarks
A twenty-five-year-old single woman who is the heroine? of this work.
After various events in the previous arc, she now lives with her mother in an apartment relatively close to the café 'Alf.'
Until the 'Day of Regression,' she was a semi-shut-in who made money as a day trader. Apparently, she did fairly well.
She has considerable talent as an ability user, but in a parallel world, the combination of persecution against her race and ability users turned her into 'an enemy of humanity.' She was defeated by that world's Yahiro Kota, leaving her with a massive psychological scar.
She is a severe case of chuunibyou and still has not escaped the mire even at twenty-five. If anything, she has no desire to escape it. She is a self-proclaimed noble of the demon world.
During the battle at Tatsumin Land in this arc, she let out an extremely manly battle cry from atop the Ferris wheel.
She is a 'G' in a certain respect that shall remain unspecified. In a certain respect that shall remain unspecified.
Due to the traits of a dhampir, her stats rise slightly at night. She can also fly by consuming magic, and her regeneration speed increases further.
'Ryugu Kanako'
Race: Human
LV: 34
Strength: 62
Endurance: 68
Agility: 57
Magic: 63
Abilities: Magic Barrier, Breath of Ice, Greaves of Twilight
Remarks
The heroine? of this work, a girl in a mascot costume who calls herself 'Tatsumin.' She is twenty years old.
When she was in high school, monsters killed her parents, and the house and fields where she lived were swallowed by a landslide.
She bought an abandoned house in her hometown village and lives there. She is strongly attached to Tatsumin Land, her only remaining 'family memory,' and has no intention of leaving that land.
In a parallel world, she fought alone against the monsters that overflowed from the dungeon to defend Tatsumin Land. Her battle saved half the villagers, but Ryugu Kanako, Tatsumin Land, and the village all vanished from this world.
When wearing her mascot costume, she calls herself 'Tatsumin.' When she is not wearing it, she uses the name 'Ryugu Kanako.' Apparently, she can barely count as 'Tatsumin' even in a mascot-costume pajama suit or a Tatsumin-branded cloth mask.
She is a 'G' in a certain respect that shall remain unspecified. In a certain respect that shall remain unspecified.
After graduating high school, she did not continue her education for financial reasons and works as a hunter and adventurer. She also does heavy labor in the village and works as a sort of general handyman. In a sense, she is the most adventurer-like of them all.
For some reason, Riko says, 'Kana-chi seems subtly like she'd have a lot of emotional moisture,' but the inside of her mascot costume is extremely comfortable thanks to her ability. Another person could fit inside; it would be cramped, but the temperature and humidity would not be a problem.
'Kamishiro Kinue'
Race: Human
LV: 10
Strength: 27
Endurance: 25
Agility: 30
Magic: 30
Abilities: Fire Magic, Magic Regulation
Remarks
An adventurer belonging to the same clan as Kota and the others, 'Alf.' She is a university student.
A strange person who tries to turn everything into a picture. She deliberately tries to 'act strange,' but she is more than strange enough to begin with.
Her talent as an ability user is 'average for a Japanese ability user.' If anything, her Fire Magic is activated not by chanting, but by drawing magic letters and magic circles in the air. Magic Regulation is an ability that reduces magic consumption, making it slightly rare.
She is good at drawing people and objects realistically. She is also a fast artist.
However, she was rejected by an art college because she was considered lacking in distinctive expression and sense. She hopes to one day prove those evaluations wrong.
That aside, she has no intention of limiting herself to work as an 'artist' in order to make a living from art. She sometimes draws portraits of passersby in the street, and she also sells illustrations of anime and game characters at a certain festival.
She is a 'B' in a certain respect that shall remain unspecified. In a certain respect that shall remain unspecified.
She has messy black hair and a stoop. Though she wears a sardonic smile, her actual features are fairly attractive.
'Inubosaki Meito'
Race: Beastkin (Kikimora)
LV: 10
Strength: 28; Monster Form: 33
Endurance: 26; Monster Form: 31
Agility: 30; Monster Form: 35
Magic: 32; Monster Form: Unchanged
Abilities: Monster Transformation, Household Magic
Remarks
Another adventurer belonging to the clan 'Alf.' Originally male, Meito's race changed to 'Kikimora' after awakening as an ability user on the 'Day of Regression.' This caused a sex change.
Meito has the appearance of a beautiful woman with gray bobbed hair. Meito always wears a maid uniform. The only other clothes Meito can wear are a maid's kimono, a maid bikini, and the 'original maid uniform' consisting of a hemp shirt, long skirt, and headscarf. When Meito wears ordinary clothes, the maid factor runs wild.
Meito is constantly on the verge of losing the self he had as a man and is gradually becoming a refined maid. At this point, Meito cannot speak in the original manner without consciously trying.
To vent the maid factor, Meito occasionally turns clan members into service sandbags. The main victims are Kinue, whose private life is far too hopeless, and Tatsumin, whose village has thirteen dungeons and is consequently a difficult place to live.
Moreover, Meito's original personality was already that of 'a seriously useless person who had merely not broken the law yet—in other words, probably someone who would eventually do something illegal,' so the people around Meito think, 'Wouldn't it be better to just become a maid at this point?'
Meito is an 'H' in a certain respect that shall remain unspecified. In a certain respect that shall remain unspecified.
Also, in a respect that shall remain unspecified, Meito is a 'two-sword wielder.' In a respect that shall remain unspecified.
Meito's monster form resembles a cool villainous monster from a tokusatsu production. It is an inhuman creature resembling a mixture of a crow and a wolf.
Household Magic is not the occasional overpowered assortment of tricks. It consists of abilities such as producing a match-level flame, creating a hair-dryer-level breeze, and gathering trash within a one-meter radius. It may be overpowered in daily life, in a sense.
While the maid factor was running wild, Meito became Master's apprentice and acquired cooking skills at a professional level. Meito's cleaning, laundry, and sewing are also good enough to make professional maids groan with admiration.
It is probably too late. In fact, since the shape of Meito's soul is that of a maid, even a Unique Ability such as Blood of Rejuvenation could not change Meito back. Meito has not quite given up, though.
● Monsters That Appeared
'Adelbrant'
Strength: 23
Endurance: 25
Agility: 22
Magic: 26
Abilities: Curse Poison Magic, Telekinetic Magic
Remarks
A monster in the form of a gigantic skull. It curses its targets and weakens them to death.
Because Kota possessed a Unique Ability that could be called this monster's natural enemy, it was reduced to 'a bothersome evil spirit that had been a stalker in life and is still a nuisance.' Without that ability, it would at least be a difficult opponent for beginner adventurers in Japan. Conversely, that means even beginners can hunt it.
'Salamander'
Strength: 43
Endurance: 42
Agility: 46
Magic: 48
Abilities: Breath of Flame, Flaming Skin
Remarks
A giant lizard as large as a horse. It has a long neck.
In Japanese adventurer circles, it is considered impossible to fight one without being an intermediate or advanced adventurer. Its appropriate level is approximately 'LV: 20' for a four-person party.
Kota could have overwhelmed it even at that stage; he was merely afraid of the flames. However, caution is necessary because the terrain is unsuitable for human footing.
'Lesser Demon'
Strength: 55
Endurance: 50
Agility: 47
Magic: 54
Abilities: Abyssal Magic, Poison Claws
Remarks
A monster that made its lair in one of the thirteen dungeons in Tatsumin's hometown.
It is not as intelligent as Zumeu, but it is still more intelligent than an average monster. It can also fight both in close combat and with magic. Abyssal Magic is a technique that humans cannot use; it could be described as Curse Poison Magic with enhanced physical destructive power.
It is a powerful monster, but extremely weak against magic of the 'Banish Evil' school.
● Boss Monster
'Furcas'
Strength: 70
Endurance: 65
Agility: 60
Magic: 70
Abilities: Fire Magic, Divination, Magic Comprehension
Remarks
The monster that led the Lesser Demons this time. It is one of the seventy-two pillars of Solomon and the only one to possess the rank of knight.
Despite its appearance and the name 'The Piercer,' it is actually a noncombatant by nature. Moreover, the rank of knight is quite low as a noble title.
In other words, it is among the 'weaker class' of the seventy-two pillars of Solomon.
It possessed intelligence equal to or greater than a human's, and skillfully evaded the Self-Defense Force's culling units while building up its forces. It read the culling units' schedule and launched an attack on the surface while they were absent.
The Ability of Magic Comprehension allows its user to understand the principles of even unfamiliar magic. A human brain cannot handle it. Thanks to this ability, Furcas slipped through the barrier at the containment zone and emerged.
In the end, it was annihilated by Banish Evil magic and became a magic stone. It never dismounted from its beloved horse, right up until the moment it changed into a magic stone.
● Q&A
Q.
What are the standards for beginner and intermediate adventurers?
A.
Actually, those standards have not yet been established in the world of the story. The Anti-Spirit Agency is currently working hard to formulate them.
Each clan has established rough standards, while the Self-Defense Force and police have each created their own as well. Standards are even being made independently overseas, so the situation is quite chaotic.
From a meta perspective, the current standards are 'up to LV: 10 is beginner,' 'up to LV: 20 is intermediate,' and 'anything above that is advanced.'
However, these standards will change as the overall level of ability users rises and the monsters become more active.
Q.
Is Acting Prime Minister Izumihara a monster or a human?
A.
That is currently unknown. His official profile lists him as both 'human' and 'non-ability user.'
Q.
What is the Cabinet like in Japan after the 'Day of Regression' in the world of the story?
A.
To put it extremely roughly:
The Cabinet in power when the 'Day of Regression' occurred
"What the hell is this!? If we don't deal with it immediately, Japan is finished! The existing laws and organizations can't handle this!?"
"Being a minister at a time like this is a rotten deal! We'll force a full Cabinet resignation and give the Anti-Spirit Agency sweeping authority! Whoosh! Super☆Exciting☆ And then we'll coolly leave the political world..."
"Oh, if the caretaker Cabinet picks up the hot coal, we'll come back later. Adieu!"
The Cabinet before the spiritual disaster in Tokyo
"They dumped the rotten deal on us!? F-first, we'll fill every position except prime minister and chief cabinet secretary with 'disposable caretaker personnel'... For chief cabinet secretary, let's ask a popular young leader who is also the defense minister."
"We'll temporarily strip the Anti-Spirit Agency of the sweeping authority granted to it so it can coordinate with the other agencies, then gradually give it back. At the same time, we'll advance domestic ability research and establish the necessary laws... Above all, we need to create a system that can make effective use of ability users."
"Huh? A new defense minister? It's only a caretaker government anyway, so any random person will do for now."
The Cabinet after the previous Cabinet's key members, apart from Izumihara, were all killed in the spiritual disaster
"Defense Minister Izumihara Makoto has been appointed acting prime minister! We will take back the excessive authority given to the Anti-Spirit Agency and prioritize cooperation with the various ministries! We will also create other new positions... or rather, the ministries we need!"
"First, we will establish an absolute defensive line around Tokyo—or rather, the entire Kanto region! The provinces will be handled by lower-ranked adventurers! In the meantime, we will develop hounds in Tokyo that can protect all of Japan!"
"For now, remove the evacuation shelters we created in excessive numbers! Concentrate everyone in shelters in urban areas!"
That's roughly how it is. That said, I never said the Cabinet in power at the time of the 'Day of Regression' was not caught up in the spiritual disaster in Tokyo.
Q.
Are 'Valhalla' and 'Earth' connected?
A.
On the surface, they are separate organizations that occasionally cooperate.
Behind the scenes, they are deeply intertwined.
Q.
In the parallel world, Rosso-san fell to 'Valhalla' and then...
A.
Actually, in the parallel world, she escaped from the police with Valhalla's assistance, but sensed something suspicious before reaching its headquarters and fled. Her worsened distrust of humanity ended up working in her favor.
However, even while in hiding, she witnessed conflicts between ability users and non-ability users in many places, so her feelings toward the human species continued to...
Q.
What is the atmosphere between ability users and non-ability users in the main-story timeline?
A.
It has improved considerably. Ability users stop ability-user criminals, and ability users from the provinces respond to spiritual disasters. People are beginning to think, 'Wait, maybe ability users are just ordinary humans too? There are simply good people and bad people, right?'
However, it is still like walking on thin ice. With just 'a small trigger,' the direction of the wind could change.
Q.
Which Kota is stronger: the one in the main-story timeline or the one in the parallel world?
A.
Since they are fundamentally the same existence, their ultimate strength is equal.
However, the main-story version has been through more crucibles and has more emotional leeway, so this world's version is definitely stronger.
In the parallel world, his mental state was shattered by bullying at school and in his neighborhood, so he could not develop 'applications and improvements for scrolls.' He merely makes scrolls by hand in the ordinary way (by our standards)...
Q.
In the parallel world, Tatsumin...
A.
As you might expect, she died in the battle with Furcas. The surviving villagers and Master worked together to hold her funeral.
She fought with her life on the line and saved half the villagers as a result, but in that world, the divide between non-ability users and ability users has already reached an irreparable point. The conflict will not stop.
Q.
Hurry up and give us a decent non-ability-user character.
A.
As a joke, I could say, 'Matsuda-kun is right there,' but please wait until the next arc.
There are decent people among non-ability users. Ability users and non-ability users are both human, after all.
They probably are not quite as bad as the citizens of Mar●le.
Q.
Speaking of decent non-ability-user characters, what about Kota's friend from middle school?
A.
When society intensifies its rejection of ability users, he will worry about Kota and try to meet him. Conversely, if rejection of ability users does not intensify, he will not contact Kota, thinking, 'He's probably fine even without me...'
He will probably die around the time of the next arc in the parallel world.
Scenario Director
"I'm someone who heals Kota-kun's heart! Specifically, he'll reunite with me and start playing together again, recovering about 1D3 SAN points!"
"Then he'll see my corpse and lose about 1D6+1 SAN points! I'll also leave behind a 'curse,' but thanks to that, he'll be able to fight a lot from then on, so that's a plus!"
"But isn't it just adorable how Kota-kun can't protect a friend he finally reunited with from a monster...? What a mischievous boy, Kota-kun☆"
● Bonus: A Record of a Certain Battle, Around the Time Kota and the Others Were Fighting Furcas
Side: None
Even Tokyo is not entirely urban.
In a place where agricultural greenhouses and mountains stood out, two shadows collided.
There was a hard clang, the sound of steel striking steel. Of the two shadows thrown apart, one was driven to a knee.
"Haa... haa...!"
She was a beautiful girl.
Her gray hair was tied at the back of her head, and she wore clothing reminiscent of ancient Europe.
She wore leather gauntlets and greaves on all four limbs, and a black cloth wrapped around her eyes covered them both.
Several wounds marked her healthy body. Some were light cuts, while others bled without end.
"Kukuku... kakakakakaa!"
Facing her was a woman in the prime of her life.
She wore a sumptuous dress, and her long brown hair was styled in an updo suitable for a formal evening.
However, despite her glamorous clothing and makeup, both of her arms from the shoulders down were covered by bulky gauntlets.
The beautiful woman, laughing madly, pointed mockingly at the girl kneeling on one knee.
"It's pointless! My Unique Ability is the strongest! On top of that, the police can't prove that I've committed any crimes! Do you understand what that means!? Huh!?"
The woman spread both arms theatrically.
It was an absurdly defenseless action in the middle of a battle. But she did not think of it that way.
"I was chosen by God! No, I myself am God! That's what it means, you hear me!?"
She was utterly at ease, her arrogance matched by her talent as an ability user.
Accompanied by the vengeful voices of the victims' souls trapped in her gauntlets, she reveled in herself.
As she listened to the unpleasant, mocking laughter, the girl with the black cloth over her eyes... 'Domeki Hozuru' used her weapon as a cane and stood up.
The beautiful woman frowned at the sight.
"What? You're still going to fight? Damn... I'm getting bored of this. You hardly scream, so you're no fun. Do you even feel pain? You know, properly?"
"I do feel pain... 'Still.'"
"Oh, really? And you're still going to fight with that 'wooden sword'?"
The gauntlet-covered finger pointed toward Hozuru's hand, which held a wooden sword painted with strange vermilion patterns.
Even though their weapons had made the sound of metal striking metal when they collided,
In other words, this wooden sword was a supernatural object.
"You're unlucky, aren't you? Your precious Unique Ability is something so pitiful!"
"...I have never once thought myself unlucky in my life."
Hozuru stood on both feet and firmly took up her wooden sword.
"Whatever. You're an unbelievably irritating brat. You get in the way of my 'hunting,' then put on a face like you're the heroine of justice."
"D-don't... run... Hozu...ru..."
A voice belonging to her childhood friend reached her ears.
Behind Hozuru, about ten meters away, a blonde girl lay on the ground.
Her fairy-like, lovely face was stained with dirt and blood, and her right arm and leg were bent at unnatural angles.
'Kaneki Nanami,' battered as she was, desperately reached out with her left hand to stop her best friend from continuing the fight.
But her fingertips could not reach her.
"You, blondey. I like you because you make such lovely sounds when you cry."
The woman in gauntlets wore a slimy grin.
"You're even more unlucky. You threw yourself in front of that gray-haired girl and ended up all beat up! Go ahead and resent her all you like for dragging herself onto the battlefield despite being blind!"
"...I'm sorry, Nanami."
"No... Hozu...ru...!"
"That's right! Make sure you apologize properly! You're going to be living together inside my gauntlet, after all! You'd better make up first!"
The beautiful woman clanged the gauntlets on both hands.
"Well, it's only for a short time, until you're 'consumed.' So I guess there's no need to make up!"
"No... Hozuru... run...!"
"I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry. I'm breaking my promise 'again.'"
At some point, a silver dagger had appeared in Hozuru's left hand.
The appearance of a new weapon at this point made the woman in gauntlets tense with caution.
But she soon twisted her red lips into a grin.
There was nothing to fear. Unlike that 'teleporter,' she had never even been detected by the police, and she had killed people. She believed that no one could defeat her.
That was what she had convinced herself.
"I don't know what you're planning, but it's over! You little brat!"
A vast vortex of red magic poured from both gauntlets.
It greatly enhanced her physical abilities and gave her fists absolute destructive power.
No one present knew this, but the destructive power of the fists covered by those gauntlets was───equal to a certain demon god's lance charge.
The beautiful woman stamped the ground to pieces and charged with a mad smile.
"I'll smash you to bits!"
As the raised fist closed in, the gray-haired girl, Hozuru—
drove the silver dagger into her own chest.
The woman in gauntlets opened her eyes wide in shock at the sight, but she did not stop her arm. If anything, she accelerated, determined not to let the girl's 'soul' escape.
In that place, where only three people stood amid the conspicuous dirt, a roar rang out once more.
"Wh..."
But the women who collided did not knock each other away.
"Wh-what the hell!?"
Hozuru's one-handed wooden sword had perfectly caught the iron fist.
With a casual swing of her right arm, Hozuru sent the woman in gauntlets flying.
"Guh...!"
Though she was blown dozens of meters away, she planted both arms on the ground and avoided falling over.
The woman in gauntlets glared at Hozuru with bloodshot eyes.
"What kind of trick is this!? I... lost a contest of strength!?"
"It would be difficult to hand you over to the police as a criminal."
Clang. The foot of Hozuru, who had taken one step forward, made a sound.
Starting at the toes, her left leg transformed into metal—a dazzling silver prosthetic leg with ball joints.
Nanami watched through tear-filled eyes as her best friend's leg transformed into an inorganic object up to the middle of her thigh... then lost consciousness from pain and depleted magic.
"Even if it is arrogant... even so, I... my ability...!"
The wooden sword Hozuru held changed shape.
It became a bow, a Western bow decorated with fresh leaves and radiating a divine glow.
"───I will judge you!"
"You little braaaat!"
The silver-clad gray and the red-clad black collided yet again.
This was a battle that would leave no mark on history. This was a record that would never see the light of day.
The moon and sun did not watch as a certain girl sacrificed herself to impose her will, hidden beneath a veil of thick clouds.
Instead, only the being calling itself a false god observed from far, far away.