──Sky Temple
As Kusunoki Shigeto teleported away, silence fell. Domoto Kyohei turned to face Kohinata Akira and knelt down.
“You won’t be needing this anymore, right?”
Without changing his expression, Domoto drew the sword from Kohinata’s waist. He partially unsheathed it to check its condition, then satisfied, placed it at his own waist.
“Ky-Kyohei?”
Ignoring Kohinata’s voice, Domoto turned to the High Priest.
“What will happen to Akira? Will he face some kind of punishment?”
“Yes. He will be sent to the new continent as a dangerous element. To a frontier settlement. If his behavior there is deemed acceptable, you may be able to reunite with him again.”
Hearing the conversation between Domoto and the High Priest, Kohinata’s face drained of color.
“F-Frontier settlement?”
He immediately understood that the “new continent” meant the Yggdrasil continent. Unlike the Irminsul continent where they were supposed to go, it was said to have many dangerous areas with uncertain human habitation. Of course, life-threatening situations were common. Everyone had heard about this during their training here.
“Wai-Wait a minute!”
As he tried to stand up in a panic, Kohinata was held down by a burly priest and couldn’t move.
“Let go of me!”
Kohinata became enraged and tried to use magic, but the priest swiftly placed a collar-like object around his neck. In that instant, Kohinata’s strength seemed to leave him, and he slumped to the floor.
“Ugh… Wh-What is this……”
Seeing Kohinata immobilized, the priests stood up.
“Kyohei! Help me! It’s Yuzuki who’s at fault, right? Why me?!”
“Akira. I’ve been a bit worried about how to deal with you too. Your emotions are too volatile. …Someone who can’t control their own feelings will always hold us back.”
“Wha……”
“Go to the frontier and have that heart of yours straightened out. Mature your mind, and then come find me.”
“Wh-What are you saying? Are you abandoning me?”
“No. You’re the one who fell out of line. Out of my standards.”
Domoto turned his gaze away from Kohinata and towards Tsuji Daiji and Sato Tetsuya.
“You two, our plans have changed quite a bit and we’re down to three people, but will you still come with me?”
“Hm? Three? We still have Jin and Sakuragi, don’t we?”
Tsuji replied to Domoto’s words. Domoto then addressed the two first-year students standing nearby.
“Sakuragi, you’re changing your destination, aren’t you?”
Sakuragi Miki, who was called out, turned to Domoto with a start. When her eyes met Domoto’s, she nodded.
“I’m sorry… Captain……”
“But what can you do in your current state?”
“Even so… Sensei said he would definitely save Yuzuki-senpai!”
“Do you think he can do it?”
“I want to wait nearby as much as possible…! That’s right. Captain, you could also—”
“…Sorry, but I don’t make bets with poor odds. I don’t even believe Kimijima can be saved.”
“But Captain, you gave Sensei the sword—”
“He stuck to his principles. So I responded to that. But you understand that guy… Kusunoki can never rise up in this world’s standards, right?”
“…but, Senpai Yuzuki is here too!”
“Around the Gallar Blue Temple, there are high-level monsters everywhere. The best we can handle is mid-level ones. You understand what that means, right?”
As Domoto pressed with his words, Sakuragi fell silent with tears in his eyes.
“Captain. I’m… worried about Sakuragi going alone… I’m sorry, but…”
“Takato…”
Nishina Takato, who had been listening, also informed Domoto of his change in destination. Domoto sighed deeply, as if he had expected this.
“We’ll stick to the original plan and join the Adventurers’ Guild in the Republic of Rigarland. The monster strength there is just right for a starting town. As we get stronger, we can change locations accordingly.”
“Yes…”
“If you don’t know where to go, ask at the guild. They’ll always accept you guys.”
“…Understood.”
And so, the remaining six began to walk their own chosen paths.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
After defeating the first giant, they quickly left the area, fearing that the sound and smell of blood might attract more monsters. Still, having defeated a monster for the first time, they felt somewhat positive.
After running for a while, their bodies started to feel unusually hot. Their breathing became irregular, and it gradually got tougher.
I had been running at the front, leading the way, but finally, I put my hands on my knees, out of breath.
“Hah… hah… Sorry. My stamina isn’t keeping up…”
“A-Are you alright?”
I tried to catch my breath while still keeping watch on our surroundings. How pathetic. I hadn’t done any proper exercise since graduating from university. But still… it’s hot.
“That house over there doesn’t look too damaged… Shall we take a short break?”
Is she worried about me? Her tone might have become more polite. We peeked into a small building nearby, and after confirming there was no problem, we entered.
“Shall we go further in?”
“I’m not sure. If we go too deep, we might not be able to escape quickly if necessary.”
“You’re right. Then, how about that shaded area?”
The inside of the building didn’t seem too badly damaged, maybe because there weren’t many things to begin with. With no chairs in sight, we sat down in a spot that couldn’t be seen from outside, leaning against the wall.
Kimijima rummaged through her bag and took out a towel, gripping it tightly. As I watched, wondering what she was doing, water started dripping from the towel. She squeezed it once and then offered it to me. I took it and asked:
“Magic?”
“Yes. Sensei, your face is quite flushed, so I thought a wet towel might be better.”
“Ah, yeah… Thank you. So it’s not just wood magic. That’s amazing.”
“Water seems to have good compatibility with wood magic. Just a little bit.”
“I see… Thanks.”
I wiped my face with the cool, wet towel. It felt really good. I even wiped the sweat from my neck. Feeling a gaze, I looked to the side and saw Kimijima watching.
“Ah, no. Sorry… I must look like an old man wiping his face with a restaurant oshibori. …Oh, I’ll give you my unused towel later.”
“Hehe. It’s alright. Don’t worry about it.”
“Really? …Well, still. I mean…”
The wet towel temporarily eased the heat, but it didn’t completely subside. If I had caught a cold in this unfamiliar world, it could be bad. While internally anxious, I tried to keep a calm face for Kimijima.
“It’s really hot, though.”
“Is it? But… Ah!”
“What is it?”
“Um, yes. Sensei, could it be that your rank has increased? I heard that when your rank goes up, you might get a fever or feel dizzy, and your condition might worsen.”
“I see… But I only defeated one monster, you know?”
“But, isn’t this area known for having strong monsters? Even in games, if you suddenly defeat a strong monster, your level might go up several times, right?”
“I-I see… Is that so?”
“Can you check your God’s Registry?”
As Kimijima suggested, I looked at the God’s Registry on my arm.
“…Indeed, the rank and ranking aren’t showing.”
“Oh, really? So it might be updating because your rank is increasing.”
After a while, my feverish feeling completely subsided. When I checked the God’s Registry again, the numbers had reappeared. I could see that my rank had increased to two, and my ranking had also improved. I counted the numbers with a bit of excitement.
“Wow… The digit hasn’t changed, but… I’ve gone up to 30 millionth place!”
“As I thought! …But 30 millionth place, huh? And you can do such powerful attacks…”
“Huh? Oh, you mean my otherworld skill? The martial arts style I practiced became a skill, but maybe that’s not reflected in the ranking.”
“I see, otherworld skills can’t be standardized. I hope our kendo will be useful too.”
“Ah, kendo… Yeah, I think those footwork skills will be quite useful in battle. Yeah. …By the way, what’s your ranking, Kimijima?”
“M-Me? …Um. …Around 9 millionth place.”
“Eh? …Ah, I see… I understand…”
…I shouldn’t have asked. A young person’s ranking. Even though my rank had increased, Kimijima’s ranking was still an order of magnitude higher, leaving me with mixed feelings…
As my condition improved, we discussed our future plans. Kimijima had also started to think ahead for survival. Just seeing her like this made me feel glad that I came here.
Come to think of it, neither of us had intended to suddenly come to such a harsh world, so we weren’t dressed appropriately for survival. I was in a shirt and slacks, which was still okay, but Kimijima was wearing a skirt. Apparently, she had been planning to go somewhere relatively warm.
Later, when we opened the portable food set, we found seven bar-like foods that looked like nougat. I wondered how many calories one of these could provide.
I told Kimijima to eat as well, and I nibbled on some of the portable food. As for water, we filled our water bottles using Kimijima’s water magic. I felt a bit embarrassed relying so much on Kimijima when all I could do was create a small breeze.
“But Sensei, you said you concentrate and use your magical power when you cut, right?”
“Hm? Well, that’s what it seemed like to Karimaa-san.”
“That’s plenty. Please save your magical power for important times instead of wasting it.”
“Ah, yeah. You’re right.”
Important times. I wasn’t dreaming of being able to reach a human settlement without being discovered. We would probably have to fight monsters again.
When that time comes, I need to be able to protect Kimijima properly.
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