My Danger Discernment Relic showed red dots all around me.
I counted… thirteen. Hmm. Slightly too many.
I checked my weapons, just in case.
Wood Flash, Different Sea Knife, Agaro's Knife Modified 2, Dagaa.
The elixir knife with the skull-shaped guard.
Plus the ones I'd restocked: the straight double-edged knife, the one with the large curved sword guard, and the jagged-edged knife.
And, oh right — I still hadn't used this one.
The knife I'd received from the goddess of knives.
"But this one's a pain to wield, honestly."
Well, that aside — what should I do?
They'd definitely make their move somewhere. I could feel them gradually closing in, encircling me.
"Oh, right."
There was no particular reason to wait until they made contact.
They were trying to surround me, but there was no rule that said I had to let them.
So I kept walking, and three men appeared blocking the passage like a wall. I'd call them A, B, and C.
"Heh heh heh heh heh."
"Yo, little bro. Gimme that face of yours for a sec."
"Don't even think about resisting. If you do—"
Man A drew his sword to threaten me.
"Could it be remnants of the Jinryu?"
"Huh?"
"So what?"
"We've got nothing against you personally, but we've got a grudge against the witch."
"Good."
"Huh?"
"What do you mean good?!"
"Shut up and stay still."
"Actually, I received permission from Seiran to annihilate any remnants on sight. So I'm glad you were honest about it."
"Huh?"
[Banish]
I locked eyes with him and sent Man A flying into oblivion.
"Wha—!?"
"You little—!!"
I used One Step to leap right in front of Man B, then drove my Jagged Knife into his chest.
"Guuaaah!"
"You bastard!"
I deflected Man C's sword with my Blue Saint Gauntlet.
While he was off-balance, I punched him with Banish Knuckle.
"Three down."
I stripped the gold off the corpses and used Banish to make them disappear.
Ten left. That should be enough to break through the encirclement.
"But I can't just leave it at that."
The big job — or rather, the big request — was about to start.
Having pests crawling around would be annoying and problematic.
Besides, if I thought about it carefully, there was no reason to keep them alive.
The moment they attacked me, they became enemies.
Either way, I'd already killed three. There was no room for negotiation.
"Alright. Let's wrap this up."
I monitored the movements of all ten with Danger Discernment and picked them off one by one.
Flanking from behind, cutting them off ahead of their routes — it reminded me of something from my past life.
Those stealth and sneaking assassination games.
It was exactly like that.
And with no particular accidents or discoveries, only one remained.
This guy had been in the back alley plaza.
There were no obstacles around. Reluctantly, I revealed myself.
"...You."
"You're the last one."
The man looked somewhat like Mr. Garad.
He was like what you'd get if you aged Mr. Garad terribly — that sort of face.
From his appearance, he had to be a relative of the Jinryu family. In other words, he was probably the boss of the remnants.
The man drew his sword. That much was obvious at a glance.
"An OOPArt?"
"I'm the witch's apprentice. If you want to resent someone, resent the witch."
"You know how cruel Barrow is, and you can still say that?"
"...Prepare yourself."
He suddenly appeared right in front of me.
Could this be 'One Step'?
The man's sword was on fire. I see — so that's how the Jinryu family works.
I blocked with the Azure Saint's Gauntlet and reflected the attack back.
"What!?"
The man went flying. I pressed the attack and swung my Jagged Knife.
The man's sword deflected it. And that wasn't all.
No way. The heat from his sword melted my Jagged Knife into a gooey mess.
"Wha—!?"
"Die!"
A swirling inferno erupted from the man's sword.
I hurled my Magic Knife at the man's rear flank and drove it home.
"Fool. Where do you think you're aiming?"
My figure vanished in an instant, and I appeared behind the man.
I launched a [Banish] aimed straight at his line of sight.
"Don't look down on me—Ittōdanma!"
Wha—my [Banish] was cut by the man's heated blade...!?
It could sever a Relic.
And with [One Step] plus [Ittōdanma]—this man was the real deal.
"You've got that kind of skill... Don't tell me you knew what Barrow was doing. Knew what he was up to."
"I knew."
"Then why did you leave him be?"
"Because it was trivial."
"...Trivial?"
The man shifted the flames wreathing his blade into raw, searing heat. The blade turned a deep, glowing red and began trailing wisps of smoke.
The air around the blade was visibly warping. That heat would turn even stone into butter.
"Was it not just a handful of common women who ended up as playthings and died? To try and destroy the oldest jinryū clan in all of Heizen over something like that—what a vile, heaven-spurning act."
Oh.
"Hmm."
"Therefore, I shall execute the wicked and depraved witch on behalf of the Heavens. But first, you will face your retribution."
"Retribution?"
"After subjecting you to every form of torture, humiliation, and violation I can think of, I'll kill you."
My my.
"I see. I see. I see. Is that so."
"What?"
"No, sooner or later, the Jinryu was always destined to be destroyed. Yeah."
"What did you say…"
I finally understood.
Why Garado had abandoned the Jinryu so easily instead of reviving them.
It had always been vaguely puzzling.
Even if you didn't want to inherit the family, there'd still be something to feel about watching your own house vanish.
I could sense that Garado had felt that too.
But he'd left Heizen as though casually tossing the whole thing aside.
He'd departed without showing so much as a trace of attachment, cold as stone. That was what had been strange.
But now it made perfect sense. One look at this man and you'd get it.
If someone like this was among your relatives — the shame of it would be so total you'd never want to revive the clan.
Still, well, if that was the case, I kind of wished he'd finished them off cleanly.
I get not wanting to kill your own kin, but don't dump your garbage on me.
"What, if most of the Jinryu family is nothing but depraved scum like you, then their destruction was just naturally fast-tracked, that's all. A contemptible act of spitting at the heavens? Wouldn't spitting into a sewer be more fitting?"
"Ki—samaaaa!"
The man flew at me in a rage. Rage? Yeah, right.
"Don't you dare get angry, you piece of trash."
I fixed the man with a glare, and at the same time my hair and eyes turned purple — becoming [Generous].
Countless [Banish]es and [Phantasmagoria] closed in around the man.
"It's useless! Demon-Severing Cut!"
The man cuts through [Phantasmagoria].
A powerful, fiery Demon-Severing Cut. The heated sword boosts its power.
He's utter scum, but he's definitely got real skill.
So maybe that's what makes him rotten. Was he rotten at the core from the start?
"Either way. How pathetic."
"Dieeee! Enma's Rend!!"
"[
Arm
of
the
Cosmos]"
The arm wreathed in the cosmos catches the man's crimson sword and deflects it.
"Y-You're kidding!?"
"It's over."
I used [
Arm
of
the
Cosmos] to punch the man flying.
Scorching heat erupted from the cheek I'd punched, and in the blink of an eye, the man was ablaze.
[
Arm
of the
Cosmos
].
This authority Relic channels the opponent's Relic's effects and power straight through.
And by striking them, it returns that same effect and power back.
That was why he was burning in his own heat and flames.
Served him right.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!"
Letting out an ugly shriek, the man's entire body was engulfed in flames.
I could erase him without a trace using [Phantasmagoria], but I'd let him be a little longer.
This was Barrow — the one who'd lived too long.
From his words and actions, it was clear he'd committed unspeakable atrocities under the name of Jinryuu.
It went without saying, but I couldn't let him live.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH"
The man howled in agony, thrashing in exquisite pain.
I'm no saint, either.
I despise this kind of wicked depravity so much I'd want to kill them, so I figured I'd let him suffer as much as he could.
And it didn't hurt my heart one bit.
"............"
But I banished the man with a glance, sending him flying.
I suddenly realized that if I kept enjoying this sort of thing, I'd end up just like him.
It was because I saw the blue magic crystal flickering on its own and the gauntlet rattling away.
They looked almost like they were laughing, pleased as could be, as if celebrating with fine wine and good cheer.
For some reason, I thought this wasn't the way things should be.
"I'm hungry."
Maybe I'd tired myself out from all that moving around, because my stomach growled. The Berk dining hall was still in the middle of reopening prep.
Then I guess I'll head home.
When I got back, oh—there was Pakira.
She and Mineha were sitting in the living room, leisurely sipping tea.
"I'm home."
A warm, easygoing atmosphere hung in the air.
I felt a little saved.
"You're back. Go on, Pakira."
"O-oh. Wof."
"What is it?"
She stood up and came over to where I was standing, looking down a bit and fidgeting.
Wondering what was going on, I tilted my head slightly, and suddenly she looked up.
"I have a request for you!"
Her voice sounded like she'd made up her mind.
I was a little taken aback by Pakira's intense, dead-serious atmosphere.
"A request? What is it?"
"Th-this— with this."
She took something out. A leather pouch.
It was heavy. Money?
"This is..."
"With this, make me into a woman!"
Hm.
...Huh?