I steadied my breath and leveled the short sword in my left hand toward my opponent.
My Skills informed me that the girl before me was an enemy. On the surrounding map, a single red light point shone directly in front of me.
The Monsters that had been nearby were gone, and the yellow light points representing the village's boys were hastily leaving the area.
The girl, dressed in revealing attire, was characterized by the two horns on her head.
From the Fifth Generation's memories, I could deduce that this girl was Kirin's May.
"What were you doing?"
My voice, which sounded threatening, prompted May to touch her short hair with an air of disinterest. She alternated her gaze between me and the blue Jewel hanging from my neck.
"Nothing much? Just a threat, probably. People who act tough often clam up and cower when they meet someone stronger. Give them a little scare, and they'll behave for a while. Besides, this is our job."
Job.
As she said this, May shrugged and gave a self-conscious chuckle.
"No, really. I'm not thinking of eating or killing anyone. Even so, I'm one of the more easygoing members of our group."
Despite claiming to be easygoing, May directed hostility at me, utterly unconcerned by the weapon pointed her way.
She placed her right hand on her chest, puffing it out slightly.
She then rested her left hand on her hip, as if boasting.
"I'm still on humanity's side, you know. After all, they've done me a favor... Now then, if you know anything, I'd like an answer. Why does the presence of an important benefactor come from the blue jewel you wear around your neck? At the same time, I also sense a faint trace of Frederick on you."
Lowering both hands, May glared at me, her eyes narrowing.
Her expression was serious, ensuring I wouldn't miss any movement on my part.
I introduced myself.
"I'm Lyle Walt... a descendant of Frederick Walt. And this jewel holds the memories of the Fifth Generation's Skills."
May didn't seem satisfied with my response. She spread her stance, crouched slightly, and spoke from deep in her belly.
Even though she merely shouted, my body flinched involuntarily.
"Stop lying! That's not—
Jewel
—! There's no way a gem could emit such a refined aura. That's right, you're... you're the ones who've locked Frederick away."
Realizing nothing I said would get through to her, I gripped the Jewel tightly.
The Fifth Generation spoke.
"May, I'm not locked away. I'm already dead. You know that full well..."
The Fifth Generation's anguished voice seemed to reach May.
But—
"See? It really is Frederick. He's sad. That's why it's my turn to save him now."
Raising her right hand to the side, May's hand emerged from the clothing. At the same time, a Kirin's horn sprouted from her palm.
"Hey! Didn't you hear that voice? You must have heard what the Fifth Generation said—"
"Oh, so it can talk? That just makes me want it even more. It's been decades since I last spoke with Frederick... Back then, I didn't know human lifespans were only fifty to sixty years. I thought we'd meet again... but—"
May vanished from sight in an instant, and I immediately ducked.
May's right foot swung horizontally past where my head had been. She twisted midair and came crashing down with her left heel.
I rolled out of the way, then quickly got to my feet and drew my short sword.
I activated my Skills to boost my abilities, and despite my increased strength, I was nearly blown away by the force of the impact.
May, with a Kirin's horn grown from her right hand, was already right in front of me, swinging the horn down to cleave me in two.
(The way she fights... it's similar to ours.)
The short sword sparked on contact and the jarring sensation made me leap backward. May swung her right hand sideways.
"Yeah, you've got every right to call yourself Frederick's descendant. The way you move your body — it's similar."
I looked at the short sword in my left hand. The spot where it had blocked was chipped and cracked.
If I'd kept blocking like that, the blade would have shattered first, and I'd have been cleaved open.
From inside the Jewel, the Third Generation spoke.
"Hey, this fighting style… doesn't it look like ours?"
The Fourth Generation addressed the Fifth Generation.
"No way — you…"
The Fifth Generation said it plainly.
"I taught her. Incidentally, I also know what Skills I used to have. The First Generation's, the Second's, the Third's, and the Fourth's — at their initial stages, I used all of those Skills too."
The Sixth Generation let out a sigh.
"And yet you never bothered to teach me properly…"
The Seventh Generation was exasperated but warned me.
"Lyle — it's a good thing you didn't bring Novem and the others along."
If I had, they absolutely would have brought it all up again. And since May had the wrong idea, the conversation could have gone in a weird direction.
I sheathed the short sword at my waist and drew my spare Saber.
I raised both Sabers and slowly began to shift position, thinking about how to make the most of being in the forest.
(So she's got the upper hand in raw power? If I used the First Generation's Full Burst, I might be able to surpass her abilities, even if only temporarily…)
If I defeated the girl in front of me, the Fifth Generation would fly into a rage. No — or would he accept it? I couldn't tell which way it would go.
Besides, I had no desire to take down a Kirin, hailed as a divine beast.
Even without Magic Stones, its flesh, blood, horns, and scales would fetch an outrageous price.
When May lunged at me, I predicted her movement and deflected her horn with my Saber.
(I can do this!)
Both her speed and power surpass mine. But May is weaker than Ceres.
If I played my cards right, she was well within my range to handle.
May showed no signs of anger at being deflected, and charged at me once more.
When I moved to deflect her, May suddenly stopped right in front of me, ducked down, and flipped into a one-handed handstand using only her left arm.
She spun her extended legs around, and before I could even react, I tried to block with my arms and was sent flying.
"Was that fun? When I did it to Frederick, he dodged it easily... You're pretty weak."
I got to my feet. Even though my arms were numb, I raised my Saber into a ready stance.
"The reach of your limbs and your speed are different from when you were a child—and even from when you'd grown a little!"
When I retorted, May looked at me.
"Hmm... So you know what I looked like when I met Frederick. Did someone tell you about it? No, that can't be it."
"That can't be," May insisted, and lunged at me again—this time using the trees to leap between branches.
"Hey, you know I'm a Kirin, right? Didn't you think I'd be more at home in the forest than you?"
I spun around, crossing my Saber into an X-shape to block May's thrust and deflect it aside.
She had circled behind me and thrust straight for my heart. It was clear she had no intention of holding back against me.
"Your reactions are fast, too. And you've boosted your power as well. Skills... nine? No, maybe ten? What exactly is going on with that fake Jewel of yours?"
When May created some distance and vanished into the forest, I used my Skills to pinpoint her location.
She was circling around me, waiting for an opening to strike.
From within the Jewel.
"Hey, hurry up and tell me the Kirin's weak point!"
The Third Generation pressed the Fifth Generation on this, but—
"...Weak point? You think it has one? Even if it's not on Ceres's level, it's still a Kirin. And it's already holding back against us."
Holding back? Why would it hold back?
Thinking this, I drove the Saber in my right hand into the ground, released it, and gripped the Jewel.
May's movements, which I'd been tracking with my Skills, suddenly slowed dramatically.
(So she really is targeting the Jewel. Even though taking it wouldn't change anything.)
Even if I tried to tell her that, she wouldn't see it that way—which made this troublesome.
As I was racking my brain for some way to communicate this, the Fourth Generation spoke up.
"Lyle, shouldn't you use your Skill here?"
I shook my head.
(Are they idiots?! The activation condition for that Skill is a deep kiss! How am I supposed to do that?!)
Then the Fifth Generation chimed in too.
"Oh, that's a good idea. Lyle, you've never even tried it, so I think it's worth a shot."
Why are these two so nonchalant about this?
It was true that the Kirin couldn't afford to destroy us in its effort to seize the Jewel. That was probably why it was holding back.
But the same went for us. I couldn't defeat it, and on top of that, I needed to clear up this misunderstanding.
The Seventh Generation spoke.
"Does it resist being in human form? Then why not have it become a Kirin?"
The Fifth Generation agreed.
"That's right! If the opponent is an animal, it's basically like just a greeting!"
I wish you wouldn't say it like it's no big deal.
Still, I had to admit it did feel like the most likely option.
"Hey, can you hear me? Want to talk for a bit?"
May jumped down from the tree branch and looked straight at me.
"If you hand it over, I might let you off. But before that, I'll probably have a lot of questions to ask."
I――.
"Alright, just hear me out. First, you transform into a Kirin form, and then we kiss.……Wait a second! I have absolutely no impure intentions! This is something that's necessary! It's just a little mucosal contact! I just need to put my tongue in a little and it's over!"
――May directed an incredibly cold gaze at me.
A stare colder than even that trio of boys.
"I never imagined that a descendant of Frederick would turn out this awful. It's really irritating."
From the Jewel, the Fourth Generation spoke up.
"You idiot! Why did you make her angry?!"
Even so, I couldn't imagine how the kiss was supposed to happen in this flow. We were in the middle of fighting, and in my haste, I hadn't explained the important parts clearly enough. That was my mistake too.
"No! Listen, this is one of my Skills. If we kiss, a line will form between us and……"
"Right, and then what? Why should I have to do what you say? If you're trying to ambush me, I'd appreciate a better lie."
(It's not a lie though! It's not a lie, but honestly even I would be skeptical)
A line between two parties, enabling communication of intent. A Connection.
Isn't the prerequisite way too absurd?
Seventh Generation.
"Lyle, I have to say—even I can't cover for what you just did. Absolutely disgraceful. But from a 'Best Lyle' perspective, that was rather impressive."
Third Generation, too.
"Pick your time and place, why don't you. Honestly... I suppose the plan was to transform into a Kirin and go for a kiss. Well then, shall we get back to it? Look, she's coming!"
As the carefree Third Generation raised their voice, I released the Jewel, grabbed the Saber I'd driven into the ground, and slashed at May's fist.
"Isn't that a horn?"
The fist was wrapped in cloth that my Saber's blade couldn't cut through. I'd figured it was different from ordinary clothing, but there had to be some kind of special power behind it.
"You like getting stabbed with horns, do you? Then..."
As May tried to drive her right elbow into my side, I leaped back to dodge—and the Fifth Generation shouted.
"Jump back further!"
Heeding the warning, rather than barely dodging, I threw myself far back—and my clothes had been slashed.
From May's elbow, a massive horn was growing, having burst clean through the cloth.
When it was tucked away, the cloth wasn't torn at all.
I understood it was some kind of strange fabric, but I touched my side and felt relieved when I found I hadn't been cut.
"Guess now's not the time to hold back, huh?"
At those words, May's eyebrow twitched.
"Could you stop fooling around? I'm the one holding back here. If all I had to do was make you disappear, it'd be over in an instant—don't you get that?"
I drove both Sabers into the ground, clenched the Jewel in my right hand, then tore the chain from my neck as if ripping it free—the chain coiled around my right arm and the silver ornamentation swelled outward, taking the shape of a greatsword.
May saw this and—
"So it really is more than just a jewel. Humans, always making all sorts of things... but!"
May lunged at me.
But this time, I charged forward too, and the two of us collided head-on.
My greatsword clashed against the horn that had jutted from May's left hand, scattering sparks. This time the blade didn't chip, and the greatsword held without breaking.
Pressing the attack, I drove her back step by step as May retreated and deflected my strikes.
The Skills that temporarily multiplied one's abilities several times over.
Using Full Burst, I pushed May back.
Our positions had swapped from before, and I made sure not to let the distance between us widen. If she leaped back, I closed in; if she pressed forward, I pulled away.
At a set range, we swung our respective weapons at each other once more, and once again the blades collided as we faced off.
"You really are similar. You learned from the Fifth Generation, didn't you? So did I!"
Just as the opponent seemed to know my movements, I could read hers as well.
We were like disciples of the same school—once you grasped the characteristics of the other's weapon, everything else fell into place as usual.
May had both power and Speed, but like me, she couldn't match the Successive Heads. That was probably the limit of her humanoid form.
Growing desperate, May emitted pale blue lines of light from her body.
She released lightning and forcibly opened up distance between us.
I leaped backward.
Before my eyes stood May, now in her Kirin form.
She planted her feet on the ground and glared at me.
"I'd really rather not drag this out. I'll finish you now. Once I get my hands on that jewel, I'll have all the time in the world. So just... disappear already."
May broke into a sprint through the narrow forest, and I sheathed my greatsword and started running after her.
I zigzagged through the trees, but despite her massive frame, May dashed through without paying the trees any mind. True to her word about being familiar with the forest, she didn't collide with a single one—and she was fast.
I kept running, the Jewel clenched in my fist.
"Fifth Generation!"
I called out to the Fifth Generation, and once I spotted the great tree, I turned my back to it and faced the way I'd come.
The Fifth Generation turned the Jewel in my right fist toward May.
'May... wait!'
Despite the fact that words shouldn't have reached her, May's body flinched and she came to a sudden halt. The ground gouged beneath her feet, and she stopped a few meters in front of me, tilting her head.
"...Huh, so you can do stuff like that too, huh?"
Then the Fifth Generation spoke.
'What were you going to do if she didn't stop?! Seriously, think ahead — plan things out before you act!'
May stood there like a dog straining to hold back in front of its food, her breathing ragged as she glared at me. But at the same time, she seemed to have regained a little of her composure.
"Ha ha, you actually remembered the time you took care of me. That was decades ago."
Then May said,
"...For me, those were happy memories. Could you not make fun of me? But I see. Frederick, you're trying to protect Lyle. And yet here I am—"
(Did she pick up on the Fifth Generation's feelings? The desire to protect me?)
May started walking forward and pressed her cheek against the fist I'd extended.
Or rather, she wanted to press her cheek against the Jewel. I opened my hand and showed it to her, and her eyes softened.
The Fifth Generation said,
'May, stop attacking Lyle. This kid is my descendant. So... no more...'
"I'm sorry, Frederick. I can tell you're trying to say something. But your voice doesn't reach me. I'm sorry. I wanted to hear your voice again. I wanted you to stroke my head again. So... I'm sorry."
Tucking her horns away, May pressed her forehead to the Jewel — and I moved toward her.
"...Picking up where we left off. I have a skill — Connection. It's a skill that lets me communicate with the other party. The condition for using it was a kiss. If it goes through me, I might be able to have a conversation with the Fifth Generation."
May nodded and brought her mouth toward mine.
The only animal I'd ever kissed — or rather, had my mouth licked by — was a pet dog. There was a moment of hesitation, but I went ahead and kissed her.
(My third kiss, and it's an animal... come to think of it, Monica took the second one. So this is my fourth kiss, then?)
That's what I was thinking about.