Assassins from the Past (3)

"Yoooo… long time no see. Coward Naoto… You remember? That gut wound from when I beat the crap outta you…?"

"… Well, yeah, I remember."

Yuma Ishiguro. One of the top three most unpleasant guys among Kanan's slaves. The defining thing about him, simply put, was violence.

Getting hit hurt, period…

Of course, all of us were stuck in a cycle of beating each other up because of the slave battles, but in reality, I figured most of the guys were holding back at least a little where it wouldn't be noticed. If they hadn't, the injuries would have been a lot worse.

But this guy was the kind of man who seriously, genuinely hit you to hurt you and leave a mark.

I'd thought, more than once or twice, that if I'd let my abs slack even a little, my insides really would have ruptured. It was a wonder no aftereffects stuck.

His fists hurt more than Kanan's whip.

Even so, sadistic violence-fiend that he was, his family was apparently relatively well-off. He was actually a rich kid.

After Kensei Yamagata and Sawako Aozawa, I figured this guy ranked Number 3.

"… Yuma."

For that reason, he was a man Kanan had relied on to a certain extent.

"Oooh, is that Kanan-sama? You doing well? Kukuku, you played it well, Naoto…

"I'd never have thought a piece-of-shit good-for-nothing like you could nab Kanan and make her his.

"I'm jealous, y'know… Lemme have a turn too. We're best friends, right…?"

He demanded.

The respect he'd shown Kanan up until now had vanished. Or maybe he'd never had any to begin with.

In the end, the only ones still loyal to Kanan as her slaves were Number 1 and Number 2.

… No, having even two was something.

"You guys really do go out of your way to make me uncomfortable. I've never once thought of you as a friend.

"Same goes for you, right?"

"… That's not true at all? I considered you a best friend, you know, and that's just sad…"

"You write 'best friend' but read it as 'punching bag,' don't you?"

"Oh, you get it. You're a coward and a pansy, but you're not stupid…"

Ishiguro grinned.

"Yuma… pull back here… If you want to do a Garumon Battle with me on the line, let's do it when we're both at full strength. We're not going to run or hide."

Kanan cut in. She and the newly-added Suzanne were combat-incapacitated. Adelia and Lyuka had used up some of their skill charges, and our side was hardly at full strength.

Worried about that, she'd offered a stalling tactic.

"Oh? Did I say I was doing a Garumon Battle…?

"… I'm planning to kill that coward, and seize all the rare Garumon he's got, root and branch…"

But Ishiguro wasn't going to listen to that kind of talk.

"Yuma… you served me well. I'm grateful. If you have even the smallest loyalty to me…"

"… Hahaha! Loyalty! You moron! This! B-Class Master Yuma Ishiguro-sama! Was kept as a slave by some shit Garumon! A slave like you talking big to your master, don't get cocky! First, get on your knees and dogeza!"

He was raving.

"Kanan, drop it… He can't beat me in a fair fight, which is why he's resorting to this kind of method.

"… Hey, B-Class rank 508 Yuma Ishiguro."

"… Hah, your provocation isn't going to work! … How'd you even win against that Lagas, what kind of cheat did you pull?

"That guy's a Master even high-rank B-Classes are scared of, you know?"

"Did you not watch the swap match?"

"… Hah, didn't watch. I was busy having sex with my Garumon…!"

Ishiguro laughed. Whether it was true or a lie… it didn't matter.

"With Yamagata-kun, I have an agreement that there'll be no interference until we fight in B-Class. If you're working with Yamagata-kun, this is a violation."

"Hah, Yamagata, huh… that shitty spineless bastard! Coming to this world and not laying a hand on a woman, the guy's a screwed-up nutjob! If it were me, I'd turn that Aozawa into a meat-toilet to my heart's content… what a damn waste.

"But after I kill you, Yamagata's next. With your rare Garumon, offing him isn't impossible either… kukuku."

I supposed his answer was: since the agreement was broken anyway, no problem.

"Uh, um… I'm Patty from Garumon Battle Communicationsss. For the magazine's upcoming feature, I'd like to interview Masters who came from another worldddd. B-Class rank 508 Yuma Ishiguro-san, would you be willing to be interviewed…?"

Patty called out. It might've been a tone-deaf remark, but it seemed to also be stalling on my behalf.

"Uoooh! What the hell are those tits! Lemme grope 'em! Lemme suck 'em! Wedge my dick between 'em!

"If you do that, I'll do your interview!"

Looked like the same reaction as a lot of Masters.

"If you beat me, she'll do all of that and more. So accept the interview."

Patty was startled and tried to flee, but I grabbed her arm to back her up.

"… Well, fine. What do you want to ask?"

"U-um… how do you find this world…?"

"This worldddd…? Hahaha! It's the best! Sleep with all the top-tier women I want, cum inside all I want! And no risk of knocking 'em up! I never knew there was a do-anything-you-want paradise like this… It's the best!"

He seemed plenty satisfied with this world.

"… Could you introduce your Garumon to us…?"

"… Hah, sure…"

Bon… He sent one out. She was… a fully naked young girl.

"This one's name is Lenny Brown. One of the exchange students… pretty cute, huh?"

There weren't many exchange students, so I knew her face and name.

She was one of Harada-san's group, the Number 2 group. Stylish figure, bright and energetic. Her Japanese was still halting, but that part was considered cute, and she was a pretty girl with a reputation for it. Now… her appearance itself, blonde hair and blue eyes included, was unchanged… Just, her expression was darkened and clouded.

"The guy holding her was the English teacher, Michael! Awful, isn't it, a teacher making a student his slave! Pissed me off…

"So I beat the crap outta him! At the end, I had this Lenny use Michael as her punching bag. In no time at all, his guts ruptured and he kicked the bucket! Hah, that was the best!"

… Yuma Ishiguro was laughing.

"… You… killed Michael-sensei?"

He'd been the English conversation teacher whose class I'd taken too. Cool-looking, popular with the girls…

His English jokes were fun. He'd been a good teacher, but…

"Aaah? … Hah, killed him, sure. Not just him, either. I offed eight of 'em!

"But there's no penalty! On top of that, I'm a noble now! A high-status guy with tons of adults bowing down to me! Hyahyahya! Use violence to my heart's content! Fuck to my heart's content! There's no other world this great!

"All hail the isekai transfer! Ahahahaha!"

To the cheerful Ishiguro…

"… I, like this world. I plan to live here forever."

"Oh? It's rare we agree on something. Haha! Well, a spineless coward like you, in any other world you couldn't have laid a hand on a woman, right?"

"For that reason, I'll eliminate the evil that nests within it. B-Class Masters, as nobles, have a duty to maintain public order. B-Class rank 508 Master Yuma Ishiguro… I judge you for the crime of murder."

"… Hah, interesting! What a coincidence, I came here to kill you too.

"The crime of monopolizing our Kanan Kazami!

"… Doesn't make sense, right?

"That shit-bitch unjustly kept us as slaves!

"She has to atone for that crime. Become the slave of all of us, surrender her mouth, those huge tits, her ass, her omanko, all of it, and serve us.

"You, who monopolized Kanan's service… I won't be satisfied until you receive the same punishment!

"This thing is called the rare Yin-Yang Secret Elixir… it's a drug that turns you into a woman for one day.

"Make yourself into a damn fine woman, and please us!"

There was no need to talk further.

Killing, huh… that was one method too. C-Class Masters, for the sake of maintaining public order, had the right to judge other Masters.

Even if this world condoned murder, my own sense of justice didn't permit it.

I was going to settle in this world for good. In which case… I'd become its moral compass myself, and correct the parts that were off!

"Yuma Ishiguro! I'll crush you!"

"Naoto Akaiii! I'll kill you!"

We sent out our Garumon all at once.

Kanan and Suzanne were combat-incapacitated, so they couldn't be sent out.

Adelia, Lyuka, Setsuna, Haru, Patty, Luna.

Yuria, Maika, Leone.

Headcount-wise that was 9, but in terms of combat power, Patty and Luna's slots were a worry.

Normally only three were displayed on the roster, but once all of them were sent out, all of them could be seen.

Rinko Kijima… her, I knew. Despite being a beauty, she was a delinquent type with a scary reputation, and people often wondered how come someone like her was at Reido Academy.

Her bleached blonde hair seemed to have turned into real blonde.

Lenny had already been explained. Chris was one of the five exchange students, so I knew her too. She was a beauty as well, but with a cool, stuck-up vibe, more standoffish than Lenny.

I didn't know Morino-san, but…

"Same first-year. Petite and cute was her reputation," Setsuna explained.

First-years hadn't been ranked yet, but if they had, she'd probably have ranked high.

I had a vague feeling I'd seen Ihara-san somewhere too, so probably a second-year? She was a pretty girl.

Saura, Mehne, and Shilmy were Garumon native to this world. Each one had lovable features.

The headcount was 8…

That couldn't be right. B-Class was allowed to send out 16.

"Hold up. You're planning a sneak attack, but it's totally obvious, so come on out already.

"You're not hiding at all… Or rather, the smell of your sweat is leaking out, Noda."

When I called him out…

"… Tch, fine. Come out, Noda."

Ishiguro called out behind me.

"… Fuhi, long time no see, Naoto Akaiii… give me back my Maika… give Maika back! I'll kill you!"

The one who reappeared was Masaomi Noda, now Yuma Ishiguro's Sub-Master.

His eyes were bloodshot and gleaming, his hair disheveled. He looked utterly haggard.

Two I knew. The petite and slender Kobeni Akashima was a beauty with a reputation as the "Kendo princess," a member of the kendo club.

Mita-sensei was a Japanese language teacher. She had a reputation as a beautiful female teacher.

The rest were all native Garumon from this world.

"Noda… you killed people too?"

"… Fuhi."

Noda smirked, a wicked grin.

"Ahaha, killed them! It was fun! For teaching me something this fun, Yuma-sama made me his slave Master!

"The one I killed was Murata, who was holding this Kobeni! You know, that smooth pretty-boy bastard from the kendo club! I beat him up! And then, while raping Kobeni, I shoved a kendo stick up his ass and went 'men! men! men!' bashing him with the kendo stick, and he died! Ahyahyahyahya! This world is our paradise! I'll kill anyone who gets in the way of that!"

"… Noda-kun…"

Maika looked sad.

"What you did to Maika, forcing fellatio on a Garumon, making her fight in nearly-naked attire… in this world, that level of thing isn't a crime or anything. Whatever the feelings behind it. I'd taken it as kind Maika's mercy.

"… But for you to receive such mercy and then warp your heart even further, all the way to murder…

"That, I won't forgive. If you say you only killed one because Ishiguro told you to, I won't go as far as execution.

"Atone for your crime in this world's prisons."

"… You bastard… acting all high and mighty! The likes of Naoto! What's all this about punishment! Do you even understand the situation? 16 against 9!

"And of those, two are fresh greenhorns! Effectively 16 against 7! Even I, super-gamer that I am, would throw in the towel here…

"Come on, beg for your life.

"Hand over your Garumon, let us do whatever we want with them, and just spare yourself, prostrate yourself in dogeza!"

Noda jeered.

"Uhihi, uhi… Maika… this time for sure, I'll have you… Going after the likes of Akai I can't stand, but…

"Maika's omanko must feel good…

"Wait, it's got 'Otherworld' attached, doesn't it!

"Still a virgin?! I can't believe it! How spineless are you?!"

"Hahn… Noda, otherworld? What's that?"

"Yuma-sama! Women whose race has 'Otherworld' attached are virgins! This guy is one ridiculously spineless bastard! Bet he's still a virgin!?"

"Ohohohoh!? Seriously?! … Oh, then that means Kanan's a virgin too?! Awesome! Unbelievably spineless! Awesome, my hype is rising! I get to ram my dick into Kanan's shitty virgin omanko! Awesome! It's the best! For the first time, I'm grateful for your spinelessness! Fucking Naoto!"

"Yuma-sama! After Yuma-sama, please let me have a turn, pleasee!"

"Ahhhn? … I'll let you do it once I get bored.

"Shizuno's been used too much, and I'd gotten bored anyway…

"Kobeni's tight enough that my huge dick is too much for her, so your tiny one could probably handle her, right?"

"Yes! Kobeni's loli omanko is the bestttt!"

"That Murata bastard was an obnoxious piece of work, but with a tiny dick like that, the pretty-boy was worthless!"

"Ahahaha! Truly as expected of Yuma-sama!"

Ahahahaha…

The two men were running their mouths at each other. I listened in silence.

"… Those guys… I want to kill them…"

Yuria was even more enraged than I was.

But right now, stalling for time was actually preferable, so I took Yuria's hand and smiled gently to soothe her.

… Yuria smiled back and went silent.

"Right now… we're stalling for time, right?"

Maika confirmed the goal with me, and I nodded firmly.

"Hey, Noda-kun…!"

Maika spoke up.

"You said this world was the world of your dreams, the game world you'd seen even in your sleep, and you were so happy!

"People who were good at studying, people who were good at sports… we'd all play the same game! And in this game, the one who's best at it gets praised the most, you said you were so happy about that!

"… 'In this world, even I can shine,' you said. 'I'll get back at every single person who made fun of me,' you said!"

"… M-Maika…"

"The people in this world are friends playing the same game, aren't they? The good thing about games, you said, is that you can become close right away with people you don't even know!

"To hurt those people, wound them… and finally even kill them! Is that really what you wanted to do, Noda-kun? Wake up!"

Maika called out.

… He had indeed talked about that kind of thing.

When Ishiguro and the slightly-bad kids in class, the ones who didn't usually play games, said, "What's so fun about games, anyway?", that was his standard comeback.

When they said, "You don't have any friends, do you?" his stock pattern was to fire back, "I've got tons online!"

Maika had been listening properly to those talks in the classroom.

"S-shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Noda took the bait. Ishiguro watched silently.

"B-because of all those soft things I said, I lost you!

"Maika… I-I loved you! And, you liked me too, didn't you?! You always greeted me with a smile! It was because you liked me, that's why you did that, wasn't it?!

"A-and the fact that you remembered my talks… that was because you liked me too, wasn't ittt!"

"… Noda-kun…"

Maika neither affirmed nor denied. She stayed silent.

Ah, I knew it. I always told myself not to misunderstand, but… a kind girl like Maika was friendly to everyone, and from the perspective of a guy like Noda, who was used to being looked at like he was filth, it was easy to mistake that for being especially nice… for her being in love with him.

A real classic.

"… Back then, I should've killed you! If I'd ignored that tournament and killed Naoto, none of this would've happened!

"We loved each other, and you stole her! You took Maika away from me!

"To get Maika back… I, I'll kill Naotooo!

"… Maika… wait for me, I'm… I'll get you back! And then we'll love each other again! That precious dick of mine you love so much, I'll let you slurp on it again…"

Noda was leering.

Damn it… even if it was for stalling, this had reached the limit of what I could stomach…!

Not yet… not yet, Suzanne?! It should be just a little more… if I could stall just a little longer…

At that moment, Maika took my hand.

"… I'm sorry, Noda-kun. If my attitude… led you to misunderstand."

"… Hahn?"

"I'm… in love with Naoto-kun. I have been, for a long, long time.

"I might've looked friendly to everyone… but inside me, all along, only Naoto-kun was special.

"Why was Naoto-kun so special to me? I wasn't sure.

"Honestly, why he alone shone like that to me, while no one else did… it was a little mysterious, even to me.

"It's a bit hard to say, but back then, Naoto-kun, objectively… probably no one really thought of him as anything special.

"But that's just what love is, I guess. That was how I'd kind of made my peace with it.

"But, you know, now that I've come to this world, I understand why.

"I, you see, have always wanted everyone to be happy.

"For everyone to smile, to be happy… that's been my own wish too. I've thought about that for a long, long time.

"That kind of thing, I find very joyful.

"… Around Naoto-kun, right now… there are so many smiles overflowing.

"Everyone loves Naoto-kun, and Naoto-kun loves everyone, and everyone is together with the person they love and so happy.

"This is the kind of scene I'd always wanted to see.

"I'm so happy right now. It's like a dream every day.

"Noda-kun, look behind you.

"… The girls who are with you right now… are they smiling?"

Noda turned to look.

Akashima-san, Mita-sensei, and the six native Garumon of this world… none of them were smiling.

"That's why I can't go out with you. I'm sorry."

Maika said it plainly.

"U… aaaaahhhhh…!"

Noda… wailed. He wailed deeply, deeply, and screamed.

"… Uoh, shut up."

Ishiguro flinched and looked away.

At that moment… 0 had… changed to 1. I wasn't looking at the system screen, so it was only an instinctive sense, but…

No mistake. It had been worth listening to these guys talk in silence.

… Now.

"Adelia, throw this straight up with all your strength!"

"… Nya!"

Bun!

Per my instruction, Adelia hurled it.

"… Kill, kill, kill! Naoto Akaiii! I'll kill you and reclaim my love! Maika is mine!"

"… Heh, well then, slaughter time begins! Hihihi! Come on, kill each other, you guys! Slave battles really are great…

"Our original world was crap-tastic, but I was a fan of those, at least… Killing's fun for me too, but watching trash kill each other has its own special flavor! Now then, time to…"

"Hi, hihihi, finally, finally Maika is… you guys…"

Just before Ishiguro and Noda came charging in…

"Angel Halo!"

The sky overhead lit up brilliantly.

"Hahn?"

"What…?"

The two of them glanced upward for a moment.

"Lyuka, Light Protect!

"Adelia, Boost Power.

"Leone, Thunder Aura.

"Setsuna, Soul Refrain, Death Requiem.

"Yuria, Darkness.

"Haru, Earth Barrier.

"Maika, Dance of Frost.

"Patty, Curse.

"Luna, Angel Halo."

In that instant, I issued instructions to everyone all at once.

"You bastard…"

"You…"

"Lyuka, Light's Blessing on Suzanne! Suzanne… Tempest!"

Shubaa!

In that instant, Suzanne, having plummeted from high above and bathed in Light's Blessing…

"Tempest!"

Dogoooooo!

Unleashing a torrent of divine-punishment flame, she soared back up into the sky.

"…!? Guard!"

"Y-you, defend!"

Dogoooooooo!

Kyaaaaaa… Waaaaaaah…!

Screams erupted all at once.

A Garumon in a capsule fully recovers in 8 hours.

… So what about a combat-incapacitated Garumon? As it happens, they recover from combat incapacitation in about 1 hour.

After that, HP gradually recovers, and full recovery takes 7 hours, but…

While I'd talked endlessly with those guys, just barely, Suzanne's HP had recovered by 1.

Once they recover from combat incapacitation, they can at least fight at the bare minimum.

That was the stalling I'd been aiming for.

… A flight-capable Suzanne can close the distance from outside their range, attack, withdraw, and attack again, executing hit-and-away tactics.

In a normal Garumon Battle, restricted to a battle field, this kind of thing is impossible, but in an Out-of-Battle Battle unrestricted by a field… she's invincible.

Of course, being targeted by long-range attacks requires caution, but that's something we on the ground can watch out for.

An opponent watching the sky is easy to hunt from the ground.

As long as we have Suzanne, the opponent has to handle both anti-air and anti-ground, two fronts at once, which makes fighting much harder for them.

With that single strike just now, on Ishiguro's side, Ihara-san, Saura, and Mehne went down.

On Noda's side, Dafra, Maura, Suya, and Amile went down.

Roughly halved. The fight got a lot easier in one stroke.

But the rest of the members were holding their guards firmly… From here on out was the real fight.

"Kobenii!"

"… Akashima-style swordsmanship secret art, Crimson!"

Hyooo!

Akashima-san's swordsmanship was splendid. Slipping past Light Protect, she slashed Haru.

"Au…!"

"Piercing attack, troublesome."

"Here I come… Three-Stage Slash!"

Shuba shuba…!

Mita-sensei's blade. A skill that dealt damage one piercing attack after another, it seemed.

Haru's HP was carved away in one go. Two-thirds remaining…

"Burst Strike!"

A piercing fire-magic attack? This one was bad…!

"I won't let youu!"

At that moment, Patty became Haru's shield and took it.

"… Wait, Patty!"

No, Spirit-element is weak to fire, isn't it?!

Patty fell, naturally.

"… Patty is… still, not very useful… Protecting Haru-san… is the priority…"

"Your feelings make me happy, but that's not true… in a chaotic battle like this, there's plenty Patty can do, you know.

"… Don't sacrifice yourself like that next time! I'll punish you for it later."

I scolded Patty for acting selfishly.

"… Y-yes… I-I'm sorrryyy…"

Patty went down.

"What a cocky thing to do… here I go! Barrier Crush!"

Pariin!

Kijima-san's strike shattered Light Protect.

A skill like that…!

"Aqua Blast!"

Lenny's attack. Halved against Haru. Damage was minimal.

"Shadow Clone!" Morino-san became two!

Headcount-wise, we were even now…

"Should we split into two groups?"

"No, let's go like this.

"Lyuka, Cure Shine and Light Shield on Haru.

"Haru, Earth Barrier.

"Setsuna, Soul Refrain, Phantom Waltz, Lullaby Serenade.

"Yuria, Dark Protect.

"Leone, Thunder Stun.

"Adelia, Boost Power.

"Luna, Divine Ray.

"Maika, Blizzard."

"Aura Shield!"

Chris cast a defense on herself.

"Thunder Stun!"

Leone's lightning lashed out across the entire field. If even one or two got stunned…

Seye, Morino #1, and Branje got stunned!

… This was a chance to crush Noda's side!

Phantom Waltz and Lullaby Serenade played simultaneously.

The remaining Morino-san, Kijima-san, and Shilmy fell asleep.

That locked down their movement quite a bit, but…

The two who could break through defenses remained.

"Secret art, Crimson!"

"Three-Stage Slash!"

The attacks slipped past every shield…

Gakiin!

"… Fufufu, I can do this kind of thing too. Overcharge!"

Suzanne protected Haru.

… Amazing. She took 4 attacks and Endured 4 times. A 100% Endure rate, terrifying…

"Divine Ray!"

Luna's attack hit Ishiguro's side.

But Chris absorbed and nullified the attack.

Chris's defense seemed to be quite formidable.

But she shouldn't be able to absorb very wide-range attacks…

"Blizzard!"

Maika's attack. But Chris absorbed it across quite a wide range.

It dealt some damage to Noda's side, but nothing significant.

To block even an all-target attack…

This Chris was the linchpin of their defense.

And then, the next turn, Maika's Dance of Frost activated.

Lenny, Morino, Shilmy, and Seye were frozen.

"… Damn it! Fighting in such a slow, irritating way…!"

Ishiguro seemed quite frustrated.

… Then let's go a little flashier.

"Setsuna, March of Exhilaration.

"Yuria, Black Matrix on Chris.

"Leone, Thunder Stun.

"Adelia, time to start cleaning up… let's start with Kijima-san.

"Luna, Divine Ray.

"Maika, Blizzard.

"Lyuka, Cure Shine and Light Shield on Haru.

"Haru, Earth Barrier."

"All right, here goes, Black Matrix!"

"… Hahn? I don't know what you did, but Chris's shield can't be slipped past!

"Aura Shield!"

"Aura Shield."

Chris held up her shield.

… But she had Dark-element infused on her.

"… I see, this is the combo, paired with Light's Blessing.

"Divine Art Flamberge!"

Zubaaan!

Suzanne, descending from above, with her slash, struck down Chris in a single blow.

"… W-what the hellll…?!"

"Damn it, what are you doing, take her down, take her down, take her down already!"

Zan, zan zan zan!

"Shadow Slash!"

Zan!

Damage piled up on Haru. Healing couldn't keep up. One-third remaining. Surviving the next turn would be hard. But…

"Nyaaaaa! Fire Boost, Flame Claw!"

Dogoon!

"Ga… ha…!"

Adelia's strongest strike pierced Kijima-san.

Took her down in a single hit.

"Blizzard!"

"Divine Ray!"

With Chris gone, we could carve through them quite well.

Both in headcount and in the damage race, things had become substantially favorable.

"Damn ittt!"

"Once every two turns, I can do this! Overcharge!"

By drawing attacks toward Haru, guarding became simple.

Suzanne, descending again, covered Haru. All Endures, in succession.

… Or rather, isn't Suzanne too strong? It's surprising even to me that I managed to win…

If I'd been fighting normally, would I really have won?

Reichhardt…

You had a Garumon this magnificent. Why on earth were you stuck stagnating in D-Class…?

"Greatshield!"

"Thunder God!"

"Aqua Shield!"

Shilmy desperately multiplied her defense several-fold to protect her allies.

Lenny halved damage further too, but with the elemental difference and accumulated attack buffs piling up, Leone's Thunder God double-strike carved deep into Lenny's HP.

"Greatshield!"

"Flame Claw!"

Zugaan! Akashima-san was on the brink of death too.

Truly, large-scale battles are fun.

Buffs upon buffs upon buffs, super-powered up! Strong single-target attacks chipping them down one at a time, all-target attacks ramming through, total annihilation!

Offense and defense interlocking, an entirely one-sided advantageous flow continued.

… Well, honestly, Suzanne deserved a lot of the credit.

If we hadn't been able to take down Chris, our attacks would've been pretty well locked down.

"… Wh-why is this… why?! There are 12 Masters against 1, you know?! 96 Garumon attacking 11…

"Why is this happening?!"

Ishiguro, who at first had been certain of his overwhelming advantage and laughed with airs of composure, only finally realized his disadvantage when the outcome was nearly settled.

If I'd been him, the moment Chris went down I'd have gone pale and started thinking about how to let my comrades escape, but…

Why he was still grinning, I had no idea.

I'd been worried about how strong Ishiguro had become as a B-Class, but…

Honestly, this is B-Class? I thought.

No, the Garumon, all things considered, are used to fighting 3-on-3 in narrow Garumon Battle fields.

So in an Out-of-Battle Battle, they get bewildered and can't fully exercise their abilities.

Strong even in Garumon Battles, but shining even brighter in the wide field of an Out-of-Battle Battle: a Garumon like Suzanne is the off-spec abnormality.

If Suzanne hadn't been here, the chance of losing would've been a bit higher. At the very least, even if I won, it'd have been a huge struggle.

Maybe the failure was that, in the selection of 10 C-Class Masters, Reichhardt got mixed in.

Then again, Reichhardt did serve as the noble figurehead leading the C-Class Masters, so…

Well, in essence, the guy had been failing from the start.

"… Haa, haa… no way, no way… me, beaten by the likes of Naoto, who was the worst piece of trash even in slave battles…!"

"… Where do you think you're going?"

In front of Ishiguro, who'd tried to run alone, Kanan stood blocking his path. She, too, was in a state where her HP had just barely recovered to 1 from combat incapacitation.

But… if her opponent was a Master, that was more than enough combat power.

"You bastarddd! Kanannnn! If I can beat the crap out of youuu! That alone will clear my mood!"

"Oh? What a coincidence. I… wanted to fight a slave battle on Naoto's orders too."

Dogo!

Kanan's kick struck Ishiguro's gut.

"Hah!"

Baki, baki, baki!

She hit, hit, hit. Kanan beat Ishiguro to a pulp, sent him flying, gradually whittled down his HP.

"W-wait, wait a second, Kanan-sama… f-forgive me. I got carried away…!"

"… Even like this, I have responsibilities, having been your master once. The responsibility for a slave's misconduct, I'll take on at minimum."

Dogo!

"Ogoooooh!"

HP 0… with that, the HP blessing was gone, and from here on, wounding or killing him was fair game.

"… Noda-kun, I'm sorry. There are times you have to not be kind, aren't there."

Dogo!

"Gueeee… Maikaaa…!"

On Noda's side, Maika tripped him up and flattened him, bringing his HP to 0.

… And with that, we managed to defeat the two who'd attacked us, Ishiguro and Noda.

Noda and Ishiguro each received their respective punishments.

… I doubted I'd ever have anything to do with them again.

The remaining Garumon were each handled in light of their own paths forward.

The details, separately.

And so we narrowly weathered the somewhat troublesome incident of being attacked by 12 Masters.

"Luna… was startled, right? Maybe I showed you an unpleasant side of this world…"

I called out to the angel-girl with concern.

She'd just arrived in this world, and she wasn't yet mentally prepared.

It wouldn't have been strange if she'd been terrified, I thought.

"… It was scary, but… those people just now were bad people, and Naoto-kun punished them, right…"

"… W-well, that's basically what it was."

"Mm, in that case… in this world, I'm being protected by people like the police, right? Then… I can be at ease. I'm so glad I wasn't caught by bad people."

The angel-girl smiled.

"… Yeah! I'll watch out so Luna can have a fun time… I'll absolutely never do anything unpleasant."

"Thank you.

"But, looking at the faces of everyone here, I can tell Naoto-kun is definitely a good person. After all, everyone looks happy."

"That's the thing I'm happiest to hear. Thank you, angel-girl. I'll make you happy too."

… After saying it, I got embarrassed. Wasn't this kind of like a proposal?

"O-oh come on… don't tease me."

The angel-girl was bashful too.

"… All right, until Lyuka's quota is met, there are 2 more days. Let's give it one more push!"

Even though I felt a bit tired, I had to push myself a little more.

For the decisive battle with Yamagata-kun, leveling was important.

Plus, with the new additions Patty (still not a companion), Luna, and Suzanne, I had to make them into full-fledged combat power as soon as possible too.

And so we entered our second day of camping out.