"You're
Oshima-kun comes shouting at me, but I'm kind of in the middle of roughing up the prime suspect for what was done to Yamada-kun, so could you hold on a sec?
"Shiro-san, we really didn't do anything."
Just as I was about to grab the vampire kid by the scruff of the neck and wring the truth out of them, Oni-kun's defense kicked in out of nowhere!
"Shun did something to the half-elf lying over there, and then suddenly started suffering. Given the circumstances, couldn't it be that Shun used some kind of Skill, and the side effects kicked in?"
Oni-kun makes this cool-headed observation, and the vampire kid nods along vigorously, going "uh-huh, uh-huh."
Suspicious.
The way the vampire kid's eyes are shifting ever so slightly—that's incredibly suspicious.
"Well, it was
And then, right on cue, Oni-kun flips his allegiance. The vampire kid spins toward him so fast you'd practically hear a *whoosh* sound effect.
Their face practically screams: "I can't believe this guy just ratted us out!"
So you're the culprit after all, aren't you?!
"Sophia's zombie inflicted a fatal wound on the half-elf over there. Shun healed it, but the next moment, Shun started suffering. That's what it looks like from my perspective."
Oni-kun delivers a concise summary of the situation.
Mm, very clear.
Huh? He healed them and then started suffering?
"For the record, if my eyes aren't deceiving me, healing that half-elf shouldn't have been possible. It was a fatal wound, no matter how you look at it. No matter how gifted Shun's magical abilities are, there's no way he could've saved them at that point."
Hmm?
Wait—so the half-elf who's unconscious right next to Yamada-kun was actually dead?
But they're breathing normally, just passed out, right?
Which means... Yamada-kun used the Mercy Skill to resurrect the dead?
"What Shun did was... resurrection of the dead? Well, there's no way an ability like that could be activated without a cost. I don't know what the cost is exactly, but it makes sense that Shun is suffering this much. Hanata, I'd appreciate it if you didn't blame us for this."
Oni-kun says this in a curt tone to Oshima-kun, who is still defiantly holding his sword at the ready.
There's a light of rationality in his eyes—he's confused, but trying to sort through the situation.
He's desperately thinking about how to break through this predicament.
But I don't have the luxury of worrying about that right now.
I'm drenched in cold sweat.
Yamada-kun collapsing is technically my fault, isn't it?
Because if he collapsed from using Mercy, then his Taboo absolutely hit the cap, right?
The cost of Mercy is leveling up your Taboo.
If that were all, there'd be no pain involved.
Unless the Taboo hits the cap.
I've experienced it myself, and I still haven't forgotten how disgusting that feeling was.
Yeah.
No wonder he passed out.
And to make the Taboo level go up, I went and intentionally created a corpse right in front of Yamada-kun. The culprit who set all this up is in this very room.
It's me!
That's right—Yamada-kun's Taboo maxing out is my fault!
The final push was the vampire kid's doing, but the setup before that was mine. That's the truth.
Crap, I can't exactly blame the vampire kid for this.
"Still, Hanata—isn't this a bit of an overreaction to Shun simply fainting?"
While I'm agonizing over how to cover up this fact, Oni-kun conveniently changes the subject.
"Shun is still alive. He's not dead. And this is a battlefield. It wouldn't be strange if someone died here. So why are you panicking like this over someone merely passing out? Don't tell me you came here without the resolve to die, without the resolve to lose anything?"
A crackling sense of intimidation radiates from Oni-kun.
The Imperial Army and Elf forces, who had been fighting at a distance, freeze in place under the weight of it.
Even the already lifeless zombies stop moving as though gripped by fear.
Oshima-kun, who bears the brunt of that intimidation head-on, trembles while sweat pours down his face like a waterfall.
It's like someone dumped a bucket of water over his head—the amount of sweat is almost comical.
His body shakes uncontrollably.
Honestly, I'm amazed he's still standing.
"If you came here with half-baked resolve like that, then I'm disappointed. Without even knowing the truth, without any resolve, you're standing here convinced that you're the righteous ones? That's beyond laughable—it's infuriating. When I think that a former friend of mine has become such a fool, it's utterly repulsive."
Oni-kun berates his opponent without bothering to hide his disgust—an unusual display for him.
The anger, though masked by his intimidating aura, feels somewhat forced.
Well, there are probably a lot of complicated feelings when it's your old best friend.
As for Oshima-kun, Oni-kun's intimidation has knocked him half-conscious.
"Hanata. This is my first and last warning. Drop your weapons and surrender. Otherwise, even if you're a former friend, I'll cut you down. That's what resolve means."
Despite having absolutely no intention of doing any such thing, Oni-kun declares this with an overwhelming aura of intimidation.
That was the final straw.
The strength drains from Oshima-kun's legs, and he collapses to the ground.
He's already been shown the overwhelming gap in their fighting power, and his instincts have broken before his reason could even put up a fight.
Well, it's only natural, really.
The sense of despair Oshima-kun is feeling now—could it be similar to what I felt the first time I encountered Alaba?
The kind that tells you, just through their presence alone, that you could never win.
Because that's exactly how great the gap in power is.
Oshima-kun, having lost the will to fight, retires from the battle.
Yamada-kun, the teacher, and the half-elf are all unconscious.
The only ones left standing are Hyalince and Kuro.
Yeah.
I think we can leave the rest to Oni-kun and the vampire kid.